Do You Believe?

It's hard not to after a game like that! Have you ever seen anything like it? It even impressed the biased air-heads who drag their knuckles on the floors of the Toronto Sports Network. Even Don Cherry might have tuned into the overtime ... you know, after Sportsnet had finished airing the titanic Leafs-Blue Jackets clash that was on at the same time.

There was so much to love about this one. Michael Ryder coming to life to spark the comeback. Kovalev chipping in a pair to even the score. Saku Koivu with the clutch shoot-out victory. The Komisaurus Rex on a rampage, taking names and kicking ass, as Brandon Dubinsky discovered, to his deep dismay, one assumes. Wanna watch Dubinsky hang for dear life again? Thought so. And read this: the account of the game is even more satisfying from the enemy perspective.

So now what for Bob Gainey? Word is he's been doing some serious shopping at the GM meetings, looking to add an 'impact player', most likely a high-scoring winger to fill out the Koivu line. If Michael Ryder has returned - and it sure looked like it last night - isn't he that player? Do the Habs really want to trade a guy like O'Byrne, or Higgins, or Grabovski, to pick up Hossa for a few months? I don't know. Character-wise, you have to like a guy like Ryder, and we already know he can score, no matter what happened this year. One thing's for sure, if the Habs trade Ryder, they'll be getting Leclaired by him for years to come. He'd score 50 with the right line-mates.