After a week-long sojourn against neutral, Western Conference based foes, the Canadiens are back to facing their true competition this week.  First up, the Buffalo Sabres, a familiar foe, at least in the regular season. 

We all know Buffalo quite well.  Despite the offseason moves, this team has been one that has played virtually the same style of fast, aggressive hockey with excellent goaltending since the lockout.  In recent years, they've made a point of adding some extra size and nastiness to their forward lines, and with one great draft selection they completely changed the look of their defence corps from unheralded two-way European players like Henrik Tallinder, Tony Lydman and our own Jaroslav Spacek to one built around the mammoth in the making that is Tyler Myers. 

The Sabres were one of 'the' stories of the 2011 offseason.  A wealthy new owner took over and immediately took steps to change the image of the Sabres from being, uh, 'thrifty' to being a first class organization that the people of Buffalo could be proud of.  So Buffalo went from a team that tried to draw revenue sharing to one that put themselves over the salary cap:  they acquired Robyn Regehr ($4.02m cap), along with the bloated Ales Kotalik contract ($3m), from the Calgary Flames, and hit the free agency market in a big way by signing Christian Ehrhoff (10 years, $40m) and Ville Leino (6 years, $27m) to massive, front-loaded contracts.  Before the season began, they gave Tyler Myers a seven year contract extension at a $5.5m cap hit. 

Oh yeah, and they finally ditched the last remaining remnants of the awful Buffaslug.  I mean, look at the uniforms in the picture.  Aside from the stupid numbers on the front, they're quite sharp.

They were a good team before, and while they did lose some key players to make room for the new guys, they are more competitive as a result of the makeover.  More importantly, they seem much better prepared to keep the talent that they develop, which has been significant in keeping the team competitive in the past.  This year, our panel pointed to the Sabres as one of the Canadiens' main competitors in the Northeast Division, and tonight is the first game of the season series.  Here are three things of note for the Buffalo Sabres this year: 

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Hey, have you heard?  The Jets are back!  Well, sort of.  A team named the Winnipeg Jets does exist for the first time in 15 years, but it's not the same team that existed back then...  that team is still the Phoenix Coyotes, even if they've been ownerless for the past three seasons. 

The new Jets are the former Atlanta Thrashers, as the NHL continues its evil strategy to place an expansion team in Atlanta only as a way to eventually move it to western Canada.  As a Saskatoon resident, I can hardly wait for the next NHL expansion to the Georgia capital, because my town might just be a decade away from a franchise!

So the Jets stole a franchise because someone else stole theirs and they couldn't get it back.  And your Montreal Canadiens are the first ever regular season opponent of the newly branded, walking air force billboards from the capital of Manitoba.  The building is packed, scalpers are being hung outside the MTS Centre (or so I've been led to believe), and the economy of the city has gone from absolutely dreadful to positively adequate.  NHL hockey is viable again in Winnipeg, with modern facilities (including those fancy corporate boxes and a better concession deal), the wealthiest owner in the league (heck, the wealthiest man in Canada), a salary cap and a Canadian dollar trading at about 50% higher than in 1996 vs. the American dollar. 

Mark Chipman, the chairman of the ownership group, said in a CBC hour-long special on Friday that the one thing he wished he could do over from the days of running the IHL/AHL's Manitoba Moose was the first season.  The Moose's first season was dreadful, as the team was led by former Canadiens coach Jean Perron and was a disaster.  While Chipman wishes he could do it over again, it doesn't appear he's given the Jets much of a shot at being successful in their debut season, either.  After the jump, we look at why the roster the Jets have assembled from the team formerly known as the Thrashers isn't likely to be very effective this year.

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It's here! The 2011-12 NHL season is here for Habs fans.

Here's your pump-up video for tonight's season opener against the Toronto Maple Leafs. GO HABS! GO!

It doesn't appear if Jacques Martin is planning any roster changes, so expect the same lineup when the Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins enter Game Five of their best-of-seven series.

The Habs will be hoping to maintain their road success in the series and not come back to the Bell Centre Tuesday, down 3-2.

Martin spoke to the media today, stating he won't make any final lineup decisions until game time. The Habs coach also noted the parity between both teams through the first four games.

More pre-game video from Hal Gill, Mike Cammalleri, Mathieu Darche and captain Brian Gionta can be found at canadiens.com

Dave Stubbs brings more video from both dressing rooms and a clip from the Habs pre-game skate

Brian Wilde on the momentum swing

CJAD's Mark Shalhoub on the Andrew Ference suspension

Chris Boucher breaks down Game Four and further rates the player averages.

Five Keys to the game

Anyone wanna buy a t-shirt? :)

Chris Nilan and Max Pacioretty were doing an autograph signing this afternoon. Wonder what Mark Recchi would think, if he saw this ad?

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Andrew Cohen looks back at the '71 series between the Bruins and Canadiens.

More on tonight's game from Stanley Cup of Chowder.

There's certainly no argument that fans of the Montreal Canadiens love the play and swagger of rookie defenseman P.K. Subban. But I think this fan took it a tad too far in this tribute video. Then again, it is the 21st Century.

Now back to business of a crucial Game Four between the Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins.

It's not official, but there's a good chance that Jeff Halpern will be back in the Habs lineup and will replace Benoit Pouliot. Halpern played on a line with Lars Eller and Travis Moen during Wednesday's practice, while Pouliot was an odd man out.

After an optional morning skate today, coach Jacques Martin wouldn't tip his hat as to who will, or will not play. "There's probably a pretty good chance that Jeff will be in tonight," Martin said. "He brings experience, leadership, he's a good player away from the puck and he can also help us on faceoffs." Pouliot may still get a day pass out of the Martin dog house though. Dave Stubbs of the Montreal Gazette later tweeted that Martin noted that other players are nursing injuries.

The Bruins sent forward Chris Kelly back to Boston on Wednesday to be checked for a possible facial fracture. Claude Julien remains optimistic on Kelly's return, If he is unable, expect Tyler Seguin to get his first taste of playoff action.

Bill Beacon on the first timers in the playoffs.

Tim Thomas ain't all that according to Philip Myrland. But it's something most of us here have known for a while.

James Murphy on Milan Lucic's scoring slump.

Chris Boucher evaluates the Habs through three games and his breakdown of Game Three.

My prediction: Provided they stick to their game plan of the first two games for 60 minutes, Habs 4-1 (fourth goal is an empty netter.) If they don't, the Bruins blow it wide open.

The Bruins side at Stanley Cup of Chowder

So right off the bat, the Boston Bruins David Krejci, who was flustered by the Montreal Canadiens Tomas Plekanec in Game One, tried his best Joe Namath impression by practically guaranteeing a win in Game Two. Just one game David? Not bold enough say the Bruins will win the series though, is he?

The Canadiens did take the day off today, but some players and coach Jacques Martin were made available to the media.

The Bruins, in the meantime, held a brief but intense practice.

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It's finally here! Man was four days without a Habs game ever painful.

The Montreal Canadiens had a morning practice in Brossard, before heading into Beantown on Wednesday. The team will have an 11:30 morning skate, before facing the Boston Bruins tonight in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference quarter-final.

How serious is this rivalry? Well Boston Pizza is changing the name in their ads for the series.

CBC's preview of the series.

Bruce Arthur on checking ones emotions of the series.

It's nowhere close to our Andrew Berkshire's analysis, but NHL.com sizes up the matchup between Carey Price and Tim Thomas.

Rory McGregor profiles the Bruins' Milan Lucic

P.K. Subban gets ready to take the stage

Pat Hickey, possibly fearing another car being destroyed, has the Bruins in six! ESPN's Joe McDonald has the B's in seven.

Chara et les Bruins pissent dans leurs culottes (via EpicPopcorn)

Remember a year ago, when the final game of the season had crucial meaning for the Montreal Canadiens? How about 2007? Nah, let's not reflect on that disaster.

It's rather refreshing that tonight's game at the Air Canada Centre will not be a nail-biter for Canadiens fans. But when it comes to a final game of the regular season against the Toronto Maple Leafs, it still brings out the best of these two clubs, regardless of position.

Tonight's game should be no exception, as a few issues can be addressed.

First, it will decide bragging rights between the two Original Six clubs for the season. The Leafs hold a 3-2 series lead over the Habs, with both Montreal victories coming by shutout at the Bell Centre. Carey Price, who earned both of those whitewashes, will get the call again tonight against James Reimer.

Second, a win for the Canadiens locks up sixth place in the Eastern Conference. They could still earn that position, even if they lose, depending on what the Buffalo Sabres do in their last game.

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