Category Archives: Random

Unleash the Habs!

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So there’s a fun game doing the rounds on who we think the Habs will keep with the big club. I’m game.

I won’t mince words…work is quite busy these days, so here goes nothing, my 12 forward, and 2 press box occupants:

1st line:

LW: Andrei Kostitsyn
C: Tomas Plekanec
RW: Michael Cammalleri

A bit of a no-brainer, methinks. Jacques Martin is typically a predictable character so I see him grouping these 3 fellows together to start the year. The only difference that could take place would be seeing Kostitsyn with Gionta and Gomez. I like this group, and would stick with it. Plekanec and Cammalleri have obvious chemistry and Kostitsyn, as always, is a great big X factor. He can hamper the line or make it one the league’s best.

2nd line:

LW: Benoit Pouliot
C: Scott Gomez
RW: Brian Gionta

As much as I don’t like Pouliot for his lack of effort, I truly think that a kid with his potential deserves every chance to realize it, especially when given a raise for no reason. I’ll generously give him 20-30 games or so to prove that he’s 100% committed to doing what he needs to do to win, otherwise, ta-ta, Benny.

3rd line:

LW: Travis Moen
C: Lars Eller
RW: Maxim Lapierre

3 big boys that do a bit of everything…I think that they could be as important as either of the first 2 lines if they stay healthy.

4th line:

LW: Ryan White
C: Jeff Halpern
RW: Tom Pyatt

This could be one of the most tenacious lines we’ve seen in Montreal in a long time, especially if White can crack the lineup and play the way he has in the preseason. If Halpern can win faceoffs and the Canadiens can maintain puck possession while these guys are on the ice, they’ll drive opponents crazy, and render them dog tired, too.

Press box: Mathieu Darche, Dustin Boyd

Many have slagged the signing of Mathieu Darche, but I like it. I think a guy like him, with the brains and maturity that he brings to the locker room can rub off quite well on some of the younger guys. He’s worth having around, even if he isn’t the greatest or quickest player on the team. He’ll be a model citizen and show young players how to be a consummate team guy. Dustin Boyd just hasn’t done enough to earn himself a spot in the starting 12 to begin the year. I expect he’ll get his chance before long and push guys like White and Pyatt for ice time.

All Carey Price, All the Time

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Is it too soon to say that Carey Price is one of the most controversial, most written, most blogged about players in Canadiens history, even though he’s only been with the team since 2005?  If Price isn’t in the group of most controversial Habs yet, it won’t be long before he becomes a part of it.
 
Making sure they don’t miss out on the fun, sunday’s headline on Sportsnet.ca was “Can We Panic Yet, Carey?” Really, Sportsnet? The words “Panic” and “Preseason” should never, ever be used in the same sentence, except for when you’re saying never to use them in the same sentence.
 
We all know the backstory, and we all have our own opinions on what happened and our own take on how stupid or deserved the criticism leveled at him is. For the record, I think he’s been cruelly, and vindictively treated since his arrival in Montreal and I’m embarassed by the way fellow Canadiens fans have treated him.
 
Two poles have been established. We know about the first group; the fans who will never support Price no matter what. This consists of a group of people who feel like they’ve been force-fed a kid who doesn’t deserve the pedestal and spotlight. They’ve been robbed of their “hero” by an organization that must be blind. The other side believes Price is the future of the team’s fortunes and are 100% behind him. At the very least, he’s wearing the bleu-blanc-rouge, and therefore is supported.
 
While one group unleashes barrage after barrage, the other side parries and shields.
 
As the groups battle one another, what’s being obscured in all of this is Price’s own responsibility. It’s pretty clear that its going to be solely up to him to change people’s opinions, since it’s obvious that his teammates, coaches and supportive fans can’t sway his detractors. This beast has taken on a life of its own, much of it media driven (more on that here) and has now become a battle of wills.
 
The haters want him to prove that he belongs, or, just get out of town altogether, while supporters insist that they keep their boos to themselves while he develops and matures in to the hardest position in hockey, under the hottest spotlight.
 
The haters seem to get a rise out of jeering him now, so as to provoke a reaction or get him to say something or do something that will only further their hair-brained behaviour. So as Price endures the boobirds after each and every mistake, whether its his fault or not, his defenders will come to his rescue. And with each passing incident, both sides dig in their positions irretrievably deeper. It makes for a nasty situation; Habs fan vs Habs fan, as his attackers will fault him for everything while his supporters exonerate him, regardless of what’s transpired.
 
The truth is that Price, as he has done in the past despite what the haters say, will need to win games on his own. The Canadiens have always needed superb goaltending, and Price will have to deliver it again and do it consistently. Looking back to the first exhibition game vs the Bruins, he was let off the hook for 2-3 of the goals, depending on who you talk to. Nobody should be getting their knickers in a twist over preseason hockey, no matter the results. The same goes for his second rough outing against the Senators. The reality is that he’s going to be hung out to dry from time to time, probably once or twice per game. He’s going to have to make big stops even when faced with stars bearing down on him with the puck after a horrible turnover or blown defensive coverage. Great goalies keep their teams in games, and often win games on their own. They bail out their teammates and cover up for their blunders. The Canadiens have a goalie who can do that, who HAS done that, and is simply recapturing his form in tune-up games (and no, I’m not referring to Alex Auld or Curtis Sanford, or even Robert Mayer.). The tune-up process may even spill over in to the regular season…and guess what? That’s fine, too.
 
Those that hate him really need to back off. Immediately. They’re embarassing themselves with their petulant behaviour, and making a laughing stock of Habs fans everywhere yet again. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that Canadiens fans find ways in which to raise (or lower?) the bar for themselves every year with boorish, idiotic behavior, but in no way does booing help the team. At all. Never has, never will.
His defenders, on the other hand, need to be vigilant that die-hard support doesn’t morph in to coddling and excuse making, because that’s as detrimental to the team, albeit in a different way. If you ask me, if you call yourself a Habs fan, you ought to support everyone who wears the jersey. Period. If you don’t like a player, or like where the team is going, then don’t watch the games. Don’t read blogs. Don’t go to the games. Don’t participate in call-in shows. Don’t purchase merchandise. Boycott sponsors of the team. Just stay away. Protest with your wallet. If there are enough Price haters who stick to this recipe of protest, then perhaps you’d have a leg to stand on. Acting like spoiled brats will only irritate and inflame an already tense situation.
Every player, and every master plan has an expiry date, and if Price – arguably the biggest part of the Canadiens master plan - can’t (for whatever reason) post a lot more wins than losses, he’ll need to move on for his own sake, as well as the sake of the team. Right now he simply needs the space and time right now to work on his game without knowing he’s going to be riddled with negativity every time he falters.
The question that Habs management will need to answer is how long they’ll allow this trend to continue before acting on it. Do they preach patience and wait until Price is 25 or 26 years old and see where he is in his development? Or make a bold decision as tension continues to tear at the fanbase? Carey Price’s development is not more important than the team’s success; but at this point the two are intertwined. This won’t always be the case, as the distraction will not dissipate unless Price makes it go away through strong play. That said, Price isn’t invincible and can’t endure this senseless onslaught forever. Nobody could. Nobody should. Price is armed with a 2-year contract, but if his actions don’t muzzle the haters, he may not be around to see the end of that deal. That would be a horrible shame, but it would be just what some fans and media are hoping for. Many fans and media believe that they ought to have some influence on the team’s direction, and their public displays of displeasure are evidence of that.
 
May the hockey gods help us.

Monday Musings – September 27

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I’m calling it now: Lars Eller’s new nickname: Montreeller. Get it? Montrealer…Montreeller?
 
I’m not sure how many of you still read the Montreal Gazette, but in Saturday’s sports section, there was a story about a recently conducted poll about Canadian NHL teams and “domestic” talent. Needless to say, there were some head-scratching, yet unsurprising results. The survey found that:
Nationally, 53% of respondents support a quota for Canadian-born talent for the 6 Canadian NHL teams. Not surprisingly, Quebec buoys that majority with 69% of respondents supporting a quota of local-born talent. Atlantic Canada checks in with 54%, then Alberta with 51%. When that question was pushed a little further, and asked respondants if quotas should be enforced even if it meant losing more games, Quebec again led the pack, with 49% agreeing. Contrast that with Ontario, B.C., and Alberta, the other places where NHL hockey resides in Canada, and now the support of quotas plummets to 26%, 26% and 25% respectively. What this says is that Quebecers are twice as tolerant to losing so long as the team is populated by “les gars de chez nous”, while the rest of Canada would prefer to win. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised, but I am. We’ve long spoken about how politics trumps winning in Quebec, and this survey would seem to support that, even if the 49% isn’t even a majority.
 
Preaching to the choir: Habs fans on twitter have rallied around each other and to Price’s defense. Wonderful. Now how does that message get across to the thick-skulled buffoons who will continue to jeer his every mistake? We’ve got to step out of the echochamber on this one, folks. Speaking of stepping out, when is Pierre Gauthier or someone else in the Habs brass going to send a message to the idiotic fans? Are the Habs brass that afraid of pissing off the people that pay for the tickets? Get a backbone! Or are they going to get Jean Beliveau to record some sort of message imploring fans to support the team and its players? That would be the height of pathetic on the organization’s part, but I sooner see that happening before I see Pierre Boivin, Pierre Gauthier or Jacques Martin standing up to the bullies in the stands and in the media.
 
Speaking of idiotic fans booing their teams, it seems the Leafs aren’t without troubles of their own. They were booed off the ice after being skunked 5-0 by the Senators. As stupid as it is to boo players, or your team, maybe teams would be well served not to charge full prices for games that mean nothing. As useless as the games are in the standings, people’s money is all too meaningful.
 
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The Texas Rangers in the playoffs? Really? As unreal as that sounds, it will be nice to see former Expos outfielder Vlad Guerrero play some meaningful October baseball. I’m still rooting for the Twins to take it all.
 
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The Alouettes are full value for their Eastern Division leading 9-3 record, but anyone who tells you they didn’t get lucky on Friday in Winnipeg is kidding themselves. Twice on the game-winning drive the Blue Bombers were hosed on bad, or questionable calls. The first was an illegal contact on a receiver which was the questionable call. The second was a fumble that was ruled incomplete. If the correct call had been made either time, the Als would be 8-4 today. Still good enough for first place, and would have kept the heat on in a seemingly rare year when they’re actually being pushed by the Argonauts and Tiger Cats.
 
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I used to not care so much for the CFL, but have come around over the last several years. But I’m confused…in a league that has trouble keeping 8 teams in the league (one guy actually owns TWO teams in the eight-team league), what is with all this talk of potentially expanding to 10, or even 12 teams? Sure it would be wonderful, but the CFL also has quotas for Canadian talent that each team has to meet, and has some trouble doing at times. How would the league deal with this if they mandated themselves to add 80+ more Canadians to the league without watering down talent? CFL fans are passionate about the Canadian content of their teams, and would, in my uninformed opinion, be very unwilling to let that number drop very far. Perhaps they should run the same poll as above on CFL fans.
 
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I thought this was one of the most boring weekends for NFL football in recent memory. In fact, through 3 weeks of the 2010 season, things have been mostly ho-hum in the NFL. That is, until my Dolphins took on the Jets last night on Sunday Night Football. What an exciting game. Sadly, Miami was not able to overcome the 14-0 hole they dug for themselves, and blew their chances at taking the lead with missed opportunities and untimely penalties.
 
 

Monday Notebook – September 20th

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In an effort to keep myself relatively regular on this site, I’m going to try and post a new series called “Monday Notebook”, in which I post a few thoughts about the weekend’s happenings. This may not last longer than a week, but hey, it’s worth a try.

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I love football. I don’t write about it at all on this site, but I really do love it. Especially when I win money by betting on it. Such was the case yesterday when I put down $10 on Mise-O-Jeu (that’s Pro-Line to anyone outside of Quebec). I was waiting on pins and needles last night for Peyton to beat up on little brother Eli, and big brother didn’t disappoint, leading the Colts to a 38-14 braining of the Giants. $100, thank you very much! Nice way to end the week, or start the week, depending on if you think Sunday is the end or start of a new week.

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Which leads me to my next point:

GOOD LORD THE NFC SUCKS!!!!!

It feels like it’s been this way forever, but perhaps this year bring new highs (or lows,as it were) for the NFC. Last week started off as well as the NFC could have hoped…posting a 1-1 record, except that win was against the Browns, who, if they aren’t the worst team in the league, are the second worst team. Forget that the Buccanneers barely beat the Browns IN TAMPA, a win is a win. I guess. Things took a nosedive for the NFC this week though. The AFC stomped the inferior conference, posting a 5-1 record in week 2. But, as in week 1, the NFC’s lone win came against the Buffalo Bills, who are in fierce competition with the Browns for the title of worst team in the league. Really, NFC? I know these things are cyclical, but geez.

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Do you think the Vikings are regretting waiting all that time for old man Favre to come back? He’s been absolutely horrific through two games this season and will probably eclipse the number of interceptions he threw last year by the quarter-season mark this year. He looks finished, and it could be a very long season for the Vikings and their fans. Everyone knew this was coming, and it appears as though Favre should have went out on a high after last year’s NFC Championship game. Still, we can’t count him out just yet. He’s defied so many odds through his career that it wouldn’t surprise me to see him fire 4 touchdown passes next week and shut everyone up, at least for the next 7 days.

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I giggled like a little school girl when Derelle Revis came out and called Randy Moss a slouch last week. It’s sort of like calling Alex Ovechkin a 3rd line checker. It’s stupid, and wrong. Needless to say, Moss made Revis look like the slouch with a stunning one-handed catch which he made look completely and utterly routine. If that wasn’t funny enough, Revis pulled up with a sore hammy on the play, and left the game. As if the millions of people watching will all fall for it in unison! “Oh, if he hadn’t hurt himself, he totally would have made that play!” Right. Where have we seen embarassed athletes pull up lame before after being thoroughly burned?

How about when Michael Johnson pulled up lame against Donovan Bailey in a one-on-one 200M race. Johnson essentially gave up as Bailey widened the gap.

How about  Jose Canseco pretending to hurt his knee as some 7 footer cleans his clock (watch him grab his knee after the fight). You got your heinie kicked, Jose. A bum stick didn’t make you lose. You made you lose.

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Congrats to Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista, who took over the team’s single season home run record, bumping George Bell to 2nd place. Bell held the record since 1987, which is quite a while considering in the 23 yeras since the record was set, MLB saw its record book written and rewritten a few times by chemical-addled beasts. Bautista clubbed his 49th homer, which may actually mean something today, if you believe Selig when he says the steroid era is over (haw haw!). Of course, it goes without saying that Bautista is a pending free agent, and debate will rage as to whether or not the Jays can or should keep him. When a guy has a 50+ home run season, you’d think you’d do your best to try and hang on to him. But this being Major League Baseball, we can be sure of two things:

1- Bautista will be compensated far more than he’s worth for his one magical (yet ultimately worthless season since his team stinks);

2- The Blue Jays will make the wrong decision. They always do.

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I’m surprised that the Atlanta Braves have hung on this long. Once Chipper Jones went down with a season-ending injury, I thought they’d be toast. The Phillies, predictably have overtaken them after getting over injury woes of their own, but because the National League is weak (they must be hanging out with the NFC), they’ve managed to cling to the wild card and hold a 3-game lead. As much as I hate the Braves for monopolizing the NL East for years while the Expos were circling the drain, I hope they can make it to the post season and give Bobby Cox the send off he deserves, this being his final season on the bench. Cox has been managing the Braves for nearly a quarter century, unheard of in pro sports today. Good on him, I say.

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If the whole “elite defenseman” thing doesn’t work out for Habs rearguard Andrei Markov, he may consider a career in stand-up. He had two quotes from Saturday’s Montreal Gazette (story by Dave Stubbs) that had me in stitches. We knew he had a pretty good sense of humour, but I guess since his English is continually improving we are getting to hear more of it.

Maybe he was poking fun at us lazy North Americans, but he said that since he’s now a Canadian citizen, he’s not working 7 days a week to rehab his knee, but “I’m a Canadian now, I’m working five days.”

When asked about his future, Markov said: “It’s too early to talk about that. Nobody knows what’s going to happen tomorrow. I just want to focus on my rehab, try to wake up every day and see my smile in the mirror”

Just another reason to get him signed to an extension as soon as possible once it’s sure that he’s healthy.

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Lastly, if you haven’t read Bob McKenzie’s latest blog about his relationship with Pat Burns, I HIGHLY recommend it. You won’t regret it.

Five Hole For Food Hits Montreal

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I use the term “Montreal” loosely.

I’ll keep it brief and then put you all on the spot. Canucks blogger Richard Loat (that’s Mozy19 to those of you on twitter) is crossing Canada and stopping in 9 cities for a game of ball hockey. And no, it’s not a pointless game of hockey. It’s essentially a majorly long food drive for various food banks across this gigantic country of ours.

For this first stop of the charity, the NDG Food Bank will be the beneficiary of your generosity.

The NDG Food Depot strives to eliminate hunger by working with our community in a manner that ensures dignity, community engagement and the development of human potential. We have been serving NDG and the surrounding Montreal boroughs since 1986 and have been an independent charitable organization since 2003. We see food as a powerful vehicle that can bring people together to forge innovative solutions to societal inequalities.

Please visit Five Hole for Food’s website and specifically this link to learn more about the event coming to la belle province next Tuesday, June 29th at 7:00 p.m.

The long and short of it is we want you to bring your sneakers and your hockey stick to the wonderful town of Notre Dame de l’Ile Perrot and play a game of ball hockey with us. Anyone of any skill level and gender is welcome to play; the more the merrier! (If you happen to be a goaltender, we could really use your services!) Even if you don’t want to play and would prefer to spectate and cheer point and laugh, that’s also more than fine. It would be a change for a rag-tag bunch of ball hockey players to hear it from the crowd!

What it all boils down to is a big fat tweetup for charity. It also happens to be a couple days before NHL free agency, so there will be plenty of Habs excitement to keep the chatter going.

Don’t worry, we know it’s a work night for most of you, so we’ll be done fairly early and we will send you home with a mostly full belly. Boston Pizza has jumped on board to sponsor the event nationally and will be hooking us up with some pizza to fix our hockey-forged appetites! Sorry, no booze on site. Those of you who definitely need a night cap can stop in at my place for a beer or six, or whatever after the game.

Now here’s where it gets interesting.

Since this is a food drive, we need you all to step up to the plate and bring as much non-perishable food as you can possibly bring. This isn’t your typical drop-a-can-off-at-Tim-Horton’s-at-Christmas food drive. No…we’re giving away a pretty sweet prize to the person who donates the most food, by weight.

So what’s the prize? Check this out. Not too shabby for some food, eh? Now, don’t try to get clever and bring 50 cans of the heaviest thing you can find. Mix it up a little…even the less fortunate get tired of just beans!

I can tell you one thing: I’m putting my best foot forward here. The stick is already in my house, and I would like it to stay here. Think of it this way: How much would you pay for a hockey stick signed by your Eastern Conference Finalist Montreal Canadiens? Now you get the picture!

So that’s it folks. Please try to keep your calendars open next Tuesday night for a trek to Ile Perrot. I promise it’s not as far as it sounds. Besides, our city’s reputation is at stake here. We want to pile up more food for the less fortunate than those stinky Leafs and Sens fans, don’t we? Montreal is the first stop, so we have to set the bar here! Please help get Richard’s amazing initiative off to a good start!

If you have any questions for me, you can find me on twitter, or email me at kyleroussel at gmail.com.

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you want to play hockey with us, please be sure to let me know!