And now here they are.
"We're not here by accident," general manager Marc Bergevin said. "But we realize that we do have a lot of work ahead of us."
Consider this:
Now consider this:
It's fair to point out that the Canadiens aren't necessarily the same team they were in the regular season, especially early in the regular season, or even the same team they were at the start of the playoffs.
They replaced Claude Julien as coach with Dominique Ducharme on Feb. 24, acquired center Eric Staal from the Buffalo Sabres on March 27, and signed forward Cole Caufield out of the University of Wisconsin on March 29.
Forward Jesperi Kotkaniemi, the No. 3 pick of the 2018 NHL Draft, did not play in the playoff opener against Toronto. Caufield, the No. 15 pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, did not play in the first two games of that series. Each has been important since. Caufield has scored nine points (four goals, five assists), and Kotkaniemi has scored seven (five goals, two assists).
Richardson credited Ducharme for changing the mentality.
"You know, we belong here," Richardson said. "Believe in ourselves. [Have a] not-going-to-take-no-for-an-answer type of attitude."
Richardson and Bergevin each credited the players, especially veterans like captain Shea Weber.
"You can see the confidence that it's building in this dressing room and within the team culture itself, let alone the organization and the coaching staff or management," Richardson said. "It's just the players. It's great to see them taking charge and really taking advantage of maybe a once-in-a-lifetime situation for themselves."
Montreal has stymied offensive teams in the playoffs by taking away the middle, relying on goalie Carey Price, pouncing on turnovers and counterattacking.
"Everyone's just buying in and doing all the little things," forward Tyler Toffoli said. "It's hard to do in a full season, but the way we're playing and the things we're doing right now, it's back over top, take the time and space away, all those things we talk about every single day, and it's just, it's paying off for us right now."
But the Canadiens now face the defending champs, who just won a seven-game semifinal series against the New York Islanders, a team that plays a similar style.
And as if that weren't enough, Ducharme is out for at least the first two games due to the NHL COVID-19 protocol. Forward Joel Armia was listed as unavailable due to the protocol Sunday.
The Canadiens have won the Stanley Cup 23 times since the NHL was born in 1917, 10 more than the next team, the Maple Leafs. But if they win this time, it will be unlike any of their other championships.
"This is the big stage," Bergevin said. "We're facing a very good hockey team, and I'm confident that our guys will rise to the occasion."
