Montreal making the Finals is terrible for the league

[HuskyBruinPride]

I agree based on their regular season it feels like they have no place being there. But nonetheless there they are. Upsets happen.

 

[Mobiandi]

I'd say Vegas making it twice in four years is worse

 

[SI90]

How I picture people who are mad about the Habs in the finals look like

 

[RobBrown4PM]

Canadian team making the finals absolutely helps the league. I'm just still in shock that it happened.

The NHL did its best to job the Habs at every turn, and they still failed in their endevour.

 

[MtlBoxFan]

Underdog story
Storied franchise
2nd largest fan base in the league

NHL will do fine.

 

[metalan2]

Not to mention they can't even have fans and everyone is masked up. Oh well, they still beat the mighty golden knights.

All bets are off if NYI win.

 

[SniperHF]

Hi folks.

SO listen, it's great that your favorite team won. That's fun.

It's actually okay that some people don't think it's a good thing. Feel free to disagree, but you don't get to flame people just because of that. I'm going to warn everyone who does it starting now. Don't say you weren't notified.

 

[MMC]

Just want to say one more time since apparently including this twice in the OP wasn’t enough that I was ROOTING for Montreal as a Ducks fan as they have Perry who is one of my favorite all time players, and this post has nothing to do with neither the Montreal Canadiens nor their fans who I’m very happy for. Just the way I view the idea of a team who didn’t win the majority of their games making it this far. No shot at anyone or team in particular.

 

[fsanford]

Immediately when people first read this they will assume I’m just salty they won so I’m going to start off by saying that I was rooting for Montreal as a Ducks fan for Corey Perry, however it is impossible to deny that Montreal making the finals is objectively awful for the league.

A team that won 24 of 56 games shouldn’t sniff the championship round in any sport, and the fact that the NHL has this is a terrible look on the competitive nature of the league. They are at least lucky that this team is in a big market because there is otherwise nothing marketable about the Habs. They have no star players, no casual fan is going to give a damn about seeing this team make the finals. Beyond marketability, what does this say to the owners and fans about the acquisition of star players, when a team that has none can blow through teams that have several? Why should any owner invest in star players and why should any fan get excited about acquiring star players? Upsets are fun, but when they become overwhelming like this, it ruins the product.

Like I said, I wanted Montreal to win but this is just how I see it. I’m awful at articulating so I’m sure this sounds more just like a rant but this is how I see it.

In the NFL storied franchises, like the Packers, Steelers, Giants have won the superbowl, starting out as wildcard teams. And that sport its more about fluke wins because it is 1 and done. But I don't think it diminishes what they did.

NHL is not a 1 and done playoff, series can last up to 7 games. The team playing the best hockey normally wins, watching the games you can see how Montreal was, on most nights the best team.

Not to mention injuries, during the season can have an enormous impact on the standings. I don't follow the Habs closely, I do know they fired the coach, I do know they tweaked their line up mid seaon.
I know that LA Kings in 2012 fired their coach mid season and they also tweaked their lineup, and it took them awhile to gel, and even then they eeked into the playoffs. But once in much like Montreal they were the best team in the playoffs.

By the way Montreal's record on the road was sic, so I am not sure what your solution is to this, because if Montreal had to play all road games they still have a good chance to come out on top


Maybe you are more of an NBA superteam guy, you know the league where the best players collude to all go to 1 team to try to win the title, happens too often in that league. And even then a team like the Hawks who was not great during the regular season has a great shot to make the finals.

 

[Theodore450]

lol that was quick

 

[Agalloch]

Just want to say one more time since apparently including this twice in the OP wasn’t enough that I was ROOTING for Montreal as a Ducks fan as they have Perry who is one of my favorite all time players, and this post has nothing to do with neither the Montreal Canadiens nor their fans who I’m very happy for. Just the way I view the idea of a team who didn’t win the majority of their games making it this far. No shot at anyone or team in particular.

The thing is, Montreal had a rough last stretch of the season (because of covid) and Price missed half the year.

Also, the addition of Caufield is huge.

 

[Seb]

I guess Global moderators can have awful takes too.

 

[Rapsfan]

Finally someone gets my point about the NHL problem. Seriously just don't like having random low seed teams in the Finals. This is why stars can't be marketed properly in the NHL like the NBA.

 

[JuJu Mobb]

It's terrible for the mental health of some posters.

 

[montreal]

blame the league, no NHL team should play 24 games in 42 days, that's f***ing insane. They looked like shit, almost every player was gassed during that run, we limped into the playoffs but had we not had that schedule and no Price for the last month of the season, so our backup had to play almost all the games things might have looked a little different.

 

[snipes]

Lol what the team from the city where the first ever hockey game was played in 1875 is bad for the game but some desert party town with no cultural history of the sport would have been better?

Good for the Habs, I wanted them to lose before the series but after that blatant shit show reffing early in the series, I’ve been all aboard them winning it.

 

[thaman8765678]

I agree that it is terrible.

They shouldn't have even been in the playoffs. 18th best team.

 

[AcerComputer]

I think the Leafs losing doesn't look so bad now. MTL was a legit team. We under-estimated them. Congrats on making the Finals!

 

[PavelBrendl]

OP sounds like someone who should watch the NBA or MLB instead.

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

Bullshit.

They played in a division that spans 5000 km from east to west, which is 3 time zones in both directions. They played in an empty arena for almost 60 straight games.

They erased a 3-1 series deficit against the Leafs in round 1, swept the Jets in round 2 and eliminated a team that many people had pegged as the leading contender for the Cup after defeating the Avs, and it didn't even require a 7th game.

Montreal is the most iconic franchise in the NHL, and they mean so much to their city and province. The game of hockey was born in Montreal and it grew from there. Some of the most iconic moments in the history of the game happened there, and another one happened tonight.

They not only deserve to make it to the SCF, they deserve to win the damn thing. And if they do, it would be one of the most beautiful Stanley Cup wins from the past 10-20 years.

If you're not a fan of a rival team or a team that's been eliminated by them, I see no reason not to root for Montreal at this point. As a Caps fan, they were an easy choice over every team that was left after the 1st round.

 

[Louie the Blue]

Just want to say one more time since apparently including this twice in the OP wasn’t enough that I was ROOTING for Montreal as a Ducks fan as they have Perry who is one of my favorite all time players, and this post has nothing to do with neither the Montreal Canadiens nor their fans who I’m very happy for. Just the way I view the idea of a team who didn’t win the majority of their games making it this far. No shot at anyone or team in particular.

I'd argue having an expansion team making the SCF in their first year of existence(when the rules aren't structured to force a team in the Finals like in the '60s) is much worse for the sport. Same logic can be applied to the Marlins and D'Backs being so good so quickly in MLB.

 

[Kobe Armstrong]

If teams didn't want Montreal to make the finals they should have played better... Habs got zero breaks this series

 

[JuJu Mobb]

Finally someone gets my point about the NHL problem. Seriously just don't like having random low seed teams in the Finals. This is why stars can't be marketed properly in the NHL like the NBA.

They should start rigging games.

 

[Necrobutcher]

A very unlikely team who struggled earlier fights like hell to make it to the top against all odds? Yes that is truly horrible. Stories like this will ruin the league. Who TF wants to see sports being unpredictable.

 

[Canadienna]

Pretty ridiculous take.

There are plenty of reasons why Montreals regular season record wasn't indicative of their ability.

Injuries to Danault/Weber/Gally
Most compressed schedule in history
No Cole Caufield (this is big)
No practice time for new coach
Carey Price was significantly worse


Those things add up. If you think this is bad for the sport it's because your assuming it's some stroke of luck but no they've been outstanding and deserve thier success.