The forecast called for rain in Montreal this morning, but it's probably no coincidence that the birds are chirping and the sun is shining bright.
The Canadiens have brought this city to life in patented, glorious fashion, dispatching the Boston Bruins in seven games, moving along to the Eastern Conference Finals where they'll do battle with the New York Rangers.
Carey Price stood up between the second and third periods of game seven, his team clinging to a one-goal lead, fully aware Boston's onslaught was on the horizon. He told his teammates to have fun and enjoy the moment. We don't have an exact quote on that. Half the players interviewed in Montreal's room said they were so shocked to see Price addressing the team that the very gesture was enough to inspire them, all of them offering a variation on Price's remarks.
Price's leadership speaks volumes about how far he's come. Seven years of ups and downs; regular successes overshadowed by playoff failures; his Olympic experience--golden--pocketed. Surely, he matured in every way imaginable. And yes, he probably learned and applied a thing or two from champions like Jonathan Toews and Sidney Crosby--two players (like Price) that tend to do their talking with exceptional play on the ice.
Price led, the Canadiens followed. As well as they could have played, they anticipated they'd spend long periods hemmed into their own end, stretched to the limit by hockey's best team. They survived those hurricanes of hockey, not allowing for the type of five-alarm fires that would've incinerated their Stanley Cup aspirations. When the one or two opportunities were too much for the five defenders to handle, there was Price with an extinguisher in one hand and a hose in the other.
Brandon Prust picked the right time to be the Brandon Prust everyone knows him to be. Limited by who knows how many injuries, Prust was 100% on the forecheck that unearthed Montreal's first goal.
Daniel Briere may not be a 200-foot player anymore, but in the square footage of the offensive zone, Briere's sense of direction is second to none. A brilliant pass to a wide open Dale Weise for the game's opening goal gave Montreal the belief they needed with more than 57 minutes to play.
Belief kept Max Pacioretty from allowing frustration to overwhelm him. When it mattered most, Pacioretty found the reserves to score the biggest goals of his career. He'd have traded all 39 this season for those two. And David Desharnais' role on those plays can't be discounted in evaluating the clutch performance Pacioretty prevailed with.
It was belief that set Michael Bournival off at full speed, chipping a puck past a flatfooted Johnny Boychuk, and like a basketball player filling the lane to take the charge, baiting Boychuk into what proved to be a very costly penalty.
It was belief that carried Montreal's powerplay to connect on their final opportunity of the night. Who else but Briere, who had spent the entire period--safe for one faceoff in the neutral zone--stapled to the bench?
There's belief that this team is destined for something else this spring, something we're not supposed to speak of. Halfway to the ultimate goal, belief is emboldened in Montreal.
The Canadiens open up to the Rangers at 1:00pm on Saturday, at home to a Bell Centre that may possibly reach new levels of insanity.
Ginette Reno will continue her spring song serenade, the Canadiens will strive to author more dramatic chapters to this story no longer as fantastical as once imagined, and the sun will only shine with more intensity from here to mid-June. It's beaming brightly in Montreal right now.
********************
1) The lasting image of this series is Marc Bergevin in the tunnel, hugging and kissing his players as they walked by victorious. Genuine as the come, this Bergevin fellow is. Pure, emotional, close enough to the players (a 20-year character guy in the NHL), and shrewd, shrewd hockey man.
It's Bergevin who held strong on Lars Eller, on David Desharnais. It's Bergevin who did the same with Rene Bourque, continuing to look for ways to awaken him. It's Bergevin who signed Daniel Briere. It's Bergevin who traded for Weise, Weaver and Vanek. It's Bergevin who added Rick Dudley and Scott Melanby to Larry Carriere, completing a personnel and scouting office that should be the envy of many counterparts across the NHL.
2) It's Therrien who pulled the strings brilliantly through the first two rounds of the playoffs. He took full advantage of the depth Bergevin and company have provided him with.
Whether it was Bouillon, Murray, Moen, Prust, Briere, Weise, Bournival, and who can forget Nathan Beaulieu? Therrien got nearly everyone involved at the right time, and carries the confidence depth affords to the next round of the playoffs.
In the third period of last night's game, Therrien parked Briere knowing they weren't chasing the game. The powerplay chance came, and that was the time to deploy him.
It was Therrien who decided not to press his luck with Beaulieu, keeping him from the ice for the majority of the final frame, relying on the other five defensemen to stem the tide, not wanting to put the young, talented man in danger of making a mistake he'd regret forever.
Therrien would be burning over the coals for those very decisions had the outcome been reversed, but it's his decisions that didn't allow for that possibility.
3) It's a great shame that Milan Lucic's post-game, handshake line threat to Dale Weise became a discussion point last night. For the way these teams battled each other, that couldn't reflect worse on a Boston team that doesn't live by that creed.
The Bruins had the Canadiens' respect all along, and they earned it from most of the Bruins after beating them in this series. Lucic has a summer to regret that reaction.
As for Weise, I'd wager plenty that he won't even think about it unless someone else asks him about it.
4) It all comes back to Price.
The guy who too many people lambasted Bob Gainey for.
"They shouldn't have drafted a goaltender fifth overall, when a big centre in Anze Kopitar was finally available."
"Start him in Montreal, at 19? You must be kidding!"
"They made a huge mistake fast-tracking him."
I've said it before, and I'll say it every time it comes up. Price has lived every experience the NHL could throw his way. He's lived everything Montreal could throw his way too. Gainey and company saw what he was, they knew what he was going to be, and they plugged their ears with steely Stanley Cup winning experience, and put their faith in themselves.
One of the highlights of my career covering this team (my first year on the job was Price's rookie season) was Gainey telling someone who showed up on garbage day (the day after elimination), who hadn't been there all season, that Price was a thoroughbred the reporter's wife couldn't possibly recognize. It was a snide remark, but the question was an incredible insult, framed as "Even my wife, who doesn't watch hockey, doesn't understand what you guys see in Price.".
The Habs saw a calm, collected kid with a competition level that contrasted that in technicolor. They saw a kid that they hoped would become a man, and they gave him as much experience as they could with the knowledge that they were building towards having a very competitive team. The team finished first in the Eastern Conference in Price's rookie season. Gainey didn't expect that, but it gave Price his first playoff taste, and his first crushing experience.
Think back on those days as you marvel at what Price is doing now. The experience of all of it has brought him to here.
5) Nothing we see in these playoffs--moving forward--may match what the Canadiens and Bruins have with each other. It may have been a path both teams would've preferred to avoid, but it's the path a champion usually has to walk. To play your greatest rival--the team that brings out the best and the worst in you--is a challenge worth facing, if you really have what it takes.
The Bruins obviously had what it takes, and the Canadiens have the opportunity now to continue proving that they do as well. Whatever happens this year, this team has taken a step closer to where they want to be in this league.
Enjoy that, Montreal.
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»