Wednesday Habs Links: Canadiens are the first team to advance to the second round

Montreal Canadiens News

• Go Crazy Montreal. You’re the first team to advance to the second round. They clinched the series before Boston or Detroit finished game three. Feels good man.
• Marc Bergevin was all class, as per usual, and made his way to the Tampa locker room after the game to wish the Bolts well.
• Before he went to the Tampa Bay locker room he seemed to summon his inner Flash, and bolted to Habs dressing room at lightning speed.
• Pacioretty was relieved to score his first playoff goal, although I don’t think many will complain about his lack of production after his series clinching goal.
• Tampa head coach Jon Cooper was proud of his team, even if they were swept.
• Michel Therrien gave much of the credit for the series win to his players, which makes sense.
• Kerry Fraser threw a playful jab Ron MacLean’s way in regards to his French referee comments, check it out.
• MacLean later apologized for his confusing remarks.
• Ginette Reno, Bourque’s good luck charm, got the green light from her cardiologist before she announced she would be singing the national anthem in game 4. She was amazing, by the way, as she brought down the house for a second time. She also passed on the winning touch to Briere.
• The Hamilton Bulldogs brass have promised that next year will be better. Amid the empty rhetoric we find a few interesting points; Lefebvre is hoping to have Bozon and de la Rose join the team next year (Yay!) and apparently he has the full support of Habs management (sigh…).
• Arpon Basu noticed that depth players are playing a huge role in this year’s opening series.
• Olivier took a look back on game three, check out all the information here.
• Some specialists think that it was a mistake to allow Steven Stamkos back in game 3, I tend to agree, considering he’s one of the NHL’s most important assets.
• The Habs will face either the Bruins or the Red Wings in round two, and they’ll do so (hopefully) with the addition of Alex Galchenyuk. There’s been no word on his progress of late, we’ll have to keep an eye on it.
• 12 more

News and Notes from Around the League

• Analytics in hockey aren’t going away, James Mirtle explains why.
• Winging it in Motown sat down and asked 5 questions with no one from Stanley Cup of Chowdah, it’s well worth a read. (h/t to the always excellent Cornelius Hardenbergh for answering the questions in the comments)
• The other Bruins blog on the block, Days of Y’Orr actually answered some questions with WiiM, you can check out the answers here.
• The Lady Byng finalists were announced. There’s no surprise that Ryan O’Reilly is on the list, however I’m not sure Martin St.Louis showed sportsmanship by demanding a trade out of Tampa.
• Stephane Robidas re-injured his leg, meaning he’s likely to miss the remainder of the playoffs. Tough luck for Robidas, who was playing in Dallas for the first time since his trade.
• The dirtbag known as Matt Cooke struck again, this time he took out Tyson Barrie’s knees, forcing the Avalanche d-man to miss at least 4-6 weeks with a torn MCL. The waste of DNA was offered an in-person hearing, meaning he’ll likely get suspended for more than 5 games.
• The Penguins made everyone cry on Monday night, including this little guy.
• The playoffs are garnering great ratings in the United States, especially on NBCSN with 61% increase over last year.
• On the Forecheck compiled a list of the top 20 most Googled NHL players, two Habs (no surprise who) made the list.

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