Eastern Conference Surprises Of The First Half Of The NHL Season

1.  The Montreal Canadiens, Carey Price & P.K. Subban

Mar 23, 2012; Montreal, QC, CAN; Ottawa Senators forward Chris Neil (25) in between Montreal Canadiens defenceman P.K. Subban (76) and goaltender Carey Price (31) during the 3rd period at the Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports

Somehow the Habs are keeping their heads above water and remain in a playoff spot.  I didn’t think the Canadiens could repeat what they did last year and thought they would slide out of post-season contention, Michel Therrien would continue to stagger through a season and might not last the year.

Led by Team Canada hopefuls Carey Price and P.K. Subban, the Habs remain in third place in the Atlantic Division and are 4 points up on the Red Wings and 9 points ahead of the teams currently outside the playoffs.  Subban has proven for the most part that his Norris Trophy wasn’t a fluke and he hasn’t really taken a step backward.

They are a streaky team and could just as easily go on a cold run as a hot one to start the second half, but credit to them for proving me wrong, at least so far.