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

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

WE ARE DOOOOOOMED

IT IS OVER LADIES AND GENTLEMEN.
WE SHOULD HAVE NEVER DEALT JAROSLAV HALAK, I MEAN, HE ONLY LET UP THREE GOALS LAST NIGHT. CAREY PRICE LET UP FOUR. HE IS GOING TO BE SO BAD. WE CAN TELL FROM THE PRE-SEASON. THATS HOW WE KNEW GUILLAUME LATENDRESSE WOULD BE SO GOOD. THATS HOW WE KNOW WHO THE NEXT CAPTIAN OF THE MONTREAL CANADIENS SHOULD BE, MAXIM LAPIERRE!!! PIERRE CURZI MUST BE SMOKING SOMETHING, WE HAVE A PLETHORA OF GREAT FRENCH CANADIANS. IF IT WERE UP TO ME THE STARTING LINE UP WOULD BE:
LAPIERRE-POULIOT-LEBLANC
ST. DENIS - MATHIEU CARLE
AND OUR GOALIE.....
LOIC LACASSE!
I MEAN, I THINK HE'S STILL IN THE SYSTEM, AND I'M SURE HE IS BETTER THAN PRICE!
I'M SO SURE THAT THIS GAME WILL BE AN ACCURATE REPRESENTATION OF EVERY GAME IN THE REGULAR SEASON THAT I'M WRITING IT ALL IN CAPITALS!!!!!!!!!!!!!








shut up
E

Well, take a deep breath.

Okay, so we're down 2-0, have been outscored 9-0, out shot the Flyers, and do not really have a presence in this series at this point.

TIME TO PANIC????

Maybe.

Maybe it's time to pretend that we didn't just win two stunning playoff rounds, and that the entire city wasn't captivated by their great run full of inspiring performances.

Or, maybe we support this team and cheer for them no matter what, because we proved that we could do it, and proved that this team can skate with the best of them, suck it Leaf fans, many of you guys are waiting to write an obituary saying that the Habs suck, but it sounds mighty insecure coming from a team that along with the Panthers, are the only two clubs in the league who have not made the playoffs.

So, shut your pie holes.

Cheer on this team, they can still pull this off.

Peace True Believers,

E

A game that got away.

I'm going to be honest, I fell asleep before the start of the third period last night. Let's face it, it was was damn late and I had a headache. Before I went to bed, the Canadiens had played a hard fought game and through some amazing goaltending by Carey Price, we had a 2-1 lead on the San Jose Sharks, one of the NHL's elite teams. When I woke up, we had lost, and Max Lapierre was Public Enemy #1 on TSN. Now the outcome of the game was disappointing, but it was nice to see the Habs skate with a great team, and have Price put on a show in nets. The one thing I am shocked about, is that Maxim Lapierre is still on this team. I know many of you love Mad Max, either because he is scrappy, or because he is a home town boy. If you evaluate his year, you will see that he has not produced and has been pestering some of the NHL's best fighters, only to run away when it came time to drop the gloves. This last stunt he pulled, pushing Shark forward Scott Nichol into the boards when he no longer had the puck and was skating full speed, was cowardly at best. Now, don't get mad at me, because I am calling out a Canadien fan favorite, I am not a blind homer. To all of you who say that it wasn't so bad, just look out how one of the Greatest Canadiens of all time, Howie Morenz ended his career and life. He was pushed into the boards by Babe Seibert, broke his leg, and then proceeded to drink himself to death in the hospital. Am I being dramatic? Absolutely, but when you figure that a collision into the boards like that could break your leg, putting you out of commission for at least 6 months, you understand that what Lapierre did was spineless. Hopefully once Mike Cammalleri returns from injury, it will be Lapierre and not Tom Pyatt who has been playing exceptionally since his call up, who we be sent down to Hamilton.

Peace True Believers,

E

Double Header and Olympic Preview

Watching last night's game almost completely cemented my view on how inconsistent the Canadiens are, but when they came back thanks to the heroics of Newest Hab Dominic Moore and the blazing end to end speed of call up PK Subban, who will only develop with age. Word is that PK will play again today as Jaro Spacek will sit game out after getting hit into the boards by Darroll Powe. I think today will be an emotional game as the match last night ended with some heated words. For anyone who watched the Opening Ceremonies, I gotta give kudos to Montreal Native Nikki Yanofsky, who killed it during the National Anthem, too bad Brian Williams fucked up that she was "from Vancouver". Also have to love the Slam Poet Shane Koyczan, whose poem "We Are More" was pretty patriotic. Canada plays it's first game on the 16th against Norway. And no one is not expecting a Gold Medal for our home squad. I think they can do it, if the Team comes together at the right time. Even though the line of Iginla-Crosby-Nash should be our #1 line, I do wish Eric Staal could take Iggy's spot, just so I could call it the "Crosby, Staal and Nash" line.

My predictions:

Gold - Canada: Can't bet against the host nation here.

Silver - Sweden: Will want to win gold with their nucleus one more time

Bronze - USA: Truculence pays off as the US shocks through youthful exuberance.

Enjoy the Olympics, enjoy the game tonight.

Peace True Believers,

E

More inconsistency, and why we are screwed.

You don't have to be a rocket scientist, heck you don't even need to have an IQ higher that 40 to know that the Canadiens cannot string a decent stretch of wins together. One day we're beating New Jersey and New York in emotional hard fought affairs, then we fall asleep for 120 minutes and get shmiced by the Florida Twins, I think they scored more goals over those two days than the number of people at the actual game. Then comes the game against Ottawa, the league's hottest team where we fight back to get to overtime, only to get scored on by Mike Fisher, then probably lose Mike Cammalleri, our leading goal scorer for the remainder of the season, pending an MRI tomorrow. Then, if that wasn't enough, we now have to deal with Dion Phaneuf in our division for at the very minimum, another three years. And we no longer have the luxury of playing the suddenly terrible Vesa Toskala, as now we will have to try and solve Montreal native, Jean Sebastien Giguere. Well, I don't usually say this, as I try to keep an optimistic profile, but we might be screwed.

Peace True Believers,

E

Should we be relieved? Or disappointed?

NEWS FLASH: TSN reports that the Canadiens will buy out the rest of Georges Laraque's contract, effectively ended his less then productive stint in Montreal, . Many thought he could be used to give the Habs some toughness, but he has been a disappointment in the sense that he has not dropped the gloves enough this season, in an effort to make a name for himself as a legitimate NHL player. 1 Goal unfortunately was not enough to cut it. Good Luck Georges, I do feel for you that this came at a terrible time for you and your fellow Haitians but I'm sure if you decide to go back to your fisticuffs ways, you will get signed by another team.

So oooon to the game. Bad First Period. Good for Carey Price to try and start a fight with Cam Janssen. Boring Second Period. Good for the Canadiens for killing off that 5 on 3. Well Played Third Period. Benoit the Giant Chicken is becoming a fan favorite. Overtime meh. Markov should have buried that pass he got from Gionta.

That's the game in a nutshell. We should be disappointed, not because we are 11th in the Conference, you could've probably expected that the Canadiens would fight for a playoff spot, but because of missed opportunities and periods when the Team just does not show up. If the Canadiens could've just played as well as they did in the Third Period, this would've been an easy two points, had the Canadiens kept us consistency in the Rangers Game, that would have been another two points, and if the Habs would have not let up against the Senators that could have been another two points. In that scenario, we would be looking at 5th place in the East. Instead of 11th. So even if you say that when the Canadiens play well they are overachieving, they should at least overachieve for 60 minutes.

There is a tough week ahead for Les Boys as they take on the Devils and Rangers and even though I will be out of town visiting Beautiful San Diego from the 24th to the 1st, I will be trying to check in every so often with a recap of the games. I have to keep it up for the loyal fans.

Peace True Believers,

E

Rock Bottom? Rangers 6 Canadiens 2

I think we know.

Blowing a 2-0 lead? Allowing a shorthanded goal while on a 5 on 3? Tomas Plekanec, our star this year, throwing an elbow at a Rangers player? All pretty bad signs.

I don't really know what else to say. There's nothing much I can add that can sound productive. Other than the fact that Mike Cammalleri and Tomas Plekanec scored goals, everything was sour. Even after the Jackals called for Carey Price to step down in favor of the OBVIOUSLY SUPERIOR Jaro Halak who let up 6 goals. Here's the thing guys, everytime one of our goalie loses, they are not "garbage". Both of these Goaltenders are talented and even though they do have their off days, they will help us in the long run IF we do not jump the gun and call for one of them to be traded.

Seriously, the next person who asks for a Halak and a first for Kovalchuk is going to get curb stomped. I dare you.

Today is a new day. Let's start from square one, get a couple big wins, and friggin hope that Andrei Kostitsyn magically heals like Markov did.

Peace true believers,

E

As Inconsistent as Runny Pea Soup.

Last night's lost was one of the more frustrating ones this season. No not as frustrating as the time Carey Price made 50 plus saves and the Canadiens still got shut out. Not as frustrating as whenever we play the Devils, because we never beat the Devils. This was frustrating because every time this team gets an inspired win that SHOULD bring about a run, they seem to jut drop another boring game where they are outplayed. I've always had a theory that when an integral part of your team is missing, it affects the whole team. I believe that Mike Cammalleri and Tomas Plekanec can only start producing again once they have the talented and suddenly hot Andrei Kostitsyn back on their wing. It think I've proved my point with Scott Gomez, now that he is having great production with Brian Gionta, someone who he has had great chemistry with over the years, and Benoit Pouliot a big body who compliments them very well. I believe that if the Canadiens can keep a playoff spot until Andrei's return, they could do some serious damage.

Stay positive,

At least we're not the Oilers,

Peace true believers,

E

Disappointed squared.

Well after watching the Canadiens lose a snore fest in DC last night, I tuned into the World Juniors to see the Canadians deadlocked at 3 with the United States. After the US made it 5-3, Canada fought back with two goals in the dying minutes by Jordan "The Messiah" Eberle. Going into overtime I had high hopes and Canada came out flying.

Then.

The rush. I had a bad feeling about that one.

Damn it Naz, could't you have skated a little bit faster.

Well, that's life I guess, a series of euphoric youthful moments followed by sobering disappointment.

Deep shit.

The Canadiens however, are more like a 17 year old hangover at one hell of a night.

You try all the remedies, Gatorade, Advil, Farting... It all helps for a moment.

But then it comes back. And it's friggin' terrible.

Hopefully the Canadiens can bounce back tonight against the incredibly boring Florida Panthers, and Team Canada can bounce back at the Olympics this year, and in Buffalo in 2011 for the WJHC. I am in talks to attend that tournament and I will rock the blogging.

So ta-ta for now, enjoy the game AND the National Championship. My pick, Alabama, because their mascot is an Elephant.

Peace True Believers,

E

Nothing really bad to say. Habs 0 Sabres 1.

Well I'm annoyed.

Not angry or disappointed. Just annoyed that Ryan Miller decided to save everything.

I'm not mad at our Power Play, because they generated opportunities. I'm not mad at Carey Price because other than a wonky rebound, he played a perfect game.

I guess I'm mad at Ryan Miller because he happened to be good, but as a Hockey fan I have to give him props for a good game.

So who the hell should I be mad at?

I don't know. Maybe Fugliester, that Swiss douche that knocked Travis Hamonic out of the WJHC.

I cheered for the Swiss last night, but now I'm just hoping that whoever loses the Sweden USA game absolutely shmices those pacifist alps bastards.

But Habs, if Nido Niderrieter is still on the board at this years draft, we should definitely take a chance on this guy. From what I've seen this tournament, he is a monster.

Talk to you guys later, we'll get 'em next time.

Peace True Believers,

E

Bizarro world strikes again. Sens 4 Habs 2

Is it not puzzling to you all why in the one game that we actually keep pace with a team for two periods only to lose a game in regulation?

Meh.

Positives from this game: Gionta came back and was a pest getting through the Defenseman and generating good scoring chances. Jaroslav Halak was incredibly solid, the only goals being when he was screened, and Benoit Pouliot had an excellent game scoring his first as a Hab.

Negatives: A lot. Marc Andre Bergeron's putrid Brain Shart that led to the Game Winning Goal. Yes it was a brain shart, not only was it a brain fart but because he resembles someone with sub par mental capabilities, he probably soiled himself. The Canadiens also could not generate ANYTHING in the third period.

Next up for the squad: Back 2 Back games in the sunshine state. Hopefully Carey Price will do the same Usain Bolt stance he pulled last year after beating the Lightning in a shootout.

Peace true believers,

E

The most infuriating losing streak ever.

I could possibly deal with the Canadiens losing by hefty margins every game. At least I would know that we would have a shot at a lottery pick, but the last four games have (to paraphrase Peter Griffin) "Ground the fuck out of my gears".

All one goal games, all a product of the Canadiens inability to stay out of the Penalty box.

How much proof do we need that this is the reason we are losing games, seriously.

I truly believe this team has the talent to be a top 5 seed in this conference even without Markov and Gionta. If we would have won these four games and not gotten retarded penalties late, we would be looking at a team with 41 points, and tah dah! 5th seed in the East.

The Canadiens have immense potential to do something special this year, they have a 1st line that is producing and hard working checkers who do not quit on plays. Add that to a yeoman effort by Roman Hamrlik, the return of Andrei Markov one of the league's best D-Men and put it all in front of an inspired Carey Price who gives us a chance to win each game he starts, and we got a hell of a team. Right now the Canadiens Team is a Mercedes that was given by a Father to his stoner son who stains the leather seats with Wendy's wrappers when he gets the munchies for a Spicy Chicken Sandwich and fills it wit terrible low end gas.

Shit, I got to get myself to Wendy's one of these days. Love that sandwich.

Add this to Louis Leblanc getting cut from Team Canada, and it adds up to a pretty crappy week for Habs fans.

Oh by the way does anyone else find it funny that TSN is calling TSN 2 "the deuce"?

Stay positive.

Peace True Believers,

E

Tossing the CHIP bowl.

Ahah.

I make a funny in light of a god awful team performance last night.

Yet another promising prospect that did not live up to expectations.

Kyle Chipchura, captain of the 2006 World Junior Hockey Team that won Gold, with Guillame Latendresse riding the bench, psycho Steve Downie leading in scoring, and now Ducks AHL Teammate Justin Pogge in net, was traded to Anaheim for a 4th round draft pick.

He is the fifth former First round pick to leave the team this year, along with Saku Koivu, Mike Komisarek, Chris Higgins & Ryan McDonagh. This fuels the fire that maybe "Draft Guru" Trevor Timmins might not be all that he is cracked up to be.

Maybe Chips would have had a future with the Canadiens had he not suffered a tremendous tendon injury in Junior, but life is a bitch that way. It comes up and smacks you in the nose when you least expect it.

Happy Trails Chipper,

Hope you get to ride Splash Mountian in Disneyland.

That ride is cool.

Peace,

E

SO CLOSE!

Give kudos to the Canadiens, who many thought were going to be beaten worse than Tiger was by his wife.

Low blow.

I know.

Even though we did not get the extra point, I am very happy with this team's effort. We are playing without Gomez, without Gionta, without both Andreis, without Gill and without Benny Poo (My new name for Pouliot). Somehow we were able to get a point against the best team in the Eastern Conference.

I have a new name for Tomas Plekanec, taking in the facts that he plays a hard nosed, never say die game, and that he used to be a pansy his new nickname is Scrappy Coco from the classic You Don't Mess with the Zohan.

Disco and Hummus jokes to come.

Take this loss as a partial victory my friends.

Cheer on the Als tomorrow, Montreal needs at least one team to win a championships this year.

And no, the Impact do not fucking count.

Damn Europeans...

Peace True Believers,

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

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.

My problem with some Montrealers.

I can see the comments now.

"The Canadiens suck, we are not going to win a game!"

"Carey Price is terrible, Jeff Hackett wouldn't have let up 3 goals!"

Tonights home opening 3-2 loss was one that could've been avoided, but this early in the season we can still look at the positives.

People are yelling for change and we're only 6 games in, I actually heard someone say today that they were hoping the Canadiens lost so the Molsons could fire Bob Gainey quicker.

Where do you get your Meth Amphetamine sir, because it seems to be working quite well...

This town is turning on a team WITHOUT it's best player. This town is turning on a Goaltender who has stood on his head save for one game against Vancouver. Please tell me how any of these goals tonight were his fault.

I dare you.

Say to my face that he should have covered up his pads on the first goal to not let the puck trickle in, tell me to my face that the puck bouncing off two Hab players had no effect on Price's ability to stop that puck.

"Oh, well he should have quick enough reflexes to snag that puck that hit off Shawn Belle, I mean, he was picked #5 overall.."

"Well he's made a save when the guy has had an open net before, why couldn't he just have done that to Ryan O'Reilly, when Scott Gomez was too preoccupied proving to the Ref that he was elbowed rather than cover the man who sneaked in front of the net. ALONE."

Take away the Vancouver 7-1 loss, and we have had one goal games in EVERY game of the season. Almost every question surrounding this team has been answered, many of them positive.

1. Have secondary scoring? Tomas Plekanec leads our team in scoring, and today Andrei Kostitsyn finally peeked his head out and decided he was going to be the talented Russian we knew 2 years ago.

2. Puck Possession? The shots were 31 to 23 and the Avalanche were only able to score through deflections by our own players and one gaffe by Scott Gomez.

3. Goaltending? Any one who says Carey Price is struggling will get a boot to the face. Seriously, forget about his faux pas in BC, and he has a Save percentage of .904, and a Goals Against of 2.5. I know, I know, WHY SHOULDN'T WE COUNT THE GAME AGAINST VANCOUVER, THAT WAS IMPORTANT AND SINCE PRICE DIDN'T WIN HE SUCKS.

E: Roberto Luongo has the same GAA as Price, and the same amount of losses. So um, he sucks?

NO ARE YOU RETARDED! ROBERTO IS SO SICK! BEST GOALIE IN THE LEAGUE!

I am not doubting that Bobby Lu will bounce back from his beginning of the year troubles, I hope to god he does, I have him in my pool... I just think that it's a little early to be calling for the pitchforks and torches and you are not a correct hockey fan if you think Carey Price is not playing well.

This team has answered many troublesome questions, and all the parts of a great squad are here, we just haven't gotten the wins yet.

Do I think we will bounce back soon and finish first. Hell no. Do I think we will stabilize in time to clinch a low playoff seed? Well that sounds a lot more realistic. This is going to be an uphill climb all the way, and I have heard so much garbage from fans around the league about Why their team "sucks because they started out 1-3" or why their team is "going to the finals because they scored 5 goals in a game". We have to give this some time, this is an incredibly new team and a transition is not going to happen overnight. People say "Oh well the preseason should have solved that!" The preseason usually showcased HALF NHL caliber players and HALF AHL players without our top six fowards playing all at the same time. How is Mike Cammalleri going to mesh with Andrei Kostitsyn right away if he played his Exhibition games on the wing with Ben Maxwell?

It is so easy to be negative right now.

We get it, you are going to sound edgy and opinionated.

You want to be part of a mob mentality because as a child you were never included in group activities because you usually ate Play-Doh.

I understand your pain...

But know this. I am watching you closely, and when OR if the Canadiens make a strong push for the playoffs and if it does happen that we pull a great upset and go into a far round, I will hold a party, with yummy finger foods and refreshing beverages, and who knows, maybe a stripper in a cake...

When you come to the door of this party, because hey, you change your mind quicker than Anne Heche and suddenly love the Canadiens, I promise you will not be welcomed in. Instead, a big sign will hang from my door, and a message will read above a large picture of me giving you the finger.

It will read:

ONLY TRUE FANS ALLOWED,

NO MONTREAL HYPOCRITES.

E.