Too Much of A Good Thing?

MONTREAL--On fourteen occasions this season, the Habs and Bruins have hooked up.

Eight times in the regular season and six in the playoffs. Montreal owns an 11-3 record, but the two teams have split the last six.

Which brings us to No. 15 tonight.

Do you hear anyone, by the way, complaining that there are two many games between these teams? Do you hear any suggestions that it's boring to have two clubs meet over and over and over?

BILL SIKES/AP

This scene from Game 6 pretty much sums up a Bruins-Canadiens playoff series.

Didn't think so.

Funny, really, that in a year in which the NHL felt compelled to change its schedule to produce more Eastern Conference vs. Western Conference games, a matchup between two longtime rivals that have played each other more than any other two clubs this season has managed to contain such excitement.

We'll see if the same is produced when Boston faces Nashville next season. Or Montreal entertains Phoenix.

Quite obviously, the City of Montreal is hyped to the max for tonight's game, albeit with as much nervousness as excitement as their heroes try to compose themselves after blowing a 3-1 series lead.

Montreal head coach Guy Carbonneau was asked this morning how long it will take the nervousness to go away tonight.

"About sixty minutes," he said with a smile.

Neither of these clubs is particularly experienced in such scenarios. Boston blueliner Aaron Ward was with Carolina in 2006 when they beat Edmonton in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final Montreal defenceman Mathieu Dandenault is one of the few in the Habs room with experience in a Game 7.

"The one I was in was a lot of fun," laughed Dandenault, a member of the Detroit Red Wings when they faced Patrick Roy and the Colorado Avalanche in Game 7 of the 2002 Western Conference final.

"We won 7-0 to go on to the Stanley Cup final, so it was pretty good."

The reoccuring theme in the Canadiens dressing room this morning was the need to get back to the team's skating and puck movement game.

"We've been back on our heels," said Dandenault. "We need to come out with the same attitude we had in Game 1. We didn't care who the other team was, and we just came out flying."

The key, said Dandenault, is to find that balance between being intense and relaxed.

"Everybody wants to be a Game 7 hero," he said. "But you don't go out there trying to be the Game 7 hero."

Comments

[Josh]

I agree to a point - both schedules have their pros and cons. Sure, Montreal will have to face Phoenix and Nashville more often under the new system (and they'll lose some games versus Boston), but they'll gain games versus Chicago and Detroit (and come on, there's no way that any two Original Six teams should be seeing each other less than once a year) as well as the three Western Canadian teams, just to pick some.

So basically, under either format, you gain and you lose, lose and gain.

[Wayne]

Mr Cox,

You can be unbearably smug at times. No one minds a 7-game series in the playoffs. It is the 8 games against some teams - and zero against others - during an endless regular season that is tiresome. You know this perfectly well, so give the attitude a rest.

[Pete Nardi]

"Do you hear anyone, by the way, complaining that there are two many games between these teams? Do you hear any suggestions that it's boring to have two clubs meet over and over and over?...Didn't think so."

Hey Damien, I am just wondering if you actually ASKED those questions to anyone. I am sure you're a fan of the ever popular Islanders-Pens clashes. Or how about the exciting Blue Jackets-Blues series? Even better, don't you just love watching the Lightning play the Caps 8 times? Just because the Northeast division is stacked with teams who have rivalries, doesn't mean that the exception should be the rule. Teams in the East should play teams in the west more because it brings two different styles of hockey into one game. Aren't you even the least bit fed up with watching the Islanders vs the Devils 4 times in the same month? THOUGHT SO! Because, as a matter of fact, we often DO hear suggestions that 8 times a year is too much. Maybe you just don't want to listen.

[Michael]

Teams in the east should play teams in the west more? I hope not. The leafs will be even lower in the standings if they play the west more. But sure they will get a better position in the draft. Also if the team in the west is the host then u likely have to watch the game late in the nite. I think different time zone has a big key to determine which teams they should play more.

[OddyOh]

Gotta agree with the other comments here. Damien has long ago made it his personal cross to bear with every column and TV appearance, where he rages against the change to the schedule. Well boo freakin' hoo, sir!

Some of us can do without seeing TOR vs OTT/MTL/BOS every single Saturday night of the year, and not just cause the Leafs suck. Why not see TOR vs DET/EDM/ANA/DAL etc once in a while (ignore the fact that Detroit should be in the East, of course).

Further to that, it's stupid to have Ovechkin et al only play in the Eastern cities. For a league that is crying out for eyeballs, sending Crosby out to Western Canada and California more than once every 4 years will be a great thing!

One more thing: Nashville. Everyone uses them like they're a bad word or something. And believe me, no one wanted Nashville out of the NHL more than myself. That's because I held them responsible for 'taking the place', if you will, of another Canadian franchise. Whether that's true or not is another column.

However, after watching them force Detroit to 6 games, they play a pretty exciting brand of hockey, one the Leafs might even want to take a look at...hot young goalie, grinders who are worth the money, etc. If nothing else, Tootoo provides a decent sideshow, not unlike a young Tucker once did. My point is, why not send Nashville etc around the Eastern Conference for some games? We need variety! 8 games vs MTL doesn't make things exciting, it makes them meaningless!

I appreciate that you think the playoff races will be less exciting since there will be fewer '4 point' games. Well, I suggest they SHORTEN the season. Nothing would make the games more important, than having fewer of them. Why should any team play another 8 times?! Try 4, or even 3. The Stanley Cup should be handed out in early March, not mid-June. This would avoid competing with the NBA playoffs, golf, NASCAR, etc.

Of course, I also want the NHL to shrink the goalies and go back to wood sticks, but that's two more things that will never change, not on Gary Bettman's watch, nor in my lifetime. But at least the schedule will.

[David]

Hi Damien,

Judging from the above comments, it seems there are lots of folks around here who remember the drudgery of four the Leafs/Bruins games that occured within a four week period last season.

The problem with more inter-conference games is that for every marquee team that arrives, so will three or four absolutely dreadful outfits. The 6-4-5 (+3 extra) matches schedule seemed to work best.

Lastly, I think the Canadiens' record is a mirage: they played 32 games within their division; a division in which Ottawa and Buffalo took huge steps backwards, the Leafs are moribund, and the Habs dominated the Bruins. In fact, taking out the Habs/Bruins head-to-head record shows the Bruins with 93 points in 74 games, and the Habs with 88.

[Adam C]

If we're going to design the schedule to maximize fan interest in each match-up's rivalry, how on Earth is Columbus going to get to play 82 games?

[FRT]

Too bad the same could not be said for the inept run Leafs! I have to go way, way, way, back in the memory banks to remember the great series between the Leafs/Habs in the `60's as a kid growing up! When we would face off in the school yard at recess...Leaf fans on one side Hab fans on the other...dissing each other about the game the night before...with the odd scuffle breaking out now and then! Ahhhh, great memories! Memories that are fading fast! Geez…wouldn’t a nice playoff tussle between the Leafs/Habs be something great to watch again…??? ARE YOU LISTENING MLSE…???

[Hockey Fan, therefore by Definition Not a Leaf Fan]

For all you people harping on Mr Cox, guess you have not been watching this series, or have any idea of history.

1. These teams have been going at it hammer and tong. I have shed about 3 years off my life watching my Habs blow a couple games. But it has been fabulous, exciting hockey.

2. When there were 6 teams in the league, and a 70 game season, they saw each other 14 times, and then the top 4 again in the playoffs. Those games and series were wars.

I imagine most of the complainers here are Leafs fans. How about this? If your team ownership had a clue about putting together a squad, most of the games you saw would not be boring.

8 games is about right. The problem is simply too many teams in the league stretching the talent too thin. Of course, even Laff fans know that. If we had 24 teams, with 4 divisions of 6 teams, you could play your division rivals 8 times, and have 40 games spread out over the other 16 teams, and that would fit nicely into an 80 game series.

Never gonna happen though.

[kenny]

I agree the series has been great, but let's be honest: a lot of it has to do with the fact that Montreal has scored first in five(?) of the six games. This prevents Boston from playing its boring system and reducing hockey to a game of Pong. The fact that Boston has been continuously chasing the lead (and series) is a major factor behind this memorable series.

Had the series played out differently (say, the Bruins upsetting the Habs with four neutral-zone-clogging victories that were built on first goals), what would we be saying about division rivalries?

I don't have a problem with seeing a division rival eight times, but I do have a problem with NOT being able to watch/listen to games against every Western team once a season. You can't have it both ways, and as Josh pointed out, you win and lose with either type of schedule. But come on... sure you'd have to play Phoenix, but what about Canadian teams like Vancouver, Calgary, and Edmonton; or Original Six teams like Detroit and Chicago; or dominant "must-see" teams like San Jose, or Anaheim. Sorry, I'll "deal" with a Phoenix game every year in exchange for the others.

[Pete Nardi]

Hey Hockey Fan,

Man you must think you're so smart and funny because you're team is winning. Just beware of karma sir...it sucks. So when you're crying because the Rangers or Flyers beat the Habs next round, I'll understand. As for your comments, did you actually read them before you posted them? 'When there were 6 teams in the league....' So what? Would you like to go to a restaurant and be told that from a 15-item menu, you could only choose the first 6 because, hey, it didn't always used to be this way. Variety is the spice of life. Don't you even find it the least bit odd that the NHL doesn't want each team playing each other AT LEAST ONCE? They expanded into these western markets but they don't want the eastern teams playing there...at all? And this has nothing to do with being a Leaf fan. Even if we were better, I would still like to see us playing Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver. You make no sense sir...maybe it's because you're a Habs fan. See, I can make bonehead comments like that too!

[Wardo]

Agree with you 100%, Hockey Fan. I love the current schedule and I am not looking forward to seeing more of Columbus, Nashville, Phoenix, LA, etc., etc.

We wouldn't even be talking about this had the NHL been smart enough to sprinkle those 8 matchups throughout the season instead of packing 4-5 games into a month for some of these teams. No wonder the fans would get antsy. Then everybody piled on the complaint bandwagon, and now they're gonna put the schedule back. Thanks a pantload, everybody. Hope you're all happy now.

Hockey's great traditions are based on rivalries and fueds, and you get those by facing each other often. Think about how the Penguins/Flyers rivalry has grown exponentially in recent years. Devils/Rangers, Islanders/Rangers, Oilers/Flames...fans love those games.

There really are too many teams and to schedule a matchup with everybody ruins the rivalries that made the game great. I wish the league would lose about 6 teams as well, beginning with Florida, Carolina, Tampa, and Nashville.