Canadiens will face some new challenges in shortened NHL season

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Canadiens coach Claude Julien has some experience with shortened NHL seasons.

The 2012-13 season didn’t start until Jan. 19 and was only 48 games because of a lockout imposed by the owners after the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement.

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Julien was coaching the Boston Bruins at the time and they finished the regular season in second place in the Northeast Division with a 28-14-6 record, one point behind the Canadiens, who were 29-14-5 with coach Michel Therrien. The Canadiens lost to the Ottawa Senators in the first round of the playoffs, while the Bruins went all the way to the Stanley Cup final before losing to the Chicago Blackhawks in six games.

Before that season started, Julien spoke with Doc Rivers, who was coaching the NBA’s Boston Celtics at the time. The previous NBA season, 2011-12, had been reduced to 66 games because of a lockout and the Celtics finished first in the Atlantic Division with a 39-27 record before losing in seven games to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference final. The Heat would go on to win the championship with LeBron James.

Rivers told Julien there were many days when he decided to cancel practice and instead do film work with the players, giving their bodies a chance to recuperate from the gruelling schedule. Julien took the advice from Rivers and said it worked well with the Bruins. Julien is planning to use the same formula this season with the Canadiens, as they begin a shortened 56-game season because of COVID-19 Wednesday night in Toronto against the Maple Leafs (7 p.m., SN, TVA Sports, TSN 690 Radio).

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The Canadiens will play their first six games on the road — including two against the Oilers in Edmonton and three against the Canucks in Vancouver — before their home opener at the Bell Centre on Thursday, Jan. 28, against the Calgary Flames.

“There’s no doubt any time you go on the road — especially early in the season — it’s really good for team chemistry,” Julien said. “I know with COVID-19 protocols there’s things that are a little tougher. First of all, guys can’t go to another guy’s room and spend time there. There’s going to be a big lounge, I guess, in hotels for our guys to spend time there or have their meals. But definitely it certainly helps hockey-wise to start on the road that way with an opportunity to build some chemistry, especially with the number of new players we have this year.”

There won’t be any fans in the stands — at least not to start the season — so home-ice advantage won’t be what it normally is. Last season, the Canadiens actually had a better record on the road (17-14-3) than they had at the Bell Centre (14-17-6).

“To me, it might create more of an even playing field, to be honest with you,” Julien said about having no fans in the rinks. “That’s probably what we felt, or witnessed, when we were in the (postseason) bubble in Toronto. Not that we played the Leafs, but more about the fact that there was no fans and there was no real excitement or cheering and all that stuff. So it really created an even playing field. But, at the same time, you hope that familiarity with your own building will give you that advantage. There’s no doubt the fans, once they get back in the building, will make a big, big difference. But for now, you hope that being familiar with your building and all the little things will give you a slight advantage.”

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What won’t be an advantage for the Canadiens is their travel schedule this season as they fly back-and-forth across the country and into different time zones in the new all-Canadian North Division. The good part is that they will be playing two or three consecutive games against the same team on trips to Western Canada.

“We’re in a division that travels the most of all the divisions in this league this year,” Julien said. “We’re going from one end of the country to the other, where in the States it’s mostly kind of like in their own area. You look at the (East Division) there with the New York teams and they can probably just bus to each other’s places in that division. So we’re going to have to also adapt and be ready to face that kind of travel. Normally in the regular season we probably go out west once a year. So this year it’s going to be a little different.”

scowan@postmedia.com

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