For Red Deer hockey fans this year has not been the time of their lives.
The Rebels were quickly blown out in the playoffs and the NHL Flames and Oilers both failed to earn the right to move beyond the regular season.
But 2010 has not been a total write-off for those who sleep and eat hockey, for those who believe with all their heart and soul in the mantra that 'Hockey is Canada's game.'
At the Vancouver Olympics Canada won gold in both women's and men's hockey, capped by Sidney Crosby's momentous overtime goal.
However, Crosby, Canada's Olympic hero for the ages, came tumbling back to earth this month when his NHL team, the Pittsburgh Penguins, met its match facing the storied Montreal Canadiens in the playoffs.
Led by super sniper Mike Cammalleri and netminding sensation Jaroslav Halak, the Canadiens first made believers out of the Stanley Cup favourite Washington Capitals by sending them packing in the first round. And then, it was Crosby's turn to feel the heat of Montreal's determined mission to prove that under dogs do produce a mean bite.
The Canadiens, for the second series in a row, came from behind to win a game seven and dethrone the defending Stanley Cup champions.
The Habs are now the last Canuck team standing.
Montreal moves on with a reasonable chance to play in hockey's big dance, the Stanley Cup final. If their opponents are Chicago, it will be the first original six final since the 1979 final when the Habs defeated the New York Rangers four games to one.
In the meantime, the entire country, including many Red Deer hockey fans, are captivated.
Montreal, after all, is not just another hockey or sports team.
Year after year the team skates with its motto, "To you from failing hands we throw the torch. Be yours to hold it high."
And why not? They have won the Stanley Cup 24 times, almost twice as many as the next team, today's sadsack Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Habs are the team of such Canadian legends Howie Morenz, Georges Vezina, Aurel Joliat, Maurice 'The Rocket' Richard, Bernie "Boom Boom" Geoffrion, Jean Beliveau, Guy Lafleur, just to name a few.
Whether a hockey fan is watching the NHL playoffs in Nova Scotia, the Yukon, British Columbia or in Red Deer, there is something a little bit different when the Montreal Canadiens have become serious contenders for the Stanley Cup.
Sure, we can still be Oilers and Flames fans but when the Montreal Canadiens are on the ice the thrill of this magnificent game has taken a different meaning.
It would not be disloyal in the least to admit that something awe inspiring from the heavens has moved the Canadian soul.
