MONTREAL — They were already steeled for what might lay ahead, many of them. They were pouring into the lobby of a downtown hotel a few blocks from the Bell Centre, so many of them wearing that most familiar of hockey vestments, the red sweater with the large “C” and the smaller “H.”
Hockey pinstripes.
“There was a time when I would’ve looked at that franchise and I would’ve looked at our franchise and I would’ve said, ‘OK. Hard, but not impossible,” said John Little, who lives in Plattsburgh, N.Y., but was raised outside Montreal, and grew up on “Hockey Night in Canada” when the Canadiens were a more reliable show than Ed Sullivan.
And now?
Little smiled.
“Now,” he said, “we wish and we pray.”
There was a time, a long time ago, when the Rangers won their third Stanley Cup in 1940 and the overall standings read this way: Montreal 4 Cups, New York 3 Cups. Then the Canadiens rattled off 20 unanswered Cups and, well, it’s not like these franchises have often been used in the same sentence, let alone the same breath.
Canadiens 24.
Yankees 22.
Celtics 16.
A funny thing happened after the Canadiens won that 24th Cup, though, beating Wayne Gretzky and the Kings to get there. For one thing, a few weeks later they broke ground on what is now the Bell Centre, a beautiful arena that nearly houses much of the artifacts of that proud history. Of course, it never has hosted any of that history; all of that belongs to the dear departed Forum.
And in the meantime the Yankees have added five more titles to their collection, the Celtics one more to theirs, and even the Lakers have added five to inch just behind the Celtics at 16.
The Canadiens?
Really, they haven’t been all that close to adding to their own total since. They made the conference finals just once since ’93, getting trampled in five games by the Flyers in 2010. They’ve only gotten as far as the conference semifinals four times.
Which is why so much was invested in this year’s team, why so many of the natives had wrapped so many hopes in this year’s team, and why it had to have looked like a stardust-paved pathway once the Rangers knocked off the Penguins, and once they took care of their own business, rallying to oust the Bruins.
“You could sense something building,” Little said. “At least until this series started. Then, not so much.”
The Yankees have had their droughts, sure. There were 12 long years that passed between postseason appearances, 1964-76, as baseball adjusted to changing economic times. There were 18 longer years between championships, 1978-96, a stretch that included 14 straight playoff-free seasons.
And yes: it did feel a little like the sky was falling every time.
The Celtics went 22 years between their 16th and 17th championships, and it seemed like it might last even longer since they were 24-58 just one year before winning it all in ’08. Especially in a time of modern sporting logistics, the idea one team could hold the standard for a whole league the way the Yankees, Canadiens and Celtics did is somewhat impossible.
Still … when they are on their games, and they are winning, and they are playing deep into their seasons … there is something about seeing those familiar old uniforms winning, and playing well.
Rangers fans, of course, are welcome to disagree.
As well they should.