If you are reading this, there is a pretty good chance that you are a Montreal Canadiens fan. Unfortunately, there is also a reasonably good chance that you have never seen the Habs lift the Stanley Cup. A lot has been said about the 30-year drought this year – and stretching back to the beginning of last season – and the wait for a 25^th title goes on.

It does feel, at times, as though that 25^th championship is never going to make its way back to the city. Although hockey is still king in Montreal, it is understandable that other teams and sports have grown over the years. CF Montreal has done pretty well in soccer so some may have even been checking the best MLS betting sites rather than concentrating on the Habs.

But when can long-suffering Canadiens fans expect to get really excited again? There are plenty of reasons why there has been precious little to shout about in recent times but is there now a light at the end of the tunnel? We’re not going to get carried away and predict a Stanley Cup triumph this season – but could happier days be coming our way?

The Last Hurrah

When the Habs won that last championship in 1993 it had only been seven years since the previous triumph. There had even been a Stanley Cup finals loss in the years in between. The Canadiens were not the dominant force they had once been, but droughts were still being counted in single digits.

Obviously, we all know how quickly everything went downhill after that. Even making the playoffs wasn’t guaranteed any more and the Conference Finals seemed the limit for a while. We weren’t even supposed to make the finals in 2021 – so not breaking the curse before it reached 30 years didn’t seem all that surprising.

A Canada Problem

There is one statistical scrap to cling onto, of course. The Habs may have not been able to claim a 25^th championship in 30 years – but then no other team from Canada has been anywhere close either. It’s been an incredible 12 years since any Canadian team even made it to the Stanley Cup finals.

With the top players not automatically joining Canadian teams, all of those from this country have struggled to compete as the NHL has aggressively looked to grow the game in the US. Habs fans will always find it hard to get behind any other Canadian team – especially the Leafs – but the nation could do with a win.

Tough Division

All Habs fans will know that there are a multitude of reasons – both on and off the ice – as to why our team has not even looked like challenging for the majority of the last 30 years. But even as we begin to have a little more hope of a brighter future, the Canadiens find themselves in with a tough group of teams.

The Atlantic Division is going to be hard to progress from once again. Some of the teams may not be the out-and-out favorites to lift the Stanley Cup, but Toronto, Boston and Tampa are all high on the list. Add to that last season’s runner-up in Florida and Ottawa, Buffalo, and even a Detroit team that cannot be as bad as last year, and the Habs face a tough task making the playoffs.

Young Talent

It is not an overstatement to say that the last two years have been horrible for Habs fans. After losing in the finals in a season seriously affected by COVID, not making the playoffs at all forced the organization to majorly rethink how it was going to regroup and rebuild.

Without wanting to get too excited (we have been down this road before, after all) the future is beginning to look bright. This is now officially the next stage of that rebuild. Giving young players more ice time is an exciting tactic. Improving would not be difficult. But a good young core of players that use this time to get better this season is an exciting prospect.

More on Offense

Offensive talent in Montreal has been short on the ground most of the time since that last Stanley Cup triumph. But now, in Cole Caulfield, there is a player who has the ability to score 50 goals in a season. He won’t be able to do it all on his own – but, no one can.

If Nick Suzuki and Kirby Dach can combine to give the team some real talent at center, the Canadiens might actually be able to compete. Add to that Alex Newhook living up to his potential and Juraj Slafkovsky setting down in the league, and suddenly Montreal can begin to worry a few of the other teams.

Promising Start

By the time you read this, we will still only be in the early stages of the new season. But the opening game of the year is always a tense and exciting time. The fans eagerly anticipate what is going to unfold in front of them on the ice and pray that their hopes will not be dashed instantly.

A loss to the Leafs is never going to be easy to take. But that first game of the season did suggest that Montreal will be able to put up a fight this year. Losing in overtime was even more of a kicker, but there were plenty of positives to take from the game against one of the favorites to win it all this season.

A 25^th Championship

So, are we any closer to being able to answer the question at the top of this article? The honest truth is probably, “not really”. There are definitively more positive vibes around the place this year – and that should count for something. An injury-free core of young players developing and pushing forward again is probably the most we can hope for this year.

The Habs are unlikely to even make the playoffs if we are being completely honest. But even more development in the next few years should sort that problem out – and then the possibilities only grow. This horrible championship drought has to end at some time and, for the first time in a long time, it actually feels as if we might be able to compete in the very near future.