Habs 2, Sens 1: Little help from not-friends

Sens coach Paul MacLean is not pleased.

The NHL is a joke league with bush league officiating.

From calling "boarding" on Gorges as he went for an icing and got there first and got hit, to the "diving" penalty call on Cube when he had the fucking stick between his legs, to the "goalie interference" call on Silfverberg that recalled what should have been the game tying goal... Hell even Price was shocked that was called back.

You're one year too late in repaying us for all the shit you pulled last season, refs.

Brian Pochmara has outdone Chris Lee
- CBC now has Karlsson Cam! Oh and there was a game going on somewhere behind that.
- Guimauve had the "flu".
- Meanwhile, Pacioretty had his appendix removed through his navel and the only thing that pissed him off about it was that it gave him an outie. (Yes, the less invasive surgery takes less time to heal from. It's not like they sliced him open and stapled him back together).
- Welcome back assist too!
- Erik Cole backhander! PK has two assists now.
- If the Habs would stop shooting for the moon, it wouldn't have been this close...
- And Bourque borked the post.
- Chris Neil needs a punch to the face. Or a puck. I don't really care.
- And in the department of bad reffing, there's bad offsides! The Sens had three non-call GROSSLY offside attacks, while the Habs were called back on one that was onside. And Pleky was going to kill that linesman.
- Also probably the same douche who keeps throwing him out of the faceoff circle.
- I daresay we may finally have a coach who can talk to the refs about their shit officiating.
- Ref even gets in the way of breakaways.
- I name thee Galchenkov.
- Watching Prust kill the clock near the end there was great.
- Could have used a few curlers to get that empty net. Damn you friction!
- PJ Stock: "The small guys are able to make themselves small". WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?!
- Kevin Weekes was attempting to explain things to PJ Stock. Next time I suggest bringing crayons. Maybe puppets. Lego would work too.
- Can't believe CBC gave Karlsson one of the 3 stars. He had no points and was a -1. Maybe it was for the 5 montages they made for him.
- Glad I didn't watch this on Sportsnet with the condescending Denis Potvin whine. It's not a fine vintage.

Habs have an insane record on Super Bowl weekend. Right now, looks like the Harbaugh with the Habs gloves on is winning.

(Note: He won).

Habs 5, Sens 1: Trollolol

Erik Cole is such a troll.

OK seriously, I thought this game would end at midnight in regulation...
- Should be 6-1. The puck was over the line and behind the damn post already. You denied Ryan White a goal!
- Refs lost control of this game too early. Ended with 144 penalties minutes in total.
- After Cole scored his first I told my mom he's so going to get to 30 in the first period. Done in 5 minutes.
- Coach Walrus: "I'm glad we don't play them anymore. They certainly bring the worst out in us and tonight we weren't as prepared to play the game and we didn't play with enough discipline". Well that would be your fault for putting out the Douche Line with 30 seconds left in the first period. Also that's what happens when you let Konopka play.
- And Neil should be suspended for pushing the ref. Will he? I won't hold my breath. Even if it's an automatic.
- The "traffic" Price dealt with would be called "goalie interference" if it was Erik Cole on the other side. But he pretty much eats Ottawa for breakfast.
- Because of all the penalties, Campoli was your ice time leader. Pity us.
- Lars Eller really misses AK46 and Travis Moen. Bourque is like skating with a ball and chain... Great powerplay goal though. So good the ref didn't even realize it was a goal even though I saw from here it was in the net.
- There will come a time when Karlsson will get hit far worse than the hit Blunden gave him. Might want to be more than 180lbs.
- I would still rather have PK over him. Did you see him do his patented lap around the offensive zone? Held a clinic over how to keep the puck in the zone...


You owe us big time, Buffalo. Sens now two points ahead of them and the Caps. Wouldn't that be funny if the Sens stumble out of the playoffs...

We're real serious when we start giving out 4-minute roughing penalties.

Habs 3, Sens 2 (SO): High Five!

Well this was entertaining. Maybe because there was no Ca-Ka to ruin it. I mean, congrats to Kaberle on the birth of his first child. Please take all the time you want to be with your family in this joyous occasion. And Campoli wasn't too much of a fail threat until he had Game 7 flashbacks in OT...

The highlight of the night was Erik Cole giving the ref a high five after he scored. His explanation: dude was the only one there.

Winning is more fun than tanking

- Habs celebrated Koivu's 1000th game on the scoreboard.

- Lovely cheers for Markov's first shift.

- Everyone bitching that DD/Cole/Patches are the only goal scorers. If Bourque would stop fanning, or missing, or just floating around MAYBE they'd have more contribution from the other lines?

- Ironic though since the assists on Cole's goal were Palushaj and Nokie.

- Karlsson is good and whatever, but if I could only have one of him or PK I'd rather have PK.

- Should have let him and Eller fight. That would have been as hilarious as Markov and Spezza's fight a few years ago.

- Kyle Turris pisses me off. Little brat. If he were Russian how would his antics back in Phoenix have been perceived?

- Price doesn't need to be 6'7" to be awesome.

- And he was poking Chris Neil in the ass with his stick.

- AMAZING penalty kill in the 2nd period. Gorges also hit 200 blocked shots during it.

- Post-it Note Desharnais anyone?

- Pleky had the game on his stick but hit the post.

- Desharnais is our best shootout guy. This too is not surprising.

- Price is the first to stop Alfie in a shootout this year. And what a pokecheck on Michalek! Melanson would have been pissed.

One home down. On to the next home.

Habs 6, Sens 2: Je suis tres content

In your face, Denis Potvin.

Arrogant Sens' play-by-play guy last game commented on Michalek's return scheduled against Montreal and in his usual condescending voice proclaimed "another 4 point night for him then". Too bad so sad, he only got one assist.

Diaz got 3 though so IN YOUR FACE.

It really didn't start off so great though. Major cafouillage in the Habs zone, and the puck bouncing all over the place. Price made a few saves but with Gill screening him, he couldn't make the one off the guy hiding behind the giant defenceman. You know we all said it and they were thinking it. The "here we go again" crap. Then Lars Eller took charge of things shorthanded and scored on their first shot on net. Once the first period was over, Habs were up 3-1 on 5 shots.

Being the kid of a hockey coach, Lars knows and understands. He responded to his benching with a goal and some solid work. With the Sens being the highest scoring 3rd period team in the NHL (they usually win in OT or SO), his backcheck bump on Konopka's shorthanded breakaway not only did the job but saved PK's ass. And PK responded to his own benching with a goal and an assist on the powerplay.

And on the 8th day of Chanukah, Cammalleri scored a goal. Daniel Alfredsson is still looking for his 400th.

But I'm happiest for Randy Cunneyworth, who gets his first win in a town he once played. With a simple happy phrase in French, I'm also hoping those morons who are planning to protest the Bell Center soon will put down their placards and hang their heads in shame. Enough with the language stuff! We're looking for wins and competitive hockey, and what we saw tonight was just that. Even though the Habs were up 4 goals, they kept pushing for more. Right after Louis scored, Moen went off to try score another.

Of course one win doesn't put everything to rest, but it's a start. All we can do is hope the boys build on this. They're off to the Sunshine State for their annual Florida trip. Let's make it a triple!

Habs 2, Sens 1: Almost forgot what hockey is...

Well gee I thought the season was over or something. All that fun, then BOOM, Habs are off for a week that felt like a year. Thank god they took a break on a winning streak or this city would have been bedlam.

1 - Ever see a goalie fistbump his defenceman after making two ridiculous saves? I missed Carey and Josh's bromance.

2 - Seriously, this is the 6-game winning streak and the number 1 powerplay in the league Senators? Did every team play their backup and forget about defence? (And I've seen most of their games...just can't remember them much, since I always fell asleep).

3 - A fly flew onto PK's shoulder as he made his way to the penalty box in the 2nd. Just your standard hockey fly.

4 - Sergei Gonchar must hate Anderson. Kept throwing Habs into him and nearly killed him in the 3rd by crosschecking Patches into him.

5 - Coach Walrus vs Coach Eggman. For real.

6 - WHY THE FUCK ISN'T KOSTITSYN ON THE POWERPLAY?!

7 - Erik Goal finishes, Cammy serves, Desharnais sets it all up down low. And that is a DD points streak too! (Four games, 1 goal, 4 assists).

8 - Lars Eller earning that EuroStaal nickname. YES POTVIN, HE'S EUROSTAAL SO FUCK YOU! Sick and unselfish heads up play for Kostitsyn's game winning goal. Made Karlsson look silly. And of course, what's an AK46 goal without him celebrating it on his ass.

9 - Kostitsyn nudging Nokie on the bench, laughing and smiling. I loves a happy Kostitsyn.

10 - That third period was unnecessary. Did no one have "Sens score all their goals in the 3rd" written down or what? Seriously, Habs will give me a brain aneurysm one day.

And Erik Goal waters Carey Price at the end. I love my happy Habs.

No clue why the Sens are wearing the old Sens "O" sweater. That's like the new Jets wearing old Jets sweaters.... Are you guys going to claim their Stanley Cups now too?

Four in a row! Might be a tall order to make it 5 tomorrow in New York but I hear MSG actually has proper ice now. Supposedly.

Habs 7, Sens 1: Stomping grounds

Yup.

I feel for the Sens.

OK no I don't. I have no pity, no sympathy for them. We've got a team reconstructed by Hamilton Bulldogs. They have a team form fitted with BingySens. We're missing way too many key guys. They're missing Giggles Spezza and didn't realize how bad Gonchar or Kovalev are these days. We got a boring coach who's players want to be exciting but have to wait for opportunities. They got a coach who just wants them to be aggressive and play hard and they don't seem to care to do that. We've got a damn good goalie. They got some pretty good backups playing like they think they're good but really aren't. Our GM is a mysterious ghost who somehow finds players no one thinks can play key roles in this team's success and end up surprising everyone. Their GM is Sylvester the Cat who created a monster and really needs to pay for it.

Our team scored 7 goals on them. They scored 1. Don't care they got mauled by the Flyers yesterday, everyone gets mauled by the Flyers. Pacioretty got shot by Wisniewski and still played, earning a goal and assist and 5 shots on net which was #2 on the team under Pleky's 6 shots. They got guys playing hurt and seem incapable to really suck it up. Hell, Stephane Auger and Chris Fucking Lee were officiating the game tonight. They actually were outshooting the Habs early too.

Great game to introduce Engqvist to the NHL with. He was solid, won most of his faceoffs, and got a taste of the noise from a home game despite being away from home.

Like their big brothers, the Hamilton Bulldogs beached the Whale 7-3 so thankfully they're still doing OK even though we've pillaged and plundered them of many key players.

Tomorrow, Saku comes home. There will be tears. But mostly there will be an ovation. And if you boo him, I will cut you.

Habs 4, Sens 1: Wake me up before you go go

You can watch the 1st and fast-forward to the 3rd because that 2nd period was brutal... I don't know what they were doing. Sleepwalking? Squandered a 5-minute boarding powerplay and a double-minor on a high stick... Frankly, maybe Clouston should play the Sens shorthanded the whole game if he wanted them to play better and the Habs to suck more.

Definitely the type of game that needed a extra shot of PK Subban...

And I bet Tony Marinaro will be doing happy cartwheels on the radio tomorrow now that Gomez hurt his back. Unfortunately what he will fail to realize is the powerplay went to poop BECAUSE Gomez couldn't play and PK's watching in the stands. But, never underestimate Pascal Leclaire's ability to be the suckiest goalie that ever forgot he's got arms to go with those legs.

Excuse yourself, Pascal.

Scoring by committee:
- Pleky has 25 points already.
- Though a minute in, passing the puck to Spezza right in front of your own net is probably not a good idea.
- Pleky, Gionta, Kostitsyn, and Cammy all have 9 goals even.
- Halpern and Pouliot have 6 goals and 9 assists even.
- Three Sens assisted on 3 of the 4 goals.
- Price says all he's doing is taking up oxygen out there. And giggling with Hal Gill.
- First intermission facepalm: Darren Pang with the Freudian slip of the year. (He apologized later for the oopsie).
- Though honestly to be fair, I find Pietrangelo's personality to be a block of wood compared to PK's...so screw that.
- Now I know why Picard looked so terrible with the Sens: Kuba and Phillips are absolute crap.
- Hal Gill had Carkner in one hand and Winchester in the other while everyone else was trying to punch with Neil.
- PK looked like he raided the wardrobe from the set of Newsies. Very sharp! But I'd rather see you in uniform, as would the many chanting "PK!PK!PK!" when the powerplay was sucking and the game was boring.
- If there was any truth to Bruce "Malkin to the Kings" Garrioch's bullshit story about Kovy maybe coming back to the Habs, HAHAHAHAHAno.
- Creepy McCreepers can shutup about Lars Eller being traded for Halak. I'm guessing he heard you because that was some mighty fine work to set up Gionta for Hamr's baseball bunt goal.
- For a moment, Maxim Lapierre thought he was Mario Lemieux. Then he woke up and hit the side of the net.
- Uh oh! Coach is cracking jokes while at the press conference! Time to make yourself a healthy scratch because we can't have this thing called "personality" get in the way of your speaking with the media, coach!

I didn't go to work today. While the weather wasn't so bad (it's still snowing) it took us an hour to get from St-John's blvd to Sources, which shouldn't even be a minute normally. Rediculous. I was trapped in the West Island. I mean, I like my job but not that much. Spending the morning with the puppy, then the afternoon sleeping/cleaning, and a Habs win at night. That was my day.

Habs 3, Sens 0: We love the Sens

Group hug!

Scratch that, no we don't. But it's just so much sweeter to win a game when it's against them. I swear it's not because I like SLC's rants, it's more because I can't stand that team. (Not the same hate I keep for Flyers, Leafs and Bruins though). I also hate their goal horn, that sounds more like roadkill on the 417. But they're not really a rival, they're more like an annoying neighbor. And now with Clouston's "oh we're losing the game, send out the goons" thing he's been doing recently? Fuck 'em.

PERNELL KARL SUBBAN. You will know this name. You will learn this name. For every breakaway, or 2-on-1 screw up Picard causes, PK Subban will be right there nipping on your heels (or sprawled on the ice preventing you from taking a shot). Defensive liability my ass. This kid is gold and has a smile that could cure all the troubles in the world. Except for Don Cherry, who can piss off already.

And yes, the Sens played yesterday and beat up on the Sabres (or Alfredsson did), but whatever to that. I seem to remember a 4-3 victory at home on a back-to-back game after the Habs (also) beat the Sabres just last week.

A perfect response to a 3-0 loss is a 3-0 win:
- It might have been 19 saves for a shutout but with this team you can never expect an easy night for a goalie. Crease crashing (both friendly and non), horrible turnovers, 2-on-1, Alfredsson. Carey Price EARNED that shutout. Especially after the many times he got screwed over last year when he was pitching shutouts only to have a puck tip in off a teammate or something. And in 5 career shutouts, 3 are now against the Sens.
- Already talked about PK, so how about the Belamullet! What a stud! I don't know how he does it but how does someone his size vanish behind players only to pop up undetected ready to score? Answer: he's a ninja.
- Also his smiling happy face is precious.
- Pouliot! I said before the game that you will score tonight. Thank you for listening. And it wasn't a powerplay goal but it was technically from the powerplay set up. A nice pass from Gomez, a bounce off the board (Gorges!), and right on your stick for a tip in over poor Elliott.
- Sign in the crowd after he scored was asking Murray where's Benoit. RDS got confused. I'm confused. Are they asking for Andre Benoit, undrafted ex-Habs/Bulldogs career minor leaguer who's got a PhD in powerplay? (No guarantee that'll transfer over to the NHL though).
- Eller running over countryman Peter Regin. I giggled.
- Picard smacking around his old teammates. I giggled. Then wondered who put what in his water. (Still got bailed out by PK and Price on many many occasions, but I guess until he causes a major fowl that actually gets noticed on a replay, Coach won't notice).
- How many clean hits are you going to retaliate against, Sens? Don't blame them for your inability to take a hit or make a play without getting hit.
- May as well have used the goal horn. Scotiabank Place is a second home. Perfect road game plan with a rink full of Habs fans. (And I saw a Leafs jersey too, which was confusing). The Carey chant was loud, the Kovy-Boos were loud (not sure if that was just Habs fans though), the Ole song was loud, the Go Habs Go was loud. Funny when Foligno kicked the puck in and the goal was disallowed, the cheer was deafening.
- OK guys, with 2 minutes left and your goalie pitching (praying) for a shutout, DO NOT PUT SPACEK OUT THERE.
- Also DON'T SING THAT FUCKING SONGS YOU STUPID FANS! The Goodbye song shall be sung ONLY during playoffs when your team is winning and sending another team on their summer vacation. I don't know if this is written somewhere, but you just don't DO that shit in fucking OCTOBER.
- This is what, the 4th game in a row where they allowed around 20 shots against? I'm proud of you boys. I'm starting to believe those days of losing while outshooting the opponent will be gone.
- I feel bad for Elliott.
- Sorry Kovy, sulk moar. You aren't coming back to Montreal.

Can't post any stunned Sens fans pictures. They all left right after Andrei's second goal. (Well, they leave early anyway even when the Sens are winning. Hey that parking lot's a bitch and it's a long drive back to Ottawa).

Pre-season: Take 2

Pre-season games, in all their nervous jittery sloppiness can sometimes be fun. However this requires a visual aid. The 5-minute clips on RIS do nothing but provide a fleeting moment. May as well wait for the highlights, if there are any. Via radio, especially today's boring version, the game lacks a certain je ne sais quoi. I don't know how Derek Wills does it, but the man describes the game with so much energy and enthusiasm that I can pretty much close my eyes and picture the boys skating, checking, scoring, blocking, saving, fighting in my mind. It's edge of your seat fantastic. The Canadiens, however, don't have the luxury of having their games vocally describe this way. Instead we're stuck with the dull tones or Rick Moffat on CJAD800 AM. Thankfully Sergio Momesso has taken away the long drawn out "weeeeell" of Murray Wilson. Nevertheless, it's still dull. Dull dulcet tones. Like Barry Manilow singing you play-by-play "action".

I can't see what you're saying. Ergo, you're doing it wrong.

Tonight's Team B faced off with the BarelySens with better results from Wednesday's debauchery (for lack of better terms). Sounded like a different system was being tested. You know, the one that actually got them better results last year? The aggressive forechecking one? Or maybe it was because of the more aggressive players like Schultz and White doing what Conboy did in the first game (ie. hit anything that breathes). And Lars Eller will make you forget that goalie they sent to the Blues. Mike Fisher definitely won't forget Lars Eller...

I'm sure the Sens took note on the video reviews: don't turn over the puck in the slot with Andrei Kostitsyn looking at you. Speaking of Andrei, he's on the point on the powerplay. While I found him better suited for the front of the net for that, please please please make a note of this Coach! Looks like they were trying out Guy Boucher's powerplay system. (Psssst, Coach. Ben Maxwell, on the point, trust me *wink*).

Ian Schultz beat out Alex Henry on the "who fights first" bet, and took on Cody Bass. All Henry really got was a roughing penalty later. Ryan White took on some douche who tried to take off Pacioretty's head. Guess he missed the NHL video class?

And now it's retarded non-stop games continuing tomorrow in Ottawa with the BarelySens again, back home for the Wild on Sunday, and a Monday date with the Panthers (who my brother says should just keep their pre-season team as the regular season team).

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.