Because the Leafs are not the Buffalo Sabres or the Edmonton Oilers. They have far more high-end (and high-priced) talent than the bottom feeders and as they proved for a stretch before the current collapse, they are capable of sustained success. Phil Kessel, bless his fat and lazy soul, is a talent. He’s even a durable talent, out there night after night, perhaps because he doesn’t wear himself out backchecking. But he’s the Carmelo Anthony of the NHL, an entitled coach-killer whose tantalizing potential only makes the annual disappointment more bitter.

While Kessel and Dion Phaneuf have led Toronto down the garbage chute, the Canadiens have climbed into more-or-less secure membership in that group of the league’s elite, the teams with genuine Stanley Cup ambitions. They blew a chance to move into first place in the Eastern Conference on Sunday with that 3-2 loss to Arizona, but the Habs are still right there, a point behind the Tampa Bay Lightning with two games in hand.

-Jack Todd at the Montreal Gazette where you can read more on the Leafs and Canadiens.