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Follow me @KarineHains for all updates about the Montreal Canadiens and women's hockey
It’s a well-known fact that the Canadiens are currently rebuilding, and most people expected this season to be somewhat miserable. A very young blueline missing two injured veterans, an overabundance of overpaid wingers and goaltending that was considered borderline adequate would have made this a logical conclusion but here’s the thing, both Samuel Montembeault and Jake Allen have stepped up their games, the kids on the blue line are more than alright and the coach is starting to scratch those who don’t deserve to play, no matter how much they are paid.
Even better, team captain Nick Suzuki has already got 10 points just like sniper Cole Caufield who is also tied for 2nd in goals scored with 5 other players with 7 big ones. Only McDavid has got more with 9 on the season.
So, after 9 games, the Montreal Canadiens have got almost the same record as the powerhouse Tampa Bay Lightning. 5-4-0, a goal differential of 0 (Tampa Bay has scored 28 goals while Montreal has scored 27) and both have 10 points to their name. Granted Tampa is underperforming while Montreal is overperforming, but still, this is impressive. Add to that the fact that the Maple Leafs also only have 10 points, a 4-4-2 record, a -3 differential and only 27 goals for in 10 games, leaving them trailing the Habs and things are just downright weird.
It’s much too early to be either overjoyed with this unexpected start of season or cursing your luck because the Canadiens might not be part of the Connor Bedard sweepstake though. Today is Halloween, the last day of October, playoffs spots are nowhere near to being booked yet and the Habs have had their fair share of roaring starts over the years only to collapse by the end of November.
However, should the Canadiens somehow manage to keep the pace and exclude themselves of the Bedard sweepstake, I don’t think anyone should be overly disappointed. If that is the case, it will mean that the players already in place are developing faster than expected and you don’t necessarily need a generational player to build a contender, or a set number of top-5 picks either. I mean, if that were the case, you’d think that Edmonton who got the messiah in skates and an incredible number of top picks would have reached the promised land already. The Los Angeles Kings grabbed two Cups on the backs of Kopitar (13th overall), Dustin Brown (13th overall), Jonathan Quick (72nd overall) and Drew Doughty (2nd overall).
Building a contender is not an easy thing to do, it’s not solely about who you draft and how high you do, it’s also about what you do with them and how you surround them. The new Habs’ brass seems set on doing things right, they’ve identified core pieces they want to build around, veteran pieces they want to keep providing experienced leadership and their sights are clearly set on the future. It’s too early to tell how this last draft’s crop of rookie will turn out, but it’s safe to say that a lot of them are making a very strong case for themselves, Mesar, Beck and Hutson come to mind.
This really should be a year without any expectations so for now, enjoy the good times and don’t worry about what’s to come Habs fans, there’s a bunch of guys who are paid very big bucks to do just that, you just must hope that they know what they are doing and so far, they’ve yet to give you a reason to doubt them.
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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