Marc Bergevin came to the Montreal Canadiens in 2012 from the Chicago Blackhawks' organization. Bergevin marched into Montreal and immediately injected the franchise with both hope and a plan. The hope stemmed from the removal of Pierre Gauthier and the promise of a new regime that could restore some of the Canadiens' lost lustre. The plan was that Bergevin could bring that Chicago magic to the Habs and turn them into a perennial contender. Almost immediately the Habs' fortunes turned. They improved from the 3rd worst team in the entire league in '12 to 4th overall in the lockout shortened '13. They were also a top 4 team in goals scored in 2012-13 behind new Coach Therrien's "It takes 3 goals to win a game" system.
Now this rise cannot solely be attributed to Bergevin's work. The core of the team that went to the conference finals in '10 and took the eventual Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins to game 7 and overtime in '11, remained when Bergevin took control of the ship. Bergevin did sign some character veterans ( Prust, Moen, Bouillon) and gave some promising rookies a shot (Gallagher and Galchenyuk). But the cornerstones of Price, Subban and Pacioretty were in place. After Price flamed out in the '13 playoffs, Bergevin signed goalie coach Stephane Waite to right Carey Price's ship. The result has been a phenomenal 3 year run culminating in a gold medal and a probable MVP award this June.
Unfortunately, two things Bergevin could not take from Chicago were Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews. With Chicago facing a game 7 that could bring them the opportunity to win their 3rd Cup in the last 7 years, now is an opportune time to measure the Habs against what they hope to become. As Ric Flair famously said "To be the man, you gotta beat the man. WOOOOOOOOOO". Let's break this down.
Here is a quick look at The Hawks playoff results: '09: lost in Conference Finals '10: Stanley Cup Champions '11: lost in 1st round '12: lost in 1st round '13: Stanley Cup Champions '14: lost in Conference Finals '15: ?????
Here is the Hawks roster ahead of game 7. I know Kane may play with Toews, but for most of the season this has been the line-up:
Saad/Toews/Hossa Bickell/Richards/Kane Sharp/Vermette/Teravainen Desjardins/Kruger/Shaw
Keith/Hjalmarsson Timonen/Seabrook Cumiskey/Oduya
Crawford
Here is a look at the Habs playoff results:
09': Lost in 1st round (Gainey Era) '10: Lost in Conference Finals '11: Lost in 1st round (to the eventual champs in game 7 OT and yes, this still hurts)(Gauthier Era) '12: Missed playoffs '13: Lost in 1st round (Bergevin era) '14: Lost in Conference Finals '15: Lost in 2nd round
Here is the Habs line up for game 6 against Tampa:
Pacioretty/Plekanec/Gallagher Galchenyuk/Desharnais/Parenteau De la Rose/Eller/ Weise Prust/Mitchell/Smith-Pelly
Markov/Subban Beaulieu/Petry Emelin/ Gilbert or Pateryn
Price
Bergevin's vision is that defense wins championships and he has built his team to reflect this belief. If these two teams were to meet in a Cup finals, the Habs would have an edge in goal. Price is clearly superior to Crawford, although the latter has a Cup ring. From a franchise perspective, the Habs are set for the new future with #31. You need great goaltending to win a Cup and the Habs have that. Bergevin provided Price with the coaching needed to reach his potential. Now he needs to provide him with the team. Edge: Habs.
Chicago's D is Keith and Seabrook and a revolving door of guys in the bottom pairings during this run ('09-'15). Keith is a stud. He is Subban's equal and given the hardware and his gold medals probably slightly better right now. He does everything for the Hawks and like the rest their core 5 (Keith, Seabrook, Kane, Hossa, Toews) he just wins. Seabrook could be nicknamed "Big Game" Brent. He just scores big goals and wins big games whenever he laces them up. Hjalmarsson is a solid steady pro. Can skate and move the puck and fits in the top 4 on probably every team in the league.
For Montreal, Subban is one of the top 5-10 defensemen in the NHL. His game is still maturing, but he could provide 1st pairing minutes for any team in the league. Markov's 50 point season was quickly forgotten after his rough playoffs. Still, he is a crafty vet who can provide leadership. If can get some relief from an emerging Beaulieu, I still like Markov in the top 4. Beaulieu has the skating and the puck skills to be a top 4 man. He needs to get a bit stronger, but has all the tools to key a Habs attack from the back end. Petry is the straw that stirs the drink though. He provides the perfect skills to play tough minutes and fill a spot in the top 3. His emergence and that of Beaulieu could give #79 the rest he needs. The bottom pairing of Gilbert/Pateryn and Emelin is solid across the league for the 5/6 slot. All three players have their warts, but each also provides some solid minutes in a bottom pairing. Emelin and Gilbert were over 20 minutes a game and hold an edge over Chicago's bottom pairing.
I would rank the 12 D men as follows: 1) Keith 2) Subban 3) Seabrook 4/5 tie) Petry/ Hjalmarsson 6) markov 7) Beaulieu 8) Timonen 9) Gilbert 10) Oduya 11) Emelin 12)Cumiskey
You could actually talk me into a number of combinations for the 6-11 slots. Slight edge: Hawks. They have the rings and the experience and that puts them over the top.
The forward units are no contest. Kane, Toews and Hossa would all be the Habs best forward. All three are likely headed to the Hall of Fame and have the scoring and playoff pedigree that no Habs forward can match. Take a quick look at Chicago's centres though. Toews is a superstar and a top 5 player in the league. Drafted 3rd overall, he is a franchise cornerstone. But it gets ugly quickly when you look at the rest of their group. Are Richards, Vermette and Kruger better than the respective Habs centres? No chance. I would actually say Chi-town's bottom 3 centres are the weakest of any team left in the conference finals. The Hawks have some nice pieces on the wings: Sharp, Bickell, Shaw and especially Teravainen. #86 for the Hawks is a young player with the potential to provide offense on the cheap for a Hawks team that will be tight to the cap with the new contracts for Kane and Toews. The Habs have a nice group though with excellent depth 1-12. They lack the top end skill though. Kane was drafted 1st overall, Toews 3rd and Hossa was the biggest free agent on the market when he signed. The Habs have not been in position to get these players. As Bergevin says, the price might be Carey Price and that price is wrong for Montreal. Edge(huge): Hawks.
The reality is, if you put Hossa on the Habs, they are still playing right now. As everyone knows, the one thing Montreal is missing is one more elite forward; someone who can swing the tables in their favour and provide the punch they lack. But players like Hossa or Kane or Toews don't come around very often. The Habs had a short window to pick up an elite forward and got Galchenyuk, also a 3rd overall pick. Right now, their championship potential rests heavily on his young shoulders. Acquiring elite talent at this point costs pieces Montreal doesn't have or can't afford to give up just yet.
Can Galchenyuk develop into a 70 point player? Can he become a legitimate first line centre? If the answer to these two questions is yes, then Montreal is not too far from playing for the Cup. If Galchenyuk cannot make the jump to the next level, the Habs are in trouble to continue to evolve.
Short of a blockbuster trade, it appears as if the solution to the Habs scoring woes is going to have to come from within. Next year the pressure will be on Galchenyuk and Eller to take the reins and allow the Habs to deal their veteran depth for the scoring punch they lack.
As The Nature Boy said "To be the man you gotta beat the man". If Montreal wants to climb to the top of space mountain and hoist the Cup, they are going to need their young guns to become the men to beat the Man.