Jack Todd: A palpable sense of anticipation surrounds the Canadiens

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In the past, the only way to achieve a sunny and optimistic end to the hockey season in Montreal was a parade along the usual route.

The ethos was as simple as it was relentless: win and we salute you. If you fail, you will be trash.

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I’ve followed the Canadiens since Jean Béliveau was captain. I’ve never seen a Canadiens team miss the playoffs to near-universal applause. In the past, you missed the playoffs due to tearing your clothes and gnashing your teeth.

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Instead, there is a palpable sense of anticipation. Let the next season come. Bring back Kirby Dach. Extend Lane Hutson. Give the top line of Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki and Juraj Slafkovsky a full season together and let’s go.

Slafkovsky’s superbly symmetrical stats (20 goals, 30 assists, 50 points) along with his size, youth and magnetic personality are the number one reason to be optimistic about the future. Suzuki then put together an amazing 33-goal, 77-point season and Caufield came on strong with a late-season scoring explosion.

Then there’s the matter of Mr. Hutson. Watch all the highlight videos you want, you’re never sure how a player fresh out of junior hockey, the AHL or the NCAA will do in the NHL until he actually dips his toe on the ice.

Here’s the thing: Hutson didn’t hesitate in the slightest. Say what you want about his stats, his skill, his nervous ability to shed defenders like they were dandruff. What is going to make this young man’s future his ferocity.

Its size doesn’t matter. Lane Hutson plays the game like he means it. There was a play in his first game when a puck passed him and he had to backtrack to retrieve it in front of a charging Detroit forward. Hutson didn’t back down: he lunged. He owned that record and his reactions were quick as a pickpocket.

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Watching Hutson take a player as agile as David Perron onto the ice is entertaining, but it’s the fierce and decisive way he plays that will make him effective at the next level, which will come sooner rather than later. Based on what he showed in the games against Detroit, if Hutson is in Laval next season, it will be a short stay.

Sufficient reason for anticipation. Add in the return of Dach and Joshua Roy, Alex Newhook building on his success in an injury-limited season and another high draft pick that should produce a top-six forward and you have plenty of reason for optimism.

Yes, the lottery drawing odds are as incomprehensible as a Sanskrit translation of Finnegan’s Wake. How could the Canadiens have an 8.5 percent chance of being selected first, an 8.6 percent chance at second, basically no chance at third or fourth and a better chance of being selected sixth than in fifth place? Hey, it’s the National Hockey League, Little Blossom. Yours is not to reason why.

Still, that 8.5 percent chance against Macklin Celebrini is enough to make fans salivate, at least until Bill Daly dives into the lottery jar and discovers that the Salt Lake City Tabernacle Choir gets the First choice.

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If there’s a problem with this draft, it’s that it’s strong in center and defense, where the Canadiens are already very deep. If he’s available, will the Habs take on the crafty, dynamic Russian winger Ivan Demidov, a year after angering a segment of fans by passing on Matvei Michkov in favor of David Reinbacher? Or do they opt for a safer choice?

Whatever they decide, the Canadiens management will have almost unprecedented support. The reason is simple: they don’t make mistakes. Here’s a complete list of the major mistakes Gorton and Hughes have made in more than two years on the job: None.

In a complicated and ever-evolving business, they have negotiated the turbulent waters of a demanding fan base with a sure hand. And they communicate very well. Collectively, Gorton, Hughes and head coach Martin St. Louis make the best possible argument for transparency in the management of a sports organization. If you want fans and media to be on your side, be as open and honest as possible, without revealing your plans.

Cautionary tales? Look no further than the Atlantic Divide. Ottawa, Buffalo and Detroit have done it for years without success. I thought the Senators and Sabers were a lock to make the playoffs this year; both stumbled badly, Ottawa for the seventh straight season and Buffalo for the 13th straight time.

Detroit tied Washington with 91 points and had more wins than the Capitals, but lost based on regulation wins, which begs the question: Why isn’t an overtime win the same as a regulation win?

This will be my last Saturday column for now, aside from a couple of stories about the draft and the start of free agency. I plan to return on Saturdays regularly next season, when the Canadiens should compete for a playoff spot.

Note that both statements are subject to my father’s old saying: God willing and the stream does not rise.

Stay well.

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twitter.com/jacktodd46

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