The Montréal Canadiens are for real.
First, it was Alex Ovechkin in 7 games. Then, Sidney Crosby in 7 games. And the Montréal Canadiens go to the Eastern Conference final for the first time since 1993, when Patrick Roy lead the Canadiens to the Stanley Cup.
So with backs to the wall, the last standing Canadian-based team is Montréal, the team that people joked was the 16th best team in the playoffs. True, Montréal stumbled to the finish in the regular season, clinching a playoff spot with an overtime loss to Toronto.
With no Alex Ovechkin or Sidney Crosby to root for, who should you follow in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. You couldn't go wrong with Michael Cammalleri with 12 goals — leading the NHL postseason — and 6 assists. There's Jaroslav Halak who has been lights out with two powerhouse scoring teams in Washington and Pittsburgh.
Brian Gionta may have re-found his scoring touch with two goals in Game 7. We've barely mentioned Scott Gomez. Dominic Moore, Travis Moen, P.K. Subban, Hal Gill, who came back from an injury that caused him to miss Game 6.
And there are a lot of unheralded players, too. The Montréal Canadiens have won and lost as a team. This is only the 5th team that has won two Game 7s on the road in the same series. And their road trip continues.
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When Montréal won Game 7 against Washington, the NHL schedulers threw them to the wolves, and the Canadiens looked slow against Pittsburgh in Game 1. Even though Montréal went to Game 7 against Pittsburgh, the Canadiens will have a little time to rest.
Boston-Philadelphia has become two series in one. Boston won the first three and Philadelphia won the next three. On Friday, the Bruins and Flyers will have their own Game 7 in Boston.
The Canadiens have played 14 playoff games, more than any other team. A little bit of rest isn't so bad.
Amazingly, the winner of this series has home-ice advantage in the finals. Boston is the #6 seed and Philadelphia the #7 seed. But as these three teams have proved, the hardest workers are those that barely make the playoffs, since the "playoffs" start for them in the last week of the regular season.
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Versus and NBC carries the action the rest of the way — no local coverage. Though schedules have not been released, you can count on NBC showing Game 1 where Montréal travels to Boston or Philadelphia on Sunday. Assuming NBC carries games the following weekend, Game 4 will likely be on NBC on Saturday — in Montréal.
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If you love the Original 6, you have to be very happy with the way the playoffs have gone so far. If Boston pulls it out on Friday, 3 of the last 4 teams in the playoffs — along with Montréal and Chicago — will be Original 6. Only San Jose stands out like a teal thumb.
The last time two Original 6 teams matched up in the Stanley Cup Finals was 1978, when the Canadiens beat Boston 4-2. The Montréal Canadiens came from a 3-2 deficit to beat the Chicago Blackhawks in the 1971 Stanley Cup finals. But those matches were a long time ago.
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Doc Emrick and Darren Eliot tried to speak French during the Game 7 telecast. Their French wasn't that good, but they will have a chance to improve it. Well, at least Emrick will. The assumption is that Emrick and Ed Olzcyk will reunite for the conference finals.
Since Olzcyk's day job is with the Blackhawks, it would make sense for Emrick and Olzcyk to work the East for NBC and Versus. If Montréal-Boston/Philadelphia gets Versus' #2 crew, I would be concerned. I don't even know who is the #2 crew, and the quality would drop considerably. But since the NHL leans toward the East, look for Emrick and Olczyk to work on their French. C'est la vie.
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Nice to see that the crowd at the Bell Centre made a few appearances during the telecast. the Montréal Canadiens were in Pittsburgh, but the fans in Montréal filled the Bell Centre to cheer on their team. The proceeds went to charity.
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ESPN used to broadcast playoff hockey games. Since they don't cover those games, their hockey coverage is virtually non-existent. To show you how clueless ESPN is, Sidney Crosby's lone goal was the #1 sports highlight the night of Game 6.
Then when the Canadiens took Game 7, the announcers spend time whining more about how Pittsburgh played, and not how Montréal did. Clearly, they haven't been paying attention.
ESPN, as we said in the top of this column, the Montréal Canadiens are for real. Get your head out of your NBA obsession and watch a little hockey this postseason.
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