Montreal Canadiens Playoff Preview

NHL Odds makers were forced to reassess the Habs after their highly successful regular season, can the Canadiens take their good form into the playoffs and relive the glory of ’93?

The Montreal Canadiens were expected to have to fight just to squeeze into the playoffs in the Eastern Conference this season. Instead, the Habs managed to muscle past the Ottawa Senators and clinch first place in the Northeast Division.

So will that regular-season success translate into a long postseason run for the Canadiens this spring? That might depend on the play of rookie goaltender Carey Price. The Habs dealt away veteran keeper Cristobal Huet at the trade deadline, a move which gave the starter’s job to Price full time. What was Price’s response? His stellar play led to him being announced as March’s top rookie, and Montreal could now have another Ken Dryden or Patrick Roy on their hands.

However, Price won’t have to do it alone, as the Canadiens have been one of the highest-scoring teams in the league all season long. Montreal’s offense is led by Russian winger Alexei Kovalev, who has had his best points season since 2000/01. As well, forwards Tomas Plekanec and Andrei Kostitsyn have emerged as scoring threats, and defenseman Andrei Markov is having his best season yet.

In fact, Markov and fellow blueliner Mark Streit are the keys to Montreal’s potent power play, a unit that has led the league in efficiency this season and will really boost their odds to win the 2008 Stanley Cup. The two have combined for over 60 points with the man advantage this season, and will look for more this spring.

The Canadiens’ biggest concern heading into the playoffs, though, is the health of captain Saku Koivu and bruising defenseman Mike Komisarek. Koivu has a broken bone in his foot, and it remains to be seen whether he’ll be able to play (and play effectively) when the playoffs get underway. Komisarek has missed the past couple of weeks with a hip injury, and the team hopes he is ready to return.

If you did your futures hockey betting last autumn you probably got a good price on the Habs’ Stanley Cup odds. However, their success has dropped their price to just 8.00 to take that trophy at the end of the year. Prefer to do your NHL betting on the conference titles instead? Montreal is pegged at a price of 3.25 to outlast their Eastern rivals and add the Prince of Wales trophy to their collection. Only the Pittsburgh Penguins have comparable NHL odds in the East right now.