Happy Birthday Bouillon!

It's been a long, long time since I've seen a pure hockey game. Defense, offense, power play, penalty kill, no goonery, no intimidation, turnovers and recovers, dueling goalies... it had it all. But above all, for the Habs, it was a test of the depth we've all heard about.

The Panthers usually play their best hockey in Montreal for some reason. The Canadiens used to always send it to either a loss or a shootout. But now, with the team as strong as it is, it ended in a 3-1 win, and not a goal on either power plays.

Kyle Chipchura (OMG CHIPS! YAY!) was recalled from Hamilton to take a spot on Lang's line, since Higgins wasn't cleared yet. And what a game did this young man play, true to the name of "Bob Gainey's Clone". With Lang at the center, Chips looked right at home on the wing, and I've heard from loyal Bulldogs followers that they've seen him playing more there recently. If playing the wing increases his chance at a permanent spot on the roster, then I say go for it!

Francis Bouillon was cleared to play his first game, but not on defense. He was used as a forward on the fourth line, but in the 3rd switched back to a blueliner where he got his first goal of the season on his first game, just a day after his 33rd birthday. He took Laraque's spot, since BGL's groin is apparently acting up again.

Sergei Kostitsyn took his brother's spot on the Kovalev line. Unfortunately Kovy looked a little off tonight, so while Sergei led the charge every now and then, no one was following him. As the game went on though, Kovy got better, and his line got more chances. One excellent powerplay, where Kovy dinged a post, they had the puck in the Panthers' zone for nearly the entire penalty.

Carbo seemed to have mixed up the lines in the 3rd, but it worked well. For once, the Habs played a full game of 3 periods! Something they seemed to be working on, and the results are showing. Even a terrible holding penalty by Lapierre with 2 minutes left was no problem with Halak being solid and Plekanec's taking the empty netter (Kostopoulos almost snuck one rink-wide as Vokoun was leaving too).

Captain K got another goal tonight, his 600th point and, seasonally he's tied with his little brother Mikko. And in 5 games, our dear captain hasn't HOOKED anyone yet! I'm shocked!

Halak, who hasn't played a game since the one in Toronto, used his speed and positioning and stopped 35 shots, allowing only 1 goal. (That's 2 goals in two games). He did lose a few pucks though, but thankfully they were either gobbled up by a teammate or flubbed by a Panther, as well as a post or two. Of course RDS immediately said he's upping his trade value. It's true, yes, however, I'd be wary of that... The Habs need two number 1 goalies because if this were Denis doing backup duty, it would have been a 5-3 win for the Panthers. I'm thinking Halak will stay as long as he can with the team. Why? Well, why would he leave a winner? He could go be a number 1, but would that be a winning team? A team that would be seaking his services probably (usually) has problems. Even when he was up for a new contract, he told his agent he just wants to play in Montreal. On another team, it would be like Mike Smith in Tampa Bay. A good goalie who used to be the Dallas backup sitting behind no defense. Habs defense block a lot of the shots to the point where I'd say there are 3 goalies on the ice, but still need their goalie for many of their mistakes. And look at another team where the goalie needs to do it all himself, and you've got Marty Turco completely left out to dry while no one on his team seems willing to block any shots or help out, and with Smitty gone, no one really thinks his current backup is capable of carrying much of a load. Depth! Habs have the number 1 goalie confidence! And a good tandem will carry this team far.

Good start to the season, boys. Next week, the Previously-Known-As-Mighty Ducks quack into town. I just got free tickets in the mail, courtesy of the Bruins sucking at shootouts. (They lost again tonight in a shootout against the Penguinos). QUACK!

Habs 5, Orange Crushed 3

I normally do play-by-play chat on a few forums with fellow fans, so here's a recap to a rollercoaster of an evening.

1st Period
- The Habs came out sleepwalking, almost like they were skating with cement blocks. Once again, Carey Price was left out on his own while his defense flatfooted and his offense couldn't get onside.
- There were about 26 faceoffs, half of them icing...
- Four penalties on each side, including a 5-on-3 for the Flyers.
- Downie looked rather subdued. Probably floating on painkillers.
- Komisaurus left his calling card on Cote. They proceed to go after him the rest of the night. (Hey, I told him to Big Bird their ass, guess he heard).
- Kovaleve: 1 post
- Shots 8-14 in favor of the Flyers. Price says he ain't afraid of no Phantoms.

2nd Period
- Andrei Kostitsyn hits a man, gets the puck, shoots from near the blue line, and scores. Goal number 1 for the game and for the older brother this season!
- Carter takes advantage of a sleeping Markov and Komisaurus and sneaks one by Price.
- Lang takes a hooking penalty, Richards hits a fast one from afar by Price. Never saw it coming.
- Lapierre and Downie start hugging, but I think Downie's knee is buging him 'cause they don't do much...
- Price throws another in the bin for the Save of the Year as he robs an open net with his glove. It rivals Nabby's in that 4OT playoff game against the Stars. In other words, it was amazing! (If this were TSN, we'd all be deaf by McGuire).
- Habs continue sleeping with weak passes. Someone needs to tell them that Price can only do so much...
- Lang: 1 post
- Shots are 18-23 Flyers. Tussle at the end that doesn't go anywhere.

3rd Period
- Right at the start, Kovalev remembers he's the star of the show, dangles the Flyers and feeds Hammer a goal. (Goal number 2 for the usually stay-at-home defenseman!) It's tied and the fans have gone quiet.
- Almost immediately, Gui! gets hit in the face (ignored by the refs) and then parks himself infront of Biron where Komisaurus slaps one over his head. Now 3-2 Habs and the fans have just died.
- Penalty for Sergei almost right after, Kostopoulos shows me why he rocks on the PK.
- Kostopoulos almost scores but is knocked off before it connects
- Knuble is a knob, flubs all his shots and passes.
- It's like a whole new team came out to play in the 3rd so either Carbo threatened them with a trade to Toronto or tickets to Celine Dion, or Price said he was gonna switch with Denis for the year.
- 4-on-4 hockey and Lang score a lovely one. Now 4-2 and the fans are zombies.
- Price gets stuck after making a save with a rebound that lands right in front of Gagné, who beats Gorges to it, and it's 4-3, fans live again.
- Kovalev checks the new kid, and Italian defenceman. I've actually fallen for this kid. He's good! (And it's hard to impress me when you play for the Flyers). His name is Luca Sbisa and he's 18 years old. Keep that name in mind...
- Is Biron really the same height as Price? He looks smaller in nets...
- With the Flyers net empty, Habs force in on the attack. Bégin shoots first, misses, gets the puck back, is checked from behind so he spins and dumps it in the net without looking. It's 5-3 and the fans have been crushed.
- The game ends and Hartnell leaves a calling card on Kostopoulos (or Gui!, I couldn't tell since they were next to each other). Take a loss like a man and go to your bench! It's players like him that make me hate the Flyers because they do have some good players, but these constant douches always ruin it. Gui! also tackled Lupul (who was suddenly dancing with him) under his weight, just to hold him down so he won't do anything.

Bonus: No one got hurt. Markov blocked a shot by that Sbisa kid right on the hand though, so we HOPE nothing is broken... Komisaurus got hit in the nose with Markov's stick during an interference call.

Stars of the evening: 1 Andrei Kostitsyn, 2 Jeff Carter, 3 Carey Price.
Total shots: 27-32 Flyers!

Free wings at Cage aux Sports! Good comeback, boys. That third period reminded me why I love you. Just don't do that first/second ever again. (Ya, right).

And on a "kill your day" note...
Ranger's 2007 first round pick, Alexei Cherepanov has died of a heart attack after colliding with his teammate, Jaromir Jagr, while on a line change. It's a complete tragedy. He was only 19 years old. The Rangers won their game tonight against the Devils in his memory with a final score of 4-1. My deepest condolences to his family and friends, to Jagr (who was very close to the young man) and the Rangers.

Mats Who? We Got Toronto Covered

Hamrlik, Kovalev, Sergei Kostitsyn twice, Tangay and Gui!Gui!Gui! made my evening. And you know what? The boys played a lovely game. A much better showing than yesterday. The Leafs may have been high flying on their win over Detroit, but I'd say today was a reality check. And don't give me any of this Habs beat Toronto's Junior Team, because for the most part, Habs are also 50% juniors entering in just their second year including our goalie tandem of two kids younger than my brother. Wilson will have lots of work to do. They may have figured Detroit's robotic style (who hasn't? Jarvis even said they figured out what the Leafs were doing against them and inadvertedly figured the new Leafs early) but they couldn't catch up with the speedy little Habs and were rather rattled by their toughness and skill as well. Grabs may have the speed and hands of his old team but he's a bit of a wimp...

Also to note, the power play goals were not done by the Kovy-Pleky-Kostitsyn line. THAT should be scary to hear. Even so, Cherry took time after the game to say that even if he praised the Habs, he goes on blasting Carbo for putting out the (not yet this year) Number 1 Power Play unit in the 3rd in a 6-1 game! What is Carbo supposed to do? Roll over and sleep on it? There's still a game going here!

The Mad Piper
Halak proved Hockey News right about the Number 1 Goalie Confidence voting. He was better at playing the puck, but needs to stay up. Too many times I saw him just resolve to sit on his rear with his back to the play and pray nothing gets past him. Methinks Rollie will talk to him about that.

Toskala was chased out and Cujo came in for the 3rd period.

A New Hockey Song
Tonight HNIC unveiled the winner of the Hockey Song Contest. It's the bagpipes march one. I guess it's ok. BUT extra points to the runner up kid from Toronto who said he's a Montreal fan when Ron asked him if he's routing for the Leafs tonight. Cassé!

"You can join my line anytime," says Lang to Sergei and TK

Well, no he didn't say that. But he could have.

The first game of the 100th season just ended in a 2-1 shootout victory by the Buffaslugs (or Buffabolts as my brother calls them...Seriously, get that old sweater back please). The 3rd line with Sergei Kostitsyn and Tom Kostopoulos winging Robert Lang was the best of the evening from that terrible first period onward. Langer pots goal numero uno for the Habs and for his career as a Hab and nets himself the 3rd star of the night, so...ya, too bad for you Mats! Many chances in a 4-on-4 overtime in favor of Les Boys, but second star of the evening Ryan Miiiiiiiiiiller (as I'm sure Jeanneret was yelling his face off) was sharp. Also, when I see Kovy check someone off the puck during a PK and create a scoring chance, I just smile. Overall not a bad game despite the team working off the rust, Koivu looking totally out of whack, and the officials being idiots for the most part (especially on that Gui! penalty right when Markov scored...ROBBED by a ref for a player falling by himself). However, Carey Price gets the first star of the evening and rightfully so after being shot at 36 times and only letting in one goal. Nice to know there is no problem there. (Not that I ever thought there would be a problem there). I'll forgive Komisaurus for falling and ultimately causing that one goal. Just don't do it tomorrow buddy. *wink*

And speaking of tomorrow, good ol' Jaro is supposed to be playing. Bring your party hat, kid. Leafs usually pelt 40 or more towards our goal. And god knows how hyper they're going to be after beating the Wings on their banner-raising night. Hey, for the record, I never doubt any team. Even the Leafs. (I'm actually hoping they squeak into the playoffs just so we can maybe see a rinkindled proper Habs-Leafs rivalry. So long as we come out of it on top, of course).

Remember folks, this could have been worse.
Just ask Joey Mac. (Actually why is Joey Mac in nets instead of DP? Hip problems again?) Coach Gordon's debut was spoiled by King Spoiler himself, Martin Brodeur. Well, no it wasn't that bad, 2-1 Devils. Streit got a point for an assist. Actually tonight I was missing you on that powerplay, my fine Swiss friend... (Calling Lieutenant Weber, I expect you to be up here in December. Be ready.)

Over in New York, the Rags won...again. Stop it. It's not funny anymore. They beat Chicago 4-2 and RDS showed a clip of Huet cursing the skies as the puck ran right through him. It looked oddly familiar. (His new mask looks kind of cool though).

Actually, seems it wasn't the night for former Habs goalies. Capitals lost 7-4 against Atlanta, and Theo was pulled in the 2nd period in his regular season debut. For the record, he gave up 4 of those. Florida losts 6-4 against the Hurricanes, where Vokoun only made 18 saves.

And it could have been even worse, folks
Former goalie Clint Malarchuk shot himself in the chin "by accident", but an investigation in the matter calls it suspicious. They aren't really buying that gun going off by itself thing and think instead of shooting rabbits, he was trying to kill himself after arguing with the wife and drinking while taking his meds. I'll just leave it at that, the guy has been through enough already. Instead of remembering him bleeding to near-death on the ice, I'll remember him from that Good Friday Brawl between the Nordiques and the Habs where he danced a bit with Sevigny. Those were the days...

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.

This is Hockeyville

So Hockeyville Roberval, QC, is hosting Nos Canadiens versus the Buffalo Sabres...and not a PEEP from CBC nor HNIC. Is it just me or is this not their own contest? (Well, partially Kraft's, but it's all over the damned website). Do mine eyes deceive me that all over center ice and the boards are the logos of HNIC and CBC? Am I missing something here? Why is Coronation Street playing when the puck drops? Do Cherry and MacLean not blab endlessly about the wonders of smalltown hockey? I bet if this were a Leafs game, we'd have a Day in Hockeyville from practice to the final seconds, filled with tours of the village and interviews! So much for their "more Canadiens" creedo this year. Happy 100th Habs, no love from our national television channel or HNIC.

But on to the game.
Well Les Boys are playing better today than yesterday's 8-3 shellacking between the Bruins and the Hamilton kids (outshot 42-19). Currently 1-0 Habs, first period. Super Pleky scored by bouncing it off a Sabres leg.

The glass already needed repair (not broken, just jolted off).

The penalty box is so small, Mathieu Aubin needed to climb on the bench to close the door.

The ice must be bad 'cause everyone's falling. Sergei K flubbed a good shot as he fell on his arse.

Marc Denis looks completely focused. Yesterday he stepped on the ice and gave up like 3 goals right away. Today's a different story. Even made a cross-ice pass to start a rush and is playing more aggresively.

I'm totally calling David Desharnais "Roadrunner 2" 'cause man the guy is BUILT like Cournoyer and has just this inkling of the great little captain. With a bit of polish, he'll definitely be solid. Sabres also have a mini-forward but I forgot his name.

First period ended with a net scrum. The Irish Connection jumped in (O'Byrne--who's controlling the D, Flinn--who's the enforcer, as usual, but pulled a stupid hooking/tripping penalty that thankfully didn't hurt the team).

So far so good! I'm happy to see my Habs on TV. The 1, 237 are singing a terrible Olé-Olé, but good on that... that song is a jinx most of the time. Lets see if they can pull this one off.

Second period has ended.
I missed most of this because I was eating supper. (Yes, we tend to eat at 8). Good penalty killing by the team and it's 3-0 Habs. Belomullet Andrei Kostitsyn got a shorthanded goal. Super Pleky pots a beauty of a deke that sent a Sabres D sprawling and their captain totally lost. Marc Denis will proceed to pinch himself at a possible shutout in a game that doesn't count.

The game isn't completely one-sided either, as shots on goal are almost equal with Habs ahead by 1. I'm heading for the 3rd! Now the final test to see if the team can keep this together for THREE WHOLE PERIODS! (And if you know the Habs, when they get two good ones, chances are the third is...winded).

Third period, that's one for the books.
It's 3-2 Habs and things have gotten a little chaotic. Attempts at being a shutdown team sort of didn't work and Sabres put their own Denis in nets. (Well, Dennis). Pleky switch himself to defense half way through the game since the defenders apparently took a walk. Habs powerplay needs Kovy, but penalty killing is good. It was a Sabres powerplay and the Habs were all over their zone. And 7 seconds to the end a Sabres player throws a hissy 'cause O'Byrne touches him while actually playing hockey as they battle along the boards in the corner. Not that it mattered. No one took the faceoff on their side, so Lapierre shot the puck across the rink.

So there it is. Second game of the pre-season, first win for Team A, and Marc Denis is probably the happiest man in the world right now. (He got to play the whole game too, but only because Halak hurt himself in the warm-ups). Tomorrow, Team B goes to Detroit but I got hockey of my own to play. Overall, a much better game and a solid effort by the kids. I think I have this team on Sunday when I catch them versus the Panthers.