by Kelly Monteith

Created on: September 09, 2010

The Montreal Canadiens were the Cinderella story of last season's playoff run, surprising the Stanley Cup favored Washington Capitals and then knocking off the defending champs Pittsburgh, only to lose to the Philadelphia Flyers, who then went on to represent the Eastern Conference against the Western Conference champs, the Chicago Blackhawks.

Can the Canadiens repeat? Probably not, they did the unthinkable and traded the one player who literally stood on his head, Jaroslav Halak to St. Louis, and still are without the services of the top defenceman, and some say leader, Andrei Markov, who was injuried against Pittsburgh, had surgery in the off season and may not be ready for training camp, and while the team showed moments of greatness, with some players stepping up to the challenge, there were others who would have rather been somewhere else.

Little has changed in the roster department, some of the "Deadwood" have moved on, this season will have the same underachieving Habs possibly finishing in the familiar eighth and finally spot at seasons end.

It will be up to G Carey Price to shoulder the bulk of the work in net, and seeing he has lost confidence in the eyes of fans and media, he will probably be on a short lease, and yet it was management who said all along Price was their man.

Price is young and should bounce back, but he is not Jaroslav Halak, and he will have to stand on his head to win fans support, and if things go south, then their backup, Alex Auld will shoulder much of the work.Many in Montreal believe they traded the wrong player, but Canadiens management have felt Price can win the fans and games without nay problems.

Salary Cap issues aside, the team may have overpaid Tomas Plekanec, a free agent this summer, and it wil be interesting if Plekanec will have the same intensity he showed last season.

There may be a bright spot in all this doom and gloom in defenceman, P.K. Subban, who electrified the city during the last several weeks of the regular season and into the playoffs.Subban, for his young age, showed a maturity beyond his years, and was a great stand in for the injured Markov and  the coaching staff will look to Subban to carry a lot of the load.

 If there was a winner in trade between the Canadiens and the St. Louis Blues, it has to go to the Blues, for they received a player they have needed for some time, and look for the Canadiens to struggle for a good portion of the season. 

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