I Can Has A Hockey Game

Awww... Isn't that precious? Give it a hockey stick.

The Florida Panthers are in town. A team that oddly enough plays it's best hockey when in Montreal for some reason despite being stationed in an area that can't keep ice. Is it the ex-Hab goalie factor? Who knows.

Anyway, Halak will be in nets since Les Boys don't play for another week and Carbo likes his goalies froosh. Sergei Kostitsyn will take big brother Andrei's spot on the Kovy-TurtlePleks line. Master Higgins should be back and will take Sergei's spot on the Lang line. Bowling Ball Bouillon should be back too! That means Breezer gets benched? We only hope so. I mean he hasn't been terrible, but he hasn't be anything special either. Same ol' Breezer. And you know what that means... No idea what the 4th line will look like, as Laraque is a rock when he's got the puck while Bégin still has that incredible ability to take stupid penalties at the most inappropriate moment. Still, his energy might be needed. Guess it's a surprise!

Good news on Andrei's condition, though. It has been reported that he's feeling much better, and hasn't had any headaches so thankfully it doesn't look like a serious concussion. He won't be playing tomorrow though, since Carbo doesn't want to risk further injury to him. That's ok. They got about a week off anyway before their next game when the Ducks quack into town.

Centennial Jersey Night #1! And Halak has some vintage-looking pads to match (not real 10-ton vintage pads though, just new ones styled like old ones). It's also the magnetic calendar night, and goddamn I wish I was there. I wanted one of those... (Still can't find any pocket skeds either. Guess I'll try emailing the Habs website).

Habs 3, Cats 2 (SO), 1 Misconduct, 10 Spin-o-Ramas, and a Partridge in a Pear Tree

I need to ask but are all exhibition games usually this crazy? Do fans always take them in like they're watching Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Championships? Against the Flordia Panthers? Wait, do I need to ask? I love this city.

If we like you, you will know
Gotta feel bad for Dandenault. He's an ok forward, has the speed, surprised me a few times with some puck-stealing ability and out-skating guys 10 years his junior...however, he's listed as a defenseman and hasn't really played a lick of defense, and when he does, he's rather...bad at it. All in all, when his reel shows up on the jumbotron, no one cheers. Then again, it didn't help him that much that last year, he was outspoken and whiny about not playing. I don't blame him though, he's a veteran with a few Cup rings and therefore kind of has the right to wonder why he's making that much cash to sit in the pressbox when he wants to play (unlike Grabs, who had maybe 20 games before going all petulant child). It's kind of mean though. I gave him some applause, but I felt like I was the only one. I though Kovy had the longest reel, but Price does. And the loudest applause too.

Dueling Goaltenders
The game's 1st and 1st star should have been a tie between Price and Vokoun. I realize the Cats have come off a long week of meaningless games, bounced from Alberta to PEI, and Vokoun entered with a 5.93GAA but he was a wall. Then again, the kids didn't really give him too many troublesome shots. One would hope a 15-year veteran could stop those, however he robbed Kovy and Kostitsyn plenty. On Price's side, well, the team has spent most of the week figuring who's going to be his back up, so he only got to play 2 periods in Detroit (and was fantastic). Sunday, defense took a walk and the forwards fell asleep, leaving a rusty goalie looking for his comfort zone and mostly all alone. Thankfully a dangerous 5-on-3 penalty kill went without incident. The first goal allowed took a weird bounce off his pad and over his glove (the laws of physics were extremely out of whack on that one) and the second was after making a flurry of close-ranged saves with no one helping to clear it out. But then it was good old Price, growing back to form, poking and proding Panthers blocking his view, generally pissing them off, and stoning Nathan Horton on a penalty shot. These two goalies made the game: Vokoun trying to rebound from a bad game, and Price trying to regain his regular season form. The evidence are in the shots, which remained equal after every period. The game ended in a shootout, with Price taking the prize.

The best official is the one you don't notice
I've heard this from people who have experience in refereeing hockey games, but those guys out Sunday night were either the biggest douchebags ever, or one of the Habs must have run over their puppy. Questionable calls from a guy leaning into Kovy's stick is interpreted as "holding" by Kovalev, to O'Byrne trying to avoid a collision on an abandoned bodycheck after realizing his teammate was going to do it became "charging", to letting the mid-3rd and overtime go to the crapper until it came down to one Panthers player practically shoving his stick down Beauregard's shorts to make a hesitant call. (I'll give them the 2nd and early 3rd as fair calls, even Fruit Punch's fight). Markov? Hooking and unsportsmanlike misconduct for bitching at the ref? Markov doesn't even SPEAK, and the hooking was his stick on the ice making a pokecheck and the tired Cat not being able to skate properly (I'll get to that). How about tripping Price twice who was trying to get up and go back to his net after making a cross-crease save and gets an armfull of Panthers? Thought I was watching the women's hockey game in Salt Lake City for a minute. It's not much of a big deal because it's an exhibition game, but it was troublesome as to how many trippings, slashings, and holdings one can ignore before someone gets injured while every minuscule motion is called on the other team. (And lets not forget who's on the roster here, 4 juniors and a stew of Bulldogs). A man sitting in the row below me yelled "This is the fucking NHL! Let them play already!" When a ref dictates the play, it's not a game anymore.

Maxim Lapierre's best punch is, according to him, "fruit punch"
Ok, he had a fight. Are people happy now? I think he did ok in it. Looked more like a wrestling match with Fruit Punch tugging the guy's sweater over, old school style. Bouillon's was weird. He did a clean check (and the guy didn't even fall down) and then another guy twice his height chased him down a minute later. What's with O'Byrne and Panthers, too?

Legs don't bend that way
These Panthers started out strong, but their fatigue got the better of them when one skater going for the puck suddenly found his left skate going one way while his right skate went the other as he crashed into the boards, hard. Price gave the ref his stick after the guy managed to drag himself to the bench. Moments later two more Panthers nearly did the same (plus the fumbled play around Markov that looked like "hooking"). I think the NHL needs to rethink their preseason schedule next year. Too many people are getting hurt, it seems...

Paging Serge Savard
P.K. Subban did about 5 Spin-o-ramas with one nearly going to the net. Markov tried some too that didn't work too well. The kids are rubbing off on the vets. But Subban won more fans tonight with his superman save, puck possesion puck moving skills, and afterburners. And Weber further solidifying his Stret 2.0 status. This could be the powerplay of 2010.

All in all, crazy game. (And another free pair of tickets for me)! The corporate Reds looked a bit empty, but we normals in the Greys and Blues were packed and cheering. The FUCKING wave went around the bowl 3 times, and we all shouted for CAREY! CAREY! CAREY! Seriously, including the shootout, that's about 40 saves there, a little less for Vokoun. Guys were robbed that star. Kovalev got the shootout win because he wanted to go home and see himself on some TV show. Ahhh...we love him.