Did Edmonton have an offense? I know they scored some goals in the playoffs, but were any of them on good shots that were the result of skillful plays? Not many, IMO. They were a wrecking crew that managed to intimidate their opponents often enough to slip a few pucks by the goalers. But in the offensive end, they were clueless! No movement, no cycling, no working the puck down low. And every time they got a two-on-one or three-on-two, they made the absolute worst pass and gave good scoring chances away. Even on the 5-on-3s, they were pitiful. I've seen high school teams work the puck around better.

As much as I wanted them to win, they really weren't the better team. So many times over the coure of the seven game finals, I found myself saying that if Kovy or Bulis or Ryder had the puck in those situations, they would've netted more than their fair share -- or at least set up good scoring opportunities. But Edmonton's forwards just didn't get the job done, and their defensemen couldn't be relied on to score all the goals. It says a lot when you put a defenseman out to take a penalty shot, no matter how good he is!

Watching these finals gave me a lot of hope for the Habs. We have a better offense than Edmonton, an offense equal to Carolina's, and a goalie (we all hope) that will stop a lot of pucks for the B-B&R in the future. Can we improve our defense substantially enough to win those close games? Can we add a strong center and a wing or two to make our offense even tougher? Those would be my first choices if I were Gainey.

Time will tell, but after watching the finals this year, I'm thinking the Habs are moving in a good direction. we will be competitive next year and may surprise a lot of people. Go Habs Go.

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