http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/article.jsp?content=20060418_170441_5644

MONTREAL (CP) -- Everything's a drama in hockey-mad Montreal, where the smallest move involving the Habs is reviewed by ferocious critics on daily television shout-fests.

The Montreal Canadiens' lukewarm regular season ended with a backdoor entrance onto the NHL playoff stage that only fuelled a raging controversy over two goalies who were barely known in Quebec at the beginning of the season.

The Canadiens breathed a bit easier after sneaking into the playoffs with unlikely help from the Washington Capitals, one of the league's worst teams who eliminated Atlanta from contention Monday night.

Players and coaches insist the heated debate on the hockey-crazy airwaves over coach Bob Gainey's handling of netminders Cristobal Huet and David Aebischer has not reached the dressing room, where both enjoy support among teammates.

"The position is we have David and me in the club and I think David has played great the last two weeks," said Huet, who was to start Tuesday night in the Habs' final game against the New Jersey Devils.

"The situation is that. It's not a big deal. You know I think the guys feel comfortable with both goalies."

Aebischer has more experience and has played well lately but Huet had among the best records of any goaltender this year with seven shutouts and a goals-against average of 2.14. His best work came in the critical second half of the season.

Parity in the post-lockout NHL means goaltending is more important than ever heading into the playoffs, according to Canadiens associate coach Guy Carbonneau.

With Ottawa's Dominik Hasek injured, New Jersey's Martin Brodeur is one of the few proven winners among first-round goaltenders in the Eastern Conference.

Both Atlanta and Vancouver were expected to make the playoffs but lost their top goaltenders at the beginning of the season.

"It's not like in the past when you could just buy players," Carbonneau said. "It's teams like that that have been hurting."

Neither Carbonneau nor Gainey would say who was likely to start when the playoffs begin later this week.

A few months ago, it didn't seem like the Canadiens would make the playoffs at all. After a quick start, the team floundered in January and February, trailing such non-playoff teams as the Boston Bruins and the Toronto Maple Leafs.

After the Olympics, the team went on a tear -- backstopped mainly by Huet -- including an eight-game winning streak, to scratch back into playoff contention. But their chief rivals, including the Leafs, the Devils and the Tampa Bay Lightning, also enjoyed late-season hot streaks.

"I can't believe we won eight in a row and we were still fighting for our lives on the second-last day of the season," said Chris Higgins, one of the Habs' sparkplugs.

Montreal acquired Aebischer for Jose Theodore in March in a trade with Colorado that ended another goaltending controversy for the Habs.


David Aebischer doesn't know if he'll be diving into a playoff start.