Montreal Canadiens Roundup: The next player to get an extension
By Omar L
Joshua Delorme: I guess the line that people say of “just get in and anything can happen” really rung true this season! The first round is always the most exciting and entertaining round in my mind, and this year the league has not disappointed. I could point to the Columbus Blue Jackets sweeping the Tampa Bay Lightning, or the New York Islanders sweeping the Pittsburgh Penguins, or Calgary losing out in 5 games to Colorado.
The up and down play of Martin Jones for San Jose. There have been so many storylines which makes it one of the most exciting first rounds I’ve seen in a few years. The fact that both Tampa Bay and Calgary only managed to win one game combined after winning 112 games combined this season is absolutely nuts! I have really enjoyed watching the Washington/Carolina series, Carolina hasn’t rolled over at all, and the series has been pretty evenly matched, nice to see Carolina’s building with people in it too!
Kenneth Macmillan: The playoffs so far have been unlike any other year I can remember. I don’t think there has been a less predictable first round ever. The only one that comes close is the 2006 playoffs where the top four teams in the western conference were eliminated in the first round. However, the top four teams advanced in the Eastern Conference that year.
This season, wild card teams are wreaking havoc. Let me just put it this way, I picked Winnipeg, Calgary, Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh in my pool and those teams combined to win three games. It’s wild. Makes you wonder how the Montreal Canadiens could have done if they had a couple more points in the standings and squeaked into the first round…