The Montreal Canadiens can not afford to learn the wrong lesson following their loss to the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Final. There is no denying that the 'Canes were a buzzsaw. The reason they were able to play like that, however, is that the organization has stuck to its guns through thick and thin, and is now going to play the Vegas Golden Knights--a team that also knows exactly what they are--in the Stanley Cup Final.
That is the lesson the Habs should be taking away as they head into a summer that will be shorter than anyone could have anticipated in October. Having a blueprint and guys worth building around will pay off eventually. A trip to the Eastern Conference Final didn't appear to be in the cards when pundits were rolling out their preseason predictions. When talking heads were making their calls about who would rise and fall in the Eastern Conference.
Yet rise the Canadiens did, to the tune of a 106-point regular season and a trip to the playoffs. The sting of the Eastern Conference Final gentleman's sweep will make it easy to forget that Martin St. Louis' group fought through not just one, but two physical seven-game series. This young group of players learned a lot along the way, too. Now they have to hope that the front office doesn't decide to veer off the path that got Montreal here in the first place.
If Kent Hughes starts talking about being "tougher to play against" this offseason, it's a bad sign for the Canadiens
There's no denying that the Habs could use more sandpaper. There are 25 or 26 teams in the league that likely feel that way, too. Yet acquiring the wrong kind of sandpaper could set the Canadiens back in their quest to bring the Stanley Cup to Canada.
When the Florida Panthers--the team the rest of the league is still trying to copycat--decided they wanted to get tougher, they traded for Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Bennett. Are those guys a pain to play against? Without question. They are also very effective hockey players in all three zones, and do things besides hitting.
On the other side of the coin, when the Toronto Maple Leafs decided to get tougher to play against, they eschewed skill for Ryan Reaves and Max Domi. Getting grit just for grit's sake is not why the Panthers won their Stanley Cups. It also isn't why the Hurricanes were able to beat the Canadiens.
Canadiens can be tougher to play against without sacrificing skill
There will be space for Hughes to address overall team truculence in the offseason. The typical looks that St. Louis used on the fourth line, in particular, could use an overhaul. Still, looking across the ice at the Hurricanes team that just beat them, it isn't like their bottom six did anything besides play relentless Hurricanes hockey and be tough on the forecheck and backcheck.
Montreal got frustrated because it couldn't generate any offense. Not because a Tkachuk-like player was cruising through the neutral zone, throwing elbows and shrugging like he doesn't know why a player is at his feet in a bloody heap.
Carolina, in a way, learned how to play this grinding, no-breathing-room hockey from the Panthers. Again, both teams are tough to play against, but not because they are being bullies out on the ice. This is what the Canadiens can (and hopefully do) take away from this series. Sandpaper in the service of skill, not skill in the service of sandpaper.
Don't start drafting for size just to have it. Don't go out and overpay Jacob Trouba to boost the hit count. Hughes can be smart about picking his spots here, and since Montreal is so far ahead of schedule, he can afford to be patient in finding the right kinds of players to fit into his outstanding forward group.
There are lessons to be learned from the Carolina Hurricanes. Belief in the blueprint and sticking to a team identity that is clearly working should top that list. Rough and tumble hockey shouldn't even make the cut. That way lies ruin and a retool under a new general manager and a fresh coach in a few years.
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