Top Goaltender Praises Canadiens

Jake Oettinger and the Dallas Stars have faced the Montreal Canadiens twice in the last week and the Habs came out of those two duels with three points while the Texas outfit only got two.

Montreal got something beyond the points though, in his post game comments, the Stars netminder spoke about his opponents in these terms:

For sure, I think it's crazy just how much better they are than last year and the year before. They're so dangerous, power play's great, their top-six is as talented as anyone's in the league, so you give them some space and they'll make you pay.

It's been a long time since an opponent spoke like that about the Canadiens' offense. For year, all the praises about the Canadiens focussed on Carey Price and his being the best in the business, but as his era demonstrated, one excellent player doesn't necessarily mean winning.

Related: Canadiens: Mission Accomplished

Oettinger's comments means players around the league are starting to take notice of what's going on in Montreal, of how the rebuild is moving forward. This is the first step towards becoming a destination, a place big names want to come because they believe they can win there.

Back on Nov. 1, the 32 Thoughts Podcast actually said Montreal was not a destination just yet which was true. I wrote about it, saying it would be once the young players mastered their craft and started to implement their coaches' teachings better, but I'll admit I didn't think it would happen so fast, especially not after the rough start to the season.

Related: Canadiens: Becoming A Destination Takes Time

With 38 games to go though, the Canadiens have a lot of work left to do and their performances until the trade deadline will dictate exactly where they are at in their process. Whatever happens though, Kent Hughes is not about to make moves for the now at the detriment of the future. The organization wants a perennial contender and not a flash in the pan Cinderella like story.

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