Rising to the challenge
because their climate is cold and their taxes are high, at least when compared to certain U.S. states where they tend to bankrupt school boards before they ask for a tax increase, unless it is to fund a stadium. Other Canadian markets have a similar recruiting disadvantage, but for a different reason: because the NHL is king, and players perform under remarkable scrutiny. The relative anonymity of a life in Nashville or Anaheim, not to mention the weather, undoubtedly has its appeal.
But the pressure thing, on the evidence of this past season, can only be taken as an excuse so far. The Toronto Maple Leafs had every reason to wilt down the closing stretch, and instead they played their best hockey right up until a late wobble that they still managed to overcome (barely). The Calgary Flames survived an injury to Johnny Gaudreau and the early-season benching of Brian Elliott, the guy they brought in to be their No. 1 goaltender. The Ottawa Senators made the postseason despite losing starting goalie Craig Anderson for a stretch while he dealt with his wife’s illness. The Montreal Canadiens traded their best player who was not Carey Price, and still won their division. And the Edmonton Oilers, the team that was very good at draft lotteries and tragically lacking at just about everything else, finally lived up to their promise and broke a long playoff drought.
Any one of them had the potential to disappoint, but they didn’t. And just like there was no overarching reason for why Canada’s franchises were left out of the NHL’s second season last year, there’s no single explanation for why they are back in numbers this year. Edmonton got a full season out of Connor McDavid and his tremendous gift for putting pucks in the net and Montreal got the same out of Carey Price and his remarkable ability to prevent the same. Calgary and Ottawa had dramatic improvements under new head coaches. And Toronto had an absurd injection of new young talent, keyed by the arrival of Auston Matthews, who scored four goals on opening night and his 40th in the Leafs’ playoff clincher.
It’s not that Canada’s teams found a way to overcome innate challenges, it’s that they had better players, or better coaching, or better management, or better luck. The Maple Leafs, for one, have had some of the first three in recent years, but they wouldn’t be in the playoffs today if the draft lottery hadn’t broken their way last June.
But, why they made the playoffs this year doesn’t matter at this point nearly as much as the fact they did. It is time for Canada’s teams — sorry, Vancouver and Winnipeg — to again sample the tasty thrill, with a dash of fear and a jigger of agony, that is NHL playoff hockey.
For the Canadiens, it’s time to see if they can manage a deep playoff run that would go some way to soothing the sting of losing P.K. Subban, and allow them to capitalize on the services of an all-world goaltender in his prime. For the Flames and Senators, it’s time to draw on the experience of their 2015 playoffs, as they will each face a team with a whole lot more post-season experience than that. And for the Maple Leafs and Oilers, it’s time for their fabulous youngsters to get a sampling of the playoff crucible. Both teams come in with no pressure, having taken huge leaps forward already, and yet both fan bases will say they are just happy to have some playoff hockey while secretly hoping they have a lot of it.
And then, when the games start, and the first overtime is reached, and the first would-be game-winner clangs off the iron, Canadian fans will recall the one upside of not being in the playoffs: it is a lot less stressful.