Rewind the NHL season back to three months ago. Back to the follies of Kovolechek contact talks was the big story in the world of pro hockey. Back to when Montreal playoff hero Jaroslav Halak was sent off to the St. Louis Blues and millions of voices cried out in disbelief, anger and shock at such an insane move. Radio shows were bombarded with fans wanting Gauthier’s head, calls that Montreal would crash into the basement and give Toronto a run for their money this season were heard on message boards across the internet, and it was so popular that this sites most popular article was one that discussed that exact trade. Even fans from other teams were relishing facing the Habs this year with Price between the pipes and little offensive firepower at their disposal.
It’s amazing what three months can do to how people view things, isn’t it.
With one month in the books for the 2010-2011 season, the Habs are not only looking better then what many of the naysayers had predicted, but are better then almost every other team in the league. Tied for third with the Red Wings, the Habs are only one point behind the the Flyers and Kings, and two behind league leading Washington. Pretty decent company at this stage in the season. And it seems that everything has gone so well for Montreal this year that the only thing that the main comeback you’ll see on your typical sports board lately seems to be digging the Habs for being “Hobbits on Ice”. Guess some fans are mistaking hockey for basketball again, if not missing Hal Gill entirely, but it’s a mark that the Habs are going grand when nothing you bring to the ice can be flamed.
So what is it that has Montreal doing so well this year?
"So have I vanquished the ghost of Halak yet?"
Well the first spot to look is the padded man between the pipes, and Price is so far rewarding Gauthier’s faith in him by bringing his A-game this year. Already close to tying his win mark from last year, he’s delivering a career year to date in save percentage and has more shut-outs in the last months then he tallied in the last two years beforehand. In fact Price is having a season that is on pace to eclipse his rookie tally, you know the one where he was being compared to Ken Dryden, Jacques Plante and Patrick Roy. Also known as what rookie goalies that can stop a beach-ball can expect when playing for the Habs. And it seems that not only weathered the maelstrom that is Montreal’s fandom over the last few years, but has used the trial-by-fire to emerge as the goalie that many that follow the tri-colour expected him to be. He seems to have stripped away any lingering doubts that have reportably plagued his career since his rookie season, and if this is the kind of game that his talents can deliver, Montreal opponents are in for a world of frustration not seen since Lord Stanley’s mug actually stayed north of the 49th after June.
He's no Crosby, but if he's scoring when you need him too, does it matter?
The forwards, such as they are, are getting the job done enough to allow the teams strengths to shine through. There’s no players on this roster that are going to make anyone start looking for Montreal players in the league scoring race, but thankfully there’s a decent amount of players that are contributing to the score-sheet. You have the usual suspects leading the score-sheet, such as Tomas Plekanec who is on pace to rack up eighty points this year, and last years playoff scoring source Michael Cammalleri who looks far from recapturing his touch that he had with Calgary two years ago, but looks to be piloting his line to some good chances if you put high stock in plus/minus. But there’s also some surprises on the top end of the scoresheet so far. Guys like Jeff Halpern, who until this year looked like an unremarkable scrub but has bolted out of the gate with stats that will eclipse his best season by the Grey Cup game. Or Benoit Pouliot, who the Habs picked up for local boy Latendresse and seems to have gotten the hint to get the lead out of his game. Or Andrei Kostitsyn, who is on pace to have a career year and is leading the team in goals scored. Now if Montreal could acquire a player that could deliver consistent eighty/ninety point seasons (unlike some players *cough*Gionta*cough*), and wouldn’t totally rip apart the team, I doubt anyone would complain, but for the current makeup of the team, this amount of scoring is doing the job. Those that are saying we need an entire line of Crosbys to win games haven’t’ really clued in that this isn’t your father’s Canadiens (or indeed, your grandfathers). Today, you can win with decent scoring and good defense/goaltending, which brings me too…
Potential third line centre for 7th defensemen? Sounds good from where I'm sitting.
…the defence. This generations version of the Habs are living off a depth of D-men that would make most GM’s thank their lucky stars if their roles were reversed. The amount of depth was proven in the baptism of fire that was the first round of the playoffs last year when their defensive star Andrei Markov went out to injury. Years previous, if one of our star players goes out, we’re pretty much done for the year (Saku Koivu and Jeff O’Neil ring a bell?), but as we all know they were able to shut down the high octane offenses of Washington and Pittsburgh thanks to up-and-coming defense such as P.K. Subban getting their chance to shine. And with the same thing happening this year (Markov is entering his third tour of duty on the disabled list after their blowout win versus Carolina), players such as Alexandre Picard are getting their chance to show the club what they can do. With the club tied for fifth in the league in least goals surrendered (with Detroit….not bad company to be associated with), and the third best penalty killing unit in the league, not only can they shut down their opposition with extreme prejudice, but ramp up the aggressive play, bad news for teams that get themselves into penalty trouble too early and too often….like say….Toronto perhaps? With this abundance of defensemen, we just might be able to get some scoring prospects in return, like what we got form the Avalanche for Ryan O’Byrne a few days ago. And from what this writer has seen from Michael Bournival in the Quebec Juniors, there’s a good chance we’ll come out ahead in that deal.
So overall, this is probably the best scenario that the Canadiens and their fans could be in at this stage of the game. Currently on track for their second divisional title since the NHL made division names friendly for the geographically impaired, Price proving that he is worthy of receiving the #1 slot, our defence bringing their A game and the offence improving from last year. It’d be nice if Markov wasn’t doing his impression of Samuel Jackson character from Unbreakable, and having a reincarnation of Maurice Richard show up at the Bell Centre wanting to play for the team would be nice (although I wonder if, seeing a Campbell as the league’s disciplinarian, wouldn’t just say “Pour l’enfer avec ça!” and promptly retire.), but overall, this year is shaping up to be pretty promising.
And to all you naysayers, well keep those short jokes coming. Maybe they’ll help dull the pain of seeing your team behind Montreal in the standings one day.
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The owner of the Sports Blog Network, Chris tells it exactly as he sees it, be it in the stands, in front of the tv, or on his semi-trusty laptop. And always with a can of trusty Dr. Pepper by his side, and spell-check working overtime. 
Tehy’re proving that they can hang tough even against some of the league’s elite….when they play a full sixty minutes. Wish we could net a true scorer though. Hell even an Iginla would be a step up.
Les Habitants are off to a great start and have a ton of depth within the organization. I suppose the major concern for everyone in the offseason was what do you do if Carey falters? There’s still a chance he could come off the rails and then you’ve got…. Alex Auld? This is what caused a ton of concern. Many people like to rag on Gainey but he’s the one who infused this club with the depth it has. His refusal to deal PK Subban for Lecavalier is looking like a wise move after all.
Short jokes? Where the heck do you hang around on the internet, sports boards for middle school kids?
No but it’s not a very large step up.