The Montreal Canadiens are enjoying a fantastic season and a longer playoff run than most would have expected, and the atmosphere around the team is a big part of the reason.
With the Toronto Maple Leafs missing the playoffs, many television networks are covering the Montreal Canadiens and realizing that Martin St-Louis’ team plays a highly entertaining brand of hockey and is having a lot of fun doing it. There’s more to the Habs’ “power of friendship” celebration than a gimmicky name; they really are a group of friends living the dream of playing, or working in, hockey for a living.
On Sportsnet’s Thursday night broadcast, former NHLer turned commentator Kevin Bieksa commented on the young Habs and the atmosphere around the team. He started by explaining that he has a knack for detecting false narratives, then added that what the Canadiens have going is anything but that. Having been in his share of hockey dressing rooms, Bieksa added that there is no bad blood, no cancer in the room, no issues and that the Canadiens are just a great tight knit group of guys enjoying each other and the game.
They have to be for things to run as smoothly as they have this season, and it’s not just on the ice, either; it includes the front office and the coaching staff. President of Hockey Operations Jeff Gorton and General Manager Kent Hughes not only work together, but they also ride to work together. When goalie coach Eric Raymond was dismissed, St-Louis looked genuinely shaken and told the media he felt as if he had just lost one of his best friends.
As for the players, you only had to look at their reaction when one of their teammates scored to know how they feel about one another. Whether it’s the star sniper of the team or the rookie that was looking to pop his playoff cherry, on Thursday, we saw Cole Caufield jump for joy, as if he were a volleyball player about to deliver a smash, when a teammate scored. When Ivan Demidov finally scored his first playoff goal, Phillip Danault gave him a heartfelt hug, just like coach St-Louis. When Brendan Gallagher came in for Game 5 against the Tampa Bay Lightning and scored the first goal, the bench erupted in celebration.
And it’s not only through the good times. Patrik Laine hasn’t played since October, and we’ve not heard a peep out of him. Samuel Montembeault has been cast aside this season after failing to find his game, and he didn’t moan or pout; no, he pranked Jakub Dobes after his Game 7 win over the Bolts. Gallagher was on track to play 1,000 games with the Canadiens before the end of his contract, but he took being a healthy scratch like a pro, saying he would always be ready when called upon. Arber Xhekaj was a healthy scratch for Game 7 of the first-round series against Tampa, and when the players came back to the room after the win, he was there to greet them with the widest smile on his face.
Caufield, Nick Suzuki, Juraj Slafkovsky, and Kirby Dach may be the only ones to do the power of friendship celebration, but the whole team is living it.
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