NHL Western Conference Finals Aftermath: Is History Repeating Itself?

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One half of the Stanley Cup Finals is set with the Nashville Predators game 6 victory Monday night. Now stop me if you have heard this story before…

A beloved superstar player transcends the team he plays for + a hotheaded, old-school coach + an inexperienced, first-time GM = The superstar player being traded to a Western Conference team and winning the Stanley Cup with his new team in his first season with them.

NHL Western Conference Finals Aftermath: PK Subban, Sounds Familiar?

I’m of course talking about the December 1995 trade of Patrick Roy to the Colorado Avalanche, no I’m sorry I meant the June 2016 trade of PK Subban to the Nashville Predators, or wait was it the Roy trade?

All kidding aside both of these poorly conceived trades that the Montreal Canadiens made a little over 20 years apart have sent shockwaves across the NHL, and the pieces in my equation above are so interchangeable it’s almost scary:

Patrick Roy (the player) + Mario Tremblay (the coach) + Réjean Houle (the GM) = Patrick Roy traded and goes on to win the Stanley Cup in his first season with the Avalanche.

PK Subban (the player) + Michel Therrien (the coach) + Marc Bergevin (the GM) = PK Subban traded and goes on to win the Stanley Cup in his first season with the Predators.

Now the last part of the Subban equation has not come true just yet but he and his teammates are well on their way to duplicating what Roy and the Avs did in the Spring of 1996.

While the Montreal Canadiens are left to wonder how many more years this latest trade debacle will set them back in trying to capture Stanley Cup number 25.

Ice Cold Prediction: PK Subban and the Nashville Predators win the Stanley Cup, you might just say it’s history repeating itself. I’ll be back later in the week with my full Stanley Cup Finals preview.

Formally of Yahoo! Fantasy Sports, Robert Yetto Jr. is a lifelong hockey fan and die-hard Montreal Canadiens fan. He is also an avid fan of baseball (bring back the Expos), football, and soccer. Please contact him at [email protected].

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