Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

Jon Cooper Starts The Mind Games

04/20/2014 at 1:31pm EDT

from Chris Johnston of Sportsnet,

After pointing out that pundits have counted his group out all season long, he noted that Montreal has a recent history of squandering leads in the playoffs.

"We got home ice and didn’t deliver the way clearly we wanted to," Cooper said after Sunday’s morning skate at the Bell Centre. "So now you look in the room at those guys and (say) `What do we have to lose?’ Everyone thinks we’re supposed to lose. Now I’m hearing (we’re) done, (we’ll) be on the golf course by Wednesday, I’ve heard it all. But at some point they’re going to have to do that in front of their fans, try and knock us out.

"I’m sure they’ve never had a 2-0 lead on the road and come back and blown it."

Cooper was likely referencing the 2011 playoffs against Boston, but could also have been alluding to a 2006 series with Carolina or a 1996 series against the New York Rangers. On all three occasions, the Habs won the opening two games on the road but still lost the series.

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Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

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