Todd: Perils of playing at home sabotaging Canadiens’ playoff run

Bright and early Sunday morning, I got a text from my son:

“I’m no expert, but I feel like if the Habs want to win, they shouldn’t let Buffalo score eight goals. Especially if their plan is to score three. They need to score at least five more goals while (ideally) limiting the Sabres to seven goals.”

Hey. Ya gotta laugh, eh? It’s that or cry — and crying won’t change a thing. Here’s the thing about blowouts: 8-3 is no different than 1-0. Yeah, they came unglued in garbage time, but everything that happened after 5-3 was just chaos, as Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis put it.

Canadiens’ Jakub Dobes reacts after allowing the Buffalo Sabres’ second goal during the first period of Game 6 in Montreal on Saturday. Allen McInnis / Montreal Gazette

“We didn’t have much calm or poise,” St. Louis said of Saturday’s Game 6 loss. “These are stressful moments for players who want the result. It’s loud, there’s a lot of chaos, and tonight we didn’t see things clearly through that chaos.”

It was chaos and the bedlam started long before game time. It included a roiling sea of red jerseys, rhythmic chants — and the distinct expectation that the Canadiens would score many goals and run the Sabres out of town.

The uncomfortable truth is that the atmosphere of chaos may have kept the Canadiens from doing what they wanted to do. Before puck drop, waves of “Olé! Olé! Olé!” shook the Bell Centre and the camera caught veteran warriors Josh Anderson and Kaiden Guhle slumped over, heads down.

Whatever they were thinking, their body language said, “Enough with the ‘Olé! Olé! Olé!’ Knock it off so we can play this game.”

Eventually they did. They weren’t 30 seconds in when Juraj Slafkovsky turned a clearing attempt into a comedy of errors that ended up in the Canadiens’ net. 1-0 Buffalo, 32 seconds in.

A connection between chaos and catastrophe? Montreal fans deliver an atmosphere like no other, a wall of sound and colour mounting to the rafters. It can be intimidating for visiting teams, but it can also be overwhelming for the home team. Thoughtful fans might want to take it down a few notches, especially with the “Olé! Olé! Olé!” bit and the effect it has on players already dialed up to 11.

The result was worse than expected, but I thought going in that the Canadiens would lose Game 6 because it was at home. Just as I thought (and still think) they will win Game 7 Monday evening because they’re playing in Buffalo.

Larry Robinson carries the torch into the Bell Centre during the pregame ceremony of Game 6. Allen McInnis / Montreal Gazette

Home has its hazards and fans might be the least of them. When I was one of the lucky few who globe-trotted around the world writing about everything from Formula One to Olympic hockey to World Cup soccer, I wrote better on the road. There’s more stimulation away from home, but there are also fewer distractions.

For the players, home means support from friends and family, but it also means getting the laundry done, taking the car in for an oil change and dealing with Uncle Ed from Moose Jaw, who has turned up in town wanting 17 tickets three hours before game time.

What I regret most about Saturday’s embarrassing loss is that it happened the night my all-time favourite Hab, Larry Robinson, was selected to pass the torch. Robinson deserved better, this team deserved better. They have kept us entertained and on the edge of our seats all season and, whether they win or lose in Buffalo, this will not be the only time the greats of the past are called upon at momentous moments.

And if they lose? It was a landmark season long before the playoffs began. It has been unforgettable: Cole Caufield’s 51 goals, Lane Hutson’s ongoing emergence as a shapeshifting hockey miracle, Nick Suzuki’s off-the-charts hockey IQ and tireless work ethic, and Ivan (The Great) Demidov coming of age in this series against the Sabres.

It’s already the best team the Canadiens have assembled since Robinson was part of the Big Three on defence — and they’re just getting started.

Meanwhile in Ottawa: The Montreal Victoire has good reason to feel hard done by. Here the players are in the PWHL final, up 2-0 on the Ottawa Charge, needing only one win to be Walter Cup champions — and with the Canadiens preparing for a second-round Game 7, they’re drawing about as much attention as a schoolteacher on the last day of class.

Victoire’s Maggie Flaherty celebrates her overtime goal against the Ottawa Charge in Game 2 of the PWHL Walter Cup finals in Laval on Saturday.

They do catch a minor break Monday with a 6 p.m. start, 90 minutes ahead of the Canadiens, so thousands of fans will be using the first period as an appetizer for the Habs and avoiding Ron MacLean by returning to the Victoire game between periods. Should the Victoire lose Monday, the team plays Game 4 Wednesday, so it won’t have to go head-to-head with the Canadiens again.

Heroes: Larry Robinson, Lane Hutson, Ivan Demidov, Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Mike Matheson, Kaiden Guhle, Josh Anderson, Phillip Danault, Arber Xhekaj, Ann-Renée Desbiens, Erin Ambrose, Maggie Flaherty, Laura Stacey, Martin St. Louis &&&& last but not least, Marie-Philip Poulin.

Zeros: John Tortorella, Carter Hart, Jack Eichel, the Vegas Knights, Stan Bowman, Bill Guerin, John Chayka, Zach Benson, Ron MacLean, PWHL officiating, Bud Selig Jr., Claude Brochu &&&& last but not least, David Samson and Jeffrey Loria.

Now and forever.

[email protected]

jacktodd.bsky.social

The post Todd: Perils of playing at home sabotaging Canadiens’ playoff run appeared first on Montreal Gazette.