HockeyCammalleri and Boudreau go way back

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Montreal's Mike Cammalleri has turned into a dependable NHL sniper. (Richard Wolowicz/Getty Images)

Washington - On his way to becoming a dependable NHL sniper, Montreal Canadiens forward Mike Cammalleri learned plenty from Washington Capitals head coach Bruce Boudreau.

In a perfect world, Cammalleri would like to demonstrate to his former coach in the opening-round series between the Canadiens and Capitals, which gets under way at the Verizon Center on Thursday night (7 p.m., ET) how much Boudreau's mentorship has meant to Cammalleri's career.

"The biggest thing he taught me was to play my game and trust my instincts," Cammalleri said after the Canadiens morning skate. "He never tried to change my game. He just told me about the importance of improving every year."

Cammalleri split his first pro two seasons between the Los Angeles Kings and Manchester Monarchs of the AHL, where Boudreau was the coach. In the 2004-05 lockout year, Cammalleri played for Boudreau fulltime and scored 46 goals that season.

"We're still pretty close, but I won't be talking to him until after the series," Cammalleri said. "I wish him nothing but the best ... health."

If the Canadiens have hope all they had to do was check in on the first four games of the 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs on Wednesday. Each underdog won the series opener and three of the four visiting teams celebrated victories.

The 27-year-old Cammalleri was miffed, however, that he could not watch any of the games in his hotel room because it did not have the proper television channels. He remarked that it was disappointing to stay in a high-end hotel (he refused to name the lodging chain) in the U.S. Capital city and not be able to watch any NHL action.

But how much can the Canadiens gain from the success of the underdogs on Wednesday?

"You acknowledge it," Cammalleri said. "It has been talked about a lot. It reaffirms that anybody can beat anybody in this league."

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