by GABRIEL MORENCY

Twenty-five games to go for the Montreal Canadiens in the regular season and barring a Margo Kidder-sized meltdown, they will be participating in the post-season for just the second time in six years. Although the Canadiens are far from Stanley Cup favourites, they should at least be swinging hockey sticks instead of golf clubs this spring. How far they play into the springtime - and summertime - is up to the Chairman of the Board, Mr. Bob Gainey himself.

As well as the club has played, Gainey understands they must get bigger and stronger to compete in the prison-rules-style Eastern Conference demolition derby that is playoff hockey. If you think that Saddam Hussein was trapped in his spider hole, wait until you see the chase - I mean crawl - to the Stanley Cup. Innovative coaches teach hockey camps in the summer. Cautious and conservative coaches lead their teams to Stanley Cup contenders - even if it is about as exciting to watch as waiting for the metro. Just think back to Anaheim vs. Minnesota.

So just how do the Canadiens get bigger and better? For every caller to sports talk call-in shows (English and French) who thinks the Habs should get Jason Arnott from the Dallas Stars for Yanic Perreault or Washington's Peter Bondra for Craig Rivet, there are seemingly sane people who would just as gladly see Saku Koivu packaged away as well. Despite his consistent two-way play and heroic return from cancer, Koivu seems to be in a black hole as far as Canadiens fans go.

It's not as though Koivu is disliked, it's just that English Canadiens fans are all over their new main man #44 Sheldon Souray. Franco Hab fans have been routinely giving Mike Ribeiro a pop that rivals best friend José Theodore's. Saku's best friend Craig Rivet gets it all and all of it bad, from the English, French, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic and everyone else in between.

So why the negativity around team captain and the team leader? Is it because it's mandatory that the Habs trade their captain (see: Guy Carbonneau, Mike Keane, Vincent Damphousse, Pierre Turgeon)? Is it because the media types - the same ones who wanted to burn down the Bell Centre earlier this season when "Ribs" was benched for one freaking game after he jokingly mocked head coach Claude Julien - have never seen Koivu as a true team leader? This despite words from teammates like "he would step in front of a bus" to help his team win a game.

Ironically enough, many of the same people who were upset at Don Cherry's comments about "Euros and French guys" wearing visors make a nice living for themselves by playing the language card (see Rivet vs. Pierre Dagenais: must be language, not the fact that Dagenais drilled Rivet with a puck in practice after repeated warnings to watch his rising shot).

Pardon the pun, but despite giving 110% on a nightly basis, Koivu's exploits as a Hab will never be enough for some. Couldn't be because he's from Turku instead of Terrebonne, could it? Just asking.

Random Rage

There may be snow on the ground here in Montreal but hope springs eternal as the Expos pitchers and catchers report for spring training next week (Feb. 19) in Melbourne-Viera, Florida. And while we are more jacked than Terrmel Sledge that Major League Baseball will be played at the Big O at least for another year, it's hard not to feel slighted by the Expos players' refusal to participate in any sort of winter caravan. Is it asking too much to spend 48 hours in the city in which you make millions of dollars to sign a few freaking baseballs?!?! Evidently so. You almost have to ask yourself, if they don't give a crap, why should you?

Valentine's Day Massacre Puck Picks
Saturday, Feb. 14
Carolina at New Jersey = Devils
Pittsburgh at St. Louis = Blues
Anaheim at Vancouver = Canucks

Sports Rage with Gabriel Morency is vented weeknights 11 p.m.-2 a.m. on TEAM 990 AM. This column appears bi-weekly. Comments: sportsrage@team990.com