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First of all I’m not “complaining” about us making it to the final under Covid rules. I just don’t think you can give MB or DD credit. They win without DD playoffs (just like the habs won a cup under an incompetent Perron in 86’). This was Price being superman, when it looked like he was done, and probably because he knew it was his last chance. Secondly, Tampa, Toronto, Boston, Florida would have all made the playoffs easily. We wouldn’t have even made the playoffs. All of those teams were solid teams in 2020, 2021, 2022, and this year. We sucked in 2020, but got in under a play-in, in 2021 we got in because of realignment, and sucked in 2022 and 2023. No comparison at all. Tampa was a defending champion, and made the finals the following year as well, because they were a legit top team. We haven’t had a good team since 2016, and even then it was a yo-yo team. Good in 2014. Sucked in 2015, hood in 2016. Sucked since than.

It is silly to complain that the year we made it to the finals is somehow tainted because of the realignment that year due to covid. It was unusual but we still won 3 rounds and got to the cup finals. We were outplayed by the Lightning but we still had a chance to win it all. Was Tampa's cup that year also tainted because of the unusual circumstances? We played very well in the playoffs - probably better than any team other than Tampa and possibly the Islanders. It was a great run and the fact that we relied on Price and Weber is no discredit.

Well, even if we go back to the lockout year, the Habs have had vastly more playoff success than Toronto. That is an amusing fact to bandy about in itself. I agree with you about the Habs not being heavy-duty contenders, though, obviously. Although one point of note is that a good case can be made that we *were* contenders in 2014 (Semi-Finals) and 2015 (2nd overall). We just didn’t understand that at the time. Why we didn’t appreciate this, is a good question. Probably we were bedazzled by the lack of a stud #1C and couldn’t see that a team with peak Subban, Petry, and Markov, backed by Price, had a lot going for it. I’m on board with the current Habs rebuild, BUT the Leafs nightmare is just one more exhibit illustrating that tanking is not a guarantee of winning anything. ُThe admirable 2014/2015 Habs team, meanwhile, shows that tanking is not necessary. Hell, if we had kept McDonagh, we might well have beaten Tampa in 2015. Meanwhile, the subtle re-writing of history so that the Habs run of 2021 “doesn’t count” is sheer revisionism. I’m not having this BS for one second. That was a heavy, grinding team with tremendous veteran leadership - built for the playoffs. In fact, if they hadn’t had bizarre problems winning at 4-on-4, they might well have been regarded as contenders for the whole season. They were full value for destroying both the supposedly-mighty Leafs and Vegas; meanwhile, Winnipeg’s best player self-destructed, so that was hardly our problem. That team quite closely resembled the LA Kings Cup winners In being a heavy team with an ace goalie that could grind out wins over the playoff meat-grinder. What 2021 showed is that even the most flagrant patchup jobs can indeed succeed, if executed brilliantly. The problem, of course, was that it couldn’t be sustained. Danault left, Perry left, and most importantly Weber and Price were done. The whole thing collapsed, as it was destined to.

Leafs should hire Bergy and Ducharme. They did something the.leafs havent done since.the 1930s, win 3 playoff rounds in the same year. Also any coach who can shut down the biggest offensive threat on your biggest rival is invaluable. Ducharme is the best at preventing cole caufield from scoring.

Maybe these guys will be back, instead of the Whalers?