The Comeback. Habs at Blues.

I was actually looking forward to this game because it would be an awesome foray back into blogging by bringing up that after almost a full season of hockey, the "fans" who booed Carey Price in the pre-season would finally have to face the oh so sweet music called "Surprise! You're a bunch of friggin' tards!" Maybe when they saw that Carey Price is top ten in every major statistical category (including first in wins and second in shutouts) they would finally shut up about trading away Jaroslav Halak who ranks an impressive 22nd in wins and 33rd in save percentage. Perhaps they would also shut up about Lars Eller being useless and a bust, since his heroics were a huge part of our victory against Boston and he has recorded 5 points in as many games. I'm not a dick, but I really wanted to "I told you so" the shit out of some hapless trolls. Yes that's a Charlie Sheen reference, the Habs are "WINNING!" aren't they?
Unfortunately the ineptitude of the National Hockey League to address the safety of it's young players following the events of March 9th has left a big fart cloud over the city. Everything you could think of has been said concerning the matter and I think it's just time to wish Max Pacioretty a speedy recovery and get on to playing. The Blues are a non playoff team so therefore of course they will be a serious challenge to the Canadiens. Let's just forget about Zdeno Chara, Air Canada and however you spell "Turn-buckle" and get two big points tonight. The game is in St. Louis so there will be no assholes who will boo Halak even thought they probably bought one of those stupid stop sign T-Shirts over the summer. Enjoy the game, go Habs, and if any of you fine young ladies practice the art of erotic dance, why don't you stop by the Montreal General Hospital tonight to pay a certain young Canadien a visit. I'm sure his fiancee won't mind. It's for the good of the team.
Peace true believers,
E

Another double header.

Sorry for the laziness, history papers and being away from my computer will do that.
So let's recap what happened this week:
Habs lay an egg, play crappy, Price plays well. Canadiens lose 3-0
Habs play great, Andrei K pots two, Price plays well. Canadiens win 3-0
Can anyone guess what the stagnant force in these two games was? Not going to be an "I-TOLD-YOU-SO'ER" buuuuuuut...
Yeah.
Carey Price has answered the call and will be the major reason if the Canadiens have success this season, he has made the saves needed to win games, and has not been the cause of a loss, he has only kept the team in games. I'm not naive enough to think that he is going to win the Vezina, or the Hart, even though Jose Theodore did both in one year.. what was the league smoking that year...
The team is not blessed with explosive offensive juggernauts, but their first line has been dynamic and their second line finally broke through on the Powerplay with Benoit Pouliot doing what he did last year when he was on pace for a 30 goal year, being in front of the net and putting the puck in.
Next up is the Coyotes and though they should not be taken lightly, the Canadiens always have good success against them. Let's just hope Andrei Kostitsyn doesn't get annihilated like he did in 2008 when he lost all of his mojo. Be optimistic, as long as Price plays well, this team can contend.
Peace,
E

Well...

I got to my seats in the Desjardins section last night, armed with two hotdogs, a piece of pizza and a water bottle (gotta love free food) read for a triumphant victory to open the home season. I knew if we were to pull a win out, three things would need to happen.
1. Our best players would need to be our best players.
Pleks and Cammy put on a show while our second line couldn't get anything going.
Grade: B
2. Carey Price would need to play well.
If you haven't seen it yet, put down the crack pipe and give the guy some recognition
Grade:A+
3. Special Teams
Face palm.
Grade:Meh

I did not put down "lack of shoddy reffing" but we will get to that later.
The team let the game get away, when they were passing well it was beautiful to see, when they took penalty after penalty negating power play after futile power play, it was mind numbing. The Canadiens were able to hold on to a 3-2 lead with 2 minutes left and then came the Zebra defecation on the ice.
On further review it would look like PK Subban slashed the stick of the Lightning player, not his hand, it is tough to expect Referees to see a detail like that, but on the kill when Dustin Boyd was tripped in front of the net, nothing was called, and Steven Stamkos got a wide open net the idiots in the Molson Ex Zone obviously had enough. I am not a bottle throwing drunk off my ass buffoon, but you do not need to be one to be disgruntled at a call like that. There was a sinking feeling in the building as the team headed to overtime, and when Ryan Malone put in a rebound after Carey Price was yet again bombarded, we almost were not shocked anymore, as the game was lost the minute the score was equalized. The team needs to play better, Carey Price does not need more run support, but he needs the team behind him to field the ball better, and to get less errors. Sorry, we are still talking about Hockey.
On to Buffalo. On to Ryan Miller, a much better Goalie than Mike Smith.
GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER HABS
Peace,
E

Time to stuff it. Candiens 3 Penguins 2

Can we all take a communal sigh of relief?
I know many of you turned off your TVs when the Canadiens were down 2-1 late in the third.
"0-2 start, should have never dealt Halak"
"Can't believe the Leafs are going to have 4 more poins than us"
"I didn't take my Cialis today, and that's why I'm unhappy"
All real reactions to the game, until the Canadiens decided to bite back.
Josh Gorges threw it on the net and it was tipped by the great Jewtalian, making his triumphant return from suspension and having a field day in Pittsburgh, where he tore up the Pens in the playoffs. Most of us would have been happy with us going into Overtime, but Scott Gomez or "G-Love" to his friends, snuck a puck through the wickets of Marc-Andre Fleury. You could see by MAF's reaction, it was a softie, but we will take it.
I know it is the second game in the season, but can the negativity end here?
Carey Price is a good goaltender, I cannot understand the people who argue that he shouldn't be starting. Have you SEEN the saves he made last night?
Be quiet, and thank Mr. Price for keeping us in the game last night.
Next up: The Canadiens open up their season at home against the Lightning, or should we say Montreal, Florida.
It will be interesting to see how former Habs like Dominic Moore, Guy Boucher and yes, even Dan Ellis do against us, along with Quebecois stars like Lecavalier, St. Louis and Gagne.
Oh, and they still have Stamkos.
Peace,
E

Season starts on shaky foot.

Not the start we wanted, but it's an 82 game season. Great on the fans for not getting on Price's case, but seriously, just admit it was a bad game by the Habs.
Am I a bad fan because I state the obvious, that our team played crappy defensively, we did not capitalize on chances, and our power play stunk worse than Kristey Alley's thighs pre Jenny Craig?
No, I would be a bad fan if I blamed the entire thing on Price letting up the Clarke MacArthur goal, even though it was the only goal where there was some defensive help, and I wouldn't call Jaro Spacek letting the attacker skate by him politely as much defensive presence. I am not going to blame the loss on the lack of Hamrlik, Markov and Cammalleri, although it's a hefty load to lose. The score was close enough that the team that was iced should have been good enough to force OT and win the game.
I can say chill out, but I do not think that is the right thing to do.
Get ready for a season that it going to have several bumps, but keep watching, once this team comes together hopefully things get a lot better. I think they will.
Saturday night we take on the Pens, things do not get any easier.
Peace
E

Oh yay...

This guy gets resigned for 2 years, 5.25 toal, my math isn't great but I'm preeeety sure that doesn't add up to $3M a year so I guess Michel Godbout's "very very close source" was "very very stoned".

Thank hashem we signed him, but this got tiresome very very quickly.

Let's get ready for training camp.

Carey, you better not have gotten fat.

Peace,

E

Screw Michel Godbout. I'm back.

I was trying to think of a reason to get back into the Blogosphere. People had been pushing me to write about something, and I replied "What the hell is there to write about?" After this whole stupid Carey Price non-issue, I feel like maybe I should get back in the saddle and give my two cents.

So, Montreal is having heart palpitations after "Sports" correspondant Michel Godbout tweeted that Carey Price was "striking" until he was offered a deal worth $3 M. He said it was according to a very reliable source close to the Franchise Saviour. This gives me to hypotheses to this issue. Either the source was just wrong, or the source was hanging out with Carey one night in Anahim Lake and due to his absoloutely constant deadpan expression, he did not get the joke when he said "Man, man... seriously.... I should just go on like, a strike!"

My expert advice, chill out. It my firm belief that the Canadiens will sign Price and he will be ready for training camp. Although, if by some unfortunate turn of events, Price does not sign and we have to start with out roster of two old backups and a Finn in the KHL, god have mercy on out souls.

Training camp better come soon, or else I might die of boredom.

Peace,

E

Why does this always happen? Canadiens 3 Canucks 2

Watching the game last night, I should have been elated at the Habs big win that catapulted them to 7th in the East. I should have. There was something strangely unsettling about the Canadiens, minus our two top goal scorers, beating a team that we should not have beaten through an incredible effort by Jaroslav Halak. Why, you ask? Well for a couple reasons. BIG FRIGGIN REASON #1: If we can beat the Vancouver Canucks, one of the hottest teams in the league, why can we not get points out of easy games in Florida and Tampa after beating them the week before. Why can we not keep a level of consistency against these teams. If we were able to sneak out a win tonight, when our roster was depleted, why were we man handled the first time we met, when Andrei Markov was our lone casualty? Why did we collapse against the Rangers last month, only to beat them silly 6-0 a week later? BIG FRIGGIN REASON #2: After Toronna and Calgary pulled the trigger on HUGE deals that shipped off their underachieving "Players of the future" like Dion Phaneuf and Matt Stajan, at what point does the usually gun-shy Bob Gainey decide to do the same with Carey Price? I am the first one to say that we should keep our two #1 caliber guys, but after a win like last night, the so called "Hockey Intelligentsia" of Montreal won't be seeing it the same way I do. I know that every young goalie in this league struggled in his initial years, and that if teams like Pittsburgh were as impulsive as the "experts" in the Antichambre, they would be minus Marc-Andre Fleury, and minus a Stanley Cup banner.

We should be thrilled that we got two points, but maybe we should be disappointed that we missed so many great opportunities beforehand.

Peace True Believers,

E

Plek Attacks! Habs 2 Lightning 1

Missed part of the game, was at the airport picking up a family member.

Habs blow another lead, but still come out with a big two points. Tomas Plekanec is not human, Carey Price had a great game.

I hope people listened to Pierre McGuire this afternoon when he said that people should "stop ranking Price and Halak every time one of them has a good game". He brought up the example of the 1992 Rangers who won the President's Trophy with a platoon effort from Mike Richter and John Vanbiesbrouck. McGuire said that the Rangers would have won the cup had they not run into the Pittsburgh Penguins, who Lucky Pierre was the assistant coach for.

Peace, have a happy New Year.

E

Ref rape. Preview vs. Thrashers

Listen, I know Chris Lee is probably a good guy, and I know he probably did not intentionally want to screw the Canadiens Friday night versus the Penguins, but when your Team is playing in it's most important month, and every point counts, especially against the defending Champs, and you have exams on Monday and it is really cold outside, it REALLY pisses you off.

Anyways, the Canadiens take on the Thrashers tonight, and it looks like Andrei Markov is making huge steps towards his recovery from his Tendon Slice. Let's hope he's back soon and let's hope we don't get burned tonight and Carey Price bounces back from the bad goal he let up on Pascal Dupuis.

Gotta love Hockey on a Saturday night.

Peace True Believers.

E

Shoot Out Merk. Canes 2 Habs 3

Can people please stop being douches to Carey Price. It's bad enough he has the Canadiens playing in front of him.

Ba-dumdum!

Yes, I know, I'm fucking witty.

Seriously though, how long before the idiots in this town accept Mr. Price, how long before they realize that your career will not be over just because you give up 6 goals one game.

Did anyone else feel inspired after that second to last save in the shoot out, where after pulling his glove back, Price puffed his chest out like a prizefighter almost saying to the Bell Centre crowd "Are you not entertained?!?!"

This is the Price we wanted to see. Hopefully it stays this way for a while.

Some notes about the team, Gionta is out indefinitely with a broken bone in his foot, while O'Byrne and Laraque are set to make their returns in the next few games.

Peace,

E

53...

53...

You have got to be fucking kidding me.

53 saves and the team in front of him decides to not play.

The guy who has been crapped on all season, when he has not deserved it, makes half a century of saves in one game. And because of the team in front of him, he loses. This is the angriest I have ever been as a Canadiens Fan.

You better score 5 goals next game. Because no one deserves what Carey Price just went through.

Tonight actually made me sick.

If I can say anything positive, it is that I want to extend my sincere apologies to Carey.

If you are somehow reading this, I want to tell you that I have supported you since day one. Every time someone has criticized you, or bitch about not drafting Anze Kopitar instead just because to start the season he is leading the league in scoring (news flash Jack Todd, before you put out an article about how we'd be better off with Kopitar, consider that last year Aaron fucking Voros was leading the league in scoring a month in) I would always tell them that you have the potential to be a star. And if tonight was a demonstration of that, then you have a hell of future. But it seems that the team in front of you, much like the fans in this god forsaken town like seeing brilliant potential fizzle and burn in front of their eyes. I don't know why Hockey Schadenfreude gets Montrealers off this much, but I look on these people with the utmost disdain.

There is some tragedy that in reality, if Carey Price was in any American market right now, he would have been nurtured and brought up correctly and not have to make 53 saves in a losing effort. The problem is not him, the problem is not even Bob Gainey, who by the way Eklund, is not "too old school for today's NHL". Is it old fashioned to believe that the basis of a successful team is Goaltending and to draft a guy who turns out to win in every Junior level? Is it old school to believe that it's better to sign character locker room guys who can play 82 games rather to hang on to older wishy washy veterans who need three game vacations to regain their scoring touch? It't not that we were better off with Kovalev and Koivu, it's the fact that we are so snobby as hockey fans that we believe that anyone who has played more than a season with our "storied" franchise must be good. So we berate Gainey for getting rid of Begin, Bouillon and Dandenault who overall were USELESS for out hockey club, and criticize initially the acquisitions of Mara, Metropolit and our new top line, even though they bring a good presence to our team without any negative after taste.

The problem with our team, is the fans and media. That's right.

How is this team going to grow if every time we hit a road bump, which news flash, EVERY TEAM DOES, Pittsburgh DID fire their coach the year they won the cup, instead of supporting the team and finding positives to build on, the fans and columnists call for an upheaval just because somehow they expected 82 victories this season.

This team will not change for the better until the viewers change for the better. Will that ever happen?

Who knows...

Peace true believers (If they are truly any out there)

E

Party in the desert. Habs 4 Coyotes 2

Carey seems to like it.

This was a game that took me by surprise. The Canadiens won. Strange. The Canadiens won in regulation. Weirder. The Canadiens won in regulation, scoring 4 goals and getting a solid effort from the Goaltender... Where the hell am I? 1979?

I have to praise the work of Tomas Plekanec, who has officially completed the gender transformation process that was publicized by Chaz Bono recently, and has been playing like a man. Although Queen MAB skates less smoothly than Michael J Fox on a bad day and plays worse Defense than the French Army, gotta give him props for ONE HELL of a snipe.

You have to feel bad for Carey Price, time after time getting awful bounces, including the first goal of the night by Robert Lang where Carey was tomahawked in the neck by Paul Mara and fell to the ground.

Jaro Spacek left the game last night and did not return, if this is serious, it will be 4 out of or 7 starting Defenceman out with injury.

Well we still got some hope, Coach Obrand says hi.

Peace True Believers,

E

Canadiens 2 Bruins 1 SO Someone call Bob Barker...

BECAUSE THE PRICE IS ONCE AGAIN RIGHT!

Carey sez: What? Those idiots in Montreal are blaming ME for Bergeron's goal? Like it's bad enough Zdeno Chara sits on me, are the Bruins that desperate for offense that they think lifting the net up and putting it under will fool the refs.

I'm like a freaking half native Rodney Dangerfield, I get less respect than Jon Fucking Gosselin. And that guy's more of a douche than Bertrand Raymond and Darren Dreger put together. I guys people are going to say that Im off the Vodka Bottle or something, or hey, maybe make a joke about me and underage girls on St. Lawrence on Saturday Nights, I can take it. So what if I speak with the emotion of Ben Stein on Valium, I'm back baby, and there's not a god damn thing those Bloodthirsty Jackals can do about it.

Suck it Petit Tigre.

Just thought you would appreciate that.

Peace

E

Hung up to dry. Thrashers 5 Canadiens 4

Really a frustrating game, no matter what you think of this team, anyone who believes that Carey Price did not play well is just wrong. He has been bad these last two years. Very bad, but last night was not one of those nights. Besides the knuckler from Mark Popovic that somehow found the back of the net, the Thrashers goals were products of a collapsed and ineffective D corps for Montreal. Brian Gionta missed practice today, Hal Gill will be out 3 weeks, and we have called up Ryan White and Tom Pyatt from Hamilton.

Safe to say a win against the Broons would be a serious kick in the ass for our morale.

But if my mother had balls she would be my father, who happened to make very good banana cake.

Game Preview Thrashers vs. Habs

The Canadiens are finally back in action tonight as they take on the Atlanta Thrashers at 7:30. La Tricolore have been terrific at home, where they have won 5 straight in the friendly confines of the Bell Centre and tonight Carey Price hopes to get back in the saddle and finally gain some momentum.

If I am Management I will watch this game and not look at whether Carey wins or loses to decide if he plays against the Bruins on Thursday, but rather look at whether he plays with confidence and poise.

Enjoy the game lads and lassies, and say some sort of tribal healing prayer for our depleted blue line, as we have lost yet another D Man to injury, as Hal Gill is out indefinitely. Mathieu Carle will take his place and will definitely get some decent playing time tonight, as he is the only right handed shot on our back end.

Peace,

E

Gross but okay... Habs 5 Leafs 4 OT

Happy post Halloween morning boys and girls.

I hope you all said BOO last night when Mike Komisarek returned to the Bell Centre.

Another awful awful win last night that ended up with two points. Just another indication of what this season will look like. Once again I was more than disappointed that Carey Price did not play tonight, I feel that this was a great chance to regain his confidence, instead he is benched AGAIN after a loss where he did everything imaginable to win that game when the team in front of him was sub par. I well fought game against Chicago could have sparked Price to a decisive, regulation win last night against Toronto, shut the door against Atlanta on Tuesday, and maybe start and incredible streak. Instead he will start from scratch again with no possible momentum.

My one problem with this team, other than that, everything is expected.

Peace True Believers,

E

Sidney Crosby is very good player. So are the Blackhawks.

I will be attending Jay - Z at the Bell Centre tonight so I will not be able to catch the game at the United Center. Carey Price will finally get a start in net, and I am afraid it might too a few games too late.

I love the acquisition made by the Canadiens this year, but the one I don't agree with is Coach Martin's choice to play the Goaltenders through streaks, as the one on the bench could become cold after not seeing action for an extended period of time.

Only time will tell if it works out.

Enjoy the game,

Peace True Believers,

E

Game Four: Canadiens 1 Canucks...um... well let's not dwell on this...

You all saw it... not the best game...

Have some faith, I already heard some of you, AAAND the Jackals jump on the "OMG WE SUCK LIKE WOW WE SUCK LIKE IT'S INSANE HOW MUCH WE SUCK" bandwagon. Take a breather guys. It was one game. Today is a new day. We're going to be alright.

Peace true believers,

E

Game Three Canadiens 3 Flames 4: GOOD EFFORT COMES UP SHORT PLUS CANADIENS VS CANUCKS PREVIEW

.As you can see from this very descriptive and abstract photograph, there were many positives and negatives from yesterday's loss.

POSITIVE #1: The Canadiens finally showed some of the "Puck Possession" game that Jacques Martin was trying to preach at the start of the season. They were moving the puck up well and seemed to be skating with the Flames.

NEGATIVE #1: The penalty kill, was um... well let's just call it stanky... Special teams will have to be worked on.

POSITIVE #2: The First line is generating incredible chances every time they touch the puck and Scott Gomez's first period goal was a thing of beauty.

NEGATIVE #2: Aside from Tomas Plekanec, the secondary scoring players like Kostitsyn and Pacioretty have been... um... super stanky as well. We did not have a power play last night so it was not seen if Yannick Weber's presence is effective or if we need to call up MAB. (Marc-Andre Bergeron).

The Canadiens play the Canucks tonight at 10 ET, Carey Price returning to his home province. Look for an inspired effort, the Canucks are 0-3 and as much as I would like Roberto Luongo to win and get me some points in my Fantasy League, my heart is hoping that he lets up a few more softies en route to a Canadiens victory.

Peace True Believers,

E