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MONTREAL — If the Montreal Canadiens start to feel a little too confident about their first-round playoff matchup against a team they dominated this season, the Boston Bruins, all they have to do is steal a glance at the bald, plump man behind the opposition's bench.
Bruins head coach Claude Julien stands as a reminder of how an NHL playoff upset can be pulled off.
Julien was the Canadiens coach the last time Montreal celebrated a postseason series victory. In 2004, his Habs were the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference and upended the superior Bruins in seven games after trailing in the series 3-1.
"Everybody here who played for him respects Claude," said Montreal defenceman Francis Bouillon, one of eight players (along with Alex Kovalev, Patrice Brisebois, Michael Ryder, Mike Komisarek, Andrei Markov, Steve Begin and Saku Koivu) who remain from the 2003-04 team. "He was a great coach for us. We know he'll get his players ready to win."
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- Boston Bruins
- Montreal Canadiens
- Toronto Maple Leafs
- Steve Begin
- Patrice Bergeron
- Francis Bouillon
- Patrice Brisebois
- Christopher Higgins
- Saku Koivu
- Mike Komisarek
- Andrei Markov
- Tomas Plekanec
- Michael Ryder
- Marc Savard
Habs forwards Christopher Higgins and Tomas Plekanec both played two games in the 2003-04 regular season, but didn't see any action in the playoffs.
For the most part, Julien was a popular figure during his 159 games behind the Montreal bench. But it did end badly.
After firing Julien in January of 2006, general manager Bob Gainey took over behind the bench before bringing in current head coach Guy Carbonneau as the boss-in-waiting.
In his time in Montreal, Julien had given Kovalev plenty of leeway. But when the offensive forward stopped producing on the ice and the Canadiens were slumping, Julien asked his enigmatic star — in front of the other players — what the team needed to do to return to its winning ways. Kovalev shot back, "I don't know, you're the coach."
Three years after the incident, Kovalev says he still respects his former coach. He knows the pundits already have given the heavily favoured Habs the first-round series before a single game has been played because they swept all eight games against Boston in the regular season.
But after Saturday's regular-season finale — a 3-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs — the veteran winger had a warning for those predicting an easy series for Montreal.
"I've mentioned this many times, the playoffs are different," Kovalev said. "It doesn't matter what happened in the regular season. The last time we beat Boston [in the playoffs], our coach was Claude. He wants to win on the other side now."
Coincidentally, Carbonneau and Julien are two of the top candidates this season for the Jack Adams Award, presented to the NHL's coach of the year. But Julien doesn't want to make this series a revenge of the jilted coach.
"I'm not big in comparing," Julien told the Boston Herald. "This is a different year and a different challenge. But, yeah, we were the underdog [in 2004] ... but our team was playing well and we were confident. And our team has been playing well, too, in the last month.
"One of the keys to [winning in 2004 after being down 3-1 was] it's a seven-game series and it really isn't over until it's over. That was just proof that there was still lots of hockey left. And though the odds are never good, it's still possible."
The Canadiens outscored Boston 32-16 in their eight wins this season, but only held a 252-250 advantage in shots on goal.
The Habs expect Julien to make the necessary adjustments to close the gap between the long-time rivals, who will meet for the 31st time in the Stanley Cup playoffs, by the time the series begins tomorrow at the Bell Centre.
"We know there are a lot of surprises in the playoffs and we have to be ready," Begin said. "It's a different season. [In 2004], we believed in ourselves and we knew we could come back and beat them. Claude did a good job, but now he's on the other side.
"We want to beat him. We want to win because we like winning."
Both teams have injury concerns heading into the series. Koivu (fractured left foot) still has not skated and is unlikely to be rushed back for either of the first two games.
The Bruins will likely get centre Marc Savard back from his back injury for the series opener. But the earliest forward Patrice Bergeron, who was cleared for contact in practice after missing more than five months with a concussion, would return would be on Saturday for the second game of the series.
