Big (slightly late) announcement!

In case you haven't heard, we're like important blogger-people now because we have a URL that's easy to say out loud.

From now on, you can find Hab It Her Way at HabItHerWay.ca! How fancy. I almost feel like buying our blog a monocle and an ascot.

You don't have to update all your linkages and bookmarks and stuff if you don't want to. For the forseeable future, our shiny new .ca address redirects to the same address you know and (perhaps) love. But in case you forget what that address is, or want to tell your friends about those crazy girls who love the Czech Republic and British Columbia and cats a little too much, we've made your life easier.

Go Habs Go!

We have a captain?

Yes we do! It only took about 16 months but the Montreal Canadiens have a captain again.

The bosses love him. His teammates approve. The fans (about 99% of them) are pleased.

We salute you, Captain GG. You run this town now, and you've got what it takes to do so. And if a few years down the line there's any sort of backlash against you, we will have a word with those people and try to shut them up.

Now, if you'll excuse us, we have some #21 shirts that need an extra letter.

A Dandy Retirement

(There's a game preview of sorts in the previous post, if that's what you're looking for)

Mathieu Dandenault announced his retirement yesterday, finally giving us an answer to the ever-present "What happened to that guy?" question.

In all seriousness, though, I wish him happy trails. I wasn't his biggest fan at first; I didn't really see his impact on the ice and there were some games that I didn't notice him at all. He eventually won me over thanks to the "Get To Know Your Habs" videos, of all things. I don't think I've seen a player have as much fun answering those questions as he has. (Potential exception: Hal Gill and the Randy Johnson answer.) Dandy always seemed to be patient and in good spirits, exactly the kind of guy you'd want on your hockey team. And he was dedicated.

Czechtacular and I were at the Bell Centre for a certain game against Calgary. My eyes were on the ice as Dandy broke his arm, kept playing, and only sought medical attention once he left the ice at the end of that shift. Did I have any idea this had happened? No. There was no suspense, no theatrics. Dandy just kept playing and I found out about the injury the next day. That's dedication.

Dear future Habs: Take a page out of this guy's book. Be nice. Be patient. Try not to break your arm, but if it happens, take it all in stride.

Just Two Guys

Wow, in the same day we got news about two former Habs stars signing up for new projects.

Guy Carbonneau will be joining the RDS team, and I'm not sure what that means but I have a few ideas:
- RDS are a bunch of idiots for not hiring him earlier;
- We're done with Benoit Brunet and/or Joel Bouchard;
- There will be one man on RDS who wouldn't be caught dead in the fugly brown jacket;
- Carbo's chances of getting an NHL coaching job anytime soon are only slightly better than Bob Hartley's.

I watch more RDS than CBC, so this means a whole lotta Carbo for me. (I will not make a "carbo-loading" pun here, because come on.) Jacques Martin needs to be on his toes all season. One stupid move, one moment in which he's too calm, one ugly suit, and I'll be comparing him to angry Carbo. Who looks at himself in the mirror before he leaves the house.

We also found out that Guy Lafleur will be going on a farewell tour, playing seven games across the province from October to December. Why do I feel like this is going to be the hockey equivalent of every recording artist's farewell tour ever, which usually lasts three years, coincides with a new greatest hits album and a memoir, includes an appearance on Oprah, and is only a "farewell" tour until the market is ripe for a reunion tour?

Or, does this mean that we have to say goodbye to The Flower, who is the Guy Lafleur that everyone loves, and brace ourselves for even more Chatty Old Man Lafleur? Please, no. I like Hockey Lafleur. I don't like that other guy. Whether this "farewell tour" also implies retirement from unsolicited opinions remains to be seen.

Chelios retires

Image yoinked from The Hockey News

After a fantastic career, playing almost exclusively for Original Six teams, the nearly indestructible Chris Chelios has stopped believing (even though Journey told him not to) and announced his retirement. It's been an impressive 26 years of professional hockey for the future Hall of Famer.

Wow. The man has been in the NHL for longer than we've been alive. It's really too bad to see him go, but I know that he's probably come to realize that there's not enough steam left in the old engine. Chelios himself said he's ending his career the way he wants to.

He gets to live in his native Chicago, now that he's working for the Red Wings' front office. If you're wondering why he's not working for the Habs, well...

The story goes on

Congratulations, Ilya Kovalchuk. You've signed a new contract. It took you a very long time to decide to stay exactly where you were. You didn't need to hire me to produce your TV special (I could've pitched more ideas!) and you got all the delicious money a guy could want. You're super rich and you love New Jersey, making you the Russian Jon Bon Jovi. Congratulations.

Bon Jovi nesting dolls vs. Ilya Kovalchuk: debate in the comments section.

I'm totally mystified by this contract. Kovalchuk will belong to the Devils for 17 years. Yes, seventeen years. It's the longest contract I've seen in all my very few years of hockey fandom. It might be the longest contract ever, unless this Tom Cruise/Katie Holmes marriage outlives it. It seems like complete madness for anyone to lock down a hockey player for that long. Since Kovalchuk is 27 and not named Chris Chelios, I'm not entirely sure that he'll actually make it to the seventeenth season of his contract. So I'm guessing that this is like television actors signing contracts for 7 seasons despite the fact that their show might not make it that long. (And if it does and you're Steve Carell, then The Office may as well implode in order to avoid repeating the sins that Scrubs committed.)

No offense, Creed.

Maybe that's why the last few seasons of this contract would potentially pay him an entry-level salary. I guess no one thinks he can play at an Ilya Kovalchuk level for that long. 17 years is a ridiculously long time, especially in sports.

Seventeen years ago, some of the guys who hoisted the 2010 Stanley Cup were just learning to read. (And no, that wasn't a joke about Patrick Kane's reading and math skills.)
Seventeen years from now, my as-yet-unborn cousin will have finished high school.

Seventeen years ago, the Montreal Canadiens were the Stanley Cup champions.
Seventeen years from now, some of the players we expected to bring the Cup to Montreal this year might be retired.

It's just a lot for a newbie hockey fan to understand. But, as I usually say, let's see how this pans out. This might turn out to be a great move for New Jersey in the long run.
The very, very long run.

Another one of those days

So... the NHL is busier when there's no hockey? Is that how it is?

First, Mathieu Darche gets a new contract for next season. His salary is undisclosed, and according to people who know hockey, it's a "one-way" contract. So if I understand correctly, he might be needed to rally up all these former St. Louis Blues prospects in Hamilton but regardless of what jersey he wears he'll still make a Hab's salary. Or something.

Then, we find out that Marc-André Bergeron needs knee surgery. Some people could take his injury as a reason why our power play included a few less crazy slapshots... mystery solved.

Then Tomas Plekanec and the guys in charge decided to keep him in Montreal for six more years, costing the team a very appropriate $5 million per season. He played just as well as our most expensive guys this past season, so it is definitely not too much. Stop hating. Hating on Pleks means hating on goals, and if you hate goals then you should watch golf or something.

Coming soon to a Hall of Fame near you...

The Hockey Hall of Fame announced this year's inductees, and while there was unfortunately no love for deserving Montreal sweethearts Guy Carbonneau and Pat Burns, my XX chromosomes are very happy about the first women to be inducted: Cammi Granato and Angela James. Finally there'll be more than just a plaque about women's hockey at the HHOF!

The Bruins and Panthers did some trading today. There were draft picks involved and then everyone went to Tim Hortons, if I understood correctly.

Scott Niedermayer, captain of the Anaheim Ducks and this year's Team Canada, announced his retirement today, but it's really just a coincidence that he held a press conference right before tomorrow's NHL Awards and Friday's draft. Totally a coincidence.

Brent Sopel of the Chicago Blackhawks proves that I completely misjudged him and his My Name Is Earl mustache by agreeing to bring the Stanley Cup to Chicago's Pride Parade, accompanied by his family.

Rollie Melanson, having already coached B.C. boy Carey Price in Montreal, will now coach St-Leonard boy Roberto Luongo in Vancouver.

Oh, and the schedule was announced for all of next season's NHL games. Yes, that ALSO happened today.
Some highlights for the Habs:
We open and close the season against the Leafs in Toronto.
The October 13 home opener, against Guy Boucher's Tampa Bay Lightning, will happen less than two weeks before the Phoenix Coyotes come to town on October 25th. Yes, czechtacular will need lots and lots of paper bags to breathe into. I'll probably buy some wholesale.
This year's Dec 4th anniversary game (does it matter every year, or only once a century?) will be in the afternoon against the San Jose Sharks. California boys are going to freeze if it's anything like it's been the last few Decembers.
Luckily we broke the December 23rd curse last season, because the Habs will be in Carolina on that very day.
Last season's seats for the Habs vs Flames game at the Bell Centre were slightly better than the ones we had the year before. On January 17th, we might get to the first row of the blues!
The Heritage Classic will indeed be happening on February 20th.
Jaro doesn't come back to town (just go back to the playlist if you're sad) but he'll get to make stops on his old teammates when the Habs go to St. Louis on March 22nd.
In general, there are just a few too many back-to-back games for my liking. I prefer it when the players have a day off between games, especially if there's travel involved.

... was that it?

Here's to you, Jaroslav Halak

Traded to the Blues for two guys who'll have to show us what they're made of. Mostly because I know almost nothing about the St. Louis Blues. Usually I have to be reminded that they're even a thing.

Jaro started the season somewhat out of the spotlight, then grew in popularity as he became "the other white meat," an alternative to Price that Camp Carey Boo were constantly calling out for, then got the ice time to prove just how talented he is, behind both the Canadiens and the Slovakian Olympic team, then became such a mythical figure that his talent was celebrated even outside the Montreal bubble. Some TSN analyst described a brilliant third-round performance by Antti Niemi as "Halakian."

So it looks like we've got to say goodbye to the Halak puns and the stop signs. He'll post shutouts for other teams.

Jaro and Carey might now have a shot at each getting the ice time they need and deserve, and we might finally see an end to the childish, Twilight-esque rivalry.

But that doesn't mean I'm happy for the St. Louis Blues.

Them's fightin' words

What happened today:

Allegedly, Sheldon Souray asked the Edmonton Oilers for a trade. Doesn't someone report this like once a month? (And if Gauthier wants him back will the Oilers take Scott Gomez? What? Who said that?)

The Tampa Bay Lightning fired both their GM (the weird-looking Brian Lawton) and their coach (the terrifying Rick Tocchet). Wow. The Florida Molsons must be very, very angry. They're going for a complete change from the ground up, in order to become a "world-class organization." Yeah, that'll happen.

And Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau met with media this morning and talked about his postseason strategy and the team he'll try to beat in the first round:

"That's the only game in town," Boudreau said of the Canadiens in Montreal. "They don't have to split it up and have the Nationals on some of the pages, the Wizards on some of the pages, the Redskins and [the Capitals]. It's Montreal. It's the Canadiens. It wouldn't surprise me if there's a ten-page spread come Wednesday and Thursday."

Ouch. Really, Boudreau? You decided to bring the Nationals into this? That's a low blow. Thanks for reminding this city that you've got our baseball team.

Actually, that smug, new-girlfriend kind of attitude is probably exactly what a team needs behind the bench when the Stanley Cup is at stake.

But seriously, ouch.

So... what did I miss?

Lucky for me, there was no game yesterday, because I'm currently enduring a blogger's worst nightmare.

The wrath of angry Ryan Miller fans? No. (I played nice while I was in the States.)
Stuck in an elevator with Réjean Tremblay? Oh dear god no. Let's hope that's avoidable.
Someone stealing my content? Um... maybe a little.

If it's none of the above, then it's clearly a lack of internet.

So until my wireless fixes itself, I'll be updating from my desk at lunch (as long as I'm still here) and trekking to my basement to use my slow, virus-ridden, battle-scarred desktop.

Things I missed this week:

• A chance to watch my first full episode of Grey's Anatomy in over a year (what? I promised a friend I'd watch it with her, I swear), bumped by the two-hour midseason return of FlashForward. I haven't yet finished the first half of the season, so my apologies go out to whichever Fiennes brother is on that show. (I'm going to guess it's Joseph.)
• Some Paul Mara news! Seriously, the last time I saw his name anywhere was in LA, outside the offices of this Paul Marra. He needs shoulder surgery, which will happen on Tuesday, so at least now we know for sure that he'll be out until next season. If the rest of the team don't compensate for his absence with awesome playoff beards, I'll be very disappointed.
• Guy Carbonneau turned 50, and all the people who love the Habs this season and were bashing everything about last season recently changed their tune and now appreciate the good that came out of it.
• In case you also missed it, in the same vein is a great article by Brian Wilde about Bob Gainey's contribution as GM.
• On the "who's dis guy" front, the Habs signed free agent Hunter Bishop, who, apparently, exists. I didn't know teams were allowed to straight-up buy players after the trade deadline, but you learn something new every day. Maybe tomorrow I'll try to find out who this Hunter Bishop is, and whether he has a first name. Two-year contract, and he's is currently with the Bulldogs.
• I just realized that "Hunter Bishop" and "Hamilton Bulldogs" have the same initials. Someone, quick, turn #HBFTW into a Twitter trending topic!
• Conflicting reports about Mike Cammalleri's return, which will be soon but not immediately. Probably next week. Everyone seems to agree that he's close to form.

11 games left, busy stretch coming up for the Habs, and hopefully I'll have Internet sometime before the end of the season.

pretend there's a relevant photo of the Canadiens in this space, since I'm working with limited resources here.

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!

So... what else is new?

I don't want to have another one of those weeks where I don't write anything... mostly because the last time it happened, ~czechtacular thought I had gone missing or something. So... what's there to write about?

Little kids and medical professionals are probably beside themselves right now that the Canadiens are making their long-awaited annual visit to the city's childrens' hospitals. The visits were originally supposed to take place at the end of November but were delayed because of increased H1N1 precautions at the time. Since the holiday season has come and gone, I guess we won't be seeing our Habs wearing Santa hats and antlers, but the kids will be speechless nonetheless.

Elsewhere in hockey...

After winning the shootout that ended Saturday night's thrilling game against the Canucks, Calgary Flames captain Jarome Iginla has dubbed recent callup Jamie Lundmark "The Closer." I wonder what his Southern accent sounds like.

New Jersey Devils forward Jamie Langenbrunner has been named Captain America for this year's U.S. Olympic team. Because if there's anything a Langenbrunner jersey needs, it's extra letters.

Curtis Joseph, cited by our Jaroslav Halak as a major influence on his goaltending game, will announce his retirement in two shakes of a rabbit's tail.

According to Hockey Night In Canada, Alex Burrows is the third Sedin brother. (They didn't specify "from another mother," but a lot of people stopped using that phrase like ten years ago so I'm glad HNIC is up to speed.)

I think blog posts like this are the reason why Seth Meyers hosts Weekend Update and I don't.

Team Canada announced!

It took them 12 minutes to get through the introductory hoopla, but this is what's to be expected since Hockey Canada essentially promised us the gold medal this year.

We get photo and video montages of each player through their minor hockey years.

GOALIES
Martin Brodeur
Marc-Andre Fleury
Roberto Luongo

(I guess being named third was a result of Luongo's slow start to the season but I'm not at all surprised by the selections.)

And now, before they announce the skaters, they make us wait. Again.

DEFENCE
Dan Boyle
Drew Doughty
Duncan Keith
Scott Niedermayer "C"
Chris Pronger "A"
Brent Seabrook
Shea Weber

(A lot of big names - at least in my opinion - are conspicuously missing, which disappoints me a little... Everyone told me that Niedermayer put off retirement for one more season just so he could play in the Olympics, and that he was a shoo-in for captain, thus stealing the C from Jarome Iginla. Can't complain about the variety, though: there are old guys and young guys, nice guys and jerks... we'll see how that works out.)

FORWARDS

Patrice Bergeron
Sidney Crosby "A"
Ryan Getzlaf
Dany Heatley
Jarome Iginla "A"
Patrick Marleau
Brenden Morrow
Rick Nash
Corey Perry
Mike Richards
Eric Staal
Joe Thornton
Jonathan Toews

(That picture of Sidney Crosby as a little kid makes me wonder what went wrong. There are a few names on this list that I'm very happy about, and others that I'm pretty neutral on, but again we have a pretty good variety. Dany Heatley isn't exactly this year's best sportsman, but he's had an excellent season so we'll probably see some good results from him.)

So there you have it. Your Team Canada, and not a single really good roster shot among them. We'll see them in six weeks... maybe with more reactions from your friendly neighbourhood bloggers between now and then.

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).

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.