Reality Check -- 11 games left

Despite the recent cracks / crumbling / debacle that is the Montreal Canadiens recently, they are stil very much in playoff contention. Despite the fans and media calling the last couple weeks "Must Wins" -- they really weren't.

Philidelphia and Pittsburgh have 86 points to the Habs 81 -- meaning if the CH can actually put together a couple wins in a row, say 3 of their next 4, then they are right back in 5th place. Meaning it will take until the end of April to decide the fate of this team, and they are by no means out of it.

Now there are lots of reasons to think why shouldn't happen -- that the Habs are already dead, just someone forgot to tell the heart to stop beating. There are also lots of reasons to think that even if they do get into the Big Dance, what's the point? They don't look like contenders...

No arguments here. Except the fact that the playoffs do weird things to teams; sometimes the get better, sometimes they get worse, and sometimes they just don't show up.

But the fact remains that despite the last couple crappy weeks where everyone was thinking: surely if there was a time to step up and prove your mettle the last few weeks were it -- reality is nope: they can continue to stink, and still be a contender.

So fans, unfortunately you aren't off the hook yet.

if i write 'despite' one more time i'm gonna kick myself.