This latest cast will be the first of what should be many to include the insight and corny jokes of TPinch. It may be too early to tell if he knows what he’s talking about, but he does somehow manage to add what certain Habs fans call a certain “je ne sais quoi.”

With a discussion of what to expect from les Habitants, Eric, Pat, and T officially get the 2010-2011 season rolling. Let the Lars Eller era begin!

This one’s a can’t miss if we’ve ever had one…

THEY MADE IT! (Barely). Monday’s podcast will dissect the weaknesses, but for now, I’m thankful for the following:

1. PLAYOFFS, Baby!

Don’t kid yourself. This is a major achievement, specifically because of the injuries to their best players. Plenty of other teams in the league lost their best players to injury or trade – Atlanta, Calgary, Carolina, Anaheim – and you don’t see them in the dance, do you?

Plus, these Habs had to start all over from scratch this year, deal with all the changes, fight back against ridiculous expectations from some boorish fans…..yeah, I’d say the Habs persevered quite nicely, all things considered.

2. Excellent Goaltending.

I don’t know what happens in the off-season and I am so glad I don’t have to make that decision, but Jaroslav Halak was nothing short of excellent. And Carey Price was much MUCH better than last year, if a lot more unlucky.

Another word on Carey, because it bears repeating: Maybe his confidence is shaky, but the kid can play.

3. Andrei Markov.

The only elite player in the lineup.

4. Moving Forward

The Habs may not be big, and some of their talent is overpriced / underperforming, but this year saw a nice group of forwards that just never quit. There’s energizer bunny Brian Gionta, the no-longer-girlish Tomas Plekanec, 50-stitch man Travis Moen, heroic and gap-toothed Glen Metropolit, and I maintain brother Sergei had a nice rebound. And I am positive that mega-watt Cammy would have hit 40 had he not been injured. Hopefully, he’ll explode in the playoffs.

5. Hal Gill / Josh Georges

Every fan and so called expert was tough on Gill in the first 15 games. But dammit if he didn’t become the best penalty killer on the team. And he settled the room. He talked Carey Price through his slump, cajoled Georges to be more aggressive, and sniped back at the boo-bird-dummies after Price was awarded the third star with calls of “trade him”.

That’s called leadership, and the Habs needed it.

Speaking of Georges, I have six words: Mike Green slapshot to the head.

6. Benoit Pouliot

Yes, he is in a slump now. But he’s never played a full season (before this, his top total was 37 games!). He’s never been a top-six forward. He’s also only 23 years old. And he’s big, mobile, got guts, and lightening quick hands.

When he gets really healthy, properly conditioned for a full season, and gets used to the responsibility, man is he going to be good. Doesn’t matter if Guillaume is tearing it up. This was one of Gainey’s best trades.

7. Guy Boucher

Unlike the major league bench boss, Guru Boucher showed an uncanny ability to squeeze the most out of his young charges. Guys like Tom Pyatt, Mathieu Darche and Ryan White aren’t going to scare anybody too much, but they came prepared and confident. Sergei came back with his attitude in check (I won’t credit the Guru with PK – who was just sublime  – because I think a sock puppet could coach that guy).

Compare that with the dismal performances and sinking confidences of the young players who started the season with the big-league Habs: Guillaume, MaxPac, D’Agostini, MaxLap, the Kostitsyns…….that’s a lot of talent not living up to its potential. They can’t all be duds, eh coach?

8. Jacques Martin

I know it looks like I has needling him just now. I was. But the man coached the hell out of this team. Let’s remember, there was a stretch of games there where the Habs lineup was the best in all of the AHL. This was his first year, on a team that was brand new, in a smoking-hot cauldron of a market that was calling for the decapitation of the very man who hired him. Hello? Can you say pressure?………..Don’t agree?……I’d like to see you coach the Habs for even one day. You wouldn’t last the first period.

So the Habs are in. Tonight, let’s be happy.

Tune in Monday, when Eric and I really take out the scalpels.

Some of you have been wondering why there haven’t been any posts or blogs lately. I have two answers. The first, I have been visiting family in Montreal, including Eric, and um….enjoying it. The second is that, based on the Habs recent play, there is nothing we can add right now that we did not say in the last post. The Habs still lack killer instinct. They are still soft at the wrong times. And quite possibly, they are very very confused about what they need to do.

The Only Dependable Hab

And who can blame them? On a team where the only constant from last year to this year has been the mascot (new owners, new GM, new coach, new players), this team remains a great scientific experiment, the likes of which the league has never seen. A lot of us, myself included, have been grumbling about coach’s decisions, especially in recent weeks. And I maintain that they have only added to the confusion.

But none of that matters tonight. Once again, les boys must summon their manhood and just win. If they believe, truly believe, they deserve a shot at the post season, they need to send a message tonight. But how can they pull together after such a tough week? That’s up to them. But if they back into the playoffs, or fail to make them, they will be embarrassed by their efforts. And Habs nation will be calling for all the Canadiens scalps – save for the aforementioned mascot.

Enjoy the game, but hold on tight, it might be a bumpy ride.

Check back here on Monday as Eric and I post our season-in-review podcast and (fingers crossed) our playoff preview extravaganza.

Brother Sergei had a good Olympics. His skills and physical attributes are clear and evident. He’s had his up-and-downs for the year, but seemed to have come around. So after two games of so-so post-Olympic performance on the second line, what does Coach do?

He plans to drop Sergei down to the fourth line for the game against LA and he will replace him with……Tom Pyatt!

REALLY?!!!?

Now I like Tom Pyatt as much as the next guy, and he deserves to stay with the big boys based on the current lineup, but does Coach really think a guy like Pyatt is a true second-liner, better than what Brother Sergei could be? Is Coach really so bereft of ideas that he can’t find another way to motivate a talented young forward to play better – one who was playing well for the big club right before the Olympics?

GROAN…..and here we have yet another insufferable “lesson” about the value of “hard work”. Pyatt brings his hard hat and doesn’t complain, and apparently, Sergei…not so much…

But here’s how I see this latest line shift: If a coach doesn’t have faith in me to turn things around, why would I have any faith in myself?

Is it any wonder the young forwards have lost all confidence in themselves this season?