Swept Away

Sadly, the once vaunted Centennial Season came to an inglorious end last night at the hands of the Bruins. While it's obvious that the Habs were fighting an uphill battle without Markov, Lang, Boullion, Schneider and Tanguay in the lineup, I think it's safe to say that the better team won this series. Boston was just too good in all aspects of the game this year, and while you would have liked to see the Canadiens field a full lineup to try and make the series a bit more competitive, I'm not sure that it would have ultimately made much of a difference other than in the number of games that would have been played.

While the Bruins now move on in their quest for the Cup, the Canadiens will be forced to endure a long summer of questions. With 10 players from the roster coming up for UFA status, we'll likely see a lot of movement before the start of the next season. Additionally, the coaching, management and ownership situations are all in states of flux themselves, so it will most certainly mean some tumultuous times for the team to endure in the coming months.

Random Thought For the Day:

-Does anybody else have a really bad feeling about the situation in goal for the Habs next year? Through his actions, Bob Gainey has made it clear that as long as he's around Carey Price will be the starter (for good or bad). The problem I see with this is that Jaroslav Halak would have given the team a better shot at winning down the stretch (not letting him start Game 3 was criminal), and yet he was overlooked in favour of "The Franchise." After his continual mistreatment by the team this season I wouldn't be at all surprised to see Halak walk, which would be a shame given what he could have done with the right opportunity.

Unfortunately, this becomes an even bigger problem when you factor in the fragile state of Carey Price these days. The fans absolutely gave it to him last night, and the mock cheers and Roy-esque salute after an easy save in the second period were more than a bit worrisome. It's entirely possible that the team and fans could have seriously damaged his confidence through their respective treatments of his game, so going forward it's going to be a delicate situation to see just how it all plays out...

New Coach, Same Old Habs

It didn't take long for the luster of the Bob Gainey era behind the bench to wear off, with the Habs falling 3-2 in OT to the lowly Islanders last night. Were it not for another outstanding performance in goal from Carey Price there wouldn't have even been 1 point to show for things though, as the Canadiens were again hopelessly outworked for large portions of the game (a disturbing trend). Interestingly, rather than being rewarded for his solid play Price will instead be riding the bench on Saturday night, with Jaroslav Halak drawing back in to face the visiting Devils.

This trend of sitting the hottest goalie is a bit confusing, since this is the second time in a couple of weeks that it has happened (Halak lost his starting position after 4 consecutive wins even after recovering from the flu). With Carbonneau behind the bench you could at least chalk it up to his lineup roulette, but with the much more calculating Gainey in charge it just seems a bit out of character.

In other lineup news Patrice Brisebois will play career game #1,ooo on Saturday night, replacing Ryan O'Byrne. The bigger story with respect to milestones will invariably come from the visiting Martin Brodeur though, who looks for victory #551 to tie Patrick Roy atop the all-time list.

Game time is 7 PM from the Bell Center.

Habs Win???

Who saw that one coming?

For the first 25 minutes the Habs looked hopelessly outclassed, yet a goal by Andrei Kostitsyn early in the second period surprisingly squared the game at 1. From there, the Canadiens went on to score two more times on only 19 total shots and coasted to a 3-1 victory over the Stars in Dallas. Carey Price was again outstanding, making 30 saves and keeping the team in the game during a first period that saw the Canadiens take 9 minor penalties and put forth about zero effort.

Despite the win, things are certainly not all well in Montreal. The startling lack of effort and discipline last night should never have amounted to a win (the stagnant Dallas powerplay helped things immensely), and more games like that will yield significantly different results down the stretch. As well, the team seems destined for a goaltending controversy with Carey Price wresting control of the starting position from Jaroslav Halak on account of an ill-timed bout of the flu. Halak was clearly the better choice before falling ill, and it seems reasonable to suspect that he'll be a bit upset about his new position on the bench.

Notes:

-The team returns home on Tuesday night to face the Oilers.

-Patrice Brisebois should likely be back in the lineup for game #1,000 of his career; an event that will greatly impress his legions of adoring fans in Montreal...

Price gets the start in Dallas

Not sure about this one, we'll see how he performs. He looked good Friday, but Jaroslav Halak is mighty p'd off that he's not starting. After all, he did win four in a row before the flu forced him to sit.

Can anyone say goaltending controversy?

As well, can anyone say 10th place in the East? That's what happens with a loss: the outside looking in. From a Porsche start to a Chevrolet finish. This years Canadiens are the General Motors of hockey teams. 

Without a win tonight, they'll really need a bailout.