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In Hainsight: Playoffs Success Stories Give Food for Thought |
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Follow me @KarineHains for all updates about the Montreal Canadiens and women's hockey
Connor McDavid is the best player in the world, you won’t find many people who’ll argue with that statement but last night, the best player in the world was sent to the golf course by the Vegas Golden Knights. McDavid has now been in the league for 8 years, just like his faithful sidekick Leon Draisaitl but during those 8 seasons, the Oilers only made the playoffs 5 times and have never made it further than the Conference final which they only reached once, getting swept by the champions to be, the Colorado Avalanche. As good as both McDavid (850 points in 569 NHL games) and Draisaitl (744 points in 638 games) are, they cannot bring the Stanley Cup back to Edmonton without proper support.
A high-octane offense will never allow a team to overcome instability in net and questionable defending and that’s where the importance of having a proper salary structure comes into play. Spending roughly 25% of your cap on a couple of players makes it hard to surround them with all the pieces needed to win. So, what if the Canadiens didn’t win the Connor Bedard derby? Perhaps, that’s a good thing in a way, it will make it easier to maintain a healthy salary structure…you’ve got to see the silver lining, right?
McDavid and Draisaitl aren’t the only talented players getting ready to tee off either, the Maple Leafs’ big 4 are also preparing to hit the links and as weird as that sounds, that just might be because there’s too much talent on that team. Just after eliminating the Leafs, Panthers’ star Matthew Tkachuk said: “There’s a lot of individual skill over there, some unbelievable talent. I just think the way we’re able to play as a team with physicality was the difference.” He then added: “You could see there’s a little bit of them wearing down at the end and I just think our team is built for this moment against them. We definitely don’t have as much skill as them. I don’t think there’s many teams that do, but come playoff time, it’s not about that. It’s about sticking together. It’s about coming through in those moments. It’s about timely stuff.”
Whether you like Tkachuk or not, it’s hard to argue with what he said there, to build a winner, you need more than talent, you need a team, a mix of individual who all buy in the same philosophy, an environment in which everyone knows their role and is willing to play it. To win, the likes of Suzuki and Caufield won’t just need more talent, they’ll need some role players, a sound defense and good goaltending. Brendan Gallagher probably never will score 30 goals again but the heart he puts into his play is an ingredient you just cannot do without. To win, you need that kind of dedication. You might need some grit as well, someone who makes everyone feel and play with more confidence knowing that you’ll have their back, someone like an Arber Xhekaj for instance.
Look at the Carolina Hurricanes, I’ll be honest, I thought they had no chance in hell of succeeding this post season without Svechnikov and Pacioretty, I believed they would be short of offense and even more so once Teravainen was injured in the first round and yet, they just keep on going. Because every single one of their players is buying into their team concept, just like the players of the Seattle Kraken are. There’s no huge star in the latest expansion team, Yanni Gourde is their best scorer with 12 points, followed by Jordan Eberle with 11, and Schwartz and Schultz with 10 points. Almost every regular in that roster has scored this offseason, Ryan Donato being the lone exception with no goal in 13 matchups.
Once upon a time, people thought that elite goaltending was a must to find success in the playoffs but this Spring, it hardly feels like it’s the case. The Golden Knights have no proper number one goalie with Robyn Lehner injured, they’ve been riding Laurent Brossoit (who’s now also injured) and Aidan Hill (backed-up by Jonathan Quick). Carolina has also reached the conference final using Anti Raanta and Frederik Andersen, who was discarded by the Leafs who felt they couldn’t win with him, well, newsflash, the problem might not have been in net. The best goaltender remaining in the playoffs is Jake Oettinger but he may not even make it to the conference final, he’s struggling mightily against the Kraken and tonight’s game 7 might be his last for this season. The Canadiens once thought that building from the net out was the recipe for success, but they fell short with Carey Price as their franchise player and the new management doesn’t seem to be in a rush to find their next number one and that’s fine by me, good things come to those who wait.
Meanwhile, Samuel Montembeault played a second game at the World Championships today and he backstopped Canada to a 2-1 shootout win over Slovakia. Mounty made 23 saves throughout the game and made 4 big saves in the shootout to guide the team to victory and was named player of the game, talk about making the most of your opportunity to shine!
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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