The Bolt Pose! Habs 2, Bolts 1 (SO)

I feel tired and sweaty from just watching that game, though maybe I'm hot because I've been sitting here in my sweater with my heater on, but you get the point. Crazy roller coaster of a game. For what looked like 60 minutes of speed skating around the rink, the BOLTS got one tip in goal from a crowd and the Habs got one on a first minute of the 3rd rush by Gui! and his buddies working the zone. And what better way to end an obvious goalie duel than with a shootout? Habs scored two in a row, Jussi Jokinen was the only one to beat Price. (Though what was with the fist pump? A bit much for a shootout goal. Then again, I'm so used to the guys not really reacting to it unless it's the game winner. Dude, you were the FIRST shooter. And the goal wasn't really anything special either).

Hell of a way to kick off 2009!
- Who knew Fruit Punch was such a sniper? After Kovy scores his trademark Wham Bam Thank You Ma'am shootout goal, Lapierre follows suit with nearly the same shot! And he almost had a few goals tonight. Good on the kid! He's got the taste for goals and looks like he wants more.
- Scare of the evening was when that truck of a Russian, Evgeny Artyukhin checked Tanguay into the glass and popped the glass pane off. Tanguay went off the ice and down the hall. JUST WHAT WE NEED! Another fucking shoulder injury... Maybe 13 wasn't so good for Tanguay after all.
- As Begin was sporting a nasty blackeye from yesterday, Kostopoulos took it on himself to take on the giant Russian that hurt Tanguay. Though the big man wouldn't take off his visor, so TK had nothing to punch at. Still, give the little guy props for trying.
- Power play was obviously not going to work with dump ins when you've got the two best young puck moving goalies on the ice. Mike Smith tossing those pucks right at Price, who tossed them back to his teammates. Repeat.
- Oh Vince, when did you become such a wanker... Whining at Komisaurus when he checked you. Whining at Komisaurus when you crosschecked him behind the play and as they dragged you to the penalty box...
- Heh, someone tried to fight Breezer for slidding into Smith while he was playing the puck. Not his fault Breezer just sucks. Come on, don't hit the old man!
- I was watching the Lightning feed off my computer and their announcers had the hots for Price. But I gotta say for the Sunshine State, they sure did impress me with their textbook dissection of a few good plays. Especially enjoyed the "how awesome are the Habs defensively on these odd man rushes" ones. If you get them together with RDS' Joel Bouchard, you could teach everyone hockey from the comfort of their homes.
- Kovy got a post. Hit it LOUD.
- D'Agostini almost scored but a bounce off Smith and then the post out was all it did. Danger Man!
- Maxwell gave some BOLTS stars fits with his shadowing.
- I noticed the BOLTS play like the Flyers now. Guess that's Tocchet's game. Wonder how long they'll last playing like that, though.
- Andrei Kostitsyn nearly ended the game with 3 seconds left. He's always leaving the best for last. But again, bounced off Smith's glove and then the crossbar out.
- Probably the greatest part of the game was the finish. Lecav VS Price, if he scored then Habs would have to hope Gui! scores to end it. Price stones Lecav, and does the Usain Bolt Pose right in Vince's face. Vince sulks off the ice, Habs rejoice.
- Carbo looked like he just won the playoffs. Wow was he a happy man! And good choices for the shootout. I bet Gui! would have scored too.

In conclusion: Habs rock. And the winner of the goalie duel: Price. Though Smith should be on the All Star list. Not his fault he's got a team of crap in front of him for most of the season. (Just give Denis a call, kid. He'll tell you ALL about it).

Train...say your prayers...take vitamins and believe in yourself

Bulldogs report!
Bulldogs have also ended 2008 with two game in the win. There was a come from behind shootout victory against the Rochester Americans. In that one, the BabyPanthers scored 3 in the first period and then it was all Bulldogs. Marc Denis got his confidence back as the game went on. Desharnais, Pacioretty, and Weber scored in regulation while Lehoux, Glumac, and Desharnais again took the shootout. Denis only allowed one goal in the shootout and was having fun the whole way. (AHL has a best of 5 thing for their shootout). Mike Brodeur (no relation) was phenomenal though. He had 40 saves on 43 shots! Panthers may like him one day...

And while the Habs were kicking the BOLTS in a Floridian shootout, the Dogs shutout the Baby Leafs 4-0! Pacioretty scored again! Chipper opened the scoring all by himself! Carle on the power play and Russell took the other goals. Jancevski assisted on every goal with an assist! (Too bad he's Dalla property, I like that guy). This was Denis' third shutout of the season.

News you may care about
- Boo! Leafs win. Actually Cujo's first win of the season. Against Atlanta. Ho hum. They took it 4-3 in regular overtime.
- SHOCK! Sens beat the Oilers 3-2. Though last time I saw the Oilers they looked like they had no idea how to skate. (Yet somehow won that game I saw with a shutout over the Canucks). So...make with that what you will.
- Boston pwns the Penguinos 5-2. Ya, keep voting Fleury guys so we can see his All Star coverage of angles and short-stopped laterals. Also noticed Therrien is losing more hair as the season progresses.
- Detroit warmed up for the Winter Classic (weather permitted) by a 4-0 smackdown on the Hawks.
- Meh, Flyers beat the Canuckleheads 3-2. They haven't lost to them in 20 years (not saying how many times they FACED each other in 20 years but whatever). Canucks had two backup goalies playing. Gagne got injured again...
- GAS WAS 69 CENTS! Now those fuckers raised it to 78. Bastiches!
- I'm almost done painting my new appartment. I'm so sick of painting...

Oh my hats! Habs 5, Panthers 2, 3000th regular season win

Because zombies eat BRAINS, zombies can score

Holy shit what have they put in the Habs water these days? Fruit Punch gets a hat trick and we get free wings, and ZombiePleks has risen from his grave to not only score one of the sickest shorthanded breakaway goals I've seen this side of Jonathan Toews' WJC shootout goals, BUT ALSO PUNCHES A MAN FOR DIGGING ON PRICE! The little girl who could barely get an empty netter earlier this month jumps a man for messing with his goalie and punches him. Ends up with an unjustified 4 minutes roughing penalty (meh, old man ref) but still, this is usually the work of Komisaurus. Begin also had a pretty good fight. He got the worst of it (the dude was twice his height for crying out loud) but Begin jumping to punch the guy was quite a sight to behold. And then he did the take down. The home crowd sure got a show. Wait, this was Florida! The place was sold out thanks to the Habs fans either living there or on vacation (hell, if I didn't just buy my condo, I'd have totally gone for that trip). Another city, another Carey chant.

The question of the day: When was the last time Habs had consecutive hat-trick games? From two players, notching their first career hat tricks?

Memo to the Panthers: Get a bigger penalty box. It didn't fit four Habs at once!

Also it ain't over until we see a classic McCabe and boy was that classic on Fruit Punch's steal for his final goal on the empty net.

That said, Breezer is our McCabe. Thank god there are other people out there able to cover for his errors, but Carbo needs to get him off the powerplay... You can keep Kovy on the powerplay though 'cause that goal was pure math.

Conclusion: Tomorrow is Tampa Bay. Time for SuperPleky to get his revenge on Lecav for that unpenalized spearing.


In other news
- Jean Béliveau is said to be doing well after a drop in his blood pressure sent him to the hospital. Stay healthy, Monsieur! (Actually he was released from hospital already).
- WJC Team Canada beat Germany 5-1 and Subban did his Bobby Orr to give Evander Kane a goal.
- Here's a shock: DiPietro is injured again. Oy.
- Um, Sharks signed Claude Lemieux (yes, THAT Lemieux) to a two-way contract. He's currently in the AHL trying to make a comeback.

And we're back: Big Kostitsyn 3, Pens 2, Priceberg 32

So, it's welcome back from the holidays and the Habs allow 34 shots at Pricey. Hey, doesn't sound too bad for him. I'm thinking those blue sweaters reminded him of the Leafs, who usually launch a good 40+ shots his way. It's ok. Gets you back into the groove fast. I also believe Andrei asked for goals for Christmas. Well here's a hat trick, kid! Must be how it works...get your knee taken out by Hartnell and then come back with 3 goals. I don't know if I should thank that ape, honestly. That makes me feel dirty...

Rise from your grave!
- Habs played their Detroit tape to contain an aggressive and rather desperate to win Pens force. I know the 0-5 defense play looks like no one is doing anything but it's really the only smart way to try and contain some players. And if they break through, then it's all Price. It's also why the Habs got lots of icing calls when trying to launch the other way.
- ZombiePleks can now change his name to ZombieAssistPleks. The rinse/repeat feed for Andrei was bizarre though.
- Someone taught Gui! how to forecheck. I'm proud of his progress this year.
- Sergei needs better linemates. I'm thinking...Lang and Dagger, because his passes aren't going to anyone. At least his defensive game is still being used.
- I was kind of sad Patches and Chipper didn't play (and apparently went back to Hamilton already) but what can ya do eh?
- Finally Crosby gets a real good goal. Nice wrap around.
- Those boards should be checked. Nearly gave Fleury a heart attack on that weird one...
- I really like Malkin but I think he's doing way too much on his own.
- Fleury only faced 19 shots because the team was playing defense. Well, not much else they can do while on the PK anyway.
- Kovy confusing players and commentators. "He'll dump it in and go for a change--no wait, he's still going!"
- 1 Kovy check, revenge on being checked. At least it wasn't an elbow. (Glad he stopped doing that).
- Penalties were called right, though I know people will probably whine about what Gui! did to Crosby in that scrum behind the net, but it wasn't called. Crosby tried to hit Gui! later soon after, but just bounced off him and Gui! still had the puck. Must have picked up a few balancing tricks from Laraque since I've noticed he's pretty solid at just deflecting hits while doing board work.
- I think we had 1 power play.
- Um...That was an interesting save by Fleury on Lapierre's attempted shortie though I think Fruit Punch just shot high anyway.
- Shot blocking was good, no one deflected pucks into their own nets, and this time Cube didn't swat a puck in either.
- Game made me sweat.
- Priceberg steals games. There's a reason why he's the Number 1 guy and why Huet was traded. This is just one of those reasons.
- I love hearing the Carey chant in other cities. THIS my friends is why we love him. Now, keep voting.

In conclusion: Price now has his own video game.


Other observations:
- I can't watch the Spengler Cup because I can't tell what is hockey and what is advertising. It's disgusting...
- Scott Hartnell broke his toe. The big one.
- I'm thinking of going downstairs to watch the Sens/Flames game. Yes, thinking about it...

Double Whammy

USA 8 Germany 2

Canada 8 Czech 1 (well, technically 2, but the ref had a quick whistle)

I'm sensing a pattern, here...

Oh and 1 Subban-o-rama. Spin!

I find it odd that Team Canada throws PK in the middle on the powerplay instead of the point where he usually resides, but he causes much havoc over there. McD was solid. He looks like he doesn't do anything but actual does everything before you realize it. Kristo is a speedy guy, and they use him a lot on the PK. He also hurt himself blocking a shot and limped off the ice, but came back almost immediated and nearly scored. Subban also dinged himself on a play but stayed the whole shift as Canada was locked in their zone and he couldn't leave. These young Habs are made of win and awesome.

My brother: Sens' building never heard that horn blast for the home team that much.

The Ole Ole Ole chant was sounded in the 3rd period.

Videos to save you from crappy holiday TV programing, Part 2

Well I just finished watching The Next Doctor. And now I've nothing else to watch until the World Juniors.

Calling for backup

My mom came with me to this game, as one of the free tickets I got from the Victory Pack. I can tell you, when Andrei got knocked out, it was absolutely frightening. And since the refs did fuck all, the team took care of the trash. Especially Sergei (who will end this season punching someone, but the refs keep getting in his way), Laraque shadowed all night, Sauer was too chicken to take him on so settled for smaller TK, Komisaurus roared, and the rest made their statements by burning the red light. This was also where Price and Gorges swapped helmets.

Probably better than the preseason one. Definitely better than the one on Doan. I mean, he's got many in the bank this year (that save on the Wild, that glove save on Chara's rocket, etc) but this one is extra special 'cause whiny little Brierererere totally thought he scored. Owned, Carey Price style.

Halak has pretty awful rebound control but that glove hand is quite flashy. I think I laughed a good long while at the player swinging on the crossbar.

Videos to save you from crappy holiday TV programing, Part 1

Yes, because if I see that old stop-motion Rudolf the Red Nosed Raindeer thing one more time I'm going to HURL. Actually I don't think I've ever seen any Hanukkah films for this time of year. Maybe because it would be too violent or something. Hardship overcome? Bah humbug! All I've ever seen is that bloody Ten Commandments film every fucking year for Passover (which I'm absolutely sick of by now). The only thing I really look forward to watching on TV (well, download) is the Doctor Who Christmas Special, which I need to start downloading soon. But until then, I thought I'd fill my page with things I liked from this year so far, courtesy of Nos Glorieux.

Shootouts
It's no secret that I hate how shootouts decide a game's final outcome. They're exciting, yes, but I'd be just as satisfied seeing two teams battle two types of overtime (4-on-4, 3-on-3) until something happens or not. Habs took their games to 8 shootouts, and it seemed like there was one every game when they were struggling. (Which, near the end, I was convinced Price just maybe gave up on winning the shootouts to teach the other guys a lesson, and maybe they got the hint since we haven't seen one since then).

Now I was at the preseason Florida shootout, and that was great stuff. But this preseason game was just electric. Yes, all of you should know, you will not be disappointed by a Habs game in preseason! So I recomend tickets as they might be easier to get than regular season games. This of course was the mirror goals by Pacioretty and Lang. Oh and note to TSN commentators, Habs fans boo every opposing player in a shootout because we try to psyche them out, not because we hate them...

This one is special because it was my first regular season Canadiens game ever. And ho boy was it rowdy in the rafters where I sit! Of course we all remember how the opening night wouldn't have gone to a shootout if not for the broken boards, but c'est la vie!

This one in Ottawa was pretty entertaining. Even Brunet mentioned his distaste for shootous. But that bizarre move by Tango, Markov doing his usual, Spezza showing how he only seems to score when no one else is on the ice...and of course that SICK glove save on Ruutu by Price. (Believe it or not, Ruutu is actually pretty good at shootouts, but I think that's mostly because goalies figure it's because Ruutu is shooting that they end up getting a surprise).

First the Juniors then the World!

I caught Team Canada's 7-0 smackdown on Slovakia yesterday, which wasn't too bad considering the team only got there an hour before the game thanks to SNOWMAGEDDON making their bus late. But how are the Habs kids doing? PK Subban nabbed 2 assists that sloppy night, worked pretty solid defensively (especially when the forwards didn't get back in time to help with a few odd-man rushes), and even though he wasn't in his speedy top self, he was everywhere. Set up some nice powerplay work, a couple of hits, did a few spin-o-ramas, and flashed that lovely smile! Also seems to enjoy messing around with Tavares, but can only dominate him at video games. Still, PK's got that scary hard shot.

Nicholas Torp is another defenseman in the Habs system. He's a lean, mean, hitting machine. A bit like Bouillon, actually, and not just 'cause he's vertically challenged. Totally railroads Pietrangelo there. Look out for number 6!

I haven't seen Kristo or McD yet, but I think their game is on tv this Friday afternoon. I do know that Team Canada is going to have one hell of a battle against Team USA, though. Tangradi is there too! (Subban's teammate with the Bulls).

A week off is lovely, but two weeks is even better...

I start my Christmas holiday early this year, since EA gave us all a company wide gift of an extra holiday off (the 24th) attached to our normal week off. And since I've got a good few days left in my vacation bank, as I only really take them in small bursts, I decided to stack on Monday and Tuesday. So that gives me TWO weeks. TWO! Which gives me plenty of time to paint my new apartment, argue with my father, and avoid the shopping centers at all times past the lunch hour. I don't like Christmas time...

But this is the week the Habs also have off, again. Which isn't a complaint, actually. The injured can heal right, the boys can see their families, and we avoid the evil December 23rd game that always ends badly. The only hockey on TV right now is the Penguinos vs the Buffaslugs (which is currently tied at 2). Maybe I'll go see what's up later. Not much else to watch, except the Border which I have missed most of this season so I'll just download them later.

To cure the boredom, how about some Habs goofing around?

Oh ya, the awesome "Get to know your Canadiens" thingy has "what was your favourite toy when you were a kid" for the recent question. Dandy is officially cool for saying Transformers.

The Bulldogs left for their Christmas break on a high by beating the snot out of the Hartford Wolf Pack (Baby Rangers) 6-2. Desjardins has been on a tear since replacing Denis as he went on callup duty, and facing nearly 40 or more shots every time. BEAUTIFUL Pacioretty move on Desharnais goal. Do yourself a favour and go see the highlight on the AHL page. (And he assisted on both of Desharnais' goals, which happened in a row). Anderson, Henry, Trotter and "Wayne Gretzky" (according to Jancevski) Lehoux got the other goals.

Soon! Soon the World Junior Championships will roll! Habs are represented in three countries with Kristo (the Count) and McD for the USA, Torp for Sweden unless he gets too many penalties for steamrolling players like that awesome hit he did on Pietrangelo in the exhibition match, and of course the burgeoning Bobby Orr PK Subban for the home team. Picard and Tokarski in nets is a nice set of goalies. Good luck, kids!

Remember the Bollocks: Habs 2, Divers 3 (OT)

No matter how hard a team tries, the outcome is usually the same with the Whalicanes. And the Habs deserve their point at least, because they played the game as careful as they could and as hard as they would be allowed considering every breath on a Whalicane results in a penalty or a no-goal. My brother observed it as it was in the early part of the game and into the middle of the second period: that the guys were too afraid to battle on the boards early on because every time they did they knew they would be called for something. (Caught a few times in later board battles a few 'Canes trying to pretend something that wasn't happening). Of what I did see, Pleky and Max's penalties were accurate. I know the one early on with Komo was a total dive, though.

Once upon a time, Mike Van Ryn said when he was in Florida that apparently if you brush up along side Brind'Amour, you'll get called for something. But every tripping they do is "accidental" and how a team's goal is waved off on a delayed penalty I don't know, because how does one put the puck in the net on a rebound off the goalie when they are not in control of said puck? And in overtime as Markov is trying to work while his stick is being held for a good 10 seconds with no call on it, only to have the Whalicanes later jump on Price and the loose puck that trickled behind him to the post a few moments later. Habs should have been on a powerplay there. Weaker calls were given yesterday in overtime, but this was absolutely blatant and in full view of the ref and where the puck was. I'm glad the crowd threw their cups and various trash on the rink after the game was over. The camera showed a nice shot of flying beer.

If any good came from this:
- D'Agostini!
- Tanguay the gentleman on D'Agostini's goal.
- Lang. Yes, screw you Mats.
- Price, like fine wine, will get better with age and got better as the game rolled on. I mean, not a bad showing for a guy who just came back from a long few weeks off. And (from the sound of it) I totally know the kind of injury he had as I've done the same to myself a few times just standing around my room and turning around too fast while the rest of me doesnt turn. (My dad has a problem with answering phones right away). Needless to say, it was hard to walk for a day or two, and then a little strained for a bit more.
- The hussle and awesomness of Lapierre's line when he's got Latendresse and Kostopoulos around him.
- Laraque the Rock and his big body, an absolutely immovable object.
- Kovy and his magic and how well Sergei is playing with him. And how hard he tried to help Pleky snap his zombie complex. (A little tap on the legs after a golden chance that completely failed, among other constant attempts to get him something, anything).
- Maxwell has pretty good hussle too, and seems to just be concentrating on his defensive game right now.
- WE NEVER HAVE TO SEE THESE DROOGS AGAIN UNTIL NEXT SEASON!



And to all of you, this one point could have been worse, so happy holidays. Keep healthy, keep safe, keep warm, and GO HABS GO!

Snowmaggedon!

Well, this is a webcam capture of what Montreal looks like right now. By me, out in the suburbs, all I see is white. Wonder if any of the boys have snowmobiles?

At least it's a Sunday. No one has much of a reason to venture outside except for shopping. I expect the crowd will show up by the 2nd period unless they leave REALLY early.

To bad the Whalicanes were already in town. I was hoping to hear their plane got cancelled or something.

This is more like it: Sergei 2, Tanguay 1, Kovy 1, Sabres 3, Miller 46, grabs a drink after overtime

Numbers!

I heard a rumor it was December, but outside, it feels like February. I'm guessing the ice at the Bell Centre is nice considering how FUCKING COLD it is and has been lately. Yesterday, I was out at a my company Christmas party. Yesterday, it felt like it was 50 below. And as I'm never drunk, I felt every little bit of it. Today was no better, though thankfully not as windy. So after an early supper, I turned on the fake stove-like electric heater, surrounded myself with fuzzy pillows, and buried myself under a fuzzy blanket, ready for the first of this back-to-back weekend game home stint before the holidays. And I really appreciate Habs/Sabres games. They're good battles of actual hockey with little douchebaggery that usually spoils one's evening. Though I gotta say, if not for Miller, this contest would have probably been a non-overtime cakewalk...

My laptop usually doubles as a heater
- Happy 30th for Markov! Yesterday was happy 38 for Lang!
- One signature of a Habs/Sabres game is how the teams take turns dominating each other in each other's zone.
- And as Miller was providing his team with his usual solid self, Halak was juggling. He did get better as the game went on, but there is never a dull moment when he's in nets. Despite that, he's now 2-0 against the Buffaslugs in his career.
- Laraque is The Rock. Try and hit him, and you bounce off. Try and hook him, and you'd need a meat hook. And that smile! It is both lovely and frightening...
- Peters was a total ragdoll in that fight, but Laraque never really punched him. Despite that, Peters left with a blackeye. Should count himself lucky!
- Argh Breezer the Screen gave the Buffaslugs their first goal. Either take the man or do like Hammer and poke the puck. Don't back up and back up and back up until Jaro can't see past you...
- The rocket that Sergei launched is something I've watched him practice every time I was able to catch the warmup skate. And 90% of the time it goes in, at the exact same spot, in an area that's liable to deflect somewhere ever better.
- Sergei also tried a few of his brother's moves, including that signature split the D and crash the net, as well as the warp around.
- Temporary Captain Kovy's work should be taped and mailed and shoved down Milbury's throat. Our guys get no respect.
- Lang and Tanguay are now with the same number of goals and assists and points! That's 10G, 14A, 24pts. So, screw you Mats and thanks for your service all those years Ryder.
- Maxwell played very well, shadowing his man again and creating havoc. Would have scored too if he wasn't off balance.
- D'Agostini is dangerous. My dad has started watching hockey since he was called up and stuck. My dad is now Dag's number 1 fan.
- Actually, these 6th round picks of the Habs are just incredible players.
- Super Pleky wasn't having a good night...
- Begin hit 3 people in a row and was looking for more. Clean hits too! Totalled up to 7 hits. No stupid penalties on him tonight.
- Miller was upset that Big Georges Laraque blocked his view on Tanguay's goal and claimed it was interfence when he just skated by him. Their goalie interference is even captured in a photo, as you can cleary see Ellis elbowing Halak in the head...
- But hey, there were questionable penalties all around... The difference was, when Kovy gets called for phantoms, he sits in the box plotting his revenge.
- McArthur says the Habs have a great powerplay. I guess he didn't see the games prior to having Sergei on the point. But thanks for the compliment anyway!
- I swear Kovy never leaves the ice. I'm sure he didn't leave during overtime.
- And of course, Temporary Captain Kovy, the overtime powerplay hero with 24 seconds left.

Conclusion: An excellent battle had by all.

Decking the halls with my fists of fury
- Penguinos looked awful in that blue sweater. And worse is it's hard to tell who's who when they play the Leafs. Their game was going on over at CBC at the same time and I guess the blue against white and blue confuses them too as they lost 7-3. Toronto launches it's usually 40 shots. Fleury lets in 5 goals and Sabourin gives them 2, Crosby tries to start a fight, the rest of the team checked out early for Christmas I guess... But that's ok, they'll keep text voting their players in for the All-Star game despite the fact that 3 of them haven't played the 20 games minimum for this year.
- Seems every time someone threatens to blow up the Senators, they win a game. A 5-4 OT win against Dallas. I guess the only way for them to win is to constantly threaten them with a trade to Phoenix.
- Bergeron knocked himself out again in Boston's 4-2 victory over those droogs we're playing tomorrow.
- When Hartnell isn't kneeing Andrei Kostitsyn, he's getting a hat trick for the Flyers in their Screamin' Orange old styled sweaters. Wait, what, Hartnell?! That or the Capitals just really aren't good on defence. Lots of games ending with scores of 7 goals too...

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.

One big penalty: Habs 2, Whalicanes 3, Refs 11

Everyone should know by now that when playing the Whalicanes, you basically have to play a no-contact type of hockey because every touch is embellished to grandiose proportions. It's why I take every penalty given to the Habs tonight with a grain of salt. Particularily the hookings, slashings, and trippings. The ever popular two minutes for collison returned tonight. And while I honestly don't care how true the penalties were, the fact that no one got called for giving Tanguay a bear hug for 30 seconds (and he played right through it while the Whalicane tried to make it look like he was the one being held), or for roughing D'Agostini who had every right to keep slaping that puck that Ward had no idea where it was, or the stick-around-the-waste type hookings, well... I'd say the refs went home with a satisfying bonus.

But let's look at the good things. Kovalev's shorthanded goal was a big FU to the game. It was a true statement because without the powerplays keeping the puck mostly around Halak, Ward would have let more through. It was a duel of which goalie could provide the best example of bad rebound control, and I'd say Wardo won that one. He was not sharp at all, and it basically came down to having his defense fill his net because they seemed to be aware of this problem and figured 3 goalies were better than 1.

Ben Maxwell was absolutely wonderful even if his impact hasn't hit the scoresheet like Dag did. He was on shadow duty and did it wonderfully, he was setting up in the offensive end and became an important factor in the 3rd as the majority of guys on the team just couldn't move anymore from being on the constant PK.

Unfortunately this crappy momentum was probably a contributing factor as to why Tanguay was having a bad day. At least he wasn't alone. Breezer must be the only player out there capable of making the same exact error four times in a row and CONTINUE to try again resulting in the same error. He may have been the only offense for a few games, but even I cringe at the sight of what he did in the backend.

And yes, and word to the wise other teams! If you don't want the Habs to score on a penalty shot, then don't give one to Gui!Gui!Gui!, though by all means, do it. Thought I'd just warn you. He's now 2/2 with those and I wonder why he is rarely put out in shootouts... When it's just him vs the goalie and no defenseman is shoving a stick down his shorts to stop him, he usually scores. Also puts a smile to my face when players tried knocking him around by the boards. They tried, but bounced off him. In the end he still had the puck.

Nevertheless, this game was like an episode of the Twilight Zone. I'm just happy Gui! and Kovy scored (and both played a hell of a game, though Kovy's been playing great games for a while except no one notices it unless he gets a goal on his sheet instead of a zillion assists). And just looking at this team suffer without Koivu... Imagine if Kovy were gone too? I shudder to think of that day and only hope Gainey brings him back. He's a workhorse and frankly no one can replace him. All he wants for Christmas is a few goals, less teams doing the instant triangle on him, and linemates that can finish his setups. I'm still dreaming of a Kovy-Koivu/Lang-Kovy line!

Cap 2, Habs 1: I didn't see it

Didn't get to see tonight's game because I was setting up my new apartment for some painting tomorrow. I was at the gas station filling my tank when the Kovalanguay line buzzed Varlamov's net and could do nothing more than freak him out by hitting the goal post twice. Got home in time to see AK46 battle a neutral zone trap all by himself in an attempt at breaking forward so that Halak could leave for an extra attacker. Too little, too late! But it's the bad decisions that are just killing the team. Like why would anyone slapshot a shot while right in front of the net instead of tap it in. Again, Breezer was the only one who could score, and I'm torn with forgiving him for his own bad decisions on defense to praise him or to just continue chewing him out for those bad decisions on defense. Hmm... what to do...

Ben Maxwell has joined the crew though. He's a pretty impressive rookie from what I've seen of him in camp and with the Bulldogs. I wasn't expecting much from his first actual NHL game so maybe the next one will earn him some points, but the little I caught at the start of the game before I went off to my apartment... well, he was aggressively covering his man like mad!

I'd like to see Greg Stewart up here though.

The major bummer though is the clinic is filling up. Koivu, Higgins, Dandy, Price... Komisaurus is coming back soon though. Thankfully these are happening NOW instead of a week before April. Nevertheless, it's still a downer. Get healthy soon, boys! And give Price some flu shots! Or at least some chicken soup. That's a guaranteed cure-all.

For dessert...
I just caught a bit of the Oilers-Canucks game. First shot on goal and it's a goal for the Oilers. The Sandman doth look shakey. I hear Luongo isn't doing very good with that injury of his either... And there were two fights already. Upon seeing Stortini in the box for his fighting major, my brother said "Where'd they find this guy, frozen in the ice?" Grog pass puck!

And Roloson skates funny.

Habs 1, Bolts 3, blame Melrose for the jinx

People really don't understand why the Canadiens have a hard time with terrible teams. I can tell you why, though. These teams are so bad and have almost no system that it's almost impossible to read, so they seem unable to work against them. At least, that's how I see it. I guess the guys could use some motivation for the Capitals on Saturday though, since the only goal came from Breezer off the powerplay. Shocking, I know.

I'll be brief because I'm half asleep:
- I'm guessing traffic held up our anthem singer, since they brought out the old Forum tapes. Yes I know the old lyrics to our anthem!
- Vince is still the same asshole in game as when i knew him.
- Stamkos is learning how to be a similar asshole from Vince.
- A few guys just below my seat were chanting his name as "LE CAAAAVE!" (which is basically French for asshole).
- Refs missed 15 rather bad penalties, including two puck over the glass that we always get called for but I guess refs had the Lightning with a pity vote.
- Melrose hoped they never won another game and to me that meant they were going to win tonight.
- Breezer scored, but couldn't hold a blue line to save himself.
- Breezer has the odd tendency to shoot a forward pass right into an opposing player.
- O'Byrne was smarter than Breezer.
- Sergei Kostitsyn needs finishers on his line because his beautiful setups are going to waste.
- Latendresse was rather invisible but I saw he wanted to score.
- Watching a guy bounce of Gui! in an attempt to check him off the puck, though, was hilarious. Gui! didn't move, guy went flying though.
- Kovalev wins faceoffs!
- Not that it mattered to win faceoffs since it would be lost soon after or waved off.
- Koivu injured?! FARK!
- Downie is now back to his regular douchebaggery, and even run our goalie.
- Apparently Vince is untouchable despite his spearing one of our guys while right in front of the ref in between plays. Yet the dive on Sergei and they send the kid off for "tripping".
- Juggling is not goaltending, Jaro.
- REBOUNDS! They go BOING!
- No challenge on that breakaway shorthanded goal. The crowd was chanting for Price to come in.
- Now knows how Price feels after being run into 5 times.
- Markov appears to have forgotten how to work the powerplay.
- SHOOT DA PUCK but not that high.
- Fourth line hussle was unable to score, but did cause much havoc.
- Teams triangle quickly on Kovy. YOU'RE invading his personal space.
- Suddenly getting physical in the 3rd period gave me something to look at as the bodies were flying everywhere. If they had started like that, it would have been a different game.
- Third Period Bonanza (tm) didn't work.
- Thankfully the Lightning can't hit an empty net.
- Kolzig mentored Price during those Tri-City days and were hanging out together by the red line in practice. He was also cheered for when they gave him his 2nd star of the night.
- They booed Vince a lot. Booed him loud when he got his 3rd star
- They cheered for mini St-Louis though, especially when he got his 1st star.
- Should call up our mini player Desharnais. He could give us the same hussle.
- I never saw a drunk thrown out of the Bell Centre from the Kids Zone.

Conclusion: mailed.

SNOW! Habs 4, Flames1

We can't stop here, this is bat country!

A rare appearance by the Calgary Flames?! Oh yes. But they brought a snowstorm with them. So while the Bell Center looked empty for half the game, the place was sold out by people stuck in traffic thanks to our city being retarded with their snow removal. What's a matter... the contract not start yet? I couldn't even get into my driveway. In fact, I listened to half the first period and the beginning half of the 2nd while inching my way home in the snow/sleet/traffic, passing many a stalled or spun-out car or truck. And people were complaining about the snowtire law... Bunch of wankers. You'd think people would know how to handle winter by now? We only get it every year.

Oh the points!
- The very hairy Czech, Robert Lang, must have heard whispers of an unhairy Swede and responded with a 3 point night that included two very needed and proven goals.
- Shoot da puck, score da goal!
- Kovy's one-handed pass behind the net produces more than just a show. He's so sneaky.
- D'Agostini going nani nani fufu as he blocks a shot and dekes the hell out of Kipper for another unassisted goal in his pocket. Well, looks like he'll be the victim for this years rookie dinner.
- SERGEI IS BACK and looking as pissed off as ever. He was great, especially on the PK.
- Tanguay assisting on those flying pucks and just itching to give his old coach a wave.
- Refs are blind. Very blind.
- Why can't Markov do the same slapshot on the powerplay? But all the thanks should go to Kovy for screening Kipper.
- So Markov makes a play to stop Phaneuf who inadvertedly falls over him by turning to get around him and makes it look like kneeing and the Flames try to beat up on Markov. He eventually comes out of the pile with his sweater around his hands and his armor over his head. Back on the bench, Sergei was laughing at him.
- Iginla trying to bait Breezer into a fight at the end and got nothing but a ribbing from the Habs bench. No respect for your elders!
- The look on Price's face as one injured player after another walked by him was that of "OH MY GOD".
- Dandy broke him arm yet finished his shift, without a stick and parked in position in front of Halak to make a defensive play.
- The last thing Higgins needs is a shoulder injury dammit!
- Flames got plenty of good chances and despite the constant flailing in front of Jaro, the rest of the Habs managed to beat them off the puck.
- Ooooo giveaways!
- Sorry, Flames, but this isn't the Rangers.
- Price messing around with Halak after the win.
- Hey wow, we play these guys again in February.

Conclusion: more games like this and the armchair GMs could maybe STFU. And the guy still hasn't come to clean my driveway...

Mini-Soapbox
Who cares about the All-Star Game. It's a place for the players to just relax and have some fun! But I don't get it when people vote for injured players, especially those who have been injured since the beginning of the season. So...I don't get it. I stopped voting for Brendan Morrow the day he went down and concentrated on some Oilers player to go with my Mikko Koivu. At least write in someone that's playing!

Sick of voting yet?

Well it's no skin off my back, really, so I don't know much about "voter fatigue". All you do is get off work early, walk into a gym, make a mark on a paper and stuff said paper in the box. I always vote! And All-Star voting is easier, as I don't need to leave my home! And yes I'm still voting for that habsKovy-Koivu-thrashersKovy line!

Oh and the PQ didn't win. There is a god!

Next: voting for Prime Minister again? I daaaaaaare you, Liberals. If only to watch them go to pieces...

The Devil You Know: Habs 1, Devils 2 (OT)

Pure trap hockey, if you can deal with this sort of stuff. One trap (the more exciting Habs one) trying to overcome the other trap (the choking Devils one). And though the puck was bouncing like a bouncy ball, and I'm sure he'd love that one that dribbled through him in the second to tie it back (hey, it was a damn good shot), the team needs to thank Carey Price for bringing them to overtime and giving them that one point.

Because people annoy me, I will take a stand
- First period was all Habs, second was a toss up, third was all Devils. But neither teams could convert on their powerplays (until the overtime thing).
- Matt D'Agostini! His family was watching, and he scores the first goal. If anyone else on the team had paid attention and copied his move, we'd have had 3 more goals like that because I saw Clemmer juggle the exact same rebound to the exact same area with the exact same opening ready.
- My brother on D'ag: I knew it! He's got a family member named Vinny! (His dad).
- Clemmer reads the play well enough and is definitely making a case to steal Weekes' job. But right now he's doing a good enough job to keep the Devils alive.
- Powerplay just couldn't do anything though they had a very good chance on the second wave in the first but Clemmer had the final word on it.
- Price earns this first star for sure. As the game waned on, I think the team just gradually got annoyed with how the Devils were playing and really couldn't do much in the 3rd.
- When the Habs did hold the offensive zone, they were absolutely incredible even if the puck had a tendency to trickle out to...no one.
- Kovy gets called for tripping with 30 seconds left and that was a very weak call. I mean, really. They don't call the early holdings Kovy had to deal with but he puts his stick down to hit the puck forward along the boards and a player falls over it, and he's off.
- Devils defense consists of holding, hooking, and general choking.
- Super Pleky! He was just everywhere doing everything! He just never ceases to amaze me.
- Laraque almost did a backhander that cashed in. Almost!
- We had some casualties that added to the problems. Dandy blocked a shot with his foot and was off for a bit, but he came back near the end. Markov caught a puck with his face in the 3rd and ran off the ice. With him gone, victory would have been very hard to grab and the powerplays completely fell apart.
- Price took a shot off the mask that stunned him for a few seconds but thankfully he's ok!
- Guh Breezer. He's really slow these days eh? But what the hell was with that giveaway that nearly opened the scoring for the Devils?! Even Rhino wouldn't think to pass to an opponent skating into the slot!
- Price's only home ice regulation loss came after he relieved Halak in that Ducks game. Pretty amazing. And the last time we faced the Devils, it was his second shutout of his rookie year. Looks like he's back to facing his sweater number in shots eh?
- Koivu has now passed one of my favourites, Mats Naslund, in points (613) for his assist on D'ag's goal.
- We need some help on the powerplay. I know Weber isn't ready defensively but he could maybe help. I do know if we bring Belle up he may not be able to be sent down without passing waivers so you'd have to hope if he does come up that he does well enough to stay. (At least, I think that's how it would work with him but I'm not sure as the waivers crap is so confusing). On the plus side, he's extremely fast and would be an improvement over a certain slow man we have back there, and he can't be any worse! But the guys just gotta shoot! And they need more guys near the net. I do believe Laraque was standing out there on a few powerplay attempts, actually.
- This is the type of game I think Sergei would have been helpful in. He had a lot of points against New Jersey last year in terms of assists, afterall. He just seems to have a knack for finding those lanes or finding the open man. But ya live and learn eh.

In conclusion: It's a trap! What else can I say? Playing the Devils is like betting on which side the coin will flip to. Next!

Bulldogs!
As I wrote this, Captain Chipper scored on the Grand Rapids Griffins, right inside the far goal post, interrupting their play-by-play guy on his advertising call. So it's 3rd period and 5-2 for the Dogs. Chris Chelios is playing with the Griffins right now (conditioning stint, he'll be back in the NHL soon now that his leg is healed). Desjardins is in nets, as Denis has been struggling lately. Chelios gave Pacioretty his autograph as he ran into him in a Starbucks near the hotel they were staying. I miss Chelios... would rather have that old man as our token veteran on defense than Breezer, that's for sure.

Chipper scored 2 goals and got the first start of their night. Desharnais was the second star and had the game winning goal that gave them the lead they didn't relinquish. Aubin and White scored the other two goals. Five goals and ten assists in total! And this with old man Chelios on the ice. Good job, boys!

Habs 6 Rags 2, free wings the 2nd night in a row, and I can finally go back to the forums without being overly annoyed!

When the Canadiens show up, they show up. Finally, for the first time this season all 4 lines were scoring and everyone was doing their job. Case in point, the 2nd Rangers goal was a result of someone unable to catch their man. But you're allowed a mistake or two when you play the way they did tonight.

Happy 99th Birthday
- Original 6 salut to the Rangers and the ghosts must have been happy to hear the old Forum singer back. Hope they bring him back for future games, like the playoffs and such. His voice is just AMAZING and I do miss the old version of our anthem.
- Love the old sweaters and LOVE LOVE LOVE Price's retro-styled gear. Also noticed he's wearing the Team Roper helmet. Wonder what happened to his Garth Brooks one...
- People will say the Rags played to a shootout last night against the Penguinos. People will say they were tired. I honestly didn't see anything different from when I caught earlier Rangers games, really... The "we were tired" excuse was supposed to be Boston's reaction that one night when they KOed Les Habitants 6-1.
- 3 goals in the first, 1 in the second, two in the third and Tom Renney looked like he wanted to throw up.
- Habs trap system is great. It's almost like an offensive game of chess. They push and push and patiently wait and then explode.
- This was maybe the least amount of shots Price faced in his life? Held the Rags to only 19 SOG and they could only score on a screen powerplay deflection and a textbook rush after someone failed to cover their man while coming back late after a fall. Other than that, he was always in position, even catching a backhander from Breezer.
- The fourth line continues to burn true to the fact that all four lines are offensive threats as much as they are defensive one. Laraque got 2 points on assists! Lapierre a goal and assist! Begin a goal and assist!
- Lundqvist totally didn't know what happened when Tanguay scored. Neither did the rest of his team.
- Tom Kostopoulos is flashing the moves the more he plays with Super Pleky and Tanguay.
- AK46 flying in and landing on his backside for the opening goal is textbook Kovalev.
- Gordie Howe Hat Trick for Fruit Punch!
- Powerplay would have worked on a goalie that wasn't Lundqvist. He was doing all he could for his team but they just weren't interested.
- Kovalev is a presence no matter what he's doing, but people have to realize he's trying more to set up his linemates with chances and it worked well enough tonight.
- Dandy's fine back on defense. He was, afterall, a defenseman. Breezer is just terrible lately on the powerplay though as he can barely hold the blue line and can barely skate after the puck that slips by him... But I'm not as worried with these guys as I am when Rhino's out there.
- I do believe D'Agostini is staying. Another goal, and an assist.
- I'm missing Sergei! Hopefully seeing these few good games will inspire him to join the attack.
- Lang's 900th game, Hammers 1,100th game.
- Captain Koivu versus Captain Gomez. Gomez whacked Koivu in the head at the faceoff, and Koivu ran after him basically saying to man-up instead of continuing with his cheapshots. Koivu with the takedown and they both go off for roughing. Lapierre was already in the box and went on yapping at Gomez next door who went on immitating him. Then Koivu told Lapierre to drop it and he did. When the Captain speaks, everyone listens!
- Coach Komo now 3-0!
- Habs victory glomp on Price was like a playoff win. I love these guys!

Conclusion: This has been a full sixty minutes!

Bulldogs!
Well the Dogs have lost their 3rd straight since Dag came up to play, but it isn't like they're struggling. A 5-4 loss to the Milwaukee Admirals is just a hard fought battle that could have gone either way. Captain Chipper and Patches got 2 assists, Mike Glumac got two goals, Ryan Russel with another goal, and Dan Jancevski got his first goal of the season (and another in the books for assists). Maxwell, Desharnais, and Stewart got assists as well.

Most entertaining game thus far? Habs 5 Thrashers 4

Well technically it was 6-4 because Tanguay's goal SHOULD HAVE COUNTED as it was Hedberg interfering with Lapierre (see scissor legs). But hey, if you gotta cheat, at least win it.

Defense gives me a heart attack sometimes
- Ok maybe just Breezer. Pop in trunk, dunk in river, thank you!
- No seriously. Price has to keep bailing him out. Thank god we have a goalie capable of shooting pucks himself. And stickhandling too. You'd think that would inspire people by going "hey, he can stickhandle with a fucking paddle stick and oven mits so what's wrong with me?"
- Another very elusive powerplay goal by Markov. Keep it simple, eat those rebounds, and good things will happen.
- Matt D'Agostiniiiiiiiiii! NHL goal number 1 in NHL game number 3!
- Kovy and Lang together are having a blast both on ice and on the bench. Just a couple of old boys.
- Maguire hanging around between the benches, you can hear Halak say "no way that didn't even cross the line" on Hainsey's second, but they allowed it anyway despite watching it hover right on top of it.
- Hey coach, we're missing a man and that gave Hainsey his first.
- Game was in control until... well I don't know what happened. People went to sleep?
- Must. Win. More. Faceoffs!
- Really like Kovalchuk. He would be lovely on a line with a player like Kovy feeding him pucks. Too bad he would be very expensive.
- I think I'm tired of refs not calling blatant crosschecks from behind but always calling our borderline penalties. Apparently when people run into you and happen to hook up your stick on them you go to the box and watch the other score (in that case it was Kostopoulos, our top PKer, with an obvious target on his forehead).
- Super Pleky being super!
- Andrei Kostitsyn trying to get his brother out of the pressbox. Look at him fly, Sergei~!
- Coach Komo is now 2-0!

Conclusion: Fast, battle type game! Ya the third period pissed me off but they fought back and showed who's boss without a shootout. Defense needs to lockdown more in the 3rd though. They allowed way too many quality chances then compared to earlier in the game. I do believe Kovalchuk will have the Senators for lunch tomorrow though. I'm really sorry, but I think we pissed him off a lot more than that 3rd period pissed us off.

According to the jumbotron, they're called the "Trashers"

Well, I nearly got hit by a car this evening. I was well on my way crossing the road in the Namur parking lot area when a car sped around the corner by the Walmart. Believing that people stop at stop signs when people cross roads, I kept going, because well fuck it I was already halfway across the street. The car dipsy-dooled in front of me, not slowing down and sped off towards the...Aldo warehouse shoe store? Oh what a shoe of an emergency. I nearly kicked the car, but didn't, instead hollered a "WHAT THE FUCK?!" as it went off narrowly missing my toes. Not like I was wearing dark clothes either as my jacket is a light beige. This is probably the 100th time I have almost been killed by people at that stop sign. Most of the time it's early morning nutballs speeding into the Tim Hortons. The best was the Mercedes though. It had a "JESUS" liscense plate. I wanted to kick that one.

Another thing that made my day suck was the sudden realization that Stephane Dion wants to overthrow our democratically elected government and assume power after he quit the Liberals and suddenly came back. No, please, go away. And take that evil looking numskull Ignatieff with you. Which leads me to some confused course of thought... How is this different from what we fight against in various 3rd world countries where some guy walks in and takes over a government there? Oh, right, we don't kill anyone.

Anyway, Carbo's line juggling again for some reason. I won't ask why he puts our 3 slowest players together, or why he separated the obvious "keep the brothers together and shove them next to a random center" but whatever. We welcome the Atlanta T(h)rashers to town tomorrow night for some fun in the...well I'd say snow but that hasn't been sticking lately. Maybe we can borrow their Kovy and pair him with our Kovy. That could be a fun line! But getting their Kovy out of Atlanta would require some Grand Team Extortion, as their GM is a blood sucking git when it comes to trading and I bet he'd be eyeing a goalie and a few of our wonderful futures. Hiss~ keep it away! Exhibit A would be the trade for Hossa coupled with their current inconsistencies in the net...

My brother asked me what the fuck is a "Thrasher" and I told him it was the state bird of Georgia. He didn't belive me, but it's true! Though why their uniform is powder blue, I'll never know. Maybe they'd look nice in brown and white?

Hockey Weekend!

"Drop the space helmet for a cow, Doctor, and look! The Habs won!"

Well, I'm all hockeyed out. Saturday was my final ticket in my Victory Pack where the Habs beat the Sabres 3-2. (Which means I get another pair of free tickets, so one more game for me)! And Sunday I checked out the Hamilton Bulldogs, who unfortunately lost to the Baby-Sens 5-3 (though 4 of those goals were on the powerplay). Off to point-form impressions!

Saturday
- Boo me once, fine. But boo me later, PISS OFF! Really, guys. Stop booing O'Byrne. Give the kid a break. I was one of the many fans with actual brains to try and drown out the boos with cheers. He wasn't even playing that night anyway.
- Teams scored off defensive errors. Higgins did the first which led to a nifty through-the-legs mind trick via Vanek.
- Fruit Punch finally doesn't shoot at the net during a 2-on-1 and instead waits, then passes to Begin and BINGO it's in. At least he's learning.
- Two of Sergei's penalties were extremely suspect. Especially the first one. Just his luck to get picked on for the phantom hooking/slashing call.
- First time I ever saw a hooking penalty shared by both teams. Creative interpretation.
- Mmm Andrei Kostitsyn gobbling his own rebounds and dunking cookies.
- Kovy can stickhandle his way into my heart all night. He was driving the Sabres up the wall.
- Kovy was also giving them fits with this year's clinic on how to forecheck and annoy the piss out of them.
- Kovy doesn't dump pucks on line changes and people should know this already. So when he's holding the zone for 2 minutes, get your ass into position 'cause you're making him look bad when he swings the puck to the blue line and no one is there.
- Dandy on defense got bored and went all Bobby Orr. Too bad he didn't score. But it was still fun to watch.
- Anyone else on the Sabres that score other than Vanek? Nope.
- Though that Spacek guy was one fast bugger. Habs had his number though.
- Rivet? Boo! Gorges? YAY!
- I feel sorry for Lalime sometimes.
- We had powerplays?
- The Captain and Markov dancing for goals again.
- Thank god there was no shootout. And people, quit running into Price!

Sunday
- Weber is scary with that shot. I think players blocking it cross their heart and pray their armor holds, while goalies just duck and hope he misses. Two goals tonight! And the Swiss flag was raised proudly by a few fans.
- Pacioretty goes to the net! Why can't we do that? What a smart kid though. I think he's been watching Kovy's DVD. What stickhandling! And a beautiful shorthanded goal. Straight off a face off and he's down the ice, dodging everyone for a driveby backhander.
- Baby-Sens learn to dive early.
- Baby-Sens appear to live and breathe off the powerplay.
- Baby-Sens still play better than the regular Sens. What's up with that?
- Chipchura as captain is like a burgeoning Brendan Morrow. He's got the power, and the bite, and ain't afraid to tell anyone he's not happy with them. He'll also drop the gloves, and almost did tonight when someone hit him from behind after the whistle.
- Holy shit Shawn Belle is fast. Also has a scary shot.
- Erm Cody Bass trying to get Yannick Weber to fight after a clean hit? Excuse me while I scratch my head on that one. "Roughing" penalty for both, looked more like 2 minutes for hugging.
- Desharnais is so tiny it's too cute, but he plays like a monster.
- The more fights Stewart wins, the more people don't want to fight him. And Flynn was right there next to him too.
- Not much Denis could do on half those powerplay goals except hope someone on defense is watching the guy hiding behind him.
- Wished the Habs would get fans on the ice for contest shots...

In conclusions: Woo! I'm one satisfied customer with this weekend.

Caps shutout 3-0

Dear Doctor Number 2,
What do you see from your Tardis on the scanner screen for this season concerning our lovely but baffling Montreal Canadiens? Oh, I know that telling me such is probably against some laws of time or something, but please, just a little hint? Will Daleks invade the Bell Center tomorrow while I watch our boys play against Buffalo? Or will Cybermen concoct some bizarre plan to make us all like them? I wouldn't mind seeing a few Yeti, so long as they remove those control spheres which would render them into large unthreatening cuddly fur...giants.

I wonder if you saw Theo shutout the Habs?

Doctor, I know you have two hearts. From what I've been reading, people are saying a few of our players barely have one. I don't know what to think myself, really.

I'd like to thank Halak for trying to keep these droogs alive. May he paddle down on their heads all the way home. Perhaps they'll score more if he gets angry? Perhaps, Doctor, you can take a few on a ride with your Tardis to the past to revisit a few exciting hockey games that speckled our wonderous team history? If it's too much to ask for, maybe just a quick hop back to last year with some hope of rekindling any inkling of inspiration.

Good night, Doctor.

Habs Rock Detroit! (Habs 3, Wings 1)

I had a terrible day at work today. My newish computer, the one they gave me in August while taking away my prefectly fine and not-so-slow computer, died on me while I was rebooting because it was acting slow. Apparently I may have lost all my stuff on it as well, which stinks. (Backup? On that pitiful amount of space they give us over the server? My PSDs run up to 50mb each!) Luckily I'm well ahead on the project, so it's no problem for my schedule, but I spent my entire day doing nothing while the IT guy went running around trying to figure out what to do and how to fix it. Actually, I took a nap (which helped me kill time and paid off later for my own hockey game). Eventually he gave me a temporary computer, which didn't allow me to install anything and didn't even have the right photoshop on it. Didn't matter anyway since I couldn't install our homebrew programs since I was locked out. Sigh...

I bought myself a classic Doctor Who DVD to cheer myself up. Tomb of the Cybermen, all found and complete. I love Patrick Troughton. (Well, I loved Peter Davison more, but the 2nd Doc is so much fun). That sort of cheered me up.

But what really made my day was getting into my car and switching over the radio to CJAD later after hockey just in time to catch Super Pleky score on the powerplay! And the guys I played with said "oh it's probably 3-0 Detroit, with a goal by O'Byrne". Ha! Ye of little faith.

My prediction for this game was a 2-1 shootout victory, but I guess we can't measure teams via preseason eh? Actually, I figured since we've had so many shootouts, what's one more? Also Detroit looses more in overtime/shootout games. This is the 3rd regulation loss for Detroit EVER this season. And don't regard TSN's headline. Habs didn't steal this. They worked hard, they played hard, they played SMART and they played the Wings right into their own forecheck-less neutral zone variation trap. They also finally learned how to bounce pucks off defensemen for deflections into nets, which was how Fruit Punch opened the scoring by deflecting it off Lidstrom. ConkBlock was all over the place. But they didn't look tired. They looked like the usual hockey robots of Detroit. And hey, they said the Bruins would be tired when they beat the boys 6-1.

The downer was that Price lost out his shutout bid, but them's the brakes. O'Byrne, who rebounded after that terrible Monday with a good effort, pyloned up in the 3rd period after just handing it lightly to Franzen, who totally danced in and around him right up to a picture perfect shot. Needless to say, the kid was BENCHED for the rest of that one. Actually Carbo may want to keep him benched for every third period when we're trying to hold on to a suitable winning lead. Third period was shutdown defense time, where the boys had to deal with one and a half penalties at the start, and patiently awaited their opportunities. Oddly enough Habs outshot the Wings for the first two periods. Just the third combined the powerplays and defensive play, the shots tipped in Detroit's favor. (More +30 shots for Pricey)!

Casualties: Alex Tanguay from a 1st period hit by Brad Stuart. Said his neck was bugging him. Sounds like he got whiplashed. Kostopoulos took his spot on the Koivu/Higgins line. (Worked well enough for Master Higgins to get a goal)!

All in all, excellent effort. It was a step up from how they played against the Islanders, but with an better result. Wings have the number 1 powerplay, and didn't get anything on it. (Habs converted 1). Sergei is also back to hitting people with his gritty checks.

On my drive home, I smiled as I heard the Carey Chant and Go Habs Go pour out of my speakers. Habs fans are everywhere! We've invaded! To quote a certain tin man: "You will be like us!"

Does this warrant a title or do I need to check the rulebook first?

On this historic day, everyone's favourite defenseman, Josh Gorges, scored his first goal in a Montreal Canadiens sweater. It was his 2nd NHL goal in total, ever. Goalie Carey Price gave number 26 a big hug during intermission and the crowd went wild.

Too bad Chris Lee and Ryan O'Byrne pissed on your parade. FUCK-N-A!

Oh yea, and it was a good game, Habs were all over the Islanders, fixing each others mistakes, fighting hard in overtime (Kovy gave up waiting for his linemates I think). Scoring from Lapierre and Begin. It was a good game, other than those two...things.

Now I've returned home! Habs 2 Bruins 3 (SO)

The final score has no meaning tonight, though it does to some fans, but not to me. The number is raised! Justice is served! The hero of my generation has returned home! And the torch? Oh it has been passed. What better way to honour Patrick Roy than to bring a game to overtime and stand on your head for a team struggling offensively (would help not to shoot at the goalie and to you know, pick those rebounds, but I digress). And despite the loss, the boys came out flying like it was a playoff game in November. Now just compliment your goalie with some goals please.

They got highlights:
- He came through the front door, walked down the hallways by the concessions, didn't pick up a pack of fries, shook hands with some lucky fans that were waiting around, and came through a door by the lower level bowl which lead to the players bench. A few words to Beliveau and a hug, and then there he was: Patrick Roy
- Like when Koivu returned from his battle with cancer, the crowd would not allow anyone to get a word in.
- Koivu, Halak, and Price aided him at pinning up the number and posing for the picture. Price looked like he didn't want to let go of Roy.
- The Bruins were not there for the ceremony...
- Tanguay and Breezer were like two chatty girls by the bench the entire time. They were loving it.
- Roy nearly crying as he looked up at his number slowly hoisting up to the ceiling. I'm going to try and snap a picture of it on Monday (and my seat is near his wall in the Ring of Honor too).
- The game! Carbo must have read my mind: it worked before during the playoffs, so why not all the time. Starts the 4th line against the Booins, get the energy going. Sergei looks like he's having fun with them, but it's too bad none of them seem capable of utilizing his beautiful passes. At least he tries to get goals too.
- The hits! They're everywhere! But they're mostly coming from red sweaters! And this is disturbing the Booins a bit, like it did in Game 1 and 7.
- The Priceberg holds the fort on a few key chances that would normally soar over most heads.
- Andrei Kostitsyn and his wristers.
- The shadow of Big Georges is long and strong and it was all over Lucic, completely messing with his game and his number 1 line. And that was the plan. Everyone knew he'd never fight Laraque anyway. And the one time Laraque wasn't on the ice with him was when he scored. Keep this in your notebook, Carbo.
- Big Georges' smile is both frightening and lovely.
- Koivu throwing the hits on Wideman, and also gets a roughing penalty on an after-whistle hugfest.
- How many times is Breezer going to fake a shot and think about making a move on the powerplay? One, two, three, four, five...
- Tom Kostopoulos rocks. No seriously. This is what it means when they say "work and it will pay off". Third star of the evening.
- Right now, I'd switch Stewart for Lapierre. If only Stewart could win faceoffs. (Might not have to, Begin seems to be doing fine with those).
- O'Byrne, you did some good, but you did bad as well. Hamilton is just over there... Hello Shawn Belle? Ring ring.
- I'll trade you one Higgins for a D'Agostini.
- I think Ryder freaks out everytime he thinks about scoring on Price. He's a non-factor at the moment.
- Ya the powerplay did indeed eat up it's quota. Perhaps it's time to put Big Georges in front of the net for screens and deflections. Could probably get a few garbage goals there. No one is capable of moving him once he's parked. (Hey, the NHL is BUILT around garbage goals now).
- Markov...it's overtime and there was no one around you, Tiny Tim was totally on his way down when you slowed to shoot, that would have gone in right over his head. But you just had to try and pass it to...no one. Merci!
- I don't even think Wheeler knew what the hell he was doing on that shootout move, but whatever.
- Hey Carbo, about those shootout choices... You may want to throw Tanguay out instead of Markov. Even AK46 might have been better than Kovy. Hell, throw out Kostopoulos! No on expects him to score, he probably would have done the job.

Overall: Offense still in November-mode, but this time you can't really say that was a stolen point. They were playing hard through their funk and having some fun hitting things.

Questions with Patrick Roy sent in from viewers on RDS where one asked if he had the choice of any player in the league to build his team around who would it be, Roy picked Price. He would build from the net out, even if Crosby were available, and believes him to be an exceptional player. Then said Ovechkin might be available in the 2nd.

Bulldogs!
They were awesome tonight. They destroyed the Blues AHL team, the Peoria Rivermen, 7-4 scoring 5 goals in the 3rd period. Marc Denis faced 47 shots while Ben Bishop only faced 22. Greg Stewart opened the scoring, Ryan White got the second. Third Period Bonanza came courtesy of D'Agostini, Trotter, Chipchura, and White again with a shorthanded goal. Chipchura also got the empty net at 19:59. Seriously, Shawn Belle is currently a +14 (+4 tonight). Alex Henry would be good too, but he's gotta go through waivers...

Elsewheres...
- Moustaches everywhere! Wendel Clark is honored, but not retired. Hawks beat them in overtime 5-4.
- Morrow is gone on injury for most of the season dammit! But the Stars bring it to a shootout and lose 2-1 to the Ducks.
- This could suck? Luongo does something and pulls his groin on the first shot on goal five minutes into the game and is dragged off the ice. Even though the Canucks beat the Penguinos (still without Fleury) 3-1, the Captain was limping something awful later... Not a very high shooting game either, as each team got 18 shots on goal.
- Ottawa wins 4-1 against the Rangers because of Jarkko Ruutu being Jarkko Ruutu. And the Rangers kind of stink. It's way too quiet in that building without Habs fans...
- Islanders beat the Buffaslugs 4-2. Lalime isn't really known for consistency. But Habs better beat those fishsticks Monday or I'll be mighty unhappy. (And I'll be there too).