Music: {allcanada} Odds stacked against Habs this time around

Can the Montreal Canadiens make another Cinderella type run at this year's Stanley Cup playoffs?

The team is very much the same. The coaching staff is all still intact. They had no Andrei Markov last year. They have no Andrei Markov this year.

They have their big (no jokes here) forwards healthy; Scott Gomez, Tomas Plekanec, Brian Gionta and Mike Cammalleri. Pk Subban is playing great hockey with a year of NHL experience under his belt. He was exciting to watch last year as he gave Montreal a boost in the arm from the back end. He is doing the same this year, but at an even higher level. Their goalie was their best player last year. Their goalie is their best player this year. Their goalie this year (Carey Price) in my mind is the MVP of the National Hockey League.

What Jaroslav Halak was able to do for the Habs in last year's playoff run to the Eastern Conference final was nothing short of miraculous. Reminded me a lot of Moses splitting the Red Sea or Rocky Balboa beating Ivan Drago in Rocky IV.

As I previously said, I love what Carey has been able to do in the pipes back stopping Montreal during the regular season. He is the only reason why they are in the playoffs this year. Unfortunately for Price, too many of his peers didn't have the same desire to win as he did on a nightly basis and I don't think they are going to be able to find the magical fairy dust that lifted them over Pittsburgh and Washington last year. Price is great. He gives them a chance to win every night. He's going to have to be better than great if this team is going to make it out of the first round.

Issues for Montreal entering the post season.

The lackluster play of their highest-paid player, Gomez. He has a total of seven goals and was a minus-15 .
Injuries on the back end. No Markov, Gorges for sure. Gill is banged up after a fantastic year. Spacek too. Add Sopel to the list. Yes those 3 are playing but not at 100 per cent. Mara's been a healthy scratch more or less for the last two seasons but has been forced into an emergency role. Roman Hamrlik is turning 67 this year!
Lack of size. Only three forwards in their line up on the last night of the season versus Toronto were over six feet tall. The injury to Max Pacioretty definitely hurts as he was a six-foot-two forward who doesn't play small
Lack of character. For what was believed to be their biggest character test of the season (first game versus the Bruins after the Chara/ Pacioretty incident) they were a no-show. Boston smacked them around all night. A 7-0 shellacking.
Eller, Desharnais. Desharnais, Eller. Who is your third line centre? They don't have one. It should be Eller but this team lacks a much-needed shutdown line.
They hung their hat on Price as he played 72 games this year. The most ever for a Canadiens goalie. Was it too much? Time will tell. He struggled at times down the final stretch.
Road woes. Only Atlanta, Ottawa, St Louis, New Jersey, the Islanders, Colorado and the Edmonton Oilers have worse road records. Notice anything about those teams? They're all golfing. Montreal will have to win at least one on the road as they finished in sixth, which means no home ice advantage.

I can keep going but all this is irrelevant if Price stands on his head and if the Bruins all get gastro.

Montreal Canadiens versus the Boston Bruins. A great rivalry. They've met 32 times before in the playoffs with the Habs winning 24 of those series to Boston's eight.

The Bruins will make that No. 9 this year. In a nutshell because of size, character, Chara, depth down the middle, Timmy Thomas, the memory of the March 24th beating, and a Montreal fanbase who is behind their team but very unsure about this matchup.

I believe Montreal has the speed and they took the season series four games to two but that is where it ends. As long as Boston plays their style and doesn't try to play Montreal's speed game, this should be a short series. Boston has great third and fourth lines. Montreal on any given night aren't sure who is on those particular lines. To boot, they also aren't sure about their first two lines.

No one expected Montreal to be in the position they are in considering all the injuries they sustained during the season, and they deserve credit for it. Price deserves a statue in his honour for his heroics this year.

As a former player for both teams, I'd love to see them both win. I'm not cheering for anyone but here, but I can be bought. Haven't had any offers yet so I'm just leaning on my gut decision. I like the B's to win because I like their commercials more.