Hockey Inside Out

The NHL continues to have a problem when it comes to officiating — especially during the playoffs.

That was evident — yet again — in the Canadiens’ first-round playoff series against the Tampa Bay Lightning with questionable and missed calls on both sides, plus the embellishment by players looking to draw penalties.

On this Hockey Inside/Out Show bonus episode, The Gazette’s Stu Cowan is joined by former Canadiens teammates and 1986 Stanley Cup champions Chris Nilan, Rick Green and Brian Skrudland to discuss the officiating problems and suggest ways they might be fixed.

Special thanks to the Tampa Bay Times for images from Game 5.

The Canadiens are one win away from advancing to the second round of the playoffs, leading their best-of-seven series with the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 heading into Game 6 Friday at the Bell Centre.

On this week's Hockey Inside/Out Show, three members of the Canadiens' 1986 Stanley Cup team — Chris Nilan, Rick Green and Brian Skrudland — join The Gazette's Stu Cowan to talk about what impressed them the most in the Canadiens' 3-2 win over the Lightning in Game 5 Wednesday night in Tampa and set the stage for Game 6.

Special thanks to the Tampa Bay Times for Game 5 photos.

It really is incredible how NHLers in the playoffs compete at such a high intensity level basically every second night for two months if they end up winning the Stanley Cup.

They also have to battle through injuries to keep playing, which gets harder the longer a playoff run goes on.

In this Hockey Inside/Out Show bonus episode, The Gazette’s Stu Cowan is joined by former Canadiens teammates and 1986 Stanley Cup champions Chris Nilan and Rick Green, who know first-hand how hard the NHL playoffs can be on a body.

Special thanks to the Tampa Bay Times for photos from Games 1 and 2.

For the first time in his 14-year NHL career, Brendan Gallagher was a healthy playoff scratch for the opening two games of the Canadiens’ first-round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Coming off a 3-2 overtime loss in Game 2 — after blowing a 2-1 third-period lead — Tuesday night in Tampa that evened the best-of-seven series 1-1, should Gallagher be in the lineup for Game 3 Friday night at the Bell Centre? If so, who should come out of the lineup?

Those are the questions answered in this Hockey Inside/Out Show bonus episode, as The Gazette’s Stu Cowan is joined by former Canadiens teammates and 1986 Stanley Cup champions Chris Nilan and Rick Green.

Special thanks to the Tampa Bay Times for photos from Games 1 and 2.

The Canadiens went into their first-round playoff series against the Tampa Bay Lightning without defenceman Noah Dobson, who is sidelined with what is likely a broken thumb.

In this Hockey Inside/Out Show bonus episode, The Gazette’s Stu Cowan is joined by former Canadiens teammates and 1986 Stanley Cup champions Rick Green and Chris Nilan to discuss how big of a blow the loss of Dobson is to the team and how the other defencemen have performed in his absence.

A special thanks to the Tampa Bay Times for their photos from Games 1 and 2.

The Canadiens were able to split the first two games of their first-round playoff series against the Lightning in Tampa, with both games decided in overtime.

But has the momentum in the series shifted to the Lightning after the Canadiens blew a 2-1 third-period lead in Game 2 because of big mistakes by Juraj Slafkovsky and Kirby Dach.

That’s the main question answered on this week’s Hockey Inside/Out Show, as The Gazette’s Stu Cowan is joined by former Canadiens teammates and 1986 Stanley Cup champions Chris Nilan and Rick Green.

A special thanks to the Tampa Bay Times for the images from Games 1 and 2.

The Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning will meet in the first round of the playoffs in a rematch of the 2021 Stanley Cup final, which the Lightning won in five games.

Do the young Canadiens have a chance this time against the experienced Lightning, which is a heavy favourite in the first-round playoff series and has home-ice advantage?

That’s the main question answered on this week’s Hockey Inside/Out Show playoff preview, as The Gazette’s Stu Cowan is joined by former Canadiens teammates and 1986 Stanley Cup champions Chris Nilan, Rick Green and Brian Skrudland.

If the Canadiens end up winning the Atlantic Division and finish second in the Eastern Conference, they would most likely face the Boston Bruins in the first round of the playoffs. Wouldn’t that be something?

In this Hockey Inside/Out Show bonus episode, The Gazette’s Stu Cowan is joined by former Canadiens teammates and 1986 Stanley Cup champions Chris Nilan and Rick Green, who share some of their best — and worst — memories of what used to be a very heated Boston-Montreal rivalry.

The Canadiens have been a lot of fun to watch this season in large part because of young stars Lane Hutson, 22, and Ivan Demidov, 20.

In this Hockey Inside/Out Show bonus episode, The Gazette’s Stu Cowan is joined by former Canadiens teammates and 1986 Stanley Cup champions Chris Nilan and Rick Green to discuss what has impressed them the most about Hutson and Demidov and what the future might hold for them.

With a playoff spot already clinched, should the Canadiens think about resting some key players for a game or two before the regular season ends?

That’s the main question answered on this Hockey Inside/Out Show bonus episode, as The Gazette’s Stu Cowan is joined by former Canadiens teammates and 1986 Stanley Cup champions Chris Nilan and Rick Green.

Also, how important is home-ice advantage in the playoffs and should the Canadiens be worried about who they might face in the first round?