The Price Is Wrong: Hosted by Guy Carbonneau

Well it appears the only thing the Habs are going to be winning this year is the All-Star Game line-up voting. Today the Bruins beat their arch-rivals for the 4th time in a row, and continue to earn atleast 1 point in all 5 of their meetings against Montreal. What happened to the almighty Montreal Canadiens? Well the answer is simple, they downgraded.

Out with the old, in with the nothing to help. Over the off-season the Habs let RW Michael Ryder and D Mark Streit go to free agency along with Bryan Smolinski. Ryder struggled mightily under Carbo's game plan but is once again thriving with the Bruins and coach Claude Julien. Streit, a more than viable powerplay weapon was let go due to his asking price and Smolinski, well he's just a guy with a soulpatch living in the 21st century, life's going to be rough for him no matter what. Then they made their big addition; Georges Laraque. Laraque? The guy who's utterly useless with his gloves on? Then they trade away their 1st round pick and a 2nd rounder in '09 for Alex Tanguay. A capable winger but still, for your 1st round pick? They concluded their off-season by adding Robert Lang at the cost of a 1st round pick in '09. The bleu, blanc and rogue traded both their '08 and '09 1st round choice for 2 veterans with one year left on their deals, the thinking behind these moves was simple, The Cup Run.

Judging by his hype, you would have thought the Canadiens had the second coming of Jesus in net in Carey Price. He shined last year, posting a 24-12-3 record last year with a .920 SV% but this year it's been a different story for the sophmore out of British Columbia. He's struggled to stay consistent, going from giving up 6 goals a game back to a shutout then 6 goals again in his next start. Not to mention he's been considerably outplayed by 'back-up' Jaroslav Halak. Price has a GAA just over 2 and half and it's appearing he's closer to Andrew Raycroft than Patrick Roy. Savior? Not yet.

Bringing number 25 to the Bell Centre rafters isn't coming nearly as easy as it looked. Staying healthy has been a very daunting and nearly impossible task for the Habitants de Montreal. They've been without Saku Koivu, Chris Higgins, Alex Tanguay, Carey Price, Georges Laraque, Mathieu Dandenault, Mike Komisarek all for extended periods of time. Add 2 more names to the M*A*S*H unit as Robert Lang is apparently out for the season with an achilles tendon injury and Guillame Latendresse may need surgery for a shoulder injury sustained in today's 3-1 loss to the Boston Bruins.

Currently, Ryder is lighting the lamp on the Krejci line in Boston with 18 goals, 16 assists and sporting a +20. He's undoubtedly found his role on this Bruins team, something he couldn't do under the Carbo Regime in Montreal. Mark Streit has continued to shine as an offensive defensemen for the god-awful New York Islanders. He's collected 22 of his 37 points on the powerplay, netting as many goals on the PP as he did as a Hab last year. And Smolinski, well I bet he still has a soul-patch. With Tanguay, Laraque and Lang all on injured reserve and guys like Chipchura, O'Byrne, Henry and Pacioretty all having to fill roles beyond their means one can't help but ponder if Bob Gainey is regretting letting all these players go.

So with the division virtually out of reach, 18 points behind Boston after today's loss the future is uncertain for Montreal. Will they resurge and capture the 4th seed or will they continue to stumble into a 6, 7 or even 8th seed? Will Gainey sell the farm to get Vinny in a blood-red colored jersey? Will Price find himself splitting time with Halak almost 50-50? One thing's certain, nothing's ever certain in Montreal.