Habs 5, Panthers 4: Win ugly

On this New Year's Eve, a blue moon shines bright, and it apparently sucked out all of Jaro's abilities. Thankfully it appears to have affected Vokoun just as much. But seriously I'm tired of people going all Jaro this and Jaro that... Even my DAD sees his problem with rebounds and his inability to freeze a puck when it needs to be frozen. And this is what he does on a consistent basis. Oddly enough his rebound problem wasn't what caused the goals, but when you're weak on two and were the victim of two breakaways, it would make us all feel better if that puck could freeze more with a one-goal game, especially when your teammates are running around and scrambling everywhere... Nevertheless, better to have him backing up Price than Sanford (who appears to be consistently injuring himself) and padding his stats on weaker teams. Wake up, people: Markov is our litmus paper.

Road trip success 6-1. We'll just forget about the Ottawa game that was gift wrapped by Kerry Fraser. Oh and Chris Fucking Lee still managed to leave his mark on tonight's game. Happy New Year's, Fucker.

Now...about staying healthy, Habs...

Peek-a-BOOOOOO

Cluck like a chicken!
- BennyPoo, may you continue doing what you do.
- Cammy! Scored on the road. I know, shocking eh? Brett Hull style from the knees.
- HMCS Hal Gill fired a torpedo, one casualty (Vokoun's confidence).
- Gomez has been inspired lately, perhaps coinciding with the impending return of his BFF Gionta?
- Horton hears a boo. Cherry picking useless entity.
- Patches played like a man possessed and had to fill in for BOTH Kostitsyns tonight as Sergei injured himself in warmup and Ballard did something to Andrei during the game (Lapierre went after him later).
- No goalies were harmed during this game both on and off the ice.
- I heard it's the first time this year the building was sold out. Sadly for the Panthers, it was all Habs fans.
- Even with Vokoun tugging on his skates, Pleky still managed to score.
- Slippy finally hits a target.
- Frolik reminds me of a hobbit, but cuter. He's just adorable.
- Two delay-of-game penalties in a row, overlapping for a 5-on-3...but it was the Panthers at fault! I know, shocking eh?

Messy and ugly, but a win and free wings to close off the season means all is right with the world.

And the dessert? Canada vs USA at the WJC! And it was a great game for our Danny "The Count" Kristo. So conflicted on my cheering tonight! Anyway it was a 4-4 game in which USA dominated and Canada looked like a bunch of children, until finally Eberle (who reminds me a lot of Pleky in how he skates and cradles the puck) did what he did last year. It ended in a shootout where everyone was scoring until Jordan Schroeder was finally stopped by Jake Allen. Tripping on the puck for a victory splat, it was another classic, regardless of how ugly it was. And I'm in love with Kristo.

Hey, ugly wins all around eh? And I'm closing out 2009 a happy fan but with an annoyingly terrible cold. Happy New Years everyone!

Habs 2, Bolts 1 (OT): Watch where you put that thing

When a game has two nearly devastating skate slashing injuries, it really pisses you off. The first was when Mike Smith was nearly decapitated by his own defenceman stomping his foot down on the back of his head in a fall. NOT SOMETHING YOU WANT TO SEE! And you can't even say "well he should have worn a bib" 'cause you don't wear one on the back of the neck (goalies do wear slash guards that aren't really visible to us though, Price has one). The other was in OT in what should have been a penalty for goalie interference considering the guy made no inclination to stop, and nearly sliced Price's arm off as he was down squeezing on a save. That could have been a Cam Ward type moment. Seriously, I'm not happy right now...

But in the end, the League's two-best young puck moving goalies had to duel to overtime to get their team a win, with Pleky shooting for glory after Stamkos took a dive only to lose the puck for a 2-on-1 with Cammy. And while Smith has looked like crap most of this season, of course he obviously comes out like friggin' Marty Brodeur for the Habs eh.

I was out eating supper with my family and missed the first two periods, but only in Montreal does a fancy Tuscan restaurant actually have the game on TV. I saw Gio's goal in the reflection off the glass. My brother's response: "Heh, he's such a dork." We came home in time to see them play lead-protection in a fucking 1 goal game in the thrid and that didn't work out. It was probably the most aggravating win I've seen all season...

"Hey Pleky, that totally just added another 1 million!"

Game.
- Hey Slippy, do a barrel roll.
- My brother says we need more Moen.
- Gorges looked like he gave Pleky a big kiss at the end.
- I was sure Price was going to come up to the victory pile and just smack them all across the back of the head with his goaliestick.

Habs 2, Sens 4: I have a craving for chocolate eclairs

Hey, his pads even look like eclairs

Michael Cammalleri does not like moral victories, but he does appreciate the club's history! So perhaps he'll be personally happy with being that designated Hab to have scored the 20,000th goal. A feat not so easily done for him considering it was on the road. And Habs I/O had a little contest for this to win loge tickets if you guess the player who claims this historic goal. Of course, I picked him.

(Though, my logic was that he scored both first goals against the Sens this past season more than the fact I love him and his lucky number 13, but I digress).

Oh and BennyPoo finally gets his first goal as a Hab, and takes his own hold on history for notching #20,001.

Do the world a favor and retire already, Kerry Fraser...
- To say Chris Lee blows is a given, but a game with BOTH Fraser and McMoustache? Oh my god... They'll first lull you into a feeling of "oh they'll call this old school and let the boys play" to absolute frustration when one ignores every trip, hook, and hold but call pretty much every twitch done by the Habs. And if I hear Murray or Clouston bitch about lack of powerplay time, FUCK YOU! THE HABS ARE LAST IN THE LEAGURE IN POWERPLAY OPPORTUNITIES (but first in the League on powerplay success, go figure).
- Apparently real incidental contact is allowed as opposed to phantom incidental contact, but in the end they cancel themselves out and the Sens fans vacate that horrendous parking lot happy.
- Though why Jaro's eyes were closed on that play makes me uncomfortable...
- Price is tougher than Leclair: puck to the head, went to the room for a check up or a pack of ice and came back picking the blood off his ear a few minutes later. Hey! He ropes bulls and shoots bears when he's not playing hockey. I'm sure he can take it.
- Watching D'Agostini is frustrating. Whatching Sergei try to create something with D'Agostini and Lapierre is frustrating. In the end he just tried to do it himself.
- Ahhh so many missed opportunities including a bunch while shorthanded. Chocolate Eclair seems to fall for everything. Gomez could have dropped that for Sergei, and it probably would have been a better shot at least... How do you fail a two-on-ZERO?
- I get the feeling they freak out whenever they see a wide open net.
- Good first period but it looked like a pin letting the air out of a balloon. Or an invisible anvil placed on everyone's back.
- Apparently, some lady flashed her boobs at Gio right on the glass. Stay classy. It was caught by Sportsnet but no one watches that crap network anyway so the children of the nation are probably safe.
- Cammy should take more faceoffs. He wins them more.
- Can we like omit the fourth line and just make a second first line with Sergei and Andrei centered by someone (Cammy, Gomez, Pleky, whoever works).
- Slippy...yea well you know how I feel about you. You're fired.
- What's the point of loading up with the empty netter behind you when you don't bother to do anything after even winning the faceoff eh?

Too bad Marc Trestman doesn't coach hockey. Though he probably could do it.

Habs 3, Leafs 2 (OT): Someone give Ron McLean a tissue

Special delivery for HNIC

Dear Ron McLean,
I'm sorry if my Habs hurt your feelings or ruined your holiday season in this overtime victory. Actually fuck it. Leafs suck and Phil Kessel is registering a -50C temperature. Deal with it.

Funny how the after game talk was all about Kessel failing at life and missing his opportunities. I didn't know CBC was actually LeafsTV.

Whatever. We know the Leafs launch a bazillion shots per game unless they're super out of it so this wasn't anything shocking. Remember: it's the quality of the shots that count the most. Like, say, Andrei's OT goal: I dub thee "wrist shot of DOOM". Suck on that, Grabovski.

Burke tweets: "This team blows."

Using your goalie's name in a catch phrase is LAME
- Between "the Price is right" and "Halak it alot" I think I might vomit. Right now they're trading burnouts.
- Markov survived the ACC! Praise the Lord and bubblewrap!
- BennyPoo will score eventually. Until then, he'll come close and at least hits people.
- The refs needed to protect Orr from Laraque after Orr punched Spacek in the face for checking him. Uh...what?
- Laughing at Komo giving Rhino a slap, who slapped him back, and then Komo turned away... YOU USED TO TEACH THIS KID TO PLAY!
- Pleky's victory splat was hilarious too. It was a "WOO WOO WOOO" trip. And then Markov fell on top of him.
- Leafs almost let a puck walk into an empty net from across the rink while on a delayed penalty. Bravo.
- Whenever I see Moen and Patches go off on a 2-on-1 or any other offensive attack, I'm reminded of Skrudland's OT goal in the playoffs. It's just that exciting even if they don't score.
- My brother's new nickname for MAB is "Slippy" so I will call him that from now on.
- Again the Brothers were on the ice for five seconds after the penalty kill and created good things. They may not be twins, but they definitely have that sibling connection. Hey, I used to be able to smell what was for dinner before getting home thanks to my brother.
- This reminds me of the first game of the season. You know, the one the Leafs claim derailed their season and shot their confidence.

Heart be still Habs finally jumped over the Rangers! My brother was always angry about this because whenever the Habs would win, so would the Rags, therefore creating a stalemate between the two teams. Tonight the Habs win in OT while the Rags lose in OT. Habs now at 41 points in 7th place while the Rags flipped down to 9th. Of course for some reason the Habs appear to be the ONLY team in the East with 40 fucking games played. Why us?

Oh in WJC news, TSN called The Count of Danny Kristo's goal their turning point in Team USA's chippy and nasty 7-3 victory over Team Slovakia. Yay Danny! He did great tonight!

I'm gonna spend my Christmas with a Dalek

I have my quirks and obsessions outside of hockey, and one such obsession is Doctor Who. When I was younger I was fortunate that despite the fact my school started super early, it ended at 2:30 so I could always catch the tail end of the PBS Doctor Who reruns. Tom Baker's head floating through credits usually made me laugh before it was time for cartoons and homework. And as I got older I dove into the earlier series, seeking every episode that still exists from Hartnell and Troughton, listening to audios of those that were erased or lost forever in a fire, taking in Pertwee and Baker and absolutely obsessing myself with the often misunderstood but greatest "modern" Doctor Peter Davison (who had some of the weirdest episodes ever, and probably the most violent). I waned on the Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy, with or without the Candyman... And that was pretty much the end of a great series gone astray. Never mind the "movie", Paul Mcgann was never given a good opportunity except in audio plays, which have now turned a little rediculous themselves.

Kind and gentle, yet always so sad... And the only man able to wear a piece of celery on his jacket like it was perfectly normal and get away with it. That's the 5th Doctor! It's the 1980s, and that was MY Doctor.

It came back, from the mind of Russell T Davies who did well to revive a lost series with Christopher Eccleston, known to me as the crazy man in the attic in Shallow Grave. But Eccleston didn't stay long, and was regenerated into the lanky David Tennant. Things were going well! The now traditional Christmas specials brought him into our living rooms, and a new series was born. But something was always bothering me... Something that continued on from Eccleston's great version: a stupid annoying girl following the Doctor arround. Nowhere near the companions of Sarah Jane, or Nyssa, or the bitchy Tegan, or even Troughton's Jamie (a boy!). It was not until Donna appeared that the series felt more like the zany old ones. Recently it was some "I love you" companion, but not her. She was a bit like Tegan and just as much a smartass. For too long the Doctor and his companion went from being that best friend or zany uncle, to some bizarre lovey dubby crap... Last season reminded me a lot of the 5th Doctor. And then RTD regurgitated characters, brought back Rose and Martha and their families (rolls eyes) and all the baggage that comes with it. Our beloved 10th Doctor was turning into a farce, and as his series ends I can only say this: it's about bloody time.

Not only is RTD regurgitating characters (though more Bernard Cribbins is a must!), he seems to be running out of ideas. So with this latest Christmas special, I'm saying adieu to the latest incarnation of my favourite 903-year-old Time Lord... And not a moment too soon... A world of John Simms doing the worst version of the Master is pretty much a memo in stating this puppy needs to be put down. I only hope the 11th Doctor (Matt Smith) who's young, eyebrowless face really brings me back to Davison and with clothes that's a cross between Henry Jones and the 2nd Doctor Patrick Troughton, put in the crafty hands of Steven Moffat can rekindle the show I love. Because right now it's going through the motions, and is kind of sad...

Unfortunately once this latest Christmas/New Year's two-part special is over, the 11th won't grace our screens for a while. So hurray for hockey!

And there's also something called the World Juniors going on. We get to see Trunev! And Nattinen! And the Count, Danny Kristo! Good luck boys! And hope Team Canada counts how many men they have on the ice.

Habs 5, Whalercanes 1: The curse is broken!

It takes an especially terrible team like the Carolina Hurricanes to make this the perfect present for the Habs just before the holidays. And the fact the Habs haven't won on this day since 1945, in a game both Lach and Bouchard played in...well, maybe the magical jersey retirement of our oldest living players is still sprinkling some more magic. It's the ghosts! The ghosts off Christmas past, present, and future! And they wear Bleu-Blanc-Rouge.

Funniest moment of the night was the double minor to Gomez who spent the whole time GLARING from the box at the ref he had chewed out. Apparently his eyebrows grow fluffier when he's pissed.

So finally the curse is broken. Habs win. Free wings. A better night for Jaro even with his rebounds, two-goal night on the powerplay for Metro (screw you, Gui!), deliciously beautiful and easy goal for Sergei that scared away Cam Ward, Markov''s sneaky sneak goal, Andrei's in your face goal, and a multipoint night for SuperPleky and Gomez. Hey Pleky is right behind Crosby in points! And what a happy bunch at the end. Anyone see Sergei? Looked like someone spiked his water with sugar.

As for the Hurricanes... get your Taylor Hall jerseys ready. (Though I'd love to have that kid here).

Leafs lost. Sens were stomped on. Sabres lost. Panthers lost. I don't know where the Habs are now in the standings but the glorious return of Markov keeps on being glorious even if he had some rough shifts tonight (looked like bad ice sticking the puck since he wasn't the only one fanning on it dangerously). And well, I don't celebrate Christmas so... HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

All your base are belong to us

I made my brother laugh last time when I told him that whenever I see Bergeron I think of a squirrel.

Anyway, this game probably pissed off the Thrashers more than anyone. It was another sloppy effort for the Habs with Jaro fighting the puck most of the night and the Habs going for a stroll around the rink. I think Patches had the first shot on goal for them, and it was near the end of the first period. Something must be done.... Regardless, they managed to pwn with their special teams again, and the RDS roundtable started wondering if Pleky will get considered for the Selke. Good luck with that, as I believe teams North of the border are generally ignored for those awards these days.

Still wondering if Markov is really quiet?

Stat This!
- Pleky with a hell of a goal and 3 assists, no idea what he did on the faceoffs, and had two great chances for shorthanded goals.
- Cammy with two assist and a hell of a post that would have been the tying goal.
- AK46 parks his butt in the crease for a powerplay goal off a perfect rebound.
- Markov with another assist.
- MAB with the tying goal on the powerplay, and the weirdest OT goal I've seen this side of Gionta's baseball goal.
- Habs can't score without being injured either. THANKFULLY it was the post that dinged MAB and not Hedberg's flailing skate.
- Mara took a shot off the hand and had his Dandenault moment when he couldn't get off despite being in total distress, played his shift.
- You could see the ZZZZZs following our boys all night.
- Sergei was on with his brother for 5 seconds by accident and they started a rush for the net. A saucerpass that would have been a sure goal, only Andrei drew a penalty as he was hooked in defense in yet another aggravating defensive move by the Thrashers.
- If the Habs would have shot more from the red line, they could have scored more.
- Jaro's hot hand is more of a hail mary. I mean, I know we were looking to rebound for some wins but holy crap that shot total would be lower if he could stop with the rebounds or freeze the puck more...especially with the way the team is playing these days. And don't get me started about his wandering/puckhandling...
- I freaked when I saw Travis Touchdown collapse in the tunnel. And then he mysteriously reappeared and ran at the net like a tank shorthanded after Metro stickhandled around 2 Thrashers behind the net.
- Colby Armstrong appears to be teaching Evander Kane the finer arts of being a fucking prick. I used to like you, now I'm not so sure.
- Anyone seen D'Agostini lately? Anyone? Anyone?
- Hal Gill using Sergei's stick was the funniest thing ever.
- Markov wanted to make sure you knew he was back by throwing a hit on Kozlov. BOOM!
- Someone needs to put Laraque to bed. Oh hi, BennyPoo!

And finally, Brodeur got his shutout and it wasn't against the Habs but the PENS! In Pittsburgh!

Habs3, Islanders 0: Zombies don't like snow storms

Ho ho ho! The Markov 79 strikes again.

I can take the signal down! The call has been answered! Andrei Markov has returned! The heavens have opened and belched down a pile of snow for this Hallmark moment.

And what better way to stop the slide than a trip to New York to visit the slumping, disinterested zombie Islanders. They're just what the doctor ordered! But don't think you'll enjoy this type of game if Atlanta remains it's annoyingly cocky bastard self on Monday 'cause tonight was a battle of pure slop. I only hope this win gives them some confidence to stop playing like they're sleepwalking.

This is, of course, assuming they get out to Atlanta considering the storm...

HAPPY! HAPPY! JOY! JOY!

POWERPLAY!
- Three powerplay goals was all she wrote. Almost got a fourth but Biron decided to be good at the end of the game.
- The glorious return of Markov! Two of those powerplay goals, thank you very much. Only has 45 games to get back up there.
- Metro with the last powerplay goal. And Guimauve wonders why he lost his powerplay time to Metro? It's only his 4th goal of the year there.
- Fourty shots? I honestly don't remember that many...
- Tavares was where? Okposo was doing all the work tonight. Moulson lost interest after Jaro stopped him twice in close.
- Everytime Metro-Moen-Patches were sniffing for a goal, they drew a penalty instead. Which is good but they really wanted to score!
- Islanders players spent more time falling on their ass than playing.
- Pleky showing his fatigue. The penalty box was renamed the vacation box. Cranky night. My hamster Pleky was also cranky tonight. Hmm...
- The Mara/Rhino pairing on D will ragdoll you
- Sergei created some great chances and caused much havoc but Pierre Houde couldn't get Brunet to give the kid any credit or compliment. He just wanted to point out the bad stuff.... Like the nice set up he made for Gomez who was too late to convert.
- Streit was showing why Bob wasn't willing to give him that high priced contract.
- Laraque asking Sutton to dance for his hit on Pleky was lame. You think Sutton will go with Laraque? He's smarter than that. You have to either get in his face or hit him like a target all night.
- Like when Hunter went after Markov, Moen went after Hunter
- Our special teams rock, including a 4 minute penalty kill that spent more time in the other end.
- For a moment I thought Jaro was doing like Mike Smith and might have actually picked up a thing or two about puckhandling from Price...and then he went back to the normal Jaro. Almost screwed up his shutout bid too... Ah well, that's our Jaro!
- So they really do call penalties with 2 seconds left eh?
- Apparently they asked the crowd to move closer to the rink to fill up the empty seats. The Islanders fans had long left if they were there in the first place. It was a sea of red, white, and blue...and not the American flag.
- About time this team worked for a shutout!

OK Habs fans... I know the trip to Long Island is cool and all, but when you start singing the Goodbye song, in someone else's home, it just makes you a crowd of douchebags. Though heckling Biiiiiiiiron in his own building was hilarious.

A Charles Dickens moment

The weight hanging over the bench

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it ws the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity; it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness; it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair; we had everything before us, we had nothing before us; we were all going directly to Heaven, we were all going the other way."

Perhaps this is the best way to explain what the team is going through right now. But I am of the belief that things would be better if this fucking season wasn't all crammed into a week thanks to the fucking Olympics. I'm also of the belief that Cal Clutterbuck would have been way more awesome as a part of the trade but whatever. Hey, RDS' revelation du jour is that he speaks french. Yay?

It was just a frustrating game in that the team just skated...and skated...and couldn't even buy a powerplay no matter how much they were hooked, held, and tripped, but I doubt it would have mattered anyway because when Pleky can't win a faceoff during a 6-on-4 well, what can you do? Price doesn't have a mirror to tell him his position was off for that first goal, and Price doesn't tell them to miss wide open nets either. And regardless of the shakey start, if all those chances in the second period could have been buried, or even half of them, Andrei would have a 5 goal night and no one would care.

But as a goalie this is your worst nightmare. It's the thing I hate the most. Standing there, watching from a distance, while the team appears to be facing an invisible wall and just can't bury anything... You bite your lip and tough it out, battle hard to hold them in it, and then suddenly in the middle of the 3rd period the puck walks in front of your net where some guy just tucks it in behind your foot and there was nothing you could do.

It's telling when the coach forces the team to play 2 minutes without a goalie. Hey the Rangers tried that at the beginning of the season. It didn't work for them either.

The play-by-play made us believe they had control of the game, but I don't call being kept on the outside "control". The Wild had them right where they wanted them, watching on the outside, getting their sticks in the way, forcing them to back in every time they had to defend and forget about covering someone backdoor on a weird bounce while preventing your goalie from sliding over. It's not Sergei who was purposedly shooting into the netting, but the Wild defense purposedly preventing him properly.

Being a back-to-back game didn't help. I mean how many times did you see them unable to lift their sticks to finish a good play or just weakly dump in something despite giving it a full swing. Yea it was that type of game. But do we have more than 5 players doing anything? What is D'Agostini doing this year? He's not even going to the net anymore. And though we have no idea how long Hammer will be out, Mara is back at least. Gionta is joining them on the trip. Markov will be there too. And how gorgeous was Andrei's goal? That was magic.

But like Cammy said "Moral victories suck in this business". However, right now, it's all we have.

"No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another."

This was probably not the best of seasons to make a wholesale change... However my moral victory as a fan of this team is to keep the faith because I wouldn't dare kick them when they're down. I know what's going on elsewhere. I know other teams are having a similar or harder time despite NOT having the changes our team faced. So for all the "team sucks, players suck, fire the coach, fire the GM, fire the mascot, the farm team is full of crap" well, go cheer for someone else. You don't think Bob wants to make trades? He's always looking for something. But at the same time he won't handcuff his team by losing a guy like Price or Patches or Subban. And it also takes two to make a trade. Similarily how the Flyers would rather pick up Leighton off waivers than bother trading for Jaro. Life isn't like NHL10 so deal with it. And booing the team in a tough game after a long night for the last home game of the season was pure crass you douchebags.

Moral victory #2: Guimauve was pretty useless tonight, and got checked by old man Spacek. And frankly he can go to hell for his comments on losing powerplay time to the more useful Metropolit and never being given a chance.

Still RDS held a full analysis on his game and what he was/wasn't doing. Jokes. He's a fifth wheel to Havlat of all people and could keep up with his speed. Get over it.

Where the Minnesota Wild Things Are

I hate back-to-back games. Give US a fucking break with your crammed AHL schedule. Actually the AHL schedule looks to be the more balanced this year. How freaky is that?

But I have an insight on how things will go down today:
- RDS holds a Latendresse tribute about 2 hours long, right after they interview him during his morning skate. A parade is scheduled for later but no one knows when.
- Bob trades Lapierre for Cal Clutterbuck by 3pm. The La-La Twins reunite and live happily ever after. The pure woolian of us all forget about complaining about the Bell Center music being 90% English and start firing off emails to the Team990 how this team doesn't represent "us" anymore. I start saving money to move a team to Quebec City so these fuckers can shut the fuck up, but I think 10$ and free parking will do just fine, right Tampa Bay?
- Coach makes the Metro-Moen-Clutterbuck line. This would be around 4pm once we're sure the fax has reached the NHL head office and are sure it didn't go into the paper shredder.
- Around 5pm, Le Baron goes on a tirade about "Cal WhatTheFuck?!" and Tom Kostopoulos laughs.
- By 6pm, it's -30 outside and the Minnesota Wild all slip on some strategically placed black ice and have to forfeit the game.
- It's 7pm and the Habs are forced to play the game anyway. They still have problems scoring on an empty net and somehow Bergeron kicks a puck in his own net accidentally.
- By 9:30pm, Habs lose 1-0 and callers still blame Price for the loss.
- Around 9:45pm Bergeron is mysteriously found under the zamboni. Carey Price denies involvment.
- At 9:50 RDS interviews Gui from his hospital room about the victory. L'Antichambre have his statue unveiled in the Plaza. Lapierre feels forgotten, somehow.
- It's 10pm and everyone decides they're too cold to care, go home, sleep grumpy.

Habs 1, Devils 2: Would be nice to have 5 goalies like them

Want a recap?

1. Travis Touchdown shorthanded backhand through Brodeur's legs. His 7th goal of the year. But TSN will refuse to show it in the recap 'cause that would be fair.

2. 80% of the penalties were bullshit.

3. Devils weren't called for anything save for one shocking hooking call? Meanwhile Rhino was sent headfirst into the boards, but that's ok, Bettman said not to give the Habs powerplays because Bob hates him.

4. Don't blame the Habs for this boring game. The Devils were BORN boring.

5. Devils ran into each other more times than I can count.

6. NOT A BAD PENALTY! Price had no choice but to go into the "zone". Habs took their sweet fucking time to get there. If he had left it, Devils would have been all over his net. And they killed the penalty anyway. You usually defend during the last 2 minutes of a period unless there's a better opportunity, and the Habs had better opportunities while shorthanded.

7. And on that penalty, do you question the ref's eyesight when he looks over to the goalie and says "Montreal number uh thirty-uh...seven". Really?

8. Hey Pleky, gonna try to stop Elias from crashing the net or are you just admiring his rear?

9. The team that looked in control earlier this month looks out of control, except when shorthanded. I think these guys are out of gas completely. Tomorrow will be annoying.

Injured: Hammer. Looks like a knee thing. We're screwed~~~!

Stop blaming Price. Who cares if he let in a banana. I seem to remember one Marc-Andre Fleury putting a puck in his own net with his ass in the Stanley Cup game. What about the other 25 saves, most of them gloved and held to stop the pain in his defensive zone, most of them not very easy ones? And Moen's goal wasn't exactly Ovechkian either. The team still had over 30 or so minutes to do something about it. How many wide open nets did they miss or lost the puck in a sea of feet? In a 2-1 loss where you spend most of the time on the outside chasing, or in the neutral zone sleeping, I can think of 18 other guys not trying hard enough to win a game they had enough of a chance to win if there was more offensive attempts the other way...

And contrary to popular belief, the Devils have 5 goalies on the ice all the time. Habs only have the one. The difference between the traffic in each team's respective zone is rediculous and noticeable. If Brodeur were a Hab, he wouldn't be on Team Canada's list.

If you're going to blame Price, even though they were outshot all night (though not in the 30+ range), then you better start blaming Cammy for never scoring on the road.

Bottom line though:
- Goaltending is not the problem yet everyone seems to just talk about it.
- They weren't shut out. Terry Sawchuck is sitting on Brodeur's shoulder. Glaring.
- Sabres were shut out by the Sens. With Miller in nets. Huh?
- Leafs lost. Badly. In a battle of sloppy hockey teams (Coyotes). Ho ho ho!
- Torts went Torts. Though to answer his question, the Rangers are suffering from the same thing the Habs are suffering from (ie. blitz season). Too bad the colourful angry personality coaches will get fined for swearing tirades. Why? Children don't attend press conferences...
- RDS will hold a parade tomorrow for Gui.

Fooled to believe that 20 minutes is all you need to LOSE a game

Or win it, if you're the Milwaukee Admirals.

In 40 minutes of play, the Bulldogs were outshooting, outchancing, and outplaying the Admirals and sitting at a 1-0 lead. Only Price 2.0 himself, Chet Pickard, was pretty much trying to steal the game. Tri-City goalies are used to doing that. Suddenly in the 3rd period, the Admirals score 3 goals in a row including one powerplay goal. Their first two were under a minute apart. The Bulldogs LOSE the game 3-2, despite only allowing the Admirals 17 shots on net all game.

Still want to trade Halak? If you do, you better hope someone better than Sanford comes in to backup Price.

Meanwhile, a hidden camera caught Guy Boucher in the room right after the game:

Habs 3, Sabres 4: What a pain in the arse

Get moving boys. These irksome Leafs are two points behind with broken goalies.

Habs are 2 points out of 14th place yet still hover around a playoff spot. What a League. What was that about trying to prevent a two-tier league?

This game was great, so to speak, until Derek Roy lost his balls and couldn't man up to fight Glen Metropolit after slashing him a few at center ice, giving Metro the 4 minute penalty and prompting Cammy to proclaim "WTF?!" from the bench. Was this an IOU for the blatant Too Many Sabres penalty that Miller freaked out on? Probably.

And with the clock frozen on 19seconds shouldn't that final sequence be redone? Maybe I'm thinking of the CFL.

What have we learned tonight?
- Habs have 170 minor penalties so far. But how many are good?
- Andrei Kostitsyn is playing catchup with two more goals tonight. Currently challenging Price for this month's Molson Cup? (And Hammer).
- And how fast was that shot of his anyway? It couldn't be seen by the naked eye and wasn't even captured on film.
- Sergei Kostitsyn needs a finisher. So does Gomez. Lapierre isn't that finisher...
- Pleky and Cammy sketched out a play on the bench with their fingers. Once satisfied they told Andrei about it. Right after the Sabres goal, Cammy and the line combines to score. I wonder if that was the sketch?
- We need more Andrei Kostitsyn interviews.
- If that was Jaro trying to avenge the last Sabres game... Well, it would be nice if he could freeze the puck more often.
- Vanek was knocked down by a Forum Ghost behind everyone while on a faceoff.
- The ref furthest away from the play will call 2 minutes for playing defence on Josh Gorges, while the one who is closer prefers to let them play.
- YoMamaWeen still sucks at the Bell Center. Perhaps he's afraid of ghosts?
- When Kaleta scores, God kills a kitten. Save the kittens. (Shorthanded is even more painful).
- RDS screw up of the night: Called Lapierre "Latendresse". Yes Brunet, we know where your mind is. I can't wait for Thursday!
- Hal Gill is the penalty kill's best friend. Unless he's being interfered on during a 5-on-3 to no call. If a Hal Gill falls in the forest does anybody hear?
- MAB's new name is "il rate la cible". Facepalm.
- The media will give Tyler Myers a star for being a big rookie but completely ignore the herculean effort and amazing offensive set up magic of Plekanec. Infidels!
- And what the fuck was Hecht's star for? Being Buffalo's Plekanec? C'mon! You're LOCAL media not Buffalo media. Release your inner homer. Why not? That's what they do...
- Didn't go over 30 shots against tonight...

Keep your sticks on the ice, not in the faces. Cammy says it's upsetting. When Cammy is upset, I'm upset! Pleky is upset too! (My hamster and the hockey player).

It's cold. And I don't like Toronto.

And not just in temperature either.

There's just something about Toronto that's cold and grey. Something that makes me hate it. There's an urban sprawl that knows no boundaries, perhaps because there aren't any really. The population spreads endlessly until it assimilates the next town and makes it a suburb by default. Where the owners of lovely townhouses awake in the morning to the sun rising over the oil storage tanks right across the way. In Quebec, we have laws about proximity between homes, unless they're attached. Here? Each house has a frighteningly dark alley maybe a foot wide separating one another: too small to store a garbage can, unsightfully big enough to be noticeable.

There's also an arrogance in the air. Not from the people, just from the city itself. It's condescending.

The city just doesn't have any buzz. And every time I come here, my happiest moments are when I leave.

I caught the highlights of the Habs in Hotlanta. (Me and Atlanta Airport are mortal enemies. I hate that place almost as much as I hate Toronto). Outshot badly again. Tossing 19 odd shots at Hedberg does not give you a win for fuck's sakes. Neither does taking a bazillion penalties again. Crazy Price saves (wow). AK46 coming out party. The defence's going away party. Colby Fucking Armstrong. Cammy not scoring on the road. A Metro PP goal. A usually perfect PK yielding finally in OT. But from what I see, without Price in goal, there is no loser point tonight. MAB needs to stay away from D and Spacek needs to suck it up, take a break, let Weber/Carle play in his spot for a bit, and heal. It would really be for the greater good...

Right now the best part of my day is passing out on the sofa bed in my hotel room.

Chris Lee: ruiner of lives

Chris Lee has no intent to blow, he just blows. And it's not the first time he's screwed us in a game.

Crosby claims Fleury was covering it anyway. Not likely when the puck is behind you.

Another one of his glorious moments in the game: puts his hand up to call a delayed penalty with 3 seconds on the clock while the Habs have the goalie already pulled.

Blows a negated icing.

Doesn't know what icing is altogether.

Doesn't recognize the Penguins system of interference for defence. Something the Pens fans themselves complained about to no end when playing Detroit in the playoffs.

Offside and high sticks on clears.

And if you dare complain about him in public for the blind prick he is, the League will fine you.

You can say the Habs can't hang their loss on one bad call after being outplayed and outshot. One moment in 60 minutes. At the same time, it's that one moment in 60 minutes that can finally turn a game around. It's the Catch 22 of the sport. Like calling Marty McSorley's illegal stick to turn a playoff series around, one blown call was the difference between the possiblity of earning a point in a game the Habs did a great job at playing with the arse lucky Penguins.

The only solace Habs fans can have is Wikipedia Revenge.

Funny how in the last Pens/Habs game Price had the puck in his pad and was squeezing for a good 5 seconds without a whistle when Guerin walks up to him and pokes it the net for a goal. Tonight, it's a good foot in front of Fleury and TWEET gotta stop those Habs from scoring!

Jokes.

It's too bad Cammy lost his angle on that now-patented 2-on-1, hitting the side of the net instead of the net. Then this one moment in the game wouldn't have hurt so much.

How cute was Hammer's goal celebration? Give the man a marching band.

At least Price got a star for his efforts. I point and laugh at the idiot who called CJAD to blast and blame the kid, and I cheer for Murray Wilson who blasted the idiot live on air. Best call he's done all year.

And the PK is still hot. The powerplay too. When we get a powerplay...

I'm off to Toronto for the weekend now. Bar Mitzvah in enemy territory. I can't believe my little cousin is already 13... My brother and I got him a red Habs jersey with Price 31 on the back. Thinking about it now, maybe Cammy's #13 would have been more fitting just for the #13. But you can't fail with Carey. He's already got a Price t-shirt. So while I wine and dine, the Habs will be down in Atlanta. All I have to say is GO HABS GO and a pox on Chris Lee.

Habs 4, Sens 1: Keep calling those penalties!

C'mon, we dare you. Keep calling those one-sided penalties, ref! Keep missing the other guys slashing and hacking and tripping and holding. C'mon, do it! You think we're scared of a little powerplay? BAM! Shoot 'em in the head. Habs don't care. Refs should know, their penalty killing senses are tingling.

It's a known fact, the Montreal Canadiens are more comfortable when shorthanded. And that includes the constant parade to the room for a quick patch up and back. After all, we're used to it by now.

And like the Flyers game the night before, Habs brought their control trap. Yea it looked bad on the shotclock but if you just looked at the numbers, you don't get the whole story. Barely half those shots were scoring chances for the Sens and when they were Jaro was waiting for it. I've always said it's not the quantity, it's the quality. And the better goaltender in the right uniform. But think about it, if your guys are just shooting for the sake of shooting and not actually shooting for the sake of scoring, I'd rather be outshot.

Elliott wishes he would get a hug...

PLAYOFF SPOT GET!
- The only problem is that Jaro doesn't play the puck like Price. Some say that's a good thing, but it's one of the reasons why the Habs got stuck on the defensive a lot as Price usually grabs a lightly dumped puck before it goes behind his net and throws it to a forward waiting to catch the other team on a change.
- After letting Jaro down in Buffalo, the team rallied to not hang him out to dry tonight. Now that's unity.
- Did they forget Spezza in California?
- I wonder how many times Kovy looked longingly over at the Habs bench... I also bet there's a spy camera in that billboard right in front of the Bell Center.
- Speaking of Kovy, I'm not convinced Ottawa knows how to really use him.
- NEWSFLASH: MAB doesn't scare me very much anymore. Hey if the Habs could teach Kovy to play defensively and put him on the PK, they can teach MAB! I mean, they even got AK46 to backcheck!
- Smooth. Too Many Sens for like 20 seconds and they got a shot on net. Allow me to slow clap on that one. But hey, Andrei gets to score on the finally ensuing powerplay so woo! That was 2-for-3? Sounds good to me.
- Can people stop trying to trade Jaro? Can we please keep two capable young goalies? What's so wrong with that? And before you say Sanford, I'll just say "Sanford sucks".
- There was like 10 forwards and 5 defencemen left on the bench at one point during the game. Didn't miss a beat.
- Pacioretty gave Sharkko Ruutu a taste of his own medicine, and there was much rejoicing.
- Wondering what Laraque was doing out there tonight? Keeping an eye on Ruutu and Carkner. Mission accomplished.
- I can see why SLC gets angry at Kuba. He makes MAB look awesome.
- Goal #17 for the love of my life.
- Metro and Moen, also the loves of my life. Ah hell, I love them all! And BabyPyatt was the Chipchura we were always hoping for...
- Seeing Jaro pat Jaro on the back as he was slumped over behind the net was touching and cute. Not cute seeing the puck crank off his knee though. Not cute seeing Sergei and Cammy carry him to the bench...
- Alfie says Habs got the bounces. I dunno about you, Alfie, but those goals were tape-to-tape passes or off rebounds. Well, except for MAB's double-deflected goal (assisted by Winchester and Volchenkov's perfect backhander).
- Why did RDS keep showing that kid stuff his face with greasy pizza?
- Hal Gill staring down on Nick Foligno = hilarious.
- Ottawa media sucks at picking the game stars. Fisher? For the second star? Pleky picks up an assist on 3 goals, works like a man possessed on the PK and even-strength, rolls up the socks and gets dirty, 3 shots, over 20 minutes of icetime and he doesn't even get an honorable mention? Homers!
- Quote of the night: "That's how much of a playmaker Gomez is, even with an empty net he had to try to make the pass first"

Still 3-0 in the new century. Without Markov. Shocking, I know! But a little bit of grit and some second effort, and voila, the system is working.

Habs 3, Briere 1: And you thought WE had problems...?

Habs fans wondering what is wrong with the Flyers.

Habs are undefeated in the new century. And though the game looked like players were still running on the booze from the festivities Friday, and maybe the food from Saturday's charity banquet, when you score on your 3rd shot that happens to be in the 2nd period you know it's going to be a weird night. Price was having a weird night playing to puck too, including a perfect hole-in-one to the Reds. But hey, I hate working on Mondays too, so we can all relate.

Was Captain Leadership playing? Only time I noticed him was when he launched a shot from the blue line right into the protective mesh. Carter? I didn't notice him. Only Flyer busting his ass all night was Fucking Briererererere, who's knuckle-ball one-handed breakaway shot with Rhino taking a ride on his back gave them all they got.

Hammer blocked 10 shots, and mostly by catching them with his stick. I thought we were playing lacross by then.

Bottom line is the headlines reads, "Habs held to 13 shots, beat Flyers 3-1". Somewhere Pierre McGuire's head asploded.

This picture makes me so happy!

Mondays suck, even for millionaires
- Peter Laviolette just really doesn't strike me as a Flyers coach. Too much trap, not enough goon.
- Laraque was a goal short of a Gordie Howe Hat Trick. Happy birthday anyway.
- Call up the draft year all you want: Andrei Kostitsyn 1, Captain Leadership 0.
- Mostly I spent the whole game praying Pronger was kind enough not to elbow our dear young Pacioretty. Thank you.
- Speaking of Pacioretty, he was pretty much the only player able to cross the Flyers blue line and get a sniff of their zone for over 20 minutes. With Pronger in his face all game. Hal Gill registered the ONLY shot.
- Second time Boucher stepped into the Bell Center and gets the BOOOOOOOOUCHEEEEER treatment. Also gave up 3 goals last time too. Hmm...
- Ray Emery was wearing a ball cap while on the bench, didn't punch anyone.
- Funny moment when Price was apparently the only one willing to play pass-the-puck with the Flyers.
- Rejean Houle loves Metropolit, and not because they have the same number. Know what, Rejean? We love him too! And he just loves playing his former teams.
- Ian Laperierre is the only man who's nose is in profile even when he's looking right at you.
- Lapierre's toe-drag to Cammy? Last year he would have shot it. He's learning!
- Everyone blames Coburn.
- I think MAB's shot would have murdered Boucher if that had hit him.
- Price was smirking about the low amount of shots. He just doesn't feel comfy unless it's over 30!
- New record, new century: least amount of shots by both teams in a game since (heh) 1993!

Unfortunately we lost Mara with something "upper body". Thankfully Hal Gill is back, but sadly this puts MAB back on D. May God have mercy on us all.

Hey look, Kovy!

Habs 5, Booins 1: One does not simply walk into the Bell Center and collect 2 points!

Richard: "Bet this guy doesn't know what a hat trick is, eh Dickie? In our day....."

If you missed the ceremony tonight because you were too busy complaining about the previous two games or planning your latest rebuilding scenarios: you are not a Habs fan. No one gives up, no one surrenders, and NO ONE throws a party like the Habs. And frankly all the other teams were looking at this thinking how they will match it when their Centennial comes around.

How amazing was it to see all the old greats skate out onto the ice for some fun with Dryden (with Price's brown pads from last year) in nets on one side and Roy in nets on the other, in full gear, all smiles, having the time of their lives. Reading the lips of a lady the camera catches says it all: "Oh my god."

How awesome was it for super Habs fan Viggo Mortensen to come out and introduce his favourite player, Guy Lafleur (who was suffering from a bad flu and was rumored to not be there), while wearing his Lafleur jersey.

How amazing was it when Rhino stood next to Butch Bouchard as his number was rising, pulled the jersey off his back and gave it to great man? On a scale of 1 to 10 it would be 100. We were all thinking he'd take number 8, considering he was being groomed to be the next Komisarek, but instead he picked 20. Now the token journeyman will need to find a different number!

How amazing was the GIANT team picture? Gomez was almost peeing himself with excitement, Jaro was chatting it up with Nilan, Price looked ready to explode, Big Brother K had a big smile on his face while Little Sergei had no idea what to do, Cammy having a laugh with Dickie Moore and Henri Richard...

And when the Montreal Symphony Orchestra played the anthems, the crowd did the singing for both anthems.

It's too bad Pricey's lovely mask will be only worn tonight. If he could get himself something similar...the blue Dryden bullseye on the red mask at least... It's really his best one yet. And the 1909 C logo on the chin makes him look all captainy.

Tonight was a good night for Habs fans everywhere and great moment for hockey. Here's to the next 100 seasons!

WHO WANTS SOME CAKE?! BOOYA!

ON CLOUD 9!
- PLAYOFF HOCKEY!
- A night off did the body good for Price. Ever see a man do the splits like that?
- Hat trick #2 for Cammy. Marry me? But wow to the person who tossed a Bruins jersey onto the ice. Expensive much?
- Serg! A big man fell on his knee and he might be hurt... Just as he and Gomez were heating up... Coach even had him on the PK, including the epic 5-on-3.
- I still have no idea what Spacek did to cause the 5-on-3 but I guess Moustache McCreary was trying to help the Bruins win considering he was missing a hell of a lot of penalties on their side and calling the 2 minutes for playing hockey the other way. This is why we missed Hal Gill's long stick and long legs.
- Speaking of which, HMCS Hal Gill cruised back in and launched a missile aiming right for Metro's stick. Great goal for two great human beings.
- Thoooooooooooooooooomas...
- Hey Bruins, when will you realize Tuukka Rask is the better goalie? He's essentially their Carey Price. (They're camp buddies too).
- Young master Pacioretty worked his ass off tonight.
- Bergeron, even when you're on the 4th line you still manage to fuck up a breakout but you are better as a forward.
- In this wussy pansy new NHL if you play with a little BITE and your name is Tomas Plekanec, you get a double minor. Maybe you should tell Krejci to stop cheating on his faceoffs and get out of his way if he can't take the rough stuff. Or HAHA YOU GOT BEATEN BY A LITTLE GIRL!
- What's a Bruins game without Savard comlaining about something, like an offside.
- The crowd never quieted.
- Bruins looked shocked to see the Habs come on like gangbusters. Maybe that's the plan? Suck a few games, lull the opposition into thinking they got an easy win coming and BAM kick them in the shins and steal their lunch money.
- Final minutes of play Habs played keepaway like we used to see them do when they were shutting down a win.
- Perhaps the Ghosts were waiting for Lach and Bouchard to return to the rafters?
- And the Habs saluted the crowd, I wish I was there...

I dare say this game is filed away into the next Greatest Moments DVD? I need to post this quote because it's absolutely lovely:

"We all played inspired hockey," said Price. "There were a lot of faces here I grew up watching.

"We really wanted to win this one. We were pumped up watching the guys out there and chatting with vets who won championships. We wanted to win for them as well. We're all pretty proud to be Canadiens tonight."

What a kid. Scotty Bowman gave him tons of praise during intermission too (NO YOU CAN'T HAVE HIM, CHICAGO!).

Happy Centennial!

Whatever happens tonight, whatever could happen, whatever should happen, there is only one Centennial that you and I will ever see, will ever live, will ever witness. Live in the momment, and live in the history. And whatever may happen, one thing is for certain: Go Habs Go!

@CP31 100 years are better than 1

In this 6million-to-2 crudfest, live from Buffalo, NY, Carey Price was caught tweeting on the bench while suffering from some indigestion. It's the wings, I swear!

@CP31 Just scored some sweet wings before the game. Got sauce all over my blocker. The smell will bug me all night...
about 3 hours ago

@CP31 Well that was a sweet duel there!
about 3 hours ago

@CP31 Oh nevermind.
about 3 hours ago

@CP31 Oh fuck.
about 3 hours ago

@CP31 @Jaro41 don't make me go in there...
about 3 hours ago

@CP31 I know we were looking to rebound, but not REBOUNDS argh!
about 3 hours ago

@CP31 Oh hey Pleks, NOW you win a defensive zone faceoff with a minute left eh?
about 3 hours ago

@CP31 Bringing my ear plugs...
about 3 hours ago

@CP31 Well that wasn't too bad. Coach gave us some hot cocoa.
about 2 hours ago

@CP31 I see you Patches! Forecheck! Now oh, where's everyone else?
about 2 hours ago

@CP31 Pleky invented his own spin-o-rama: blown-tire-o-rama
about 2 hours ago

@CP31 Could use a Czech Sausage guys!
about 2 hours ago

@CP31 Ah fuck, don't put me in please... All I can think of is sweet bbq wings...
about 2 hours ago

@CP31 I'm giving @Jaro41 mental hugs.
about 2 hours ago

@CP31 Wonder what @walsha is thinking right now. Hmm...
about 2 hours ago

@CP31 Flying Bergeron! Was that shot number 3?
about 2 hours ago

@CP31 A Belarus Sausage! Finally!
about 2 hours ago

@CP31 Gomer's working on that comeback, Coach, I swear. Keep him with Serge.
about 2 hours ago

@CP31 Oh Lappy, that would have worked if this were Columbus...
about 2 hours ago

@CP31 I need more wings.
about 2 hours ago

@CP31 Why is there football on the jumbotron?
about 2 hours ago

@CP31 Team Czech will be concerned vs Team Miller...
about 2 hours ago

@CP31 For once you save the goal instead of putting it in our own net eh Gorgie
about 2 hours ago

@CP31 And now he scores! The bench = stunned
about 2 hours ago

@CP31 Sounds like a home game.
about 2 hours ago

@CP31 Team Miller appears upset
about 2 hours ago

@CP31 Cammy needs a hug. He just nevers scores on the road...
about 2 hours ago

@CP31 Now it really sounds like a home game... I'm so sorry @Jaro41...
about 2 hours ago

@CP31 Good thing Pleks is slippery. Kaleta was looking for another suspension.
about 2 hours ago

@CP31 FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! Faster Mara, Kill! Kill!
about 2 hours ago

@CP31 OK I give up.
about 2 hours ago

@CP31 I saved a wing for @Jaro41
about 2 hours ago

@CP31 #Habs don't suck for me tomorrow, I'm dressing for the occasion!
about 2 hours ago

@CP31 #Habs the Ghosts are watching. No pressure eh.
about 2 hours ago

@CP31 If this happens tomorrow, Boss Molson will come after us with the t-shirt cannon. #donotwant !
about 2 hours ago

Go and boil your bottoms, you sons of silly persons!

Well, instead of wasting 3 hours of my time with this apparent suckfest, I wasted 3 hours of my time listening to my neighbors get all confused about issues concerning things with our building and the contractor and how the money was used (though the bills are all on the table). In the end we all came to an agreement and the Council of Elders is in place. But my mood was already soured because my neighbor gave me the update on the score from his iPod "3-0 Toronto". Barf.

The part I did see, the end... I saw everyone not trying or not moving except for Pyatt, White, and Pacioretty. Sergei had a great shift that I saw there too, with like 3 Leafs in his face. The powerplay looked pretty good there. So like how did it not go in once? A bad case of shooting right at Joey Mac and/or shooting wide and/or shooting at skates and/or hitting the side of the net I guess? Dear Bob, get some people that can aim.

And a back-to-back game means nothing when Toronto is an hour away by plane. That's like complaining you have to go drive to Ottawa for lunch from here. At least it wasn't a 7-1 shellacking like last year...

Question: I was told The Monster had another heart attack during the game or something. I'm wondering who the hell checked this kid and cleared his medical? That's the second time this early part of the season! I'm having visions of Cherepanov here! If this kid drops dead during a game you will never hear the end of it.

Douchebag of the Day: What is that smell eminating from my radio? Oh! Right! It's Pierre McGuire talking from his ass again.