MONTREAL - With 40 games left on the schedule, playoff proclamations are pretty difficult to make. The Habs are in a heated race with the Boston Bruins, one that will likely go down to the wire for the division lead. The loser of that race could potentially miss the playoffs if a team from the Southeast division emerges down the stretch.

As for my own proclamations, I do recall suggesting the Habs were a Cup contender, a mere 18 games into what was shaping up as a golden season. Not that I wasn't able to recognize that there would be adversity along the way. My perspective was that the Habs ability to pass through that adversity, once again, would inevitably turn them into a stronger team than they were last season; the team that fizzled in the conference finals, having played 19 more games of hockey than most people thought they would.

After all, the team made the playoffs on an overtime loss, with their leading goal scorer failing to find the back of the net for the final 12 games of the season. They were a beaten and battered bunch, who rarely played at full health. A team that allowed an average of 32 shots on net/game versus the 28.6 they took, winning games with regularity, in which the shots against well exceeded 32.

But they made it, and once they did that magical playoff run turned them into the team they are today, in spite of losing the greatest asset to their winning equation in Jaroslav Halak.

Today's team sits in 8th place with a possibility of finishing as high as 3rd, and as low as 12th. With Josh Gorges joining Markov on the sidelines for the rest of the year, I may have a harder time selling the idea that they could contend for the Cup, but I don't have any problem proclaiming they'll finish closer to 3rd than they will 12th.

If you aren't convinced, go watch the game against the Bruins again. And once you do, let Jacques Martin worry about the first forty minutes of that game, in which the Canadiens were out-shot, out-played and out-chanced (they weren't out-hustled). The final 24:00 tell a familiar story of a battered and bruised, on the verge of death Habs ripping off the life support provided by supreme goaltending, and jumping off the death bed with Max Pacioretty--straight into the glass in celebration.

They are a team that recently went through its toughest skid: 3-8 from December 10th to December 30th. It was a stretch that had many rightfully question Carey Price's ability to handle the situation, and dig himself out of poor play quicker than he has in past seasons. They made changes: lost Lapierre, added Wisniewski, brought up Pacioretty and Desharnais, shuffled young defencemen P.K. Subban and Yannick Weber in and out of the line up.

But they are also a team with a great sense of occasion; one that thrives under circumstances by which most people have given up on them.

Ultimately, the team has since collected points in four straight games, wins in three of them. All four have gone to overtime. And most surprisingly, the three wins were comeback efforts after the Canadiens had failed to do so in any of the first 38 games.

Speaking of coming back, Carey Price has returned to form over his last couple of games with exceptional performances against the Penguins and Bruins. That's the best news of all, because with Gorges and Markov parked for the season Price will have to be the team's best player between games 42 and 82.

When I asserted the Habs were a Cup contender more than 20 games ago, I had my reasons:

"Will they lose games? Absolutely.

Will they go on a major losing skid at one point, or another? Absolutely.

But this team has the character, chemistry, experience and ability to make it through those times. This team has the structure and stability to fight through the adversity of another lost season for Andrei Markov. This team has the money to improve in the areas in which they could be considered deficient. For all these reasons, I'm comfortable asserting, regardless of the fact that it's based on an 18-game sample: the Montreal Canadiens are a Stanley Cup contender."

Experience may be the determining factor in all of that. Experience is bringing the Canadiens through a schedule that offers top-quality opponents after dealing with the loss of Josh Gorges. Experience has seen Carey Price bury himself in stricter practice regimen to revive his strong play, rather than bury his head in the sand.

I believe experience will continue to take them through to the post-season. I believe the general manager will spend the money available to him to improve the team. I believe they can still be considered a Cup contender if by some stroke of miracle Andrei Markov or Josh Gorges join for the playoff drive. After all, this team has produced miracles since it was assembled by Bob Gainey in the summer of 2009.