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Review: Habs- Eastern Conference Champs, The Sun is Shining in Montreal! |
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Seeing as how the Montreal Canadiens don’t begin the playoffs until Thursday, we’ve got some time to take a look at what Guy Carbonneau’s described as a “dream season”. It was a season where the Canadiens never had a losing record in any month; a season where the Canadiens hardly had a losing week. Not Detroit, not San Jose, not Anaheim, not even the Pittsburgh Penguins, or anyone else in the NHL was as consistent as the Habs were this year. The Canadiens were the only team to not lose more than 3 games in a row all season. The Habs played 16 games where they registered 5 or more goals, finishing with the most goals in the league, ahead of the Ottawa Senators by 1. For the second year in a row they led the league in powerplay scoring, finishing with 90 powerplay goals (led by Alex Kovalev who was the NHL’s best powerplay scorer). Going 25-12-4, the Habs tied with Detroit for the second best road-record in the league. They suffered three bad injuries throughout the entire season, all of which came at the end. Mike Komisarek is ready to start the playoffs, and Saku Koivu is working hard to get back into game-shape, although no official word has been spoken on his status for Game 1. Francis Bouillon is expected to return as well, but we’ll know for sure by Thursday. Let’s take a closer look at the different segments of the season.
October-December
Can you believe this very same edition of your Montreal Canadiens began the year with Garth Murray on the roster? The Habs went 6-2-3 in the month of October, registering 15 points, as Carey Price got into his first NHL action against the Pittsburgh Penguins on October 10th, recording a 3-2 victory at Mellon Arena. Price would pick up another win against the Pens on October 27th, after dropping the second start of his career against the Ottawa Senators. He played all three games on the road. Saku Koivu and Alex Kovalev led the offensive charge through the early part of the season.
November was the worst month of the season for the Habs. They went 7-7, picking up 14 points in the standings. They dropped three games against Buffalo, lost to the Maple Leafs, dropped both games against the Senators, and failed to reverse their losing ways against Jersey. At this point, the Canadiens weren’t exceeding too many expectations; they were getting into the part of the season where they’ve notoriously failed miserably throughout the last decade. Heading into December, there were legitimate doubts that this team could battle with the best in the East, and the picture was starting to look eerily similar.
From December 1st, to the 11th, the Canadiens dropped four games, and only managed 1 win against…you guessed it…Boston. Things looked dire, and this was right around the time Chris Higgins was telling the press, that “coming to the rink wasn’t so much fun”. Early December brought back the grim memory of the 2006-2007 failures, but those memories were quickly erased by the next segment of hockey between the 13th, and 31st. The Canadiens went 5-2-2, winning huge games in Florida and Tampa at Christmas, after being routed by Mike Ribiero and the Dallas Stars. The Habs dropped their last game in December to the Rangers, despite playing one of their best of the year, to date. The Habs went 6-4-4 in December, grabbing 16 points in the standings. They made it through Christmas, and had a 19-13-7 record to carry into January.
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January-March
January was the month where everything changed for Montreal; the expectations, the results, the trends…everything. Two wins and an overtime loss into the month, Carey Price was sent down to Hamilton with Kyle Chipchura. Despite a record of 9-7-0, a 2.90 Gaa, and a SA% of .907 at the time, the Canadiens were worried Price’s confidence had been injured in the 5-0 loss against Dallas. Their fears were confirmed when Price dropped a game against the Capitals on January 5th, blowing a 3rd period lead, losing in overtime. This is where Cristobal Huet’s contribution can’t be ignored. January 8th was when Price left for Hamilton. Carey’s time in the minors started with back-to-back games where he let in 7 goals. Price didn’t get back into a Canadiens game until February 13th. Cristobal Huet went 7-2-1 from January 8th to the 31st. The Habs went 8-2-2 in January, picking up 18 points in the standings. January 24th marked the turning point of the season, when the Habs, who hadn’t come back from a deficit all year when trailing after one or two periods, accomplished the feat by erasing a 2-goal lead held by the Devils in the third period, winning the game on Chris Higgins’ 16th of the year. The month of January was all it took for everyone in Montreal to start believing they had a team that was going to make the playoffs. That was of course until Cristobal Huet began dropping games in early February.
Huet lost four of six starts to kick February off and Montreal found itself mired in its first goaltending controversy of the season. Enter Carey Price on the 13th, against the Florida Panthers. The Canadiens snuck out an overtime win, and Price then beat Philly in a home-at home, bringing the Canadiens record in the month from 2-4 to 5-4. This set the stage for the most incredible comeback in Canadiens history, against the New York Rangers on February 19th. Price started the game, Huet finished it, and in the end, it didn’t have much to do with goaltending. The Canadiens came back from a 5-0 defecit, and beat the Rangers in a shootout. The Habs dropped their next two games with Huet in the net, and went 6-6 headed into the trade deadline on February 26th. Everyone wondered about the possibility of adding a couple of stars to the lineup, but instead Bob Gainey opted to trade Cristobal Huet, feeling confident in Carey Price’s ability to carry the team to the post-season and beyond. The Habs beat Alanta, and Buffalo, to close out February with an 8-6-0 record, picking up another 16 points towards the top of the conference. A race between the Canadiens, Senators, Penguins, and Devils ensued for the Eastern conference, one that the critics assumed likely would be won by someone other than the Canadiens…It wasn’t the first thing they got wrong!
Good ’ole March! The Canadiens went 9-4-1 in March. They beat New Jersey for their 2nd, and 3rd time in a row, they went 2-2 on the West Coast, and won 4 of their last 5 of the month. They gained separation from the Ottawa Senators, and New Jersey Devils. They had gone from missing the playoffs, to a dogfight for the Eastern Conference title; things had progressively changed throughout the year.
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April
Three games in April meant three wins for the Habs. Price went 12-3-0 since the trade deadline, winning his last 7 starts. Montreal clinched their first divisional title since 1992. The Pittsburgh Penguins dropped their final game of the season against Philadelphia, thus ensuring a conference title for the Montreal Canadiens for the first time since 1989.
Alex Kovalev not only led in the lockeroom, but on the ice as well with 35 goals, and 84 points. He had the best +/- on the team at +18. Mark Streit was named the unsung hero of the year, finishing with 61 points, as one of 7 players on Montreal who topped the 50-point mark. Five players registered over 40 assists.
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The sun is shining in Montreal, and the Playoffs get underway right here, on Thursday. The Canadiens will have home-ice advantage until the Stanley Cup. Only the Red Wings, and Sharks finished with more points than the Canadiens. No other team can take them out of home-ice advantage, should they make it to the finals.
Playoff rundown coming up tomorrow…
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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