It is the history of personal relationships, of previous games between these two clubs, and of the places where history will be written anew that makes this Rangers-Canadiens first-round matchup more intriguing than just what might happen on the ice.
Like the first question that Chris Kreider received on Monday afternoon, predictably asking if the “controversy” of injuring Montreal netminder Carey Price in the 2014 Eastern Conference final is dead and gone — even though it’s clearly not, as all will find out when Kreider is mercilessly booed in Game 1 on Wednesday night at the Bell Centre.
“One hundred percent,” Kreider said. “Long time ago, I’m just focused on this series and Game 1.”
When asked then by a Montreal reporter if he has changed his game, or if that previous rash of goaltender collisions were just accidents, Kreider went the sarcastic route and, whether intentionally or not, painted an even larger bull’s-eye on his back.
“We’ve got a really good skating coach here, so working on my edges, really learning how to stop, I guess,” he said with a deadpan delivery. “My game hasn’t changed. For me to be effective, I have to get to the crease. That’s where I’m going to score goals.”
Just as it was three years ago, Rangers coach Alain Vigneault is again good friends with his Montreal counterpart, now Claude Julien. The two played together in the CHL in the early 1980s, and Vigneault said he had “a couple stories I could share, but I can’t — not openly anyway.” More recently in 2011, Vigneault was the coach of the Canucks when he lost Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final to Julien and his Bruins.
“I’ve always had a real good relationship with Claude. If I’m being very frank, obviously losing Game 7 put a little damper, or a little bit of time [in our relationship],” Vigneault said. “That’s a tough thing to get over. But it’s over, and I’ve got a tremendous amount of respect for him as a person, first. He’s a great coach, and I know that he’s going to prepare his team well.
“But I feel at the end of the day, he owes me one.”
Three years ago, Vigneault had a mini-feud with Michel Therrien, who was fired by Montreal on Feb. 14 and replaced by Julien — for the second time in the team’s history, believe it or not. Therrien first threw a fit over Kreider running into Price, naming him a repeat offender and calling for a suspension that never came. In the midst of Brandon Prust getting suspended for a headshot to former teammate Derek Stepan in Game 3 and Dan Carcillo getting a 10-game suspension for abuse of an official, Therrien threw out Vigneault’s assistant coaches trying to watch a Canadiens practice at the Garden, which Therrien said had been part of an ambiguous “gentleman’s agreement.”
Asked if he’s going to let Julien or his assistants watch morning skates this time, Vigneault actually had a bit of news, saying that Montreal general manager Marc Bergevin reached out to his New York counterpart, Jeff Gorton, and they made an actual, clear agreement.
“We can’t watch each others practices, but the morning skates [are OK],” Vigneault said. “I particularly don’t care one way or the other. But the GMs, they’re the bosses. If that’s what they want to do, that’s what we’ll do.”
All of that now creates context for this series, as the Rangers have retooled their roster to get younger and faster, while the Canadiens have added grit and physicality at this year’s trade deadline to go along with the speed and skill that got them to the top of the Atlantic Division.
“I think it’s safe to say going into this series that Montreal will be considered the favorites,” Vigneault said. “We came into this year, most of the people didn’t expect us to get in. We got in in probably the toughest division in the league. When we’ve played our way, our high-tempo game, we were a tough team to play against.”
And soon enough, another chapter of intrigue will be added to an already rich backdrop.