Mike Wyman is following the Canadiens' run throughout the playoffs. For more entries in his ongoing journal, check out his columnist page...

If only for a little while, Rocky Balboa, Philadelphia’s favorite fictional character, wore a Montreal Canadiens sweater. A local radio station dispatched their mascot, a pig-superhero hybrid with orders to mark territory for the Habs. Mission accomplished although as is fitting for a shrine on the level of the liberty Bell, Flyers fans reportedly did away with the offending garment with extreme prejudice.

Other than that, the news from the City of Brotherly love was less than good. Despite a 2½ - 1 shot advantage in Montreal’s favor and giving up and eight power play opportunities to their opponents, the Flyers made the most of their chances while the Habs did not.

While the Habs 25% success rate on the power play is a better result than they’ve shown so far in the postseason, it was trumped by Philadelphia’s 25% scoring percentage. After allowing three of twelve shots to beat him, Carey Price was replaced by Jaroslav Halak after the second period. Halak had a much better night, blanking the Flyers the rest of the way, turning aside both shots he faced in the final frame.

After losing four of their last six playoff outings and probably only deserving one of their wins, the final 5-0 drubbing of the Bruins the Canadiens are trailing for the first time in this postseason.

Someone (I forget who and can’t be bothered to look it up) once said that sport doesn’t develop character, it reveals it. We’re about to find out what this year’s edition of the Montreal Canadiens is really made of.

Nonetheless, they’ve exceeded expectations as they were set out at the season’s outset. Carey Price gave a good accounting of himself, a 20-year old playing his first complete season with men. A number of rookies broke in earlier than the most optimistic forecasts predicted and the group of young guns already on the roster improved more than was expected.

The team has chosen well in the past several drafts and the results are beginning to show as the kids climb the ladder. While this year’s edition of the Montreal Canadiens may not go all the way, upcoming editions will be serious contenders.

Another team that aspires to greater things in the coming years is the Belarussian national team. They’ve been training at Lachine’s Pete Morin Arena for the IIHF World Championships that get underway in a few days in Halifax and Québec City.

I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have been able to wander into Le Colisée in Québec, yell across the ice to Team Canada coach, Ken Hitchcock, and get to have an exclusive chat after practice. Team Belarus is a smaller operation and it proved to be a course of action that worked perfectly on Saturday morning with their head coach, Curt Fraser.

In his second year in the job, Fraser alternates between Minsk and St Louis, spends six weeks in Belarus and four at home. The former power forward who posted five 25-goal seasons during his 12-year NHL playing career with Vancouver, Chicago and Minnesota has spent the past 18 years in the coaching ranks, first stepping behind the bench with the Milwaukee Admirals in 1990-91.

When the Atlanta Thrashers were hatched in 1999, Curt Fraser was the team’s first head coach. He lasted three and a half years behind the bench before being replaced and moving on to jobs with the Islanders and the Blues. While his ultimate goal is to return to the NHL, Fraser has found his time in Belarus both challenging and rewarding.

One of two former NHL head coaches on the staff (Glen Hanlon, a former head coach himself and now an assistant, is the other) he had a number of offers on this side of the Atlantic after last season but chose to return to Belarus.

The country’s hockey program fell into neglect after the dissolution of the Soviet Union and is just now recovering. This is reflected in the make-up of the squad under Fraser’s direction. It is heavy on young players, most under 25 and has a few veterans of the Soviet were who are in their mid to late thirties.

Guys from 25 to 35, the age span that forms the nucleus of most teams, is virtually nonexistent on the Belarussian team, one that is significantly younger, bigger and faster than the squad that Hanlon took over four years ago.

Hockey’s renaissance in Belarus probably has more than a little to do with the fact that the Belarussian president is more than simply a fan - he also plays the game.

A whack of new ice surfaces have been built in recent years and Minsk, which hopes to land the 2014 World Championships, will soon boast a multi-sports complex featuring a 15,000 seat arena, two practice rinks and 3,000-seat velodrome.

Fraser kept a close eye on the NHL playoffs as the first round unfolded and was disappointed in Boston’s results. Had the Bruins won the seventh game, he stood to gain a pair of Kostitsyns and Mikhail Grabovsky. Figuring the Habs are in it for the long run, 9on Saturday anyway) he has high hopes that Detroit will do the right thing since an early Colorado exit could free up Ruslan Salei for international duty.

A best-case scenario for Belarus this year, in Fraser’s opinion, would be to place among the top eight teams in the tournament. He foresees better results in years to come as the game takes hold once again. While his ultimate ambition is to be one of the 30 men who run NHL benches, the experience of guiding Team Belarus at Vancouver’s 2010 Olympics is one he might well enjoy, should things work out that way.