Regular Season Beauty and the Playoff Beast

          

    When you think about Claude Lemieux, you think about the playoffs. From very early in his hockey career, he was the kind of player who somehow performed on a higher plane when the pressure was on and the games really meant something. In 27 junior playoff games, Lemieux racked up 61 points. In 1985 he was the playoff MVP in the Q, which foreshadowed his future NHL post-season dominance.

    And, Lemieux didn't just raise his own game when it counted most. His passion inspired the players around him to be better too, which was reflected in the world junior gold-medal team, the Canada Cup winner and four Stanley Cup champions for which he's played. In later years with his playing days behind him, he spent springs watching others try to do what came so naturally to him. 
    "There's a lot of really good teams," he acknowledged. "Unfortunately, only one can win. In the East, it's gonna come down to goaltending...always. It'll come down to the team that is great on special teams and stays healthy. I like the Canadiens right now because they're one of the healthiest, and they've got great goaltending. They could go a very long way."

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    Lemieux knew well the feeling of winning in Montreal. As a 20-year-old rookie in 1986, he scored 10 goals in 20 games to play a vital role in securing the franchise's 23rd Stanley Cup. 
    "I played, I believe, the last 8 or 10 games of the regular season. People ask if I felt the pressure of playing for the Montreal Canadiens in the playoffs. I was just numb. I was just happy to be there. I was excited about the opportunity. I was always a pretty good tournament performer in my youth hockey career and that translated really well to the next level. Obviously, we had a wonderful run and ended up winning the Stanley Cup in my first year," Lemieux recalled.
    He won three other Stanley Cups, with New Jersey and Colorado, taking home the Conn Smythe trophy as the MVP of the 1995 playoffs. His 19 game-winning playoff goals are third all time, behind only Wayne Gretzky and Brett Hull. 

    He was unusual in that his average point production over his career was higher in the playoffs than in the regular season. 
    "It becomes a real true war of physical play, mental strength and just how bad you want it," he said. "And that's why I think my game suited playoffs a little bit better than regular season play. Other guys just disliked me even more, so mentally I was probably a pain to be facing for a six or seven game series, so they probably were glad to go home and not face me any more," he said with a wry laugh, referencing his chippy, abrasive, irritating style.
    With all those Cup wins and special moments over 18 playoff seasons, you'd think it would have been tough for Lemieux to pick a personal favourite. When asked though, he immediately recalled a goal most Habs fans of a certain age will remember as well, scored in Montreal during that very first run to the title.
    "I always say the biggest goal I ever scored was against Hartford in, I think it was double overtime, Game 7," he explained. "I'm always going to remember that goal as my most exciting, memorable goal. I still remember scoring it and skating toward the bench and diving on the ice with all my teammates on top of me."

     "It really struck me what it meant to win in Montreal when Larry Robinson was the last guy to congratulate me and he was hugging me and he wouldn't let go. It was just he and I pretty much left on the ice and he just kept hugging me, then he let go and I saw he had tears in his eyes. He was crying. I thought, this is crazy. This man has won so many Stanley Cups already and he's been around forever. But that is what winning does for you, and that's what it means to be a Montreal Canadien. It's quite special."

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    Lemieux said with his post-season record, he was often asked what it takes to be a winner. 
    "I say a lot of guys are born winners and they won't take no for an answer. Others can be converted. They can learn. It's something you can teach," he said. "It's easier to teach young players than older players, but then, I knew older players who didn't have the opportunity to win when they were younger. Bobby Carpenter, for example. He was a gifted goal scorer who'd lost a bit of speed and touch, and he learned to take on a different role as a checker. He took on a different role and became a winner, and he's forever a winner," Lemieux said.
    Before his sudden death just three days after carrying the torch into the Bell Centre, he was hoping the Canadiens could surprise the hockey world like they did during his rookie season. He knew good goaltending, good health and a solid lineup are important, and the Habs have those things, but the real secret ingredient to a long run is something he never lacked: belief.
    "I don't think it's magic. I think everything runs downhill. From the top down, if you have winners at the top, it starts to spread. Losing spreads through your locker room quickly, but so does winning," he said. "Playoffs are always very exciting. There are surprises and players nobody knows about who play really well, and goaltenders and players who make a name for themselves. Playoffs are great."
    If anybody knew the truth of that, it was Claude Lemieux.

Heartbreak

     

    There are many times in the course of a Stanley Cup playoff run when your heart breaks a little: Losing a tight game you deserved to win. Failing to play your game when you really need to bring it. Having a goal called back because the refs take out the tape measure on an offside review. Getting blown out at home in a potential series clincher.

    The Canadiens have lived through every one of those situations this spring and managed to find a way to fight back. They have every opportunity to do it again in this Carolina series.

    However, perhaps the most heartbreaking moment of these playoffs was watching Lane Hutson stand there after the game and say "It would be nice to be up 2-1, but we’re not because of me, so it’s frustrating." He followed that brutal self-assessment with an apology to goalie Jakub Dobes, saying "Sucks that I just blew it for him."

    Hutson is keen to be accountable for the loss, but it was far, far from his fault. There would have been no overtime at all if he hadn't scored on the power play to even things at two. If his teammates had more than 13 shots or could bury a breakaway, Hutson might never have been in a position to make the play that led to the game winner for Carolina. They didn't and they couldn't, and that left the team's best player (aside from maybe Dobes) feeling like he should have done more. It's hard to imagine how he could.

    The 22-year-old has 15 points in 17 playoff games. He plays almost thirty minutes a game (28:55 in Game Three) and he defends brilliantly against the other team's toughest players. He's been a target all playoffs, his 162 pounds absorbing hit after hit, including a terrible knee-on-knee collision with Taylor Hall in Game Two that obviously really hurt. Still, watching him work his skating magic, you'd never know it.

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    If Hutson doubts himself, he can make an exercise of imagining the Canadiens without him. It's hard to believe it's been only two years since he signed his first NHL contract because he's such an entrenched part of the team now. He's the first Calder Trophy winner the Habs have had since Ken Dryden in 1971. His 78 points this season were a major reason why the team made the playoffs in a squeaky-tight Atlantic division. He's mature for his age, a visionary and creative genius on the ice. He's the only one on the team who'd think to crawl in behind his goalie to help him protect the post during a scrum. 

    Other teams target Hutson because they know he drives the Canadiens' offence more than any other player. Even when he doesn't record a point on a play, he's constantly moving the puck out of danger, making impossible passes or stripping an attacker to prevent a scoring chance. If the team can't muster up more than a handful of shots, it's certainly not down to Hutson.

    No, there are many issues with the way the Canadiens are playing, especially at home, but Lane Hutson's performance is definitely not one of them. He's probably the hardest worker on the team, first on the ice every day even during optional practices. There's little more he can do to drive his team forward.

    Hopefully, today, Hutson's teammates will listen to their superstar blaming himself for the loss and realize how little they did to help him. Perhaps a little introspection might help them focus on playing their best instead of just watching him play his game. If the Canadiens are to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals, a lot of players will have to be better in Game Four.

    Lane Hutson does not.

    

    

For the Good of the Game

    

    On May 16, 1976, Montreal Canadiens captain Yvan Cournoyer emerged from a celebratory throng, lifting the Stanley Cup over his head, grinning big enough to put the Cheshire Cat to shame. He circled the ice at the Philadelphia Spectrum, trailed by teammates awaiting their turn to touch the coveted chalice. The win completed a sweep of the Flyers, who'd won the previous two Cups in their then-incarnation as the Broad Street Bullies.

    Philly had some good players in Bobby Clarke and Reggie Leach, but they made their reputation for fierceness on the fists of Dave Schultz, Battleship Kelly and their fellow goons. They won because every other team in the league was afraid to play them. That is, until the Canadiens turned the tide by developing a very different game and imposing their will on the truculent Flyers. In the months and years since that victory of skill, speed and sportsmanship over bullying and intimidation, more than one observer has credited the Canadiens for saving the game from an overall descent into Philly hockey.

    "This is not only a victory for the Canadiens; it is a victory for hockey," Serge Savard said that night at the Spectrum. "I hope that this era of intimidation and violence that is hurting our national sport is coming to an end. Young people have seen that a team can play electrifying, fascinating hockey while still behaving like gentlemen."

    "And if they had won the third Stanley Cup in a row, then we could see that it was going to revert back into a lot more fighting," recalls Steve Shutt years later. "And I think it would have put the game back 5 or 10 years. So us going in there and winning that particular series, I think really, really benefited the game in general."

    "We wanted to win the Cup in Philadelphia and I think that was a real legacy for that hockey team; the start of something that took it to a new level," Doug Risebrough remembers. "The Flyers won with that kind of aggressive, fighting, beat-you-up-for-checking type game. And I don't think people in our room believed that that was the way the game should have been played."

    "And I'm not belittling what the Flyers did because they won Cups, but the Montreal Canadiens were going to win it different than that. We weren't going to win it the way they had won it. We didn't adjust to their style. We were going to win it differently with skating, offence, attention to the detail and defence."

    "Everybody follows the champion and every team wants to be like the champion," said Ken Dryden.

    "And as the Flyers were winning, everybody wanted to be like the Flyers. And I think it was important that we won."

    "I mean there there are good teams, there are great teams and there are important teams and there are a lot of Stanley Cup winners and a lot of them are great teams or near-great teams. There are not very many that are also important teams. And I think the Montreal Canadians of that time were also a very important team."

    The Canadiens of that era, essentially, saved NHL hockey from itself.

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    Now, fifty years later, the Canadiens face a similar challenge. 

    These days, the NHL is a business more than at any other time in its history. Between constant gambling ads, players' outside business interests, pointless franchises in pointless markets and inequitable officiating (including from the so-called office of player safety), the game is at risk of losing its soul once again.

    It's especially true this year with the Vegas Golden Knights one game away from making the Stanley Cup Final on the back of goalie Carter Hart. Hart is one of the 2018 Canadian World Junior players who were charged with sexual assault against a young woman in London, Ontario. The players ended up being acquitted because the judge didn't believe the complainant, despite compelling evidence.

    A team with a soul would look at the situation and question the wisdom in signing a guy with that background hanging over him. At the very least, it would put his judgement at being in that position and failing to stop it into question. A team with a soul doesn't hire Carter Hart.

    The NHL today is willing to ban rainbow stick tape to appease a few homophobic critics. It's willing to sell itself to the highest sports-betting company. It allows the Stanley Cup to visit the fascist US White House. And it's willing to give players who are involved in abusive situations second chances to restart lucrative hockey careers.

    These Canadiens are not today's NHL. 

    The first thing Jeff Gorton and Kent Hughes look for is character. Logan Mailloux got into trouble in Sweden as a 17-year-old by taking and sharing non-consensual photos of a sex act with a young woman. He played a total of eight games for the Habs before they shifted him to St.Louis. Even if he paid a price for his past, he didn't belong with this group. Hughes wants to know the players he hires are good people, unlikely to get caught up in scandal. He wants them to have a soul.

    If the Canadiens are lucky enough to make the Finals this year, it'll be on them to show the league what a real, tight, clean-cut team looks like. They'll show that even in this age of social media and so many outside influences, a group of young men can come together in sincerity and with a common purpose to beat out the glitzy, controversial, Bettman-sponsored McTeams he's foisted on the league.

    It's time for the Canadiens to save hockey, again.

    

Wolves

     

    Just after Game Seven against the Lighting in the first round of the post-season, the Montreal Canadiens were in their dressing room, happy and exhausted. The Habs had come in as underdogs against the playoff-hardened Bolts and the series was a tight-checking slog. Most of the players were sitting in their stalls getting undressed when coach Martin St.Louis walked in. The room was quiet as he began his postgame speech. That didn't last long. Channeling Leonardo DiCaprio from the Wolf of Wall Street, he injected a dose of his own joy and passion into the guys in the room.

    It was an appropriate choice. 

    "I just feel like they’re a pack, they’re so together," St.Louis said just before the playoffs. "They just love each other. They got each other’s backs. They celebrate everyone. It’s a very selfless group."

    "Marty talks about having a pack mentality, so wolf’s a big theme," says captain Nick Suzuki. That theme inspired him to buy the now-infamous wolf head hat the players award to each win's MVP.

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    Ten years ago, Jeff Gorton was general manager of the New York Rangers. St.Louis was newly retired from the team, but Gorton thought he had the makings of a future coach and wanted to keep him around. He offered St.Louis the head coaching job of the Rangers AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack. St.Louis declined. Hartford didn't appeal to him, but the "wolf pack" idea certainly did. The pack mentality concept underpins his coaching philosophy. 

    Shane Mahoney has been a wildlife biologist for decades, and he knows pack behaviour intimately.

    "So the pack becomes essentially an extended family," he explains. "It's the pups of previous years and the pups of this year and so on that work together as a cooperative unit. So they have this very strong genetic tie but they also have an extraordinary range of cooperative behaviour and communication abilities."

    The pups of previous years...cooperative behaviour...communication. Sound familiar?

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    "This communication allows wolves to capture prey species that are much larger than themselves and which would be just impossible for a single wolf to to kill," Mahoney continues. "The wolf pack is so successful because it is so coordinated. They have enormous intelligence and they have developed these extraordinary behaviors for cohesion, cooperative behavior and also hierarchies."

    Just like a hockey team, the wolf pack has individuals that play different roles within the group.

    "Some of the of the wolves tend to be the individuals that may do more of the hard-on attacking when they finally close in on prey," Mahoney says. "Because with the extended family structure, you have some that are small in that given year, right? They were only born in that year. They don't have the size, the body mass and so on to be the real attack animals. But they can harry. they can chase, they can wear down the prey."

    "You also have the mature animals that are much more capable in terms of dispatching the prey through chokeholds or whatever other kind of particular killing technique that they are actually using. So there's no question that there is a hierarchy of behavior and different roles played by the wolves. The more experienced, larger bodied, more capable wolves are at the front and centre of the actual physical engagement with the prey"

    Wolf packs don't just communicate and cooperate while hunting, either. Just like a hockey team should, they also defend together. 

     "Of course the pack defends itself as a pack and it defends just as importantly, its prey as a pack," Mahoney says. "And there's just not that many other animals that are really capable of stealing prey from a wolf."

    "You have this really quite extraordinary kind of emotional and physical link that we could call loyalty. We could call it many things, but the truth of the matter is they stick together. They work together, they fight together and essentially they live entirely like a little moving community across the landscape. In terms of the big fundamental aspects of behaviour and capacities like intelligence or empathy, wolves are a lot like us."

    And we are a lot like them.

    Shane Mahoney calls the Canadiens a wolf pack on skates. Turns out Marty St.Louis doesn't just know hockey. He understands nature as well.

    

The Honorary Newfoundlander

     

    Today, as we celebrate the Canadiens moving on to the third round of the playoffs, Newfoundland's Alex Newhook is the name on everybody's lips. The young man has seven goals, including two Game Seven winners in fourteen games. He's the native son everybody in his home province is hoping will bring the Cup back for a second time in his young career. However, many of his fans don't know he's not the only Newfoundland connection to this Canadiens' team. Just before embarking on his second year coaching the Habs, Martin St.Louis became an honorary Newfoundlander too. Here's the story.

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On a gorgeous fall evening in October, the usual crowd gathered in the Legion hall in tiny Gander, Newfoundland. A few down-on-their luck guys were playing video slots. A pair of couples sat drinking local beer at a wobbly table under bright, fluorescent lights. A trio of people chatted with the bored-looking bartender, while one guy played pool against himself. Otherwise, the place was quiet and empty.

    Heads turned when the door opened and strangers...a whole gang of them...strolled in. They were mostly young men; tall, fit, loud and energetic. Obviously, they were some sort of team.

    It turned out the visitors were the Montreal Canadiens training and equipment staff, in town with the team for a Kraft Hockeyville exhibition game against the Ottawa Senators. On the night before the game, they were out for some fun and to be screeched in.

    A screech-in is a silly game for tourists in Newfoundland, in which you become an honorary citizen by reciting a local phrase, drinking a shot of dark rum Screech and kissing a codfish, hosted by a local emcee.

    It wasn't a big deal to the regulars at the Legion. Screech-ins happen there fairly often over the summer, so nobody really paid much attention. Or, they didn't until another group arrived shortly behind the first. This time, their eyes followed one of the newcomers, knowing they'd seen him somewhere before.

    Marty St.Louis, casual in dark jeans, navy sweater and white-collared shirt, blended in with the rest of the crowd. He wasn't quite sure what he was doing there; only that the training guys said they were going and he decided to tag along. The rest of the coaching staff came with him.

    That was unusual. A couple of the trainers said most of the time on the road the coaches keep to themselves. Mixing in with the trainers and equipment guys normally doesn't happen, and it signaled to them the start of a different kind of team reality.

    The screech-in proceeded with the jokes, the recitation of the Newfoundland phrases, the rum and the codfish. Although a bit bemused, St.Louis played along in the spirit of the thing. He willingly drank the rot-gut rum and kissed the frozen fish, with a big smile. As more than one attendee explained, "That's just Marty."

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    A few years ago, Forbes magazine published an article called 7 Things That Make Great Bosses Unforgettable. The first item on the list: great bosses are passionate.

    Vincent Lecavalier played in Tampa for twelve years with St.Louis, and counts him as a friend and mentor.

    "That's probably one of his biggest things," he says. "If you talk about Marty St.Louis, that's what it is. Passion. Determination. That's something he brought as a player and obviously as a coach now. He loves what he does. He's hockey. That's his life. I loved hockey. I loved a lot of things about hockey. But to be a coach, to do that game in and game out, it takes a special kind of person."

    Mike Gilligan agrees. St.Louis joined his University of Vermont squad in 1993, and immediately impressed the coach.

    "I have to give him the highest ranks in passion," he says. "When he was a younger player in college, he was almost too passionate and losses hurt him so. He expected a lot from himself. He enjoyed the game so much, he didn't want to play poorly or have his teammates play poorly. He didn't like it if he thought they weren't respecting the sport and respecting every minute they had to enjoy that sport. He was the heart and soul of my teams for four years. Passion is one of his great traits."

    Number two on the Forbes list of excellent boss traits is "standing in front of the bus." In other words, the opposite of throwing players under the bus when things aren't going well. Gilligan says St.Louis ticks that box as well.

    "When he was hired up there last year, I said to myself, one thing he won't do is embarrass his players," he remembers. "He'll back them up, and he'll do one on ones with them if he has anything serious to say. He won't make a spectacle or coach through the media. He'll be right up front with these guys. He's not gonna blame anybody else except himself if things go wrong. He takes the hits. He'll own everything."

    Third on the Forbes list: "They play chess, not checkers." That is to say, they recognize not all pieces of their teams are interchangeable. They each have a specific set of traits that can be applied in a situation, and there are situations when a particular team member cannot be used.

    "Marty has been in every situation," says Lecavalier. "He's been a fourth liner, he's been an American Leaguer, he's been everything. He relates to everybody because he's been through it all. He can relate to a fourth liner. He can related to that guy who's gonna be up and down all year. He can relate to the top player. The only thing he can't relate to is probably the goalie."

    "That's what makes him understand that everybody does need a role on a team and how important everybody is on a team.  Even if you're playing eight or nine minutes, he'll get the best eight or nine minutes for that guy. I think he really understands that."

    Next, a great boss is who he is all the time, with no pretense, false promises or hidden agendas.

    "He's as serious in life as he is in hockey," Gilligan explains. "He expects a lot from the people around him, but he expects more from himself. He doesn't change. He hasn't changed one bit since I've met him. He doesn't forget anybody. With all his successes, his best friends are some of the guys he grew up with along the way. Not big shot type players, but just regular friends. He's as nice to them as he is to everyone else."

    Number five on the Forbes list is "a great boss is a port in a storm." When everything is going to crap, he's the one who calms everyone down and remains cool under pressure.

    "I think he's pretty calm," Lecavalier says. "I think he was like that as a player. That's probably very hard to do as a coach because you're basically looked at as either a winner or a loser. A lot of coaches can't take the losing."

    "I think Marty's done a really good job in believing in the process of getting better. Sometimes you don't always get the results, but you know that's gonna come.  So I think as a coach, it's good to be patient if your team is trending in the right direction and he's doing that."

    According to the list, an excellent boss is also human, not afraid of emotion or embarrassed to show his own. He's also warm and relates to his people as people before workers

    "He's very easy to talk to," Lecavalier shares. "He was a guy who wasn't afraid to go and talk to coaches, and that's what he's bringing. His door's always open. Not every coach does that. They say their door is open, but it's not really."

    "But he's a good communicator. He understands everybody has different needs and responds to different ways of coaching. I can just remember with me and John Tortorella, it was hard for me to go into his office. And Marty would say why won't you go in his office? You'll feel so much better after. You'll both feel better. He was always about communication, and he does that with his players."

     And finally, according to Forbes, a great boss is humble.

    "He doesn't brag on himself at all," Gilligan confirms. "As much as he's done, he doesn't talk about himself. He just goes on with his life and tries to help people around him. He just loves the sport and respects it so much. It's given him a career and it's been his lifelong dream."

    If St.Louis has all the qualities of a great boss, neither Gilligan nor Lecavalier is surprised.

    "I got in the league before him, but I was five years younger," says Lecavalier. "He really helped me on my mental game. He made sure I got better. He was a natural leader that brought the best out of me. He was almost like a player-coach type guy with not just the caring, but how to play the game. Little things on the ice that make you better. He was a big brother type of guy. A friend and a guy you could talk to."

    "He sees the game like he's in the third balcony. He's always had great hockey sense. Even when he played with me, he'd suggest things to do," Gilligan says.

    "I remember on his first penalty kill with us, he came off the ice and I said 'Hey Marty, when you get that puck, you get rid of it and throw it down the other end.' He looked at me and said 'I kind of see it as an offensive opportunity. There's fewer people out there to go around.' He was almost like a coach from day one for us."

    "He was a great hire. Some of the younger kids have rallied around him. They're really starting to grow as players right now. He's a good match for them. Some of them remember him as a player. It wasn't that long ago that he was doing the stuff they're trying to do right now."

    "He's got a great set of values. As good as he is as a hockey person, he's a hall of famer in life. He's quite a guy."

    

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    Back in Gander, after the Canadiens crew...now honorary Newfoundlanders...were screeched in and shared a few laughs and beers, they headed out to get ready for the next day's game.

    At the door, they stopped and looked around. "Where's Marty?" they asked.

    Looking back, there he was.

    Quietly helping the bartender clear away the empties before he hit the road.

    

Alcatraz

     

    When a team full of rookies delivered an unexpected and joyful Stanley Cup to Montreal in 1986, they did it from their home base in Alcatraz. That's what the team called the isolated South Shore hotel where general manager Serge Savard sequestered his young roster, away from the building frenzy in their home city. 

    It wasn't easy for players with lives and families to stay apart from them through those long spring weeks, but even today, 40 years later, those men still recall the bonds and friendships that time forged in their careers. For many of them, it was the only championship they ever won and they still credit the closeness of that time for the victory.

    

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    If this year's youth-filled team survives its Game Seven faceoff against Buffalo, perhaps it's time to reopen Alcatraz. The pressures facing the '86 team were real, but nothing compared to the reality today's players know. Forty years ago, there was no such thing as social media and its accompanying trolls. Fans today, long starved for a Cup win, are building themselves into a city-wide frenzy that feeds off itself in an unending loop of chaos.

    None of that is conducive to building the sense of calm and purpose a young team needs to concentrate on the job at hand.

    The decibel level at the Bell Centre has been recorded at 143.6, which is about equivalent to an F-18 taking off on your front lawn. The safe maximum the human ear can withstand without damage is about 85. When a building is that loud, players can't hear each other. They can't hear the coach. The booming roar echoes in their heartbeats and disrupts any thinking the players need to do. Each player exists in his own silo and cohesion is lost.

    Of course, the Canadiens weren't alone in that atmosphere. The Sabres had to play through it too, but the stakes for them were different. They had to win, and the pressure on them came from within. They didn't have to worry about disappointing thousands of fans in the building, or thousands more in the streets outside. They didn't have to worry about floods of doomsayers online tearing them and their families apart or dozens of talk shows dissecting their every decision. Martin St.Louis knows this reality too and has said he wishes the players weren't online at all.

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    The human cerebral cortex is vital for memory, thinking, learning, reasoning, problem-solving, emotions, consciousness and functions related to your senses. If you're trying to be a successful hockey player, all those things are important. However, the brain's development isn't finished until a person is about 25 years old. Many of the Canadiens players are still working on getting there.

    So far, we've seen an impressive level of maturity and dedication from these young men, but we have to accept that they're still growing up. That's why Kent Hughes and the front office can help by taking away the distractions that spoil their concentration and negate all the positive work they've done.

    The first order of business now is to give everything they can in Buffalo. And if they come out on top, perhaps they should come home to Alcatraz.

Brainiacs

    

    After eliminating the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round of this year's playoffs, reporters asked Juraj Slafkovsky about his health. He'd taken a couple of serious hits to the head; one in a fight and one from a massive hit. The young player answered, "I think I'm good, you know. I can't really get much dumber."

    It was a candid, tongue-in-cheek answer from a young player who is far, far from dumb.

    By now, everyone knows the Montreal Canadiens have a young team. They have a fast team and a talented one. They're tenacious and hardworking. They have size in players like Arber Xhekaj, Kirby Dach, Kaiden Guhle, Slafkovsky and Josh Anderson. They've got generational skill in Lane Hutson and elite scoring capability in Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield. And of course they have a unique coach beloved by his players in Martin St.Louis. (The hug he gave Ivan Demidov after his first-ever playoff goal was the perfect illustration of that.)

    What a lot of people miss about the Canadiens is they're also a smart team. After years of watching guys like Andrei Kostitsyn barge into the offensive zone and then appear to completely forget why he's there, smart is a refreshing change.

    It all starts with GM Kent Hughes. He's the one who decides what qualities the team should exhibit and hunts for the guys who best fit that bill. 

    "Number one, he’s very intelligent," said Vincent Lecavalier upon Hughes' hiring. "He’s intelligent, but he doesn’t think he’s the smartest guy in the room. He lets people talk and lets them express themselves and he listens. He’s open to good ideas all the time. He’s very analytical. He’s a very intuitive person, too. If something’s wrong or not going well, he picks up on those things. He’s a great human being."

    Once Hughes took over, his first job was finding a coach who'd match the philosophy he wanted to bring to Montreal. Enter St.Louis, even though the choice was way off the board. He had zero pro coaching experience, but Hughes didn't care about that because of the coach's other, more valued attributes.

    "What impresses me is the reason we hired him in the first place, because of the qualities that he brings," Hughes says. "It was his analytical mind, his emotional intelligence, his leadership qualities, his hockey IQ. This is somebody who rises up to challenges. He doesn’t shrink, he’s adaptable, he’s bright, and he’s able to make adjustments."

    When choosing players for the Canadiens, Hughes and St.Louis look for skill and character, of course, but they also look for brains. They want players who don't just perform on the ice, but who are constantly thinking while they do it.

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    Some of the players...Caufield, Hutson, Jake Evans and Mike Matheson among them...were fitted for their thinking caps in college. They played in a league that focused more on physical and mental development than on a heavy schedule of game play. Unlike some of their junior colleagues, college players often tend to come to the pros with a well-rounded perspective on the game and on life.

    Others, like Suzuki, come from families that placed a high value on education. The captain actually went to art school instead of conventional college. He believes developing creativity inevitably develops intelligence.

    "It helps for sure. Thinking outside the box is a great way to be a good hockey player. Just trying to see things that other people don't," Suzuki says. "All these kinds of art forms that I've been studying have helped my brain with thinking fast and being precise."

    Some players are just born gifted with intelligence on the ice like Lane Hutson.

    "He is special. His poise, his brains, his hands, his edgework," praises analyst Craig Button. "He’s always aware of where opportunities are. Everybody on the ice knows he’s a brilliant player and yet he continues to do brilliant things."

    You don't get to thrive in the NHL as an undersized D-man without being smart enough to not only avoid being killed, but to turn what others might consider a weakness into strength.

    It's interesting to note many of the smartest players were not immersed completely in hockey when they were growing up. Suzuki spent summers playing golf, competitive soccer, volleyball and basketball. Caufield played baseball and football in the hockey offseason. Slafkovsky played soccer and Jakub Dobes ran cross country. Sports psychologists will tell you it's important to vary a young athlete's activities, not only to improve physical strength and coordination, but because different sports require different ways of thinking which excercise the brain.

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    When you play for a smart coach like St.Louis, you'd better be smart too. His thinking is often unorthodox and requires some adaptation for players new to the room. The more intelligent the player, the easier it is for him to adjust his game quickly.

    People rave about how fast the Habs rebuild has happened, and a big part of that is group intelligence. Clever players learn quickly and they rarely make the same errors repeatedly. Take Slafkovsky for example. He came into the NHL with huge expectations on his shoulders and ended up spending a lot of time getting caught off guard and taking massive hits to throw him off his game and onto his butt.

    Now, at just 22 years of age, he has quickly overcome a very steep learning curve and is making himself into a dangerous power forward.

    "I like Juraj Slafkovský's game, maybe because I see myself in him when I was young," lauds none other than legend Jaromir Jagr. "I like these types of players who are strong on the boards. He is also very intelligent.”

    So no, Slaf. If Jagr says you're not a dummy, then you're not.

    You're smart enough to keep up with the smartest young team in the NHL.

For Want of a Nail

   

     In 1758, Benjamin Franklin published his Poor Richard's Almanac. It was his last edition, and it included a version of this parable:

    For want of a nail, the shoe was lost;

    For want of a shoe, the horse was lost;

    For want of a horse, the rider was lost;
    For want of a rider, the battle was lost;
    For want of a battle, the kingdom was lost,
    And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.

    On January 10, 2026, Detroit Red Wings forward Lucas Raymond capitalized on a wild deflection off the Zamboni door at the Bell Centre, scoring the opening goal against Montreal. The Habs ended up losing that game 4-0 after the early momentum shift.

    On March 10, the Canadiens got the benefit of the bounce when Phil Danault grabbed the puck as it flew out in front of the crease on a freaky deflection off the Zamboni door.

    In April, Jakub Dobes had a near-miss when the puck bounced off the door again.

    And in Game Four of the second-round series against Buffalo, the Sabres tied it up when Tage Thompson benefited from the wonky door.

    Franklin might have moralized:

    For want of a hinge, the puck was lost;

    For want of a puck, a goal was lost;

    For want of a goal, the game was lost;

    For want of a game, the series was lost;

    For want of a series, the playoffs were lost,

    And all for the want of a Zamboni door hinge.

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    It'd be easy to say the fluky goal sucked momentum away from Montreal and made the difference. It probably did have an impact, but it's the post-season. Weird things happen. There'll be missed calls, missed goals and strange bounces. Usually, there's nothing to be done except shake your head and get back out there.

    The problem with the fluke goal in Game Four wasn't that it happened. That's playoffs. The problem was it was allowed to happen. This isn't the crappy rink in Phoenix. This is the Bell Centre, home of one of the richest NHL teams in the league. The owners built a beautiful arena. The front office has filled it with talent and the coaching staff, all 97 of them, spend night and day poring over video, planning strategy and working with the players to make sure they've done everything possible to remove distraction and prepare the team. Team staff makes sure the players are physically and mentally cared for; fed the most nutritious food, given the best workout facilities anywhere. Thousands of fans bring passion and energy to the rink every game night. 

    So, to have all of this time and money invested in giving the Canadiens every possible advantage and then get punished by a simple door hinge just doesn't make sense. Surely there's an engineer out there somewhere who can eliminate the problem.

    The players and coaches have talked about it. They know the puck bounces oddly there and they know to watch out for it. Unfortunately, knowing it's coming doesn't mean you can stop it from happening. It's kind of like getting old, as this issue is getting old.

    There's not much point in spending millions to ice a competitive team when you're undermining your own efforts with known...and preventable...problems. This issue has to be solved immediately. It's already cost a goal the Canadiens couldn't afford to give up on a night when they weren't playing with enough energy to win. It's got to be playing on the goalies' minds. It's a distraction that doesn't need to be one.

    There will be another game at the Bell Centre this playoff. Game Six will be huge. Somebody will be eliminated or forcing a Game Seven. It would be bordering on tragic to have a simple maintenance issue figuring into the outcome of a wild series.

    For want of a nail.

    

A Midnight Conversation

 

The Scene: a darkened Montreal cathedral on a quiet night in May. 

(A man dressed all in black approaches furtively, glancing over his shoulder before slipping through an unlocked door and stealthily advancing up the aisle to kneel before the altar. Flickering candlelight faintly illuminates the space. Is it a penitent? The Phantom of the Opera? A member of Dan Brown's Illuminati? The kneeling form draws back its hood to reveal a worried-looking Cole Caufield.)

Caufield: Um, Lord? God? God?? Are you there?

(silence)

Caufield: Hey, God? Okay, look.. I don't know if you really hang out here or not, but I thought it couldn't hurt to try.

The Almighty: (sighs) Hello Cole. Are you back to ask for "just five more inches" again? I thought I've made it pretty clear it's not going to happen. You don't just add a few inches when you're 25 years old. Sheeesh. Even my guys in Turkey couldn't pull that off. Go home to bed, kid. I've got real games to fix.

Caufield: Ha! I KNEW it! I knew You decide which players are the most deserving and you reward them for their dedication, loyalty and honesty. I KNEW it wasn't all for nothing.

God: Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! That's not what I'm saying, kid. I don't care who wins. I just care who covers the spread. This portion of this sacred petition is sponsored by Bet365.

Caufield: (impatiently)  No, no! God, WHY would you do this? You gave me adversity and I overcame it. You gave me talent and I used it. Why take it away from me now?

God: Would it help if I told you it's a test? That when you finally DO score it'll feel so much better? That you'll appreciate it even more?

Caufield: No! I don't need a test! I need a goal! Please, God, you have to help me.

God: (in a thundering voice) I am displeased by you, Cole.

Caufield: But WHY? What did I do?

God: Oh, for Me's sake! I've given you all you need. You have vision, brains, speed and skill. I have blessed you with charisma and wealth. I have bestowed upon you an ability to laser a hockey puck with the precision of a butterfly's heart surgeon. I've made you invisible to the defenders' naked eye. I even sent one of My angels to coach you. Why do you always ask for more? This is the sin of greed!

Caufield: But Lord, You're the one who MADE me want more! You gave me drive and passion and ambition. Why would you do that if you wanted me to settle for ordinary? You're more confusing than NHL reffing.

God: Hey! Low blow, kid! I am mysterious. They are blind. Anyway, you're right. Forget what I said. It's all bullshit. Go out and do your thing. Grab everything you can. (silence ensues. Caufield doesn't move. God sighs) Now what, Cole?

Caufield: Just one goal, Lord. I know the flow will come if I can get just one. Can't You push a shot a bit so it bounces in? Or maybe You could make Lyon go blind, just for a second? Could You send a plague or something, just as a distraction?

God: No! There will be no plague!!

Caufield: Just a little one? Only a few locusts?

God: (wearily) Go home, Cole. Trust yourself.

Caufield: (chastened) Yes, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Could I just ask...

God: NOOO!

Caufield: Okay, okay! I'm leaving. I'll think about what you said.

(Caufield trudges back down the aisle and leaves the church, checking for observers as he goes. Inside, the twin doors of the confessional creak open. Nick Suzuki and Juraj Slafkovsky ease out into the dim nave, grin and fist bump.)

Slaf: Do you think he bought it?

Suzuki: For sure! He's so superstitious. Back in camp, I took him to a fortune teller in Old Montreal. I gave her a note with her "prediction" on it. She told him her spirit guide was feeling something about the number 50 and did that number mean anything to him. He said maybe it might. She was quick on her feet. She said she saw him surrounded by smiling people, being treated like a hero, and it all had to do with the number 50. And, you know what happened next!

Slaf: Suzy! You're so sneaky! I bet you "god" gives Cole a goal next game.

Suzuki: All part of being the captain, my friend. You find out what guys need, and you help if you can.

(The linemates leave the building and start walking down the street. A minute passes in silence.)

Slaf: Hey, Suzy? Did you ever make me think you were God?

Suzuki: (smiling) If I did, did it work?

(Suzuki walks away as Slafkovky look after him, wondering.)

The Once

 

     In Newfoundland, when you ask someone when they intend to get something done, you're very likely to be told "the once." When are you coming over? The once. What time are you serving lunch? The once. When do you plan to mow the lawn? The once. "The once" means right away, or at least as soon as possible. 

    Among Canadiens fans nobody wants to say too much too soon, but the pundits are inevitably dragging out the old "no Canadian team has won the Stanley Cup since 1993" complaint and asking the annual question "When will the drought end?" Now, for the first time in a very long while, Habs fans might be tempted to answer "the once." 

    This year feels different. Even getting to the Cup final in 2021 felt like something of a mirage. Covid protocols, weird time of year, no fans...it just seemed all so artificial. The run to the conference finals in 2010 was a lot of fun, but every win was a bit of a miracle for a badly-outmatched Habs team. This time, the Canadiens are true competitors with every expectation of proving themselves.

    In the relative calm before Game One of the second round of the playoffs anything is possible. The slate is clean, the series is there for the taking, the confidence and optimism are high. It's anybody's game, so why not Montreal's? They have skill, goaltending, good coaching, players who've stepped up their games and have learned a lot in the Tampa series about how playoff hockey is done. They look like a team that can contend...and maybe do it the once.

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    There's a folk trio based in St.John's called The Once, named after the old saying.

    They've traveled the world, won a bunch of awards and are known for their gorgeous, three-part harmonies. They wrote a song a couple of years ago called "Gonna Get Good," and it says a lot about the hope around this team.

    "Well the easiest things aren't the things that you need

    And if I'm honest it's never the problem it seems
    And you'll never believe
    But you should
    That it'll never get easy but but baby
    Its gonna get good."

    This second-round series with the Sabres, which could be the first of many confrontations between the two surging young teams over the next decade, will not be easy. Buffalo had a better record than Montreal during the regular season overall, but the head-to-head matchup was as tight as the playoff series against Tampa.

    Each team had two wins and two losses in regulation. Each won once on the road and once at home. Both teams had a total of 13 goals scored over the four games. The Sabres are a well-balanced, well-coached team who promise to give the Canadiens all they can handle. 

    On the other side, the Canadiens are fast and dynamic with a first line bursting to break out. They've got a tight bond in their dressing room, a hot goalie and a mostly healthy roster. They're set up to give the Sabres all they can handle.

    Either team could benefit from the capriciousness of the game bringing weird officiating, funny bounces and freak injuries. The gap between them is thinner than a runway model on a diet. Whatever happens, this is going to be a very fun series and, who knows? A week from now we could be willing to say out loud this Canadiens team might actually win a championship the once.

    The album featuring Gonna Get Good is called "You Win Some You Lose." It's a good philosophy to adopt while waiting for the next chapter to begin.

    It'll never get easy, but baby, it's gonna get good.

Plays Well With Others

   

      After the epic battle that was the first round of the playoffs for Montreal, there's no shortage of heroes on the team today.

    Lane Hutson's one for playing ridiculous minutes and wiring his hardest shot of the season for the OT winner. Kirby Dach for taking his second chance and running with it when many coaches would have benched him for costing the previous game. Jakub Dobes for calmly shutting the door and outgoaling Vezina nominee Andrei Vasilevskiy. Brendan Gallagher for finally getting into the lineup and immediately making Tampa pay. Nick Suzuki for shutting down the Kucherov line over seven incredibly tight games. Marty St.Louis for being, as his captain put it after the game, "one of the best coaches in the whole world." Josh Anderson for setting the tone for the series by throwing his body at every Bolt who moved. Alex Newhook for bringing the speed needed to get to the puck on the series-winning goal. Really, you could make a case for just about any player in the lineup being the series MVP.

    With such dedication and skill all through the roster, it's easy to forget the guys who aren't on the ice.

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    After Gallagher opened the scoring in Game Five, the first teammate to greet him on his return to the dressing room was Patrik Laine. Standing there in his ridiculous pink sweater and long hair, Laine wore a grin as big as Gallagher's own. Laine, of course, has been out of the lineup for most of the regular season and all of the playoffs. Instead of asking for a trade or sulking in the corner, he shows up for his teammates and, although it must hurt and embarrass him to be sidelined like he's been, he chooses to smile and celebrate others' successes rather than his own.

    Sam Montembeault arrived at training camp as the team's unquestioned number-one goalie, kicking off year two of the three-year contract that promised him and his family stability and a financial safety net. Things didn't go well for him for most of the season. He lost a ton of games, giving up goals on the first shot eight times. He got sent to the minors for a "conditioning stint," got his goalie coach fired and lost the trust of the fans and, likely, the coaches. He hasn't seen the net outside of practice for months, only playing one game in March.

    Yet, there he was in the pressbox, standing up and whipping his playoff rally towel over his head like the most frantic Habs fan in the building. He was there with Jacob Fowler to give Dobes a celebratory pie in the face with a big smile. He doesn't even get to dress as the backup, but he still finds a way to be part of the team and show his support for his mates.

    Arber Xhekaj got scratched from the lineup, despite playing some of the best hockey of his career, because Noah Dobson was ready to come back from his thumb injury. He could easily have felt unjustly treated, but instead he was in the dressing room dancing around and cheering with the others.

    

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    This isn't just a good group of hockey players. They're absolutely young and talented, but they're more than that. The way they seem to really like and take care of each other is so unusual, observers all over the hockey world are taking note of it.

    Part of that is obviously the joy spawned by winning and helping each other meet their goals. Just as important, though, is the appreciation they show to every guy in their room whether he plays thirty minutes a night or sits in the pressbox for months. 

    When you're young and living your childhood dream, it could be very easy to forget the guys in civvies who may feel they're not part of the fun. This team doesn't do that. Every player in Montreal is worthy and is treated like it, all the way from management, through the coaching staff to behind the dressing room door. They respect each other and the different roles they fill. 

    Even when a guy is hurt or a healthy scratch, he can still be a cheerleader for his teammates. He can choose to put on a happy face and not become a distraction to the group on the ice. He can slap a pie in a buddy's face and do it with love. 

    So, while the heroes on the ice are getting all the glory and headlines, we can remember that the guys who provide support are heroes too.

Heroes of '86: Brian Skrudland, the Nine-Second Hero

         

    On a warm, Calgary night in May of 1986, someone took a photograph. In it, preserved like a dragonfly in amber, 20-year-old Claude Lemieux has thrust the Stanley Cup into the air above his head, face contorted in  a kind of sobbing ecstasy. Standing on his right, smiling with indulgent joy is fellow rookie Brian Skrudland. 

    The picture is emblematic of the run that saw the Canadiens win an unexpected, but deeply welcome twenty-third championship. Lemieux was the emotional catalyst who scored ten goals in 20 playoff games, including four winners, two of them in OT. Skrudland was the support guy, a solid, hardworking two-way centre who shared a lot of on-ice moments with Lemieux, but rarely commanded the spotlight himself. Most of the time. On another spring night in Calgary, six days before that iconic photograph was taken, Skrudland had a chance to be the hero and he grabbed it.

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    If you Google Brian Skrudland's name now, the second result that pops up is "Brian Skrudland OT goal." Forty years after he scored his first NHL playoff goal, it's still the moment for which he's best remembered. 

    On May 18, nine seconds into overtime of Game Two of the Stanley Cup final, Skrudland set an NHL record for scoring the fastest OT goal in playoff history. The funny thing was, his line, with grinder Mike McPhee and Lemieux, was probably on the ice to start the extra period only because coach Jean Perron hoped hot-hand Lemieux might pop one.
    "First of all, what the heck was I doing on the ice was what most Habs fans would say," Skrudland laughs. "And flanked by second-year Mike McPhee and first-year Mike Lalor on the point and Claude Lemieux, first-year player. And there we were, with our lives on the line and who would have ever thought? But, what an opportunity. As I say to Mike McPhee, I was probably the only guy in the league who could have put it in off the post with the whole four-by-six in front of me."
    The Flames had jumped out to a two-goal lead in that game, and having won Game One, had the Habs in a hole. Then the Canadiens' unlikely heros jumped into action. Defenceman Gaston Gingras scored his first of the playoffs early in the second period. Then, early in the third, rookie Dave Maley buried his first of the post-season. For the remainder of the period, the teams were locked in stalemate. A long overtime loomed. 

    Enter Brian Skrudland. After winning the faceoff back to his own D, he broke for the Calgary zone on a two-on-one. Linemate McPhee faked a shot, then slid a perfect pass cross-ice to Skrudland, which he did, in fact, ring off the post and in. The goal stunned the Flames and helped the Habs avoid falling behind in the series two games to none. Momentum changed in that moment. 

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    The Canadiens never looked back, bringing home the Cup six nights later. While the goal cemented Skrudland's place in the NHL record book, it also helped his team create something special.
    "That was the pinnacle. With winning comes a relationship with people that lasts a lifetime," he reflects. "Seven of us won a Calder Cup together the previous year, and our expectations of one another were already implemented in that we played the game to win. It was just a real special time from start to finish, for the decade I was in the organization."
    The team's rookies might have had expectations of each other, but none of them carried the expectations of one of the team's greatest icons.
    "One of my favourite stories of that entire playoffs was Toe Blake walking in after we beat Boston in the first round and saying, "Congratulations. You haven't won anything yet."," Skrudland recounts with a laugh. "Then the second round and Hartford and it was "Congratulations, you haven't won anything yet." Then we're in the third round against the Rangers and once again, here's Mr.Blake saying, "Congratulations, you haven't won anything yet." Then, of course, Calgary. And he walked up and said, "Congratulations. That's only one.""
    Sometimes, when a player wins a Cup in his rookie season, he thinks that's the way it's supposed to be and he may take it for granted that he's got many more chances to win another. For Skrudland, though, just three years after that magical Montreal run, the Flames got their revenge and sent the Habs packing in the Cup Finals. 

    Skrudland learned the bitterness of coming so close and going away with nothing. He says he feels lucky he got a chance to erase that bad taste by winning again with Dallas in 1999. He admits he still winces a little when he remembers losing to the Flames, however. 

    This year's Canadiens have the same youthful exuberance as that '86 group of rookies. And their core leaders have felt the pain and bitterness of losing in the Cup finals. They're starting to understand what it truly takes to win and that it doesn't always happen.

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    Back now to that triumphant photograph. The moment is frozen forever, but of course there were other moments; celebratory moments when time ticked on and left the still frame behind. In the wake of their triumph, the Habs began a months-long whirlwind of parties, honours and fun. Most of the Habs, that is. For Skrudland, the celebrations were, well, painful. He explains why his smile in the photo isn't quite as wide as those of some of his teammates.
    "First of all, when you break your jaw in three places in Game Five and you try to celebrate, it isn't much fun," he remembers. "I had minced food for the next six weeks of my life, but I did find the odd straw that favoured a flavour I loved, and I had a few evenings out with the guys. It was one of those events when you look back and you know you missed out on a lot as well."
    He may have missed some of the nights on the town, but he'll always have The Goal. The unlikely night a warrior became a record-setting hero has outlasted the fleeting celebrity of a winning team's celebration. In that photo there are two guys who know what it feels like to be a star.

    This year's Canadiens have an opportunity to look back four decades from now and remember how they added to the story of the great franchise. And as Brian Skrudland learned, once you manage to get to the top of the pile, you'll be a hero in Montreal forever. Those chances don't come around every year so, young as they are, they need to grab the opportunity with both hands.

    Forty years from now, they might look back and find this was their year after all.