I've been in Boston this week and got to see Montreal in person during their 4-1 win over the Bruins. They obviously looked pretty good that game, but it's also worth nothing Boston looked uncharacteristically bad as any member of the Montreal media will be quick to tell you. It's moments like this that make you realize that words like good and bad are entirely relative.
Things in Montreal aren't perfect and I'm certainly not suggesting they're on a clear path to win the Stanley Cup this season, but after talking to those that cover this team on a daily basis, I had to check the standings and make sure we were talking about the same Montreal Canadiens…you know…the ones that are 30-21-6, third in the Atlantic Division and fifth in the Eastern Conference. The same ones that are incredibly effective on the penalty kill, don't easily give up the lead once they have it and, perhaps not so coincidentally, have one of the best team defenses in the league…Those Montreal Canadiens.
When the conversation shifted to the eight Olympians heading to Sochi from this team the comment was "That's a lot for a bad team!"
Pause.
Where is this bad team?
Offensively challenged, sure. Streaky, inconsistent…I could make an argument for, but bad…I don't see it. What I do see is a team (and a fan base) that had much higher hopes for this season that hasn't lived up to pre-season expectations, but they are not even close to the NHL Basement. Is it possible that those that eat, sleep, breath and bleed bleu, blanc et rouge are being just a tad overdramatic?
There is a lot of room for improvement and many options when it comes to trades before the March 5th deadline, which, for me, translates into a lot of reasons to be excited moving forward. There's already been a small change and those are usually precursors to bigger, more significant moves…they will come because change is inevitable, especially when you're talking about the Montreal Canadiens.
So lets put things into perspective, enjoy these next two games, eagerly anticipate what improvements might come within the next four weeks and remember that everything is relative.
Julie
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