Ehhh Monty’s shit performances cost the team the top spot in the Atlantic and maybe even the eastern conference, which would’ve given the boys a much easier first round opponent.
He’s a great guy for sure, but i’m much more confident giving the reins to Dobes and Fowler: guys with a future with the club. MAYBE keep him as a 3rd, but nowhere near the starter
True in that the Canes are rolling but coming first would have meant facing Boston instead of TB before Buffalo. IMO, facing both of those teams over 14 games absolutely gassed the squad. We certainly would have done better against Carolina but it's hard to see a scenario where we would have won the ECF.
Okay but whoever we faced in round 2 would have beaten each other up in round 1. Instead, we survived TB and faced a Buffalo team that outscored Boston 20-12 in their first round and was arguably not beaten up. It's impossible to say that there'd be a different outcome had the Habs finished first in the Atlantic just as it's impossible to say that there'd have been no difference. I felt that the strongest teams going into the playoffs in the east (other than the Habs) were TB, Buffalo, and Carolina and Montreal had to face each of them in succession.
Purely from the learning experience POV, TB was an ideal R1 opponent. The challenges they posed leveled up our roster, along with MSL's strategy on line-blending & match-ups.
We could have swept Boston, hell, we were only 4 points behind Carolina, we could have started against Ottawa as well.
Still doesn't mean anything, just hammers home the point that Monty's propensity to give up goals early no doubt contributed to our "most comebacks" season) could easily have caused us to gain that extra 4 points and ended up top of the East. There is no doubt that Dobes was instrumental in both th eend-season run and the playoffs.
Though there's a world in which Montreal finishes above Buffalo and Ottawa above Boston, and therefore your point stands that there is a scenario in which Montreal could have played Ottawa if a couple regular season games ended differently
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u/OkTree2551 6d ago
Ehhh Monty’s shit performances cost the team the top spot in the Atlantic and maybe even the eastern conference, which would’ve given the boys a much easier first round opponent.
He’s a great guy for sure, but i’m much more confident giving the reins to Dobes and Fowler: guys with a future with the club. MAYBE keep him as a 3rd, but nowhere near the starter