Yeah, you have to expect them to come out firing. I keep expecting to see Montreal beat someone so we can all talk about how the season may be saved.. but the more I think about it.. its not gonna happen. My only hope is that things haven’t gotten so bad in Montreal that Gainey can’t build a playoff team for next season. It would be really sad to have to start rebuilding all over again.

Its not unusual for Mondays to be a weird day for Habs fans. Typically the team has either won or lost on Saturday night, and Sunday has been spent either reveling in the win, or pondering what went wrong (and recently there has been too much of the latter). Monday, a day the Canadiens rarely play games, is often a lost day for fans; without significance or consequence. Monday is a day for reasoned reflection. After a humiliating loss at the hands of the Maple Leafs on Saturday many had clung to the notion that since Florida had also lost on Saturday night, that it “could be worse”. I myself was tempted to agree. The Habs are currently holding the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference and if the season were to end today, would play what seems like our perennial playoff foes, the Boston Bruins. The fact that the playoff season has not been lost entirely is reason enough for some to cling to the notion that things could in fact still get worse. It was only when I began to reflect on all of the situations that the current version of the 100 year wonder faces, that I clearly had made up my mind that optimism was no longer an option.

Prior to firing Guy Carbonneau, the Habs had enjoyed a small respite solely based on the outstanding play of Jaroslav Halak. He singlehandedly stole games that Montreal had little business winning. Unfortunately, Halak’s streak was cut short by the flu, which also seemingly ended Carbo’s coaching career. Carey Price replaced Halak and has once again suffered a major setback to his game. Once Halak was finally restored to the net, his superb play had vanished along with his cough due to cold. Goaltending has been a HUGE problem for Montreal this season and continues to be an increasingly problematic force playing against the Habs’ chances of a post-season.

People have also often said “It could be worse, Andrei Markov could be injured”. How devastating that would be for Montreal who are being led in scoring by a defenseman? Markov’s 55 points are 7 better than the next closest player and serve as a constant reminder of just how offensively challenged this team is. It is absolutely shameful that the 4th highest producing forward on this team is Robert Lang: a man whose season was ended over 20 games ago. The team is plagued by forwards who have all decided to have career-worst seasons at the same moment, a moment which was been earnestly celebrated as though it was to be our finest. However, the forwards have also struggled mightily on defense, often creating turnovers in dangerous areas and routinely ignoring their duties in assisting the defense in moving the puck out of the defensive zone.

Finally, Canadiens fans have rested easily in the past few years knowing that “at least we know the future of the Canadiens is safe in “the cradle of modern sport”, as Ron MacLean likes to say. This morning reports have emerged that the Gillette family have decided to analyze their holdings in order to assess whether they can afford to run the team going forward. In a year where players have been linked to drug-dealers, star players have lost all confidence and become fragile, and a coach lost his job – now there is talk that the Canadiens could be sold?

At every turn this year I have looked for the positives when only negatives seemed apparent. In our darkest slumps I have looked for the ways in which somehow, the season can be salvaged. I now understand that the disappointment I have felt was a result of my backwards expectations. There was a time not too long ago that I EXPECTED disaster with regards to the Montreal Canadiens, and yet somehow recently I have grown complacent with the comfort of winning. Now I understand that in order to have any joy in the remaining 10 games of this season, I must abandon all hope. I have to assume that there is more disappointment waiting around the bend. Only when I successfully purge my last remaining desires for this season can I truly be pleasantly surprised by anything good. If nothing else this centennial season has taught me that the Hockey Gods are watching, and that any time you try to construct the perfect scenario, they are capable of ruining all. I will not try to find the silver lining in our upcoming Tuesday match up at home with the Atlanta Thrashers. I’ve been down that road before. I’ve seen where it ends. This time I’m going to expect nothing and simply wait for the result, like I should have been doing all along.