Gearing Up For The Centennial

Nice post here from The H Doesn't NOT Stand For Habs on the Bob Gainey-Mats Sundin meeting last weekend.

Many have called Sundin the Habs' ''missing piece of the puzzle'' in their quest to bring the Stanley Cup home for the team's centennial, and he would be of great help, although they already have an impressive team if it can come near what it did last year during the season.

But one must not forget nothing is guaranteed. There would be ample examples in the league's 85-year-plus history, but one need look no further than the 2003-04 season, when the Colorado Avalanche added Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne to a roster that already included Joe Sakic, Alex Tanguay, Milan Hejduk, Peter Forsberg, Rob Blake, J-M Lilles, Adam Foote, Derek Morris, the best grind line in the league and, of course, David Aebischer to replace the incomparable Patrick Roy in nets. With its last line of defense (Roy) just retired - and a slew of injuries - the Avs failed to perform come playoff time and the Tampa Bay Lightning won the Cup against the Calgary Flames in a grueling 7-game series.

There's no doubt Sundin would help tons. Especially if injuries were to happen, the added depth would be the difference between fighting for top spot and fighting for a playoff spot.

But the biggest (only?) question mark remains 'blue chip prospect' Carey Price in nets. How will he bounce back from his meltdown against Philadelphia in last year's playoffs? Have other teams found his weakness - going top shelf? Can he perform well during the whole year and not be burnt out by playoff time?

If he was burnt out during the few final games of the playoffs, he should have let his more than capable backup Jaroslav Halak take the driver's seat for a few games. Instead, the fans and most general managers will forever be plagued with doubts - will he be a cold-blooded killer like he was as a teen prodigy (World Juniors and AHL), or the teary-eyed motionless target practice piece of plywood wearing #31 of last Spring?

Had he taken a backseat for a few games to relax, get his mind working again and get back into it when he's ready, it would have been the other way around - he would have been the great teammate (instead of the selfish teenager), and even if he'd failed later on in his career, the fact that he'd have succeeded that one time when he came back would have given him multiple free passes - like Cam Ward in Carolina, who hasn't done much since that Cup-winning run that gave him an undeserved Conn Smythe trophy.