First place, anyone?

For all ye Habs fans...a win tonight against the first place Devils will put our Habs,I repeat, OUR HABS in first place in the Eastern Conference for the first time this late in the year since '93! We all know what happened that year*knock on wood*.

How can we not be excited about the team this year? Second in the league in goals, first on the PP, and a league leading seven 40+ point getters..all this from a team with a ripe ol' average age of 26.6.

I don't care that we traded Who-et (ok..he shutout the devils but Price has been, and will continue tobe GREAT) for a 2nd rounder or didn't get Hossa, who Pittsburgh WAY overpaid for by the way. Points since the trade deadline- Mikhail Grabovski:2, Marian Hossa:0. So suck on that Ray Shero, Pens GM! We'll keep Grabovski, Higgins, Lapierre, and our 1st rounder and you can take your gimpy-kneed Hossa, we dont need em! Plekanec (25), the Kostitsyns (23 and 20), Higgins (24), Grabovski (24), Lapierre (22), Latendresse (20), Gorges (23), O'Byrne (23), Price (20), and Halak (22) make up the best core group of youngsters in the league, even better than what they have in Pittsburgh. Not to mention our vets Kovalev, Koivu, Hamrlik, Markov(Norris!!!), and KomiSAURUS, who is among the league leaders in both hits and blocked shots. The only thing we lack is the true game-breaker to take over after Kovalev either a)retires or b)decides he doesnt care anymore (He's been PHENOMENAL this year, but lets face it...its only a matter of time). One thing is for certain, though, Ottawa has seen its last days as the "Beasts of the Northeast".

The next step for our Habs is to challenge Pittsburgh for the title of Beast of the EAST. For the next 5 years or so this will be a rivalry with the grit of the Colorado-Detroit series' of the 90's, the goal scoring of the Oilers-Flames series' of the 80's, and the goaltending of the Devils-Stars series of '00 (Brodeur vs Belfour). OK...maybe it won't have ALL of these elements, but you get the point!

Yup, sure is a good time to be a Habs fan..especially considering where those pathetic Laffs are in the standings. And to all you leafs fans...YOU WILL MISS THE PLAYOFFS!! Despite Mats Sundins heroic efforts, the leafs will miss the playoffs and somehow manage to screw themselves out of a lottery pick. No Steve Stamkos, no Drew Doughty, and most certainly no playoffs for a long, long time.

So for all you borderline Habs fans my message is clear. Hop on the bandwagon...and hop on now! This team is for real, and will only get better. In the words of http://www.habsinsideout.com/ (best fan site in the universe..check it out) blogger Mike Boone, join us in all the agony and ecstacy that comes with being a Habs fan, 'cuz good times like these don't come by too often.