The Montreal Canadiens have no shortage of inspiration from which to draw, if they want to upset the Washington Capitals in Round 1 of their 2025 first-round series. For example, Habs defenseman David Savard announced his impending retirement after this latest playoff run. So, a Stanley Cup would definitely make for a nice send-off for last season’s Jacques Beauchamp-Molson Trophy winner, as the team’s top unsung hero in 2023-24.
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Still, there’s no disputing, as much of a warrior as Savard has been for the Canadiens, he’s only been around since 2021. Ex-general manager Marc Bergevin signed him away from the Stanley Cup-champion Tampa Bay Lightning (who had just beaten them in five games in the Final). While the Habs can try to take something away from that experience, they might ironically be better served looking further back… to the only other time they’ve faced the Capitals in the playoffs. If the headline wasn’t enough of a giveaway, you can probably see where this is going.
Back in 2010, the Canadiens upset the Capitals in Round 1 in seven games (and then the Pittsburgh Penguins in Round 2, before falling to the Philadelphia Flyers in Round 3). The Habs need only look back to that one series as proof the seemingly impossible can happen. More than that though, there are a few key similarities between this series and the one from 15 years ago to help them along:
And to be fair the Canadiens would need help, at least in the sense they wouldn’t be able to remember on their own as the youngest NHL team to ever make the playoffs (according to some sources). Literally none of them (excluding Carey Price) were around, with Savard only debuting as a professional the next season (and in the NHL with the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2011-12).
So, consider this the biggest stretch on this list of similarities, because the Canadiens are obviously (still) rebuilding. However, in 2010, they had “retooled,” with a changing of the guard having taken place the previous offseason. Gone were names like Saku Koivu, Alexei Kovalev, Mike Komisarek and, in a similar situation to Savard, Patrice Brisebois, who went on to retire.
They were replaced by the likes of Michael Cammalleri, Brian Gionta, Scott Gomez, Hal Gill and Jaroslav Spacek. Of course, despite a playoff appearance the next season, they failed to qualify in 2012, effectively…
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