Vacations and fundraising

There are tons of things I should be doing. But I'm writing instead.

I really should be packing for my upcoming vacation, and maybe writing about how the Habs tend to lose when I'm out of town. (I think that this season may be a reversal of fortune, because they've lost every game I've seen at the Bell Centre. Sigh.)

Instead, I find myself feeling kind of guilty that I'm going on vacation now. Right smack in the middle of Movember, when I should be at work, encouraging my Mo Bros to raise more money and telling them that their mustaches are growing in nicely. I braved the first few days of awkward co-worker Sidney Crosby mustaches, and now I'm going to miss a week of Movember glory! It also means that I can't constantly bug my friends, family, and followers for donations, and spout random bits of health trivia at them whenever I want. But hey, if you want to make a donation while I'm on vacation*, just click on the mustache below:

Movember is as important to me as ever - it has to be, as I become more and more aware of how important it is for the men in my family to be in good health. However, I've been hit with that weird sort of guilt where I want to help everyone all the time, even though I know that I can't. Still, the damage done by Typhoon Haiyan in Asia is too devastating to ignore. So I'm doing my part. I've set up a fundraising effort in association with All Habs, and I'm hoping that friends and hockey fans alike will make a donation if they haven't already. To be perfectly honest, if you don't have that much to donate but you'd like to help one of these causes, I think I prefer that you donate to the typhoon relief effort. Cancer and mental illness are scary, but those who have lost their homes and families need help as soon as possible.

No professional association with this charity.
I chose it after doing some research and thought they were already doing good work
in areas affected by the typhoon.

If you're able to help out financially, that's great. If you can't, please spare some good thoughts or say a prayer for everyone whose lives have been affected by illness or natural disasters. I might be away from my computer, but I'll be hoping that these causes get the help they need.

Okay and yes, I'll be hoping that the Canadiens go on an awesome winning streak. Mo Habs Mo!

Probably much, much fancier than my accommodations.

*hey, that rhymed!

First week without hockey.

You know what I hate about the Stanley Cup Finals? The schedule (only one hockey game every two days, and no other hockey at all) is supposed to help transition viewers out of the hockey season and into the summer, but Final games are usually the most exciting, as evidenced by all the high-scoring and coach-whining. Someone (in this case, an Original 6 team, yay) gets a big shiny trophy at the end, and everyone's cheering and hugging and singing "We Go Together," and then it's over. Done. No more hockey, come back next year.

What's a girl supposed to do?

Top 5 Things To Do Now That It's The Offseason/Summer

1. Get "Chelsea Dagger" out of your head. (If you dislike it as much as I do.) The Chicago Blackhawks have given us a pretty big mission over the summer, by scoring so many goals and letting us hear that earworm so many times. I thought I was going to go insane. I had the men in white coats on standby. To finally exorcise "Chelsea Dagger," you'll have to fight fire with fire, and find some song that'll replace it in your head but hopefully not make you go mad. Maybe some Michael Jackson or Beastie Boys or if all else fails, watch a musical. (The manic Moulin Rouge! did it for me.) If you're really desperate, I guess there's Lady Gaga or the Black Eyed Peas, but you don't want to go there unless you have to.

2. Other sports! You may have watched the Grand Prix this weekend, or just enjoyed the downtime between soccer games. We're pretty lucky that there's a World Cup this year to tide us over, since soccer is one of the closest things to hockey you'll get, and international soccer is the best kind. (Hockey - pads + bromance = soccer) If you like baseball and tennis then you're also in luck. Or, roller derby! It's basically hockey - sticks and puck + better nicknames. Montreal events have been selling out quickly this season, so you might want to buy your tickets in advance.

3. The standard. Watch hockey movies, read hockey books, go back a couple years in the Habs Inside/Out archives... I'm sure you thought of all this already. I've got some magazines and things I picked up during the season but didn't read, Larry Robinson's book, Ken Dryden's book, and a brand-spanking-new copy of The Hockey Sweater to read, along with some other books, so I'll probably manage - and learn a thing or two along the way.

4. Um, summer stuff? You can't usually have barbecues during the regular season, especially in Montreal, so get outside and eat some meat. Or run to Ben & Jerry's to try Caramel Hat Trick. Or go to the beach. Or go see a comedy show. Or skip the draft to see a free Brian Setzer concert at Jazz Fest... I'm just never going to watch an NHL draft, am I?

5. Do the Happy Gilmore. Go golfing in a hockey jersey.

(Any excuse to mention Happy Gilmore is a good one, no?)

Congratulations, Chicago Blackhawks

2010 Stanley Cup champions.

What I did on my blogging vacation

...Well, I didn't get a truckload of hours at work like I would have liked. Oh well. I took a little bit of time off because I needed a little break from blogging, and recharge, so to speak. I didn't think it would be so lonely.

It would have been stupid to take a week or two off from the blog during the playoffs, so I waited until there were no more Habs of which to speak. Suddenly everything was very quiet. I even started to miss the scalpers on Avenue-des-Canadiens... yes, the scalpers. That's how bad it got. Heck, I even joined Twitter when I was supposed to be on a break - that, kids, is what we call "taking a page out of the Mike Cammalleri playbook."

I pretty much jumped at the first chances I got to do anything Habs-related: I stared in awe at game-used sticks and equipment at the end-of-season Habs Zone sale. I picked up some merch for myself. I laughed at the teenager and his mom who stared at skates, bewildered: "How are you supposed to know which ones are your size?" I combed my house for exact change for the South Shore buses on the first two days of development camp.

By the way, how does a development camp differ from a scouting combine?

So I hopped on the 90 bus, for the first time since last July, when I spent most of my bus ride on the phone, getting hired for my first real grownup job (which, despite the economy, I fortunately still have and love). But that's a story for another day.

It's a pretty nice bus ride, compared to the loud, hot, smelly, jerky STM buses

You'd think it had been months since there was live hockey in Montreal. ~czechtacular and I dressed for the occasion, chose our seats, and settled in, preparing for an afternoon with no cell reception or WiFi.

Best seats in the house

Considering that my knowledge of each of these prospects is somewhat limited, I spent most of my afternoons watching the drills as a form of hockey catharsis, having snacks, and snapping endless pictures of Kirk Muller. I don't know why.

ok, maybe I do know why. Who doesn't love Kirk?

We even had a Guy Boucher sighting despite reports that he'd miss camp on Tuesday due to "family matters." And by now, we've figured out that these family matters were in Ohio and that Rick Nash was probably Steve Urkel.

Boucher, pictured here with a pink-shirted Jacques Martin and an unidentified bald man

Kids, there's nothing like spending a hot summer day inside a cold arena and finding every opportunity to make a pun on "Hunter Bishop." And, to be honest, Tanner House too. You very narrowly escaped seeing a picture of House captioned "It's not lupus." (But maybe sometime in the future.)

It's good to be back.

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."

Dethroned: A game review

Pictures to be posted soon!
So, tonight was my first away game, and I think I know how to pick 'em.

(By the way, I really thought I had hit "publish post" on a game preview I wrote this morning, but alas I did not. Smartphones with data plans accepted so that these horrible oversights never occur again.)

How could I go to Los Angeles and be in town the same weekend as the Habs and NOT get tickets to watch them at Staples Center? I would have probably wanted to see a hockey game anyway, but somehow I was slightly less compelled to watch the Kings or the Ducks take on the Colorado Avalanche. Sure, I don't really get to see much of the Avs, and maybe Matt Duchene's rookie season will be something to talk about for a few years to come, but I couldn't settle for Colorado when Nos Glorieux were coming to town. (Sorry, Avs-loving friends.)

I was especially looking forward to seeing the Kings' gold medallist Drew Doughty and star player Anze Kopitar, who is beloved by one of my friends (who also loves Ovechkin and Avery, so I'm never too sure about trusting him). They didn't disappoint. I'd be happy to have them as Habs... which is not to say that I'm unhappy with our current roster, because obviously there was a lot to be happy about tonight.

Brian Gionta's surprise goal 22 seconds into the game brought Habs fans to their feet. (There were quite a few of us.) I'm guessing that he was what caused most of the Staples Center to be eerily silent for most of the first period. It was the quietest hockey game I'd ever been to, with the exception of this one douchebag who booed the Habs but didn't cheer the Kings at all. Benoit Pouliot deserved to be first star of the game.

This is what the game's three stars look like in Los Angeles... if I had access to Photoshop I'd have put a little puck or something in place of the film camera.

Jaro Halak played a smart game, knowing exactly what he had to do and where he had to be. Scott Gomez was extremely visible during his significant ice time (which pleased the adorable little girl I saw with "Go Habs" rubbed off one cheek but a very clear "#91" still painted on her other cheek). Travis Moen was the Canadien with the most shots on goal. I'd especially like to single out Ryan O'Byrne, who played a great game. Maybe I said too much about him at the beginning of the season, when he was still being criticized for his less-than-stellar turn last year, and maybe I noticed more than other people did tonight since I was on his side of the ice for the first and third periods (EIGHTH ROW, right behind the press photographers, oh yes that's right) but he was fantastic. He used his size and played aggressively. He delivered some really big hits.

As for what it's like to be a Habs fan outside the Bell Centre... um... let's just say I appreciate my fellow fans a little bit more than I used to. Because the Habs fans around me were pretty great, and some of the Kings fans... weren't so great. I already mentioned the douchebag a few rows behind me whose support of the Kings consisted of wearing an LA jersey and booing the Habs. Some of the Americans were also sore losers, apparently dissatisfied with Team USA making it to the gold-medal game. They booed their own defenceman because he played for Team Canada. I might hate it when Habs fans boo a former Canadien, or a self-goal, but booing Doughty was ridiculous. The contests didn't really get the audience involved - I guess I'd take the Kiss Cam or the Make Some Noise contest over seeing someone be handed a prize on the Jumbotron or watching the ice girls. If I wasn't before, I'm now most definitely certain that there's no place for ice girls in this sport.

There are more LA Kings fans than I expected, but as usual, like any unhappy fans, they left two minutes before the game ended because their team lost. I guess it's not as big of a deal if your 100-level tickets cost one-third of what they'd cost at the Bell Centre. As for the Habs fans? The post-win hoopla was a little more subdued on the ice and in the arena, so maybe it's not quite as fun as cheering on a winning home team, but there was just enough chanting and celebrating outside the game to make a Habs fan feel at home in the City of Angels, without making the Kings fans too sore.

All in all, it was a great game to be at. It's just a shame that everything goes by that much more quickly when you're close to the action, and I don't know when I'll get to see the NHL from the eighth row again. Even if I don't, I'm good for a while.

Plus/Minus switches its CH for a Team Canada jersey

Earlier this week Tom Pyatt said "There's lots of action going on here in Montreal." That was pretty accurate - the last week or so has definitely given us a lot to talk about. Now that changes for a couple of weeks. No Habs games means I have more time to watch Lost. It also means less Roman, less Carey, less Metro... but it also means more Kim St-Pierre. 

Plus

+ to #14 for ending Washington's 14-game winning streak.
+ Our Hamilton callups were a huge part of the team this week, both literally and figuratively. They were fantastic - all thirty-five of them.
+ Scott Gomez was great this week. Two goals, plus he didn't back away from Chris Pronger after Friday's game.
+ to one of our favourite bloggers, JT from The H Does Not Stand For Habs, whose comments section became a minor firestorm of francophone backlash this week after she commented on this city's need for a French-speaking GM. Some people apparently weren't very happy with her, and it was ridiculous criticism for one of the most level-headed and knowledgeable amateur journalists this team has. I'm not going to go into it any further because talking about the language issue as it relates to the Canadiens is like hitting on a gay guy: I can say whatever I want but it's not going to change anything.

+ She looked a little disappointed that she didn't win gold, but I'm still proud of Jennifer Heil's silver in moguls, and of all our Olympians so far, including skier Alexandre Bilodeau who just made history by becoming the first Canadian athlete to win a gold medal in Canada.
+ Team Canada!!! Watching Olympic hockey is part of what got me back into watching hockey, so I'm looking forward to the next two weeks. Hayley Wickenheiser is so awesome.

The biggest + of the week A plus and a big thank you go out to all the readers who made comments this week and increased my donations to the Canadian Cancer Society, to those of you who will comment after I type this, and to everyone who's helped spread the word and to everyone who's going to match our total donation. So far that's only one person, but it still makes $4 for every comment! This plus is also for NHL Arena boards poster bMac for designing the "Comments = Donations" graphic mere hours after I asked for it.

He's from Ontario and he's not even a Habs fan but he helped the cause regardless of his allegiances, so a Hal Gill-sized thanks goes out to him.
I had originally said that the charity drive would end with this Plus/Minus, but you've got until midnight on February 15th instead so say anything you want until then!


Minus

- Geez, what's with the head injuries? It's bad enough that we've already got a variety of injuries on this team.  Two Habs were carted off the ice this one week bleeding from the head... I have my suspicions as to why the injury fairy's been going crazy on us lately, which I might share when the time is right. But Gorges and Spacek get a plus within this minus for picking themselves up and not missing the next game, just because they're badass like that.

- I don't like giving minuses to players, but it kind of hurt to see our goaltenders not playing as well as we know they can against the Flyers. This isn't necessarily a minus to them (there's enough hate directed our goalies as it is) but rather to the way that Saturday's game turned out.

- I already expressed my anger about Michael Leighton taking up with P.K. Subban after Friday's game. Stupid, unsportsmanlike, and completely useless to mess with a guy after his first NHL game, because there's no way Leighton could have any beef with him.

I'm not used to seeing the Habs calendar only half-full, but it is. So, go Canada, and I'm looking forward to seeing what the rest of the world brings to the table.