PRIIIIIICE WIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINS!

Warning: this post is overlong and filled with lots of randomness. Proceed at your own risk.

::Pregame ramble::

Mood: Oddly pleased.
Liking....: the idea that the crowd will most likely boo Huet. Not that I've got a thing against the guy... I just love it when the crowd shows emotion.
Not liking....: the thought of the possibility that the Habs will lose tonight.

• So.... remind me again how many Stanley Cups the Blackhawks have won....? Yeah, I thougth so too.....
• Lots of talent on this team, blah, blah, blah.... Yeah, they're really inconsistant, blah, blah, blah... Yeah, they look better than they gave in years, blah, blah, blah.....Kane and Toews are good.... blah, blah, blah.....
• CHRISTOBAL HUET. I wasn't around when you played here but I did witness a very awful game on your part when you played in that Winter Classic thinger... So I dunno what to think about you. This should be interesting to see.
• Who names their kid Christobal though.....?
• Gainey must have seen my stick figure thing about the jerseys because he decided that the guys won't be wearing them. Ah... the intrigue! Who would have thought that a guy who wears these ugly brown ultra fuzzy suits would know anything about fashion? Or is it because the guys on the team think that they're cursed (I mean, Lang and Latendresse did get beaten to a pulp because the Bruins were probably completely disoriented)? Or is it because everyone has decided that they really do look godawful when there's six players out there on the ice altogether? Whatever. No barberpole jerseys for the Habs tonight... boohoo.....

Enemy watch

• So Brodeur disappointed me majorly the other night. Typical. Now it's time for me to pray for a Sens victory over the Panthers while fully expecting the Sens to prove themselves hate-worthy by losing. All together now... "SENS SUUUUUUCK".
• Boston vs Tampa Bay... Just hoping that Shorty Marty won't get stepped on by Chara.
• Nobody else matters.

::Post game rant::

After the first period

Mood: Still pleased
Liking: Pricey!
Not liking: That stupid gazillion minute penalty given to Andrei Kostitsyn when he stuck up for ickle Sergei who's head got bashed into the boards.....Someone said their parents were in the stands tonight...I wonder how you say "Go HABS Go" in Belorussian....

• GAME ON!
• .....hello.....? I said GAME ON! What the heck are you doing?......hello? You're mopping the ice.... c'moooon.....let's get this thing started already!
• Oh game on? *goes to twitter*
• GOAL?! But it hasn't even been a minute yet, Kovalev! Okay. I'll take that.
• Is it just me or does the Hawks' jerseys blend really well with the ice? I can't see them.
• Oh PRICE! Nice save!
• And another nice save for the Priceberg!
• ....why are the Hawks hogging the puck?
• Oh some Habs offense! Nice!
• OH SO FREAKING CLOSE FOR THE HABS! KOOOOOOIVUUU STOP MISSING! Oh wait... you were tripped....
• HABS PP!
• Ahem.... where's that PP? I guess it's the night of the lame PP.....Hawks just had a boring PP....
• Hawks looking good so far....
• Priceberg with some BEAUTIFUL saves!
• that guy Huet made some nice saves too... boohoo....
• WHAT THE HECK?! Sergei gets a semi-breakaway only to have his head rammed into the boards. Big brother Andrei sticks up for him but 1) can't fight worth a damn and 2) gets two penalties for his efforts while the other guy gets zippo. I wonder what he would have gotten if he had insulted the other guy's girlfriend........ hmm.......
• Priceberg with more pretty saves.
• And some more
• Oh and some more
• Oh he practically stood on his head for that one....
• First period thankfully over!

Hmm, k, let's stop giving the Hawks the puck and start peppering Huet now!

Enemy watch

• Sens aren't winnning. But they aren't losing either. Poop.
• Boston is smashing Tampa Bay 3-0. Like you expected anything different?

After the second

Mood: Happy but still apprehensive about 3rd
Liking: PRIIIIIIICEEEEEEEEEEEEEEY
Not liking: KANE and the puck hogging Hawks.I seem to have a personal dislike of Kane for absolutely no reason. Huh.

• hmmm getting run around.....!
• Still getting run around...
• No sign of Sergei....this isn't good... He just got back here!
  
• The Priceberg flies too!
• And he does the splits.... wow...
• And he practically stands on his head again....
• PP!
• Hello.... Koivu...... when we get a PP you don't go running over Huet.....
• (insert some images of people skating around here)
• GOAL! Latendresse shoots it at Huet. It goes over his shoulder and down and through him somehow...And the crowd goes nuts!
• Oh my god... Breezer stopped a Hawks shot on a half open net! Breezer stopped a shot!
• Here come the Hawks. I think. I can't see them.
• PRICEBERG!
• Oh some offense by the Habs! Koivu can't get a shot....Kovalev can't get a shot.....
• Penalty kill time... Hammer has to leave after getting knocked in the head....It's like the curse of the mere thought of wanting to wear those cursed barberpole jerseys....
• PRICE!
• To quote Habstwit "Kane dekes out the entire Habs team, Price, bench and Bell Centre, but somehow doesn't score". HAHA!
• Latendresse out of the box for Hammer and comes close again. Denied by Huet....
• Hawks offense time now... Pricey stops them!
• Habs offense time... Huet stops them. Poop.
• Is the period over yet? This has gone on forever... and ever... and ever....
• Apparently we're still in it. Campbell takes penalty after beating up Higgy. PP TIME!
• MAAAAAARKOOOOOOOOOOOOOV! GOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL!
• The Priceberg makes a pile of unbelievable saves while flopping around. Of course.. it didn't hurt that the Hawks couldn't shoot straight.
• (lots more shots were taking on both goalies but EP's brain has gone mushy over the very long period)

Okay...Good period save for all those very, very, very close goals by the Hawks. Don't go to sleep on me now, Habs! Keep it up! Keep it up!

Enemy watch

• Florida winning 3-1. Uhuh.... not surprised.... Sens have one period left to get it together. I hate you all.
• Boston still only winning 3-0 over the Bolts...

After the third period

Mood: ELATED DAMNIT
Liking: A WIIIIIIN!!!!!!!!!
Not liking: No shutout for the Priceberg

• Hawks turning up the heat....
• Priceberg at work again
• I actually can't remember too much of this period so I'm just going to make some of it up =p it's fairly accurate though if not quite in the right order.....
• PRICEY AGAIN!
• More chances from Habs
• GAAAAACK. Some Hawk dude got a goal from the blueline... it went whoosh then plop then.... plulp..... Which is my weird sound effects for "it got shot through traffic, hit the side of the net and trickled in. Price couldn't have stopped it from that angle."
• 7 mins left... COME ON HABS! DON'T DIE ON ME NOW!
• Hawks piling on the pressure
• Andrei to the net almost alone. GO ANDREI!
  
• ... and now I remember why you're bad at shootouts.... BUT GOOD NEWS!
• HABS POWERPLAY!
• A goal would be nice here....you know... to put the Hawks out of their misery.
• THEY LISTENED! GOAAAAAAAAAAAAAL!Schneider with a huge shot which looked like it may have been tipped in by Higgy. OH! OH! OH! OLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!
  
• Speaking of "olay" did you know that they had a recorder version playing Tampa Bay the other night when they played the Sens? Hello? 1) you don't rip off someone else's song and 2) you don't get people to try to sing it when first off, you're getting blanked in an embarrassing fashion and two, when they don't sing anyway. POOP!
  
• Anyway... game not over yet.....though....Can't watch.... Priceberg to the rescue!
• 2 mins left
• 1 min left
• 30 seconds...
• 25....
• etc...etc..etc...
• VICTORY! YES! WE LIVE ON IN EIGHTH PLACE! HAHAHAHAHAHA!
  
• And yes, do hug the Priceberg. He worked his butt off tonight.
• Nooooo... Pricey throws his stick into the crowd! I WANT!
• Actually... I want barberpole style socks. If the Habs aren't going to wear those then I want them!
  

Wheee that went on way longer than I thought it would... Sorry! Couldn't help myself =p

Enemy watch

• Sens suck and lost 5-2..... Thank you twerps.....
• Boston won 3-1. Stammy got the one lone goal for the Bolts....
• Jackets won 2-1 over the Predators. Rinne looked ticked off in the second Jackets goal
• Canucks and Wildies currently in OT after being 1-1 in regulation....
• Duckies and Oilers (which don't mix too well) are 1-1 after the first....

Of voodoo dolls, barber pole jerseys & Roy's cursing abilities

It's Monday! And that means there's no good NHL hockey on and apparently there's no AHL hockey on either.... HELLO?! Who organizes these stupid schedules?! Reason #345678 to take over the world: You get to arrange the hockey schedule the way you want it. Anyway... No hockey = me rambling about... hockey. Whoopie...

Okay first off.... I missed the Bulldogs playing yesterday because 1) they played in the afternoon and I hate afternoon games and I always overlook them by accident 2) I was also busy making myself a Gary Bettman voodoo doll. Took me the whole darn afternoon to make it too. Pooh. I'm mad because apparently it was a really good game despite their loss to Moosies of Winterpeg. with the loss they poor Baby Habs can't catch said Moosies for first in their division but they could make a run for second. Let's go Hammies! Amid my disappointment, I did learn that the Ultra Baby Habs were playing so I did catch most of the Montreal Juniors gam and am pleased to say that they wrapped up their series against Rouyn-Noranda with a 4-3 win in game 6. Yay! Unfortunately Drummondville is up next and apparently they're one of the top ranked teams... Poop.

But yes.... behold! Bettman gets to join Crosby in the Tissue Box of Doom (yes, I have no life and knitted Crosby a puffle blue scarf. What can I say? I was left all alone in a house filled with wool and knitting needles and despite not knowing how to knitt either I decided to make one). I still cant' sew in a circle so more turnip headed dolls *g* I think he's got too much hair too....


And... if you didn't know already... the Barber Pole Jerseys are coming back on Tuesday! I think they've kind of grown on me in a "wow, they're so ugly they may just be kind of cute" type of way. Unfortunately for Lang though, whenever I see those, I will forever think of him. Dont' ask why. My brain just works that way.



Oh and last thing....

Dear Patrick Roy,

I get that the recent performance of the Devils is due to the fact that you've cursed them because they took your record (yes, "they"). But really.... you're timing sucks, man! The Canadiens need the Devils to beat the Rangers tonight and that can't happen if Avery's gotten into their brains. I think you're little curse-fest on the Canadiens is over now (c'mon... nobody can stay that bitter forever. Especially when everyone seems to love you again) so if you'd be so kind as to uncurse the Devils for tonight's game, that'd be great.

Thanks,

EP

P.S. Please feel free to curse them again after the game.


THIS is the last thing... I will write up something serious one day soon. I just feel that in current mood of things with the Habs, I much prefer to go off into the world of fun insanity.

Shootouts are THE suck

My brain decided to write this up in random thoughts throughout the game. I'm obviously still sick because they probably don't make that much sense....

First Period

• Getting chances! That's a new thing!
  
• D needs to tighten up though....
• Pricey looks good! Yay for the Priceberg!
  
• What is this....? Goalie overprotection night? Can we please stop hitting each other every time a goalie touches the puck?
  
• Habs miss the net....
• Habs miss the net again...
• Habs miss again....
  
• How many guys do we have in the box now? There appears to be three Habs and three Sabres.... I swear they're hiding candy in there and that's why the guys are hiding in there... I mean... it's like not like they're hiding ferraris in there now that Vinny's gone home....
  
• Sabres score... D sucked on that one..... didn't cover the guy who was standing right in front of Pricey....
• Koivu missed the damn net with less than 20 seconds to go....and it was totally open.....!!!! How could you??????!!!!!!!!!
  

Enemy watch

• Pens won in regulation. Moop. Puffle got the game winning one too.....Must stick voodoo doll with pins next time....
  
• Scoring paloozza in Toronto! Then again... it's Pogge and Fernandez so the score should be 20-20 really....
  
• Devils scored.....
  
• Kovalchuk tied it 2-2 with the Sens!
• Isles up 2-0?! Amazing what happens when you're season is effectively over...
  

Not too bad so far! Bring on the second period!

After the second period....

• Uhuh... the defense forgot how to play defense.... 2-0 for Sabres. Price deserves a lot better than this.
• I'm t0o sick to yell at you guys.... but really PICK IT UP!
• Seriously... To quote Habswit "what do they serve in the habs dressing room in the first int.? warm mllk? herbal tea? CH chasing again."
• OH OH! Higgy makes up for all the messups from the first period and scooooooooooooores! 2-1
• Why is Price the only guy behind the blue line working? WAKE UP DEFENSE!!!!!
• GOAL! 2-2 Beautiful work by Koivu!!!!
• Habs awake now!
• ....I said... Habs awake now.....!!! Get back down the other end.
  
• AHAH! Powerplay!
  
• nonononono breakaway chance.... Oh good work Markov! No sarcasm for once =) Markov, you are the man! Why can't we just clone you and have a pile of you?
  
• OH 5 on 3? Can we score now?
• OMG KOVY LISTENED! 3-2! Koooovy....! No Sabre defense = Habs goal by Kovy. Makes up for the horrid first goal by the Sabres *nods* Kovy!
  
• Hey... where'd the momentum go??? Price is the only one working!
• HEY!
• Saved by the bell...
  

Enemy watch

• As tweeted by "Brian Burke": "In honor of Earth Hour, the Leafs and Bruins will be turning off our defence and goaltending for 60 minutes tonight." Bruins up 7-4 now and still have one period to go
• Devils still hanging on 1-0
• Kovalchuk now up 6-3 on Sens. Go Thrashers!
• Isles still up 2-0 on Philly. Wait... make that 2-2 now. Flyers decided to score while I was writing this. Poop. Uh.... 3-2 now... Stop freaking scoring, you orange hairballs! Wait... it's 3-3 now? Okay, I'm not watching your score anymore.... *runs away*
  
• Dallas holding on to dear life 1-0. Now this is the point where I say "Turco. Please stay in the damn net and you guys should be okay."
  

So far so good. Next period please...!

Third

• D is dead....
  
• D is still dead
• D is now deader than a doornail. Plus they obstructed Pricey and let in a goal. 3-3. I'm mad.
• Pricey is saving their butts out there
• and he's doing it again
• and again
• and again
• and again
• oh some offense
• Price bails out Habs again
• and again
• Miller makes a save. Who's Miller again? Haven't see him much this period. Forgot who he is.
  
• The Priceberg is there to stop numerous shots in a brilliant fashion
  
• two seconds left. Sabres pull Miller. Win faceoff. Priceberg stops the shot. To OT!!!!!

OT

• Pricey bails out Habs
• and again
• and again
• Get the idea here?
  

Shootouts

• 2 rounds of brilliant stopping leads to a.... Sabres victory by one crummy goal..... Poor Priceberg....$%^&* Habs fail to score completely.....
  
• I hate shootouts. They suck, suck, suck, suck, suck. Gary Bettman you are SO getting a voodoo tomorrow. I don't care how sick I am. You are getting a voodoo doll tomorrow.
  

Enemy watch

• Boston won 7-5 - While the rest of Canada turned out the lights, their good efforts were completely negated when the goal light things kept going off in Toronto. Thanks Toronto.
  
• Carolina won 2-1 - Whatever....
  
• Philly won in shooutouts - Meh.....Stupid Islanders.... Wait.... Yeah.... Stupid Islanders....Who to do you think you are? The bottom ranked team in the league?! Oh wait. You are the bottom ranked team in the league.... Right.... I hate you anyay.
  
• Kovalchuk beat the Sens - thank god for Kovalchuk! If I wasn't so Ovie obsessed I may just find some room to like you too...Actually, I don't even know if it was you who made it 6-3 in the end but whatever... you're like the only Thrasher I can remember on a daily basis. And you're Russian. I like Russian players.
  
• Dallas probably going to lose to the Panthers... - #$%^&*.....
  

Habs vs Sabres pre-game rant

Fine, so this is actually a big excuse to post my new stick figure drawing... I couldn't help myself. It's like making fun of Crosby.... It's so easy. I'm bad, I know.... Here's another picture of the Crosby voodoo by the way. He now lives in a tissue box. I should probably make it look like an igloo or something....


Anyway.....

Miller's back and I'm thinking I should have made a Miller voodoo doll instead of a Crosby one. Then again, doesn't seem to matter what goalie is in nets though because we all know that the Habs can lose to anyone at any given time. They can also beat anyone at any given time.

So. Which team shows up?

I really hope it's not the one that came to the Bolts game. If the Bolts had been just a tiny bit more... well, I can't say talented, but organized? then we would have seen a different result. The Habs need to play with a tad bit more intensity (okay, fine, a lot more) for 60 minutes. Not 20. Not 40. Definitely not 50. 60! They also need to not freak out if the Sabres take a lead no matter how the goal goes in. And they need to not let the Sabres get a pile of odd man rushes or breakaways. And not getting kicked around by the Sabres would be nice. Thank you. Forechecking is always appreciated, as is hitting anyone in a Sabres jersey. Shooting at the net is a good idea as supposed to going very wide. Staying out of the penalty box is a must. And not having a sucky powerplay would be nice. And not obstructing your own goalie is an absolute must (Komisaurus I'm looking at you!). And of course, a win in any capacity would make this sick fan happy.

What else needs to happen tonight to make me happy

• Pens lose... then again, a Habs victory and a Rags loss in regulation could get the Habs out of 8th because they've played less games...Hmm....Fine. Habs victory and a Rags loss in regulation
  
• Can't decide between a Bruins loss and a Leafs loss.... maybe they could both lose?
• Hurricanes and Devils.... Couldn't care less. Both goalies must be stopped.
• It'd be cool if the Isles beat the Flyers after blanking the Wings...The Flyers had their chance to be the cool people by beating the Panthers and they blew it
• I'd love it if Kovalchuk and co beat the Sens because well.... I just do....
  
• And Dallas MUST beat the Panthers but I'm not really seeing that happen....
  

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

I've been dying to have a Crosby voodoo doll and so I finally decided to make one. Keep in mind that I don't know hot to use a sewing machine very well. I just got one and as sad at this may sound, this is actually the first thing that I've sewn with it. Yeah, one day when I'm totally amazing at this sewing thing I'll look back and go "Omg... I can't believe the first thing I ever made with this machine was a Crosby voodoo doll." Anyway..A few things you should know first

1. Doll patterns don't come with big butts. Just saying for those of you on Twitter who commented that the voodoo needed to have a big butt in order to be realistic.
2. Yes those pants are custom made (there seems to be a joke running around that the real Crosby needs to get his pants custom made...)
   
3. I've always wanted to say that I knocked the stuffing out of Crosby. Now I can say I've done it because I had to take his brains out so I could put his eyes in....
   
4. His head is so big I had to stick a pin it in to keep it from rolling off. The voodoo doll, I mean.
5. Speaking of his head... He has Pavel Datsyuk turnip head because I can't sew in a circle. He was supposed to ears too but my lack of sewing skills got in the way of that.
   
6. Yes, I know the real Crosby keeps his hair a lot.... neater.... My glue-gun stopped working half way through so he's left with messy hair.
   
7. No, the voodoo thing doesn't have a mouth. I couldn't make one big enough to be realistic....
   
8. I know I copped out and used pen to decorate the shirt. If it's any consolation, the pen died on me too....
9. Yes, that is MY Habs pillow that I forced someone to make for me. I did do the logo by hand which was when I swore that I'd buy a machine
10. I have an insane desire to make one of Scott Hartnell now....It's the hair I think.....Then again, someone mentioned something about Briere..... I dunno if I could sew something that small though *g* If I ever get good a this, I am SO making a little Ovie plushie.... I'll practice on the Flyers for now though =) (does making Flyers voodoo dolls count as being mean to them or do I have to wait until the playoffs start before I make them??)
    

Zap! Zap! Zappity!

That sound you hear is either Evgeny Artyukhin after he smashed into the boards on his own or Rick Tocchet after he blew up at his team. Anyway....Tonight the Bolts went ZAP and fell down dead. Habs took it 3-2 in OT which they really should have won 10-0 in regulation. But I digress because the end result was what I wanted.

• Battle of the Careys/Karris in 31 tonight. I didn't realize that Karri Ramo was also in 31....
  
• Habs dominated the Bolts throughout 50 minutes of play. They actually OUTSHOT their opponent tonight. I repeat: HABS OUTSHOT THEIR OPPONENTS TONIGHT! At the end of the first it was 11-2 or something similar.... for the Habs..... And it was only 1-0.... Yuh.....
  
• Which brings us to... RAMO (am I the only one who thinks "Rambo" when I see his name?) He was the only Bolt playing tonight. He saved the Bolts' butts tonight. Was not too pleased with that because my wonderful Habs couldn't score!
  
• Posts were 3-1 for the Habs tonight. Grrr....
  
• Shorty Marty and Skinny Vinny looked pretty invisible for a lot of the night and when they were visible they just couldn't connect on anything.....
  
• Shorty Marty was only semi-noticeable because he was this little short guy zipping tripping around on the ice....I never realized just how short he is... he makes Briere look like a giant... then again... I'm shorter than both of them so I guess I can't talk.....
• But really... Marty looked hilarious out there. And I think his face was made to attract pucks or something. He leans down for some stupid reason and gets blasted in the face with the puck. I don't think anyone taught him that you score with the stick normally, not your face....
  
• Kovy had a beautiful goal on the first or second or third of.... eight or so Habs powerplays.... The Habs then forgot how to score on the PP.... Uhuh.... that's why you got burned!
• speaking of burned.... I was burning up with what I'm sure is a mild fever even if the stupid thermometer says no while the game dragged on and on and on and on and on and on and on........ Bolts didn't know what offside was and they just loved our penalty boxes so much that they kept putting themselves in it. Really. I knew our building was awesome but I dind't know that we had penalty boxes to die for.....
  
• Just when I thought that the Habs would never score again (this was after we went into the third period without a single goal in the second), Latendresse scored on a beautiful wraparound. Good thing he didn't hear me screaming at him to shoot the puck.
  
• And then the Habs got burned when they let in two goals. First was after they basically obstructed their own goalie and the second was when the puck deflected off of Schneider. Wonderful.
  
• Koivu saved us in OT though when the Bolts obstructed their own goalie. Like we cared that they were obstructing Ramo.... In the words of Number31 "Hey if the Bolts can score with the Habs screwing Price, then the Habs can score while the Bolts screw over Ramo". Not how I'd put it but that's the truth!
  
• So at the end of the day, we got the result we needed and Tampa can't make the playoffs anyway so they can keep their point.
  

The good

• Wiiiiiiiin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• Outshooting the opposition
  
• Gui's goal. Beautiful
• Koivu's winner in OT
• Markov was really good too =)

the bad

• Those two Bolts goals
• I'm sick.....
  

The not so nice

• Hmm going 1 for 8 on the PP or whatever it was...
  
• going to OT
• the fact that the Habs only got two goals past Ramo

What we could be happy about....

• Artyukhin tried to take out Komisaurus who then moved out of his way and Arty smashed into the wall. SPLAT! Apparently he's all banged up now. Before you call me sadistic, you may want to remember that Artyukhin was the one who took out Tanguay when he smashed him into the boards.......Yeah, I ain't feeling so bad for the guy.....
• Also that the Bolts were truly horrendous tonight. They were like zombies on skates....
  

What I almost wish could have happened...

• Prospal scored and went insane with happiness. Yeah, I'm still dwelling on that little meltdown of joy when we played them in January.... It was so funny.... and so stupid at the same time.
  

The hilarious

• Just saw replays of the Pens/Flames game from the other night.... Like how stupid do you have to be to repeatedly miss the open net? That was hilarious.... I know... That had nothing to do with the game tonight but it was hilarious..... really....
  

Anyway.... Enemy watch:

• Hartnell's hair couldn't win it for the Flyers and despite what sounded like them outshooting the crap out of the Panthers, they lost 4-2. Normally I'd bash you all to the next continent but I said I wouldn't. But I'm letting you know that if I hadn't said I wouldn't then I would. Biron you su..... those rebounds sucked. I hate y.... the fact that you all lost. Thanks for nothing. And Carter, stop scoring please so Ovie can stay ahead of you by a long mile. I said PLEASE!
  
• The Thrashers recovered nicely from being thrashed by the Habs and after getting thrashed by the Rangers, they came back and thrashed them in shootouts. Interesting moment came when Avery collided with Kovalchuk who then threw him on the ice. Despite all their claims of loving Avery, not one Rag came to his defense. I guess nobody told them that Ilya isn't Ovie and they could have beaten him to a pulp in seconds. Maybe the perrywrinkle coloured jerseys that the Thrashers have scared them.... They scare me.
  
• Flames went down in... well, flames and have now not scored once in two games. In their defense they were playing the king of the shutout so yeah...... But letting in five goals ain't so cool for the Flames. Oh well. Who cares. It's the western division so.... nyah!
• I sure other people were playing but I don't remember who. Oh well...
  

AHAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We got a w-w-w-w-win.... What's that word again? Just kidding. The Habs stomped on the Thrashers tonight in a lovely manner if I do say so myself. Okay so I'll be honest and say that I was actually following three games tonight. Yeah, I had the Hammies on the radio and was furiously flipping between the Habs/Thrashers and the Caps/Leafs game. The stupidest moment came when I had changed the channel without realizing it and I saw Price on the ice and I was like "Who the heck is that? Oh.... really? Oh.... Oops....." Hmm.. insane AND stupid... hmm.... ANYWAY.....

Carey vs Kari

• didn't look too promising at the start. While the Habs got a really awesome goal from Tanguay (like Ovie awesome) the Thrashers responded pretty quickly afterwards. Still, it was only 1-1 going into the second.
• I prepared myself for another round of sloppy seconds but as it turned out, the only ones having a sloppy second was the Caps. I believe it was Metro who scored first but I was squealing over Ovie's goal so I kind of missed it.... I know... I know... I saw Kovalchuk (or some Thrasher dude) score and wasn't pleased. But then... what was this? The Habs exploded! It was like... 2-2... 3-2....4-2....5-2.....?!!!!!!!!!!!! It felt like three goals in a row all on the powerplay but I'm not sure if that's what it was. I was too busy running around like an idiot. I can't even tell you who scored. Felt like Kovalev and Koivu though. Maybe someone else scored? Maybe not. Tanguay maybeh? WHATEVER! When was the last time they even got a goal in the second period??????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Exactly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• Third period! I missed someone scoring (Koivu?) because I was screaming at Semin being a twerp and not scoring on a freaking open net so..... I did see the Thrashers third goal.... No wait.... I missed it... I was screaming at Leafs... But whatever!!!!! I came back and watched the Habs continue to play. They failed to score that elusive 7th goal but I won't cry too much.

Random notes

• It may be "just the Thrashers" but crappy teams exist so better teams can get points out of them. Also there was so much that I liked from the Habs. For the most part they kept up the pressure and they played like the freaking cared. They cared!
• Exhibit A in players who cared: Kovy got knocked down. I think it was supposed to be a knee on knee collision with his someone which actually looked awfully like a Thrasher hooking... Whatever. Kovy goes down, gets back up, gets the puck and angrily shoots it at Kari Whoselastnameican'tspellrightnow. He hit the post. But it was funny to see him mad. Now if he could just stop hitting the post.....
  
• Exhibit B: Kovy later takes the puck and rips it at Kari. You'd think he was trying to take his head off or something.
• Their best guys played well - note: Breezer does not count as our best guy.
• Fine... so the Kostitsyn brothers an Pleky looked a little quiet but they weren't totally useless tonight.
• Did we actually outshoot the Thrashers? Or at the very least, get more shots on goal tonight than we had all of last week? I dunno.... it felt like we may just have gotten more shots on goal tonight....
• Pricey wasn't a sieve and in fact made some nice saves!
• Fine.. so it could have been worse if the Thrashers knew how to shoot in a straight line. We're focusing on the GOOD stuff tonight, got it? not MY fault if the Thrashers never learned how to shoot the puck properly.
  
• Oh and Zach Bogosian likes our penalty box. He was in it a lot.
  
• Gorges got whacked and was limping around and yet he still stayed on the ice while the Habs tried to kill of a powerplay. Yay for you Gorges! I think....
• Is it just me or is Tom Kostopoulos totally incapable of hitting anything smaller than a dump truck with the puck? He is perpetually missing the net by a huge margin.....He's evidently quite capable of hitting people with his fist but you don't score goals that way......
• Big lesson learned today: Don't assume that it's going to be an icing call when you go for the puck. Breezer, I'm looking at you. It's bad. Why? Well, one you just stand there and get the puck taken off of you. And two, you could end up like Dandeneault and end up with a broken arm. Although in Breezer's case... maybe that's not a bad idea..... Hmm..... Never mind then....
• Oh and.... Komisarek... dude... TSN just reshowed you "sticking up for Price"... and great gesture and everything... but umm... if you're going to flatten a guy for stomping on your goalie, please don't hit him while your goalie is UNDERNEATH the guy. It hurts the goalie. Points for sticking up for the goalie though. You should have been doing that all year long.
• And we're pretending that it's not a coincidence that poor Kristin went back to Philly and the Habs are back to winning again. I keep telling her to watch the Pens so they can start losing but she won't listen to me *g*

Are we safe yet? Not by a long country mile. But if there's one thing that i've learned with this team it's you live in the moment. Tomorrow they may lose 20-2. But tonight they won 6-3 and they looked like a team who cared and wanted to win. So enjoy it Habs fans and tell the media to go stuff it.

HAMMIES vs Rampage...Sounded awfully like it was the Hammies on the rampage tonight....

• I missed most of their game actually because the dad insisted on making phone calls and wanted the sound off buuuuuuuuuut.........
• I did hear two of Ben Maxwell's THREE goals. YES! That's how you come back after a guy in the previous game whacks you upside the head with your own helmet.....
  
• I did hear Marc Denis making a lot of really good saves
• I did hear someone getting the Hammies 4th and 6th goal
• I missed Pacioretty scoring. And I missed them announcing his two assists. Yeah, he's really sulking about being sent back.... NOOOT! I'm sulking for missing his goal though....
  
• I missed San Antonio's one goal. Not complaining.
• Nice way to come back from a loss the other night for the Hammies!

HAHAHAHAHA!

Caps vs Major Losers... I mean... Maple Leafs

• Who's the sucky one tonight? Eh? Eh?! CAPS!
• Ovie had a beautiful goal and then promptly didn't score......
• Leafs had two sucky goals and thought that they had won in regulation when.....
• Caps pulled Theodore, brought in Laich and guess who scored? Laich. Gerber food was angry and smot.... smot.... did I just type "smot".....? hmm... what is the pest tense of "smite" then? "Smited"? "Smitten"? I like "smot". Well, anyway, he poked the ref in his anger and got tossed out of the game after trying to hit him with the puck. Oopsies.
• Sadly, Cujo came in a ran the Caps out of town.
• Like seriously... the Caps need to do a lot better in the shootout... You'd think with all their talent they'd have at least one guy who could score on the shootout.... yeah right. Backstrom got stopped, whoever was next missed the damn net, and Ovie.... he needs to stop this whole shootout thing.... he's not good at it.....You'd think Mr. 50-goal-scorer could be good at this. But nopers. He's not good. YES I'M ANGRY AT YOU OVIE! LOSING TO THE DAMN LEAFS?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BAH!
• Note: Apparently the Caps do score in the shootouts. Hmm.. I guess they save all of their bad stuff for me then.....

Me vs the Media

• Hey... SHUT THE HECK UP, OKAY? Great! Thanks! I don't give a damn if the Thrashers are supposed to be "an easy team". A win is a win at this time of year regardless of which teams are playing. Go stuff it.
  
• And really... RDS... don't stop showing Gainey's press thingy right when he was about to talk about Pricey.... that's just...... a pain.....and you guys blabbing on and on and on about nothing important afterwords is even more of a pain.
  
• James Duthie... Did I ever tell you how much you annoy me? Well, you are, so stuff it, please.
• TSN.... please stop being biased in the Leafs favor. It's a pain.
• Announcer dude on TSN. You're funny. I can't take you seriously for some reason. I dunno why. You're funny though. Even if you can't say people's names right....
• Dude on the NHL who was announcing when I saw the highlights of the Habs game... You don't like us, do you? My guys get the BEST goals ever and you're like "Kovalev with the puck..... he shoots........score.... *snores*". Seriously man........ AND THEN! Kovalchuk gets the puck, dumps Komisaurus, goes in on Pricey and Pricey stops him and you go? "LOOK AT THAT SHOT BY ILYA KOVALCHUK! THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN A GOAL!"...Someone should really stuff a sock down your throat.... Oh! How about the sock puppet called Grabs? =)
  
• EVERYONE: Let's say it together now. On three. One. Two. Three. "Alexander AH-vechkin. AHvechkin." OHvechkin doesn't exist. He doesn't exist. So please stop saying that.Please. Please. Please.
  

Quote of the day: Announcer guy from TSN after Rollie the Goalie saved the puck with his face: "Roloson shakes off the cobwebs after taking a hit to his pumpkin". Well... his mask does have orange bits on it... =p

Hahahahhaa... am I hyped or what? I need to go relax now... Wings vs Oilers are on now.. .That should be a bit of a snoozer....

On a more serious note...Is Gillet really selling the Habs?

....Although I do wish that you would go check out my conspiracy theory. It took me a while to write it, even if it's over the top. Anyway... on a more serious note...

At what point did Gillet actually say that he was going to sell the Habs? From what I've gathered, he merely asked that his assets get looked over. Sure, he's probably looking to sell off some of the stuff - and when you're a multi gazillionaire there's a lot of stuff - but at what point did he say that it was going to be the Montreal Canadiens and not the big mess that is the Liverpool football team in England? Personally, if I was Gillet, I'd try to get out of co-owning Liverpool as soon as possible. But that's just me (and yes, I do love Liverpool).

I'm not saying that he isn't going to sell the Canadiens in full or in part. But after I just made a spiel about how financially stable this franchise appears to be, I would be very surprised if Gillet completely sells off his share of the team and the Bell Center. Especially now when he's most likely going to have to sell it for a lot less than it's projected worth in October (because the economy tanked. Not the team). Unless there's something else going on that we don't know about behind the scenes.

Either way, I think it's a little premature for the media to start screaming that the team is about to be sold. The last thing we really need to have going around is rumors that the team is for sale. But that's the media for you, people.....For now, I'm just going to sit back, plot my way into bribing Bettman into giving me the team, and wonder if it's possible to brainwash Kovalchuk into playing for the Habs tonight...

Conspiracy theory of the hour!

Do you want to know who is to blame for all of this? Do you really? Are you ready for it?

It's the Ottawa Senators.

Yup. I know we've heard "reports" that Koivu and/or Kovalev were the problem and recently Carbonneau has been blamed for the Habs crap season. But guess what? All lies. The Senators are really the ones who are behind this. It's simple. Listen.

They tanked on purpose so we would think that they were bad and not give them a second thought. Then while we weren't paying attention to them they started working on their ebil - yes EBIL with a B - plans. First, they made friends with the French media because if you're going to spread rumors and whatnot, you need a very eager and over-the-top media outlet. With the aid of their new-found friends, they spread around rumors that Koivu liked to steal everyone's socks after the games and that he'd make them into sock puppets, name them Spezza, Grabs and Mikko, before feeding them to his dog. This naturally upset the players because nobody wants to have their socks turned into a puppet and named "Grabs". Hence the animosity in the dressing room towards Koivu.

In terms of Price's huge meltdown, that's no secret either. They freaked him out completely by telling him that he could end up just like Justin Pogge. One day they cornered him and showed him footage of Justin Pogge. The tape started with Pogge winning various tournaments being surrounded by happy people. There was Pogge at the WJC surrounded by gazillions of adoring fans. Then the images faded away and there was Pogge standing in a dark arena. There was nobody there save for him a few other weirdly dressed people. This was the Ricoh Coliseum where the Toronto Marlies played. Yes, even a gold medal at the WJC didn't save Pogge from the fate of having to play for the Baby Leafs. Day after day Pogge would forlornly skate to his position in front of the net and in the dim light, he would valiantly stand there and attempt to stop the puck. The point of this, they told Price, was that he could end up just like Pogge. When Price pointed out that he was already enjoying considerably more success than Pogge was, they told him that Carey sounded like a girls' name and everyone was making stupid jokes about his last name. Plagued by self doubt about his name and the nagging feeling that maybe he could end up like Pogge, Price has never been the same since...

As for Kovalev, they spiked his drink with a special disease called "tuneout" which is basically where you randomly tune out at the most inconvenient times. Not much is known about this disease but current research has shown that it is indeed very contagious. That explains why everyone that plays on the same line as Kovalev has gone MIA during the games. That's why Pleky has gone out of it. That's why Andrei Kostitsyn looks dead as a door nail on skates.

In Sergei's case however, the Sens didn't have to do anything to take him out. They just sought out the dudes in Toronto and suggested that signing Grabovski would be better than getting Ovechkin (not that he was available, but the Leafs didn't really know that). Once Grabs was playing for the most hated team in the history of hated teams, it was only a matter of time before someone tried to knock him out. The only little snag in that problem came when Grabs got into a fight with his own teammates instead of the opposition. Well, I would have tried to knock out Jason Blake too.

You know how things seemed to be doing quite well until Lang went byebye? Well, that's not a coincidence either. Lang's very perky manner which so annoyed me at the beginning of the year, actually had a great affect on the team. Mr. Perky may not have been the second coming of Maurice Richard or anything, but he kept everyone upbeat even if they weren't doing amazingly well. Obviously the Ebil Sens couldn't have that to so they brainwashed the Bruins to take Lang out. Boom. As a bonus they also took out Latendresse for a few weeks. What you all didn't know was that Latendresse was heir to the Freezer Which Contained Great Frozen Food. When he got knocked out for a few weeks, he took the Freezer with him and as such the Habs didn't have all their great frozen food to enjoy. We suspect that there were also more than a few beers locked up in that freezer as well.

At this point the Sens decided they needed better plan to get rid of the Kostitsyn brothers (you see, they hated them because they could never say their names right and as such they felt like dolts) so they hatched one in which they had them connected to some guy who had some connections to some mob people. Then they fed their story to the French press who then went bananas. Presto.

At this time, they felt it safe to go back to being good again, so they dumped Hartsburg, and brought up some dude called Cory Clouston. They further threatened all their players with a trade to Toronto unless they got their act together immediately. Problem solved for the Sens. Sorta. It's called a "quick fix". Somehow the Sens always do better when they get threatened with move to Toronto. And somehow they always forget about the threats and so the peeps higher up have to start again...

So you must be wondering where Carbonneau fits into this, right? Well around this time, when it became abundantly clear that the media had screwed up and hadn't done their job properly with regards to the Kostitsyn case, they decided that it was time for some more drastic measures. One day, while the Habs were in Dallas and everyone's attention was focused in Texas, they kidnapped Bob Gainey and replaced him with John Ferguson Jr. He only looks like Bob because they changed him aruond a little bit... Anyway, with JFJ now in charge it was only a matter of time before the Habs completely plummeted. Carbonneau was fired, and JFJ took over behind the bench. And that's that.

Wow. That went on longer than I thought it would........

If Gillet sells the Habs, here's how I'm going to buy them

1. First, I'll make some company thing that will bring in millions of dollars. I'm thinking better golf courses around Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto. We don't have too many really expensive ones that would attract all those rich and bored hockey players. Anyway, once the post-season hits, I'll instantly be a multi-millionaire.
   
2. With said money, I'll then go to Bettman tell him that I have no intention of buying Nashville with the not-so-secret desire of moving it to Ontario (like Ontario really needs another bad hockey team?). That will instantly gain me a lot of brownie points. I'll then go on about how great an idea it was to bring in the shootouts, and how wonderful it is to bring hockey to places like Texas and Arizona even though they don't get any snow. I'll then conclude that making Sidney Crosby the face of the NHL after locking everyone out for a year, was a fantastic idea.
   
3. After convincing Bettman and Co that I truly am the only one who can take over this team, I'll then take over the team. Tada. Easy.
   
4. And once I'm the supreme owner of the Canadiens, I will move on and plot my way into being the supreme ruler of the NHL. Bwahahahahahahaha..........
   

Hmm yeah... It's that pre-caffeine hour again......Habs Twit has a few ideas on what to do once we get a hold of the team. Obviously someone had their caffeine before they wrote their morning blog post.

Are we turning into the Leafs?

Ah the Toronto Maple Leafs. The only other team that has been around almost as long the Montreal Canadiens. Love hate 'em or really hate 'em, we can't seem to live without them. They've played a big role in the Canadiens' history and for a long time they've a big part of making our mental well being ("yeah, so we're not doing well but at least we're not the Leafs!"). So obviously it's a major insult to suggest that we're even remotely anything like them, but after suffering through this season - never mind just last night's epic fail against the very same Leafs - I have to say I'm dead serious when I ask that question. And in this case I'm not even talking about the players or the coaches or even the general managers. I'm talk about us, the fans, who watch the Montreal Canadiens.

Last year, Macleans magazine ran an article about why the Leafs stink. It was interesting in that it shed light on how utterly messed up the management is in Toronto. It cited the problems of a huge corporation owning the team and how there's no incentive to make the team good. But while the article tried to pin it solely on the management and all the infighting that has gone on over there, it did concede at the end (in a roundabout fashion) that maybe it's the fans' fault. It's well known that the Leafs' fans fill the Air Canada Center every night regardless of how their team does. Forty-years of crap playing by the Leafs hasn't driven away their fans. They may be bitter beyond belief, but they still follow their team. They still go every night, sit in their seats, watch their team lose, leave with a minute or so to go and repeat the same thing at the next game.

I've said before that I believe that this city's love for its hockey has hurt the team. We're obsessed over our team. When I first said that, I meant that it was bad for the players that we scrutinize everything they've done, are doing and will do here. Now, I think it's bad for the team in a whole different way - and it's much worse than talking about Carey Price's mental state for ten hours at a time. By filling the Bell Center every night, we're hurting our team. Why? Well, look at the Leafs. Regardless of performance, the Leafs' fans still fill that building. There's no incentive to change the team. The more I look at it, the more I think that it's looking a lot like the same situation here in Montreal. While it's been a long-standing joke in this city that the Leafs suck, I think it's time we looked at ourselves and how our actions could be turning our team into the Montreal version of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

As their website reminds us, the Montreal Canadiens have been continually sold out since 2006. After the dark '90s it would seem as though the team is finally getting back on track, no? Well, let's see, the Habs missed the playoffs in 2007 when it came down to one game at the end of the season and they lost it (to the Leafs too!). After a slow start in 2008 they finished the season on top of the conference before flopping majorly in the playoffs. And this year? After a fairly good first half of the season, they are now fighting for that eighth spot in the playoffs.

I don't think I need to mention just how many godawful games have been played this season, but what I'm trying to get my head around is why the Bell Center is still full every night? Okay, so, most people probably bought those tickets earlier this year when they had no clue that their team would be going down faster than the Titanic, but what about last year? or the year before? or the year before that? If we can actually trust ESPN for a second, then we can see that Canadiens have been in the top two in attendance since at least 2001. This is quite amazing when you think that the Canadiens have missed the playoffs three times since 2001 and their best result since 1993 has been extending the Carolina Hurricanes to six games back in 2002. Attendance is usually linked to the success of the team but that's not the case in Toronto and it's not the case in Montreal either.

While we could all point out how bad the management has been over the last fifteen or so years, the problem, I think, does go deeper than that. Yes, management has made some very bad decisions with regards to their players and their coaching staff. But those higher up - above the general managers - haven't really been made to pay for their bad choices. And by this I mean that when the Canadiens lead the entire league in attendance and sellout for three years in a row, they're still making money regardless of how many bad general managers have been hired and fired. And when you're making a lot of money off of the franchise, is there really an incentive to make it better? Why change something when it's working already? Sure the fans and the media scream about and the players moan about how tough it is to play here, but do those higher up really care?

Consciously or not, they're safe in the knowledge that they won't be losing revenue any time soon. They're safe in the knowledge that they won't have to worry about being relocated like Phoenix or Nashville. They don't have to worry about attendance problems like Atlanta From their point of view, they have the perfect franchise right now. They have a huge fan base that is willing to pay up a lot of money to go see the games (over the last eight years the Canadiens have gone from 27th to 2nd in ticket prices. We're second only to... guess who! The Maple Leafs!). They have fans who buy the overpriced merchandise that they sell. Win or lose, they have fans who will still come back the next game. If Bob Gainey is fired after this year, will it really matter if they bring in Joe the Plumber to take his job? I doubt it. We may complain or agree with the choice but either way we'd still fill the Bell Center.

And that puts us in the same sinking ship boat as the Toronto Maple Leafs.

So what to do we about it? Short of pretending that this team doesn't exist anymore - which is an impossible task - I don't know. I wouldn't say that these guys are exploiting the fact that this city is crazed about its hockey. At the end of the day they're just doing their jobs - and they're making money off of it. The Leafs may have forty plus years of futility to their name, but the Montreal Canadiens now have fifteen years and counting of epic fails to their name as well. If we dont' want to sit here having this same discussion in forty-years about how bad our team is, we need to figure out a way to change this. And the sooner the better.

And down they go.....

Oh how the mighty have fallen....

The Habs continued to plummet faster than a mono-plagued tennis player in the ATP standings. Oh yes. Down, down, down we go. Oh wait. We didn't go down. Why? Because Steve Mason saved us by beating the Panthers. The Habs do not deserve to have a playoff spot right now. Not when they made Grabovski and Ponikarovsky look like Ovechkin and Malkin. Not when they made Gerber look like freaking Steve Mason or Martin Brodeur in nets. Not when they made Ron Wilson look like Mike Babcock. Not when they made the Leafs PK look like the Red Wings when they were hot. Not when they made the Leafs' PP look like Boston's earlier this year. Hell, they made the Leafs look like Boston, San Jose and Detroit combined playing against some team from Austria tonight. I don't give a hoot about how the Leafs generally play well when their season is shot anyway. Besides the fact that the Leafs still suck, there's no excuse for tonight's play.

There is NO excuse for what happened tonight. NONE.

You don't deserve to be in the playoffs when Halak decides to imitate Vesa Toskala during the first period (I'm sorry, Jaro). You don't deserve to be in the playoffs when you're defense has more holes than sieve (damn, I'm getting really sick of using that phrase). And you certainly don't deserve to be in the playoffs when only one guy does all the scoring (which was all of two very nice goals if you want to know) and that guy, no offense to Lapierre or anything, isn't supposed to be the best forward on the team. Where the hell were Kovalev, Koivu, Plekanec and Kostitsyn tonight?! You honestly didn't expect Laraque do any scoring, did you? Could have totally fooled me.

It was awful tonight, boys, and yes, it hurts a lot more when you lose like that to the Leafs. Words fail to describe how you played tonight. You look like you wanted to get off the ice as soon as Grabovski scored the first goal of the night. You weren't into it. You didn't fight for it. You don't seem to care. And you look like a team that wants to go golfing sooner rather than later. Right now, I hope you get your wish because I don't want to see four of these types of games against Boston or New Jersey in the playoffs. And I certainly don't want to see people paying a lot of money to go watch you suck beyond belief. That's just wrong. You're not the bloody Leafs. You're better than that. Don't go crawl into the playoffs if you're just going to get swept in four embarrassing games. I'd prefer you missed the playoffs altogether than show up and bring zero to the rink. Tonight you were booed consistently with six whole minutes left in the game. You know what? It pains me to say this, but you deserved it. It's kind of pathetic that the only ones with energy emotion in the Bell Center tonight were the people sitting in their overpriced seats in the stands.

I'm going to shut up now because I could go and on and on right now but I really need to sleep.

Gah. Despite this rant, I'm not angry. And that's bad because it means I'm getting the same attitude towards this team that the Leafs' fans have towards their sucky team: It's called indifference. Thanks guys. I love this team but there is no way in hell that I'm going to say anything nice about you until you give me a reason to.

In other news, the after losing a bit of a heart-breaker last night, the Bulldogs came back and won 3-2 in shootouts against...... some team... the Wolfs? Are they in Chicago? Or something? Does it matter? No. Okay. Anyway.... Apparently it was a great game (hmm, haven't seen one of those in a while) and I'm happy for Denis who did a lot of work to keep get the Bulldogs at least one point last night. Yay for the Bulldogs!

Oh and Federer just had to go and lose too. He was taking on Murray for a spot in the finals. Well... As we're learning, Federer just can't beat Murray any more than he can beat Nadal. His confidence seemed absolutely shot at random intervals. But at the end of the day, this loss was mainly on Federer's shoulders. Despite losing the first set, he won the second. He was given a great chance to take the third period when Murray appeared to hurt himself when he tripped. And what does he do? He muffs it completely, drops serve, and promptly lost the third set in a very embarrassing 6-1 fashion. Dare I ask if this is the beginning of the end of the Fed?

Wanted: One coach with experience, please

(This also appeared on All_Habs. Thanks to All_Habs for suggesting that I write this up and for putting it up on his wonderful blog).

One of the things that have come up the most about Guy Carbonneau during his tenure as head coach was his inexperience. Before he took over for the 2006-2007 season as the next head coach he had had only two and a half years of previous coaching experience.Two of those years came as assistant coach to Michel Therrien and the other half came when he was named assistant coach to Bob Gainey a few years later.

No matter what you think of Carbonneau’s legacy as a coach, the fact still remains that he had very limited experience before he was hired.Perhaps fortunately for Carbonneau, and unfortunately for the team, his situation is not new to the Canadiens. Since Jacques Demers was fired in 1995, every head coach of the Montreal Canadiens - with the exception of Bob Gainey - has been a rookie when they were appointed to the job. Mario Tremblay, Alain Vigneault, Michel Therrien, Claude Julien and Guy Carbonneau all had zero experience as a head coach in the NHL when they were hired.

As you probably know, these now former coaches also all have a French name and speak French as their first language. Now, this isn’t a jab at French-speaking coaches.While some people have stated that the Canadiens cannot win with a French coach and that they need to have an English one to win, they are wrong to say that. Demers, Jean Perron, Claude Ruel were all French Canadian and they all won the Stanley Cup as head coaches of the Canadiens. No, they didn’t win multiple Stanley Cups, but I don’t think it makes much sense to say that Dick Irvin, Toe Blake and Scotty Bowman won multiple Stanley Cups because they were English. There are many factors that go into winning a Stanley Cup, but I don’t think linguistics is one of those major factors. Irvin, Blake and Bowman won multiple Stanley Cups because they were good coaches. Not because they spoke English as their first language.

Language doesn't determine whether a coach is good or not. But the problem is that in this city, it does determine whether a coach will be hired in the first place or not. For various reasons, the general managers of the Canadiens have decided that a coach's linguistic abilities are more important than their ability to coach. And even there, we could make the argument that they’re not even picking the language in the dressing room.They’re picking someone who can communicate the best, not with his players, but with the media. And this, I believe, is one of the biggest reasons why the Canadiens have gone without the Stanley Cup since 1993.

You hear time and time again that Montreal is the toughest city to play or coach in. People often say that it's the city's fault and point out that the coaches enjoy success elsewhere. If it is so tough, wouldn't it be beneficial to hire a coach who has a decent amount of experience coaching? Wouldn’t it be beneficial to bring in someone who wouldn’t have to learn on the job in front of a very scrutinizing media and rabid fans?

At this point it’s tempting to point out the recent success of teams like the Ottawa Senators, Pittsburgh Penguins and San Jose Sharks as examples of teams that have found success with rookie coaches. But there are a couple of points missing from this. First, we don’t know how long these coaches will last with their current times. We don’t know what the end of the season or the next season will hold for them. Also, it’s a little presumptuous to think that a month or two of good playing will translate into playoff or Cup winning success. The second point is that unlike Carbonneau, Cory Clouston, Dan Byslma and Todd McLellan all have years of previous coaching know-how to their names. McLellan has roughly twelve years of experience behind him, while Clouston has just under eight years behind the bench and Bylsma has the least amount at five years. And the third point – and I think this is important – is that there’s a big difference between bringing in a new coach to a team that’s already been threatening to break out as a serious contender for the Stanley Cup (like San Jose) and bringing in a new and inexperienced coach to solve a fifteen year-old drought that has seen major failure after major failure in a city that is absolutely insane over its hockey. Maybe I’m wrong, but I think it seems more than a little unfair to everyone involved to hire someone who is ill-equipped to do the job but is expected to do fix the problem anyway.

The French language is important to this city, yes. I’m aware keenly aware of that. It’s a vital part of this city’s culture. It’s important to respect that but on the other hand, if the Canadiens want to remain competitive in a league that now houses thirty teams, they have to have the freedom to bring in the people who they feel will do the best job. If that person is from Quebec and is bilingual, then that’s perfect. If that person is from Ontario and speaks minimal French at the very best then fine, hire him anyway if he’s qualified. Even if that person is from Australia and only speaks Swahili but can get the job done and win the games that need to be won, then why not? Being a good coach and a good communicator go beyond what language everyone in the dressing room speaks. I don’t think Mike Babcock can speak Swedish or Russian but somehow he’s managed to coach the Red Wings to a Stanley Cup.

If this team and the fans want to see Stanley Cup number twenty-five it’s absolutely vital that the management looks at a person’s credentials and their experience rather than just at their linguistic abilities. Because at the end of the day, hockey is won by how many times your team puts the puck into the back of the opposing team’s net, not by the amount of press conferences the head coach can deliver in any language.

You didn't think I'd leave the Ovie thing alone, did you?

Remind me what decade we're living in here because judging by a lot of comments directed towards Ovechkin and his celebrating his 50th goal, you'd think we're stuck in the '20s or '30s.

I saw Ovie's celebration. I went deliberately looking for it when I heard that he had scored. I admit I was a little surprised by his reaction. I was expecting something a little more spontaneous, but I was in no way angry with his celebration. I thought it was funny and I'm pretty sure that Ovechkin wouldn't have done it if he had not thought that at least some people would find it amusing. I don't necessarily think that he was doing it to rub it in people's faces. There's many other ways that he could have celebrated if he had wanted to be a showoff or if he had wanted to rub it in people's faces. Even if he was being a bit of a brat as some people have said, so what? I think he's allowed to have a moment or two of lapses in judgment. And it's not like he said "Crosby can't score 50 goals. HAHAHA". That would be way out of line and even I wouldn't appreciate it if he had done that. But he didn't. He didn't go skating around in circles screaming at the top of his lungs. He didn't go signing his stick on the spot and throwing into the crowd. He didn't point to the goalie and the three of four Bolts players who were on the ice at the time and say "you can't stop me. Hahaha". He simply did a little celebration after he scored. And in the grand scheme of celebrations, it's pretty minor.

All that being said... The one thing that did sort of... disappoint me about Ovie's celebration was that it was pre-planned. I like the spontaneousness (is that a word?) of Ovie's reactions when he scores or when a teammate scores. That this was pre-planned to me sort of takes away from the celebration a little bit for me. I much prefer him when he's being natural - to me, that's what he's all about and that's what makes him so darn cool to watch and this only adds fuel to the wildly out of control Ovie bashing that's been going around. But I didn't feel that he was out of line to do that celebration and I've got the feeling that he doesn't really care what people think or say about him anwyay. After scoring fifty goals, he has every right to celebrate. So I'll just sit back, laugh at the theatrics - pre-meditated or not - and laugh more at all the people who are bugged by this.

Imagine what he'd do if he ever won the Stanley Cup... Wow......

Refs help make it 5-4 for Sens

Someone should tell the Refs what a penalty is. And someone should tell the Habs how to win a faceoff. Two phantom penalties and one absolutely crap goal gave the Sens a 3-1 lead after the first period and they never looked back. The Habs made an effort in the second and third period to make it 4-2, 4-3, and 5-4 but they never caught the Sens. They put up a fight in the third period but as we keep learning this year, one good period doesn't make for a win. It really was in so many ways a game of "ifs"...

• If the Refs hadn't been blind and stupid then the Sens wouldn't have gotten two powerplays in which they scored on
• If the Habs had learned how to win a faceoff then maybe they wouldn't have gotten scored on twice in a row anyway
• If the Habs hadn't let the Sens run over them they maybe they would have scored more or at least reduced the amount of quality scoring chances by the Sens
  
• if the Refs hadn't given the Sens a goal that looked not only offside but highsticked in as well, then they would only have lead 2-1 after the first period
  
• If the defense hadnt tried to imitate a sieve than maye they wouldn't have let those goals in
  
• If Price hadn't let in a stinker to make it 4-2 then maybe he wouldn't have been pulled and people wouldn't be screaming at him
  
• If Halak had stopped that goal then maybe the Habs would have been able to stay in the game
  
• If Halak AND Price hadn't stopped several breakaways then the score would be 10-5 for the Sens
  
• If the Habs had actually shot the puck more than maybe they would have tied the game
  
• If they had kept the puck in the Sens net during their PP then maybe they would have scored
• If Kovy, Pleky and AK46 had actually played the way that they are capable of then maybe we would have seen more goals for the Habs
• If the Habs hadn't passed nobody half the time then maybe they could have created more chances
• If the Habs' hadn't broken their sticks or hadn't gone flying around on the ice like penguins at the most inconvinient times then maybe things would have gone otherwise
  
• If the Habs hadn't lost so many games already then maybe I would actually care and be angry that they lost tonight

The who, what, where, why, when bit...

• Who is this Latendresse guy out there? Wow. He was on fire tonight! I don't remember seeing him like this too many times before he was injured.
  
• What the hell were the refs thinking by allowing that 3rd Sens goal count? The guy was about to make a call and then he had to go back and chat some more with the guy?
  
• Where were Kovy, Pleky and AK46? They were MIA tonight. Frankly, most guys seemed MIA.
  
• Why can't people stop bashing the goalies for a loss?
  
• When are the Habs going to win a game?

And....

YAY FOR OVIE GETTING HIS FIFIETH GOAL OF THE YEAR! (and if Don Cherry is going to make a comment about Ovie's celebration then I will scream. If I had scored 50 goals in a season then I would be celebrating a heck of a lot more than Ovie did tonight. No whining!).

Today in "things that annoy EP"... Crosby vs. Ovie

More Crosby vs Ovechkin stuff. I'm getting tired of this, which is why I've gotten around to writing this after three failed attempts.

You'd think that I'd like this stuff. I'm a Habs fan who was a Penguins fan who turned into a Capitals fan. At no point was I ever a big Crosby fan, although I did turn into a huge Ovechkin fan. But honestly, all this stuff is annoying. And it's quite pointless.

I understand why Crosby has turned into public enemy no. 1 for just about everyone who doesn't live in Pittsburgh. He has been hyped and hyped and shoved down our throats since before day one of his NHL career. That type of hype easily drives people batty and there will invariably be a backlash. Maybe because of all the hype and the handling he's gone through, Crosby comes off as having about as much emotion as a cardboard box. He's been told what to do and how to do it for a very long time and it seems as though nothing he says or does is very original. I'm not saying that he's like in that in reality, but he comes off that way. Talented as he may be (and all you Crosby haters, let's face it, he is indeed talented), he's not very fun to watch on most days.

Sadly for Crosby, there so just happens to be a very talented and very flashy Russian who came along at the same time as him. Think of it as a Federer and Nadal thing if you want to compare it to tennis. On the one hand we've got the very talented but boring superstars and on the other, we have the very talented but definitelty not boring superstars. It's a bit of a no brainer as to who everyone will gravitate to. Ovechkin is everything that Crosby isn't in terms of personality. He's this huge ball of emotion that just bursts out. He comes off way more genuine and way less manufactured. When he celebrates his goals or the goals of his teamates, you can't help but get excited for them. You're drawn in. When Ovechkin was told that some people were comparing him to Maurice Richard he said that he just wants to be himself. He's not trying to be anyone else.

So we have two guys who are both incredibly talented. Why on earth do I have to wake up every morning to "Crosby vs Ovie round 1234567865"? Oh wait. I know. It's the big bad hype machine again. The hype machine doesn't allow for two talented guys to inhabit the same league without there being some friction between them. When the Ovechkin/Malkin "feud" went poof, the media had to go and hype up something else to death. Oh hey, why not Crosby and Ovechkin? Now, we can't exactly go blaming the media only. The media is only doing it's job: the sell a story, however stupid, wrong, or unfounded it may be. People enjoy wild and stupid stories.

Ignoring the media hype for a second, I do believe there are a few reasons why the average fan has trouble accepting both of them at the same time. First is that they have vastly different personalities. Because they're so different and they're teams play in such a different way, it's hard to like both of them. Second, is nationality. For Canadians, anyway, I think there's people who feel threatened by Ovechkin and the fact that he's from Europe. It goes to that whole anti-Euro sentiments that I keep complaining about. I'm not sure that we'd be seeing the same type of hype if they were both from the same country. It's possible (they did manage to hype up Ovechkin vs Malkin) but I'm not sure it'd be the same. I think Penguins fans just feel threatened period. Crosby has been hyped up to be the savior of the NHL and of the Pittsburgh Penguins and to suddenly have people accusing him of being boring and whiny while this other guy goes around earning all this praise for being entertaining, isn't too nice.

But really, despite of all that, I still don't get why it has to be one or the other. If you don't like one of them, fine, but why go into a long tirade about the other one? Good natured bashing is fine. But a lot of what I see, isn't good natured in the least. It's often quite (unintentionally) silly and the premises for bashing the other one is often stupid. "Crosby's whiny so therefore he sucks". "Ovechkin shows off so he sucks". That's really not much of an argument and it's not really true. Both are very talented players and both don't really deserve half the bashing that they've gotten. If the hype machines would just go dive off a cliff, I think I could take a lot of it better, but it's very annoying to wake up every morning and see "Crosby thinks Ovie's a showboat" or "Ovie tries to kill Crosby on the ice!" or "Crosby vs Ovie: the feud continues"...Like it or lump it, they're both talented players and they're not going anywhere.

Rags down Habs in shootouts

I wasn't going to watch this game. I came to the conclusion after the Habs lost to the Devils that they were literally affecting my mood for the worse. After two days of Habs free games, I was happy and perfectly ready not to watch the game. But I caved in and watched it anyway. Oddly enough, I'm not depressed. Yet.

• the game was pretty even in the stats department until the third period
• watching the game however, was again, brutal at times. The Habs looked slow and were constantly outskated by the Rangers at times
• At other times, the game was great to watch. The guys were getting chances, if not high quality chances, they were still getting chances. They were battling. They just couldn't seem to keep that up for more than a every other shift or something.
  
• Defense was downright horrid at times....
• I think Gainey forgot how to tell the guys that passing the puck to the other team is a bad thing
  
• Avery is a twit
  
• The crowd was into that game for sure. It sounded awesome. I'm jealous.
  
• The Rags aren't first on the PK for no reason....
• Habs continually battled from three one goal deficits. Lundqvist helped on the third one by Markov by being asleep. Thank you Henrik.
  
• Kovalev had a beautiful goal to make it 1-1 . It was like... Ovie cool =) And in the absence of Ovie scoring tonight, that goal will have to do as the coolest of the night.
• Lapierre's goal was beautiful too.
  
• Rags goals were icky and I hate Antropov even more =)
  
• The refs liked to make up calls tonight. At leas they were even about it.
  
• Did I ever mention that shootouts were stupid?
• To all you Price-haters: He was the reason why the Habs walked away with 1 point. It could have easily been 5-3 for the Rags. Price had some awesome saves that saved the Habs. If you want to blame someone, blame the defense. They were awful. Brisebois, Schneider and Gorges were pretty awful (Breezer did have a couple of nice plays but they don't really negate the rest of the bad plays).
• about the shootout... In case no one watched it, Kostitsyn missed the net, Kovy and Markov scored as did all of the Rags. So. Really, Lundqvist didn't save a damn thing in the shootouts. If it had been th eother way around nobody would be whining about it. So stuff the Price bashing.
• Yeah, now I'm mad all the people who think that Price was crap.

Forgot about the other stinkers in the league... Righto.

• Blackhawks suck and couldn't beat the Devils. Thanks for nothing.
  
• Sens sucked until they woke up and beat the Sabres 4-2
  
• Atlanta has gone back to being stupid and got decimated by the Pens. And that was after scoring 30 seconds into the game! Stupid Thrashers.
  
• Tampa Bay got seriously embarrassed and couldn't hold a 3-0 lead on the Leafs and lost in shootouts. Like seriously..........
  
• Panthers got blanked by Theodore. Yes, Theodore. And he only faced something like 20 shots all night (Price faced nearly that much in the third period alone). Ovie is forgetting how to score again and is making me very sad..........C'mon......!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• Flyers su.... Ahem, Flyers failed to hold a 2-0 lead and lost 3-2 to the Red Wings. They continue to be cursed at the Joe.
  
• Sharks suck and lost 4-3 to the... Coyotes? Coyotes did score 30 seconds into the game too....
  
• Wild and Oilers won in shootouts and Vancouver ran over Dallas. Whatever......
  

Stop the hype-machine!!

It's not even lunch time and I'm already subjected to the next round of hype. Whoopie. It's been Crosby is the next Great One for years now. Last year it was Carey Price was the next Patrick Roy. Only yesterday Ovechkin got compared to Maurice Richard (which had me in a really bad mood for several reasons). Today's victim is the Columbus Blue Jacket's goalie Steve Mason.

Now look, we all know how talented the guy is and all that jazz, but what's hilarious about this article here is that it basically opens up saying that Price got anointed as the next great one too early and what do they do next? They continue on about how Steve Mason could be the next Brodeur. Talk about mild hypocrisy! Look, like I said, Mason is talented. You don't get what is it, 9 shutouts on a team like the Columbus Blue Jackets without having talent. We know, we know. But honestly. You don't got anointing 20 year-olds (or eighteen year-olds or twenty-three year-olds) as the next big deal BEFORE they do something great. In all likelihood the Jackets will make the playoffs and get booted out in round one or two (most likely in round one). Of course everyone will be making a big deal of it because Columbus has never ever made the playoffs in their short little franchise history. That's all fine and everything but how is that going to make Mason the next Brodeur? One good season doesn't mean that he's going to go breaking all the records. As I'm sure everyone knows by now, I have a thing with Brodeur anyway and I shall maintain until the end of Brodeur's career that a huge part of his success has come from the team in front of him. But that's another story.

Do I think Mason can do great things with this team? Yes. I think the Blue Jackets are going to good team in the future but you don't hear me saying "Mason is the next Roy or Brodeur and Nikita Filatov is going to be better than Ovechkin, Malkin and Crosby combined and the Blue Jackets are going to be the next Red Wings". Really. I'm not being bitter. I'm just saying "Stop the hype!" already. If/when the guys do something great then we'll talk about it until the cows come home but it's stupid and unfair to come up with all this crap before they've done anything to really deserve it. We've seen what it's done to Price. It's not pretty. And it's really unfair. Just stop it.

Bleh

I'm sure the Devils fans are cheering beyond belief right now. Good for them. Really. I mean that. It's nice to hear about people cheering in happiness when their team wins. Wish I remembered what that was like. Anyway... As much as the game was painful from a Habs perspective, I was more worried about dying of boredom again than anything else. I mean, damn those Devils are boring as hell to watch (no pun intended in the least!). If Bettman wants games where people score more then he should ban the Devils from the league. Bleh. Get this, the Leafs single-handedly generated double the amount of goals scored by the Devils and Habs combined tonight.

It took a whole period for the Habs to calm down and stop getting totally beat up but by that point I think they had already reached the point of no return as it was 2-1 for the Devils on two awful goals (sorry Jaro...you did pick it up after though!). That whole first period they looked awful and while they generated some offense during the next couple of period it was neither particularly strong nor was it sustained for more than a milasecond. I'm really not sure how anyone can give Brodeur full credit for winning this game because at the end of the night, I'd give all the credit to the guys in front of him. Whatever. For a guy playing in his 1000th game, Brisebois actually didn't look that awful for most of the game. He had some nice plays actually and broke up a 2 on 1 rush at one point.

Enemy watch

• Flyers downed the Rangers. That's good.
• Boston beat the Islanders 2-1. I've got mixed feelings about this one. Best in the east beats worst in the east by a score of 2-1. Does that mean that the Bruins - who we couldn't beat at all - sucked that badly or did the Islanders - who we couldn't beat either - do that well? Either way, I'm mad.
• Sens battled back to win 4-3 in shootouts. Saw the winner in the shootouts and it looked kind of awful from Fleury's point of view. I'm mad that it's the Sens who won.
• Grabovski got a hat trick and the stupid Leafs won 8-6 over the Flames. The Flames seem to like to wrack up the score, eh? Edit: they tell me he only had 2 goals and some number of assists. And Jokinen got the hat trick. Oh that makes me feel a lot better. NOT. Whatever. Too many people scored too many goals. Kipper you suck. Gerber you suck too. BAH.
  
• Ovie got the shootout winner as the Caps downed the Hurricanes. Thank you Theodore and Backstrom for also doing some work in the shootout. And thanks Semin for the goal and three assists. Nice work for Ovie though. Oh yes, I'm biased.
• And Tampa Bay came back and won in shootouts against the Panthies. Good.

All this really doesn't cheer me up because it makes me realize that the Habs are only hanging in there because the games of other teams have gone in their favor. Yuck.

Bring on the Devils?

Here comes Brodeur and he's seeking to equal Patrick Roy's record tonight. In in the spirit of being totally pessimistic, I'll say that he's going to get it one way or another today. Probably the easy way. The irony that he will get it here in Montreal against the same team that Patrick Roy did most of his interesting stuff with, is well... ironic. He couldn't have been shooting for that record the other night or in their next game. No. It just had to be here and it had to be TONIGHT.

Read this here at Eyes on the Prize if you want to not feel totally awful when Brodeur gets that record...not that I'm really interested in defending Roy and his record or anything....

Anyway.....

Before the Battle

It was a bright and sunny day. Spring was in the air. Birds were tweeting. And the people were twittering too. But over the town of Habsland, it felt as though the darkest day of winter had just arrived. After a long battle away in which their headcoach had fallen, the troops had returned only to be confronted with another huge challenge. Awaiting them at the gates of their town was King Martin with his army known simply as "the Devils". They had come from the evil land of New Jersey where they did evil things like implement the horridly boring "trap system" into their battles. Tonight, they had come to make the lives of the poor townsfolk of Habsland miserable.

For you see, King Martin was considered to be "special". Over his long career he had downed many poor unsuspecting armies and everyone thought he was fantastic (well, everyone in the evil land of New Jersey anyway). But two records had always alluded him. One was the record for total decimation of aforementioned unsuspecting people in which they were, well, totally decimated without putting up a fight. And the second was the all time of smashing people who did sort of put up a fight.

That second record belonged to Saint Patrick who really wasn't a saint, but saints are never saints anyway. Every child in Habsland knew that Saint Patrick was great (except for the ones who thought he was a moron for running away to the mountain region called Denver where the lost people of the Quebec Nordique had relocated). He had won many very important battles for the Habs. He had brought them their last huge triumph. He may have had a mixed legacy with the Habs but at the end of the day, he was still one of them. And now big bad King Martin was here to take that record away. He was here to take all the glory and cool stuff for himself.

The battle weary Habs could only stare at the army waiting for them in despair. Since their coach had fallen, King Bob had taken over. With him, Bob had brought with him some foreigner named Don Lever who spoke in some alien language called English. Nobody knew anything about the guy and nobody wanted to know about him either. But anyway... King Bob was nothing like Coach Carbo and the troops were still in slight disarray as they tried to adjust to the new battle plans. But could they really stave off the inevitable? Could King Bob really make his troops do what seemed like the impossible?

That question that was on the minds of the people of Habsland. Could their troops really stand up to King Martin and the Devils? Thrice already they had been beaten down by King Martin's armies this year. And that was when Protector Clemmensen of the Land Where People Have Too Many Consonants in Their Names was in charge. Now that the real king was back, could the Habs really beat him?

Hope was not exactly restored when the people of Habsland got word that their king was going to put Sir Halak the Slovak into the action tonight instead of Prince Price. Nor were they happy to hear that the aging knight Breezer was going to be flung into the fray as well instead of Squire O'Byrne. So they were saving Prince Price from total humiliation at best and total destruction at worst, and were sending in Sir Halak as sacrifice material? How could they do that? The people cried out. Sir Halak had arrived from a far flung land but he had been embraced by the people as one of their own. He was a Hab! How could they just send him off to his doom like that? The Devils would take him and sacrifice him to their gods for sure! At least he could die knowing that he had done the right thing for the people of Habsland.

As for Sir Breezer, well, at least he could die knowing that he had lived through a 1000 battles. It was high time for Sir Breezer to do the honorable thing which was to go off and die while grabbing a pile glory on the way out. Squire O'Byrne would be a suitable replacement when that time came.

The people of Habsland wrung their lands and waited.... They trusted Bob, but they didn't necessarily trust their troops to deliver them from the depths of despair. All they could do was wait... And pray to the gods of the powerplay... and the gods of defense.... and the gods of goal scoring.... and the gods of just about everything else....

(blame Number31 for this one. She started it!)

Bleu-Blanc-ROSE....?

Late to the party on this one but better late than never, right? Right.

There they were. Hanging up with the dozens of red and blue shirts. Sticking out like a lone Toronto fan in a sea of Habs fans, were the pink shirts. You've no doubt seen at least one pink shirt floating around in stores and you've probably seen more than a couple of people wearing them. I tried not to puke as I walked past them on my way to look at the Ovechkin shirts that were shoved in the back of the store. Love them or hate them, the pink shirts are now an integral part of the array of over-priced NHL merchandise.

And for some people that's a bit of a problem.

I've never ever been a fan of those pink shirts. Ever. I'll fess up and say I've hated the colour pink since I was about... five I guess, so there was never going to be any doubt that I was going to dislike those shirts. But my dislike of them goes further than just the colour. I dislike what they appear to stand for.

To me the reason why those shirts even exist is because NHL is trying to cater to a certain demographic of women who are probably beyond the "casual fan" category. Generally these people are the wives, girlfriends and sisters of the male fans and who don't really know a heck of a lot about the game. I don't have a problem with the NHL trying to promote itself to a wider audience. They're just doing their job which is to make bucket loads of money (I do have a problem with this but that's a different matter). I don`t even have a problem with women who don`t know a thing about the game but want to show their support in some way.

My problem is that to me, it's like the NHL is dumbing down hockey for women.

Go into any store that sells NHL shirts and you'll notice that most of the women's stuff is "fluffy". They're pink or similarly light coloured or they've got sparkles on them or both. This really cuts down on the wearable options for girls who don't like fluffy stuff and don't fit well in the guys style of shirts (yes, I'm speaking from personal experience here).

And if it's not the fluffy clothes then it's the "cute" players. People seem to be under the impression that women only watch hockey to see the cute players. Before you mention words "but you like Ovechkin....", I will say this: Yes, I am an Ovie fan. No, I am not an Ovie fangirl. There's a huge difference. I like Ovechkin because I think he's a tremendously skilled player who is very entertaining to watch on the ice. He's genuine and comes off way less "manufactured" than a certain other star player. If Ovechkin was half as talented as he is now and still displayed the same amount of emotion, I would still watch him. I don't watch Ovie because someone told me that he looks hot and he scores a million goals.

I understand that women approach the game differently and if the NHL wants to make money off of them then they have to alter their approach. The problem with this current approach is that the "real" fans are the ones who are getting left out. For the purpose of this post, I'll call "real" fans the people who care about the game as opposed to the "fangirls" who just care about the cute looking players. Most "real" fans will not wear a pink shirt. You don't see a sea of pink when the cameras at the Bell Center pass over the crowds. While women do tend to look beyond just a player's stat and want to know more about the players' personalities, that doesn't make them rabid fangirls who swoon at the sight of Carey Price.

I want to make it clear that I think it's okay that there's people who like pink and like players because they think that they are cute. It's not for me, but whatever floats your boat. I just don't think it's okay for the NHL to think that ALL women are like that.