from Mike Boone of Hockey Inside/Out,

Let’s be the knowledgeable and classy Montreal hockey fans that we like to think we are by giving credit where credit is due:

The New York Rangers deserved to win the Eastern Conference Final.

They did so by playing textbook defence in Game 6, choking the last gaps of life out of a Canadiens team that was running on empty.

But what a run it was!

Your Canadiens lost the first and last games of their 2013-’14 season.

In between, they played better hockey than most of us expected.

On Oct. 1, when the Bell Centre siren sounded to end a 4-3 loss to Toronto, did anyone think the Canadiens would be ending their season by losing 1-0 at Madison Square Garden on May 29?

This team overachieved for the better part of eight months. They displayed character and resilience, capturing the hearts of a city that needs some distraction while we wait for the Champlain Bridge to collapse.

“I’m proud of this team,” Michel Therrien said – and fans should share the coach’s pride in a group of players that never quit.

“We made big progress,” Therrien added. “We battled hard in the regular season. We battled hard in the playoffs.”

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