The West Is The Best (C'mon Baby Take a Ride...)h
Feb 8, 2002 9:30:50 GMT -5
Post by Johnny Verdun on Feb 8, 2002 9:30:50 GMT -5
This has implications for us. Let's be candid. The so-called powers in the East are all deeply flawed. Boston is the cream of the crop right now and I'd rate them the third best team in the league behind Detroit and Colorado. After the Bears the East looks really unimpressive. Even Philly looks far from indestructable. Their blue line is capable of really mediocre play on occasion and the committment to team defence is sporadic. Toronto? Yushkevich's injury is a serious blow. True, he should be back for the playoffs but the team has other problems and has shown that it is only slightly above the middle rung. Washington? Let them win their way back into eighth place before we talk about them. Ottawa? A good team but not a great one by any means. The Rangers and Islanders? New Jersey? Carolina? Some good teams, to be sure, but are there any among them against which the Habs, playing as they are right now, should be intimidated by? Negative.
Not only can the Habs make the playoffs, but if Theodore stays hot and the team continues to fight for every puck the way they have, this team could be a lot of trouble. The Habs might be the team that nobody wants to play in the first round. And that means the semi-finals are reachable.
It all happened so suddenly. All at once, it seems, the East revealed itself as largely unimpressive, and by stepping up as they have at this critical juncture the Habs have demonstrated that nothing in the East is a lock. This team could still finish anywhere from 5th to 12th, but my bet is that they'll finish closer to fifth overall.
And don't rule out Saku's return if this team is headed to the play-offs. He has the 2 week Olympic break to take a breather, grow some hair, spend some quality time with his fiancee and, most importantly, to start skating harder and to work his legs, heart and lungs back into shape. That takes us to about March 3rd (the anniversary of a great win last year against Philly, when Saku set up Savage or someone right in front of the net to knock off the Flyers in OT, 3-2, which is when Theo got his 20 win bonus or whatever). By March 3rd he'll start to see that a return this year is within the realm of distinct possibility. I say he dresses by the last week of March. Evidently, current medical opinion is that there is no increased risk of a reversal to his health by intense training. So he'll train intensely.
The stars are getting lined up.
"C'mon baby take a chance with us...."
Not only can the Habs make the playoffs, but if Theodore stays hot and the team continues to fight for every puck the way they have, this team could be a lot of trouble. The Habs might be the team that nobody wants to play in the first round. And that means the semi-finals are reachable.
It all happened so suddenly. All at once, it seems, the East revealed itself as largely unimpressive, and by stepping up as they have at this critical juncture the Habs have demonstrated that nothing in the East is a lock. This team could still finish anywhere from 5th to 12th, but my bet is that they'll finish closer to fifth overall.
And don't rule out Saku's return if this team is headed to the play-offs. He has the 2 week Olympic break to take a breather, grow some hair, spend some quality time with his fiancee and, most importantly, to start skating harder and to work his legs, heart and lungs back into shape. That takes us to about March 3rd (the anniversary of a great win last year against Philly, when Saku set up Savage or someone right in front of the net to knock off the Flyers in OT, 3-2, which is when Theo got his 20 win bonus or whatever). By March 3rd he'll start to see that a return this year is within the realm of distinct possibility. I say he dresses by the last week of March. Evidently, current medical opinion is that there is no increased risk of a reversal to his health by intense training. So he'll train intensely.
The stars are getting lined up.
"C'mon baby take a chance with us...."
