Good from far, but far from good?

I can't deny I am (and likely will always be) a glass half empty kind of guy.

After 30+ years of really nothing but disappointments from our local Habitants can you blame me for being perpetually skeptical (spare me the 2021 fluke finals- we know they got in those playoffs out of nonsensical league generosity)? La force des jeunes, un vent de renouveau, new management, all cheap slogans and unkept promises.

But this time, I gotta say, it feels kinda different.

There seems to be 2 ingredients that have been missing for eons: patience, and talent. Oh talent, how I longed to see you again, after you left us so suddenly in the late 80s (right before the Richers, Chelios, Lemieux's, Smiths and Naslunds were replaced by the Keanes, Gilchrists and Chorskes of this world).

As for patience, well, let's just say the Houle, Gainey and Bergevin were more like a watched pot that never boiled (don't get me started on all the young promising talent they gave up on...for fading veterans).

But again, this feels different, Hughes and Gorton, even St.Louis seem to be doing things methodically, and are more willing to focus on the long term picture than just short term results (despite the fact I don't particularly love how Marty manages players' ice time-see overusing players like Matheson and Evans and underusing young, promising talent).

So should we immediately start ordering bottles of champagne and booking a day off in late June?

Far from it. This team seems to be living on borrowed time, overachieving. For one, a lot of the usual juggernauts (Tampa Bay, Toronto, Florida) seem to be middling. But despite the fact they may have aging rosters (and injuries, especially on the Panthers), I still believe the cream will eventually rise to the top. Secondly, the Canadiens are winning way too many games by the closest of margins, and, to be fair, despite the fact that a win is a win (boy I had cliches), the reality is they haven't played many top teams (and lost to the ones they have- namely Toronto, Edmonton and New Jersey.

They are also NOT winning by committee. Mike Matheson, Noah Dobson, even Lane Hutson are playing too many minutes. It will catch up to them. It did last year. The power play has also been roaring a torrid rate. This is not likely to be sustainable. And did I mention Dobes had at one point a save percentage above .940?

So the reality is the Canadiens are going to eventually come down back to earth. As Hughes has candidly admitted to himself, this is far from the finished product. The Canadiens still lack size up front, and certainly another mean, physical d-man who isn't as fragile as Guehle or erratic as Xhekaj.

But the good news is this team has talent. You can see it, it oozes everywhere, and they are likely just scratching the surface. More talent is also on the way (Hage, Zharkovsky, Fowler, Reinbacher- though allow me to have some doubts about that last one). And they seemingly never give up, and have shown boatloads of character.

Still, barring any significant roster upgrades, one should expect that in the next couple of months, the Habs should be back in the 7-8th spot in the East, and frankly, that should be no reason to panic. This team's future looks extremely bright.