Canadiens are hot; are they contenders?

[Habsfan84]

With three weeks left in the regular season, it's safe to say that there are few things more surprising than this year's edition of the Montreal Canadiens.
Through 71 games, the team that few pundits picked to qualify for the postseason is battling Ottawa, Pittsburgh and New Jersey for top spot in the Eastern Conference. That battle continues tonight when the Habs host the Senators at the Bell Centre.
After missing the 2007 playoffs in the final game of the regular season last spring and missing out on big-name free agents over the summer, the early previews for the Habs didn't look favourable. While the team had a lot of promising talent on the horizon, there were too many other factors weighing against them. Guy Carbonneau was coming off a shaky first season as head coach, the loss of Sheldon Souray left the league's No. 1 power play in question and no one knew how the enigmatic Alex Kovalev would perform.
With all that in mind, the Canadiens have built something special this season. Not only is the team they challenging for the top spot in the Eastern Conference, but there are also whispers of Stanley Cup contention.

And for Carbonneau, Montreal's big turnaround starts at the top.

"You've got to give credit to Bob (Gainey) and the organization to give me the players I have now, and give credit to the players now, too, because they believe," he said Wednesday.
"It doesn't matter what kind of system you have or who is on the ice, if they don't believe in it, it's not going to happen."
One key player who bought in early was Kovalev. The veteran winger, who had his share of disagreements with Carbonneau and the club last season, has turned in one of the best campaigns of his career. He hit the 30-goal mark this season for the first time since 2001-02 and is on pace for an 80-plus point season.
Another key factor of late has been the play of rookie netminder Carey Price. Gainey pulled the biggest shocker on Trade Deadline Day by sending veteran goaltender Cristobal Huet to Washington, and the 20-year-old has firmly entrenched himself as the team's No. 1 man.
"It's a lot of fun to be able to play a lot," he told reporters on Wednesday. "That's the way it's been my whole career, I've always played a lot of minutes. It's just nice to be able to do that here now."
Price, who guided the Hamilton Bulldogs to the Calder Cup championship in a short AHL stint last year, knows all about coming out of nowhere to compete when there are little expectations from the outside.
"We talked about that at the start of the year and I think it's a little bit of a motivational factor for us," he said. "Nobody picked us to be here right now. I think we've surprised a lot of people and everybody's going to be ready for us. That's one thing that we know now - no team is going to come unprepared now."
With teams gearing for the Canadiens down the stretch, does that make them a Cup contender? For defenceman Josh Gorges, the key to any success - Cup or not - could be in goal.
"I think the guys in here knew what Carey was capable of and he's proved it all year long with the games he did get in," he said Wednesday. "Even to watch him in practice you see how capable he is. I've known him and what he's capable of from playing in the Western League together and he's just a big-time goalie. He wants to be the number one guy. He wants to play in those key situations."