Plus/Minus: it's a big one!

Lots to cover in +/- this week, mostly because the Canadiens organization has spent a year leading up to it. (Not to mention 99 years before that.)


HISTORICAL PLUS MINUS

Just for this week, we're choosing one of our glory days and one of our dark days from the last 100 years.
+ March 14th, 1929: George Hainsworth posts his 22nd shutout of a 44-game season, a record which still stands today.
- March 8, 1937: Howie Morenz passes away, the result of an injury that broke his leg in four places.

PLUS

+ 100 years, all of them legendary, all of them memorable, as much as some fans may want to forget a season here or there. The city's going to look a little lonely without those 100th anniversary lampposts, and while it's time for us to keep history in our hearts and minds but start focusing on the present, I don't think I need to remind you of how annoying Don Cherry is going to be when other Original Six teams reach their centennial years.

+ 2 Elmer Lach and Butch Bouchard deserved the honour of having their jerseys retired.

+ Two words: Gordie Howe. That is all.

+ HAT TRICK.

+ Guillaume Latendresse has suddenly turned into some kind of goal-scoring machine. I don't know what they fed him on the flight to Minnesota but this trade really has been good for him.

+ Guys coming back from injuries - yay! (We still hate you for what you did a month ago, Andrew Ladd.)

+ to the gentleman I saw on the metro in a Maurice Richard jersey who let me flip through the book that had been handed out at the centennial game. As promised, I didn't get any greasy fingerprints or squished corners during the minute I held it for. I want my own copy now, but somehow can't bring myself to spend the money on eBay (where they start around $78).

+ Jarome Iginla, the NHL's first star for November? That makes us feel a little better about losing to the Flames - there are some formidable opponents in the NHL, and Iginla's definitely one of them. (Had he still been named first star, but that goal had been scored by Jokinen... we'd probably still be breaking things.)


MINUS

One of the rare times that I've cheered for a player heading into a five-minute penalty.

- Another blog beat us to the "Goodbye, Mr. Chips" pun, so we'll just say this: Kyle Chipchura went from Hamilton to Montreal and back so many times that we're jealous of his Air Miles. I'm going to reference the one and only Bulldogs game I've been to at Copps Coliseum (so far) where Captain Chippy played so well and so aggressively that I could hardly believe my eyes. He was on fire - winning fights, getting points, and generally playing like Rambo or someone too good for the AHL. Yet we only rarely saw this incarnation of him in the NHL, and I don't really know why. So, while it's not like we just lost Gretzky to the Kings, we're going to miss Kyle Chipchura for his work ethic, his leadership as Bulldogs captain, and his reputation as a nice guy.

- 2 I keep on forgetting this one but giant minuses for the newest Mini-Wheats commercial, ripping off the Ole Ole chant and making it about fake strawberry flavour. What an abomination. A minus from Habs fans and another from soccer fans. The geniuses at Mini-Wheats should go back to rewriting Monkees songs or whatever - that chant is ours and you can't have it. I'm never buying Mini-Wheats again. (Okay, that's not true, because I love cereal and I can't believe that something covered in icing sugar can be so good for you. But mark my words, I am never buying the strawberry flavour. Ever.)

- We hate the Leafs and want them to go away, but I still kind of hope that Jonas Gustavsson will be alright after surgery. If there's one thing I'll never take lightly, it's heart problems, no matter what team someone plays for. Even if that team is the Leafs, those jerks.

- Ryan White had a good run, and I'm glad that more people about Hamilton's best-kept secret after his 13 games with the Habs.

- to the person I know who went to the centennial game and apparently missed the pregame ceremonies.


AND OUTSIDE OF HOCKEY

+ to our Alouettes for not only winning the Grey Cup, but celebrating their victory with genuine joy and humility. It felt as good for us to watch as it did for them to win. You're the man, Avon Cobourne.
(Also, our apologies to Saskatchewan. We really wanted the Grey Cup, but don't think we hate you or anything. You did give us Travis Moen after all.)

- thanks for the apology, Tiger Woods, but how about next time, just be honest up front? You know, like you were supposed to be during your wedding vows when you promised not to cheat on your wife?



(The only picture from this post that's my property is the one of Bulldogs captain Kyle Chipchura. The rest are someone else's. Disclaimered.)