I know I’m a few days late on this, but…the Canadiens’ Cinderella run ended Wednesday. They defeated three teams against whom they were thought to have no chance, but then ran into the defending champion Tampa Bay. The Lightning were seemingly better in all aspects than the Canadiens (not to mention $18 million better than the salary cap) and took the series in five games. What a run though.

I’m already excited for next season.

Two weeks ago I wrote about how the Montreal Canadiens’ Stanley Cup playoff run through two rounds was feeling a lot like 1993, their last cup win. But heading into the third round, their chances didn’t look great.

In the next round they’ll face Las Vegas, a team which doesn’t bear much resemblance to their 1993 opponent — a New York Islanders team fresh off a shocking upset of the defending two-time Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins. But what is familiar is that no one gives Montreal a chance of winning this series. Just like they had no chance against Toronto, and not much of one against Winnipeg.

But then, on Thursday night, the Habs scored in overtime of game six to punch their ticket to the finals. They’ll face the Tampa Bay Lightning, a team who only joined in the league in the 1992-93 season, but which has won twice since then — including last year. The Lightning are loaded with superstars, and heavily favoured.

Just how Montreal likes it.

I’ve always been a hockey fan, and specifically a Montreal Canadiens fan, but I was never quite so obsessed as in the early 90s. In 1993 Montreal won the Stanley Cup, their last, and the last for any Canadian team. I remember every game. I could name the entire lineup, forward lines and D pairings included. And while they’ve only won two rounds, the Canadiens’ run in this year’s playoffs is starting to show some parallels.

In round 1 they were underdogs against a top-flight team, Toronto. In 1993, that team was Quebec. Quebec was up two games in the series before Montreal won 4 straight to move on.

Last week, in the second round, they swept Winnipeg, a bit of a surprise opponent after shocking the favoured Oilers. In 1993 they swept Buffalo in the second round, the Sabres having shocked the mighty Bruins in the opening series.

Montreal is riding a hot, seemingly unflappable goalie in Carey Price, much as Patrick Roy was after shaky games in the first series. Philip Danault is doing his best Guy Carbonneau impression, all but dismantling the other team’s top lines. The current team lacks offensive stars the likes of Muller, Damphousse, Bellows, and LeClair, but is rolling four lines.

The similarities get fuzzy now though. In the next round they’ll face Las Vegas, a team which doesn’t bear much resemblance to their 1993 opponent — a New York Islanders team fresh off a shocking upset of the defending two-time Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins. But what is familiar is that no one gives Montreal a chance of winning this series. Just like they had no chance against Toronto, and not much of one against Winnipeg.

Frankly, this is all gravy for me. I never expected them to make it out of the first round. Beating Toronto in their first series since 1979, coming back from 3-1 down and sending Leafs fans ever deeper than usual into their annual pit of despair…that’s all I needed.

The Canadiens won in overtime again tonight, sending their playoff series with the Leafs to a game 7. I’m not sure my heart can take it.

Apart from the OT goal, maybe the best thing about the game was that there were real live fans in the stands, for the first time since March of last year. Not just in Montreal, but in any Canadian city.

Sure, only 1/8 of the seats were full, but still…it was such a treat to see. It almost makes me remember the before times.

After a brutal 7-game series against Boston (who kind of had the Raps’ number all season, including in the bubble) the Raptors are out of the playoffs in the second round. They could have — should have, maybe, with 18 turnovers — won game 7, but overall the team vastly outperformed in a season where everyone wrote them off. They weren’t supposed to be this good without Kawhi Leonard. They played themselves into a 2-seed and looked poised to run deep. Despite being blown out in a couple of games the Raps had some magical moments in the series, like OG’s buzzer beating 3, and Kyle’s turnaround jumper to seal game six, so it felt like there was some still some magic. But game seven was a disaster.

Had even three of the five starters played well last night they would have gone on to play Miami in the next round. Despite Miami’s dispatch of Milwaukee, I would have like Toronto’s chances to reach the finals…and then who knows?

Anyway, it was a longer and more enjoyable season than most, including myself, would have guessed. And the fact that we had basketball at all was a gift. Thanks fellas. Can’t wait for next season.