I always find Montreal to be such an anomaly in the league. They seem to make the playoffs randomly/inconsistently. They have not had what I would call “gamebreakers” in a long time. And their overall talent level has not been that impressive to me in decades.
Despite all that... they seem to always give “superior” teams a hard time when it comes to the playoffs. Over the years, they’ve upset teams like Pittsburgh and Boston... and now Toronto. No matter what version of the team is on ice over the years... it feels like they have things just go right for them in the playoffs... remember the insane run Cammalleri went on in the playoffs for them? Now they face Winnipeg whose big strength is depth at center and what happens? Their center-depth disappears.
One of the big reasons for Montreals phantom playoff success over the years I think is Price... he has whole seasons where he’s very mediocre or often-injured and then, all of a sudden, he gets into a zone. And when price is in that zone, I think he is the best goalie in the game and could even be considered one of the best players in the game. Having that kind of goaltending can be more valuable than anything else in a playoff run.
It would not shock me at all to see this exact same team finish bottom 5 next year and then squeak into the playoffs the following year and win a round or two... and then miss the playoffs again the following year. They are just such a weird team to read.
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