Despite the fact that the Canadiens opened up their season on a positive note, getting a clutch performance in goal from Carey Price and a last minute overtime goal from Josh Gorges to defeat the arch nemesis Toronto Maple Leafs last night, there is nothing but doom and gloom in the city of Montreal today.

After a seemingly innocuous collision with goaltender Carey Price, the Habs #1 defenseman, and arguably the best player on their roster limped off the ice following the tangle up. Well, it turns out it was not such a harmless collision after all as it was revealed today that Andrei Markov suffered a torn tendon in his ankle, will have to have surgery to repair said tendon, and will be out until after the Olympic break.

The news is an absolutely devastating for the Habs. Predicted to be a bubble playoff team, the Habs' chances of making the 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs just took a huge hit. Markov quarterbacks their powerplay, by far their leading scorer from the back end, their best puck-moving defenseman, and the key to jump-starting their offense, and he plays in all crucial situations. In others words, he cannot be replaced.

Now, no doubt GM Bob Gainey, coach Jacques Martin and the players will feed media and fans the usual stuff about how injuries are part of the game, and everybody will have to be a little bit better to overcome the loss of their best player. However, those are just empty words - Markov's absence leaves a gaping hole on the blueline and in the locker room, and there is no getting around that.

So what is the solution? If the team can hold it together for the first month of the season there is no reason for Gainey to press the panic button. However, if the team shows signs it can't properly function without Markov then Gainey will have no choice but try to improve the situation via the trade route. A terrible month of October might very well be the difference between the club making the playoffs, or missing the post-season for the second straight season, an event that would have fans in the city of Montreal howling for blood.

However it plays out there can be no denying that Montreal just became an easier team to play against, and goaltender Carey Price, who looked so good in the opening game against Toronto, is going to have to be just as good going forward to give his team a chance to win without their star.

The Montreal Canadiens organization, as every hockey fan knows, is the most decorated in the history of the NHL. With over 100 years of tradition that has seen them hoist the Stanley Cup on 24 different occasions the Habs are a proud team that has seen some of the game's greatest legends grace their roster.

Many of those all-time greats wore the 'C' for the Habs, leading the Canadiens to Stanley Cup glory in decades gone by. Greats like Newsy Lalonde, Toe Blake, Maurice Richard, Jean Beliveau and Bob Gainey have all helmed the mighty Canadiens. Hockey Hall of Famers, every one of them, who lived up to the proud tradition of those who went before them.

In recent years the Habs haven't had the success they once enjoyed as an organization, but great players like Guy Carbonneau, Vincent Damphousse and most recently Saku Koivu acquitted themselves well in the role, handling the immense pressure and scrutiny in the hockey-mad city of Montreal with aplomb, while still managing to deliver on the ice on a nightly basis.

However, with the off-season departure of long-time captain Saku Koivu, who has now gone to the San Jose Sharks the Habs are left with a vacancy for the post of team captain. Even worse, it is a challenge to name a player who could be considered a strong candidate for the role.

A big part of the problem is the huge turnover in the roster of the Canadiens. This is a totally different team than the one that was ushered out of the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs by the Boston Bruins last spring. Stars like Koivu, Mike Komisarek, Alexei Kovalev, Christopher Higgins, Alex Tanguay and Robert Lang are all gone. Some of the players who've taken their place include Mike Cammalleri, Scott Gomez, Brian Gionta, Travis Moen, and Hal Gill. Habs fans are going to have to check their programs very carefully at the Canadiens' home opener to try and pin down who's who out on the ice.

With leaders like Koivu, Kovalev and Komisarek out of the mix there is a definite dearth of Habs remaining from last year's team that would be a good fit as team captain. Andrei Markov would be the first name that leaps to mind, but newspaper reports state that the quiet Russian star was indeed offered the post, but has declined to take the team up on their offer.

Scott Gomez's name has been bandied about in musings as well. He will be the Habs' highest paid player, and has a ton of experience as a member of two Stanley Cup winning teams in New Jersey. However, expectations are going to be sky high this season for Gomez to produce offensively. Add to that the enormous pressure of being a captain in Montreal, and the fact that he has yet to play a game in a Habs uniform and it seems like a pretty unfair burden to put on him no matter how much money he will be making.

It is indeed a conundrum with no clear solution, and is mute evidence that the legendary tradition and leadership of the Canadiens' organization has fallen a long way since the days of Maurice Richard and Jean Beliveau. Hopefully for the sake of the team and for the sport itself Gainey can right the ship in the not-too-distant future.

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What a difference a single year makes. Last season the Montreal Canadiens finished atop the Eastern Conference standings, and the Boston Bruins had just squeaked into the playoffs, snagging the 8th spot. Montreal had dominated the Bruins all year, and fans and media alike were predicting a quick sweep by the Habs. Well, the Bruins surprised everyone. Rookie Milan Lucic led the way, hitting everything in sight and scoring clutch goals, eliciting comparisons to Cam Neely as he dominated the offensive zone. Montreal managed to win the series, but in a nail-biting 7 games, a far cry from the easy coast through the first round everyone was predicting. The grueling series took its toll on the Habs, who bowed out in 6 against the Philadelphia Flyers in the next round.

This season the roles are reversed. Boston has been the surprise of the league, and has led the Eastern Conference standings almost wire to wire, while the Habs have struggled since the midway point of the season, and didn't secure the 8th and final playoff spot until game 81 of the season. The Bruins have dominated the season series, much like the Canadiens did a year ago, winning 5 of the 6 meetings between the clubs. Now sophomore Milan Lucic has again been front and center in the heated rivalry, and his lopsided fight with Mike Komisarek back in November is pointed at as the turning point in the Habs' season.

The Bruins improvement has been nothing short of miraculous. Sure, they were expected to improve this year with plenty of young talent on their roster, but no one predicted they would finish this season with a whopping 116 points, just one shy of the 117 San Jose earned to nab the President's Trophy. Several Bruins players had breakout seasons, led by goaltender Tim Thomas, who led the NHL is both goals against average and save percentage, and is one of the favorites to capture the Vezina Trophy this year. 3rd year player Phil Kessel finally lived up to the potential that caused the Bruins to draft him 5th overall in the 2006 NHL entry draft, finishing with a team-leading 36 goals, despite only playing 70 games. Sophomore David Krejci was even more of a surprise, finishing his 2nd NHL season with 73 points and a league-leading +37 rating. Krejci showed superstar potential this season, scoring several highlight reel goals along the way. Rookie Blake Wheeler completes the trifecta. Wheeler finished his inaugural campaign with a respectable 45 points and an incredible +36 rating, second in the league behind only Krejci. With these 3 great young players, along with Lucic the future looks bright indeed for the Bruins.

However, no matter how talented a team is you don't win in the playoffs without grit, leadership and experience, and captain Zdeno Chara has plenty of those 3 qualities. The towering rearguard had another outstanding season, and will get his fair share of votes for the Norris Trophy. Chara is going to be an absolute nightmare for the small Habs forwards to contend with, with his punishing physical play and incredible reach. He can also punish the Canadiens on the powerplay with his booming slapshot, and the mere threat of that point shot really opens up the down-low play so the crafty Marc Savard can work his magic. Look for Chara, more than any other player, to be the key to the series for the Bruins.

There is significantly less for Habs fans to be excited about heading into this series. They have limped their way through the second half of the NHL season, and for a while there it didn't even look like this storied franchise would make the playoffs in the year they are celebrating their 100th season. In a desperate attempt to right the ship GM Bob Gainey fired coach Guy Carbonneau and stepped behind the bench himself. However, the Habs haven't fared much better since Gainey took over, and never did have that honeymoon phase that teams often enjoy when a new boss steps behind the bench. To make matters worse for the Habs they lost their #1 defenseman, and 2nd leading scorer when Andrei Markov was injured in a game against the Toronto Maple Leafs last weekend. Markov gets it done at both ends of the ice for the Habs and is the key element in their 5 on 5 breakout as well as their quarterback on the powerplay.

The very fact that Markov finished 2nd in team scoring is another cause for concern. He finished only a single point behind teammate Alexei Kovalev, who led the team with a paltry 65 points. The team is going to need to find some scoring touch if they are going to have a hope against the powerful Bruins offense. One bright spot has been the play of Kovalev, Koivu and Tanguay as a line. Ever since Gainey put the trio together the line has been arguably the hottest in the league, torching opposing teams on a nightly basis. However, though the trio have found instant chemistry, putting them together has left the Canadiens other 3 lines with some serious depth issues, and the team's 2nd line, centered by Tomas Plekanec has yet to find any spark.

Another bright spot for the Habs has been the recent resurgence of goaltender Carey Price. Just a few short weeks ago Carey Price looked headed for a breakdown. He was playing with no confidence and was fighting the puck on even the simplest of shots. During the stretch drive though he has finally found some of the swagger that made him so great in his rookie year, and his spectacular play is the main reason his Habs managed to eke their way into the playoffs. Price will most certainly be the wild card in this series. If he can avoid cracking under the pressure, and play like he has the last few games of the regular season he will at least give the Habs a hope in this series.

That being said, a Habs victory has to be considered a longshot at best. The Bruins are better than the Habs at every single position right now, and the gaping hole left by the Markov injury is impossible to plug. This is one of the most bitter rivalries in professional sports though, so don't expect the Canadiens to just roll over and give the series to the Bruins. Every inch of ice will be hotly contested, and there will be lots of bumps and bruises on both sides when this one is over.

Prediction: Boston Bruins win the series 4-2