Their resumes are impeccable, their collective playoff knowledge is immeasurable, and their fingers gleam with Stanley Cup rings. So we tapped Guy Carbonneau, Denis Savard, Bryan Trottier and Brad May—champions all—for some insight into the conference semifinals. There’s always lessons to be learned from the masters.
Montreal Canadiens vs. Boston Bruins
In the words of Guy Carbonneau, Stanley Cup winner with Montreal in 1986 and 1993 and Dallas in 1999.
The fact the Canadiens had a chance to rest a little bit helps. On the other side, Boston defeating Detroit in five gave them some rest also.
In our days, we had four games in five nights, then one day off. There wasn’t much spare time. Now you can have a game on a Saturday and then wait until Tuesday for your next one [as is the case between games 2 and 3 of this series]. There’s more time in between. You don’t get paid to play more games, so the perfect season would be to win the Stanley Cup in 16 games. The first two periods after a break between series, there’s rust, but you’re in the playoffs. Emotion is so high. The adrenalin comes in. It doesn’t take much time for these guys to get in the game.
Every one of my series with the Bruins was really emotional. Those two cities have been at each other forever. For almost 50 years Boston couldn’t beat Montreal. That’s all you heard come playoff time, and sometimes there wasn’t a good reason why we dominated. Sometimes it was the ghosts of the Montreal Forum – a bad bounce would happen, and we’d beat Boston. Now the tide has turned, and that creates a better rivalry.
This is a tough, well-fought series. If there’s one team that can beat Boston, Montreal can. But Carey Price will have to be perfect. Montreal’s power play hadn’t done a lot in the last 15 games before this series; that’ll need to come alive. If they can steal one of the first two games at TD Garden, they have a chance in seven.
Carbonneau’s bet: Boston in six
Chicago Blackhawks vs. Minnesota Wild
In the words of Hall of Famer Denis Savard, who won a Stanley Cup with Montreal in 1993 but played the bulk of his career with the Blackhawks, for whom he is an official ambassador.
I went to every St. Louis Blues-Chicago Blackhawks game in that series. It was tough to see one team get eliminated—two great teams playing each other in the first round like that. The same thing happened with San Jose and L.A., Colorado-Minnesota, Philly-Rangers. Three Game 7s in Round 1. Playoffs are tough. People think they know that, but you have to be part of it to really understand. Physically, mentally, the ups and downs… Look at that last game with Colorado and Minnesota: Avs are winning, Minnesota ties it up, Colorado scores another go-ahead goal, Minnesota comes back again to tie it up and then win. The ups and downs are incredible. You have to be so strong mentally. You have to be strong physically. It’s demanding. I don’t know if there’s anything tougher in sports. We all played hurt in the playoffs.
Minnesota isn’t fresh, but it’s focused. The Wild’s confidence is still high after getting out of the first round with such a huge win in Colorado. So the biggest key for Chicago is to win both of these first two games at home, not just the one. We must take the wind out of their sails early.
Savard’s bet: Chicago
Anaheim Ducks vs. Los Angeles Kings
In the words of Brad May, Stanley Cup winner with Anaheim in 2007
You have two fairly recent Cup winners. It’s going to be an unbelievable series. First of all, the rinks are 45 minutes to an hour apart. The fans don’t like each other. You’re either wearing black and silver or black and orange. The Anaheim fans are great. The team has been built with depth. They can score goals.
Right now, the question in Anaheim is: Who’s going to be the goaltender? Will it be Jonas Hiller or Frederik Andersen? Do they go to John Gibson at some point in time? Anaheim’s got that luxury: these goalies can all play. I’d go with Hiller, but we’ll see how that transpires.
As for L.A., the choice is obviously Jonathan Quick, and he’s carried that team for the last four games on his back. But he’s also getting goal support. L.A.’s going to be a tough team to beat. The confidence they garnered out of coming back in that Round 1 series with San Jose—there’s no way I would’ve predicted that to happen. I picked San Jose all seven games to win. How wrong was I? The Kings have proven they’re resilient. Darryl Sutter has these guys going. Drew Doughty is a real difference-maker. If L.A. wins, Doughty has a top-end series and Quick’s goals-against average has to come down.
I don’t see much weakness in Anaheim. Its best players play a rambunctious game, and they might get into penalty trouble. But if they get hot-tempered, Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry have the knack for taking undisciplined penalties. But when the puck’s on their stick, look out.
May’s bet: Anaheim in seven
Pittsburgh Penguins vs. New York Rangers
In the words of Bryan Trottier, a seven-time Stanley Cup champion who won twice with Pittsburgh (1991, 1992) and coached the Rangers for 54 games in 2002.
I root for all my former teams. Because I live in Pittsburgh, I see the Pens all the time. Even when they play the Islanders, I’ll root for the home team—I want the fans to go home happy. My teams are like my kids: I don’t have a favourite. I pull for the Avalanche [with whom he won the 2001 Cup as an assistant coach] as hard as I pull for anybody. Success in the playoffs comes down to full-on commitment from ownership, from management, from the coaches and from the players. That’s the bottom line.
Rangers-Penguins will be a great series. The Rangers had a hard battle with Philly; the Penguins had a good, scrappy, fast-paced battle against the Columbus Blue Jackets. There’s goaltending on both sides, and the special teams highlight star players on both teams, but I gotta go with my Penguins.
I had a brief stint with the Rangers; I have no hatred for them. I actually pull for them a lot, and I’m a big Lundqvist fan. He’s one of the top goalies in the NHL. Their defence is great, and they have good leaders up front and a balance of young players. After having all those battles against the Rangers as an Islander, I really understand the passion of the fans at Madison Square Garden. It’s a special group of fans, and I have great respect for them. In my short stint there as a Rangers coach, they embraced me quickly. I loved that time. It was so neat to experience the rivalry from the flip side after being on the island. They’re fanatical about their Rangers. I get it.
Trottier’s bet: Pittsburgh
