Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Bolts vs. Habs: French Fried Edition

Notes on the third & OT:

-Nice kill on the major. Sounds like a line out of M*A*S*H, but there you go.

-They could have paid Pleks six mill a year and it STILL would have been worth every penny.

-Seems like the Habs aren't conditioned as well as the Lightning. They're fading in the speed department through the third. Time to step up practice pace, Jacques.

-If Boucher taught P.K. how to boot it back into his own zone to foil an odd-man rush like that, thanks!

-Crap, spaceman. What an idiotic play on the tying goal.

-AK busts his season's cherry off some lovely foreplay by Pleks. Gorgeous to watch. If you like that sort of thing.

-Meanwhile, Pouliot is as frustrated as a guy whose girl wears a purity bracelet.

-Subban is killing his team tonight. Brutal penalties at the worst possible times. And of course, they tie it up with no call on the trip that allowed the open passage for the goal.

-Thank you, goal post. Saved a point right there.

-Cammy saved the first big chance in OT.

-Love how AK breaks into the O-zone like a bowling ball. No looking for linemates for him. He just bowls right through there and takes down opponents like pins.

-Gill and his "Gentle Pat" form of defence seals the deal.

-Price deserved better tonight. A LOT better.


Notes on the second:

-If St.Louis hadn't gone into hockey, it could have been HIM beating out Alexandre Despatie at the Commonwealth Games. Brutal dive on the Cammy penalty.

-And of course, it costs. Price, once again the victim of some voodoo hex on a weird, up-high deflection.

-Why is it delay-of-game to shoot the puck over the glass, but NOT when a guy lies down on a loose puck on the PK?

-This is like a giant arcade game at blinding speeds. I imagine if I'd lived in the late '60s, this would have been like playing pinball with The Who.

-Habs passes are rattling around like a rock in a bucket. Not nearly as soft as in the first.

-You know who Boucher is? Carbo, with better communication skills. Watching him roll his eyes and bitch after a penalty call is Guy all over again.

-Gorges would be better on offense if he wasn't always waiting for the sky writers to announce he's about to make a shot.

-Eller's slick as the McDonald's dumpster. He should have better linemates.

-Oh, Lapierre. You're like the rebellious street kid in a Spike Lee movie. Always doing the wrong thing until you do the right thing. Seriously, though, what the hell was that major for?

-Another good period. Unfortunately, I see the Habs slowing down while the Lightning are not. Winning this one will take guts.


Notes on the first:

-It's all well and good for Boucher to advise his Ds to press, but the flip side is it's easier to get the puck behind them and to catch them out of position with speed. Luckily, the Habs have a boatload of speed.

-If Lapierre were a dog, he'd be what we in Newfoundland call a "crackie." Saucy, of indeterminate parentage and in danger of euthenasia by the dog catcher or neighbours at any moment.

-O'Byrne is like a Greek tragedy, only because there's no such thing as an Irish tragedy.

-We know where all the players are from, but what about the refs? The call on Cammalleri was pure crap.

-Josh Gorges is built entirely of ball bearings with a side of hockey sense.

-Pleks is cool as the arctic before global warming. He didn't even celebrate his goal because he knows there are a ton more to come.

-Cammalleri is such a smart player. His Achilles heel is his temper, but in a game like this, nobody cares.

-If Hammer needed a game to get up to speed, this is the one. He went from deck chair to electric chair in about two heartbeats tonight.

-Price is on. He's shutting them up with duct tape.

-Great period. It turns out blazing speed and aggressive forechecking beats Boucher's magic system. Two more periods like that, please.


Pre-game notes:

-Did I mention how sick I am of Habs fans drooling over the Lightning? Ugh. Now RDS is creaming over them too. Not a pretty sight.

-If Vinny, Marty and Simon aren't the three stars, I'll be shocked. Too bad coaches can't be stars.

-Kudos to the French guys on the Habs who didn't laugh at Gionta's French. God love him, he tried, but they shouldn't have spelled out all the numbers QUITE so phonetically.

-I liked the standing around the circle thing and the rushing out of the zamboni exit. Different.

11 comments:

Paul B. said...

I agree.

RDS should talk about Michael Vernace or Nate Thompson, when the Lightning is in town. Those are the guys we want to hear about. Who cares what St-Louis, Boucher, Gagné or Lecavalier have to say ?

J.T. said...

Actually, Paul, what I'd like to hear about tonight is the fact that Hammer's playing his first game of the year and that the Habs are actually having their home opener. I could give two damns about what anybody on the opposition has to say, no matter what their ethnicity.

Pete from Nova Scotia said...

lol at the O'Byrne comment.

It always seems that whenever something asinine happens, he is culprit. Perhaps it has been since that infamous own-goal in the Islanders game, I have come to look for his name when I am scratching my head in bewilderment......No, I think my first comment was true.

Ah, he is part of the tapestry of characters on this team that I love. Wouldn't be a Habs gam without an O'Byrne Boner.

chibbs said...

Wait. Can we talk about Gionta's french? That was HILARIOUS! (and I don't intend that to sound mean-spirited, I like Gionta...)

Paul B. said...

Well, both issues have been discussed at length during the 90 minutes pre-game show, by the 37 hockey analysts working for RDS.

97 others topics regarding tonight's game were also discussed. The only information missing was the color of the underwear worn by the players.

J.T. said...

@chibbs: I think it wasn't entirely his fault because I suspect they had everything phonetically written out for him. But, hell, yeah. It was funny! Je suis NOO-MER-OH VANK-EH-UHN! I love him too, and he's trying, but the team's people don't help him much.

chibbs said...

@ J.T.: you spelled it out perfectly, LOL.

Anonymous said...

Agree with the conditioning comment, the Lightning skated rings around our Habs. Spacek and Hamrlik are old and not in game shape yet which doesn't help not to mention the skill level of Tampa's top two lines.

On a positive note Price was spectacular. Not so positive, why are the Habs taking some many penalties? and was that last one to Subban really slashing?

Anonymous said...

you're so funny J.T.

Number31 said...

You notice that about Andrei too eh? He's like a mack truck with no breaks sometimes. I love it. Sick move around the poke check too.

Unknown said...

Lapierre is definitely a 'crackie'. The only think the crackie has different is the snarl and the occasional attack, not Laps' shit eating grin and back peddle that so irritates the opposition. Good summary JT!