What Went Wrong: Canadiens Eliminated After Dream Season

We have our first elimination of the 2021-22 NHL season, and it belongs to the Montréal Canadiens. The Washington Capitals' 4-3 shootout win over the Buffalo Sabres on March 25 ended up eliminating the Canadiens (who were idle on that evening) from playoff contention; marking the end of a very disappointing season that has seen so many unexpected negatives. The Canadiens' last two seasons prior to this one were surprisingly stellar, and to think, the team's good seasons and good fortune were the result of the league being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Marc Bergevin's job was on the line entering the 2019-20 season, but the team was not performing well. When the league paused on March 12, 2020, the Canadiens were 31-31-9, an even .500 record--however, a few months later, commissioner Gary Bettman announced a modified playoff format that would allow the top 12 teams in each conference to participate. The mediocre Habs barely, and I mean barely got in--their record made them the worst of the 24 teams who participated. Yet in the Qualifying Round, the Canadiens ended up defeating, of all teams, the Pittsburgh Penguins in the best-of-five series, doing so three games to one. They were ousted in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals by the Philadelphia Flyers, but it took six games. Even so, ousting a team that had Sidney Crosby on it? It earned Bergevin one more season.

The shortened 2020-21 season saw the Habs barely finish over .500 and engage in a race with the Calgary Flames for the last playoff position in the localized North Division, but the Habs ended up making it. Like the season before, Montréal was the worst of the playoff teams, and they weren't even expected to win a single playoff game. They ended up winning 13 of them! It began with the 3-1 comeback against the Toronto Maple Leafs, followed by sweeping the Winnipeg Jets in the Division Finals, and ousting the Vegas Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup Semifinals. The Canadiens reached the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 1993, but they were defeated in five games by the Tampa Bay Lightning. In spite of their one-sided defeat, it was a dream season for the Canadiens.

So what went wrong this season? Too many things.

The first blow was their star goaltender, Carey Price. The Canadiens' 2021 run was led by Price's stunning performance in net, but after coming up three wins short of the Cup, Price underwent knee surgery. Even after the successful surgery, Price entered the league's player assistance program to deal with the struggles regarding his mental health. As we all know, mental health is immensely important, and as amazing as the sport of hockey is, it can be taxing to some of the players involved--another goaltender, Robin Lehner, can attest to that. I do love goaltenders, and I consider Carey Price to be one of my favorites in the league. I wish Price all the best, because again, nothing is more important than our own well being.

Jake Allen (formerly of the St. Louis Blues) and Sam Montembeault ended up having to share the net, but the absence of Price was only one problem. The other was that the players weren't producing. They also lost Corey Perry to the Lightning, Phillip Danault to the Kings, and more importantly, Jesperi Kotkaniemi went off to the Hurricanes. Three more important pieces gone, and the team could not recover. A 6-16-2 start to the season, which saw Bergevin fired as GM in late November, and their continuing woes would lead to the ousting of Dominique Ducharme as head coach.

On February 9, 2022, the Canadiens hired Martin St. Louis as their new head coach, and I remember being mind-blown by the news, because I watched St. Louis play, and now he's a coach. It gets better. Nine days later, the Habs hired Vincent Lecavalier as a special advisor, meaning that the team has two core players from the Tampa Bay Lightning's 2004 Cup run as part of what could be a resurrection for the Canadiens. So far, it's been going well. The Canadiens went 5-4-0 in the month of February, their first winning month of the season, and in spite of their elimination, the team has continue to win games since the regime change.

The biggest surprising decline on the team came from their young star, Cole Caufield. I swear, I watched Caufield in the end of that season and into that year's playoffs and thought one thing: "Kirill Kaprizov's winning the 2021 Calder, but Caufield's getting it in 2022." Earlier in this season, Caufield was nowhere close to the Calder candidate everyone expected him to be, and he even ended up sent down to the AHL as a result. However, once St. Louis was hired as coach, "Goal" Caufield was back. He wasn't missing anything! Before St. Louis, Caufield had eight points (G/7 A). Since the hire, Caufield has racked up 23 points so far, with 12 of them being goals. Caufield's 31 points are behind only Nick Suzuki, who has 47 points (18 G/29 A).

Knowing that the season's lost, the Canadiens made a few key deals in the deadline; trading Ben Chiarot to the Florida Panthers, and more notably, sending Arturri Lehkonen to the Colorado Avalanche. Lehkonen, as we remember, scored the OT winner in Game Six against Vegas, which sent the Habs to the Stanley Cup Final. Even so, with the way things have been going for the team since St. Louis was hired, it looks like next season could be a good one for the Canadiens.

I have to bring this up. Am I the only one who loves the Canadiens' goal song? I clearly believe I have last season to thank for that. Remember, the abbreviated season featured COVID protocols, which meant little to no fans in attendance. While the U.S. teams eventually allowed fans by March, Canada was serious--no fans attended their games throughout the entire regular season. When games have no fans, you hear certain things clearer, and among them are goal songs--the tunes that play after the horn. The Canadiens' song caught my attention, and because they went on that run to the Final that year, I heard it a lot--now it's stuck in my head. It's an awesome tune, though.

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