The Montreal Canadiens came out of nowhere to finish atop the Eastern (Prince of Wales!) Conference last season, and then rapidly returned to nowhere in the playoffs, where they struggled to a seven-game victory over a Boston Bruins team that quite honestly deserved to beat them, before being wiped out in five games in the second round by a Philadelphia Flyers squad that simply played harder.
Still, there is actually a sense of quiet optimism about the Habs going into the off-season for the first time in well over a decade. There is plenty of speed on offense, a mobile defense (though if the team loses Mark Streit to free agency, that will hurt a lot) and solid young goaltending, though certainly questions about Carey Price will abound after his weak performance in the playoffs.
Canada's TSN has an excellent analysis of the team's off-season game plan, and it can be found here: http://www.tsn.ca/columnists/scott_cullen/?id=240496.
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