Montreal Canadiens left wing Jonathan Drouin (92) is congratulated by teammates after scoring the first goal during first period NHL hockey action against the Arizona Coyotes, in Montreal on Jan. 23, 2019.Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press
“When you win in Montreal,” Guy Lafleur once said, “it’s the best place in the world to play hockey.”
So it was in Lafleur’s time – five Stanley Cups in the 1970s, including four in a row – but it has been a long, long drought since 1993, the last year the Canadiens, the last time any Canadian team, raised that silver cup over their heads.
Three seasons after not a single Canadian team made the playoffs, there are six potential north-of-the-border teams within various reaching distance: the Calgary Flames, Winnipeg Jets, Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens and, with necessary luck, the Vancouver Canucks and Edmonton Oilers. Only the Ottawa Senators are without any hope whatsoever in this season of great surprise.
Most surprising of all may well be the Canadiens. Predicted by many to be as bad this year as they were the previous season (finishing 28th out of 31 teams with a 29-40-13 record) no one saw that by the all-star break they would sit third in the Atlantic Division, two points up on the Boston Bruins and but a single point back of the Maple Leafs. Having won five of six games heading into the bye week, they return to play on Saturday afternoon when they play host to the New Jersey Devils.
A game worth circling, however, would be next Saturday night, when the Leafs will be in Montreal for Hockey Night In Canada. It has the potential to bring back ancient memories of a once-grand rivalry, the two Original Six Canadian teams having not met in the playoffs since 1979. It could well happen this spring.
There are still Montreal fans who remember that fatal May 2 of Centennial Year, when with only 55 seconds remaining in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup final, Toronto coach Punch Imlach sent out a slow-footed defenceman, Allan Stanley, to take a defensive-zone faceoff against Montreal great Jean Béliveau. Stanley, with no intention of playing the puck, wrestled the big centre away from the falling puck – referee John Ashley failing to call interference – so that Red Kelly could get it to Bob Pulford, who fed it to George Armstrong for the empty-net goal that gave the Maple Leafs their most recent Stanley Cup.
That will be 52 years ago on May 2 – twice as long as Montreal has waited. But the remote possibility that both teams might have an outside chance at the 2019 Stanley Cup ensures that the interest will be high.
While predictions were high, at times out of control, for this year’s Leafs, it was certainly not the case for the Canadiens heading into the season. Well before there were calls (now answered) for the head of Edmonton Oilers general manager Peter Chiarelli, the fanatical in Montreal – the ones Gazette columnist Jack Todd calls “the tar-and-pitchforks crowd” – wanted GM Marc Bergevin run out of town. First among Bergevin’s many perceived sins was the 2016 trade of Norris-Trophy-winning defenceman P.K. Subban to the Nashville Predators. But there others, such as his failure to hang onto Alexander Radulov, who, the year after Subban’s departure, chose free agency and the Dallas Stars over Montreal. “If you want loyalty, buy a dog,” Bergevin said to his critics.
“It’s on my shoulders to fix,” he told reporters at the end of last season. The problem, as he saw it, was all about attitude.
Changes came quickly. The Canadiens kept head coach Claude Julien, but added new assistants in Luke Richardson, a former NHL player who coached successfully in the minor leagues, and Dominique Ducharme, who had great success (gold in 2018, silver in 2017) with Canada’s entry in the world junior championships.
Bergevin traded forward Alex Galchenyuk to the Arizona Coyotes for Max Domi. Many were aghast, as Galchenyuk had been selected third over all by Bergevin in the 2012 entry draft, and Domi was known only for being the son of one-time Leafs enforcer Tie. Tie Domi’s son today leads Montreal in scoring and has become the happy, positive face of the franchise.
The GM traded team captain Max Pacioretty to the Vegas Golden Knights for Tomas Tatar, prospect Nick Suzuki and a second-round pick in this June’s entry draft. Tatar, a disappointment in Las Vegas after coming over from the Detroit Red Wings, is second in team scoring behind Domi.
Bergevin was scolded for picking Finland’s Jesperi Kotkaniemi, then still 17 years old, at the June entry draft when players more highly ranked were available. Kotkaniemi, who turned 18 over the summer, surprised everyone by making the team. His last name drives broadcasters to distraction. The players call their rookie centre “K.K.”
Bergevin and Julien then appointed defenceman Shea Weber their captain, even though he was recovering from knee and foot surgery and would miss the opening 24 games. It marked a significant shift away from the often gloomy Pacioretty – who once told the Gazette’s Stu Cowan that “I think too much and I care too much” – and established the easygoing, confident Weber as the team’s undisputed leader.
Whether coincidence or not, Weber’s return saw a significant rise in the play of goaltender Carey Price, his save percentage rising and goals-against average falling. By the break, he already had four more wins than he had all of last season.
The Canadiens remain a far, far cry from Lafleur’s days – the power play has been a disaster – but Montreal is once again a happy place to play hockey.
“I can feel the passion starting to come back out,” Geoff Molson, the team’s owner and president, told TSN 690 radio recently. “Last year, people would walk by me and put their head down a little bit more. This year, they’re grateful for a team that’s exciting every night.”
Molson was a child the last time the Montreal Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs met in the playoffs. To have it happen this year, he told the station, “would be pretty cool.”
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story stated Guy Lafleur won the Stanley Cup three years in a row with the Canadiens. In fact, he won four in a row. This version has been corrected.