As you know, the Montreal Canadiens officially clinched a spot in the NHL playoffs earlier this week. It was a 4-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes’ “B” team that allowed Martin St-Louis’ squad to secure their place in the postseason.

It was to be expected, but it’s causing a lot of chatter in Columbus, stirring up quite a bit of frustration, and has even become a controversial topic in the National Hockey League.

Hurricanes’ B Team in Montreal: The Blue Jackets Are Angry.

Let’s not forget that the Blue Jackets easily won their game last night against the New York Islanders, which means a regulation loss by the Canadiens against the Hurricanes would have officially allowed Columbus to make the playoffs.

Controversy in Columbus over the AHL-style lineup the Hurricanes iced against the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday

You can understand their frustration, but at the same time, they should have won more games earlier in the season.

“The fact that the Hurricanes sent out their B team against the Canadiens two days ago clearly threw a wrench in the Blue Jackets’ playoff hopes.

And as Réjean Tremblay mentioned in his column today, it really angered people in Ohio.”

– Charles-Alexis Brisebois, DLC

“But you should’ve read the Columbus papers yesterday morning.

The columnists were furious.

Just like the Blue Jackets’ management.”

– Réjean Tremblay

His full column is available here.

As Charles-Alexis points out, the Hurricanes were fully within their rights to rest established players, knowing they had nothing left to gain in the standings, without being questioned about the “integrity of the game” in the process.

Did Columbus forget? Just a few days earlier, the Blue Jackets faced a Capitals team that had rested most of its star players. With nothing left to play for, they opted to sit Ovechkin and several others.

Obviously Habs fans came to the defense of their team:

And you, what’s your opinion on all of this?