Hats off to the Habs

A win tonight will put the Canadiens into 1st in the Conference and force the Penguins to win tomorrow.

Depending how the chips fall into place over the last weekend of the regular season,
it looks as though the Canadiens will play the Senators, Bruins or Flyers in the first round.

The Maple Leafs may look to spoil the party and go out with a bang like they did against the Senators, injuring 2 key players.

Regardless of how it all ends, the Canadiens have surprised and impressed, exceeded any and all expectations, and find themselves with a very legitimate shot at winning it all.

Go Habs Go!

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119 Comments

#1 Ice Man says:
April 6, 2008 at 6:37 pm

Food for thought:

1986, 1989, 1993.

All 3 years the Habs had over 100 points.

All 3 years the Habs went to the Stanley Cup Finnals.

Habs won the Stanley Cup TWO year of the Three years.

Will history repeat.

I think so!!!

#2 Senet 1 says:
April 6, 2008 at 6:44 pm

Yea can you imagine if that team had stayed together.

#3 Senet 1 says:
April 6, 2008 at 6:51 pm

Iceman, I think you could be right on with either Kovy or Kiovu leading the way. To me Kovy has been on a mission all year. He could br the one to change this even if Kiovu ends up playing as the captain.

#4 Ice Man says:
April 6, 2008 at 6:57 pm

This year IS the year. All we have to do is play like we have all year long.

#5 Senet 1 says:
April 6, 2008 at 7:00 pm

Do you guys think that Stewart will start in the playoffs, if so who does he replace in the lineup?

#6 Senet 1 says:
April 6, 2008 at 7:01 pm

I was impressed with his speed and willingness to dook it out if he had to.

#7 Senet 1 says:
April 6, 2008 at 7:03 pm

We seem to have matured one year sooner than the management had expected. As I said earlier in the year management were building this team for their 100th anniversary.

#8 Senet 1 says:
April 6, 2008 at 7:16 pm

The one thing that the former Canadien teams had was a fear of losing. That is what made the so good, the 1993 team also had confidence that they could win in overtime. This team seems to be starting to gain that confidence as well. Some said earlier that he expects Boston to play a goon style of play, if they do our power play should prevail.

#9 STUO11 says:
April 7, 2008 at 6:36 am

Boston will be alot more better. They’re probably looking at videos on how the habs play to get to know their talent. But The Montreal Canadiens will win no matter what. 4-2 I think.

#10 Ice Man says:
April 7, 2008 at 9:58 am

With a playoff rivalry vs Boston being renewed starting this week, here’s a summary of the team’s record against the B’s all-time in the playoffs:

2004 – won 4-3, Eastern Conf. quarterfinals
2002 – won 4-2, Eastern Conf. quarterfinals
1994 – lost 4-3, Eastern Conf. quarterfinals
1992 – lost 4-0, Adams Division finals
1991 – lost 4-3, Adams Division finals
1990 – lost 4-1, Adams Division finals
1989 – won 4-1, Adams Division finals
1988 – lost 4-1, Adams Division finals
1987 – won 4-0, Adams Division semifinals
1986 – won 3-0, Adams Division semifinals
1985 – won 3-2, Adams Division semifinals
1984 – won 3-0, Adams Division semifinals
1979 – won 4-3, semifinals
1978 – won 4-2, Stanley Cup Finals
1977 – won 4-0, Stanley Cup Finals
1971 – won 4-3, quarterfinals
1969 – won 4-2, semifinals
1968 – won 4-0, quarterfinals
1958 – won 4-2, Stanley Cup Finals
1957 – won 4-1, Stanley Cup Finals
1955 – won 4-1, semifinals
1954 – won 4-0, semifinals
1953 – won 4-1, Stanley Cup Finals
1952 – won 4-3, semifinals
1947 – won 4-1, semifinals
1946 – won 4-1, Stanley Cup Finals
1943 – lost 4-1, semifinals
1931 – won 3-2, semifinals
1930 – won 2-0, Stanley Cup Finals
1929 – lost 3-0, quarterfinals

Series record: 23-7

Final Thought

#11 Xtrahabsfan says:
April 7, 2008 at 10:03 am

I say 4 day’s of eating Bear and the perhaps some penguin after that.

#12 Xtrahabsfan says:
April 7, 2008 at 10:08 am

Oh and watch out for Kovalev,the stage has been made for him and I’m sureit’s going to bring out his very best…..can’t wait….Ole Ole Ole…

#13 Ice Man says:
April 7, 2008 at 10:18 am

Bear & Birds are low in fat…………

At least we will be eating Healthy…LOL….

#14 Donnie says:
April 7, 2008 at 10:43 am

Hey guys……everyone just bursting in anticipation of the playoffs like me? Silly question I guess.
First of all….CONGRADULATIONS BOYS ON A TERRIFIC YEAR AND THE CONFERENCE CROWN…alot of people are proud believers again.
Second, everyone except for Saku will apparently be back for game 1.
Third, it amazes me that no one anywhere is talking about the absolute dirt and true cowradice of McCabe’s actions at the end of the game. A brutal slash and a spear with intent to injure in the same play. Nothing said, nothing done. It’s the end of the year so these things don’t matter anymore? Maybe it’s because it was on Steward…or maybe, seeing how the league seems to be pretty snuggly with Toronto, they are letting it go because these pathetic players on a pathetic teams with no signs of anything good coming there way has been through enough. Thats probably closer..but still a fine or suspension is warranted for this classless act from a classless guy from a classless organization.
One last thing to touch on….going back to 1985(before that there were next to no Europeans in the league, making those years redundant). No European captain has ever won a Cup, we all know that..only one captain has ever won a Cup who wasn’t Canadian, Derian Hatcher was that man…not Modano. And as for the playoff MVP…only twice has this ever not gone to a Canadian..them being Lidstrom and Leetch. So the numbers are staggering..in the last 22 seasons (and beyond) 21 times the captain of the winner has been Canadian and 20 of the 22 times the best player in the playoffs has been a canuck.
Not dumping on our boys, just sharing the numbers. GO HABS GO !!!

#15 Ice Man says:
April 7, 2008 at 11:01 am

Mr. Donnie.

This year will be the first year a European Captain wins the Stanley Cup. I bet the House on it. His name is Captain K of the Montreal Canadiens.

Bring on the Big Bad Goon Bruins.

Bring on “Cry Baby Sid”.

HELL YEAH! BRING ON ALL OF THEM !!!!!!

It doesn’t matter who we play. We will whip their CanDy Asses all over Montreal. All over the USA. All the way from Boston to California. Damnit this is our year………

Don’t forget it………….

WHAT YA GOING TO DO WHEN THE HABS RUN WILD ON YOU!!!!!!!!!!

#16 Xtrahabsfan says:
April 7, 2008 at 11:10 am

F@CK McCrab and his joke of a team”laff’s”,besides the chances of lightning striking him on the golf course are at pretty good odds,lol

#17 PACTUM SERVA says:
April 7, 2008 at 11:38 am

LOL the odds of mcabe getting struck by lightning are better than the leafs ever winning a cup lol. GO HABS GO

#18 Ice Man says:
April 7, 2008 at 11:47 am

They have the Cup at home every year………..

#19 Senet 1 says:
April 7, 2008 at 11:06 pm

Donnie thanks for clearing that up about Hatcher and not Modano. I was pretty sure I remember that the captain was not a canadian that is why when the topic came up Dallas came to mind immediately. Thanks for helping with the facts.

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goalie : I can't type.... what a faux pas on my behalf...
goalie : I just realized what I said adn didn't say yesterday. What a fayx as on my behalf. Regarding coaching Randy Cunnyworth MUSDT stay as an assistant- he deserves at least that after the tremendous job he did in the latter part of this past season. I'd still mlike to have Robinson, Carbo adn Allard on the staff also.
Avatar37 : I agree Senet, my choice if we can't have Cunneyworth would be Crawford, Robinson on defense, Cunneyworth for offense, and Carbo as offense/faceoffs .
Senet1 : I think if I had my choice it would be Crawford and see if he could get Carbo and Robinson as assistants. That would be my idea coaching team.
goalie : I witnesed Marc Crawford MANY times when the Avs, etc. played against Oilers and let me tell you - he is constantly on the referees asses virtually game after game. He is the complete OPPOSITE of J. Martin. Crawford is calm on TSN but he is one excited coach behind the bench. A friend of mine who was an NHL linesman for 26 years said they dreaded Crawford he was so tough on the officials!
goalie : You know, I've bee thinking about the coaching situation. I'd be really excited if the Habs had Hartley as head coach and Carbo adn Robinson as his assistants. I also read it somewhere about a month ago that Toronto's goalie coach Allard (?) wants to relocate back to Montreal where he has his goaltending school/business. Add him to the mix and I'd say the Habs would be in great shape coaching wise.
Avatar37 : Well, from what I recall, Hartley didn't do all that well with the Thrashers. But, I don't know enough about him to judge one way or the other. Crawford I do know, and he always seemed to be a good, level headed coach to me.
Senet1 : even Pacioretty two years ago did not impress any of us. Younger players have to play and make mistakes and learn from those mistakes. If they sit in the press box they are learning nothing.
Senet1 : Of course if he have some good assistants like a Larry Robinson to teach the young defence and someone like Carbo to teach faceoffs etc. then your coach does not have to be as good at teaching. If Hartley fits the bill you get no argument from me. My only previous point is that if he is impatient with your younger players to the point that he does not play them, then we are right back where we were with Martin. Martin was a good coach too, but how he handled Emelin, PK and even Pacioretty two
goalie : I would like to see the Habs sign a coach who realizes that our team isn't tough enough (we need to get bigger and somewhat more nastier),the coach needs t be a great TEACHER and be a coach who can get the players to understand and buy into his system. Other than that I couldn't care what lingo he speaks. I wnat to see our team become a ligitimate contender fast!
HabsLoseAgain : Well we dont know if he is or is not a teaching coach. I woukd just hate to paint Hartley something that he is not. There will always be questions but if Hartley was hired as the habs new bench boss i for one would not be overly upset.
Senet1 : My thoughts are not that he is or is not a good coach but rather that when he won the cup he had an experience team of superstars on that team. Where as we have a group of young inexperienced players, is he a teaching coach or a tactical coach or both? I am not question whether he is a good coach, but my question therefore is he the coach for us at this point in the deveopment of our team?? Not sure we are all purely speculating at the moment?
Senet1 : Something happened to my first post. I will try again.
Senet1 : That is why I said I am not sure he is the coach for us at this time? Right now we are all speculating including yourself, because non of us know for sure?
HabsLoseAgain : Crawford also won a cup with Patrick Roy so would you say he is a good coach or did he just have great players and one of the best goaltenders of alltime?
HabsLoseAgain : Senrt so please give me some reasons why you think Hartley is not the coach the habs need right now. What is it that you do not like about him or his coaching style?
HabsLoseAgain : Well all great coaches had great players playing for them so i guess you you add a a pile of other coaches to that list including Bowan......
Senet1 : Hartley, was he a good coach or did he just have great players and one of the best altime goaltenders of all time. I am not sure that he is the type of coach that this organization needs right now. Unless of course we sign a ton of free agents.
Avatar37 : However, my feelings may completely be wrong, Hartley may turn out to be a good fit.
Avatar37 : I didn't say Hartley was unknown, I said we demoted a good coach in Cunneyworth and now have an unknown quantity because we don't have a coach. I don't have that great a feeling about Hartley, I'd be much more comfortable with Crawford.
HabsLoseAgain : In my opinion i think he might be a good fit in montreal. Oh and he also likes to have a tough team.
HabsLoseAgain : Also this year he coached the ZSC Lions to the swiss championship title.
HabsLoseAgain : lol the so called "unknown" won a cup in 2000-2001 with the colarado avalanch.
HabsLoseAgain : lol Bob Hartley is not an unknown lol.....sheesh.
Senet1 : I think he has until the trading deadline to show us that he deserves to be on this team. If he does not get back on track then he could be simply a 2nd round draft pick to whoever we can trade him to.
Avatar37 : Bourque reminds me of Pouliot, size, skill, and invisible. He needs to get back to playing a physical game and bang people around and maybe he'll start getting some of those garbage goals again. Need to get to the front of the net. I hope he can find his game again.
Avatar37 : We had a good coach in Randy Cunneyworth. Now we have an unknown, with Bob Hartley rumoured to be the front runner. I'd rather have Cunneyworth.
goalie : A player like Rene Bourwue has al the physical attributes of what would be a beter than average player. Hwever, he certainly didn't play that well especially after being in Montreal about three weeks. We NEED players like Rene to play hard AND produce points on a REGULAR BASIS in order for us to be competitive.
Senet1 : MONTREAL – Rene Bourque had a rocky start to his career as a Hab, but he’s planning on using the next four years to make up for it. After arriving in Montreal under less-than-ideal circumstances in January, Bourque spent the following 38 games hoping to find the spark he needed to rekindle his offensive production. Despite flanking Tomas Plekanec on the team’s second line to close out the season, the 30-year-old sniper suddenly found himself firing blanks in his new NHL home.
Senet1 : I think we have to be patient and not expect too much too soon. Let's get a strong management team in place, make a good choices in the draft get a good coach and then see what we need at the free agent market. I will not be too disapointed if we miss the playoffs again next year if it means a long term team success. We have the opportunity to make some major strides over the next two years at the draft table. Then we fill in the holes.
goalie : I certainly agree that we need to get some impact forwards who will sign for 5 years, not for a season then walk away. That's not going to help us.
goalie : I wouldn't trade PK for Ovetchkin no matter what. He is a coach's NIGHTMARE and a poor team player.
Senet1 : I believe he will as we graducally put better players around him and build this team.
Senet1 : Goalie I agree with Avatar. PK is the present and future of this teams defence. I would not even take Staal from Pittsburg unless I had him tied up in a long term contract of a Minimum of 5 years. Also once has to consider the salary difference. Pk is on the move up probably 3M plus for his next contract and then eventually 4-5M if he keeps on improving. He has moved his game up two gears since he came into the league 2 years ago. He now has to move to the next level and I believe he will as w
Avatar37 : pressure playing in Montreal, since he has problems with the expectations in Washington and Montreal isn't any easier. Then again, the media were very easy on Kovalev, so maybe it's a Russian thing? No idea. Anyway, yeah, it would have to be an established star that gives us an immediate drastic upgrade at forward, that's the only way I'd trade PK, because we'd be giving up a potential QB on our blueline for the next decade.