Two years old!

I'm posting this a little late (as usual) but a couple of weeks ago, Hab It Her Way celebrated its second anniversary. Somehow, this little blog is two years old. How time has flown by.

To be honest, I'm a little freaked out that this little side project is half as old as the just-retired Four Habs Fans. (Good night, sweet princes. And LG77, whose arrival made Four Habs Fans even better than it was. I think I'll miss you most of all.)

Two years later and Czechtacular and I still have a soft spot for captain Saku Koivu. We're still flailing over Czechs and exclaiming at every brilliant save by a certain cowboy goalie.

But some things have changed. People have started reading the blog and asking our opinions on things. (Or, at least, pretending to.) I seem to know stuff about stuff. We've found ourselves a whole network of brilliant hockey girls who think like us and laugh with us. All the film nerds I know call me a big sports girl. (Because I'm big on sports, apparently.) They're all welcome changes - that is, until those same film nerds say "She loves hockey" in the same tone that I would say "She loves tofu," but always ask me if ever I have a spare ticket to a Habs game can they come?

Five years ago I would have never imagined being the blogger I am today: addicted to Twitter, watching loads of hockey, writing about it, owning two Habs jerseys, dating the epitome of a sports guy... But I enjoy all of this so much more, precisely because it was so unexpected. I'm happy that two of those years have been spent writing.

Thanks for reading! I hope the Canadiens have a great season so I'll have lots to write about.

Where the girls are

So it seems that while NHL hockey is still alive and well in our country, there are some problems brewing with the little guys.

More specifically, the little guys and girls.

First, I'll address a problem that's been plaguing the Greater Toronto Area for a while now, and that doesn't seem to be getting any better. There's a shortage of ice rinks, particularly due to the popularity of amateur hockey in the city. (No word on what team's success has inspired so many Torontonians to lace up their skates. If anyone has any idea, let me know.) There are too many teams and not enough rinks, and evidence to suggest that a city policy giving priority to youth recreational teams over competitive teams isn't being enforced. Girls' hockey teams aren't getting enough ice time, and Toronto mayor David Miller tried to make good by promising them more. Which, in theory, is great. Unfortunately, the only way he can make this promise is at the expense of other teams, namely boys' teams. There's no other solution for now, but obviously taking practice time away from anyone isn't an effective solution. Hockey players, at any level, want to play, and taking an opportunity to do so away from them isn't fair. It's simple common sense.

However, the Greater Toronto Hockey League, a competitive boys' league, seems to be reacting a bit selfishly to this decision. I'm not siding with anyone in this debate, but I'm also aware of the possibility that boys playing in the GTHL may have the talent to make the NHL someday, and while I don't want to take any training time away from that, I don't think that it's enough reason to give them priority over female hockey players of the same age and skill level. I strongly believe that a girls' hockey team should have just as many opportunities to practice as a boys' team (for reasons which I will continue to list) but I also believe that Toronto has a bigger problem than just dividing ice time - many major cities have had to cut budgets for things like arenas and community programs in favour of things that may seem more vital, like improved transit or sanitation, or wine tastings at city council. But there's a problem in doing so, and until government budgets start to magically afford everything should be paying for, there will always be a problem.

A shortage of rinks has also caused some crooked executive decisions to be made in Nanaimo, B.C., where a girls' bantam hockey team was dissolved by the local Minor Hockey Association. The association claims that a low turnout was to blame for the dissolution of this particular team, the Mid-Island Extreme, but the team's coach argues that there was no lack of interest this year. The girls who would have played for the Extreme have the option of trying out for a midget-level team alongside girls a couple of years older, where there will obviously be more competition for attention and thus possibly diminish their chances of being noticed by scouts and invited to play for higher-level teams or getting a chance at a hockey scholarship. This bid to increase ice time for remaining Nanaimo-based teams will likely benefit boys' teams, who already enjoy a more favourable practice schedule than their female contemporaries. According to Chuck Blanaru, a lawyer leading the complaint against the Association, "midget-level girls already have to practice at 5:30 in the morning once a week. But midget boys get two practices every week." This last quote doesn't put into evidence all of the ice time that both teams get, but it shows something...

Dedication. Little boys everywhere who grow up playing hockey pretend that they're going to make the NHL one day and imagine themselves on the ice with the greats. I've spent a decent amount of time babysitting and playing goalie for a tween boy who could spend hours practicing his moves, shooting plastic balls against basement walls and garage doors, and commentating his own plays as he weaved around his cul-de-sac pretending to take passes from Alexander Ovechkin and Alex Kovalev. Somehow, it's easy to see why the dream is more real for a little boy than a girl. And British Columbia has given the Canadiens (see: Price, Gorges, Fancy New O'B) and the NHL in general (Sakic, Kariya, Yzerman) some pretty impressive talent, so I guess a general desire to develop the talent of potential NHL stars can be pretty overwhelming, in B.C., Ontario, or anywhere that children play competitive hockey. But to somehow discredit girls' teams because their star forward will never lead a team to a Stanley Cup victory, and deny them the advantage of ice time or the opportunity to play, just isn't fair. The midget girls' teams in Nanaimo may have the disadvantage of waking up for 5:30 AM practice, but they do it anyway for love of the game. They may never have the chance to make nine million dollars a year playing hockey, no matter how good they are, but I'm betting that many of them are extremely talented and not at all discouraged by an age-old gender bias.

Women's hockey may not be as popular or as shiny as men's hockey most of the time, but female Canadian athletes have given little girls something to believe in. Take, for example, the gold-medal-winning Canadian Olympic hockey teams in both 2002 and 2006. Our womens' team was spectacularly talented, successful, and gracious. On that team was the fantastic Kim St-Pierre, who's set to make her third Olympic appearance in February. In case your memory needs refreshing, a little over a year ago, Carey Price was out with the flu and couldn't practice. The Habs needed a second goaltender to practice against, and who got the call to come out and play? The closest goalie who had enough talent to play with the big boys.

And she was female.

But it's not like things like this happen every day (St-Pierre was only the second female to come close to the NHL and she was present for just the one practice).

I hate to think that in 2009, female hockey players are at a disadvantage only because their male counterparts have the potential to go further. After all, this is young girls we're talking about. The Mid-Island Extreme girls are 14 and 15 years old. If there's ever a time in a girl's life where she could use something like a sports team to surround herself with people who support her and maybe let out some of her frustrations in an active way, around 14 or 15 would definitely be it. High school is a pretty tumultuous time for girls (as I'm sure it is for boys) and playing with a team, not to mention having a pastime that you're passionate about and releasing endorphins through physical activity, can do wonders for self-esteem. And that's on top of the physical advantages of regular exercise, especially among growing concerns of obesity in North American youth.

There's no reason good enough to keep girls away from sports, whether as players or fans. I hope that the issues in Toronto and Nanaimo come to some sort of logical conclusion for the moment, until the ice rink shortage can be resolved.

Rookie's take on last night's home opener

I guess this wasn't the most epic home opener of all time. Which sucks for me, since it was my first real "home opener" experience. Okay, fine, I wasn't AT the game, but a home opener is a once-a-season event that needs to be watched from start to finish. 

Two seasons ago, I maybe half-watched it - to be honest, I don't really remember because that was back when hockey was just something that was on. (In hindsight, I should totally have watched it and paid attention considering how that season unfolded.) Then last year, I missed it for academic reasons. In the spring, my reasoning for a Wednesday evening class made perfect sense - the class sounded interesting, Lost wasn't on until midseason and hockey games on Wednesdays were relatively rare. I made a bad call on that one. The class was useless and dull (and yes, everyone's friend Czechtacular had warned me about the awful professor, but for some reason I didn't listen). I had tickets to a preseason game on a Wednesday - stupid, I know - so I had already missed one class for hockey (kids, do as I say, not as I did) and couldn't fall behind just to watch a game on TV. Obviously, I had NHL.com and Mike Boone's live blog open in separate windows as I took notes, and compulsively hit refresh about every three seconds, but neither source would make any mention of the pre-game ceremony and all the legends in attendance, so a good while after the game was set to start all I knew was that the puck had dropped. So this was the first real home opening game I got to see.

I was very excited for this home opener... so excited that I delayed my viewing of the 30 Rock season premiere, which was a pretty tough call to make. (To put things into perspective, the 30 Rock premiere is like the TV equivalent of the home opener when your team is coming off a wicked last season and a Stanley Cup win, but not in a bucktoothed Sidney Crosby kind of way. I love Tina Fey more than Carey Price loves Garth Brooks. I speak more highly of Tina Fey than Jacques Demers does of Guillaume Latendresse. I've been quoting old episodes nonstop in anticipation.)

I had had the chance to see Calgary's home opener last season, with every player called to the ice like a hero. (I unfortunately was called away for the five seconds that Jarome Iginla was called up but turned back to the TV just in time to see the guy after him, a certain Michael Cammalleri). I figured I knew what I'd be in for and I was hoping for some big to-do since we're almost at the tail end of these centennial festivities. 

And what did we get at the beginning of this game? The same video we'll be seeing for the rest of the season, and a lineup of "Je suis" introductions. Hardly the pomp and circumstance of last year's opener, although I guess it's useful if you're still confused by the dozens of new guys who materialized over the summer.

Props to Andrei Kostitsyn for being a rebel and skipping the "Je suis." Everyone knows that that's who he is, anyway. And I don't care if he follows the script or not, because he gets paid to play. I'm a little disappointed, though, that his was the only deviation from what the players were probably told to say. No one decided to maybe stick a middle name in there, or a "Hi Mom," or maybe pull a switcheroo and say some other guy's name, or introduce himself as James Bond or something. Les boys were all business.

Also, I was under the impression that our city had the most legendary hockey team in the NHL, or something. Is it just me or was standing around passing a mic just a little bit low-fi? I may watch hockey to see the games, but the guys barely even had time for a wave or a nod of the head. Couldn't there have been more lights, or a sparkler or two, maybe more little kids?

Is it because they thought tripping was contagious? Because that little goalie kid did a heck of a job, even wearing all his padding, only tripping once. Scott Gomez fell like a dozen times during the game, and he's a full-grown man. A short man, perhaps, but still an adult-sized one who skates for a living, so I'm giving a huge 

thumbs up to the little goalie kid for picking himself up and keeping on. (Or herself? Was it a little Kim St-Pierre in training?)

The players didn't even skate around that much when they came out, but I guess that that made for an even playing field with the injured players. Obvious statement of the year:

 I miss my Andrei Markov.

Did I miss something? Was all of the awesomeness offscreen?

On to the game:

So the first period went off pretty well. We scored the first goal, because Roman Hamrlik was totally on fire and deserves credit for seeing a really good opportunity and taking the shot.

The first period also called a penalty for something that isn't an officia

l crime of hockey but should be: Checking A Guy After You Knocked His Helmet Off. Thanks, Colorado, for trying to fell another one of our players. We're already down by three at our home opener and I'm pretty sure that Max Pacioretty hasn't done anything to deserve attempted brain damage.

In the second period, Colorado apparently tied the game 1-1 but come on. Who are we kidding. That was a goal of complete fluke and stupidity. It wasn't actually scored by anyone.

Colorado scored a second goal during a moment of Carey Price weakness (opinions may vary on his play last night, and I'm more or less in the middle. We've seen him play better, we've seen him have worse games, but there were some brilliant saves and don't you deny it.)

There were some decent shots on goal but unfortunately we didn't score a second until Tomas Plekanec rocked it out in the 3rd period. Czechtacular will have more on this for you, since both goals were scored by her guys.

Overall, I think this game, if anything, proved that fans (you know which ones I'm talking about) can't just rely on the new players we were so jazzed about this summer. I didn't lose faith in our returning players and I'm feeling pretty good about that right now. I'd probably feel even better if I didn't need to make this argument and everyone played this well all the time and no one had to be an apologist for their favourite player, but Mick Jagger told me that I can't always get what I want.

The game ended 3-2 but there was a strong effort at the end of the game to score a third goal, and that first Colorado goal barely even counts, so I'll be in denial and say it was a tie game. Last night's game was a reminder that NHL hockey isn't easy, and there's work to do this season. I'm up for it, and it appears that the team is up for it, and hopefully for the long run.

And in case you're wondering, yes, 30 Rock was great.

Wait a minute, who are you?

That's actually a very good question. Who are we? What authority do we claim to have over other Habs fans, that legitimizes the existence of this blog? Actually, probably none. But we're here doing it, which must count for something.

Time for a brief(ish) rundown. In the third person, because that's how I roll these days, apparently.

No bandwagoners here. ~czechtacular has been a Habs fan since 1998 (which she recently proudly declared on CKAC while Dave Morrisette, yes him, sat next to her as a witness). This is by no means close to any sort of dynasty era. She remembers the Turner Stevensons and Craig Darbys that most try to bleach from their memory. She had several opportunities to move to other teams' fanbases, starting with the departure of Mark Recchi, but never could, not even in the worst of times. Meanwhile, Rookie was aware of the presence of hockey in her early years, mostly because that's what the whole family watched when together on the weekends, then sort of ignored it throughout high school (she knew the basics, though, although she knows it's not much). A good friend of Rookie's from cegep is a huge hockey fan, and would be the one to take Rookie to her first NHL game while they were in university. Rookie was faced with a problem: she had grown to like hockey, and saw the entertainment value in it, but her knowledge of the Canadiens was kind of shameful. As a joke, some mutual friends suggested she ask ~czechtacular for a team rundown, and she thought it wasn't a bad idea. The next day, she was provided with three pages of information, some of which she didn't understand, but she was hooked. The Writers Guild of America strike a few months later would separate her from her first love, well-written television, so she turned to hockey like a rebound boyfriend and she's become committed.

...That doesn't mean no other teams are allowed. While the CH may be the be all and end all of every hockey debate in their hearts (and this includes after 5 game losing streaks, thank you very much), ~czechtacular and Rookie do indulge in extracurricular activities (oh dear, already HIHW's first euphemism - don't take it the wrong way, gents, as there's a tall bespectacled gentleman who works in Rookie's office and she sneaks glances at him when she can). They are fans of the game above all else, and can look to a number of other teams, and players from other teams, as their own personal highlight reel that enable them to love hockey even more (if that's even considered possible).

No looks-based rating system. The puckbunny stereotype is one of, if not the biggest pet peeve the authors of HIHW could ever claim to have. While they are no strangers to crushes on hockey players (what did you want them to do? Cut off their estrogen?), it's the on-ice skills that reign above all. They know you think they're just saying that, but it's one of the rules they swear by in their day-to-day hockey enjoyment.

Bleu blanc rouge, but no pink. Continuing in this theme: HIHW are not big fans of the post-lockout eruption of "women's apparel" that contains appalling amounts of pink. Neither of your star bloggers here would be caught dead wearing a belly shirt or a bejeweled trucker hat, or anything with vinyl and sparkles on it, just because it was available at the Bell Centre Habs Zone. ~czechtacular in particular remembers her numerous trips to the Zellers' children's department in search of a boys' extra-large hoodie. (Another bonus of that: only $12.97!!) The Rookie will admit that her big sister owns a pink Habs T-shirt, and that she was present at the time of its purchase, but she disapproved of it strongly and will make sure that it is the last pink shirt to enter her house.

11 > 27. Might as well put this at the forefront of the Habs'-specific issues. The "every other year effort" motto does not fly here. The ladies at HIHW are willing to concede that Alex Kovalev is one of the most skilled players in the league, but he was prone to take a few too many nights off last season, which is not a first for him. This did not prevent a rally from being held in his name to persuade management to do everything in their power to keep him on the roster this summer, however, and for this HIHW is less than supportive. Even with the circumstances that unfolded surrounding his departure, and who might be to blame for it, he somehow manages to retain some support in Montreal, even more than others he left behind in 2008-09 trainwreck (notably someone ~czechtacular holds dear to her heart). Meanwhile, Saku Koivu had no such rally, and he did more for the fans of this team than most could ever claim to have appreciated before his time ended here. And his community involvement is only the half of it, as much has been said about it already. Much has also been said about the amount of injuries he has had over the course of his captaincy and the so-called "inability" to be a consistent player. At HIHW, consistency is not a number. It is not measured in goals, points, or plus-minus. It is what is brought to the table night in and night out, regardless of the stat-sheet. Saku was a hero, he brought all he could and more, and now he's gone to the West without so much as a protest or even a blink of an eye. He took a lot of heat for the most ridiculous reasons here in Montreal, and with that in mind HIHW doesn't blame him for leaving. They just wish it wouldn't have come to this, and that more fans shared the same opinion.

Here, no one's shy to drop the gloves. Fighting has its place in the NHL, and also in the hearts of ~czechtacular and Rookie. Bonus for the small, gritty fighters who don't seem to stand a chance but manage to hold their own, or even beat the odds and win. Bonus as well to the "less traditional" fights that break out (Spezza vs. MARKOV? Seriously?) and spur all hockey fans into a frenzy. ~czechtacular's first YouTube subscription was to the hockeyfightsdotcom channel and she regularly checks up on her faves, as well as some of the fights from the eras she was too young to appreciate. Rookie's pacifistic tendencies make her choose her fights a little more carefully (she's been known to follow up "Hit him!" with "But be careful!") So when, um, push comes to shove (HA!) these girls would rather see fisticuffs than a filthy, unprovoked hit.