First-place Habs got me singing the Hip

It's been a long, long, looooooong, time coming

Well worth the wait





--The Tragically Hip









The Tragically Hip's ode to patience nicely summarizes

my feelings toward the Canadiens. Honestly, it's been so long since we could attach the word contender to any phrase with the 'Montreal Canadiens' in it that frankly, I'm still not sure they're for real.

My feelings on the topic, are, of course, those of a cynical journalist, and you have to do more than finish first overall in the Eastern Conference before I'm willing to enshrine you as anything more than regular-season studs.

However, it's been so long since the Canadiens had home-ice advantage in a first-round playoff series (1992, actually) that I don't know if I can even think about the notion this team might win, and move on, and on and on. It used to be, when I was a kid, anyway and saw the 1986 Cup win, the 1989 Cup finalists and the 1993 Cup winners through the eyes of a child and a teenager. Hockey was never more important for me than it was in those days.

When the Canadiens lost in seven games to the Bruins in 1994, followed by the lockout, started a decade of irrelevance for the Canadiens, at least to me and many other fans who were tired of watching a punchless Canadiens team, try to ride yet another mediocre goalie to a .500 season and sneak into the playoffs. When they did manage to sneak in, we were witness to such craptacular action as the 1996 choke job against the Rangers (losing in six after opening up a 2-0 lead on the road), the epic sweep at the hands of the Dominik Hasek-led Sabres in the second round in 1998, the collapse against Carolina in the second round in 2002 and the embarrassing sweep at the hands of the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2004. Throw in the 2006 loss at the hands of the Hurricanes, (even though they only lost because Justin Williams tried to gouge out Saku Koivu's eye in Game 3 and the Habs looked lost without him; I'll give them a pass on that one) and you've got more than 10 years of playoff disappointment

The departure of Patrick Roy set off a chain reaction of events that clouded the front of the Canadiens' net for years, and the search for a franchise goalie has reflected the franchise's search for

So, you'll forgive my trepidation at believing the Canadiens had it in them to make a deep playoff run. In fact, it's been so long since the Habs have had a shot at the Stanley Cup that I just assume any Cup run made by a Canadian team is going to be made by the Ottawa Senators. I know, I know…sacrilege. The Sainte Flanelle doesn't need fair-weather fans like me, but after a while, the string of disappointments starts to get to you.

Look, I know they can't win the Cup every year, but honestly, there hasn't been a single moment since 1993 (except the game in 1994 when Patrick Roy made 73 stops against Boston before appendicitis took him, and effectively, the Canadiens out of the series and during Game 1 against Carolina in 2006. The way the Habs came out and chased Martin Gerber made me think firewagon hockey was back for good. Of course, they came back to earth and Cam Ward took the 'Canes to the Stanley Cup, in a Roy-esque performance.

So, here we stand on the precipice, because if the Canadiens disappoint me this time around, I'm not sure I can take it, you know, emotionally. Especially since this time, as the number-one seed in the East, they're supposed to win.

Oh, man. I'm getting nervous.

We'll see where it goes from here.

Talk to you on Friday.