I like cold beverages.
Unfortunately a possible year of Alex Picard and Jaro Spacek will require some hard liquor.
I Michael Bayified Picard's error to spruce it up (and blew up a few Leafs in the other corner). He's wearing the Shia LaBeouf goat horns. And to exemplify how wide-open and empty the Habs defensive zone is, I added a car and a bomb. WHERE IS EVERYONE?!
I'm actually ok with how this game played out. I thought the game would go either way, and it damn well could have if:
- they had more finish.
- PK wasn't so nervous and didn't wiff his perfect PP opportunity shot.
- Benoit Pouliot would come down from his fucking cloud.
- Benoit Pouliot didn't drag down Lars Eller and Andrei Kostitsyn with his lazy play ruining the 2nd wave.
- defense didn't suck so much.
- Ryan White would have been given his spot like he so damn well EARNED.
- Darche didn't waste Ryan White's roster spot.
- Darche didn't take 2 last minute penalties to kill momentum (even though they killed all the penalties).
- Gomez and Gionta were more a unit.
- with an empty net, more urgency was shown. At least they didn't give up the empty netter.
- Cammy wasn't suspended.
- Hamr could go.
- Markov wasn't still rehabing...
...Actually scratch that last one 'cause he always got injured at the ACC. This time, it was Phaneuf who got cut by a skate. (Though it wasn't bad, just ask how a little cut is putting a damper on Jordan Staal's start of the season).
However it is only the first game of the season, and I saw a lot of promise. Namely:
- Price battling strong through the flu and looked sharp enough which, considering he was sucking lozenges and barely ate all day, kind of makes the others look bad. I was hoping for some Jake Allen-type vomiting, and on one sequence he looked ready to hurl, but nope. The first shot he faced was a doozy over 6 minutes into the first period off a complete defensive zone breakdown. Exclamation mark on the last save he did which I call the Diving Albatross.
- Rhino was the unfortunate candidate to be paired with Picard but looked better than he's looked in a while.
- Lars Eller is FUCKING AWESOME.
- Dustin Boyd seemed to be the only one other than Eller who looked seriously interested in scoring. And got the first Habs goal of the season through tenacious effort and solid grit. And a little help from Lapierre.
- Kostitsyn looks more awake than I've ever seen him at the start of a season and seems pissed off he's playing with Pouliot on the powerplay.
- Plekanec VS 4 Leafs on the penalty kill with 2 minutes left to play. In the Leafs' zone.
- Gionta pushing Phaneuf around. He'll bite your ankles.
- Up your truculence, Habs outhit them. Every Hab had a hit except Picard. Pleky and Gorges had 4 hits each.
- Jeff Halpern's goal and contribution. Mazel tov!
- Komisarek was staring directly at both Habs goals.
And the game ended two seconds too early. Would it have made a difference? Stranger things have happened. The refs looked mighty confused at what to do and finally just called it a night. Maybe next time they'll end the game after the 1st period 'cause you know they wanted to watch So You Think You Can Dance.
They said it might get ugly tonight. It was pretty normal for a change. Rare to see an actual hockey game between the Habs-Leafs. Maybe that was because resident moron Jay Rosehill was sent to the minors and Colby Armstrong didn't throw a dirty hit.
Now, if Price could give his flu to Spacek and Picard, maybe THEY will play better.
On the Heart Attack Grill menu!