Habs 2, Sabres 3 (OT): The importance of getting things done

Don't bother being pissed about a shootout loss to Buffalo. What's the point? Buffalo eats shootouts for breakfast. If it's not Vanek or Boyes (who did fuck all the whole game), it's Roy or Pominville. Or Gerbe. I can go on. You can be on top of your game all you want but if you counter by putting a hobbling injured Plekanec out first, you're telling all of us that it's a crap shoot and winning isn't really important to you at the moment.

I can list 3 other players that should have gone before Pleky. One of them actually did score on his attempt (Patches).

Nevermind. Habs should have been done with this game in the 3rd, let alone OT. Not registering a single shot for the first 15 minutes of the 3rd period ain't gonna work. JMart claims sitting back wasn't the plan. That the best defence is offense. Except his system totally contradicts that.

A joyous point, but another draining overtime game
- Do we really have to pray for Markov's return to get Pleky off the point?! It's madness! It doesn't work! And when the 2nd wave kicks ass, they're not the ones used in OT.
- Speaking of OT... That 4-on-3 powerplay setup was garbage. If Weber is there, PK needs to be there. However I lost track of how much ice time he had so he probably couldn't go.
- Carey Price was pissed. Smashed his stick while going to the bench (a teammate gave him a pat on the back but he was rather inconsolable). He was furious before leaving the room as the media came in, swearing and throwing a bottle down the hallway... But really? His first shootout was against a hot Colorado squad of first round picks, and now Buffalo while his coach counters with a guy who's 2-for-a-zillion AND decides to go first when he has the choice. Guy's got enough stress to deal with. People say he's gotta practice the shootout but that's just weak. In-game, breakaways are 50/50 but the shooter doesn't have much time to plan his shot the way you can in a shootout, and practicing with a team that's rather crap at scoring goals in shootouts doesn't really help much. (They can barely score goals to begin with). Especially when they rarely went to one all year last year..
- Erik Cole was great, however he nearly ruined it all with a boneheaded penalty in OT when he lost his bearings and walked into Enroth. Thankfully Habs killed that.
- Emelin has improved a great deal. He was wonderful tonight. Too bad JMart will probably bench him just because physicality is taboo to him.
- Lack of Andrei Kostitsyn is KILLING Eller...
- Seriously, all you people want him traded, and now that he's out of the lineup with an injury it's a HUGE hole to fill and has destroyed our best line in a while.
- Thankfully the Cole/DD/Patches line is kicking ass...
- Killing off a 5-on-3 without Hal Gill? Fantastic work.
- Stop killing my brain with 3rd period nada, Habs.
- Lindy Ruff is upset about what happened with Ryan Miller. I'm upset with what happened to Ryan Miller. But still having Kaleta on the ice almost every fucking minute? You have no right to comment about cheapshots until you remove that stain.
- Who, by the way, hit his former teammate/captain with an elbow to the head.
- And who's linemate took out newly recalled Engqvist's knees. So fuck you, Buffalo.


Shootouts are a cheap shitty way to kill a really good game. No excuses, Habs have got to go for the kill and their window to do so was in OT when they were given that 4-on-3 powerplay. However they put the same old set up on the ice and the same old results happened, which was nothing. (Eric Cole's goal was a powerplay goal, thanks in part to the Sabres smothering Enroth with Desharnais and PK's heads up pass. If they didn't score on that, it would have been ridiculous). And JMart blaming the young defence is getting old. Newsflash: They played their hearts out while shorthanded and with only Gorges as the veteran D. They're not the ones who lost you the game...that stubbornness of doing the same thing over and over and over ad nauseum cost you the game. I wonder how much Randy Cunneyworth's hands are tied because this does not look like something he would do.

Carolina next? I expect big things from Erik Cole...

In other news: I'm going to see what's left of the Bulldogs this Friday but at this rate I may as well go to a Habs game.

Habs 1, Sabres 2 (OT): On the bright side...

...at least Price wasn't cut by an errant skate or something. Remember Clint Malarchuk?

My brother forced me to watch on TSN tonight and I was not amused. You could make a drinking game though.

- DRINK! Every time Pierre McGuire reminds you of the AWESOME DISPLAY OF GOALTENDING TONIGHT!
- DRINK! Every time Pierre McGuire giggles at another injury. Take two drinks if it's a Hab and his happiness is beyond Marineland status. Actually you'll probably need more than two and you probably won't remember you went over.
- DRINK! Every time Pierre McGuire refers to Price's rebirth after a TERRIBLE year last season where he was apparently punting rebounds out like Pachinko machine. Proceed to throw your glass on the screen and yell "HIS REBOUNDS WERE NEVER A PROBLEM, HE GOT NO GOAL SUPPORT YOU ASSHAT!" right after each of the 10 swigs you'll take.
- DRINK! Every time Gord Miller and Pierre McGuire alude to the terrible season the Sabres are having and how the Habs are just knee-slapping ripe for the picking in a back-to-back situation and with the first period from M*A*S*H. You'd be in the ambulance with alcohol poisoning in 5 minutes.

So when will JMart open his fucking mouth as he witness his team get run from behind 4 times in a row with no call in sight? The moment Lindy Ruff went apeshit on a blatant dirty hit by that dirty fucktard Kaleta, you knew the Habs would have to be shot dead to get a call. Just like when o when will this coaching staff notice that Spacek/Hamr on the penalty kill = GOALS FOR THE OPPOSITION?! Evidently the four they caused against Pittsburgh wasn't enough of a red flag. And those two had no business being there in OT. You'd have better results using a three fucking FORWARDS. Come Moen! Come Pyatt! Come anyone! Spacek's ass wasn't going to pick up the trailer backdoor no matter which way he stuck it.

Despite the first period slaughter, they did everything they could to get that point, fighting both Sabres asshatery and one-sided officiating. It accumulated in Plekanec's end of the 3rd penalty kill where he spent the remaining moments pinning the puck in the offensive zone while fighting off 4 Sabres. I think that play there best described the Habs valiant battle tonight. However I'm starting to think back-to-back games should be banned. All it does is raise the risk of injury as guys play a high impact sport dead tired and why would you purposely ruin your assets? The final damage is Cammy and Halpern have shoulder injuries, Patches is alive and well and doesn't look like the ribs punctured anything.

Time to bring up some Bulldogs. Need a shutdown center for Halpern, so I'm guessing either Maxwell or Engqvist. And then we'll need two wingers so I'm thinking Palushaj and White, but there's also word that maybe Wyman could be rewarded for his recent hot hand (yay!) unless Pouliot gets over his flu quickly. Also time to ship out Hamr and Spacek. I'll gladly take conditional picks to rid us of the Wonder Twins once and for all...

Round 2 Game 5: You sunk my battleship

Gill getting cut by Kunitz's skate is bad news. Though he was in a suit standing behind Price and was walking on his own. Then again so was Markov.

Top 10 reasons why an injured Hal Gill is bad
10. He just blocked his 50th shot
9. Slippy out there against Crosby now. Coach, you are rediculous.
8. No seriously, 20 minutes of ice time for Marc-Andre Bergeron. Are you trying to kill us?
7. Gorges now has to work even more overtime. There's only so much room on his shoulders left to carry this team!
6. FUCKING BERGERON!
5. We're running out of defencemen.
4. May as well put Price on D. I can't take anymore Bergeron.
3. Leadership from the ice > leadership from the room
2. Did I mention more Bergeron? And more Hamr?
1. A dizzy Spacek has no choice but to play.

Crosby unable to bury that empty net should be a "history will be made" video.

Round 2 Game 5: Goonsquad must be squashed
FIVE UNANSWERED GOALS! (Two empty netters) Suck it, Abbotsford. One more game to bury that goonsquad for good.

Glumac: 2 goals
Benoit: the go-ahead goal assisted off a clean faceoff win by Facecage White
Russell: first empty netter
Desharnais: second empty netter right at the buzzer
Sanford: he's baaaaaaaaaack (which is good 'cause Desjardins was getting raggedy)

Habs 2, Sens 3 (OT): We who are about to die salute you

Dear Lord, why do you hate us?

I'm crying here. I'm seriously crying here.

Spending a Saturday afternoon watching our Habs try to be the Devils after Martin said he wanted them to be more aggressive (if that's his idea of aggressive...) wasn't really ideal. We can't score 5-on-5 anymore, but the Eastern Justice (the powerplay) brought this to OT at least courtesy of Pleky banking one off Pouliot and Gio being sneaky. We were happily cheering small victories like Rhino destroying Michalek clean, Sergei knocking down Sputza, and Pouliot breaking the rink with Karlsson. And then Volchenkov collided with Cammalleri, knee on knee, and our world got rocked.

Watching him try to get up but couldn't... Watching Sergei and a trainer drag him off, unable to put weight on his right knee... I died. I seriously died inside.

And with the 1 point, the Habs were sent back into 8th. For now.

This happens the day before a bunch of lucky fans get to skate with the Habs, a treat Cammy would have loved. Instead, he hobbled out of Kanata with an inflatable leg cast and crutches.

Right now as it stands, and if Cammy is out with an MCL, I pray Bob doesn't do anything stupid like trade our prospects for a quick fix attempt to patch up the hole by Pleky's side. This season isn't worth losing prospects over to save regardless of the chance a .500 team has. I suspect he'll check the waiver wire, like Philly did for a cheap bandaid... But right now, the best most sensible option would be to call up a guy like Brock Trotter to finally let him have a taste of the NHL. Why Trotter? He's the same size and style as Cammy, obviously not as experienced, but when I think of who would best fit in that mold, I think Brrrrrock Trotter.

Also as cliché as it sounds, there's a handful of players that need to seriously step the fuck up. Gomez and Pouliot have been doing great (though keep your stick on the ice and tip in some goals 5-on-5, Benny), Gio's been doing ok, Pleky's been outstanding, but after that? Metro's line has to do something. Lapierre needs to be that "most improved forward" again. Someone, by the holy ghost of Howie Morenz, can someone please finish Sergei's beautiful passes?! Moen is a lion but some dirty goals would be nice. And the defence has to seriously do something other than shovel pucks to the corners or annoy our goalies. Markov? Third time he was there for the OT goal. Is he going to yell at himself in the mirror now? Certainly can't yell at Jaro for that. Gorges? Needs to fucking AIM. Bergeron? Has to stop failing and start scoring. (With all the pucks he has sent into player's shinpads, I'm shocked Foligno's is the first broken leg). Hammer could start scoring like we know he's capable of. Gill too.

The goalies just gotta continue doing what they're doing.

So keep the faith Habs fans. Light a candle for Cammy's health. And maybe the Gods will send us Nino Niederreiter in June?

Out indefinitely...

We knew he was playing injured for a bit. I mean, it was obvious. But we admired the little man's strength to kick it old school and continue playing. Now he just needs to heal. Future-maybe-captain Brian Gionta has a broken foot and is out indefinitely.

If you're Ovechkin this could be day by day, then week by week, then month by month, only to return sooner than later.

If you're Kovalchuk, it's about two weeks.

If you're David Desharnais, it's about a month.

If you're the Montreal Canadiens, it's FUCK!SHIT!GODDAMIT!GIVE US A FUCKING BREAK!

Now Gomez has to make do without his significant other for more games...

Meanwhile Carey Price was placed carefully into a protective bubble with orders to only release him for practice or games. Or bathroom breaks.