Don Cherry: there is one team I would not want to face in the first round this year.

I'm not going to lie I very much miss Coach's Corner not so much because there hasn't been any hockey as of late but because regardless of what you thought of legendary National Hockey League analyst Don Cherry the man always had a strong opinion one way or another. Even when I found myself disagreeing with what could admittedly be absurd takes from Cherry at times the man was always entertaining and always provoked discussion in the game, but thankfully from time to time the NHL's most opinionated talking head shares his thoughts on the game. 

Today just so happens to be one of the days and this time around the man know as Grapes by many decided to share his thoughts on the first round of the playoffs. Although he could have leaned on some of the favorites, including his very own Boston Bruins, Cherry decided instead to pick a potential dark horse that he believes could do some damage in the first round and perhaps even make a run all the way to the Stanley Cup Final. So who was Cherry's pick? Shockingly enough Cherry stated that he believes that the Montreal Canadiens have it in them to make a deep run this year, calling on goaltender Carey Price to finally live up to the big contract that he received from Habs general manager Marc Bergevin.

From Cherry:

Naturally the clubs with the most points are favored to win the Stanley Cup when they start playing this summer. Bruins area favored at 11-2 odds. The team I wouldn’t want to meet in the 1st round is Montreal because of one guy. Carey Price. Lets face it; Carey has been ordinary since he signed the big contract. On July 2 2017, he signed an 8-year $84million(US dollars) extension. Now Carey can pay back Marc Bergevin for being so generous. In the short series he can steal it for Montreal; if he gets the feel and on a roll he could steal the Cup. Remember Patrick Roy? The Canadiens got a gift getting into the playoffs, so this could be Price’s last chance. He needs to put everything out of his brain and just get ready to play the game. If he gets into form, look out.

This appears to be purely a reputation call on the part of Cherry. If we are being honest Carey Price has not looked like one of the world's elite goaltenders over the past 3 seasons of his career, although no doubt some of that is due to the lack of success the franchise has had overall. That being said though it seems like Cherry believes that Price could very well stand on his head coming off of the long layoff, and it would certainly be something to see a team that barely made it in, even under the 24 team playoff format, do some damage in the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs. 

Do you agree with Cherry's dark horse pick? Do you think Carey Price can show up big for the postseason? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.