What the Puck: Losing the Stanley Cup is bittersweet for Habs fans
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So close and yet so far.
That old war-horse of an aphorism perfectly encapsulates the feelings of the Canadiens and their fans today. Montreal was three wins away from the Stanley Cup. Closer than they’ve been in 28 years and the real rub is none of us has any idea when they’ll be that close again.
But watching that game Wednesday night, the Habs also seemed so far away from the National Hockey League’s ultimate trophy. They only lost by one goal, but they looked like a team that was never going to score another goal in their life. Once again, they were stuck in the mud in the first, completely dominated by the Tampa Bay Lightning. Their power play was beyond bad. They could barely get out of their own zone with the man advantage.
They got shut-out in the biggest game of the year, a particularly terrible way to go out for a team that so often has had difficulty scoring goals in big games in the playoffs. Carey Price was superb, but his teammates couldn’t return the favour by putting the puck in the net. Where have you seen that film before?
The better team won. There’s a reason the Lightning are repeat champs. There are no weak links on this team.
It was a bittersweet moment. If you’re a fan, you don’t like losing and you especially don’t like losing in the final. Yet we have to be so grateful for what this team gave us: two months of playoff hockey for the first time since 1993. A whole generation of Habs fans have never experienced that.
And they did it against all odds. They barely scraped into the post-season and for the second half of the season looked like one of the weaker teams in contention. The Leafs were supposed to clean the floor with them and they were … until they weren’t. Then the Good Guys swept the Winnipeg Jets, who were meant to be a formidable opponent.
Then came the most improbable victory of them all, versus the Vegas Golden Knights. Vegas had just knocked off the Colorado Avalanche, deemed to be favourites, and the Habs smothered their big scorers. But Tampa Bay simply was too much to handle for this Cinderella team.
They showed incredible heart, winning as a team, with no superstar skaters. There were so many heroes, starting with Carey Price. Without the taciturn masked man, they’re not anywhere near the final. But he was right when he said he didn’t play well enough at the start of the Tampa series. That cuts to the heart of the issue that still dogs this team. Without Price in Saint Carey mode, they can’t win. That has to change.
The most exciting thing about this inspirational run was the stellar play of the kids Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield. They aren’t the future of this team — they’re the present and it’s incredibly cool to start salivating now about the possibility of spending an entire season watching them work their magic together, hopefully on a line with Josh Anderson.
One dark cloud is that the other star kid, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, was sitting in the press box for the last couple of games of the playoffs. Only Suzuki scored more goals than him in these playoffs but at crunch time, the coaching staff still don’t believe in Kotkaniemi. Disturbing.
There are big decisions coming. Presumably Tomas Tatar is gone. Imagine one of the team’s leading scorers is never called in when his team isn’t scoring. Forget making it back to the final: can this team make the playoffs next season?
It won’t be easy in a division with Tampa, Toronto, Boston, Florida and Ottawa. I hate to be the prophet of doom — okay I kind of like it — but the Habs finished 18th in the league this year and 24th last season. Plus some key players are leaving the building this summer.
But that discussion is for another day. Today let’s just look back at the magic of the past two months. Let’s savour all the joy these guys brought us after one of the more difficult years of our lives. Nikita Kucherov can laugh all he likes at Montreal fans but those were beautiful moments.
The night the CH won the series in OT against Vegas was an incredibly moving moment and I won’t soon forgot sitting in a backyard in the Monkland Village listening to cheers ringing out throughout N.D.G. Ditto for Monday night’s overtime win with that spectacular Anderson goal. Driving through downtown with horns honking and fans cheering. Magic.
It makes us remember that sports can unify a people. We are one. We are Habs fans. And there’s an important life lesson in this underdog playoff run.
Don’t ever give up. Things look mighty bleak — like when you’re down 3-1 to the Leafs — but if you believe in yourself, anything really is possible.
bkelly@postmedia.com
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