If Montreal didn't have bad luck it would have no luck at all when it comes to injuries. Already without star defensemen Andrei Markov and Josh Gorges, it appears Les Habitants have been dealt a few more setbacks. With the injury of Mike Cammalleri, the result of a vicious crosscheck from Buffalo's Mike Weber, and a shoulder injury to forward Jeff Halpern, the ranks are looking pretty thin.

The question to be asked is: Does Montreal have the depth to step up? A better question to ask is, what is the brass going to do to address a staggering size difference up front? As we've seen this season, despite the valiant effort of the smaller forwards in getting into the scoring areas and grinding it out on the boards, they haven't produced the kind of offense needed to make a cup run, and are getting injured almost daily. Furthermore, when facing much larger opponents, like the Philadelphia Flyers in last year's playoffs, they got beat up and looked disorganized.

It's evident Montreal needs some big men to sit in front of the net and agitate the goalie, not only for production's sake, but also to throw some checks in the other team's direction and intimidate them. Ideally, the Habs could call up an up and comer or two from the Bull Dogs and they could make a splash, but as the Habitant faithful have known for a long time, the longer they wait to make the big move to sign the proven players they need to make it to the cup finals, the smaller the window is on the contracts of the players they have and need now.

For example, Carey Price's recent signing was only for a couple of years. Price's upside is huge, and there are no guarantees he will re-sign with Montreal at the end of his contract. Andrei Markov and Tomas Plekanec are other prime examples. The time is now if they want to have a chance at it with their star players.

What's your opinion? Do you think Montreal should make trades to bring in some proven giants, or should they stick to building from the farm up?

Jeff McTiernan

East Coast Correspondent

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