Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin said before the season: “We mean business.” Thursday night, early into the overtime period of Game 6, the Canadiens proved it in front of their home crowd fans. A season that was full of twists, including a coaching change and some regular season disappointment has still resulted in the Montreal Canadiens punching their ticket to the Stanley Cup Final. The series will be played Monday in Tampa or on Long Island and Montreal now waits to find out where it is headed.
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A highly-contested game, the Canadiens won a series no one expected them to be in. They didn’t hate being the underdogs, but they certainly didn’t love being discounted from the get-go. With something to prove, and even in the face of some interesting calls by the officials, the Habs — a team said to be built for the playoffs but playing a “weak North Division”– are the Canadian team with a chance to win it all.
This is the second time in three seasons that a coach who has taken over his team in the middle of the year makes it to the Stanley Cup Finals. The first was Craig Berube who won the Cup with the Blues in 2019.. The second is Dominque Ducharme who took over the Canadiens bench part way through the season, but incredibly, was not behind the bench for the series win. Luke Richardson was forced to take over when Ducharme tested positive for COVID-19. The other assistant coach in Montreal, Alex Burrows was a player on the last Canadian team to make it to the Cup Final. That was in 2011.
Congratulations to both coaches who were thrown into a crazy situation with little experience. The funny thing is, as underdogs, without their head coach and coming from a Division everyone wrote off as non-playoff ready, the Habs proved the doubters wrong. It turns out the Canadian Division might have been a little more competitive than some people thought.
Credit where it’s due, the Habs beat a very good Vegas team.
Canadiens defenseman Shea Weber will go his first Stanley Cup Final, while newcomer Cole Caufield will make the trip with only 25 total games on his NHL resume. Both were huge factors for the Canadiens. That said, no one came up as big as goaltender Carey Price who turned it up when it mattered most and outshined the goaltending duo of Marc-Andre Fleury and Robin Lehner.
In a super classy show of sportsmanship, Lehner sent a special congratulations out to the Canadiens. He wrote on Twitter after the game, “Congrats to @CanadiensMTL for a hell of a series. Best of luck in the finals. Tough loss tonight but proud of how hard everyone worked this season. We are right there. We will come back better. Thanks to all the people who has supported us this year. @CP0031 good luck too you.”
As Ryan Whitney of Spittin’ Chiclets wrote, “Carey Price is a machine. Montreal penalty kill is breaking records. Caufield is a game breaker and Danault is a unreal two way center. The list goes on and on. Open up Bell Center for the Stanley Cup Final!”
Congrats to the Montreal Canadiens, what a fantastic run this has been. By the way, the Canadiens win the Clarence Campbell Bowl as Western Conference playoff champions for the first time in their 103 year history.
Next: Montreal Canadiens Carey Price: Class Act & Playoff Record Holder
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