Thursday, April 8, 2010

Habs vs. 'Canes: Just One Bloody Point Edition

Notes on the third:

-Well, a ridiculously soft penalty call to start the third. So the traditional pattern of Habs/Canes games establishes itself once again.

-And, of course, the 'Canes score on it. After multiple soft clearing attempts by the Canadiens. Fabulous.

-Bergeron remembered his reason for existence on that shot. Boy, can he ever laser it when all the plants align!

-Cammalleri needs to dance a rain dance or kiss a frog or something. He's just cursed.

-The eternal conundrum: Why will no Hab except the smallest guy on the team EVER screen the other team's goalie? Can nothing induce them to do that?

-It's funny; it used to feel like a long time when there were eight minutes to go in a period. Now it feels like time is running out because it'll take the Habs at least eight minutes to muster up a goal.

-There we go. The inevitable Habs-killer goal. Done and over.

-I'm not sure if this season feels more like 2007 when the Habs lost in the last game to the leafs, or like last year, when they couldn't win a single game down the stretch and only clinched a spot because everybody else lost worse. Maybe it's like both, like mixing two horrid vintages of homemade wine together in a single glass. Yum!

-You'd think any team would be mad after this. You'd think they'd be as angry as their fans are right now. But I have no hope that will be the case in the elimination game on Saturday, which we all knew it would come down to anyway. I'll tell you this though: If they lose on Saturday and miss the playoffs AGAIN, I will close this blog and I will retire my game-worn Plekanec turtleneck. I'm done. I can't stand it anymore.


Notes on the second:

-You know what? Even though I think Andrei Kostitsyn would be in the special ed class in a regular school, I think he's got a lot of hockey sense.

-O'Byrne CANNOT let a guy like Staal go like that. There's no way he should have been allowed at that rebound. Still learning...still learning...still learning...it's the Habs fan's mantra.

-If I had five cents for every time the Habs shoot the puck at a player who's trying to change, and thus risk a too-many-men call, I'd be richer than the Molsons. Well, the Molsons BEFORE they bought the Habs.

-Pleks' hip injury has finally caught up to him. He's playing like a three-legged dog.

-This team sucks. I know it has the talent to play a perfect game like it did against Buffalo on the weekend, but a good team does that frequently. This sucky team does not.

-LaRose. Told you.

-I would pay some money to a charity for every pass the Habs complete, and I still wouldn't get a tax break.

-My least favourite thing about the Habs right now is Gomez' awesome ability to break into the O-zone, followed by his complete brain freeze thereafter.

-When the best chances of the night are on the stick of Travis Moen, you know it's going to a loooonnngg evening.

-If any of the bigger men on the team had half of Gionta's heart or hands, the Habs wouldn't be losing these kinds of stupid games.

-By the way, on the Gionta goal, do you think anybody on the Habs side notice WHERE the little guy was standing when he scored? Probably not.

-If the Habs play like they did in the first forty in the last twenty, they don't deserve the playoffs.




Notes on the first:

-I've heard lots of people excuse the last game by explaining the Habs are under a lot of pressure to make the playoffs. If they think *making* the playoffs is pressure, what will they do when they're actually *in* the playoffs? Hmmm...oh, well, I guess they'll have to get a point tonight to find out.

-If I had to keep a Hurricane, other than Staal, I think I'd pick LaRose.

-I thought Pouliot had given up shooting the puck for Lent. Someone needs to remind him Easter has come. Or maybe he's just celebrating Passover.

-I watched the Rangers come out hitting like a team of fast cement trucks against the leafs last night. I was hoping the Habs would do that tonight, but...no.

-Hamrlik is playing like crap lately. He's got no excuses either, with the nice long Olympic break he had to get rested up.

-O'Byrne steps on the puck and falls down. He looks so awkward when those things happen to him. Maybe it's his size, but he looks like a baby just learning to walk sometimes.

-This is not the kind of game in which Gomez can be fancy. Fancy doesn't work against these guys.

-Memo to Lapierre and Pyatt: You're probably not going to score if BOTH of you are behind the net. That said, Laps is playing some good hockey for the last two or three games.

-See, this is why I don't like Jacques Martin's style. You can't convince me the Habs have the worst team of forecheckers in the entire league, yet they play like they do.

-Sometimes I wonder how frustrated Markov must get when his beautiful plays are screwed up by his less-talented teammates. It's like the guy who carved the Sphinx letting his apprentice do the last bit, only to see him knock off the nose.

-Great. A goalie battle. Just what I didn't want. I hate that bloody Ward.

9 comments:

Paul B said...

If I had to keep a Hurricane other than Staal, it would be Ward or Sutter.

Anonymous said...

If the Canadiens don't get their point tonight they will lose on saturday to the Maple Laughs and probably be on the outside looking in !!!

Anonymous said...

Don't be so hard on the Habs, Carolina is just a better team.

Anonymous said...

Better hope that the Rangers lose at least one of their two games remaining because Canadiens will blow it against the hated Leafs on Saturday. they just don't seem to be interested in playing hard for 60 minutes.

Anonymous said...

If Philly beats the Rangers tomorrow Habs can lose to the leafs and you can still keep your blog. Go Flyers!

Rock on The Rock said...

JT,
I've enjoyed reading your blog and will miss it.
The Rocket must be spinning in his grave which is a lot more than this crowd of lay-abouts are doing.
I guess the best way not to be embarrassed in the playoffs is to miss them.(Habs fan since 67!)

Anonymous said...

Bergeron: I'd hate to be in his line of fire.

Habs for life!!! said...

Halak gives up so many rebounds, and they scored off them! I don't see what u guys see in him, he reminds me of thedore and huet... What do u think JT?

James Parent said...

There's no point in faulting Halak for last night's loss; it's not even worth talking about him.

Anon makes a good point though: the Canes are in fact an excellent team, reasonably top 8 and probably top 5 in the East - had they not started the season 0-14 (with injuries to Staal and Ward), they would certainly be in the playoffs. This is essentially the same team that beat NJ and Boston in last year's playoffs to reach the conference finals. They also have the second best record in the East since Jan 1st, so we were taking on a pretty hot team.

That being said, the Habs' performance last night was pitiful, period. I can't agree more with everything that's been said about JM - his coaching is atrocious and most of his significant decisions are idiotic (benching OB and SK74 for example). Some blame has to be pinned on the players though, they're just depressing to watch.