Canadiens: Shades of Previous Playoff Runs Following Series Sweep

Well, I don’t think many Montreal Canadiens fans could’ve seen this coming. Regardless, I doubt many are upset about that.

To keep things brief, I’ll just get this out of the way right now: The Canadiens have played near-perfect hockey since being down 3-1 against the Toronto Maple Leafs in Round 1. Head coach Dominique Ducharme’s system, which had struggled on and off during the regular season, has little, if any cracks in my mind, and above all else, I am well and truly, rooting for the Canadiens as this remarkable playoff run continues on.

As stated, I doubt there are many Habs fans or analysts who could’ve seen Montreal achieving this as the regular season concluded. The Canadiens had just barely snuck into the playoffs with a 24-21-8 record and were the heavy underdogs against teams like the Maple Leafs and Winnipeg Jets. The Leafs and the Jets, on paper, had more depth, more offensive potential, more offensive weapons, and solid defence. Yet, just as quickly as Leafs’ fans remarked once more that “it’s our year,” they’ve been eliminated.

The Leafs had a quick and, for the most part, an easy advantage over the Canadiens, with their backs against the wall down, as stated, three games to one. Well, that advantage sadly never worked out in their favour, as the Habs reeled off back-to-back OT wins before a convincing 3-1 win in Game 7. Sound familiar? Well in both style of play and storylines, this current Habs playoff run certainly has its relations with those previous fabled post-season runs.

Though it seems like a distant memory at this point, the 2013-14 Canadiens are rightfully viewed as the team’s last truly great playoff run, falling two games shy of the Stanley Cup Final to the New York Rangers. At the time, the Canadiens had a consistent and potent offence paired with a number of developing top prospects and a recurrently vintage Carey Price. Yet, in the playoffs, much like this season, it was some of their less-heralded/experienced players who stepped up.

Cole Caufield has been through quite the journey over the course of this season, starting at the University of Wisconsin before ending up with the Laval Rocket and eventually, the Canadiens. At every stop, though, it seems as if this Hobey Baker Award Winner just continues to improve and has been a key source of energy and clutch offensive production. Similarly, while Lars Eller may have endured a surprisingly off-campaign this season for the Washington Capitals, the 32-year-old is no stranger to big-time performances, playing arguably some of the best hockey of his career in the 2014 playoffs for the Habs, with 13 points over 17 games.

Following a four-game second-round sweep of the Winnipeg Jets, the Montreal Canadiens seem to be borrowing elements from some previous playoff runs.

Alongside this, Rene Bourque, for a time, proved his worth as a legitimate top-six scorer, with the main piece in the infamous Mike Cammalleri trade putting together what was arguably the last truly great performance of his career, with 11 points and a team-leading eight goals over 17 games. This is something many Canadiens players have been no stranger to these playoffs, with numerous veteran and unproven options stepping up to the plate. Corey Perry’s 156 games of playoff experience has doubtless come in quite handy for the Canadiens these playoffs, with the former Stanley Cup champ continuing his solid offensive pace from the regular season, with 6 points over 11 games.

Eric Staal has made up on lost time following his trade deadline acquisition, with his rough finish to the regular season being brushed aside as he’s now third among Canadiens in scoring, with 1-6-7 totals over 10 games. Couple this with some solid resurgent performances from the likes of Joel Armia and Erik Gustafsson, and the Habs have definitely found their niche in the only way they know how.

Pure unadulterated playoff magic.

Since the end of Montreal’s last dynasty following the 1978-79 season, their two Stanley Cup Titles since then have followed a similar path, with the Canadiens, in both cases, having been far from the favourites to clinch the Stanley Cup Title. While the Canadiens are still longshots to beat either the Colorado Avalanche or Vegas Golden Knights in the Conference Finals, stranger things have happened.

Had it not been for a similar underdog Philadelphia Flyers team led by virtual unknowns in Michael Leighton and Ville Leino, the 2010 Canadiens might have been headed to their first Stanley Cup Final since that 1993 Championship. While an anomaly of sorts in terms of Montreal’s overall talent and regular season performance, former 9th round pick and similar unknown Jaroslav Halak changed all of that, stopping near anything and everything over the first two rounds before Montreal was ultimately swept by the Flyers in the Conference Finals. For most Canadiens fans around my age or a bit older, this 2010 run was the last time the Canadiens truly put together a great post-season performance, even with much of their success being based around Halak.

This year, I definitely have traces of that magic that led the Habs to back-to-back seven-game series wins over the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins, though their four-game sweep of the Winnipeg Jets has definitely done more to renew my confidence. The Golden Knights and Avalanche are definitely the most powerful teams left standing outside of the Tampa Bay Lightning, and have the star power and rich offensive support that the Canadiens could end up struggling with.

In the end, however, regardless of the outcome, I still feel as though Montreal is deserving of some respect for simply getting to this point. And as these Stanley Cup Playoffs continue on, with the Canadiens surprisingly still standing, I feel as though a bit of the magic of those previous playoff runs is rubbing off on what has been an impressive performance thus far, by the Montreal Canadiens.