Elliooooooooott! Habs 5 Sens 4 (SO)

Trying to right this ship, at least in the backend...

I only managed to catch the game from the 3rd period onwards and then got the rest off Express as I was out for a lovely dinner amongst some rather annoying relatives of my mother (ie. my aunt and uncle) so my take on the game is rather thin... My dinner was good though, save for those annoying relatives. Grr...

You aren't helping that save percentage...
- Fan favourite and gritty, fearsome prospect Greg Stewart got to play tonight. He picked up an assist on D'Agostini's goal and did some excellent yeoman's work along the boards and generally annoyed the oppositioin in the checking line. As he grows I see him as our farm-grown Kostopoulos, except he wins more fights.
- Actually I can say all lines are clicking relatively well. Kovy's line is feeding off Patches (what a kid!), Lang and the brothers still going strong with AK46 becoming more and more that power forward Carbo was talking about, Lapierre's line still the same hardworking core.
- Defense is ok but I get queasy as I see Breezer paired with Cube...
- That piece of the wall Komo hit was padded right? God that could have been a broken arm in the making...
- Heater is a 50 goal scorer. He was ZombieHeater for the first part and rose from the dead in the 3rd, but Jaro needs to learn to deal with those kinds of play like Carey does. (See, Gorges is covering the other two well enough so all you need to do is take care of the shooter, but not while on your knees...at least not when you're shorter than Price).
- Bet he wants that second Heatley goal back.
- Could say the same for Elliott on Kostopoulos' goal.
- Markov is the General by how he controls the tempo of the game like a certain defensman of Habs yore, but sometimes I fear he thinks way too much when on the powerplay.
- ZOMG AK46 ninja scores: 5 goals, 5 games in a row
- Lang had two assists tonight: more points! Now he leads the team with points (36). So ya, fuck you Mats.
- Kovy in the John Tavares spot on the powerplay: bing!
- Bob Cole is pro-anything else when it comes to games that include the Habs. Sounded like we killed his dog whenever something good from the Habs happened, even wondering why the Habs fans that invaded were OleOleOle-ing in a one-goal game. (Memo to Cole: we Ole anytime). I mean this is the guy who actually said "The goalie stopped it! How come?!" when Price stopped Shane Doan on a sure goal earlier this year. RDS may get all giddy over Latendresse, but they give credit where it's due and are equally excited over any other team's brilliant play.
- Jaro in shootouts is usually more 50/50 than anything in that he just seems to hope they all miss, but good save on Alfie.
- Kovy is the magical beastie. Getting ready for the All Star Game eh?
- I think we should send Fruit Punch to the ASG next year for the skills competition alone. Who'd have thunk it! And it was a different move from the first one too. So that's 2 for 2.

In conclusion: I had chicken stuffed with goat cheese in an apple cranberry sauce, and it was good. This game was also good. Sens wanted a point, and they got one. Habs wanted two and a win, and they got one. Carey come and plaaaaaaaaaaaaaay...!



While I was eating:
- WOOT! Bruins lost to the Caps 2-1
- WOOT! Carolina lost to Buffalo 3-1
- WOOT! Tampa Bay lost to the Panthers 4-3
- WOOT! Price really wants to be in that All-Star Game and might just make it. Hey, I won't stop him. Doing so may depress him as he looked depressed about the idea of maybe missing it. A happy Price makes a happy Canadiens team!
- Um...Atlanta scored 7 goals to crush Nashville who only managed 2? Jaro best be ready if Price doesn't play Tuesday.
- Pens traded Sabu (along with some other things) for Garon. Now they have that ex-Habs goalie curse as a secret weapon for when we play them next. Crap!

Gui gives us wings! Habs 5, Slowers 2

D'AGOSTINI! D'AGOSTINI! D'AGOSTINI!

Tomorrow is my last day of work/Christmas party and then I'm off for 2 weeks of painting and decorating. Habs have two more games before their own Christmas break. So how's about a good old skilled ass kicking of the Flyers? Oh how happy I was dragging my tired self to my car at Namur only to turn on the radio and here THREE-ONE CANADIENS as I drove to the gas station for some much-needed window washer fluid. It capped off my rather boring day on a high, that's for sure.

Sometimes I wonder who fixes games...
- Apparently tis a Centennial celebration tradition to have the Forum video taped anthem play every Thursday. I love it!
- D'Agostini, showing that you can start playing hockey at around 16, get drafted by the Habs in the 6th round, and make it to the NHL and score score score. Either that or he'd much rather be here than in steeltown.
- The Komisaurus returneth! And get's a point, throws the hits, cleans up the trash in front of Jaro. That hip check on Sbisa was classic.
- Oh my rebounds, Jaro! He was really fighting that puck tonight. I'm sure he has a horseshoe hidding in the back of his helmet.
- Gui!Gui!Gui!
- Speaking of Gui! he probably played his best game of the year. It was building since he came back from the pressbox, and showed in the Whalicanes game. If he can continue like this, at least for a bit more, I'd say he has finally found his game. Project completed? It's definitely getting there.
- Officials need to get out of the fucking way faster.
- Gaff of the night: Bouillon swatting a puck that was going high and wide anyway right into his own net.
- Asham broke the glass. Literally.
- CBC sucks. Who the hell gave Milbury a spot to do colour commentary on a Habs game?! Calling temporary captain Kovy a lazy bum who doesn't buy into the team plan? Fuck you! Right after he scored off a nice feed from Begin. Calling Habs lucky the Flyers didn't show up instead of mentioning how slow they skate and how easy it was for the offense to walk through them? Not mentioning how many times the Flyers shot high and wide? Should have put him on the 8-5 Bruins smackdown on the Leafs. In fact, I'd rather CBC just stay away from Habs games. Nice that it gives them national coverage, but if it's just an open forum to bash a team way better than anything these guys played on, then I'd rather they stay away. TSN could have taken it, instead of football.
- PJ Stock also stinks. Kovy won't use the words "me" or "I" when talking about a role he's playing with his linemates for his team.
- Thankfully RDS has Coach Demers, even if he is really really loud.
- KOVY! WINS! FACEOFFS! He had 2 for 2. What CAN'T he do?!
- TWO! TWO POWERPLAY GOALS. So, I'm guessing that's our quota for December. Sergei with his bullet, and Gui!
- Poor Pleky. Shoot the puck down the rink to the empty net and misses by an inch. As it went, fromt he other camera angle you can see the guys raising their arms to cheer for it to go in. Alas poor Pleky, he cannot buy a goal today.
- FARK injury addition: Andrei Kostitsyn in the leg after being sandwiched. Maybe that was why Sergei was getting snappy. Honestly, I wouldn't want to piss off Sergei. He seems like he's itching to punch someone in the face.
- Almost got too punch Hartnell, but I think it was just a roughing tango.
- At times it seemed like the Canadiens had to slow down to keep pace with the Flyers in order to cover them better. When that happened I felt like I was watching the game in bullet-time. Slow!
- Apparently every normal hit resulted in a gang up from the guys in orange. Even when you slip and collide with someone. Sorry, but frankly the Habs were way too focused to even care to wonder about it.
- Fruit Punch has developped forchecking.
- Hmm... Breezer was limping off the ice and down the hallway after the game. Could he be injured!? Maybe we can get more callups! Or bring Maxwell back. Plays better defense than our resident veteran.
- As traditions go, the Flyers seem to have a mantra for who can win more while playing the dirtiest. If the Habs had so many penalties against the Divers on Tuesday, what was going on with the uncalled mass of blatant penalties from the Flyers. Yes our powerplay sucks despite getting two goals tonight, and the Flyers are exceptionally good with potting shorties, but if you don't call these they'll just keep doing it. Put your foot down, be a man! The worst was the player that decided to glomp Pleky. Was it possible for a quadruple minor for too many men on the ice/holding/interference/hooking? Or did it baffle the minds of the officials so much that they just didn't know what to call it. I mean, it took Timonen to shove a stick into Tanguay's skate to force a call and even then it looked like they were hesitating. Sometimes it makes you wonder if there isn't anything shady going on... like, illegal betting maybe?

Other stuff:
- Why's Burke getting all huffy? Bruins paste two Leafs goalies 8-5. I'm guessing Burke will be shopping for some puckstoppers or maybe they'll see Pogge next year, but what do you expect when you got a career backup as your number 1 and an old dude behind him? Actually the Bears also pulled their goalie for blowing that 5 goal lead they had. So...Fernandez closes the door? This is the Twilight Zone!
- Dallas seems to be doing better without Avery, until they went to Columbus. Won it in a shootout 6-5 though, and guh Mickey Ribs scored the shootout winner...
- Heh, watching the ref send Crosby to the box for attempted roughing who in turn was arguing about it was kind of funny. But 6-3 Penguinos over the Thrashers. Yawn.
- Detroit 6! San Jose ZIP! Um... well I guess it's time for Nabby's yearly slump month.
- I don't give a damn about Sundin.

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.