Is that something the Canadiens should be concerned about moving forward with these two guys when it comes to playing in the playoffs?

It's really the one playoff, okay, that we've seen them.

And look, they went to the conference final.

Um, were they worn down? I think the whole team was.

So are you able to insulate these guys? When I say insulate 'em, do you bring in a, a ...

Can you get that second line center man so you take a little heat off that top line and, and, you know, you're able to put 'em in situations where maybe you couldn't before.

You can throw that second line center out there who's able to do a job.

Yeah.

Just your, your thoughts on, on Claude.

Yeah.

You, you know, listen, I had the opportunity to, um, step with him and s- his two sons, Chris and Mike, um, uh, before the game.

And i- he was talking to me about, you know, how is it bringing the torch on? I said, "It's unbelievable.

It's emotional.

It's, it ...

I, I ...

Knucks, talk about, you know, 1986 and the experience of winning the Stanley Cup in Montreal and what that was like.

Oh, it was incredible.

And you know what it's like playing in Montreal.

You were there.

You got a taste of that.

But to, to win, uh, there, it's just a whole other level.

Um, you know, we had gone the year before to the conference final against the Islanders, and we got up two games to nothing.

[laughs]

Do you think he's back with the Canadiens next season?

Who knows? You know, when he's in the lineup, who knows if he's gonna play.

When he's not in the lineup, who knows if he's gonna stay here.

When's he getting back in? Who knows? I don't know.

I don't know what they think of him, uh, you know, the way he was used this year.

Um, a- and listen, he's n- he's n- [laughs] not gonna be perfect, but boy, when you get a big defenseman like that, you gotta be able to work with him, mold him, and, and make those small incremental changes in his game to help him so he's able to apply himself in a game and make good decisions.

And listen, with some people, that comes naturally, but he's a big body, uh, he's intimidating, and it's something they lacked in the playoffs, and they certainly, um, when they went [laughs] against a team like Carolina, who was knocking the shit out of them, I mean, w- a- at some point, wh- why not put him in and use that physicality? Uh, get him out there.

You wonder also maybe if there's an offer sheet out there from another team.

I mean, Brendan Gallagher wouldn't have given up.

Yeah, no q- no question, uh, uh, about his, his determination, his grittiness, all that.

And, and I get that.

Um, would he have dragged the rest of the crew into the fight? Uh, listen, I just, uh, i- in the end, I, I don't know if they gave up so much as they were just, I think, mentally, physically worn down.

They wore down, and they, they, every time they got the puck, someone's in their face.

That, that takes a toll.

I don't care, you can say, "Oh, I'll battle through it," and then you get the puck next time and you're on your ass.

Um, just what impressed you most about Dobesh and the way he, he played during this postseason?

Mm-hmm

... with Greeny.

I said, "This team is terrible in their own end of the rink.

They can't rely on the goaltender all the time to think they're gonna win hockey games." And that's exactly what happened in the first two rounds.

The goaltender w- w- won it for them, and they got lucky in game sevens.

They had no shots.

They had to get lucky.

We're still far off and we know it." Your thoughts on that.

About 35 minutes later, his old pal, our old friend, Chris "Knuckles" Nilan, at a speaking engagement in Toronto, joined us.

Yeah, I was just actually at lunch.

I'm s- I, I'm in town.

I gotta speak at, uh, the conference here.

And, um, I was at lunch, and it got started, my phone just started blowing up.

And I, I just, I, I, I was shocked, flabbergasted.

I, um, you know, I was with him the other night in the alumni room with his two sons, and we sat and talked, and he looked great, and he seemed great.

W- uh, just what was the camaraderie like, and, and what kind of teammate was Claude, especially at the beginning?

Um, when did you find, find out about this?

Yeah, I was just actually at lunch.

I'm s- uh, I'm in town.

I gotta speak at, uh, the conference here and, um, I was at lunch and I got started, my phone just started blowing up and I, I just, I, I, I was shocked, flabbergasted.

I, um, you know, I was with him the other night in the alumni room with his two sons, and we sat and talked and he looked great and he seemed great.

You know, he said, "How was it, Knuckles, with the torch?" And I said, "It's unbelievable." I said, "Enjoy it.

It's so emotional.

W- uh, just what was the camaraderie like and, and what kind of teammate was Claude, especially at the beginning?

Yeah.

Um, anyway, y- you know, and, and the Canadiens, again, they've, you know, they didn't play terrible defensively, i- but they made a lot of miscues.

Uh, listen, Monty wants them to control the puck and not give it away, but there are times you better bump that thing by a guy or you're gonna be in trouble.

You're looking for that pass.

Look at the pass Slap made through the middle.

Boom, breakaway.

Gone.

Yeah.

It's, is it-

I, I...

Sh- Listen, I, I don't...

It's a playoff atmosphere.

I, that, that should help shoot you out of a cannon, not overwhelm you.

You sh- like, you should...

Like I always say, I'm, I'm in that runway.

Just how much does it mean to the guys in that alumni room that they've done this?

Tonight, the big man came to play, Nucks.

Tony, you know, I, I said it.

When he is skating, and he was skating tonight, he was on top.

He could get there and make things happen.

He's a, he had a unbelievable game.

Four shots on net.

Nick, four shots.

Has hockey changed a little bit, uh, in terms of, uh, are teams looking for a different way of maybe assembling their team, or do you think that this is still an area where maybe the Canadians going forward have to have more of an identity on their fourth line?

But just how much of that calmness and, and that sort of positive attitude that Marty has, how, how much do you think that's responsible for the team being able to be where they are right now?

Yeah.

Uh, come on, it, it, it has a big part in it.

He's been a great teacher.

Uh, he's a guy, you know, uh, we talked about before, the carrot and the stick.

He's always got the carrot, never the stick.

And, you know, maybe we don't see that part of it, but I'm sure he, y- you know, he holds guys accountable.

How much do the player, how much does that, do the players like that, just seeing that other side, seeing that, yeah, he was a player and he does sort of react the same way we do after a big series win?

Yeah

...was, um, very suspect.

And I get it, the coach says they don't have to be perfect, um, they-- and they found a way to win, but, um, y- they get exploited in their own end.

There's a lot of chaos, a lot of confusion with their one-on-one play.

A lot of times, you see one guy get beat, and it puts another player in a situation where he's in a two-on-one position.

Uh, I'll say it on the, the tying goal the other night in Buffalo, uh, Bolduc is going the point, he gets pinched inside, and that defenseman comes to the middle, and it puts Kirby Dach in a position where I gotta block this shot, or I gotta take Dahlin.

He was in between, and he made his choice, and it cost him.

Because he was drafted first overall, everyone expects him to be the difference-maker and explode, and you come in and say, "He played five playoff games before this year."

It's not about being perfect, it's about finding a way." They were far from perfect after that lead, but how does this team just keep finding a way? It's quite remarkable, actually.

Yeah.

L- listen, I, I don't expect them to be perfect.

I don't.

But when you look at the way they play in their own end of the rink, like, God.

And, and, and like Rick said, they s- they get that lead and then they sit back.

They don't forecheck.

And Jake Evans did that on that play, right? Yeah.

But when I look at Slaf, I can't help but say to myself that there's something wrong.

Yeah, I'm not sure.

Yeah, there could be, right? And he's playing with it.

And, and, you know, God bless him if he is.

He's doing the best he can out there.

But I see a guy, especially the last two games, that, you know, when you're a big guy like that, you've gotta be skating.

You gotta be on top.

And, and could that boil down to some fatigue? And once you're a little tired, you make some mistakes, and that's why we're seeing that again?

Army's question was how nervous were you doing that? Like, was that one of the coolest moments o- of your life?

Yeah, there's no question.

Listen, um, you know, before I did it, it was only hall of famers, right? It was J- Jean Beliveau, Yvan Cournoyer, Rashad, um, Cabo, uh, different guys had the opportunity to do that.

When they called me, I was like, I was heading down to Massachusetts on Thursday because, and I'm not blowing my own horn here, but I got inducted to the Mass Hockey Hall of Fame, which was an honor in and of itself for me.

[clapping] But they called me and, um, end up, uh, asking me, and I'm like, "Okay," so I had to change my plans.

And you know, it was emotional for me because again, uh, being a kid from Boston coming up here, uh, uh, uh, first English ambassador ever with the team.

You know, another whole, you know, Lafleur bringing the, the, the, the torch out.

Yeah.

Uh, Knuckles, if the Canadiens get past the Sabres, uh, could that work in the Canadiens' favor? That's a, the- be almost two weeks the Hurricanes won't have played a game.

Yes and no.

You just don't know until you play that first game, and I think if anything, it can have an effect on the way you start the first game until you get going again.

It's on- it's like starting all over again.

Oh my God, we haven't played a game in, uh, such a long time.

So the first game, I think it, it can affect you, but, um, listen, they have a really good hockey team, and I wouldn't, um, think that, uh, it's gonna affect them to the point where, oh my God, uh, they're gonna lose four straight.

But they certainly, it can have an effect on that first game.

Two years in a row in the playoffs, but there's no guarantees, right? Especially in today's NHL, even getting to the playoffs.

[laughs] Knuckles, for you, uh, who was the goofiest?

I, I'd have to say Bob Froese when I was in New York.

Uh, he was funny.

You know, I remember one night [laughs] in Philly, um, we were, uh, patrolling the red line, and Dave Brown come over, and, um, we all come together.

And Brownie has a high voice, and, and Froese come up, uh, 'cause he played with him.

He goes, "Hey, who are you trying to intimidate with that voice?" And it just kinda shh, you know? But Fr- he, he was a jokester, he had fun.

You know, I, I l- I was at, uh, New Hook's golf tournament last summer, and, uh, he was there, Jacob Dobes.

So a lot of brilliant, uh, exceptional, uh, specimens that we had with the Washington Capitals in the day.

Yeah.

I got in some trouble there.

Um, you know, I had...

Twice I got in a fight and, um, I got teeth in my hand.

I ended up in hospital for two weeks.

I had an infection, uh, a bunch of surgeries.

Um, um, I had another incident not long af- may- maybe a year later, but it was in the summer, and, uh, I got in a fight and I cut my hand again, so I w- ended up going to the hospital after the fight.

Yeah.

What did you think of this game?

Well, you know, geez, the way they started worried me because y- listen, I, I obviously come from old school and, um, they didn't go on the ice this morning, right? And, you know, they've had that tough seven-game series.

They're in this tough.

And I, I was thinking, "Are they gonna come out and, and not have their legs?" And they didn't at the beginning.

They went...

They were sluggish.

They didn't look like they had any jump.

Your thoughts, Chris, on Marty St. Louis sticking with the same players and the same lineup.

Uh, money well spent?

Yeah, you know, listen, the, the guy gave him, him a shot.

Things were getting ugly there.

The guy gave him a shot, and he gave one right back to him.

I'm fine with that.

And yeah, money well spent.

You know, l- listen, uh, are they gonna sign Arber next year? I would hope so, but, um, and I know he would like to.

In the playoffs, is it even more difficult trying to pick your spots when you're gonna give a guy a punch to the face? [laughs]

Yeah

... hunched over.

I'm at his funeral, I'm s- sitting in the church, and in comes a guy and sits next to me who I knew from Montreal, Dickie Moore.

Dickie Moore was with the Canadiens.

They won five Stanley Cups in a row.

Judge and him were like that.

So when I was at Northeastern, the judge called Dickie and said, "Listen, can you talk to Sam Pollock, the general manager of the Canadiens? Have him come and, someone come and see Chris at Northeastern.

Yeah.

Thank you.

And I was supposed to leave on Thursday and play in a golf tournament on Friday with Kevin Stevens and Jay Miller and all the guys, Mike Motto, guys that were inducted.

And I was like, oh, God, I'm already committed.

And I'm like, what am I committed? I only had to be down there Saturday, really, but I wanted to go down early for that and plus see my family.

But I was fortunate enough to have a friend who flew me down Saturday morning on his plane and got me to my friend Marco, flew me down to Hyannis right in Cape Cod.

And yeah, it was awesome to be able to get down there and then Just the number of people who showed up was so cool.

So I had a whirlwind weekend and it wiped me out, honestly, emotionally.

Why are the Canadians so good at doing this stuff?

I think that speaks a lot about not just him, but also sort of the culture that the Canadians have built in the locker room.

Yeah, they certainly have.

You know, y- y- you can tell.

It's, they have that good culture, there's no question.

That's the, the coach leading the way, uh, right? What, uh, Nick too.

Nick, uh, honestly, as a captain, he's, he's, you know, he's really impressed me and, and they draft character people, right? They draft character people.

And let's just go to Shane Wright and Slafkovsky.

Mm-hmm.

[laughs]

Uh, and then I would've been the genius instead of Greeny.

But listen, y- you know, game seven, man, you never know what's gonna happen.

I always say it, the home team has all the pressure.

Habs get the lead, puts the pressure on them.

You know, things aren't going their way.

Point and Kucherov did diddly squat.

Is it maybe to their advantage, the Canadiens, that they're starting this series in Buffalo and Buffalo has home ice advantage?