How 'Bout Them Canadiens?

Those of you who have been reading my blog know by now that I'm a big "team over individual" guy. So as a token of my appreciation for gritty team play that triumphs over phenomenal individual talent, I just want to say this: How 'bout them Canadiens???!!!

The Canadians -- affectionately refered to as "the Habs" (les Habitants) -- entered the NHL postseason as an extremely weak playoff team, at least from a statistical standpoint. During the regular season, they had just 39 wins against 43 losses (33 regular losses and 10 overtime losses). They also had a -6 GF/GA differential, meaning they gave up more goals than they scored. Simply put, the Habs inspired little confidence that they'd do anything in the postseason, especially since they were going up against superstar Alexander Ovechkin and the top-seeded Washington Capitals in the first round. The Capitals were a juggernaut, having finished the season with 54 wins against just 28 total losses, as well as a ridiculous +85 GS/GA differential. Oh yeah, and the Caps had also scored 318 goals during the season -- most in the NHL since the 1995-1996 season. Given the seemingly huge talent disparity between the two teams, a significant number of sports analysts picked the Capitals to sweep the Canadiens.

That prediction turned out to be a bad one after Montreal came into the Verizon Center and beat Washington in overtime, 3-2, in Game 1. But it was just one game, right? And sure enough, the Caps exerted their authority in the next three games to take a commanding 3-1 series lead. The Habs were finished -- or so everyone thought. But the Canadians rallied to win the next two and force a decisive Game 7 at Washington. It was highly improbable that Montreal had even gotten to this point, and most people still thought that Ovechkin, by far more talented than anyone on the Canadiens team, would be able to carry the Caps into the next round.

Didn't happen. The Habs imposed their workmanlike style of play on the Caps and outlasted them 2-1 to stun the Presidents' Trophy winner and advance to the next round.

"I think they thought we were kind of a bump in the road," said Montreal defenseman Hal Gill. "That's hockey, that's playoffs. I think we played better as a team than they did."

There ya go -- that whole teamwork thing. It can come up huge, even when you're completely outmatched in terms of raw talent.

So with one superstar vanquished from the postseason much sooner than anyone expected, the Canadiens next turned their eyes to Sidney Crosby, the NHL's other main superstar, and the defending champion Pittsburgh Penguins. At this point, the common refrain from the so-called experts was that the Habs had pulled off an absolute shocker in the first round, but this is where their improbable ride would come to an end. The Penguins maybe didn't have quite as much offensive firepower as the Capitals, but they had still scored 257 goals during the regular season, good for 5th in the league -- and 40 more than the Canadiens had scored. The talent disparity, the analysts said once again, would be too much for the Habs to overcome.

The Penguins twice went up by a game in the series, but each time the Canadiens fought back to tie it. After Pittsburgh won a closely contested Game 5 to take a 3-2 series lead, Montreal was once again on the brink of elimination. But the Habs were able to defend home ice and outlast the Pens 4-3 in Game 6, setting up another decisive Game 7 on the road.

Unlike the decisive game against the Caps, this Game 7 would have little drama, as the Canadiens stormed out to a 4-0 lead before holding back the Penguins for a 5-2 victory.

Another shocker.

"First the Capitals, now the Penguins," read the Associated Press article the following day. "The Canadiens, the worst-record team in the playoffs, keep sending home the NHL's best."

That they did. The Habs, in fact, became the first team ever to beat the Presidents' Trophy winner and Stanley Cup champion in successive rounds as an eighth-seeded team.

"We played Washington and we were supposed to get killed and we played these guys and we were supposed to get killed," said Habs defenseman Gill. "It's nice to be part of a team that gets things done."

Operative word: team.

So the Montreal Canadiens just took out the two biggest superstars in the NHL. Are you kidding me??? That would be like a team like the Milwaukee Bucks taking out Kobe and LeBron in successive rounds. Unbelievable.

Next up for these monumental overachievers is the Eastern Conference Finals, where the Habs will take on the 7th-seeded Philadelphia Flyers for the right to go to the Stanley Cup Finals (a 7th-seed vs. an 8th-seed in the conference final...as a huge fan of upsets, I'm lovin' it).

Whatever happens from here on out, this year's NHL playoffs have shown that the most talented team doesn't always come out on top. Heart and determination and teamwork count for a lot, and can neutralize an opposing team's advantage in overall talent.

Watch out, Kobe.