Voices of Montreal's fatalists can be heard loud and clear throughout the city. With the Canadiens dropping 7 of their last 9 games, 5 straight on the road, and embarked on the toughest trip of the season, there aren't many giving this team a chance to redeem itself.

Redemption or not, those who said the Habs would be there to the end (the Stanley Cup Finals amidst their Centennial celebrations) have all but receded into the cold winds of Montreal's endless winter, frozen with bitter looks adorned on their faces.

This Canadiens team has a chance to prove that they are every bit as good as everyone said they were in the fall, but short of winning 90% of their remaining games they'll be hard-pressed to convince anyone they have it in them to go deep into the playoffs.

It's consistently assumed that if Bob Gainey hasn't made a deal yet, it's primarily because he's unwilling to...as if there aren't 29 other GMs in the league that have a say in how trades are worked out. It's assumed that Koivu and Kovalev can't share the same dressing room, nor produce what 5-million dollar players are supposed to produce: Leadership and scoring. It's assumed that Carbonneau has fallen on deaf ears, and that Melanson has destroyed able goalies like Jose Theodore and Cristobal Huet, and that he's on his way to doing the same with Price.

The assumptions are as absurd as they can get at this point, unless of course the Canadiens continue to lose in a fashion similar to their display on Saturday night against the bottom of the barrel--Toronto Maple Leafs.

Let's get into that for a second here...
Normally, losing to the Leafs is insulting enough for Canadiens fans. Losing in every category to the Leafs is about as insulting as it can get for Canadiens fans. Factor in that Canadiens fans aren't sure their own team is as upset as they are about this loss is even more disconcerting. So to say this one hurt would have to be the understatement of the year.

It certainly got to Carey Price. Four out of five goals against him in this one were abysmal. He was near tears after the game, flustered, and displaying a certain amount of self-doubt we've never seen from him before.

On the Team990 post-game show, I put forth the argument that Alex Kovalev played his worst game in a Canadiens uniform, against the Leafs on Saturday. I couldn't care less about his assist on a 5 on 3, he played like that guy who shows up to the outdoor rink with the hottest gear you've ever seen; a guy who clearly has the skills but knows it so well that he brings the nonchalant level to soaring heights with passes that scream condescension, yet lend no validity to his attitude. In simple terms, not only did he suck on Saturday, it almost looked like he felt he was too good to put in any effort against the Leafs, and yet he did a sparkling job of looking like the worst player on the ice-- in such graceful fashion. It was like watching Scarlett Johansson get naked, and then watching her puke on herself.

And I'm sure most Canadiens fans would've preferred the latter of the two disgusting options above...

Alex Kovalev aside, where were Andrei Kostitsyn and Tomas Plekanec? Where was Josh Gorges? What happened to Saku Koivu and Chris Higgins, and who on earth was that guy in the net?

And most importantly...how...how will they dramatically turn it around against a Keenan-coached Flames team that's dropped 4-straight? A Calgary team that always plays well at home (4th best home record in the League, behind San Jose, Boston and Washington).

Guy Carbonneau says 10 days on the road may be the best thing for his team, despite their recent struggles on the road. The opportunity to get out of Montreal is one the team is looking forward to, but they may not want to come back if they aren't successful on this six-game trip.

And what would be considered success? At this point, it starts with an effort that is at least 4 times as great as the one they put up against the Leafs on Saturday. It ends with more than 3 wins out of 6 games, and remaining securely in the top 5 teams of the Eastern conference.

Failure, and what's at stake if they have a bad road-trip has been discussed ad nauseam at this point...

So it starts tonight at the Saddledome...9:00pm Eastern...watch if you can bear it.
Jaroslav Halak is in, let's see if the rest of the Canadiens are as well.

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