Are the habs really that worst than they were last spring?

     People here in montreal are all ready to press on the panic button, but really, are we that worst a team then the one that made it to the conference finals last spring? I don't think so, and here are the rosters of  last year in comparison to this year's.
      The team that finished in the top 4 last year was composed as follows:
Forwards were, Cammalleri, Plekanec, Kostitsyn, Gomez, Gionta, Pouliot, Moore, Metropolit, Lapierre, Darche, Pyatt and Moen. So basically the habs replaced Moore, Metropolit and lapierre by Desharnais, Halpern and Pacioretty. So right there I see that as an improvement.
      Now for the defencemen, the regulars that played the most were, Hamrlik, Subban, Bergeron, Gorges and Gill with Markov, Spacek and O'byrne playing 8, 10, 13 games respectively. Markov was out in the first game of the second round. But yes he was an important factor in the habs eliminating the Capitals.With Markovand Gorges out and Bergeron gone to tampa, the canadiens added Wisniewski, Sopel and Weber. I think the Wiz is better than Bergeron. Yes Sopel is older than Gorges but Sopel won the stanley cup last spring filling the same role as Gorges, rallying up important minutes on the PK and getting in front of the shooting lanes and blocking shots. I know Weber will never be able to replace Markov but Subban has stepped up enormously this year and I think he can help fill that void. And we can't forget that Markov only played 8 games in the playoffs last year.
         As for our miracle man last spring Halak, even if he was amazing in the playoffs, the shots he was getting weren't always dangerous shots  because of the amazing job of the D-men in front of him. And let's not forget he wasn't that good anymore when they faced the Flyers, letting in some soft goals here and there. That being said I am sure Price can do the same job halak did and maybe even better cause he seems focused and hungry to prove he is an elite goalie in this league.
        The habs are if I am not mistaken 7 points ahead of last year at the same point in the season. With 8 games out of 20 left being played at home and 4 points back from a division lead, anything is possible. But to catch up to boston, the canadiens will have to win more games on the road and most importantly be more disciplined, if they are, they will be a hard team to beat until the end of the season.
      Now with all that being said, I do think they can add a big and heavy top 6 forward able to score some important goals, and win some battles in the corners against the big defencemen on opposing teams. A rental type like Penner or Arnott, would be great, but let's leave the managing to the men in place, after all they are experienced guys and we are just looking in from the outside, what do we know right?
     So i'd like to wish a good game tonight against the Canes to all the fans that read this blog, and get all the rest needed to be up early on Monday because it should be a good and interesting day for all hockey fans!