Habs News: NHL Playoff Format, Charlie Lindgren Gives Carey Price a Night Off, Ryan Poehling’s Debut, Canadiens Exit Interviews, Hockey Night in Canada Bob Cole Retires

by Chris G, Senior Writer, All Habs Hockey Magazine

ROCKET SPORTS MEDIA | LAVAL, QC. — The Canadiens won two of the three games last week as they beat the Lightning 4-2 on Tuesday at home, followed by a 2-1 loss against the Capitals on the road on Thursday, and then their season ended with a 6-5 shootout win against the Maple Leafs at the Bell Centre on Saturday night.

The Habs finished the season strong with a 7-2-1 record in their last 10 games, but that wasn’t enough for them to clinch a playoff spot. They needed help from other teams to get into the post season, but just like it generally happens in professional sports, once you no longer control your destiny, it usually doesn’t lead to positive results.

My top-5 Canadiens takes of the week

Playoff Format

Given the fact that the Canadiens finished 14th overall in the NHL and didn’t clinch a playoff spot, it seems that this is the appropriate time to discuss the playoff format. By earning 96 points, Montreal tied the record for the team with most points without making into the playoffs.

Pierre LeBrun reported on Wednesday that the NHL and the NHLPA have agreed to extend the current playoff format for one more season. Both parties will look into reviewing the topic as Seattle prepares to join the league. The league is happy with the current format but it looks like the players would like to open a discussion.

I personally like the current format as it has created increased rivalries between the teams in the division. I think the league can take it even a step further and increase the number of games that divisional teams play against each other during the season.

The previous format of one-versus-eight would still have the Canadiens outside of the post season as they would be ranked ninth in the conference. The only format that would earn Montreal a playoff spot would be the 1-versus-16, but that’s a format that wouldn’t make sense for the league due to potential travel and time zone differences. In this format, the Bruins would be the Habs first round opponent. It may not be that bad after all.

Playing Best Lineup

With Saturday’s game have no meaning for the Canadiens, Claude Julien decided to give Carey Price a rest and started Charlie Lindgren in goal. Julien said that the main reason was to evaluate Lindgren and that they also didn’t want to risk an injury to Price during a meaningless game. From a hockey perspective, that makes sense 100 percent.

Not everyone on social media agreed with the decision. If you look at the team’s announcement via Twitter from Saturday morning, you will find several replies on how Price not starting is disrespectful to the fans at the Bell Centre.

In November, I wrote about how Michel Therrien would always start Price in the home game in back-to-back situations regardless of the opponent, and the fans were the main reason behind the decision. I certainly due to empathize with anyone attending the Bell Centre for not seeing Price play, but it’s part of professional sports, just like injuries.

In addition, all the games against the Maple Leafs are considered a premium game. That means exactly what it sounds like, a premium price is charged for the tickets to that game. We will leave that debate for another time.  I normally empathize for fans having to pay those kind of prices to attend a game, but the fans attending Saturday’s game got to witness a thriller that will be remembered for a long time.

Ryan Poehling’s Debut

It was a remarkable debut on Saturday night for the Canadiens’ 2017 first round draft pick. Ryan Poehling scored three goals and the game winning goal in the shootout. Poehling became the first player in Montreal’s history since Alex Smart in 1943, to score a hat trick in his NHL debut. His numbers for his first game were impressive: three goals, plus-3, three shots on goal, and 57 percent success rate in faceoffs. He accomplished all of that in 11:22 of ice time.

“It’s a surreal moment for myself. It feels like a dream. I don’t even know what to say. I’m just in shock right now,” said Poehling after the game. “Tonight, Ryan played with a lot of emotion for his first game and I think he’ll remember it for a long time,”added Claude Julien.

Earlier in the week, Marc Bergevin met with the media and said that they felt that Poehling was ready to turn pro. He also said that Poehling will have the opportunity to win a spot on the team next season, just like Jesperi Kotkaniemi had this season.

It was only one game, and we know that he won’t score three goals in every game that he will play, but his performance against Toronto will earn him an extra look by the coaching staff during camp in September. He has also set a high expectation for the fans.

Exit interviews

On Tuesday, the players will go through the end of season exit interviews with the team’s management before meeting with the media. We should find out if any players were playing through some injuries during the season and their overall impression on their individual seasons.

A year ago, we started counting the number of days before Max Pacioretty was traded. On Tuesday, I believe that Jonathan Drouin will be the main topic of discussion. “There’s a good chance I might be there [on Tuesday], if I’m not, you can text me. Nice try,” said Julien when asked to describe Drouin’s season at the conclusion of Saturday’s game. Earlier  in the week, former Hab Guy Lafleur criticized the treatment of Drouin during an interview with Rejean Tremblay of Journal de Montreal.

During last year’s end of season press conference, Marc Bergevin spoke a lot about character. I expect the tone will be much more positive than at the conclusion of last season.

Bob Cole Retirement

After a 50 year career, Saturday’s game was Bob Cole’s final game. And like Bob would say, it was a ‘dandy.’ If you haven’t been following the situation, Cole was forced into retirement by his employers at Rogers. Last season, he wasn’t assigned any games in the post season and he was upset by it. At the beginning of the season, Rogers announced that Cole would be calling ten games with his last game being in December. Following a leadership change at Rogers, Cole was added additional games until the conclusion of the season.

Bob Cole has called countless memorable hockey moments during his career. My personal hockey memories during my childhood included Cole’s voice. “A 24th Stanley Cup banner will hang from the rafters of the famous Forum in Montreal. The Canadiens win the Stanley Cup,” call from 26 years ago will always be my favourite.

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