Montreal Canadiens: AHL Announces No Playoffs for Laval Rocket
Montreal Canadiens are battling for a playoff spot as they limp towards the finish line of the NHL season.
They have been a mediocre team since there 7-1-2 start, but they still sit in the fourth and final playoff spot in the NHL’s Canadian Division. Their latest loss resulted in the Toronto Maple Leafs officially clinching a playoff spot as they padded their lead atop the division.
It looks like they Maple Leafs will finish first and the Canadiens will finish fourth, but nothing will be decided for sure until the remainder of the NHL season is played out.
The AHL, on the other hand, doesn’t have to play out its entire calendar to see who would finish first in its Canadian Division. The Laval Rocket have been dominant for the entire season, sitting atop the division right now with a 22-5-1-1 record in their 29 games.
The only team that has a mathematical possibility of catching the Rocket in the Canadian Divison are the Toronto Marlies. That’s really only because the Marlies have played just 22 games. The division is scheduled to play 36 games this season, but the only way the Marlies could catch the Rocket is if Toronto finishes their season by going 13-0-0, while the Rocket lose all seven of their games.
That’s not going to happen, so the Rocket are going to run away with the division lead. Unfortunately, that will be enough to crown them a Division Champion as there will be no AHL postseason this year.
The AHL announced earlier today that they only division that will have a playoff is the Pacific Division. The rest will just give the division title to whoever the regular season champion is at the end of the schedule.
It is unfortunate that a terrific AHL team doesn’t get to go on a playoff run. It’s more unfrotaunte considering the lack of success the Canadiens AHL team’s have had recently. They have only made the playoffs once since 2011 and that was a loss in the first round in 2017. They haven’t won a playoff series since Nigel Dawes and Aaron Palushaj and Curtis Sanford carried them to the third round ten years ago.
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I guess running away with the regular season title isn’t a bad, it’s just too bad we don’t get to watch a great AHL team, being led by young players like Ryan Poehling, Joel Teasdale, Cale Fleury and Cayden Primeau go on a playoff run.