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So we’ve already said the Canadiens will finish locked in a dogfight for first place in the Atlantic Division with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Nothing we saw in pre-season changes that opinion. We here at Monday Morning Quarterback Central have been wrong before (and you’ve been kind enough to remind us when it happens) and it could be we’re wrong this time.

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But the 2016-2017 Montreal Canadiens are a very different team than the woeful edition that stumbled to the golf course last spring. And here are the top 10 reasons the Habs are bona fide contenders this time around.

Photo by Paul Chiasson / THE CANADIAN PRESS

1. Price check on Aisle 31: All the off-season changes the Canadiens made put together don’t equal the impact of one man: Carey Price, all-world goaltender.

Obviously, the saves Price is capable of making when he’s healthy and at his best are critical to this team – but Price brings so much more. He infuses the entire team with a sense of confidence, determination and calm.