The Montreal Canadiens got tired of playing possum and testing out the efficacy of heart medicine and dispatched the Boston Bruins tonight. Carey Price and Alexei Kovalev, who have starred AND played poorly during the preceding games in the opening series of the Stanley Cup playdowns, both were on their best behaviour tonight.
And oddly, the player who I thought has been the best Hab so far, Tom Kostopoulos, was just about invisible. And I guess, if you are going to win big, you won't notice Tom.
The Canadiens are once again playing firewagon hockey, the term for those great Montreal clubs of the past that dominated the Stanley Cup for much of the second half of the 20th century. Those teams won with style, speed and a special panache, backed with Hall of Fame goaltending. This century's version of the team had often been plodding defence-oriented squads that featured pluggers and hopes and found little success.
Yet, those pluggers are now a key ingredient in hockey success. In fact, such a guy, Glen Metropolit, had been one of Boston's best throughout. But the Plugger Hall of Fame surely must have a spot for Kostopoulos after the series he's had. Through the first six games, he had two goals and an assist and was a team-leading plus three. Kovalev, by example, was a MINUS three over the same stretch.
Maybe its the way Rasho Nesterovic of the Toronto Raptors has opened up my eyes to watching the unheralded guys contribute by just doing their job. But I will tell you, it was hard to miss Kostopoulos throughout the series until tonight's wrap-up. And even then, his line went unscored-on. It was easy to miss because Boston didn't score against ANY line.
If the Habs DO go on to spring (or will it be summer?) success, I guarantee you that one of the prime reasons will be the off-season pickup that nobody noticed. Tom Kostopoulos, the guy with the big STOP in his name.
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