Thursday, October 1, 2009

Habs vs. Leafs Season Opener

Notes on OT:

-Happy birthday, coach.

Notes on the third:

-The Franchise is earning his money. That was a very, very nice first start for him.

-Max Pac: Not ready for first-line duties.

-If this game was a drinking game, and one of the rules was "drink when the Habs complete a pass" we'd be totally sober now.

-Is it a good sign that the fourth line was the Habs' most impressive tonight?

-How do I hate thee? Let me count the ways. I hate thee to the depth and breadth and height my soul can reach, you douche. You know who you are.

-The fourth line rocks my world.

-Good night Habs. Markov looks badly hurt. And we know what happens when that happens.

-Well, it was an okay start for a bunch of guys who never met until last month, but I'm hoping for more for the rest of the year.

-I hate the leafs.


Notes on the second:

-I'd like to humbly apologize to Alex Kovalev. It wasn't him that messed up Pleks last year. It was Andrei Kostitsyn, and he's doing it again.

-Among the things not different from last season: The Habs still can't win the puck on the boards. Also, long, crappy, low-percentage passes that turn into giveaways.

-It kills me to say it, but the Stalberg kid's good. He'll be a pain in our collective asses for years to come.

-You know what this reminds me of? When everyone in the office goes on a course, about, say, how to answer the phone. For the first week after, everyone is extremely polite every time there's a call. But after a month, it's all "Yeah? Just a second." Sooner or later, one of these teams is going to revert to its natural instincts, which can only be good for us.

-Travis...still Moening in delight...just an assist away from the Howe Trick

-Now that I think about it, Jacques the Knife isn't ALL mobster in his appearance. He actually looks like the lovechild of Tony Soprano and Napoleon.

-Can someone tell Mara it's 2009? The pre-lockout rules were four years ago.

-I really don't like the way Hal Gill allowed Lee Stempniak to ride him off the puck. Who's the giant here, man?

-Paging Scott Gomez! You're needed on the Habs' first line.

-O'Byrne's busy during the second intermission, getting fitted for a large truck licence plate.

-Can I hate the traitor more? Yeah, it grows every time he unnecessarily bangs a harmless opponent like Pleks or Metro...just to prove he fits in on Burkie's team.

-I hope the Knife is ripping them all a new one for the third, because the one they had is suspiciously like last year's.


Notes on the first:

-I really hate to overuse the word "douche," but looking at Kessel's grinning mug during the player intros made me say it three times.

-Gio's doing the ceremonial faceoffs? Way to hide your choice of captain, Jacques.

-Speaking of which, Jacques the Knife, the birthday boy, is looking very mobsteriffic tonight. And I thought no one would top Carbo's sartorial excellence.

-The "puck posession" game so far looks like the Habs have mixed up "puck" with "demonic" and are doing their damnedest to get rid of it.

-Laraque looks like his back is not long for the NHL. Hope there are no carnivores around, or they'll soon separate him from the herd.

-Gionta is like a fart in a skillet...insubstantial, yet bouncing everywhere.

-Travis! I'm Moening in ecstasy. (Yeah, yeah, I know it was a draw at best, but I've been waiting to say that for two months now.)

-Lats hit someone AFTER the preseason. Twice. It's a season-opening miracle.

-Not loving the Mara/Gill combo on D. Scarily reminiscent of Dandoullion.

-Price must be asking himself what the hell the difference is from last year? All the BS about reducing shots on goal results in a 14-7 differential for the leafs. Perfect.

-If Judaserek has thirty pieces of silver on the table to buy a win tonight, I hope he hangs himself before it's over. He actually said the phrase "leaf nation" on TSN. Nothing like embracing the Culture of Delusion, is there, you traitor?

-So, Burke's handing out 8-page pamphlets to explain the history of the leafs to the new players. In an effort to show off his law-school education, he's borrowed the title from T.S.Eliot: The Wasteland. Also interesting that you can tell the leaf history in 8 pages, while the Habs' is recounted in actual books.

6 comments:

Ted said...

okay I said I wouldn't check in but I lied.

First observation. Cammalleri and Gionta look very good and that is the second prettiest passing play between them so far.

Anvilcloud said...

Way to go, JT!! You haven't lost your touch.

Ted said...

Don't be so hard on all of them - They're still trying to learn the words to the Canadian National Anthem.

I got to see Stalberg at UVM last year and he is a hell of a player. The animosity between Komi and AK was interesting. Looks like the Bro's might be blamed in the end. I'm not sure that was the entire malaise but hey what do I know.

Ted said...

Okay, we on won without 3 measures of Hamrlik and one measure of Markov. We've already surpassed last year.

How the stars weren't Price Cammalleri and Gorges I don't know.

I'm very happy today that Mike is with the leafs. Maybe he did have the best intest of the Habs at heart.

bon soir tout le monde

Lilly said...

great stuff JT!
i, too, have ben dying to crack Moening jokes. too good ;)

Scott in Montreal said...

did you really say "mixed up puck for demonic". J.T., your brilliance sometime terrifies me.