Habs 5, Leafs 0: Delicious

It's tough trying to get a replay when the Habs beat the Leafs on CBC. It's like they do everything possible to break the video.

Well the party I went to was rather meh and awkward but I had to say goodbye to a friend who's going jet setting around the world. I was pleased to learn from the lone other person I knew there that the boys were destroying the Leafs. Figured I'll catch the online replay to enjoy it later, only to find out the fucking play-by-play turned off for the whole game. Some would say that's a good thing, but when the ACC is a morgue, you need the ridiculous calls by Cole and Galley and yes even Healy if anything so as not to pass out. And to laugh at their stupidity.

Also that was a lame ceremony for Mats... Hey remember when the loving fanbase/media were angry at him because the team he was loyal to got annoyed he didn't want to waive his no trade clause in his final year with them? Yea no mention of that. It's all kumbaya here.

Habs are pros at spoiling parties.
- There are more Habs than Leafs who played with Mats Sundin.
- And it was Pierre Gauthier who drafted Mats Sundin for the Nordiques because he said the big Swede was the best available player. Hey for all his faults, he does have somewhat a good eye for players. Sometimes. He was also big on Lars Eller which is turning out lovely thanks.
- Before the game Ron MacLean told Don Cherry that Boyce and Phaneuf would score. Carey Price LOLed.
- Price's week: 4-0-0, 2 SO, 0.98 GAA, .967 save percentage.
- 20 goals for Colé!
- And Patches keeps rolling.
- No one misses Mike Cammalleri. And Bourque probably fits in better because he's not exactly vying for a letter on his jersey either.
- Highlight of the night: Lars Eller!

Suck it Phaneuf! WOO!

- You can stop bitching about Darche's ice time. If he were getting those minutes while sucking, then yes.  But considering he's playing a simple shutdown role with Pleky, it's just what the doctor ordered. Add in Bourque or Moen, and Pleky finally has some gritty linemates who'll make space for him and themselves.

- Also that was a nice goal.

- Sit down and shut the fuck up, Mike Brown. And shave that ridiculous moustache. If you think you're Sabretooth with those chops, think again.

- Also if you think PK was going to slew foot Kessel, you're fucking blind. He was going for a hit and turned because the puck had left and went into the corner. NO ONE SKATES WITH THEIR FEET GLUED TOGETHER, ESPECIALLY WHEN TURNING. He wasn't even looking at the guy once the puck left.

- Also considering how uber sensitive the refs are when it comes to the Leafs, if the ref didn't call it then it's nothing.

- Emelin had NINE hits.

- Gotta love the guys playing hard to preserve Price's shutout. They were upset they messed it up for him in Long Island.

Price had more points than the Leafs tonight, assisting on Darche's goal.

No matter where you are in the standings, the Habs mantra should always be: JUST BEAT THE LEAFS!

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!

Where were you when Georges Laraque scored?

401 Blue, row A, seat 13. The Herb Gardiner section.

That boom you heard was Georges Laraque Ovechkining the glass after a net scrum second's effort slammed the puck behind Marty Turco's beautiful golden pads. It was a goal of truth, justice, and all that stuff.

It was the battle of .500 teams, and it wasn't pretty. Never mind the fact the Stars suck bad and the Habs were off for four days. We all know how well they play after a break, Christmas vacation notwithstanding. Price hasn't played in like 10 days, and I don't know what these idiots do in practice that they had zero defensive structure until the mid-second. Usually you don't want to start off the game by giving up a few 2-on-1s or 3-on-1s or 4-on-2s... All while your goalie is trying to find his comfort zone and defence is standing around drooling. And to the mini-Halak fan club sitting in front of me? I don't know if you were watching warmup, but he wasn't going to stop any of that...

Toby Petersen did the craziest of fakeout passes, and Gorges fucked up covering the center anyway. Everyone and his dog thought he was going to pass. Instead, it was a wicked wrister. It was like he had a radar on his head because he was looking down the hallway when he scored.

The Stars are in a pretty bad winless slide. Combine that with the 4-day rest, it was the trap. Fortunately for the Habs, Turco sucks pretty bad. And the powerplay was 2-for-2! Even so, Hal Gill had to remind Devorski that it would be nice to call those penalties like that tripping penalty on Gorges that caused yet another odd man rush Price thankfully saved by a centimeter. He decided to wait until the 3rd period to get around to it, and ended up calling everyone on everything at once.

I do believe there's something behind you.

FOR GREAT JUSTICE
- Still outshot by significantly larger margin and outshot in every period (though tied the 2nd)...
- Do you know why Price plays the puck so much? BECAUSE HIS FUCKING DEFENCEMAN DON'T! And they don't know what to do with it when he does pass it to them. Basically his playing the puck is to eliminate or alleviate forchecking. However, he always finds himself surrounded by the other team before he finds his teammates. Nice of them to slap his pads after every error he saved or missed though.
- Also can someone please call goalie interference please? I've seen Metro called for weaker, but Price was run way too much for my liking...
- That other boom you heard was when old man Spacek sent Jamie Benn into orbit, leaving the kid wondering what planet he was on.
- No one sees Gionta, that's why he's so good at what he does. Two goals on the powerplay, right in front of the net, a one-timer and the quickest rebound goal ever, in his 500th game.
- I thought Laraque was going to take out the glass when he scored.
- Slippy did a barrel roll! My brother laughed.
- Crowd call of the night, from a guy who stood all game in the last row of the Blues my brother called the Assistant Coach, after he wasn't called for something behind the play: "Fuck you, Robidas!" Yup. Welcome home.
- So why exactly did you guys fire Dave Tippett? Considering where the Coyotes are compared to the Stars, I'm not quite sure...
- Manapult keeps scoring! And we're not the only one with terrible turnovers!
- The lady next to me was wearing a homemade Habs shirt...with Mickey Ribs' name on the back. Barf.
- Cammy decided against the spin-o-rama and it apparently worked better. Hey! Price finally got an assist!

I'm happy I finally got to see Marty Turco live and in shiny-golden padded glory. Yes he stinks pretty bad right now, but I still love him. Only saw one Marty Poke Check. No spin.

Habs still need work, but thank god they won... This could have been as shitty as last year's Ducks game after they had the week off. Doubly important because Toskala shut out the Flyers (bwah?) and Ottawa finally gave up to give Brodeur a second start who then shut out the Rangers (not surprised). We finally see 50 points and a carbon copy record as Ottawa. Freaky. And crappy that they're coming to visit Saturday.

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!

Habs 5, BJs 3: Let's Go Bulldogs!

Don't worry, little Sergei! He'll make you look awesome!

If you missed this game, you missed one hell of a rush. You also missed Exhibit A on Penalties Shall Not Be Assessed to Players in the Superstar Category regardless of their flying elbows. Oh wait. Chris Lee. No wonder.

But in this moral victory the Habs said unto Chris Lee, "FUCK YOU!", and never surrendered. Taking advantage of a tired young team regardless of how much Jabba the Coach yelled at them all and threatened to take away the Xbox, giving us free wings! Sure Rick Nash could single-handedly destroy a team with his barehands...and Fucking Umberger just won't diiiiiie... Actually Nash almost pulled out his deke-the-whole-team-and-score move, except he was met with an old Hammer.

FUCK YEAH!
- That's MISTER Carey Price to you. Un-fucking-real. And while Steve Mason had the joy of sitting happily behind the Ken Hitchcock choke-you-to-death team to a Vezina last year, Price will happily collect player stars for brownie points. (Everyone loves brownies).
- The BJs have been an inconsistent young bunch. Wouldn't have mattered who was in nets for them tonight.
- I have no idea what number J.T Wyman is!!! (Oh! It's 48!)
- Too bad the Habs didn't call up Ryan Russell. There would have been a Russell Brothers drinking game!
- Clipping penalty? Right up there with the phantom trip on Sergei's penalty (two minutes for watching a player fall). I miss a good hip check and Gorges' was a great hip check.
- Two point night for: Pleky! Patches! MAB! (Shocking, yes!)
- Game of the year for MAB. He didn't scare me too much tonight. And a shot from the point blocked by Rick Nash of all people...he didn't fall on his ass and actually stick checked him! I think I may get a heart attack from the shock of it all!
- While we may not see them score on a powerplay, they seem to score right after the powerplay is done.
- Cammy on the powerplay: it's like he's directing airplanes.
- How to rejuvenate Lapierre? Remove the Tender Gui, pair him with Sergei. That goal was awesome. (And welcome back, Sergei!)
- Line: Sergei/Chipper/Wyman. Hey look, it's Hamilton!
- Rick Nash, woah. I want one.
- Even the crowd was rallying. I do believe this bunch of boys are truly an inspiring bunch.
- Nasty slash from Vermette to the tender fingers of Brother Andrei. No penalty of course! Thankfully he lived.
- I can watch White and Pyatt shut down a period all night. Though I wish White would stop icing the puck.
- I can't decided which Treant I like more: Hal Gill or Jay Leach. Leach is a little more mobile though. Gill has the recent bling, and is pretty damn good looking...
- Rhino clearing the crease, schooling how it's done. One shove = 50 feet fling.
- Benoit Brunet has turned into a fucking sarcastic git. As the Habs were grossly outshot and being overworked for the first 2.5 periods of the game, he jokingly put the blame on Price for not making the save off a Raffi Torres crease block with a rebound onto Vermette's stick and started to chuckle. And while I can be Sarcasmo, Queen of the Dry Sarcasm, I don't really share that humor, especially tonight when it seemed like "blocked by Price" was on audio loop.
- I swear someone called Pyatt "Latendresse"...
- When Stralman scores, Toronto drinks.
- Price tried tossing his stick over the glass. I think he was too tired to lift his arms. It bounced back at him so he just handed it over to a lady practically crawling over the glass. (Give him a break, he's face a double load each game).
- There's $26million off the salary right now.

Best part of the night: FUCKING UMBERGER didn't score a goal!

I started my day stuck in a dark metro for an hour. All this after being stuck behind a convoy of slow trucks. It's like everything was preventing me from going to work. I made it anyway. Benoit Pouliot had a taste of the Montreal traffic coming to the game for his medical/to watch. Welcome to the team, kid.

Habs 5, Rags 4: A love letter to Mike Cammalleri

Oh Cammalleri, how do I love thee. Let me count the ways!
I love thee for every shift and shot and when you take flight
Even when the game is feeling out of sight
I love thy ability and finess,
Even though thou art smaller than Latendresse
I would gladly throw my hat
And pray to the holy ink of thoust contract
I love thee freely, as the strides thoust take;
I love thee purely, as the goalies thoust brake.
I love thee with a passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's ruse.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
By the Holy Forum Ghosts of the Sainte Flanelle,
I love thee with the breath, smiles, tears, of all my life!
And, thank Bob, five more years,
Five more years, I shall but love thee better.

Eh. Who said poems had to stay in a rhyme...

W00T!
- Yes, that's more like it. The fight, the no-quitting, the patience... Sloppy at times, but when things settle down and regain controle, we have the sense and feeling you guys can beat anyone.
- Higgy is having a tough time in New York but at least he wasn't booed! Fans booed Avery instead.
- Rangers have the Cop Line: Callahan, Dubinsky, Higgins. Too bad O'Sullivan is an Oiler.
- Gomez > Gaborik. That is all.
- Guimauve is always out of position giving Chipper a tougher time.
- The Bergeron Bomb would be a fourth liner if Carbo were coach. Thankfully Mara seems ready to compensate for his defensive liabilities.
- Barn burner! Sure it got sloppy towards the third, but it was a damn entertaining at least.
- Is it just me or does King Henrik always look shaky when he plays the Habs...? He looked very surprised on most of the shots, and with the exception of one game last season (the Markov-less one) seems to always give up at least 5 goals. Interesting!
- And those illegal shoulder pads don't help you either.
- Yup, my brother and I closed our eyes and prayed when Jaro went to play the puck. It's not really his strength...

Habs 5, Islanders 1: A New York warm up

Yes, the Islanders played to a tough shootout victory last night and they looked it. Habs played to a quiet shootout victory the night before that and had a good rest between and looked it. But what can you say. When in a slump, hope the Thrashers and Islanders come in to bring the suck. It worked.

Over the course of the past few games the shots against got lower and lower, which is great, because the forwards had the puck more and the defence was forcing everything wide. Tonight they added a new tool to the shed: goalie protection. Shots rarely got to Jaro tonight, and those that did were seen all the way. They also kept people from walking out in front too much (but when they did they were either neutralized or just shot wide from fatigue).

It's nice to see the defence be aware for once. No more kicking pucks in your own net by a stunned and annoyed goalie. Reason for this? Positioning. Movement. If you're standing still unaware at how your foot is angled towards the net, you will be burned. If you're running about overwhelmed you will plotz. And with Jaro's problematic rebounds, it's good to see the awareness of the defence when the puck actually came to him and bounced out to the slot that they would whack it out of harms way. The active stick, it works.

Yea it was another quiet night, and Jaro probably grabbed a beer.

But... "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do." (Emerson). So yea, the Habs took the foot off the gas in the 3rd, and Jaro showed us just how much he sucks at playing the puck to break his own shutout bid while on the powerplay, and gave the Islanders a shmidgin of energy. Nothing like a good ol' error to remind us just how easy the tides can turn in a hockey game. Hey ya gotta keep it interesting, right?

That or I guess they really did have a beer in the room before coming out.

W00T!
- Sorry Biron, you're not Billy Smith.
- Uh huh... With two uneventful games for our goalie, it didn't take long for the Price bashers to come out and spew their bile. Funny how they were quiet when he was stealing games while making the 40 shot saves earlier. That goes double for the Gazette's Hickey...
- Cammy's PP goal using his Bret Hull knee shot! IMMA FIRIN MAH LAZER!
- Bergeron collected some gold and change tonight. He's still a little weird when he's being forechecked though.
- Chipper came to his aid when Jackson punched Bergeron while defending, only somehow ended up fighting Thompson.
- Tavares should learn those slick OHL moves really don't work in the NHL too well. But I'm happy he's not a Leaf or we'd never hear the end of it. They'd probably ruin him anyway.
- Streit stays out for the entire Islanders powerplay. No wonder his ice time is so high.
- Metro's back! Metro's back! And he's still awesome! And got the first star!
- Patches scored a la Kovy Spin from the slot.
- I never noticed that Dagger is kind of tall...
- If Gomez keeps scoring, his parents won't leave.
- Keep this type of play up when the Rags come in Saturday and then I'll be absolutely impressed.