What's Up With the Habs?

April 3rd seems like it was yesterday. On this day, I was sitting fifth row at the BB&T center in Sunrise Florida. The Montréal Canadiens won the game 4-1 and they looked big, strong, and very fast disposing of the Florida Panthers. Maybe because I was in a condo next to the beach, but I did not even watch the remaining five games of the season because I thought to myself, win or lose, we are facing the New York Rangers in the first round and most likely beat them too… in five games!

Not that it was supposed to be easy; we knew the Canadiens were not scoring at the same pace they were at the beginning of the season, but with a great record since the hire of Head Coach Claude Julien (Clod if you are American) we were lead to believe this could be a long post-season! After being away for more than a month, I expected to come back this week and comment on the second round and the Ottawa Senators. I will wait until the draft and Free agency period to talk about what's next for the Habs because I think it is pretty obvious they need to re-tool their center line and add scoring depth.

Speaking of the second round, I think the New York Rangers will run the Ottawa Senators out of town fairly quickly to meet the Washington Capitals in the Eastern Conference final. In the Western conference, it would be awesome to see Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers go to the finals after not making the playoffs for the last 11 years, last time losing in the cup final against the Carolina Hurricanes. I think Nashville will also win their series and go on to the conference finals. What nightmare for Montréal: out of the first round and PK Subban advancing... Again, nothing against PK. The love affair between him and now (ex-)Montreal Canadiens fans is something I just don't understand. He was electrifying on the ice just as he was off the ice but as fans, shouldn't we ride with our team? Do you think they really traded him simply because they didn’t like him? I wish him the best, just not a Stanley Cup, not right away at least.

Rest easy Habs fans, your team will be fine. A defensemen to play with Shea Weber to take minutes away from Andrei Markov along with a skillful center to play with Max. Oh that's right, Max is not going anywhere (more on that later). Listening to call-in radio or reading tweets, you would think the Habs missed the playoffs 10 years straight. Comments like Max should be traded or Carey should be traded are completely ridiculous!

Let's wait and see what happens after the expansion draft, NHL draft and free agency period to really judge where this team is headed, and remember, life goes on!

Image credit: Christinne Muschi