New Jersey Devils Rooting Guide For Montreal Canadiens In Stanley Cup Final

The New Jersey Devils haven’t had a cut-and-dry rooting interest in the Stanley Cup Final in a long time. Fans were obviously rooting for the Devils in 2012 and against the New York Rangers in 2014, but since then it’s been a guessing game. This season is no different. The Montreal Canadiens are looking to extend their record with a 25th Stanley Cup win. In fact, the Canadiens only lost nine of their previous 34 appearances. They face off with the Tampa Bay Lightning, who are looking for back-to-back Stanley Cups. So, who should Devils fans root for? We broke it down into five categories.

Former Players

There aren’t many Devils ties to the Canadiens, however, the team did trade for Jon Merrill in the middle of the season. He was once one of the young defensemen that were going to mark the next era of Devils blueliners along with Eric Gelinas and Alexander Urbom. It never really worked out, and Merrill ended up being the Vegas Golden Knights’ selection in the 2017 expansion draft. Since then, he signed with Detroit before this season and eventually got traded to the Canadiens. He’s only played in 10 of the Canadiens’ 17 playoffs games, so he’s not necessarily a lineup regular. It’s not the ties the Lightning have (Blake Coleman and Pat Maroon), but it’s something.

History With The Devils

For two teams with so much playoff success, they don’t have a long history together that might be a good thing if you want to root for the Canadiens. They faced the Devils once in the non-consequential 1997 playoffs. The Devils won the series 4-1, and there wasn’t really much going into that series in terms of pain and suffering.

This Season’s Narrative

The Canadiens are one of the ultimate underdogs, which is not a place this franchise is used to being. Since the Vegas Golden Knights, there hasn’t been a more surprising Stanley Cup Final competitor. They came back from 3-1 down to beat the Toronto Maple Leafs. Then, they beat the Jets and Golden Knights in pretty easy fashion. They did this despite firing Claude Julien in the middle of the season. The Devils once fired their coach despite being in a playoff spot before the playoffs and they won the Cup. If you are into underdogs, there is really only one choice here.

Betting

Many in New Jersey will pick their rooting interest with their money, and if you think the Canadiens have a chance, you could win some serious cash. There is plus money just about everything surrounding the red and blue. According to BetSided, the Canadiens are getting +210 odds to win the series. There might be an even better bet to make. The Canadiens are getting +162 odds to win Game 1. In every series, the Lightning lost the first game at Amalie Arena. Sometimes it makes sense to follow the trends. In terms of the Conn Smythe Trophy, Andrei Vasilevskiy is the favorite at +200 and Canadiens goalie Carey Price is sitting at +210. It’s almost a guarantee Price wins if the Canadiens win, but Cole Caufield and Shea Weber are interesting choices if they have an insane Final. They are both sitting at 60/1 odds, so it’s quite the long shot.

Miscellaneous Other Reasons To Root For Canadiens

-The Canada drought is hovering over this series. Many Americans want the Canadians to wait forever for their next Stanley Cup. Others would like it to just end so we can get on with our life.

-The Canadiens come into the series with the “boring” style people like to compare to the 90s Devils teams. It’s always fun to be relevant, and teams like the Islanders and Canadiens winning put the Devils back into the conversation, even if it doesn’t make sense.

-Some might want to just root against the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Devils faced some dirty plays when they faced the Lightning in 2018. There’s also the cap circumvention thing the Lightning have going on. There are a lot of reasons to root for the Canadiens, but the most prevailing rooting interest is rooting against the Lightning.