Game 1 of 2021 NHL Stanley Cup Final Photo by Jack.Lima@prohockeynews.com
Sports history has seen its share of unlikely champions. The New York Jets in Super Bowl III. The Amazing New York Mets in the 1969 World Series. Leicester City winning the English Premier League soccer title in 2015-16.
The 2021 Montreal Canadiens are poised to join the list this season. The Habs are facing the defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning in the Stanley Cup final. The No. 4 seed in the NHL’s North Division, Montreal wasn’t given much of a chance of getting past the first-place Toronto Maple Leafs in the opening playoff round.
As recently as June 1st, 50-1 odds on the Canadiens could be accessed at the leading NHL betting sites. On the eve of the Cup final series, Montreal is the +170 underdog to defeat the Lightning. Tampa Bay is the -200 favorite to repeat as Stanley Cup champions.
Game 1 of 2021 NHL Stanley Cup Final Photo by Jack.Lima@prohockeynews.com
Montreal’s unexpected run to the Cup final series has led many pundits to suggest that these Habs could be the worst team to win the title in the history of the Stanley Cup. But does that mantle affix accurately to the 2021 Canadiens?
How they’ve done it
Montreal certainly opened the season looking like legitimate contenders. The Canadiens broke from the gate 5-0-2. But they quickly came back down to earth. Montreal finished 18th overall in the NHL standings 24-21-11 and a goal differential of minus-nine. They entered the playoffs on a five-game losing streak. Montreal actually ranked 18th overall in the NHL. Had the NHL not altered its playoff format and eliminated wildcard entries in 2021, the Canadiens would’ve missed the playoffs.
An anticipated quick exit from the postseason looked to be at hand when Montreal fell behind 3-1 to the Maple Leafs. One loss away from an early summer, the Canadiens rallied to win the series in seven games.
Next came a sweep of the Winnipeg Jets in the North Division final. Montreal won seven games in a row after never managing a winning streak of longer than three games during regular-season play.
A semifinal victory over the Vegas Golden Knights saw the Habs rally from a 1-0 series deficit. Montreal is 5-1 in playoff overtime games and 9-2 in one-goal decisions. The Habs are 3-0 when facing elimination.
Goaltender Carey Price has posted a 2.02 goals-against average and a .934 save percentage in reaching the Stanley Cup final for the first time during his 14-season career. Forward Cole Caufield leads all rookies in goals (four), assists (five) and points (nine).
Leafs completed unexpected three-peat
Only two teams have won the Stanley Cup while posting a losing record during the regular season. One of them was the 1948-49 Maple Leafs.
Toronto won the Stanley Cup in 1946-47, upsetting the first-place Canadiens in the Cup final series. The following season, the Leafs won again but it wasn’t a surprise. They’d finished on top of the NHL regular-season standings.
In 1948-49, the Leafs weren’t even holding down a playoff position as late as February. They managed to scrape into postseason play, but lost five of their last six games to finish 22-25-13.
They did a 180 in the playoffs. Toronto required just five games to dispatch the Boston Bruins in the semifinal. Then the Leafs swept the first-place Detroit Red Wings to win their third successive Stanley Cup.
Blackhawks set the standard
Even should the Canadiens knock off the Lightning, it’s difficult to argue that they’ll be able to knock the 1937-38 Chicago Blackhawks from their perch as the worst Stanley Cup champions.
Chicago posted a dreadful 14-25-9 record that season. However, thanks to the Red Wings being even worse – 12-25-11 – the Blackhawks made the playoffs. Then they made history.
In that era, both of the first two playoff rounds were the best-of-three series, while the Cup final was a best-of-five affair. In the quarterfinals against the Canadiens, Chicago lost Game 1 by a 6-4 count before winning two in a row. Again in the semifinals, Chicago dropped the series opener 3-1 before winning successive one-goal games, one in double overtime.
The Cup final was actually Chicago’s easiest triumph. Facing the Maple Leafs, Chicago took Game 1 at Maple Leaf Gardens and won the set in four games.
During the playoffs, the Blackhawks were 4-0 in one-goal games and 2-0 in overtime. The Blackhawks won both OT games while facing elimination. During the regular season, they were 7-8 in one-goal games and 0-0-9 in overtime.
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