from Luke Fox of Sportsnet,
So close. So far away.
Each NHL journey north of the 49th parallel brings with it two pieces of luggage: one labelled “drought” and the other “hope.”
For the first time in a long time, the “hope” carry-on was nearly too big to cram into the overhead compartment during the short-haul pandemic campaign of 2020-21. All flights were domestic, and a Canadian club was guaranteed entry into the Stanley Cup semifinals.
This country had waited 10 years for a Stanley Cup finalist. And although the low-seed, high-effort Montreal Canadiens did their city and their sport proud during what might’ve been the final four rounds of captain Shea Weber’s career, the mighty Tampa Bay Lightning retained the belt by decisive knockout.
The Habs’ brilliant blood-sweat-and-tears run served a hot reminder of just how difficult that climb to summit can be… only to discover that you must wrestle The Revenant bear to plant your flag.
And so, we begin anew up north.
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