Perfect start to the playoffs

The Boston Bruins, who have scored 8 goals against the Habs twice in the regular season, were shut out last night. It feels great.

I could not be prouder of my team right now. They all deserve a Plus, but just to list a few examples:

People are applauding Scott Gomez for waking up and putting points on the board. Personally, I think it's been a long time coming. Still, if I had a car that wouldn't start for months, then suddenly I was able to start it and drive around the block, I'd be excited too.

Brian Gionta proved again that he knows how to be captain of this team. (As if anyone with any common sense would doubt him.)

PK knows how to get under an opponent's skin, as we knew already. But as the Bruins and their fans (haters gonna hate) saw yesterday, he also knows how to be an excellent defenseman. Brad Marchand can wag his chin and throw as many punches as he wants - until he backs it up with some real hockey, he's just proving that PK is the better player in this stupid little feud.

Brent Sopel was all over the place, in the best way possible. Forget what you've heard about how the best defencemen are the ones you don't notice. I couldn't help but notice Sopes doing everything he could to clear the puck.

Carey Price: there are no words. He carries this team on his back. Luckily, it appears that his teammates are trying to lighten the load.

If I learned anything from last night's game, it's that the Habs have had enough tragedy this season and they won't allow any more.

I also learned that no one should ever doubt the Canadiens, EVER. On Tuesday night I expressed my stupid, stupid rationale that the Bruins might win this series even though I didn't want them to. Less than 24 hours later, I was running a fever. My temperature didn't drop until this morning - AFTER the Habs won. Same thing happened to a friend of mine: he dissed the Habs (I don't know why) and was diagnosed with sinusitis today.

It's not just about faith or being a fan. It's about certainty. The Habs can win this series, and for fear of running another fever, I think they will.

Plus/Minus: Gettin' busy

This week I got to spread my wings a little and talk hockey in a couple of new places. I was asked to take part in the Sunday Shinny panel on The Franchise. I handled early-morning radio at least as well as late-night radio, I'd say. It was also nice to not be surprised by the realization that I have to choose, of all things, a baseball team. (Decision still pending.)

I also filled out the Female Fan Frenzy questionnaire for Queen Crash, as over 100 female hockey fans from teams around the NHL have done before me.

Oh, and the Montreal Canadiens did stuff this week too.

PLUS

+ Harold Gill. Two goals. One week. I think I'll start a For Your Consideration campaign to get him the Art Ross Trophy.
+ David Desharnais playing like he's as tall as Gill. I love it!
+ It may have hurt to see Ben Maxwell in a Thrashers jersey, but the arrival of Brent Sopel just happened to coincide with four consecutive wins. I'm cool with winning.
+ Legendary Habs forward Elmer Lach is apparently recovering well from surgery to repair his broken hip. I hope he's up and around as soon as possible!
+ The Bulldogs won this afternoon. Gabriel Dumont set Brendon Nash up for a game-winning overtime goal. Who could ask for anything more?
+ Jarome Iginla: 10 consecutive 30-goal seasons. See? This is why he's my favourite!

MINUS

- Did Mason Raymond just get injured? Please say no.
- It's probably not as bad as the high ankle sprain suffered by a certain Oiler who had previously been in the race for rookie of the year. (As usual, yes, I am also in that race.)
- All other injuries go in this Minus. Please stop getting hurt, NHL.
- Attendance is bad in cities like Atlanta. Unless the number of people who attend Thrashers games magically doubles within the next week, we'll keep hearing about it. But until someone says something new and original about unpopular teams and how they should be moved to [insert city here], just stop talking about it. There's a month left in the regular season and plenty of hockey to talk about. Why not discuss the Atlanta Thrashers or the Phoenix Coyotes as they are right now? If fans in cities like Quebec and Winnipeg really love hockey, they'll watch hockey. They won't just tune in to a three-minute segment about how whatever team should be moved to whatever city.

This week looks like it'll be a big one around the league! TV is in reruns, right? Right? I hope so.

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.