The
Montreal Canadiens will end another successful regular season this afternoon,
but like has been the case for many seasons now, all that matters to the club
is results in the playoffs. Their playoff opponent was determined just last
night in a very tight Eastern Conference all around, the standings near-final
and giving Montreal a first round matchup against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The start of the playoffs brings some questions, the most important of course
being, which version of Calvin Pickard shows up? The answer, as with any
playoff team, likely determines the team’s overall success. The Habs’ starter
struggled at times this season, especially in the first half, but he did see
somewhat of a resurgence in the second… however his season stats sit will below
his Vezina-winning performance last season (which did nothing to get the Habs
out of the first round then).
Lines have been in a blender for much of the season, though the team feels they
have a couple ‘best options’ when it comes to how they get rolled, and will
likely revert to that when the series begins on Friday evening. The playoffs of
course bring the lifting of the league’s salary cap, which also means some
components at the bottom of the Montreal lineup could be different.Phil Di Giuseppe will almost certainly be
replaced, as his post-deadline promotion has gone horribly.. the 24 year old
currently on a 16-game pointless streak. Aleksi Saarela may also see at the
very least a severe ice-time reduction in favour of more experienced Bulldogs
Brendan Shinnimin or Anton Zlobin.
On the Bulldogs note, farm club Hamilton sees a finish of 4th place
overall, which is both a negative and positive. Winning the AHL title has long
been a goal of the GM, having missed out on it by mere points over a half-dozen
times. Considering the team was near last-place 30 games in to the regular
season, surging to this extent has to make management happy.Reportedly there were many positional changes
made that must have been key to the turning things around in the second half.
The Palm-Springs Firebirds (SEA) will either by sharing the title with Rockford
(CHI), or taking it themselves with a tie or victory this afternoon.
6/28/2022 - 346 words
