Plus/Minus: Trade deadline is over

Hopefully my thoughts on the last week will be even a little bit cohesive. Turning the trade deadline into a drinking game was a bad idea on my part. The stress caused by Ryan White being told not to practice, then sent to Hamilton, then returned to the Habs mere hours later, was not my fault at all. (The rumour that Jarred Tinordi was traded is also not cool.)

PLUS

Go Bulldogs!

+ 3 What a game against the Canucks! A plus to Andrei Kostitsyn for finally busting out of his funk and putting some points on the board this week. And the biggest Stanley Cup contender in the league lost a game because of two of its shortest players. Fantastic goals by Gionta and Desharnais.
+ I'm looking forward to closing out the season with Brent Sopel. He knows what it's like to make a Stanley Cup run and above all he's a good guy.
+ Ryan O'Byrne had hisface sliced open on the ice, and finished his shift. I think it's really unfortunate (and yes, a little bit gross) that the injury had to happen, but O'B gets a few Chuck Norris points for this incident.
+ Great game by the Hamilton Bulldogs at the Bell Centre on Friday. Goals by new hire Nigel Dawes, my boy JT Wyman, and Aaron Palushaj (who's some kind of Bell Centre scoring machine).

MINUS

I have a couple more of these if anyone's interested

- I hate spelling mistakes. Especially when a professional journalist makes the same typo over and over and over again. I'll overlook it once or twice, but Francois Gagnon didn't notice after he typed "Cancuks" the twentieth time?
- I'm not good with trades, to be honest. So even though I knew that Ben Maxwell wasn't the guy to lead the Canadiens to a Stanley Cup victory, I'm going to miss him. Until I see him tomorrow in Atlanta and will have to cheer for my Habs.
- Mike Komisarek should get slapped for hitting Tomas Plekanec.
- Habs fans: Haven't we been through this before? You don't boo your own players. How can you hate Alex Auld when he's only started a handful of games?
- That being said, yes, I know. Phil Kessel and Brett Lebda scored goals and the Leafs beat the Habs. It sucks.

At least this week we won't have to deal with the stress of a Brad Richards rumour every other minute.

Time for a snowball fight: Habs v Avs

I used to know almost nothing about the Colorado Avalanche. (It fit well with my general theme of not knowing much about hockey in general.) "They used to be the Nordiques!" and "Joe Sakic!" will only take a girl so far. I have since learned a few things, which is helpful since Sakic retired, so I'm looking forward to this game. Here are some things that I've learned:

They're good. 
They're on a 5-game winning streak, during which they beat the Blackhawks twice. What? For real? Like, the Chicago Blackhawks?

Matt Duchene is cool.
2009's third overall draft pick is having a pretty good season so far, with 13 goals. That's two more than any Hab so far this season. (Not that I'm dissing anyone. I quite like being on a team that hasn't earned a top 5 draft pick lately.) Plus, he and teammate Paul Statsny have taken the "bangity bang" song from How I Met Your Mother and turned it into a postgame celebration. I want the NHL to allow this game to end in a tie, and have their postgame dance at one end of the ice, and PK and Carey triple low fiving on the other side.


They have Tomas Fleischmann now.
In case you forgot. He's Czech and he used to play for Washington, so we like him.

They also have Ryan O'Byrne now.
Remember, we gave him to them? And now they're good? Yeah. I know. I told you all he should either play or be traded, and "play him" is looking a little less crazy than it used to.
His stats are unbelievable now (this article describes his plus-13 ranking as "shiny" and I'm going to act like that's a Firefly reference). He gets tons of ice time. And, as a result, he likes Colorado so much that he's become a full-time mountain man.

Some people might think he's dissing Montreal, but really, he's just speaking the truth. If you don't think this city is tough to play in, then you need your head checked. Also you're missing the point of this video (which I found courtesy of Heather Engel): his beard. Look at that beard. It just makes him look bigger. He lives in the Rockies year-round now. I bet he spends all of his spare time chopping wood and fighting Sasquatch. Maybe he should be the subject of the next TV show I pitch: Ryan O'Byrne, Mountain Man. Look for special guest appearances by Wolverine and lots of flannel shirts.

Puck drops at 8. No word on whether all the players' sticks were whittled by Ryan O'Byrne in his spare time, or if it's composite as usual.

We have no Ryan O'Byrne

We have a Michael Bournival instead.

via Francois Gagnon on Twitter this morning:

Ryan O'Byrne vient de quitter le vestiaire du Ch avec son équipement sur une épaule et Scott Gomez qui transportait ses bâtons à ses côtés.

Yes, that's right, just as we were all practicing a moment of silence for our veterans and fallen and current soldiers, I found out that Ryan O'Byrne was traded.

Of course he was. We all saw this coming a mile away. He barely had any ice time this season, and wasn't necessarily impressive when we did see him. I think (and hope) he'll improve in Colorado, not unlike his former teammates who've found their place in the Western Conference. And yes, I am one of those people who think that he might not have been developed to his full potential. I might not be able to pinpoint exactly where things went wrong or who's at fault, so to speak, but I think that O'Byrne's best games were proof that he was capable of more than what we saw. Maybe he just needs the right coach, or the right teammates, to give him that extra push. Maybe if his play improves in the next two seasons, someone will finally start to wonder whether some Canadiens' prospects were improperly developed, rather than just bad draft picks.

And maybe, just maybe, after combing through the details of his career to date in light of this trade, we can stop making "Ryan O'Byrne stole a purse" jokes. Or at least make a whole lot less. Don't people know by now, that those have been replaced by "Patrick Kane in a taxi" jokes?

So, get with the program, people. Wish Ryan O'Byrne good luck in Colorado and make sure you've got a Patrick Kane joke up your sleeve. Oh, and brace yourselves for the eventual arrival of Jarred Tinordi, who I'm hoping will be Ryan O'Byrne with a happier ending.

Plus/Minus looks good this week...

...because after almost two weeks, the screen of my Macbook is finally fixed. Finally, the 268 hours of anguish are over. I can stop panicking about my laptop. I can stop waiting for the phone to ring, with an anticipation worse than calls about a job or a boy. I can stop having separation anxiety and asking my friends at the Apple store to take good care of my Macbook.
Oh, and there was hockey stuff too.

PLUS

Thank you, friends at the Apple store.

+ Due to my aforementioned laptop woes (268 hours), this week's first Plus goes to Laura from The Active Stick, who's the kind of writer that all female hockey bloggers should be. And male ones too. But aside from wit and all that, she let me use her laptop to post last week's Halloween-themed Plus/Minus thing. If that's not supporting your fellow bloggers, I don't know what is.
+ Carey Price, keepin' it real.
+ Look at you, Jeff Halpern, racking up points and being all +7. You get another plus from me. And yes, you can share it with the rest of the PhD line, because you've earned it.
+ The news that there is a Stephen Gionta. Yes. He exists. I know he's the same height as his big brother (har har) and that this team needs more tall guys, and that usually guys play their first NHL game before the age of 27, but... can we have him? IT'S A SECOND GIONTA!
+ A fantastic game by the Hamilton Bulldogs, who looked like an excellent team from the second row at the Bell Centre. (I have to stop wishing for prestige seats to Habs games... I wouldn't be able to handle it.) Ryan White played with his usual energy and badassery, Alex Henry got physical, and Gabriel Dumont delivered the biggest hit of the night.
+ Oh, and the little boys sitting behind us at the game knew as much about the team as we did, if not more. I probably missed parts of the game because I was trying to listen to their analysis. They couldn't have been older than ten but they're just as smart as most of the hockey fans you know.
+ I... this:

This is what happens when you say you miss Los Angeles. Awesome.

MINUS

- What, so everyone forgot that Ryan O'Byrne exists? If it weren't for the pictures some of our friends took at FestiFan today, I wouldn't even remember what he looks like. (If you forgot: Tall. Black hair. Sometimes wears #20.)
- I know I don't often make suggestions for lines, but um... what's the use in breaking up the top line, who've been consistently productive, just to breathe some life into Gomez and Gionta? Sure, I'm all for breaking those two up in an attempt to get them going, but why mess with a good thing?
- I think I went through this with Carey Price a few weeks ago: WHO let Tomas Plekanec get sick? Please, someone build a sneezeguard around him or something.


So, yeah, sorry that there's no blog called "Hab It Three Really Smart Nine-Year-Olds' Way." We'd totally read it too.

Plus/Minus: Start Me Up

If you spent your summer hating on Carey Price, you might be a little dizzy after doing a complete 180 on him recently. It's okay, just take some aspirin, sit down, and read this week's Plus Minus. You'll feel better.

PLUS

PK's moment of glory yoinked from Habsinsideout.com

+ Carey Price. That is all.
+ Speaking of Price, anyone who's anyone has had their say about his new mask. So here's my two cents: I like it. I don't generally dislike his masks, with the exception of his Ed Hardy Masque of the Red Death, but I like this one a lot.
+ Rumours that Andrei Markov and Roman Hamrlik are thisclose to coming back? That's the kind of plus that can eradicate basically any minus.
+ I'm still angry at Mike Cammalleri for the behaviour that led to his suspension, but, as usual, he handled it like a pro.
+ Ryan O'Byrne and Hal Gill volunteered at the Old Brewery Mission on Thanksgiving. It takes a big man to spend a holiday away from your loved ones.
+ Before the season started, I lamented the fact that 2010 wasn't the Summer of Toews, even though he won a gold medal and a Stanley Cup. Thank you, new Canadian Tire commercial, for fixing that. It's so nice to see a commercial on TV that doesn't have Sidney Crosby in it.
+ Holy first NHL goal by Jordan Eberle, Batman!

MINUS

from Kansascity.com

- Why, oh why, did we ever let Mike Ribeiro go? Getting arrested for public drunkenness in a restaurant after your wife picks a fight with someone is classier than anything any Canadien has done lately.
- It's going to take me a long time to forgive Dion Phaneuf for becoming captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
- Jack Todd tried to comment on how well Carey Price played against Pittsburgh. But he failed. Saying that Price almost looked like Halak is the kind of backhanded compliment that leaves a mark. I stopped reading his column after that sentence. To be honest, I don't even know why I bother looking at it.
- It's the first week of the season. How can we already be seeing serious injuries? John Tavares has a concussion, the Flames are down by two players already, and Ondrej Pavelec just straight-up passed out. This is not cool, people.

There's other stuff to cover; this plus/minus is only part of this crazy week. And to think that I was worried about a lack of content for Plus/Minus this week!

Plus/Minus apologizes for a weak week in blogging

Last week's Plus/Minus was overdue and below par, and then we didn't write as much as we usually do in a week, and this week's is also a couple of days late, so you probably hate HIHW right now, but HIHW still loves you. See? I'm making this Plus/Minus all fancy and up to standard.

PLUS

+ To our Hamilton Bulldogs for clinching their division title! Take THAT, other AHL teams!
+ To this guy...

because for some reason this made me laugh really, really hard. Congratulations, Hunter Bishop's cousin! Welcome to the fam.
+ Six wins in a row. Plus an OT loss that gave us one point, so six and a half wins in a row. Go Habs Go!
+ Plekanec's injury didn't seem to be that serious! For once in our lives!
+ To the Habs fan in Toronto who attended Saturday's game wearing a Kostopoulos jersey.

MINUS

I hate you right now, Regis... what? It's Regin with an N? Whoops...

- Let's be honest, it would have been nice to beat the Leafs. And the Sens.
- Bob Hartley gets the quote of the week: "Une game de hockey c'est comme la vie. Tu sais que ca va être un party mais faut que tu decides quand." (For you people not working in francophone offices, that roughly translates to "hockey is like life, you know it'll be a party but you gotta decide when.") If he never gets another coaching job and tires of being on RDS, he could always try his hand at writing American Pie movies.
- I gave myself a standing obligation to give Alain Crete a minus every time he wears that terrible eyesore of a camel jacket. So here it is. At least he's wearing it less often.
- File this under "words I never expected to put in the same sentence": I'm really glad that Travis Moen didn't lose an eye.
- Ryan O'Byrne, as I've said before, is steadily improving, but in order to really be Fancy New O'Byrne he needs to spend less time in the penalty box.
- Paul Mara's gone. Stupid shoulder surgery.

There's nine games left in the season. Nine games for our Habs to kick a little more ass before the toughest part of the year. Let's get it together, fans, and lose our minds in preparation for the playoffs. I promise I'll try to be here along with you, as long as the Internet permits it.
Go Habs Go!

Dethroned: A game review

Pictures to be posted soon!
So, tonight was my first away game, and I think I know how to pick 'em.

(By the way, I really thought I had hit "publish post" on a game preview I wrote this morning, but alas I did not. Smartphones with data plans accepted so that these horrible oversights never occur again.)

How could I go to Los Angeles and be in town the same weekend as the Habs and NOT get tickets to watch them at Staples Center? I would have probably wanted to see a hockey game anyway, but somehow I was slightly less compelled to watch the Kings or the Ducks take on the Colorado Avalanche. Sure, I don't really get to see much of the Avs, and maybe Matt Duchene's rookie season will be something to talk about for a few years to come, but I couldn't settle for Colorado when Nos Glorieux were coming to town. (Sorry, Avs-loving friends.)

I was especially looking forward to seeing the Kings' gold medallist Drew Doughty and star player Anze Kopitar, who is beloved by one of my friends (who also loves Ovechkin and Avery, so I'm never too sure about trusting him). They didn't disappoint. I'd be happy to have them as Habs... which is not to say that I'm unhappy with our current roster, because obviously there was a lot to be happy about tonight.

Brian Gionta's surprise goal 22 seconds into the game brought Habs fans to their feet. (There were quite a few of us.) I'm guessing that he was what caused most of the Staples Center to be eerily silent for most of the first period. It was the quietest hockey game I'd ever been to, with the exception of this one douchebag who booed the Habs but didn't cheer the Kings at all. Benoit Pouliot deserved to be first star of the game.

This is what the game's three stars look like in Los Angeles... if I had access to Photoshop I'd have put a little puck or something in place of the film camera.

Jaro Halak played a smart game, knowing exactly what he had to do and where he had to be. Scott Gomez was extremely visible during his significant ice time (which pleased the adorable little girl I saw with "Go Habs" rubbed off one cheek but a very clear "#91" still painted on her other cheek). Travis Moen was the Canadien with the most shots on goal. I'd especially like to single out Ryan O'Byrne, who played a great game. Maybe I said too much about him at the beginning of the season, when he was still being criticized for his less-than-stellar turn last year, and maybe I noticed more than other people did tonight since I was on his side of the ice for the first and third periods (EIGHTH ROW, right behind the press photographers, oh yes that's right) but he was fantastic. He used his size and played aggressively. He delivered some really big hits.

As for what it's like to be a Habs fan outside the Bell Centre... um... let's just say I appreciate my fellow fans a little bit more than I used to. Because the Habs fans around me were pretty great, and some of the Kings fans... weren't so great. I already mentioned the douchebag a few rows behind me whose support of the Kings consisted of wearing an LA jersey and booing the Habs. Some of the Americans were also sore losers, apparently dissatisfied with Team USA making it to the gold-medal game. They booed their own defenceman because he played for Team Canada. I might hate it when Habs fans boo a former Canadien, or a self-goal, but booing Doughty was ridiculous. The contests didn't really get the audience involved - I guess I'd take the Kiss Cam or the Make Some Noise contest over seeing someone be handed a prize on the Jumbotron or watching the ice girls. If I wasn't before, I'm now most definitely certain that there's no place for ice girls in this sport.

There are more LA Kings fans than I expected, but as usual, like any unhappy fans, they left two minutes before the game ended because their team lost. I guess it's not as big of a deal if your 100-level tickets cost one-third of what they'd cost at the Bell Centre. As for the Habs fans? The post-win hoopla was a little more subdued on the ice and in the arena, so maybe it's not quite as fun as cheering on a winning home team, but there was just enough chanting and celebrating outside the game to make a Habs fan feel at home in the City of Angels, without making the Kings fans too sore.

All in all, it was a great game to be at. It's just a shame that everything goes by that much more quickly when you're close to the action, and I don't know when I'll get to see the NHL from the eighth row again. Even if I don't, I'm good for a while.

Plus/Minus: That's what Halak about you

It's a long Plus/Minus this week, boys and girls, but you'll want to read it to the end. What HASN'T happened since the last Plus/Minus? It was a busy enough week before Gainey stepped down, almost exactly 11 months after he fired Guy Carbonneau, but since we don't know what the aftermath of a GM change 60 games into the season will be, I'm not sure if I should plus or minus it.
Oh also, the Habs played a bunch of games and they were all really good and we won most of them.

Plus

+ I'd like to thank the Boston DJ for playing "That's What I Like About You" during OT. Is he/she aware of the Montreal hobby that is Halak puns? I didn't even have to think of a title this week!
+ Brian Gionta for his Giontastic finish to a great game against the Bruins, and his performance against the Penguins.
+ Usually when the Hamilton Bulldogs win a game, it's against like Manitoba or Binghamton... not the Pittsburgh Penguins. Our callups were fantastic on Saturday, even if two of them are now
+ Sergei Kostitsyn? You earned this plus. Good on you.
+ Ryan O'Byrne, who should have been in B.C. with his family, played some great hockey during a week when his mind was clearly elsewhere. Speaking of Ryan, remember how earlier I said you'd want to read this post the whole way through? Please do.
+ I don't usually give pluses to enemies, but Shawn Thornton? Clearly born to be a Bruin. You know you're playing for the right team when your mustache matches your uniform.
Superbowl + Carrie Underwood made it to the Super Bowl before Tony Romo! (joke courtesy of my big brother, who I'm pretty sure hates Tony Romo like I hate puckbunnies)

Minus

- Czechtacular would kill me if I didn't get mad at the Calgary Flames organization for trading Brandon Prust. I mean, sure they gave Christopher Higgins a new home and a damn haircut, and they finally unloaded that eyebrowless anchor (and horrible trade) most people call Olli Jokinen, but it's ridiculous that the Flames have traded him twice. What's with the Ross and Rachel treatment? The worst part of this is that I'm pretty sure this trade is permanent. He's young, energetic, and can throw a punch. I hate to say it, but the Rangers are going to love having him.
- Poor Patrice Cormier. I guess kids have to learn from his example and start listening to their parents: do your homework, eat your veggies, and don't hit the other kids, otherwise you'll get traded to the Thrashers with a busload of other guys.
- To Réjean Tremblay of La Presse for turning on Mike Cammalleri almost as quickly after his injury as the whole Internet turned on Taylor Swift after the Grammys. Too bad Tremblay had little more to offer than two paragraphs.
- Serious lack of people dressed up as Green Man at the Canucks game. What gives, people?
- You know how Facebook tries to specifically target you in sidebar ads?

EPIC FAIL.

- How Jeff Carter skated away from this without a penalty is beyond me.
Superbowl - The post-Superbowl timeslot used to be a big deal for networks. Once a show knew that it would be on after the Superbowl, its writers would pull out all the stops to write an episode worthy of North America's biggest audience. CBS aired a bunch of promos for their CSI's and NCIS's during the big game, but opted to premiere "Undercover Boss" instead of giving the honur to one of their scripted shows. Yes, "Undercover Boss." Good job, CBS.


This is the last week that the Canadiens will play, before we focus on the Canadians. So we've got about seven more days of Habs coverage, which sounds like just the right amount of time for a good-girl initiative.
As I mentioned before, Ryan O'Byrne had a very good week despite mourning his mother on the opposite side of the country. How about, as fans, we give something back? For every comment you all leave us on our posts, starting with this one and ending with the next Plus/Minus, I'll donate $2 to the Canadian Cancer Society. Two dollars doesn't sound like a lot, but if you guys have lots to say, it'll add up.

I saw a ghost today in Brossard

Hey, Georges. Been a while. What's going on?

Laraque and Ryan O'Byrne skated at practice this morning, and both stayed after most of the team was gone for some extra drills.
According to Habs Inside/Out, O'Byrne probably won't be playing until the weekend. I'd rather have a fully healed defenceman on the ice than someone who think he's well enough to play and risks aggravating the injury and missing even more games later on in the season, but the longer he stays away from the ice, the harder it'll be to get back up to speed, so... I don't know.
According to me, Laraque did some errands after the practice. I was surprised to see him at practice, so obviously I was in slight disbelief when I walked into a store and saw Georges Laraque. So, uh, I'd like to extend my thanks to the buyer at Future Shop in Quartier Dix30 for not ordering what we were looking for and making us go to another store.

Brian Gionta is still out (apparently he was limping a little at last night's Pour toujours les Canadiens premiere) so his spot on the expensive first line will be taken by Glen Metropolit, who took to the net and played some baseball this morning at practice. No, seriously. I don't have any good pictures to show you, but he picked up his stick and started batting away pucks. What a guy.

Carey Price is in nets tonight, and we'll see if he'll be as stellar on home ice as he's been the last two games. (Personally, I hope so... not only for the team but just to show those people who call themselves fans and say they don't jump on bandwagons, but still call their favourite team "garbage" and refuse to watch tonight's game. Yes, if you're wondering, I've actually met someone like that, who seems to think that the Habs are a later season of Heroes.)

Tom Kostopoulos is back in town, and we'll see if I still miss the scrappy, unintentionally funny workhorse.

Sergei Samsonov is back in town (I think) and we'll see if he has yet passed the statute of limitations for booing of former Habs.

Here are some of my pictures: