Why Sabres vs. Canadiens would be dream playoff series for hockey fans
Who wouldn’t want to take in the scenes in both Montreal and Buffalo with a trip to the Eastern Conference final on the line?
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All three games between Buffalo and Montreal this season were tightly contested, emotional, and entertaining. Joe Hrycych / Getty Images
When hockey fans get a chance to catch their collective breath and think about the first round of this year’s Stanley Cup playoffs, there will be plenty of moments that stand out. The upstart Anaheim Ducks knocking off Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers. Quinn Hughes helping the Minnesota Wild get over the hump and advance to the second round. Mitch Marner getting his playoff moment with the Vegas Golden Knights. The intensity of the Flyers-Penguins rivalry being on full display.
But away from the ice, the most memorable scene of the first round might have been what we saw in Buffalo. After waiting 15 years for playoff hockey, Buffalo Sabres fans met the moment. They showed up with rollerblades, tackling dummies, and more than a decade of pent-up passion. The noise in the building was deafening. And that emotion was on display when Sabres fans greeted the team at the airport well past midnight following their Game 6 win over the Bruins to advance to the second round.
Earlier in the series, Sabres veteran forward Jason Zucker, who played in two of America’s best hockey markets in Minnesota and Pittsburgh, said he’d never seen anything like what he saw in Buffalo the last few weeks.
“It’s as special a place and fanbase as I’ve ever seen,” Zucker said. “I’ve been lucky to play for some great fanbases and seen some chaotic fans and buildings, but that definitely was the top for sure. It’s fun to be a part of right now. What’s crazy about it is I’ve never seen Buffalo like this, either. My rookie year, it was not like this at all. I don’t know if I remember coming into Buffalo and it being full and having that type of fanbase. I get why some other guys don’t either. But I’ve heard a lot about it.
“They made the playoffs the year before my rookie year, and that team had Drew Stafford and Thomas Vanek and (Jason) Pominville, and I ended up playing with a bunch of those guys. I heard a lot about it, but was never able to see it. So it’s fun to see the excitement.”
One building that seemed to match the scene at KeyBank Center in Round 1 was the Bell Centre in Montreal. Both buildings approached 108 decibels at one point. There aren’t too many places in the league where hockey matters as much as it does in Buffalo, but Montreal is definitely one of them. You see it when the city hosts big events like the 4 Nations or the NHL Draft. But you really see it when the Canadiens are playing in the playoffs. The place is a cathedral for hockey fans, full of passion for the sport’s history and its present.
We can debate which matchup is better for the Sabres’ chances of getting to the Eastern Conference final. But it seems clear that a Sabres-Canadiens series is what would be best for the sport and its fans. Who wouldn’t want to tune in to take in the scenes in both Montreal and Buffalo with a trip to the conference final on the line?
And it wouldn’t hurt to have some fresh faces in the mix, too. For seven straight seasons and nine of the last 10, the Eastern Conference final has featured one of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Carolina Hurricanes, or Florida Panthers. The Hurricanes are favorites in their series to get there again and extend that run. But the Eastern Conference is due for some new characters in its main event, and Montreal and Buffalo meeting in the second round would guarantee at least one new team in the conference final.
There’s also a strong case to be made that a Sabres-Canadiens series would produce a more aesthetically pleasing brand of hockey. The Lightning played in games that featured more than 100 penalty minutes against three separate opponents this season. Emotional games are expected in the playoffs. Fights will happen. But the Lightning under Jon Cooper has become a team that seems to prefer crossing the line. When they just play, though, the Lightning are entertaining. Their first-round series against the Canadiens has shown that. They have the league’s best goalie in Andrei Vasilevskiy and some incredible skill players.
And make no mistake: The Sabres are well-positioned to entertain the hockey world in a series against either opponent. Their games against the Lightning this season were must-see TV; the 8-7 Buffalo win over Tampa Bay in March was one of the most memorable games of the regular season.
While it didn’t garner the same attention, the Sabres’ season series against the Canadiens had plenty of thrills, too. The Sabres won the season series 2-1, but all three games were tightly contested and emotional. According to NHL Edge tracking data, the Sabres and Canadiens are ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in 18-20 mph speed bursts in the playoffs. These are two of the youngest teams in the NHL that both finished in the top 10 in scoring and were among the most exciting teams to watch. Lane Hutson and Rasmus Dahlin are two of the most electric offensive defensemen in the league. Tage Thompson and Cole Caufield are two of the NHL’s most prolific goal scorers.
For the last few years, the Candiens and Sabres have been talked about as the teams that are going to break through and join the contenders in what has been a predictable Eastern Conference. Now they’ve arrived. And if they meet up in Round 2, the atmosphere in both cities and the hockey on the ice will be everything fans love about the Stanley Cup playoffs.
