Something to look out for over the next few weeks...

While pre-development and post-draft and pre-training camps along with the ever-tumultuous free agency season will surely keep your writers busy over the coming months, we still need to commemorate the year that was. So we're getting a leg up on the NHL's actual hardware session with a series of our own recognitions.

Our first and second categories, which you get to help choose, are the following:





Roster shots are our first impressions. Impressions that can be brightened by an eager smile or flattened by robotic poses. A couple of ~czechtacular favourites highlight the "best" category (simply because each of them made me laugh out loud, otherwise you'd see four Plekanec heads, okay), but the randoms are worth noting if not for their happiness to actually be sitting there (notions that ex-Habs Tanguay and Streit seem to have undervalued) but also for their epic hairdos. While Boston's photographers seem to have ignored the "allocated head-room" rule by including way more grey than necessary in their shots, and we still don't know why the Habs insisted on posing like they were covering something, photographic style was not an element included in the "worst" category (Tanguay, though, provided the best "Robot" of the Lightning).

Unless you want to look through 27 pages of gettyimages and tell me I'm missing someone, have a go at voting for (or against) these!

Habs Development Camp kicks off Tuesday

Habs' prospect Gabriel Dumont. Photo from Journal L'Express
Since hockey fever ran rampant in Montreal this season I'm pretty sure this is the Habs' way of spreading themselves out so that we don't have too much withdrawal. A "pre-development" development camp of sorts (in that it obviously won't include the players of this year's draft, lest Trevor Timmins have some mind-altering time-warping abilities we don't know about) starts this Tuesday, June 1st, and runs until Saturday, June 5th. I commissioned myself to this blog post because I happen to have seen a hell of a lot of 5 of the 22 players in the last few years, rookie seasons, President/Calder/Memorial Cup runs and all.

Drummondville-bragging aside, last year's first-rounder Louis Leblanc is sure to be a headline again, especially now that his chances of making his QMJHL debut this season are something that Chicoutimi Sagueneens head-coach and GM Richard Martel has a firm belief in. The rest of those attending camp, divided into forwards-dmen-netminders are as follows:

BISHOP, Hunter
CICHY, Michael
DUMONT, Gabriel
FORTIER, Olivier
HOUSE, Tanner
JOHNSON, Patrick
KRISTO, Danny
LEBLANC, Louis
LEFEBVRE, Philippe
MASSÉ, Dany
NATINNEN, Joonas
QUAILER, Steven

BENNETT, Mac
DESNOYERS, Marc-Antoine
HARVEY, Myles
KISHEL, Scott
NASH, Brendon
STEJSKAL, Joe

BÄUMLE, Thomas
BLANCHARD, J.-Christophe
GILL, Riley
SIMILA, Petteri


Tryout Marc-Antoine Desnoyers was the Voltigeurs' (and almost the league's) standout on defense this past year. The 20 year old wasn't gun-shy either, registering 54 points, plus the franchise's first-ever playoff hat trick against Rimouski. However, it was his +47 rating that made him most valuable.

Ex-Rimouski captain Olivier Fortier missed most of the year due to injury, but managed to show off his abilities in the few playoff games he played in with Hamilton. He registered his first professional goal in a 3-2 win against Abbotsford in the Western Conference semi-final, which turned out to be the game-winner.

Dany Massé's season was a lot like Fortier's, coming off injuries faced in the President and Memorial Cup runs of 2008-09. For a player that was often scratched and put on fourth-line duty, he managed to register a shot for every game he played and stay on the plus side defensively.

Free-agent signing Philippe Lefebvre, who may or may not be a Montreal Junior as of next season, proved why he should have been drafted. The Trois-Rivières native racked up close to 30 goals with Drummondville despite only being relied on as second-tier offense.

Last year's 5th-rounder Gabriel Dumont probably doesn't need to be elaborated on for my poor Twitter followers. But for those who don't share that misfortune, picture your typical energy guy.....on speed. He can be the smallest guy on the ice, but if the other team's fridge of a tough guy happens to be in one of his teammates' faces, guess where Dumont is headed. He'll play through anything and everything, as his broken hand this year and myriad of other injuries last year can tell you, and, as a bonus, he can lead the league in scoring (51 goals, 2009-10). This season, in addition to his somewhat surprising stats, he received the Guy Carbonneau Trophy for defensive forward of the year (which, by the way, Fortier had won two years prior).

So I went on a ramble on that last one. Sorry. Let's just be happy Sean Couturier is only draftable in 2011, otherwise we'll just be here all day.

Plus/Minus: perfect cure for the playoff hangover

It's been a hell of a season, and I'm sad it's over. At the same time, I'm kind of enjoying the rest and free time, as I'm sure our Habs are. I'm also quite sure that combining "time with friends" and "get out of the house to avoid American Idol" is something that only I, not an NHL player, would be happy about. They're probably enjoying the extra sleep and not needing to be on a plane every other day and whatnot. Meanwhile, fans everywhere are thisclose to pulling their hair out because of the lack of hockey and the Habs Inside/Out server crash.

BETTER THAN MAKING IT TO THE CONFERENCE FINALS

Little-known fact: Scott Gomez uses these moments to unleash the meanest "yo momma" jokes in history.

(photo from canadiens.com)

+ I'm sad that the season's over without some rings on our Habs' hands, but if you read my last post, you know how proud I am of my team.
+ An outdoor game between the Habs and Flames next season? Excuse us while we break out into song.
+ To our second-favourite country, the Czech Republic, winning the world championship.

Good job, guys!

+ A recent Gazette article said that stores selling Canadiens merch got a lot of requests from women who wanted lady Hab shirts in "the real colours" - this is a huge step in our crusade against pink hockey merch!
+ Here's to you, Jaroslav Halak. Habs fans love you more than you will know. (wo wo wo)
+ In addition to his arsenal of on-ice tricks, Mike Cammalleri unleashed a new weapon during the Flyers series: making crazy faces. We love it.
+ Maxim Lapierre for being an effective shit-disturber.
+ All the supporting players who've come out of the woodwork and helped the Habs get as far as they've come.
+ I've come under some heat for saying this, but I'd like to thank those morons in Philadelphia for restoring the good name of Habs fans.


WORSE THAN LOSING TO THE FLYERS
(although, seriously, is there anything worse than losing to the Flyers?)

photo from Facebook via Bulldogs fan Scott Gardner, who I've never met but he seems to have had awesome Game 7 seats

- The Bulldogs lost too? Aw.
- Am I to honestly believe that in the months since the Habs took Dominic Moore, there hasn't been time to stand him against some white wall and take a picture? Why does he still have his Flo Panthers roster shot?
- "Start the season with injury and finish the season with injury." We miss you already, Marky! November seems so far away.
- If I may express personal opinion for a second (and I will, because this is my blog and you'll listen to every damn word I say), I hate Dustin Byfuglien. If that's how you spell it. I usually just call him "Fugli" and leave it at that.
- Alain Crete's new glasses make him look like some kind of hipster Mr. Magoo. I guess I'm glad the season's over.
- RIS gets a major minus for promising to air season postmortem interviews live on Tuesday. They did not.
- Twice now, the Moron Rioters have unleashed destruction upon downtown Montreal mere days before the Habs get eliminated from the playoffs. I'm just a bit too superstitious to let this slide one more time, so tell everyone you know that rioting makes the Habs lose.


The Winter Classic and Kyle Klubertanz purchase news are obvious attempts from the NHL to keep me writing, but I need to take a couple of days of "me" time, if only to get used to the sight of Jonathan Toews' mutton chops. I'll probably be back before you know it, but before I (briefly) go, I'd like to thank you readers for a great season! It's been a fun first season for me, and knowing that so many of you are reading and coming back to Hab It Her Way so often makes me try to be a better writer. Okay, sappy part over, sunbathey part begins!
See you at the end-of-season sale, maybe? If I don't see you here first?

A note on the Bulldogs

Second post-mortem post in a row. Second series loss endured by PK Subban and Ben Maxwell in the last three days. I'd pile on the vodka except there's a little too much Motrin in my system at the moment.

The Hamilton Bulldogs had thrown more than double the shots on net than the Texas Stars could muster against them, but fell victim to four unanswered goals and missed the chance to repeat 2007's exploits against Hershey in the Calder Cup Finals, losing Game 7 by a score of 4-2.

For now we'll talk about the 31 franchise records that were made on the way to this loss and the 52-17-3-8 record that few expected with a rookie coach behind the bench, constant callups, injuries, and other threats to team chemistry. Much like its parent in the NHL, this team wasn't supposed to be where it was. By the looks of all the newcomers and the number of potential and eventual graduates, it was en route to maybe pushing the 40-win mark, and even that would have been deemed respectable. But they went above and beyond, bringing new faces and even newer prospects to the Conference Finals of the AHL, and each of these made their own mark on the franchise (which quite frankly is really all Guy Boucher asks for from his players). Two goaltenders with both the talent and the experience saved and stole games for the Bulldogs, the defense corps shattered offensive records while providing a mainstay on the blueline, while the "never make it"s and the "too short"s collaborated to burn out those red lights behind opposing goaltenders much like you'd see in that Vapor commercial.

I'll admit I had a selfish want in following this team's playoff run: getting the opportunity to follow two successive Guy Boucher league titles. But the Blue Jackets (among others) are already drooling and it's not because he didn't make it to the final dance. It's for all that stuff that happened way before that opportunity could have even been thought of. Much can be the same for every member of the Hamilton Bulldogs: each of them gets to come out of this a little bit older, a little bit wiser, and a lot more confident and hungry for the next time. Pretty attractive stuff.

That's all folks

The Canadiens' semi-charmed playoff run is over. Lost just wrapped up, sort of, with a series finale. Tuesdays just aren't the same, and even though the sun shone so brightly this afternoon, it felt like a dark day. I'm not - repeat, NOT - a sore loser, but I'm going to miss the Canadiens until next season.

I'll be honest here: I've been thinking about what I'd write in my end-of-season post pretty much since the playoffs started. It might be a little tough for me to remember what I wanted to write a tumultuous month and a half ago, so I might forget a few things. But one thing that I certainly won't forget to mention is how proud I am of this team. Everyone assumed that this season would be all about slow rebirth, and we'd be seeing promise of the suture but still coming in dead last in the league, giving us the advantage of the #1 draft pick. But our Habs proved us wrong: who wants a Taylor or a Tyler when you've got a Jaro, a PK, or a Tomas?

That, of course, was only one of the questions that this season's team answered:
What would happen if almost none of last year's free agents stayed with the Canadiens? (I actually asked this to ~czechtacular about a year ago, and followed it up with "Who would be captain?" Still waiting on an answer for that last one.)
What would happen if Halak became more than just the other white meat?
Are we going to make the playoffs?

It was a regular season full of ups and downs and injuries and roster changes. How I ever thought that the 2008-09 season would have given me more blog material is beyond me, really. (Let's keep that last part between us, ok?) We started this blog in the preseason, after all of the summertime buying, selling, trading, and all the other things that happen in the offseason and have had tons to write about. We've made it to 200 posts in less than a year, and we have our incredible Canadiens to thank. This is a team that didn't give up despite losing big-ticket players to injury at various points during the season. This is the team that snapped the Washington Capitals' epic winning streak, long before eliminating them from the playoffs. This is the team that got rid of the defending Stanley Cup champions. Yes indeed, ladies and gents, this is the team that knocked two of the best teams in the league out of the race for the Stanley Cup. This is the team that shut down the NHL's two biggest stars. This is the team that snuck into playoffs and made it to the final four. This is also a team that looked very, very different at this time last year. Bob Gainey cobbled together a bunch of players from all over the league, and in less than a year they became Stanley Cup contenders. I expected a lot of the new players not to know what they were in for, that playing for the NHL's most storied franchise also meant that they would be living their lives under a microscope, in a place where "La ville est hockey" is more than a slogan. So far, all the players who've joined the Habs' roster in the last year have embraced their role as  Montreal Canadiens both on and off the ice.

They've given me a team I can be proud of, and a team I can write about even when I have very little to say. They stuck around for a whole month after my birthday, for the first time in a very long time.
So the best thing I can say, on the first Tuesday of this year where I have no Lost and no hockey (only Glee), is a retweet of the last thing Damon Lindelof will say about the Lost finale:
"Remember. Let go. Move on. I will miss it more than I can say."

Here It Goes Again

Game 5 is upon us, and it's yet another elimination game. The Habs, the journalists, and the fans know this dance so well that we don't even need to hear the music anymore.

A very important step in the playoff tango

This time a lot of people think that our team has reached the end of the road, and really only one thing has remained unsaid: It's not over til it's over, bitches!

Go Habs Go.

Game preview: Habs v Flyers, Game 4

100th game of the 100th year... Good going, Habs!

No, I don't know what's up with a Saturday afternoon game either. I hate afternoon games because I always forget what time it is, and assuming it's around 10:00 once the game ends, I feel just a bit sleepier than I did three hours earlier, even though I haven't had supper yet.

In any case, the Habs turned their game around on Thursday (killing my Videotron feed and my recorded TV shows in the process, of course) so things are definitely looking better than they did a few days ago. So here's what to watch out for:

• Will Michael Leighton want revenge?
• The Battle of the 13's: There's a lot of speculation about unfinished business between Mike Cammalleri and Daniel Carcillo, whose mustache is apparently to be feared, although Pouliot-stache was much cooler. RIP, Pouliot-stache.
• Speaking of Carcillo, I wouldn't be surprised if everyone's favourite troublemaker Max Lapierre got all up in his face today. (Carcillo: "I don't understand when he talks sometimes!" Me: "Then move to Arizona but stay away from the Coyotes!")
• And speaking of Lapierre, now that Ian Laperriere has been cleared to play, I'm sure American commentators are shaking at the prospect of having to pronounce both names properly.
• Finally, the Habs' supporting cast will probably continue their upswing from last game. Go Habs Go!

Edit: it's almost game time and yes, it looks like my sister's favourite Jeff Carter will be taking the ice even though he's still broken, and that Carcillo's been left out of the lineup. I will not make any assumptions about him being scared.

Pregame shows for this game:

RDS: The usual - entire reporting staff is outside wearing headsets, talking about absolutely everything that could possibly be discussed. Fans cheering in background.

CBC: Toronto FC.

NBC: Gymnastics.

Yes, gymnastics.

Habs win!

I've got to keep this short, so... The Canadiens got their mojo back and beat the Philadelphia Flyers 5-1. There was an appropriate amount of roughing, and ~czechtacular is probably very proud of her Czechs right now. Flyers got what was coming to them. Tom Pyatt got that game-winning goal he missed out on a few weeks back, and was named third star of the game, in good company with other stars Dominic Moore and Roman Hamrlik. And the game was worth watching.

Okay, that's all (for me, for now) folks! Good night and have a pleasant tomorrow.

Just when you thought it was safe to go back on the ice...

I signed into Facebook and saw a (Facebook) friend's status update: "when it rains it pours." At first I brushed it off as some random outburst of suburban frustration, until I heard the news. The terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad news.

photo yoinked from canadiens.com between two fits of rage

We'll be without my favourite Hab for a while. Andrei Markov has undergone surgery for the ACL that Matt Cooke ruined in Game 1 of the Pittsburgh series, and he'll be out for an estimated six months. (Yes, that bites into next season.) We can all assume that it'll have a detrimental effect on the rest of the season for the Canadiens, and to make things worse, if the 6-month recovery period is accurate, we'll have to deal with his absence through the offseason and into next season (the last on his current contract, I believe).

I totally just jinxed everything, didn't I.

Come on home

If you're a Habs fan, you're probably swearing your ass off re: two consecutive shutouts. Against the Flyers, of all teams. It's a nightmare. I know.

Somehow, the Canadiens' loss isn't what's getting to me the most right now. It's who we lost to. Since when are the Flyers known for their scoring prowess or their fantastic goaltending? Since when do the Habs let their playoff opponent walk all over them? Ugh. It really is always ugly in Philadelphia. I'm inclined to say the Habs are getting scared, as proven by Jacques Martin's somewhat questionable roster choices (we have a guy who's 6'5" and learning how to hit people, and yet he hasn't seen his uniform in almost a week).

It's okay. The Habs will wake up from this nightmare once they get back to Montreal. They'll learn to douche it up and fight fire with fire, and they'll be on home ice, hearing some real olé olés in a stadium that doesn't look like the inside of an unattractive jack-o'-lantern.
I mean, seriously, Flyers fans? Using "Don't Stop Believing" as your fight song? That song belongs to a) the Detroit Red Wings and b) every sports team ever. Mocking our olé olé chant? Are you just doing that because you know we can't reciprocate at the Bell Centre, because you don't have a real chant? What do they even say in Philly? "Go Flyers?" "Hey, did you guys know we have a hockey team?" I'm pretty sure I saw Peter Laviolette tell one of his players to "sweep the leg," and then blow a bubble with his gum. I'm so over that city.

After The Karate Kid, these guys were hired by Flyers management. True story.

Usually, when RDS makes an ad for an upcoming hockey game, it'll start with a picture of a star player, like the Halak and Crosby ads during the last series. The ad they ran for Thursday's game featured a clip of Habs fans in the stands. The Habs will come back to Montreal, and they'll have a 21, 273-player advantage.

A little ego boost

Guess what, Habs fans? We're not that bad! There's finally proof that there are people out there worse than Canadiens fans - and as you already know, we get a bad rap because of like, twenty guys. In the whole city. Regardless, look at what the Internet has given us: worse fans!

Sore loser in Pittsburgh: I'd say this was a joke, but it didn't really make me laugh, so I'm not sure. Also if you read the tags this guy used to make his video searchable, you will see that he can't spell "illegal," making him either an excellent citizen or a terrible speller.



City of Brotherly... what's that nickname again? It only took two days for Philly to prove how excellent (?) its fans are. Aside from all the chanting and whatnot during Sunday's game (which I'll leave out of this argument, simply because Montreal's had its share of arena jerkstores), so far the fans have:

• Vandalized Pat Hickey's car while it was parked outside the Wachovia Center. Even if you think that Dave Stubbs is clearly the better writer, that's a little extreme;
• Vandalized Canadian TV trucks, by (amongst other things) pouring beer onto electrical components, because clearly they don't know how much it costs to put something on TV;
• Told a francophone TV guy to "go back home," whilst wearing their Gagné and Brière jerseys. So, um, good job, Mme Brière, for encouraging your husband to play in a city safer than Montreal.
• If I forgot anything, feel free to add to it in the comments.

Destruction of property in a stadium parking lot? Premeditated targets? Guys with jerseys and beer? These acts were clearly perpetrated by motivated hockey fans, not just opportunistic yahoos like the guys who went insane on Ste. Cat last week. They were trying to send a message, and I think that message is pretty clear:

Montreal fans have to deal with a lot of bad press. Clearly, we could be a lot worse.

So now you know. Thanks for the help, Philly!

As expected, Game 1 was ugly.

S'ok, Jaro, even superheroes get tired

Well, the Canadiens lost, and a final score of 6-0 proves that the Flyers are just as charmed as the Habs are, although inexplicably so.

For what it's worth, the league might have been buzzing about how bad Montreal fans look after Wednesday night's looting (again, that was the tiniest of fractions of people who probably can't even spell "Cammalleri"), but we must look pretty good after the orange hot mess that is Philadelphia hockey fans. I don't think Montreal fans can be called the worst in the NHL anymore. 

That was a rough Game 1. It'll be good ammo for Tuesday, and the Canadiens will have a better idea of what to expect from their enemies.

However, it won't be any easier for us to see the Flyers in eye-popping HD.

Plus/Minus gets ready for the Conference Final

Yes, ladies and gents, the dude who scored the OT goal that won a gold medal gets a little extra time off to polish it. Or, maybe, to pack up some boxes and learn to make his own sandwiches.
And yes, the team everyone questioned (even me a little bit, last summer, when prompted by Global's sports news for my expert analysis) is going to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 1993. (So I guess I haven't missed much, because I vaguely remember the Habs winning the Cup while I decided between magenta and fuschia crayons. How times, and crayons, have changed.)

PLUS

Note: Tomas Plekanec is not celebrating National Hug A Giant Day

+ WE WON ROUND 2. Conference finals? Is this for real?
+ San Jose has seen one of their talented young forwards go from "Little Joe" to "The Big Pavelski." At one point, he was leading the league in playoff goals.
+ Until he got ourscored by our very own Mike Cammalleri.
+ Jaro.
+ Everyone who has made a T-shirt with the Halak stop sign on it. They're pretty awesome. I saw one in the window of Rock & Rebel in Cours Mont-Royal, so you can get it custom-printed on a T-shirt. So far it doesn't seem to be available on their website.
+ File this under "postseason praise for Kirk Muller."
+ Proof that the playoffs are more important than the regular season: Hal Gill, Maxim Lapierre, and Jacques Martin deserving more praise recently than fans gave them all season.
+ Scott Gomez continues to crack me up, the most recent example being this photobomb:

+ I'm going to sound so mean here, but I'm actually quite glad that this playoff series has caused some more Crosby-haters to come out of the woodwork. And I'm kind of happy that my team made him cry. (What? I promised full disclosure!)
+ That being said, Josh Gorges did a great job of staving off Crosby.

MINUS

Man discovers fire. City covers its face in shame.

- Matt Cooke. His jackassery needs no further explaining.
- Sami Salo might have busted a ball. I'm a girl and even I'm wincing at the thought of that.
- Our Habs getting injured. It sucks. I'm glad that things are starting to pick up.
- My friend Corina, who is probably not reading this because she got offended at my Crosby comments in Plus, is very glad that the Blackhawks beat the Canucks. But it sucks for Vancouver's players, who have been great so far, and it sucks for the Green Men.
- To the NHL Live host who still can't pronounce "Cammalleri".
- I hate scalpers in general, but the fact that there are already almost 200 postings on Craigslist for overpriced Round 3 tickets is ridiculous. (Even worse is that some of them are being sold by people who think this series is being played by the "Canadian" and the "Phillies")
- Finally, if you broke a window or stole something after Game 7, can you please reply in the comments telling me exactly what kind of idiot you are? I'm all for partying and stuff, but come on. Is this wartime or something? These morons have got to stop breaking windows for no reason. Thanks to them, Games 1 and 2 of the Philly series won't be broadcast at the Bell - which was something I've thought for ages would be a great idea, and I missed my chance because tickets sold out before I was sure I could make it there, and now you've maybe ruined my chances of seeing what it's like to fill a stadium without a single athlete in it.

NEITHER HERE NOR THERE
The new Georges Laraque commercial. Filmed between dog walks and plugging his raw vegan restaurant on Off The Record.



No, I don't have an explanation for it. I've been trying to explain it since Wednesday and no dice.


We're going to have a stellar Round 3. I'm sure of it, even if I'm not sure that the people scalping their tickets have ever read a newspaper or watched a hockey game before.

Habs are headed to Philly

Our Eastern Conference Final rival...

Yes, the Philadelphia Flyers. Hope you like cream cheese.

Did anyone else notice that Montreal is the only team left in the playoffs without a guy who played on Team Canada this year? I just thought that was an interesting bit of trivia, although we have Cammy and Team Canada wishes they could have had him, if only to help prevent that extra game they played.

Did anyone else also notice that the teams we're playing are getting more and more physically appalling? (Sorry, it's the truth.)

HABS WIN!

I watched the whole game. I watched the postgame interviews. I watched the recaps and the fans flooding the streets to celebrate (and let me tell you that I've never seen that many people, ever, on Ste. Catherine and Crescent, not even during Grand Prix weekend... so racecar drivers can now know for sure that they take a backseat to hockey in this town). The Canadiens have won another Game 7, this time against the Pittsburgh Penguins and their captain, the other best player in the NHL. (Or so they say.)

And they won. I'm having trouble believing that this is actually true. Yes, me, one of the most positive Habs fans on the planet.

The Canadiens will play the first game of the Eastern Conference Final (!!!!) on Sunday. Get ready to hear from us a lot from now until then... It might take me a while to actually believe this is happening.

Game 7 is upon us

... I'm nervous. I may have to pop some Rolaids before this game starts.

Mike Cammalleri: the reason why all of Pittsburgh is quiet

What's there to say? The Canadiens are the little team that could, somehow surpassing all expectations and living up to their century of legends at the same time. They made Washington nervous. They made Pittsburgh nervous. They may even have caused a couple of locker-room tears. (One can only hope... and laugh.)

Whatever happens, once this game is over thousands of crazy fans will pour out of both the Mellon Arena and the Bell Centre (completely sold out, by the way, there isn't a ticket to be had anywhere for tonight's screening) and some kind of insanity will probably go down. Hopefully not too much property damage will occur (and only to people that deserve it, like the retailers who badmouth the Canadiens while selling team merchandise).

This could be the game of the season. It will likely be the game that defines next season. And maybe, one can only hope, that it will be the game that ultimately proves that the Penguins can never, ever be sure of a win against the Habs.

I'm going to be sitting on pins and needles until this game is over.

Summary of Game 6

On behalf of this professional photographer whose lens is probably wicked awesome, I apologize for the half-lack of Cammyface

I ate more of those lucky cupcakes. They worked.

History can be made.

So after yesterday's game, some people's motivation started to dwindle a little, because maybe the Pittsburgh Penguins are out to kill the Habs' entire defence, or maybe the Canadiens will just be outplayed at some point, but I'm staying positive.

Why, you ask? Because today I saw the Canadiens win the Stanley Cup.

Okay, it was just the 1986 Final on NHL Network, but still. Go Habs Go!

Sorry, mommies.

Apologies to the Habs' moms, who maybe would have liked a win the day before Mother's Day. I guess they have to settle for flowers. And the satisfaction of knowing that Sidney Crosby's mom might be crying because her son, the Avatar of hockey players, couldn't score in an empty net. (If Momsby exists, that is, because all I hear about is his wackjob of a dad, although I think once my mom said there was an article about his mom in like, Homemakers or one of those magazines that mothers tend to read.)

One major reason behind the Habs' loss tonight: At some point, Marc-André Fleury looked at that other goalie across the ice and was like "Okay, yeah, if Jaro can do it, I can totally do it. I have a gold medal, after all." (Don't tell his mom he got that gold medal for free, or that it might be made from Ferrero Rocher wrappers.)

So, if you're disappointed by this loss, just think of Jaroslav Halak leading by example. Or think of the fact that apparently Habs-Pens 2010 is similar to Isles-Pens 1993 (that's what NHL.com told me), and I think you guys know why comparisons to the 1993 playoffs would make a Habs fan smile.
Or, just think of the tremendous facial hair going on these playoffs. I'm still expecting the best out of my team, but tonight they forced me to settle for a consolation prize. And that was assessing whose facial hair was most creative.

Despite the refs' best efforts, Canadiens win.

I'm using the exact same picture as Habs Inside/Out because it's just too good to pass up

The series is now tied 2-2.

Hollywood: Get this guy to do your Oscar campaigns...

... because he's really after that Douchebag of the Year title.

As if giving a guy a concussion (yes, I know we're not supposed to like Marc Savard, but at least for the sake of this argument, Bruins are people too), taking out our top defenceman for the rest of the season, and just generally being awful weren't enough, Matt Cooke has gone after the Habs' greenest player.

Cooke said that Montreal rookie defenseman P.K. Subban “cut his skate all up” after a first-period hit.

“Thankfully, my foot wasn’t touched,” said Cooke, who  had to leave the ice for a few minutes to have his skate repaired.

A highly-regarded 20-year-old, Stubban sliced a tendon in the foot of Penguins center Jordan Staal in Game 1 on a hit at center ice. 

“It’s the second time (it’s happened),” said Cooke, who scored Pittsburgh’s lone goal early in the first period. “I know it’s not a penalty when skates collide but for that to happen in back-to-back games by the same guy is suspicious.”

(Yes, they totally spelled it as "Stubban" that time. Sound off in the comments section.)

Does Cooke have nothing better to do than cook up conspiracy theories about good-natured rookies? Did he set out to have half our friends change their Facebook status to "Ta gueule, Matt Cooke"? Is he stupid, arrogant, misquoted or racist? Whatever the case may be, Matt Cooke, the jerk store called, and they're running out of you.

Round Two: One to one

Final score, 3-1 for Montreal.
Take THAT, Penguins! Pittsburgh can keep trying to kill our defencemen one by one, but we'll just have to get out revenge by winning games. And just because the Habs are gentlemen, there will probably be no murder of Penguins. That's animal cruelty.

K, but if you run into this guy, do whatever you want

So as it turns out, even the evil NBC and their programming ways can't get the best of our Habs. (I almost want to think that this Sunday game happened to tire the Habs out a little, because NBC is apparently terrified of even the remotest possibility of two Canadian teams making it to the Stanley Cup Finals. Because two Canadian hockey teams playing each other would make for bad television? Dear major American networks: you can't judge that anymore. Love, Rookie. PS: If you need extra help around the office, I'm willing to relocate.) 

Oh, and by the way, there's a reason why Pittsburgh is trying to kill every defenceman Montreal has. First, I thought that by going after my absolute favourite current Canadien, Matt Cooke was just campaigning for Douchebag of the Year. But no. It's because the defence is doing exactly what it needs to do. There are still a lot of shots on goal, yes, but with dudes like Evgeni Malkin and That Tim Hortons Mascot on the opposing team, I'm not surprised. When's the last time you heard someone complain about Hal Gill? Certainly not this week, unless the person complaining is a moron. The defence is there, the team is still in it, and all the guys that Bob Gainey bought over the summer are looking like excellent purchases.

By the way, I'm starting a baseball team and Mike Cammalleri is the first guy I'm calling.

This hurts

As usual, Canadiens.com released a new desktop wallpaper with this month's calendar and scheduled games on it.

Unfortunately, the timing of changing wallpaper on May 1 when your star defenceman was knocked down on April 30th, couldn't be worse.

Coach has said that Andrei Markov is out for "an indeterminate period." I'm guessing he learned that wording from the transit commission... when you hear that your metro is out of service "pour une durée indéterminée," you know you're screwed. I'm pretty sure this is the same kind of situation.
What's the hockey equivalent of sighing deeply, sitting on the floor of the metro station for a few minutes, then losing patience and going outside in hopes of finding a cab? Do I even want to know?