So who's optimistic? Anyone?

Does anyone truly believe that the Habs have a chance in hell of making the playoffs? We would have to make a run of epic proportions. They're 8 points out. They're ice cold. They're injured. Their coach can't say "I wanna puke" in french. The whole system is breaking down. Although we are now hearing that Cunneyworth is taking lessons. You gotta respect that. He's in the eye of the shitstorm and instead of running for the hills, he's learning french to take on more abuse. Quel Champion.

And to make things worse, the majority of our next 20 games are at home, where we can't seem to beat anyone except ourselves. Ouch.

As Habs fans, we've learned to curb our expectations of the last 18 years. We never expect much. But this year, I had my hopes up. Not that we would be a top 3 team in the east, but that we would comfortably make the playoffs and perhaps make a run. We were Boston's toughest opponent last year. Our young stars were another year older and wiser. Things were supposed to get better.

What the hell happened? We've been playing without Markov for the better part of 2 years now, so enough with that excuse. Price was a Vezina contender and PK was one of the brightest young stars in the game. Don't get me wrong, I still believe in most of the young talent of this team, but what the hell just happened here?

On paper, we're way better than this. The Kaberle trade has worked out better than expected (although I'm still very worried about that contract). But disappointing seasons from Cammalleri, Gionta, Gomez (how did he get worse...HOW???) and PK are just too much to overcome. Cole Desharnais and Pacioretty can't carry this team on their own and Price isn't playing well enough to steal enough games for us to sneak in. And to make this even more depressing, I'm not hearing anything exciting about the draft this year. Although I'm sure Mr. Gauthier would fuck up the top pick anyways.

Here goes nothing...