Canadiens have Stanley Cup talent

All of the pre-season prognosticators on TSN and Sportsnet didn’t stray too far when asked for their 2026-27 National Hockey League predictions about the final four and eventual Stanley Cup winner. Most of the talking heads who are insiders and have much more information than the average Joe — or Bruce — gave the championship nod to either Florida, Vegas, Carolina or Colorado.

Not in this space. We’re teetering on a limb and, although my Montreal Canadien friends beg me not to predict it, because I’m usually wrong, it says here that the Habs are going to become the first Canadian team to win the Stanley Cup since 1993.

Sports results rarely go as expected. Remember all the hype about the Blue Jays in 2026 after their run to the World Series in 2025? Well, the Jays finished dead last in the American League East this year, 19 games behind first-place Tampa Bay.

Montreal’s ascension in the NHL standings over the last three years has been remarkable — and steady. In 2023-24, they racked up 76 points (30-36-16). In 2024-25, they improved to 91 points (40-31-11). Last year, they zoomed up to 106 points (48-24-10). The trend is obvious; the Habs are a contender. At the very least, Montreal is the best of Canada’s seven teams.

The Canadiens are young, and potent. Cole Caufield scored 51 goals last year and will probably be good for at least that many this season. Linemate and team captain Nick Suzuki broke the 100-point barrier. No. 1 draft pick from 2022 Juraj Slafkovsky broke through last season with 30 goals and has 50-goal potential. Defenceman Lane Hutson is an all star waiting to happen and quarterbacks the Habs’ power play, which ranked No. 5 last season. In the off-season, Montreal added power forward Chris Kreider as a free-agent. He’ll be a hard-to-move pest in front of opposition goaltenders.

And finally, after a few years of instability, goaltending seems to be a strong position for the Habs, with Jakub Dobes emerging as the team’s clear No. 1. He posted a respectable 2.78 goals-against average last year with a .901 save percentage. Should he falter, highly-touted Jacob Fowler is waiting in the wings. Former No. 1 Sam Montembeault seems to be odd man out and could be used as trade bait.

In summary, here’s what to like about the Habs: Youth, speed, continued ascension, solid defence, above-average goaltending and Grade A coaching with Martin St. Louis. Above all, the Canadians are a fun team to watch. Hockey fans could be watching them late into June 2027.

The rest of the Canadian teams, in projected order: 2. Edmonton; 3. Ottawa 4. Winnipeg; 5. Toronto; 6. Vancouver; 7. Calgary

I have a friend named Ken who is a fervent Habs’ fan. He owns Habs blankets, pillows, pucks and all sorts of Montreal memorabilia. Because he knows my predicting history, he begged me not to pick the Habs to win anything. Sorry, Ken. This is their year.

OUT OF BOUNDS

• Cathal Kelly, on trade demands by Dylan Larkin and Connor Hellebuyck, both U.S. players: “It also appears that all the members of Team USA went drinking in Milan and decided to meet up again in Sunrise, Fla. in a few months’ time.”

• Kelly again, on the Red Wings not making a deal involving Larkin: “By next summer, Larkin will be begging to go anywhere. He’ll take Columbus and agree to help sweep out the visitors’ dressing room. If he stays that long in Detroit, he’ll be afraid to go to Costco without putting on a wig.”

• Jerry Brewer in The Athletic, on the L.A. Chargers’ QB Justin Herbert’s horrendous start to the NFL season: “(Offensive co-ordinator) Mike McDaniel, who called pretty plays when he was Miami’s head coach, is co-ordinating Herbert as if he were asking Morgan Freeman to narrate a documentary in German.”

• Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel: “The L.A. Chargers hired former Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel as offensive co-ordinator to unlock Justin Herbert. Four games into the season, the Chargers are already looking for the locksmith.”

• Chris Vannini on Bluesky: “The Yankees have played in two World Series over the last 23 years. It’s their fewest appearances in any 23-year stretch in history.”

• Super 70s Sports: “Nolan Ryan’s arm was so damaged by the first 5,000 innings of his career he was only able to strike out 16 Blue Jays when he no-hit them at age 44.”

• From the late Mike Ditka, snipped from sportscurmudgeon.com: “If God had wanted man to play soccer, he wouldn’t have given us arms.”

• Headline at theonion.com: “Pat McAfee Nods During Aaron Rodgers’ two-Hour Monologue On Virtues Of Eating Tar.”

• Headline at fark.com, after MLB announced it will reduce its schedule to 154 games in 2028: “Major League Baseball is thinking that maybe, just maybe, too much November baseball is not a good idea.”

• Super 70s Sports, with an actual Earl Weaver-Umpire conversation: “Weaver: ‘I’m going to check the rulebook on that.’ Umpire: ‘Here, use mine.’ Weaver: ‘That’s no good, I can’t read braille.’”

» Care to comment? Email brucepenton2003@yahoo.ca