Notes on the third:
-I'm watching this period because I love this team and I don't expect it to be on the ice much longer. Knowing the end is near makes me want to enjoy it as long as possible, even if it's the kind of enjoyment you get from eating something so incredibly spicy it hurts.
-Pleky with his third in three games, including the OT winner in Game One and what should have been the winner in Game Two. Anyone who thinks he can't play playoff hockey should just stop thinking.
-They keep showing Jaro on the bench. If I was the goalie, I'd wear my mask on the bench so nobody could see my face. Then I'd make ugly expressions and talk under my breath about everyone.
-Okay, either Bergeron replaces Lapierre next game and O'Byrne goes in on D, or they concede the series now. MAB is WAY overmatched.
-Ever since Pleky's goal, it's been boring. The Habs know they're not winning, but they're making a case for Price starting Game Four. I think it's about his time.
-Hey, when's the last time Pouliot scored anyway? Or Markov?
-Another question: Will we miss Hamrlik next season if he's traded and Subban makes the team instead? I'm torn. Early on, he was great. In the playoffs he sucks.
-Too bad Beliveau's in the stands and not on the ice. His team-record 44-second hat trick would be very useful right now.
-It was nice to see the guys come out in support of Price at the end of the game. Too bad they weren't so much in support of their goalies DURING the game.
-Fantasies are over. This is not happening for the Canadiens. They should have fought harder in the last week of the season and drawn Buffalo, but they didn't.
Notes on the second:
-Metro on RDS talking about how "The pain goes away quick" after he gets hit. The guy's so tough you'd have to boil him for a week to make a decent soup.
-What a dive by Markov. Maybe it's cosmic justice that the Caps get a shorty on that. That hurts. Like boils on your ass on an international flight.
-I was just going to praise Spacek for his great work on D, then he backs into and falls on his own goalie like that. Brutal.
-And now 2-0. If Theo was in, I'd say they have a chance, but Varlamov's playing great.
-Crowd is totally quiet, at least on TV. I hope it's a little more enthusiastic in person. Habs need the seventh man now more than ever.
-The Bergeron on D bubble has officially burst. And Jaro gets chased.
-It's got to feel absolutely terrible to be sitting there after getting pulled, with everyone AND the TV cameras staring at you, and all you want to do is swear and break things.
-Now the temptation is to open things up, but that will lead to further burnings. I guess the Habs know how the ladies of Salem used to feel.
-I'm learning to hate Ovechkin. For ten million bucks a year, you'd think he'd buy himself a friggin' tooth. Cretin. And I hope he gets herpes by kissing his dirty glove all the time.
-Well, at least I'm not having a heart attack this game. Just crying. It started out so well.
-Maybe whatever Pleks said to the ref in Czech just *sounded* like something rude in English? Because he's not a jerk and they're treating him like he is one.
-This is so awful. Can they even take anything positive into the third?
Notes on the first:
-Dressing room shots show the goalies. Varlamov's hair looks like a cross between a Ken doll and a shag carpet helmet.
-Hey...what ever happened to introducing the entire lineup before the first home playoff game? Great to see Mr.Beliveau in the crowd, though.
-Good, aggressive first couple of minutes. I'm taking heart.
-You don't think of Backstrom as being all that strong, but he's really like a big old Swedish ox on skates.
-Just before midway through the period, they're looking like they did in the first of the Game One: way too many giveaways, missed passes and icings.
-Pleky's line is rocking and/or rolling tonight. It's a good sign to see AK banging the stick for the puck. When he wants it, he's on.
-The kill on the AK penalty lit them up like August grass in California. Varlamov's hot, though.
-I hate to criticize Spacek, who's been heroic, but damn! If he could only hit the net, he'd have scored.
-Lapierre is not great on the boards. For a guy his size, he loses a lot of battles. I guess you CAN turtle in the corners.
-Jaro's looking pretty decent so far. He's going to have to be very strong for the next forty.
Pre-game notes:
-I'm as nervous as a goalie's mother.
-Just two wishes for tonight: fair reffing and no booing the home team, no matter what.
-I can't believe Metro is back already. The man is at least one part titanium.
-Goalie I most hope to see in this game: Theodore. Yeah, yeah, I know Varlamov is starting. You know what I mean.
-Cap I'm most scared of tonight: Green. He's been invisible, but I don't think it'll last.
-I wonder if the people at TSN had to send out a memo to the on-air crew, to at least appear to be unbiased, just for this series?
-The noise is going to be tremendous. I hope the Caps don't get inspired by accident.
Monday, April 19, 2010
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14 comments:
Craps ready to be taken in the first then Halak pushed in the net AGAIN (I guess he's not strong enough to hold the line) and the Craps are awake. Too bad the Habs NEVER push the opposing goalie in the net (maybe in the off season the should watch some football). Anybody remember when a toe in the crease negated a goal? Maybe the Habs should draft a 300lb goalie. The Craps will win in 5 but the easy first round will set them up to get bounced before the conference final. Habs will make the Craps over confident and lead to their downfall. Small consolation but it's something.
On the second goal, Markov looked at Fehr and obviously thought "He's way too big, for me". On the third goal, he watched Fehr walking in in front of the net like he owned it, and reacted the exact same way.
On the fourth goal, Georges thought it was best to stay 15' away from the NHL's best scorer who was standing all alone 15-20 feet in front of Price.
I'm so tired of our Wallmart greeters on D. Three more years of Jacques Martin and I'll either commit suicide or at the very least be renting a room, at a rubber room motel.
Pass the tissues, J.T.
This second period brought heartbreak to a whole new level. **Sigh**
A comment on the tooth. I think a dental implant calls for drilling into the jawbone and any violent impact would lead to serious damage to the jaw. I'm sure he'll get it done after he's done with hockey. We only hate him because the Habs will never in our lifetime have a player of his calibre. This team needs another complete makeover which I'm sure nobody wants to hear or admit.
This team does not need a complete makeover. It needs at least one, big tough player who call pull down top-6 minutes when necessary (a la Knuble or Corson), and it needs another impact defenceman.
Wow what a fold
Three of the defencemen are at the end of their careers, three of the top six forwards are too small to be on the same team, three of the bottom six forwards should be in the AHL and neither of the goaltenders are proven at the NHL level. That spells makeover to me. And that doesn't even address the management.
Anybody notice how Rask holds the line in nets? Toronto gave the Bruins a top young goalie and a number 2 overall draft pick. Go leafs go (to HELL that is).
The end of this series was the 4th goal Saturday (Habs up 4-1). It was too easy; they fell asleep.
I doubt I said it first BUT "ya gotta wanta".
Metro came back too soon, didn't do much good.
We barely had a chance on Varly. (I knew it).
Moen played crap.
The Craps beat the crap out of us, but I'm still hopeful (I know, aren't I crazy?) that we can overcome this Wednesday.
Our Habs boys just don't have the mind power it takes when the chips are low -- the Craps chips were low last time, they overcame.
Love you French! (if you add an "i" between the "l" and "n" of "accueillons"(sic) it would be dead-on. But still love you.
ladies and gentlemen the mistakes on D were made last july then compounded by signing Martin... no problem they ship Sergei out who'll follow in Latendresse's shoes doing well elsewhere. no one wants to hear this. wake up it's a bubble team as constructed..same as it has been for 6+ years
What's really sad is that Beliveau witnessed this lack of heart, effort, resignation.
Can you imagine The Rocket on the ice tonight? I'm too young to have seen him play live but on 'videos' he had an intensity SO INTENSE they would have just gotten out of his way...
Down by 1 or 4 they owed it to their fans to go out there in the third and run their goalie, flatten ovie (twice), Green (several times!)... what did they have to lose?? They would have gotten and penalty or two, so what, they'd still lose... or would they??? All it would have taken was several flattened Caps and maybe get a a couple fluke goals! Even if they still lost it couldn't have been any worse! They would have felt better..........
I want constant attack, let the goalie fend for himself (usually does anyway, so what's different?)
With a coach that doesn't want to sit on a 1 or 2 goal lead this would be a different team.
I'm so pissed...........
This series is SO over.......
A 5-step method on how to gameplan against the Habs:
1- Clog up the neutral zone. MTL 5-on-5 is only effective when they can carry the puck with some speed into the offensive zone. That's why MTL does better against the more open Western conference teams and that they can't beat teams like New Jersey, Carolina and Toronto
2- Use your size down low to push the goalie around. Exhibits A+B: Games Two and Three of the current series.
3- Use your size to physically challenge their D-Men. After a while, they start hearing footsteps
4- Beware of their power play; don't take too many penalties
5- Lather, rinse, repeat
Fortunately for the Habs, Washington isn't disciplined enough to do Step One, so they can compete against the Caps. However, since the midway point in Game Two, the Caps have done a masterful job with Steps Two and Three. Guys like Knuble, Fehr, Laich, Gordon and #15 and 25(can't recall their names) imposed themselves physically. They, not Ovie, won Game Three for Washington.
Can you imagine how these Habs would perform in a physical series like Devils-Flyers? I shudder at the thought...
I thought Pouliot played relatively well last night; he used his physique and speed effectively and created chances. When he plays like last night, he's a much better player than Latendresse: he just needs to do it more than once a month. More games like this one and the points will come naturally.
JT: The whole Sergei-Darche-Metro-Pyatt-Moen charade isn't that important in the long run: while they have individual qualities, they're expendable crew members.
What Montreal needs is a massive influx of size and grit on D and - hopefully - the bottom two lines. Next year, they should bring up Subban and Belle (the latter as a seventh D), play O'Byrne regularly, and keep Markov, Gill, Gorges and Spacek (who would play on his natural side). Pairs like Markov-O'Byrne; Spacek-Subban; Gill-Gorges would look pretty good I think.
Bergeron and Hamrlik have to go. Roman did admirable work playing additional minutes during Markov's absence, but his tank has been empty since February. As for Bergeron, nice guy, awesome shot, good offensive instincts, but he is more effective in short, concentrated bursts, kinda like Gaston Gingras, Mike McEwen or Risto Siltanen back in the day.
So I finally watched the game just now, ending just before midnight Tuesday. I watched dispassionately, expecting to be disgusted by a wretched team. But that's not what I saw. I think the Habs played well. Of the 2nd period goals by the Caps, only Ovechkin's came from a nice play. The others were opportunistic, lucky, or just garbage. These things happen to every team once in a while.
I still think a few bounces the other way can happen on a different night. I'll be watching tomorrow.
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