Playing catch-up

You know those days where everything happens? I feel like Habs fans had two of those in a row.

I'd love to sit here and lie and say I watched Wednesday's Bruins game live, but I had a rivalry of my own to take on that night: "Rookie vs. All-You-Can-Eat Sushi." A friend of mine was in town, and even though she grew up in Massachusetts she was hoping for a Habs win. We had a blast swapping Bell Centre stories and saying "TD Banknorth Garden" in the most ridiculous Boston accents we could muster. (Apparently the rule is that if it doesn't offend your ears, it's not a real Mass accent.) My phone kept buzzing with Twitter updates from Dave Stubbs, so all I knew was that some crazy stuff was going down at TD Banknorth Gahhhden. Eventually I put it on silent, because there was unlimited sushi to be eaten, and Jackson, The Only Boy At Dinner, put his Habs hat on for good luck. He would later excuse himself from tea to watch Canadiens Express. I can never pass up a good cup of Davids Tea and an hour with my non-biological family, and it turns out I was wise to get a good night's sleep and wait until morning to catch up on what I had missed. Because HOLY CRAP WHAT A GAME!

Anyone who says that only idiots like high-scoring games probably ate their words after what might be the best Habs-Bruins game I've ever seen. Some great fights, and some non-fights, pretty much reminded everyone that Original Six rivalries might be the best kind of rivalry. As much as I love Carey Price, I'm glad that his encounter with Tim Thomas wasn't an actual fight. Tim Thomas probably threw a punch or two in his youth, and if he'd managed to land a blow on Carey Price he'd have to incur my wrath. And, much like his black and yellow jersey, it would not have been pretty.

While I was catching up on that game, the absolute best (although a little belated) news was announced. My boy Ryan White was back. I've been waiting for this news ever since he'd been sent back down two weeks ago. I will not dwell on the fact that he wasn't a Hab when I was at the Bell Centre last week, and that he will hopefully still be a Hab when I have Bulldogs tickets on February 25th. I'm willing to look past that, though, because Ryan White is a Hab again.

It felt kinda like this

Oh, and undisclosed number of injuries after the Bruins game and because we're at that point in the season.

Having to work late means I missed most of the Islanders game as well, so I didn't get to see any Habs goals, I missed the epic Ryan White assist, and I wasn't able to post this on time:

I just got to watch the Islanders score, then win a shootout. I guess that's their reward for giving us Jamie Wiz.
Some days you just can't win. In this case I'm not sure if I'm talking about the Habs or myself. Luckily with a Habs Tweetup tomorrow during Hockey Day In Canada, I know for sure that I'll be able to watch my Habs.

Plus/Minus: we need this ASG you have no idea

This was a pretty crazy week for the Hab It Her Way girls. The Flames came to town and we weren't there and, well, you saw the game and we didn't know what to do with ourselves. (Other than, you know, drink.) Then the Habs played the Sabres and Ryan Miller became the least of my worries. Then someone or other was called up. Then there were lots of goals. Then there was Saku and at the last minute, Czechtacular found herself at the Bell Centre for Saku. Also, I once again broke my "no crying in hockey" rule. So a few days off from the regular insanity that the NHL's been giving us would be nice. The All-Star break couldn't have come at a better time.

Also, for some reason this week I kept coming up with reasons to say "peanut butter jelly time."

PLUS

+ Obviously, the biggest plus has to go to Saku Koivu. You may have read our tribute to him over at All Habs, whose Saku coverage was unrivaled. As expected, I got a bit emotional just seeing him on my TV again. Dave Stubbs had this to say on Twitter about the way his return was handled:

Upon reflection, I'm very disappointed in how #Habs handled it... Habs usually shine in these tribute things, but they totally fumbled Koivu's return... Beyond offering a room for Friday media talk & showing him on scoreboard, Habs virtually ignored Koivu's return... Surely a Koivu video tribute at some point? Surely a Habs sponsor would have given a scoreboard ad spot or two? Fans were tremendous. Koivu leaves Montreal feeling huge love and respect of Habs fans... Koivu, simply, is not merely another returning player. He was heart & soul of Habs for a decade... Anyway, that's how I feel. Wish they'd done a little more to recognize a man who was part of Montreal's fabric.

In a way, I agree with him. I would have loved for this to be treated like the big deal that it was, but I'm just glad Saku came back. Maybe it would have been out of character to suddenly treat Koivu like a saint, two years after this same organization neither offered him a contract renewal nor dealt with whichever media outlets tried to undermine his importance in this city. The Habs organization didn't try to create anything: they let the fans send the message. They simply altered their O Canada video: instead of showing only the vast landscapes, snowy peaks, and busy cities that make Canada great, they flashed back to Saku's return from cancer. And what more is there to say. (Lots, actually, but I have no idea how to put it into words. The good people at Kleenex should have sponsored this game.)
+ Max Pacioretty must have gone to the Josh Gorges School Of Playing Injured. I just hope he's actually okay to play, and not just letting his pride get the best of him.
+ That was a whole lot of goals against Ottawa. And not a whole lot of goals let in against the Sabres.
+ Ryan White was called up! I can't believe I didn't write a post about it, filled with complete nonsense and published so quickly I didn't even think of proofreading. I can't even tell you how excited I am to see him face the Flyers. (Provided, that is, that no one in Flyers management notices him. Don't even think about it, Philadelphia. I will take away all of your beer and cheese and friendly airport employees if you even consider taking Ryan White away. Don't test me.)

MINUS

What happened to me?

- Mike Komisarek punched a woman? (A Plus goes to the Leafs for taking him out of Montreal so we  wouldn't have to deal with this.)
- What is wrong with the Buffalo Sabres? Were they all possessed by the injury fairy?
- Curtis McElhinney, former backup to Miikka Kiprusoff, former impenetrable goalie, just became a father. What could be wrong with that, you ask? His daughter's name is Jaxen.
- Never thought I'd be giving a Minus to a class act like Nicklas Lidstrom, but what would possess him to name Patrick Kane as assistant captain of anything, unless he lost a bet?
- I'm a little sad that Jarome Iginla won't be playing in the All-Star Game, but really who can blame him? I hope he spends as much time with his family right now as he possibly can.
- Two soccer commentators in the UK made the stupidest comments about a female game official. I don't know if they think all linesmen are idiots or not, but by now they should at least be aware that women know about more than bearing children and cooking pot roasts. I hope these idiots get fired. (And this is me being nice about it.)

Well, at least I know this week won't be as eventful as last week. Right? Please say yes.

The year that was, the year that will be.

You're probably all missing Rookie right now, as I am not the most reliable of bloggers seeing as I have missed just about the last ...oh, five games in a row due to the holidays and really, just not being around. I even betrayed you all for a bit by entering the ACC at the same time the Habs were set to face off against Dallas. Note that missing this much hasn't happened in the last twelve years, which either says something about my poker-playing skills or bad train-scheduling abilities.

But the Habs haven't exactly made me feel terrible about missing their frustrating, heart-wrenching, goal-starved performances. My phone has almost been choked to death the number of times I refresh my GameCenter app, hoping it's lying to me. I get back in the car on the way home and callers always seem to be on the verge of becoming clone artists of Angry Sal. It's upsetting and certainly unsettling that this is what they're going through, but maybe sitting these games out is what allows me not to want to panic, and be almost alone in that boat.

Or maybe it's the experience. 1998 was not your bandwagon 2004 year by any means, and that's when I came on board. AKA slumps like these are not the worst I've seen.

This. This is probably the worst thing I've seen.

This year marked a lot of things for the Bleu-Blanc-Rouge, which can (and should be) called upon to remember in times like these:

• Injuries, callups, demotions. Andrei Kostitsyn had knee surgery and Max Pacioretty ...he was just plain not ready. Despite all the flack he gets, Kostitsyn is still third in team scoring and leads with +9, whereas Pacioretty, after his excellent start in the AHL this season, was the lone guy to get on the board for the Habs last night.
• More injuries. The world seemed to end when Mike Cammalleri showed up in crutches to practice that day in February. Despite missing 17 games, he came back just in time for the playoffs and was instrumental in the Habs' run with 19 points in 19 games, 13 of them goals.

(But first we had to see him in That Suit. The one that did not look one bit like this one, unfortunately.)

• Pierre Gauthier named General Manager. In what can at best be called a bizarre move at a time no one expected anything from Bob Gainey, much less him stepping down, a new/old face stepped up to fill the void leaving Habs' fans more confused than before. He still gets questioned on a daily basis, but now it's "that Gauthier" instead of "that Gainey." More on what he HAS done later, though.
• Mid-February: P.K. Subban called up. His status then was God, with 39 points, a +29 and having all sorts of roles in record-breakers in Hamilton. His status now... not so much. I'm about to quote a girly movie, and I won't tell you which one, but we have to remember what used to be good, otherwise we won't recognize it if it hits us between the eyes.
• 24/7 has nothing on us. Possibly the best thing to happen to both the Penguins and the Capitals was facing the Habs in the playoffs this season. The two seven-game series were supposed to come out with different victors, but when does what's SUPPOSED to happen actually happen, anyway?
• Halaknophobia. Which is quite possibly the most amusing headline Canadiens.com has ever come up with, seeing as they're not Rookie. Who can forget the stop-signs and the walls and agent drama and goalie drama and putting that aside and just winning, for goodness' sake, and winning big. In the regular season, in the playoffs, bringing with it the hero status and The Trade. Oh no.
  
  
• And Pierre Gauthier's move eventually makes some bit of sense. The re-signing of Tomas Plekanec to a six year deal, keeping the guy who's currently leading the Canadiens in scoring where he should be and where he always pictured himself being despite the temptations of free-agency. It's a move that validates itself every day.
• Marc-Andre Bergeron: not re-signed. And thank your lucky stars. Could you imagine the state of the current D when he's what you have to rely on? Not that the suggestion won't be brought up again in these times of so-called peril #JustSayNo
• Guy Boucher named AHL Coach of the Year...only to wind up in Tampa Bay. And that's the last reference to last night's game that I think I'm going to safely be able to use in this post. But you have to admit it has enough bite to act as a motivator. Right? Right?
• Dan Ellis and Dustin Boyd to Montreal for S. Kostitsyn. Harsh critiques and Twitter-wars of massive proportions ensued in what would ordinarily be considered the least blockbuster-esque move in pre-July 1st history. Now, slowly but surely, Kostitsyn has found his niche in Nashville, which at least some of us wished for him (and even those that didn't can take solace in the fact that he's so far from this division it doesn't even matter), whereas Carey Price didn't even need Ellis, and Dustin Boyd, after a tumultuous heart-breaking series of waiver-trips, has exploded for ten goals in the AHL's longest goal-streak this season.
• Finally, a Captain. Brian Gionta was given the 'C', becoming the 28th player to wear it in the Habs' history. He now leads the team in goals (tied with Cammalleri) with 12 and shots with 150 (where he's also eighth in the whole league).
• Markov out again. Emphasis on again, because that word implies that it's happened before. It's starting to be felt only as of late, even if people might forget it happened back in November. That in itself is how far this team has come. Josh Gorges joins him now, and that's going to hurt more, but with injuries to the D comes the reminder of the LAST line of defense, which leads to...
• The resurgence of Carey Price. First stars and Molson Cups aplenty for the guy most had given up on last season, including him in trade rumours of the worst kind that are hopefully documented in many places where we can laugh at them. Who's that guy that didn't even make it to the All Star Ballot and is only behind--who is it? Marc-Andre Fleury in the goalie slot? Hmm.

I'm set to miss a sixth game in a row, unless Santa brought my grandfather RDS and didn't tell him about it. I'm going to go with no. And tonight the opponents are the Florida Panthers. Despite it being the second half of a back-to-back, call it just a little hunch that this team isn't about to surrender a 2010-ending W that easily.

Taking shape

In the last couple of days, the Canadiens have cut 23 players from camp. Some cuts were more surprising than others (my apologies to those of you who expected Robert Mayer in net).

As I said yesterday, the Habs' roster is pretty full as it is, so a lot of players who might have had a chance at cracking the roster on an emptier team (perhaps an Engqvist or a Palushaj) have been sent to the Bulldogs.

If you ask me, no player under the age of 25 is safe. (Except for Carey Price, but his place on the roster is the only thing that's safe. His sanity and the chances of some outraged fan egging his car? I'm not so sure.) Even players with more or less permanent roster spots last year, like Tom Pyatt and Benoit Pouliot, aren't sure bets to make the team, simply because of the excess of young talent we've seen at camp this year. Opinions abound on Pouliot, by the way, and my two cents is that his success or failure this season will speak volumes about Jacques Martin.

The good news about all this is that camp has shown us just how good our prospects can be, and what's in store for our Hamilton Bulldogs. They're going to be an awesome team this year. (Don't remind us that they would have been better with Guy Boucher still around.)

On another note: Matthew Ross, host of Game Points on The Team 990, has been looking for new in-studio correspondents to share opinions that listeners send in via Facebook and Twitter. Tonight, I'll be visiting the studio to see how it all works. Nothing super exciting, probably, I'll just try not to sneeze on-air or anything. Wish me luck! I really don't want to sneeze on-air!

One last callup

... and it's PK.

I can't help but guess that this is somehow going to be overwhelming. For who? I don't know yet.

By the way, Mike Boone has a brilliant list of rules for tonight's Game 6:

• No one shows up in blackface, wearing an Afro wig.

• No one boos the kid's first mistake.

• No one boos anyone in a red jersey.

• From the moment the Canadiens skate onto the ice, the barn resounds with more noise than has been heard since Saku came back from cancer.

• Stay positive for 60 minutes.

• The traditional opposition goalie-rattling cheer is a quote of what Bruce Boudreau called Semyon Varlamov: "STOO-PID  (rhymes with puck)!".

• Rock the Bell. The seventh man matters.

• No matter what happens in this game, the Canadiens skate off the ice tonight to thunderF.ous applause. This team has done the city proud.

 I like to think that the F in the middle of "thunderous" is there on purpose, to really drive the point home.

Gauthier wastes no time

This guy's CH has moved to the front of his jersey.

I'm not sure how I feel about these things, but some of today's news:

• Rumours of trades to come, mostly involving forwards because we've only got like three-quarters of a defenceman left. 
• Dominic Moore is the newest new guy on the block, and we got him in exchange for a draft pick which the Florida Panthers will use, then develop, then inevitably trade away so maybe we'll see that player wear the CH sometime. RE: Dominic Moore. Who's dis guy?
• Ben Maxwell is back in Hamilton, and he may or may not be happy to reunite with his other two-first-named teammates.
• PK Subban has been called up. Sorry, let me rephrase that: Talented, bubbly, potential-laden Habs prospect who constantly acts like wearing this jersey is winning the lottery PK Subban has been called up. There's what, like 20 games left in the season? That's not enough time to become Rookie of the Year! (A title which I have held for a while, waiting for PK to fully develop, turn into the greatest thing ever, play a full season, amaze the universe and win the Calder.)

Pierre Gauthier's definitely got that new guy gung-ho attitude, that's for sure.

Also, Dave Stubbs was right: after getting a Mike Green puck to the back of the head, bleeding enough to make Quentin Tarantino smile, and leaving the game, Josh Gorges is the Black Knight. I know they said it wasn't a serious laceration, but he slept on it and practiced the next morning. That's hardcore.

4 days left to comment! We're at the halfway point, people, and it's not like there's nothing to talk about so get typing!

Special delivery...

According to rds.ca, Marc-Andre Bergeron is unlikely to indulge in the Habs' Superbowl Weekend festivities, out with everyone's favourite elusive "lower body injury", allegedly suffered in Boston. With Benoit Pouliot, Tomas Plekanec and Sergei Kostitsyn all taking therapy days at practice this morning, a quick call to Hamilton brought them three "just in case" replacements in Brock Trotter, David Desharnais and Ryan White.

Hamilton, for its part, has a game in Rochester tonight that starts an important three-game roadtrip before their return on February 13th to face Abbotsford. Their 32-12-3-4 record is good for first in their division and conference, with two of the three latest call-ups in the top 10 scoring leaguewide. Should their stay in Montreal be extended enough, one's gotta wonder where the Dogs' reinforcements will come from...

Plus/Minus: Ain't no sunshine when they're gone

This wasn't exactly the best week we've seen for the Habs this season. The team on the road was a bit like the weather at home: it started out beautiful on Monday and everyone was in a great mood, but temperatures dropped. A lot. And now it's really damn cold.


Plus

Hallmark was right! A hug makes everything better.

+ 2: one to Pouliot and one to Gionta, for scoring the Habs' two goals this week.
+ This awesome work of Photoshop:

Proof that Four Habs Fans can be genius even without an army of hoochies.
+ The Washington Capitals finished the job for us and beat the Florida Panthers.
+ A few extra months with Guy Boucher has probably made Yannick Weber much, much better, and the team needs another good defenceman right now and also I think he's awesome.

Minus

- 2 to the damn injury fairy again. (I should probably come up with a sketch of her, but my Photoshop access right now is even more limited than my skills. She probably looks like what a Lady Gaga/Rick Tocchet lovechild would look like, if Lady Gaga had a uterus. So yeah, she's not so pretty and I hate her.) First off, my cat (not the one with the Facebook page) motivated me to give Paul Mara's continuing injury a minus. She's walking around the house saying "Mara, Mara" as I type this. I'm guessing she really misses him.
And now we've lost Cammy to a painful collision. I hate Hockey Day In Canada.
- Another Lightning game, another round of "How much does it suck that Lecavalier didn't make Team Canada?" Yes. It sucks. But if you're complaining about this now you're either a month too late or two weeks too early.
- I'm not sure what makes me sadder: two of my favourite players getting into a huge argument in the locker room, or said argument becoming the biggest story of the week. If there are problems at the heart of the team, journalists and fans aren't going to solve them.

In last week's Plus Minus, I hoped that this week would be calmer than last week, and then NOTHING happened. Seriously, the best thing that happened to me this week was my forgiving actor Jon Hamm for being a St-Louis Blues fan. (He willingly made a fool of himself on Saturday Night Live.) Careful what you wish for, Rookie. I'm currently eating my words like they're covered in chocolate, so no uncalculated optimism for me today. There will be hockey games in the next seven days and then we'll see what the Canadiens will do in them, and then I'll blog. That's what's going to happen this week.

My contribution for this week

Another headline-worthy tidbit of today after Brian Burke put Sunday Morning Trade Apocalypse 101 in session is that Matt D'Agostini is the latest user of the tag "Hamilton-Montreal transit".



My suspicions point to Guy Boucher's magic (with pretty mixed feelings on not being the only one using that phrase anymore). No numbers can tell enough of a story from just a three-game stay, but if the cliche of injury to one turning into opportunity for another has to be used at all I can't really think of a more relevant example.

I'm writing a Plus/Minus before I stop recognizing this team

I missed the occasional bit of news or game this week, so I'm a little under-researched, but I'm writing nonetheless. It'll give Max-Pac and Matt 36 something to read if they get tired of shopping at Aeropostale and living in Tim Hortons-topia. (As if. But if anyone's reading this, I kind of hope he plays for Los Angeles and can get me a TV writing job. In exchange I will bake you cookies and say nice things about you all over the Internet.)

Okay so since this Epic Week Of Everything Happening appears to have continued into Sunday (no longer a day of rest, I guess), here's what you may have missed during the last, like, ten minutes: Pacioretty and D'Agostini are Bulldogs again, and Ben Maxwell (who I thought might have been on waivers, but apparently isn't) is a Hab. Paul Mara's got some kind of upper-body injury, and seriously, the injury fairy has to start picking on someone else, stat. I feel like it's been a while since Sidney Crosby missed a game.

Plus
+ Almost $160,000 raised for Haitian relief efforts. I'm really proud to cheer for a team whose organization and fans are capable of such generosity.
+ 3 for our wins this week. One for New Jersey, and two for killing the Rangers... just because of the personal satisfaction I get out of beating the Rangers.
+ I forgot to wish elder statesman Elmer Lach a happy birthday, and yes, I'm aware that mentioning birthdays is awfully Access Hollywood of me, but who doesn't love Lach?


Minus
- We're glad to hear that Jean Beliveau is in stable condition, but upset that he had to be admitted to hospital in the first place. I know that bad things happen to good people, but I don't think anyone wants Beliveau to have health problems, ever.
- This is trivial, but why do the French newspapers always feel the need to specify that Benoit Pouliot is "un franco-ontarien," as if he's somehow flawed because he was born in the wrong province? He's quite francophone (I'm guessing La Presse reporters don't pay attention when he speaks English) and also, um, quite talented? Yes? Has he scored goals, at all, since joining the Canadiens? (The answer, by the way, is yes. About a dozen of them.) So, does it matter that he's from Ontario?
- This whole Georges Laraque mess. I'm about to air some grievances, so bear with me. Where do I start?
When Georges Laraque, as a Pittsburgh Penguin, made it through the playoffs all the way to the Stanley Cup final, I rooted for him. I had never heard of him before those playoffs (I think it was my official rookie season) and I quickly became a fan of this huge, tough guy who could get into huge fights and help his team win games all at the same time. I remember thinking it would be awesome if the Canadiens had a player like him (no, at the time I didn't realize that he wasn't necessarily the kind of player the team needed the most). I was out of the country when I found out that Laraque signed with the Habs during the offseason and I was really excited but had no hockey friends nearby to share the news with, so I suppressed my glee until a random Canadian I met asked me for hockey news. In what would turn out to be one of my best hockey decisions, I stopped myself (many times) from buying a #17 shirt until the start of the season so that I could see how Laraque would fit into the team. I never wound up buying the shirt because it seemed like the player who had impressed me so much in Pittsburgh had stayed there. He was nearly invisible except for the occasional fight, and he missed more games than he fought in. I like to stand by my Canadiens no matter what but even I agreed that signing Laraque was shaping up to be a pretty bad decision on Bob Gainey's part. I think I completely gave up a few weeks ago, when I read how many games Laraque had played this season and was surprised that it was a number higher than 5.
Then Laraque's contract was bought out and it was a firestorm of poor timing and poorly chosen words. I can understand why someone would be upset at losing their job, or that someone who worked for them didn't turn out to be quite the person they thought they were paying, but why does it always seem to get so ugly as soon as someone wants out or someone leaves a team?
I guess I'm kind of an idealist, but just once I'd like for there to be some kind of semi-amicable team departure. No whining on anyone's part, no wondering what could have been, no booing, just a guy who appreciates his old team for what it was and leaves and life goes on.
Then again, I'm crazy for thinking that this would have happened with Laraque, who was probably the team's biggest newsmaker.

Usually I try to end a Plus Minus with a "and what'll happen THIS week?" type of comment, but honestly? As long as it's easier to keep track of than the last seven days, I'll be happy.

Plus/Minus: A new century

There was no Gordie Howe or Viggo Mortensen this week. There wasn't even a hat trick this week, although AK46 came close enough last night. What was there to talk about, then? Plenty, with four games in six days and more of the same this week. Oh, and a family Christmas party at the Bell Centre!


PLUS

+ Somehow, we haven't yet mentioned how great Max Pacioretty has been in the last few games. I know, we're idiots for it. Please accept this Plus as our apology.
+ 3 The Kostitsyn brothers and Marc-André Bergeron have also been playing very well on their respective lines.
+ This week's injuries didn't seem to be as serious as we feared they'd be.
+ I guess heartburn is cool now, because I learned this week that Ken Dryden used to have terrible indigestion. I wonder if I can get the recipe for Dryden's magic green goo.
+ PJ Stock gently ribbed his co-panelists on L'Antichambre this week, and it was probably the best thing RDS has given me in a very long time.
+ We're assuming that Benoit Pouliot will be ready for the CH pretty soon.
+ Andrei Markov skated for almost an hour a few days ago. Some people are expecting him to come back as soon as this week, and as much as I miss him, I don't care when he comes back, as long as he's 100% ready to go. The mere thought of Andrei Markov getting better is enough for me.
+ More love for Cammy and Pleks: it was another very good week for team points leaders Tomas Plekanec and Mike Cammalleri, who we want to see on Team Canada.


MINUS

- Dave Stubbs, Dane Cook fan? Say it ain't so.
- The return of Carey Price's Mask of the Red Death. I don't hate it, but I liked the Centennial one. And the Remembrance Day one. And maybe the horsie one.
- Not so good with the Hamilton callups this week, eh, Bob?
- Didn't we already give this a minus? Alain Crete wore his fug brown-ish suit jacket again on Saturday. Do we need to find the stylists at RDS and personally ask them to stop assaulting our eyes?
- I know that there's no easy solution to our two-goalie situation, but if Halak gets traded, I'll miss him (to say the least). My views on the potential trade aside, I think that whoever leaked this story is a moron. Things didn't go so well last season after everyone heard that a few players were apparently being shopped around as part of trade packages. Morale dropped and fans' gums started flapping. Jaro deserves better.
- Chris Nilan admits he's had substance abuse problems but, like the fighter he's always been, is taking them on and has been sober for a few months now. We wish him all the best.


And outside of hockey... (Musical TV Edition!)
+ A delightful 13th episode of Fox's Glee, with enough great songs to tide me over until the show comes back in April.
- Flight of the Conchords announced that their HBO series will not have a third season and, thus, is over. At least the band will live on in real life.

I shake my fist at you, Sergei Gonchar

These dudes look like nice guys. Too bad they weren't nice during tonight's game.

Some notes on tonight's 3-2 loss to the Penguins:

• Overall, I really wanted the Habs to win this game, just to prove that the Penguins aren't necessarily the better team. (Maybe they are, but one thing still stands: our PK has been improving lately, and Pittsburgh's power play has about as much power as my cellphone right now.)
• If someone had told me this morning that Evgeni Malkin and Tomas Plekanec would be the main players in the game's biggest fight, I wouldn't have believed them. Malkin and Pleks? Seriously?
• It happened again that the Canadiens lost, but Carey Price played a good game. And the team didn't play that badly overall, which makes this loss sting even more.
• Sergei Gonchar caused me pain today with the scoring of goals and whatnot. Almost as much pain as he must have experienced that time in Russia that Alex Ovechkin allegedly punched him in the face.
• Ryan O'Byrne, why must you draw multiple penalties?
• Renaud Lavoie's interview with Kris Letang after the first period had me reaching for my remote to make sure the TV didn't mute itself somehow. Low-talker much?
• At least Crosby didn't make fools out of us again.

Today warrants some extra Bulldogs notes: Ryan White has been sent down. The Habs bosses' mistake in notifying the NHL of his callup will result in a fine. Yannick Weber was called up, but Spacek was cleared to play so we'll see Weber when we see him, I guess. (A raffle started yesterday awarding baskets of Bulldogs players' "Favourite Things," including a basket of Swiss chocolates selected by Weber. I want that basket, badly.) Benoit Pouliot was sent to Hamilton for conditioning purposes, and since we're clearly not getting rid of him before he gets any ice time, I can only assume that he's recovering from his injury and will eventually be ready for Bell Centre ice.

Pick up some Red Lobster on your way home: Game Preview 12-08

Czechtacular's a little on the busy side these days (send her good academic vibes!) so if she doesn't have time to write you a proper game preview, like the one you deserve to be reading right now, my tidbits about tonight's game at Scotiabank Place will have to do.

On the Habs side of things:

• Jaroslav Halak will be in nets tonight, and I have a feeling we'll be seeing more of him soon with December's packed schedule. His last outing didn't go so well, and he's backing up a team that may be tired from last night, but they're also riding high from two wicked wins.
• Back in White: (oh, boo yourself... my pun-writing skills just need some sharpening) #53 is back in Montreal after having been a Bulldog again for like, three days.
• The upper-body injury that Paul Mara sustained yesterday has him out of the lineup tonight, so Jacques Martin has put Marc-André Bergeron back on the blue line and returned Tom Pyatt to the lineup.
• Good show yesterday!

On the Sens side of things:

• The Senators are coming back from their sunny California road trip (and we're assuming that all, except maybe Mr. Carrie Underwood, Mike Fisher, avoided the glare of TMZ's flashbulbs). They might be a little worse for wear, with only one win in four games (including a loss against Dany Heatley's new friends the Sharks). They'll probably be hungry for a win, buoyed from their only win in Cali on Sunday against the Ducks.
• While they may have lost on the road, the Sens have won their last five home games.
• Ottawa still can't seem to work out its goalie issues, as #1 netminder Pascal Leclaire is still out with his accidentally broken cheek. (Quite the FML moment, if you ask us.)
• Montreal's sweetheart Alex Kovalev, whom I expected to have an awesome season this year, isn't quite playing up to his own standards, with only four goals and ten assists this season.
• Oh and also, Milan Michalek is Czech. (That's the only bullet point that I'm sure would have been in a game preview no matter which of us wrote it!)

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.)

Plus Minus: Habnormally Positive?

Before I delve into the week that was, a moment of silence for Rookie's favourite J.T. (I'll give you a hint, he doesn't sing) having gone back down to Hamilton earlier today.

PLUS
+ A big, BIG plus for Markov's news.
+ Coming away with 3 of 6 points against strong adversaries this week.
+3 ... for not backing down in any of those games, despite giving up the lead in all of them.
+ Not letting Rick Nash eat us.
+ Carey Price coming up huge off his Second Star of the Week performance.
+ Maxim Lapierre's quote on the heated practice-time exchange between Gorges and Cammalleri. Too much love, indeed.
+ What looks like a resurgence by Max Pacioretty into last season's form.
+ Injured dudes making their way back into the lineup, slowly but surely. Spacek was one, now it looks like Gomez might return.
+ Paul Mara the Alouettes fan.


MINUS
- Having to say hello and goodbye to the callups. Come back soon, little ones.
- Poor Jaro, forgotten about again. Some might call this a good minus because there's no "controversy" this way, but notice how much is said in the reverse situation compared to how it is now?
- Tomas Plekanec in the faceoff dot. He only won 3 of 19 against Pittsburgh, and you saw how the 3rd period ended last night.
- Dave Jackson out for the season. There aren't many zebra-men I don't feel much wrath for on a regular basis.
- Matt D'Agostini still on the sidelines after a couple of maybes and almosts.

Apparently my caffeine intake has gotten the better of me because I'm never usually this thrilled after a week we lost two games out of three.

Oh, and I almost forgot:

WE DON'T KNOW YET
The obvious biggest news of the week (that I didn't really forget but was just testing to see if you had): Latendresse's departure to Minnesota in return for Pouliot. I still say it's an even trade, having followed both guys since WJC '06. Gui, for his part, has scored a goal, and we wish him all the best in scoring more (just not enough to put Minnesota ahead of Calgary in the Northwest, mind you), and also that Pouliot's wrist gets better in time for him to show us why he was picked 4th in the '05 Draft.

Remember this guy?

A familiar face, and one we'd love to have back as soon as possible. Apparently, that might happen sooner than we even think!

Andrei Markov skated today, and while it wasn't for long, it was just the kind of encouraging sign the Habs needed after a loss against Pittsburgh that, while not entirely without effort, was still pretty sad to watch. He's aiming for a comeback in late December/early January, but whether or not he'll be able to participate in the Olympics in Vancouver is yet to be determined, or in his words, "my secret."

In other news, Benoit Pouliot was one of the few at practice this morning, and David Desharnais was sent back to Hamilton this afternoon. (Here's hoping his next chance will come sooner than later.)

Witty titles elude me today: Game Preview 11-25-09

Well, well, well. The Habs have an almost-identical record to the Pens in their last ten. Hard to have even conceived of, should you have a clear memory of the shellshocker that was the last game that these two met up (and believe me, I do). Ideally, the Habs will show that they have enough momentum behind last night's team win against the Blue Jackets to spur them heading into Mellon Arena, especially after a most encouraging sign, yes, that's right, Maxim Lapierre can survive without Guillaume Latendresse!

RDS' collective sigh of relief may not come yet, but here's hoping he adds to that tonight. (photo courtesy HabsInsideOut)

Injuries seem to be the new trend these days (newest: the limping Andrei Kostitsyn). Every team's got 'em, and despite how many eyes have been rolled at the cliches of saying so, it really is an awesome opportunity for some. Take David Desharnais for example. He's come a long way from his days of captaining the Chicoutimi Sagueneens and being that "too-short" kid just dying to get a shot. With every chance he got, he made something of it--most valuable player in the ECHL, a share of the top point-getting Hamilton rookies, his NHL regular-season debut--tonight of all nights against the defending champs.

These ones can fly

• A certain someone who I prefer not to name better not duplicate his feat of a hat-trick tonight.


• With seven points in five games and always dangerous, Evgeni Malkin (this is where my blogging counterpart runs and hides, for she saw the looks I gave my R.J. Umberger-supporting friend last night at the Bell Centre).


• Despite being 7-5-0-1 against Montreal, Marc-Andre Fleury has won his last two and faced a combined 53 shots in those games.


• Martin Skoula is ... from Litomerice? Wow, didn't know that. He's stepped up in the Pens' injury woes, notching two goals in a recent game against Atlanta.


• Maxime Talbot on the first line is a recipe for frustration that the Habs need to watch out for, lest there be penalty trouble.
  

Small news

photo from nhl.com

The Habs have called up David Desharnais from the Hamilton Bulldogs. (Potential scandal: is Kyle Chipchura too tall to play on the first line?)

Desharnais is just shy of being as tall as Scott Gomez, whose day-to-day recovery status was announced as "not today." Jaroslav Spacek will also be missing tonight's game, his second in a row.

Also something about Greg Stewart and waivers.

ETA: Carey Price will make his seventh consecutive start in goal and Andrei Kostitsyn might miss tonight's game as he's apparently on crutches. New guy Benoit Pouliot did not make the trip to Pittsburgh.
And some good news: Bell Centre announcer Michel Lacroix will be back for Saturday's game, after a brief trip out of town. No offense meant to the gentleman who took to the mic last night.

Everything seems to be happening this week, right as one of your friendly neighbourhood bloggers is in finals and the other one's occupying herself with her other side project (and should probably be making more crystal bracelets at this moment).

Columbus Day ends on a high note

Habs 5 Blue Jackets 3

That must feel pretty good considering that Columbus smacked us the last time they were at the Bell Centre, and they're more successful now than they were then. (I'm not able to do this game justice, I'm telling you that now.)

What a game. And what a game to be at, and see Rick Nash look like a serious threat to Montreal early in the game and then continue to bring it as his team was losing. (To be perfectly honest, guys like Nash are the reason why guys like Guillaume Latendresse get traded.)

We saw a lot of our Habs playing their best tonight, proving that even with a million teammates out on injury, they've got what it takes to win games in regulation time. Glen Metropolit's goal, the third of the night, proved that. I reluctantly admit that Marc-André Bergeron scored two brilliant goals - his timing is excellent too, because the media needs a new golden boy. Mike Cammalleri, as usual, was awesome. Max Pacioretty continues to find himself this season. Paul Mara played a good game, and gets a plus from me for batting a puck away with his gloved hand. Ryan White got another assist... I'm still waiting for a goal; he's got it in him and I know that. (I loved last night's Hamilton Bulldogs line, despite a serious lack of ice time.)
Tomas Plekanec continues to be the man this season, even when he doesn't score, and Carey Price made some really impressive saves - sorry, ~czechtacular, I guess you've got competition for November's Molson Cup.

Who is that right in front of the bench? Why, I think it's another one of my favourite Hamilton Bulldogs, James Wyman, who was called up Tuesday at some point after I shut down my laptop. You'd think after the Latendresse trade I would learn my lesson and do my Internet stuff in the afternoon. But instead I got a pretty nice surprise.

Still looking for news on Tom Pyatt, who appeared to have been injured at the end of the game.

Big news

Oh, but for those bursts of awesome where he'd get us some points

Guillaume Latendresse was traded. Whoa.

I honestly didn't think it would happen.
He now plays for the Minnesota Wild, and in exchange the Habs have acquired Benoit Pouliot, aka the guy who was drafted right before Carey Price. (So in all this hullaballoo, I'm kind of wondering what would have happened if the Habs hadn't drafted Goalie the WonderBoy. Life as I know it would not be the same.)

Gui was fast-tracked to superstardom even though common knowledge dictates that some extra training in Hamilton would have turned him into the goal-scoring machine that everyone said he would be. He's been underperforming lately, that's no shock to anyone.

Asked about it, Gui said he was disappointed to be leaving Montreal as a city but also seemed unimpressed with the organization lately. (When you've been playing with the team for over 200 games, and over the summer you get thrown to the side in favour of a bunch of new guys with paychecks fatter than your last meal at Burger King, you probably feel a little small, no matter how many points you have. In a way, I don't blame him.)
If we're being perfectly honest, Gui's performance would probably have gotten him traded earlier if he didn't have what I call "homeboy advantage": he's a fan favourite and his parents can drive to games.

Most saddened by this news? My overweight cat (no, seriously) and francophone journalists.

Has someone checked on Jacques Demers? My guess is that he's either:
a) needing serious psychological help
b) crying, eating chocolate, and listening to whatever the old French man equivalent of emo is
c) on a plane to Minnesota
d) learning the rest of this season's Canadiens roster and thanking his lucky stars that Gui was traded for another guy with a French name

In other news, whip out the hairbrushes, Sergei's back! #74 is a Canadien again, here to save us from the misery of having about a million injured forwards.
ETA: Georges Laraque's disciplinary hearing was this morning (over the phone), and he's suspended for five games. I hate to sound mean, but um, I think we're used to going five games without BGL by now. Sure, the timing sucks, but the team will survive. He's losing out on just shy of $39, 000 for those five games, which doesn't sound like a lot, but... I just did my finances. That's a lot of money for a guy who, before this suspension, caused more of a commotion off the ice this season than on it.

It looks like Gainey and Co. are continuing to tighten the rains and sending a message: shape up or ship out. And as much as it does kind of make me sad to see players go (come back, Steve Bégin!) ultimately the team is about a collective, not just one player. And that collective has to be at its best.