Halak it!

I don't care if that's been over-used to death. I don't care if you think I'm biased towards Halak (I'm not for the records). But Jaro just beat the Booins. JARO DID IT. And Gio helped with his shootout winner.

And the best part of this win?

Booins lose.

Again.

Hah.

Now someone make those stupid Sens lose. PLEASE.

no writeup because I'm tired and my Petes got a third of my attention tonight as well (Caps got the other third. Hey, they won 6-5 over the Rags. Bwahahahahaha). My poor Petes lost 5-4 after being down 4-0 after the first period. Just couldn't get the equalizer. 

Price wiiiiiiiiiiins!

Hark, what's this? We beat the Booins? Well, not us. Price beat the Booins. And Metro. WHOO!!!!

Pre-game pessimism:

• Me: We're going to lose. Why can't I go to watch Sweden's U20 team demolish Concordia? I saw some of these guys last year and I saw them get drafted... =/ 
• I don't have a picture of Pyatt?!!! I don't even know what Pyatt looks like... *rips out hair*

The game:

• That "Go Bruins Go" in the first period by the Booins was weak. 
• The Priceberg is back. And he's got some attitude!
• Metro. I wuvs you. 
• Whitey had an assist on Metro's goal *sobs* come back Whitey D: 
• Okay, we can sorta get the D to work but then the offense dies?
• I don't like Gomer. 
• LOL Chara gets sent off to dumping Gio. Yeah, dude, it's a little noticeable when the tallest guy in the NHL cross-checks the shortest guy in the NHL. Just a little. 
• No really, I know there were a gazillion shots on goal by the Booins, but the D was not as bad as they were against the Thrashers :D
• We would've won in regulation time if Marshmallow had not robbed Turtle-Pleky. 
• What the hell is Burke doing there? GO AWAY. GO AWAY. 
• Hell, we would've won in regulation time if they had played a stronger third period. There was too much sitting around. 
• Can we fire MAG?
• I hate that we give up super late goals
• Marshmallow clearly isn't Vesa. You're not going to beat him glove side twice in a row. Just once :D
• I liked the "CA-REY" chants though. Nice to see they're supporting our goalie *G* It clearly worked tonight!
• CAREY! Congrats on the 50th win!
• Oh and what the hell, Boston? You gave Squishy the first star? For doing what?! Price got the second star and Marshmallow got the third for.... being bored. 

Post game optimism:

• Dad is now chirping at me for saying that the Habs would lose. How would I know that the Booins would continue to suck? Jeez. 
• HAMMIES TOMORROW

Hammies are baaaaack!

Eeee Hammies squashed the Marlies 1-0 in their pre-season game. YAY! Missed the first half but it was SO great to hear Flandersdude again. And he got some help from some Scottish dude was pretty awesome too. Hey, how about we trade the Marlies for the Scottish dude? The Scottish dude said people in Edinburgh hate all the other teams anyway so the Marlies would fit right in with the hatefest.... but then I'd have no one to hate.... Oh well.

A few things to note:

• They seem to like the Hammies. I heard on the radio the other day that the dudes in Scotland were pretty insistent on having the Hammies come to play.
• More evidence that they're loved in Scotland: They had 300 kids at the their morning skate. Maybe we could loan some of these kids to the Coyotes?
• The radio kept cutting out. Apparently this was an issue in Edinburgh. Only mentioning this 'cause Flandersdude never knew when it cut out so it was amusing as he tried to figure it out.
• The ref in Scotland decided to make up the rules. He apparently made a movement that looked like "he was trying to land a plane". Play stopped but nobody could figure out what the deal was. Not Flandersdude who wondered if this was some special Scottish rule nor the Scottish dude who insisted this wasn't a Scottish thing either.
• Why was there a guy on the Marlies called "Hamilton"? Seriously. "Here comes Hamilton for Toronto". GUHHHHH!

And yeah...

To sum up the Habs game:

Sobotka..... be thankful you're still in one piece after hurting my goalie tonight. Be very thankful.

...although despite the uh loss, I liked a lot of what I was seeing. So. Yeah. Thank you Sergei for the goal. Thank you Turtle-Pleky for helping on that goal. Thank you PP for not looking like the OTHER team was on the PP. Thank you Gomer for the awesome PK at the end of the game. And yeah. Someone please smash Sobotka next time. No matter what league he's in. Smash him. And yes, this is coming from someone who actually almost likes the little Czech bulldozer.

Let's just celebrate the Hammies coming back and Jaro not being dead.

Hey wait... I thought the Habs/Bruins series was over?!

As a Habs fan, I can sadly say that I saw this movie before. It's called "Why the heck are we imploding like this?". I swear the Habs/Bruins were out on the ice at Mellon Arena tonight. Guess who the Habs were.

Oh yeah.

I couldn't believe it.

It was just like the Habs/Bruins series. The great goalie gets zero support from his team and they go down to the big bad team in black and gold. The great forwards can't seem to find the back of the net. The defense was dead. The powerplay was dead. The fans were obnoxious. The opposition was intorable. I swear the PA guy even did a little "whooOOOoooo".

At least the Caps actually scored more than two goals. They had three. Including a shorty. But then they forgot how to help out their goalie andhe couldn't save them tonight.

What does this mean?

Do we panic? Is it the end for the Caps? Do we freak out completely now because the Pens look just that good now and the Caps look just that bad?

Well, unlike the Habs against the Bruins, I believe the Caps are more than capable of taking out the Pens. They need to stay focused, they need to stay out of the penalty box, they need to play better defense, they need to back up their goalie and they need to remember that a game is 60 bloody minutes long. I really dont' think that's too hard to implent really. The Caps have what it takes to win. They aren't an inferior team to the Penguins. But the Penguins have been playing like a team and battling harder for longer throughout the games than the Caps have. The Caps must match that. Tonight, they looked dead on their feet. Tomorrow, back home in front of their amazing fans, they need to bring it. They need to bring that crazy Ovie intensity. All of them.

The fact that both teams are the only ones to have one their home games so far (waiting on the Whalercanes game tonight), seems to indicate that home ice advantage seems uber important. They must take advantage tomorrow tonight. Both teams will be tired from tonight but the Caps need to take the support from their crowd and use it to get back ahead here. I could also seeing this going downhill completely if the Pens grab momentum early. But I'm trying to be positive here for once *g*

Bruins... Bruins... Bruins....

What's going on? Going down to the Whalercanes ain't so nice. Because let's face it Habs fans, it's the Whalercanes with the StaalClone1. Do we really want a Whalercane/Puffles series???! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Oh Colin and your magic boxes of suspending powers

I may be biased here - okay, I am being biased here - but I honestly do not believe that Ovie meant to kill Poke2's knee. Did he mean to hit him? Well yes, Ovie did mean to hit Gonchar, but I really don't think he meant to hit his knee... I still think you'd have to be really stupid to collide knee on knee with someone on purpose. If only because the potential to ruin your own knee is too great.... please don't pull our your stupid boxes of randomness and suspend Ovie.

Oh and....

Bettman. Just give the guy the damn team already. This whole "we're committed to keeping the team in a place where they don't have enough fans to keep it running" is ridiculous already. Not saying I like Balsillie or anything but Bettman being stubborn like this is silly.

Today we're waterbottling....

1) The Dirty DUCKS for winning in TRIPLE OT. I started watching the game while eating lunch and by the time it was over, I had to go and make dinner.

That was quite the game though. It's too early for an epic marathon though! I think the Wings need to step it up another level. They were really struggling at some points in the game which wasn't cool. Ozzy in particular scares me whenever the puck comes near him. And the Dirty DUCKS need to stop playing dirty.

2) The people on Nothing But Crosby - because TSN couldn't hire anybody to do their own announcing for some reason. At leas I didn't have to listen to Milbury.....

3) The refs in the Boston/Whalercanes game. There's a very simple reason why the Bruins don't get a lot of penalties. It's because the refs are blind and they miss just about every Boston penalty.

4) the morons in Toronto who called the 3rd Carolina goal not a goal. I don't see how they could have said that it wasn't a goal. Then again.... we imagine that the guys in Toronto are related to Colin Campbell. The puck was over the line...Even I - on my 5 x 5 fuzzy screen - can see it over the line.

I will not be depressed!

You know what? I can't be depressed about the game tonight. The Habs did what I asked them to for most of tonight and I can't be mad at them. While the rest of the city and all those "fans" go off ranting and raving, I will continue to sit here and support my guys. They tried tonight. They gave it everything they had. It wasn't enough no, but this was a hell of a lot better than that no-show effort the other night. I can accept this loss.

I can also accept Weber's performance tonight. Man, he's showing everyone why I love him =)

That being said, I have a list of grievances to make.

1. "Fans". Stop crabbing about the team. The same people who are moaning about the team now are the same people who will be cheering them on when they win. Just stuff it.
   
2. Price bashing. Leave the guy alone. I'm not saying that because I honestly like the guy as a player. I'm saying because it's too easy to give the goalie all the credit and all the blame for the outcome of a game.
   
3. The media. Really. Tomorrow I'm coming up with a huge rant on this if I have time.
   
4. The Bruins fans who take so much delight in bashing us. It's ridiculous already. Man, you know, there are no words to describe how much I hate the fans of this team right now. I could forgive Boston as a team but not their fans. Ooh, I have a new idea for my rant tomorrow....Stay tuned....
   
5. Someone tell me why I keep paying too much money for food at 3 Brasseurs? Maybe I'm just that fussy about my food but sheesh....... (yeah, I forced some tweeps to come with me to watch the game again *g*)

Oh and the Rags got a taste of the real Washington Capitals. I love the little Russian brigade they've got in Washington. Semin just exploded tonight. I mean TWO GOALS and an assist tonight? Where have you been all this time, dude?! Ovie got an assist as did Fedorov. Nicklas also had a billion assists but he's not Russian (but he is awesome)....Laich and Poti got the two other goals. Very pleased with the Caps tonight. And yay for Simeon (Varlamov) on his shutout.

Right now I'm more ticked off with the fans and the media but I'll get to that another time.

Edit: OH AND HAMMIES WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON! WHOO!

DAY SIX: *takes a deep breath*

Yesterday by the way, went very nicely.

1. Fleury was a sieve and Biron was a semi-sieve. The Flyers learned that when the anointed one is on the ice, you don't touch any Penguin. You touch one and you'll get thrown in the overly small penalty boxes (seriously, I don't get why they're so small in Philly). That's how it works these days when the anointed run is running around. Suck it up Flyers and come up with a way to put something in his water. Oh and... Flyers fans win the prize for the best and most consistent booing of the anointed one himself. How could I ever have hated the Flyers fans...? Man... that was so nice.....
   
2. Canucks won. Again. I think I'm happy. Even if those creepy twins are well, creepy. Actually, the Blues fans drove me up the wall so I figured I'd pick the team who's fans are the least annoying
3. Whalercanes lost in OT...... I think..... I wasn't paying attention....
   
4. DUCKS WON AGAIN! YEEEEEEEEES! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA....... Sorry.....
   

Now for TODAY.....

HABS ARE AT HOME and I'm very jealous of Number31 who got tickets!

• No Lucic tonight as he got suspended for a game for bashing Lapierre upside the face. Lapierre's face is still messed up *sticks Lucic back in the toaster* I think all players who are suspended should be forced to make a voodoo doll......
  
• Dunno who's in nets
  
• All I ask from the Habs tonight is for them to show up tonight.
  
• And I want the crowd to boo the heck out of the Bruins. BOO THEM! Take out your anger at the Bruins!
  

Caps meanwhile.... somehow ended up playing at the same time as the Habs. We are NOT amused by this.

• The Caps need to find a way to beat Lundqvist in his overly sized goalie pads....
• Showing up to the game could help a lot
  
• And no stupid rushes against whoever is in nets
• And no stupid penalties
  
• With any luck I"ll have an Avery voodoo doll ready in time for the game (and I'm still running around in my Ovie shirt...)

Everyone else....

• If I could remember who was playing tonight, I'd cheer for someone... But I can't remember so nyah... yeah, it's pre-caffeine hour right now....
  

I've come to a very sad decision....

If Team Canada picks Brodeur, Crosby and Lucic to be on their team for the Olympics, I'm cheering for Russia. Sorry Canada, but there is no way in hell I'm going to cheer for a team that has Lucic on it. No bleeping way. The guy is a moron. And that's putting it nicely.

But aside from the morons on the ice, the morons in the stands and the morons in black and white, the Caps, Bulldogs, and Habs didn't help themselves one bit today. They simply did not put up enough effort, enough emotion, and in the case of the Habs, they were too undisciplined tonight to win. Fine, fine, so some of those calls weren't real and there was no way in hell that the Bruins only went to the PK ONCE at the end of the period but still... the Habs were not playing like a team. Price and Kovy showed up and we saw glimpses of other people but on a whole...the team didn't show up.

Which baffles me completely. It's a playoff game, people. I know you're tired and demoralized but just flopping over and quitting isn't really a great option. I said this before but I'll say it again: I don't give a damn if the Habs are swept in four games PROVIDED that they go down fighting. If they lose the next two games playing like they did tonight, I will not be a very happy person. This team is very much capable of at least making Boston's lives miserable. They can do it. I realize that this isn't the ideal matchup and we didn't get the ideal seed going into the playoffs. But honestly.... suck it up, guys. Moping ain't going to change who you're playing. Essentially we're seeing the same two teams from last year. There isn't that much of a difference. The difference appears to be in their heads right now.

Right now the Bruins are playing like a team while the Habs... aren't. And damnit, the Habs better snap out of this depressed "woe is me, can we just finish this already so I can go crawl into a whole and die" attitude or else I'm watching the Wings full time. Crazily enough, I still believe in these guys. I still believe that they can get it together and actually win a game or at least give Boston everything that they've got.

So there we have it. I'm still trying to figure out why 1) the networks and media all seem to be against the Habs and 2) why the hell my teams didnt' show up to play. They treated it like it was a game in the middle of February and 3) why it feels like the refs were completely biased against the Hammies and the Habs tonight....

Oh and..whoever thought the Habs game was bad.... I assure you Troy the movie was a lot worse.... Watching Brad Pitt pretending to be a Greek is like watching Milan Lucic trying to give an interview.

Day 4: A very late pre-game rant

First off... My Caps suck. They didn't bring any of the intensity and emotion that I saw in the first game. I was NOT pleased. King Henrik is starting to remind me of Biron the Sieve from last year versus the Habs...Lundqvist has already gotten into the Caps heads, I think, and it's frustrating them. Especially Ovie. He was not pleased at all. Not at all. Poor Ovie...

Second....Tim the Marshmallow now has a voodoo doll. Pictures will be up later when I find my camera. While you're awaiting Tiny Tim's appearance, take a look at Amanda's wonderfully ugly Chara voodoo doll. Isn't he great? Tiny Tim wished he could compete with that uglyness but he just can't.... I did however accidently rip his arm off at one point.... And I accidently eye-gouged him too.... Maybe his spleen will rupture now (more on that in a sec).

Third..... I'm waiting for the Wings to score another goal while listening to the Hammies.

Fourth.... HABS VERSUS BRUINS BABY! A few things...

1. I'm afraid for Komisarek
2. I realize that Hunwick's injury could be serious and I'm not making light of it - because I don't want to see anybody get seriously injured - but.... the way TSN was talking about it, you'd think that you could get a ruptured spleen by getting your eye poked by a Habs player....Unless Hunwick's spleen is in his eye then there is no way that he got that injury by Komisaurus whacking him in the eye.
3. Boullion could be in.
4. Turtle-Pleky and Dagger are out. Weber and Sergei are in (maybe now Andrei can do something good?)
5. I hope nobody dies tonight

Olééééééééééééééééééé!

So the Habs didn't win tonight but............

The good news is....

1. Milan Lucic the voodoo was abused to no end tonight. He was the main attraction actually so that's nice *g* I should have brought Grabovski.... then again... I had a hard time trying to keep Lucic from being completely shredded (hey, look, I spent three hours of my life working on that guy. The only one who gets to seriously abuse him is ME) so maybe bringing Grabs wouldn't be a good idea...=p
   
2. I liked most of the guys effort tonight. It was a lot better than I thought it would be (pessimist bit, yes?)
3. The Tweeps at the tweetup are great =) (and much to my surprise I wasn't the only person there who made St. Louis look like a giant *G*). So thank you to Kyle, Amanda, Number31, pluc and the everyone else at the other table (sorry I couldn't talk to you. I could barely hear the guys beside me...) for making the night enjoyable.
   

Proof that Lucic the voodoo was abused:

I'm not sure who's idea it was to stick Lucic on top of MY glass but someone did so I figured what the heck...might as well stick him.
This certainly was NOT my idea but made for some great pictures. I think he ended up in someones' beer at one point though, so whoever got that beer will have a taste of Lucic....Oops...


See? More abuse.Yes, I dunked him in a glass of water when the idiot got the assist on an empty net. #$%^ you Lucic... I got the entire table wet. Hehe. And now I'm debating the best way to dry him...

A stick figure drawing of us abusing Lucic... lol =p

The bad news is.....

• Bruins won
• Lucic is still alive (the real guy)
• I don't have an Iphone or a Blackberry which makes me slightly sad because I can't tweet easily when away
• Breezer and Andrei annoy me right now...
• Turtle-Pleky is not alive right now....
• The French fries were NOT worth the $ 6.21. I pretended that they were Lucic and ate most of them though. So it was all good.
  

Who's getting a voodoo doll now:

• Tim "the Marshmellow" Thomas (he was the flailing goalie but now he's a marshmellow. I mean, how the hell are the Habs supposed to score when the goalie is the exact same dimensions as the net? Seriously...That's not fair when you think about it...) I don't care if I spelled "marshmellow" wrong. I butcher the language on a daily basis anyway. "Marshmellow" sounds better.
  
• Chara because... because
• Kessel. Because.
  
• Joe Thornton (yeah, I know, he doesn't play for the Bruins but he's on the stupid TV right now and he's annoying me by the mere fact that he's on the TV)
• PA guy in Boston *g* "Whooo!".....? Who says "Whooo" when their team scores? That's just stupid...

Enemy watch:

• Wings reminded everyone just who the defending champs were tonight. And no, it wasn't Columbus, thank you!
• Chicago and Calgary are going to OT.. oh wait... make that a Hawks win about two seconds into OT
  
• And Ducks and Sharks have done zippo....
  

Playoffs Day 2: here we go!

Now that I'm slightly more awake and slightly more hyped up on caffeine, I can say that I'm more excited for this game than I was last night. Yup! GO HABS GO!

Things we expect to happen tonight

• EP will not be drunk....EP doesn't really drink....
• Then again... if it's 5-0 Bruins after the first period, EP may go and drink herself into oblivion (err maybe not... EP does have to work tomorrow)
  
• EP's Bruins Hate Meter will go up and possibly break by the end of Game 1
• EP will abuse her Lucic voodoo doll
  
• EP will want to make voodoo dolls for every Bruin
• EP will be sleep deprived beyond belief
• EP will her curse her phone because she actually can't work it very well
• EP will want to go and hug her Habbies
• EP will make an idiot of herself at the tweetup
• EP will be cursing the playoffs by the end of the night

EDIT: Oh you wanted something semi-serious? Okay then.... Here, random thoughts about the game....

• Will Lucic murder my Habbies?
• Will I murder Lucic? (the voodoo doll)
  
• Can Price play like the Priceberg that we all know he's capable of being?
• Can Thomas actually produce a good game tonight now that he's the one under a huge amount of pressure.
  
• Can Turtle-Pleky PLEASE score a goal? I know he works but we need to see some of that work translate into goals!
• Speaking of goals... Can Andrei Kostitsyn please freaking score a goal? He still owes me big time for that no-show-crap-effort he put up when I was at the Bell Center. SHOW UP!
• Will the Habs be subjected to "Breezer Plays"? I hate those......
• Can Laraque shut up and just hit any and all Bruins that come his way?
• Can the Habs actually start thinking that Laraque isn't going to save them at all.....?
  
• Can the Habs bounce back from a 1 or 2 or even 3 goal deficit? I mean mentally here. Will we see them go down two goals and quit like they've done against so many teams this year or will they actually try?
• Can they play 60 minutes of good hockey?
• Can this game actually be finished before 12 in the morning or will each period be an hour long?

And finally:

• Will EP be able to talk to the Bruins fans she knows? or is she going to have to wait until they crash out of the playoffs before she can talk to them?
  

Some other random info that has zippo to do with the playoffs.....

First off..... Roger Federer's kid will be a boy. Apparently they haven't decided on a name (which I dont' necessarily believe but whatever) so I figured I'd help them out. Here are the top five names that I'd pick for Roger's kid. In order of preference

1. Rafael. I think it'd be so cute if he named his kid after Nadal... =p
2. Novak. I know Roger doesn't like Nole at all but Novak is such a nice name
3. Stan. Because I said so.
   
4. David. Because you can't go too wrong with the name David....
   
5. Habs Rock. Okay so Roger has no clue that the Habs even exist.... but still... Habs Rock is so cool. I named a squirrel Habs once so I think Roger could name his kid that too *g*
   

Second.... The Habbies will be in Quebec City for one of their exhibition games (which will be against those dratted Bruins). Tickets are apparently going on sale this Saturday and I'm weighing whether it's worth it to go.... I mean.... in the event that the Bell Center decides to be evil and not sell me any tickets I'm stuck going to Sensland... and if Heatley and Spezzatwerp are still on the team by then I won't be a happy camper....

Third....I seem to be the last person to know that AK Bars won the cup thinger in the KHL...Oops...

Playoffs here we come!

So we lost 5-4 in OT and the Bruins looked like the won the Cup. Whatever. I don't care about the Bruins. Important thing is the Habs will not be on the golf courses. They made errors tonight, yes. Lots. But they fought for their playoff spot. They got in because they worked for it not because the Panthers lost tonight. So congratulations to the Habbies! You are officially the only Canadian team in the East that won't be on the golf courses in a week's time.

(here's where I again apologize for the lack of anything serious on this blog. I need happy/random stuff!)

The first period

The good news is:

• the boys are trying
• Price is looking good
• Schneider is in the lineup

The bad news is...

• Bruins up 1-0
• PP for Bs coming up in the second

Dissing the Bs... And I don't mean just the Bruins...

• Biron, I hate you. You know that, but right now you suck. And you're NOT supposed to suck tonight.
• Bergeron, meh....Never ever liked you....
  
• Brodeur, you suck. 1-0 to the Sens?!
  
• Tampa Bay (Bay starts with a B), please don't score on the Caps anymore, k? Thanks.

The second period

Holy crap...this has to be some time of record for length....

• The game kept starting and stopping and starting and stopping and stopping... and stopping... and stopping and stopping and starting and stopping and... yeah, okay... you get it..

How the period went as far as I can remember:

• Damn the Bruins
• Fight
  
• Damn the Bruins
• Oh KOVAGOAL! PRETTY! It was like Thomas wasn't there.
  
• Damn the Bruins
• Fight
• Damn the Bruins
  
• Damn Lucic
• Damn the Bruins 2-1
  
• Damn all these stupid stops
• Damn all these fights
• Damn Lucic
• OH HELL YEAH LUCIC YOU JUST GOT TOSSED FOR THE REST OF THE PERIOD FOR KILLING KOMISAURUS!
  
• Damn the Bruins 3-1....
  
• Damn the Bruins
• Did the refs whistles break or something?
• Damn the Bruins
  
• I'm getting tired of this period....
• Damn this long list of damns
  
• OH YES A HABS GOAL FINALLY! YES! D'AGOSTINI! With a beautiful goal that could have been Pleky's if he had moved his arm over a bit! 3-2
  
• Damn the Bruins
• Fight
  
• Damn the Bruins
• Fight
• Damn Chara
  
• Damn the Bruins
  
• OHOHOH HABS GOAL! 3-3 SCHNEIDER PLAY!
• Damn the Bruins
  
• Oh Habs looking more alive
• How can anyone be alive after this?
  
• Damn the Bruins
• more fighting....
  
• Is Shawn Thornton related to that twerp in San Jose?
  
• Damn the Bruins
• How the heck much longer do I have to suffer?!
  
• Damn the Bruins
• TEN MORE MINUTES?
  
• Damn the clock
• Damn the clock
• Damn the Bruins
• Da....OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!! D'Agostini skate! SKATE! FASTER! SHOOT! OH MY GOD! SCOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOREEEEEEEEEEEEES!!!!!!!!!!! Beautiful!!!!!!!!! 4-3 for the Habs
• Damn the Bruins
• OH COME ON KOIVU! didn't hit the puck AT Thomas....
  
• Damn Thomas
• Danm the... oh end of the period! Thank god... x_X

Enemy watch aka the rest of the league was actually playing while all this crap in Boston was happening

• Itty Bitty came to the Flyers rescue. 2-1 for the Rags still though. Honestly, though, this is like, the worst game ever....
  
• Team Kovalchuk Bogosian was 1-1 then 2-1 now it's 2-2 .... C'MON DAMNIT!
• Pens are on their way to beating the Isles
• Buffalo is blanking the Whalercanes 5-0. Oopsies Ward?
• Devils now up 2-1 on the Sens. Pfft
• Caps up 3-1 on Tampa Bay. Laich with 2 and Stammy with the lone Bolts goal

THIRD PERIOD

• Repeat first period while I sit here trying to stay awake...
  
• 4-4
  
• Whatever. We need to get to OT.
  
• OT please
• PLEASE
• Oh PRICEBERG!
• PRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
• C'mon people! Score already!
  
• COME ON
• NOW
• We need to get to OT
• OT PLEASE
  
• YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES! WE GO TO OT! Habs make it to OT though which means = PLAYOFFS BABY!
  

OT

• well, forget this bit. We lost on stupid screw up on the blueline but whatever. We're in the playoffs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  

Enemy watch: Major Failures of the night

• Thrashers failed me *sniffles*
  
• Flyers failed me - ahem, let me rephrase that. The refs failed Biron who Biron failed the Flyers who failed me. FAIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  
• Sens failed the shootouts. Hmmm.....
  
• Cam Ward failed epically. Oops.
  
• Isles failed. Poor things.
• Ovie failed to score but his team won anyway
  

Tonight, you cheer for Kovalchuk and... *shudders* Briere

Not that I'm throwing my Habs under the bus tonight. But realistically speaking this is going to be a very tough night in which the guys have to play better than they've played all week. And with Markov gone, we're in big trouble. Not saying that it's an impossible task. To the Bruins it's a pretty meaningless game. But just as an extra insurance policy, please cheer for Kovalchuk to beat the stuffing out of the Panthers. Also, you want to cheer for Kovalchuk because he's under appreciated =) And... yes, I did say you cheer for Itty Bitty Danny..... Why? Because his team MUST beat the Rags. I'd appreciate it though if the other Flyers scored and not Mr. Itty Bitty but I guess beggars can't be choosers. Just beat them in regulation time, okay?

Oh and... how come I missed Weber being called up? Oh right.....

Today's evil plan includes: buying wool and knitting needles and teaching myself how to knit. If Jacques Plante could do it then so can I, darnit!

Oh and...While I was gone, the hockey continued world and continued quite nicely for the most part.

Women' s World Championship - Canada won 8-0.... blowout?

QMJHL playoffs thing - the poor Juniors were swept. I passed by Drummondville yesterday and there were all these signs saying "go whatever-the-name-of-their--team-is go". Peh.

AHL - Moosies vs Hammies. Flanders must have had a field day. Hammies won 6-2 over the Moosies. He's a lot funnier to listen to if you can watch the game at the same time. The highlights were hilarious. Well... minus the first Moosies' goal.... which wasn't pretty but who cares? They got a nice free goal and the Hammies still won =)

If Boston makes the finals, I know who to cheer for

ABB. Anybody But Boston. And right now, I'd love that anybody to be San Jose. Going into last night's game, I had never really watched the Sharks for more than 10 minutes (the last night I saw them they had 3 goals after less than 10 minutes against... I think it was Vancouver). I'm not even a Sharks fan at all.... BUT I couldn't help but see what they could do against Boston and I have to say that I loved how they played last night. And I loved how they played in the third period in particular. Boston was up 2-1 after the first period thanks to some whacko called Milan Lucic (I was half hoping he'd be injured for the rest of the year) and the score stayed that way until the third period when San Jose unloaded completely on the Bruins with 4 unanswered goals. Fine, so one of those goals went off Joe Thornton's toe and one was into an empty net. Big deal. It wouldn't have gone off of Thornton's foot if he hadn't been right at the net and it wouldn't have gone into an empty net if they Sharks hadn't been up 4-2 on the Bruins. The Bruins could have - ahem, SHOULD have - scored when they had a 5 on 3 powerplay but their powerplay sucked all night going 0 for 5 (Sharks went 1 for 1). I just loved how the Sharks pretty much completely shut down the Bruins in the third period. It was borderline beautiful hockey. Something I haven't seen in.... oh.... well..... a long time.....Boston had no real answers for them in the third.... Oh I know it's pathetic that I have to take this much pleasure in a Bruins loss but too bad... I can't help it... And San Jose was just so good in that period......

Ahhh......this could very well be the year that the Sharks actually get past the semis............ *dreams of seeing Detroit and Boston get creamed by San Jose* Oh San Jose you are my only true hope at playoff happiness this year...... *stares off into space*

someone snap me out of this when the Habs go to play the Oilers... actually on second thought.... maybe not..... I like this dream a lot....It's almost as good as the one where the Habs went bowling instead of practicing and after pretending that the bowling pins were every team in the league who has given them problems, they magically came back, cured of all ills, and decimated everyone in sight........

Sabres up next but what we really want to know is...

.....Will Grabovski be playing tomorrow when the Leafs roll in? He was a healthy scratch when the Leafs got dumped by the Sabres and if I was Ron Wilson and I wanted to cut short my time in the Bell Center because it's just that painful then I would keep Grabs out. But I'm not Ron Wilson and despite my stance on wanting to reduce fighting in the NHL, I wouldn't mind it if Sergei had a go at Grabs. So far they haven't really been able to have a go at it which is probably what has made this whole thing rather entertaining. It provides me with a lot more entertainment when they go dissing each other in whatever language they chose off the ice as supposed to beating the crap out of each other on the ice. But whatever.... We shall see what happens. As long as the Leafs lose I'm a happy person.

Moving on......

Missed a full day of complaining yesterday. Imagine that. I'll make up right now.

I'm really not liking the Bruins. Yes, yes, I'm liking them less than on Sunday even. First off, I've been randomly amusing myself with hockey stats over the last week and I've found that up until that little four game losing streak the Habs were actually doing a lot better than they were last year (we're still doing better than last year now). It's not that we suck right now. It's that the Bruins have simply exploded this year. Okay, fine. I could have told myself that without looking at stats. But it's scarier when you see a little squiggly line across a screen detailing the total amount of points per game for the last three years and seeing the previous flat line which denoted a string of losses for the Bruins suddenly turn into a line streaking straight up and up and up.... bleh. And second, I hate them for not decimating the Sens and actually going through a pile of shootouts with them....Not only does it make me mad because they clearly weren't putting up the same effort last night as on Sunday (okay, fine, so they had just decimated the Flyers the night before) but now it gives the Sens some bragging rights. YUCK. Oh and I hate San Jose for falling six points behind the Bruins with a silly loss to Carolina. San Jose is the best chance there is of keeping the Bruins out of the top spot in the league and they can't handle the lowly Hurricanes?!!!! Hello...... That's maddening..... and the way the Flames played in the first period against the Blackhawks was even more maddening...... Wait... why do I care about this anyway? I dunno. I just feel like complaining about something. I'll stop now. More on those stats later once I've organized them into a coherent fashion.

Habbbies to take on the Sabres now. The Sabres have been on somewhat of a roll in their last ten games - going 6-4-0 and recently came off a 5-0 bashing of the Leafs. Then again, it's the Leafs we're talking about so no need to get excited folks. At least they've been doing better than the Habs who are 4-6-0 in their last ten - but we did just beat the sleepy Pens 4-2. The Sabres apparently have 4 people out with various injuries while we have.... 5. Habs have taken the last two meetings between these two teams while the Sabres eked out a shootout win back in October.

Hopefully the Habs can win this. Really depends on a few things. Like whether they decided to show up or not and whether Miller (I'm assuming Miller is going to be in nets?) plays well or not. The win over the Pens was great, but I'm expecting a much better effort from the Sabres, in which case the Habs need to be ready to play hard tonight. And I wouldn't mind if the Habs didn't keep letting the Sabres grab the lead like they did last time they played.....I could go on a bit here but I need to go and practice my Spanish now....

*kicks spellcheck for saying that Sabres isn't a word* IT'S A WORD NOW, DARNIT, SO STOP CORRECTING IT!

..................this day just gets better and better...

Question of the hour: When does Kovy get to sit out a game? Because he's driving me up the bloody wall right now. I can't for the life of me figure out why the guy can't be more motivated to play well. He knows he can do better. Carbo knows it. Everyone in this city knows it. He's proven in the AllStar Game that he can play well when he feels like it. But for some reason he just doesn't seem motivated to go out there and work hard when it matters. Yesterday it was like he was in a different zone altogether. I'm getting really tired of the teams' supposed "best players" playing like they don't care. If the Habs want to have a hope in hell of even making the playoffs then they better get their act together and start working hard. EVERYONE.

I didn't really expect a different outcome but it doesn't change the fact that I'm freaking annoyed right now. I'm annoyed because I thought that they played well today. Well enough to beat at least three out of the four teams that they lost to last week. Well enough to beat most teams. If they had played that way before we would not be sitting 18 points behind the Bruins right now. I'm annoyed because their best today wasn't good enough to get past the flailing goalie - and by the way, I'm giving Chara most of the credit for keeping the pucks away from Thomas in the first place. I'm annoyed at their seemingly ineffectual powerplay which went 1 for... well, it felt like 100 but I guess that's not right. I'm annoyed because their best freaking chance at scoring came when the Bruins own guy hit the puck towards Thomas. I'm annoyed that despite a really good third period they couldn't get the puck past Thomas who came up with some brilliant saves. I'm annoyed because Lang and Latendresse had to go out after being bashed. Why can't they ever bash the guys who don't work?! Why does it have to be the guy who despite not being able to win an important faceoff to save his life, still works hard?! I'm also annoyed because I hate those stupid striped jerseys and I found it really distracting. Obviously more so than the Bruins did. I think the Habs must have had "bash my head into the boards, plz" written on the back of those jerseys because that's what kept happening.

And yes, I'm still really ticked off that Federer lost this morning. And yes, I'm tired from only getting four hours of sleep. Sue me.

GIVE ME A BETTER EFFORT PEOPLE. You can do it. You know it. They know. We all know it. JUST DO IT!

Oh $%^&*....... Now they're saying that Latendresse may have suffered a shoulder injury and Lang's injury may actually be a cut tendon in his heel....If that's true then he's finished for the season and we just lost our top goal scorer......

Habs play dress-up as they take on Bruins

Yup. It's the game of the "let's wear the old jerseys". And today they had to go and pick the ugliest one ever. There's a reason why the Habs 1) dumped the name "CAC" and 2) dumped the striped jersey in favor of the more confusing "CH" and the more stylish looking colours that dont' involve looking like an inmate...... It remains to be seen what the bi-polar Habs will do today. I'm asuming that Josh Gorges will be out of comission for today as defenseman Alex Henry was called up from Hamilton.

My prediction:

• Bruins win 4-2
• Habs make an okay go of it
• powerplay stinks
• penalty killing is bad
• Bruins will get a shorthanded goal
• Carbo will look as though he wants to kill something or someone

Then again... As Grrreg pointed out, the ugly striped jerseys serve the important purpose of distracting the Bruins (you know, like a certain Serbian tennis star tried to do over the summer in that horrendous blue and orange outfit. His plans failed miserably).... In that case...If all goes according to plan (and c'mon, stripes are more distracting than orange and blue) Habs win 4-3 in OT

Well that sucked....

I'm trying to think of a positive to take from tonight's game but so far I'm coming up with blanks. I mean... there just isn't anything good to say about the game. Except for Gorges goal. Yay for Gorges. They never win when he scores. It's too bad because he never scores. And when he does, no one cares because the Habs lose. It's sad. And it was such a nice goal too. But other than that.... The Devils completely shut down the Habs offense (which looked a little dead anyway) while the Habs defense just got out muscled and out played. I can't say "Oh, Price was awful tonight" because I wasn't expecting him to be amazing on his first full night back (I still don't believe that he's ready to come back). He did come up with some big saves though so that at least was good. I'm still trying to figure out if the Devils were just that good defensively or if the Habs offense was just that bad tonight. I'm inclined to think it's somewhere inbetween. Either way, you still had a game where the Habs had very little in the way of decent scoring chances. Yes, they had enough chances that they could have converted, but they were quite few and far between for my liking. And the Habs just don't like it when they can't set up a good shot on net. No one ever said that the goals had to be pretty, you know. Just get 'em in.

I kind of feel like we're back to where we were at the beginning of the season where the Habs went a whole crappy session. Honestly, I was wondering if we were bound for an embarrassing loss or two after the Habs lost to the Bruins. Since that game, they just haven't looked good. We should be lucky that we've got two wins out of those games.

Am I worried? Honestly? Yeah, a bit. I'm worried because this is completely an attitude thing that can be fixed but doesn't seem to want to go away. I'm worried because the second of the season is where the Habs need to be on top of their game, every single game. Because they had issues in the beginning of the season they let a lot of points go that they should have had. And I'm worried that those missed points will cost them at the end of the season.

Despite the very tough schedule coming up next month, I think that the Habs can do it. They have shown that when faced with adversity that they can pull through.... The problem isn't when they're faced with a lot of adversity, it's when they aren't. And I'm just hoping that all those points that they should have had won't cost them in the end......

I'm also seething at the stupid Maple Losers. They had a chance to cause a huge upset over Boston tonight and make my life easier but keeping the Bruins off the points tally. But NO! The Losers had to go and squander a two goal lead in the third period and ultimately lose in shootouts. Oh and who gets the shootout winner? RYDER! Of course. I'm so upset right now. First off, my team loses. Second, my two least favorite teams are playing each other while my other loathed team is also playing - and beating the very same Thrashers that we lost to. And of COURSE it's the Maple Losers who give me one ray of hope that the Bruins won't completely run away with the lead but then they go and squash my hopes.

I hope the Habs are reflecting on the last week. I hope they're thinking about how difficult they're making their lives right now. Look, enjoy the All Star Game but remember that the event ain't going to bring the Stanley Cup home - for real! It's visiting righ now and then it's going to go away for a veeerrryyy loooong tiiiime if this type of play keeps up. I hope these games are burned into their brains and they do everything in their power to make sure it never happens again.

Yes, I'm very cranky right now. Sue me. And please sue the people who came up with Rafa's new look. It's horrid.

More random info

Can't help it....

On the Habs front:

• Price is coming back! Finally! It feels like forever since he's been on the ice - no, I'm not dissing Halak at all. I just missed seeing Price. He should be playing in one of the two games before the All Star thingy and sitting as backup for the other.
  
• Higgy and Koivu should be back after the All Star thing. Good news for the team, obviously bad news for the Hammies who have been doing wonderfully.
• Dandenault is skating some more. He shouldn't be back until February but seeing him skating is good news.
• Tanguay should be back in February too
  

Update: Koivu and Higgins are making the trip to Atlanta and New Jersey. No word on whether they'll actually play though.

And today's lesson is:

• Never ever stop watching/listening to a hockey game midway through. Even if it's the Boston Bruins and the St. Louis Blues and the Bruins are leading 4-2 with a minute and whatever left in the game. Why? Because you miss the Blues getting two goals in - the second of which came with .8 of a second left in the third period - and ultimately beating the Bruins in shootouts. I switched to watch the Caps/Islanders game which wasn't nearly as fun as watching the Blues get those goals in would have been... Boohooo......
  

On the tennis courts... Italians make Roger and Nole cranky

• Federer decided to go with the Novak Djokovic strategy of blinding your opponents with an awful coloured shirt and looks to be wearing purple for the entire tournament. Yuck. The colour didn't seem to affect Seppi too much though and he challenged Federer enough to make you go "Uh.... I hope this isn't a sign of what's to come". Federer won 6-1, 7-6, 7-5. Apparently Roger was just not looking too good out there for a lot of the match but after a particularly unpleasent mistake, he woke up and finished off the match. While it wasn't the resounding victory that would have been nice, it was still a straight set win.
  
• Djokovic got stuck out in the hot Australian sun for two hours as he downed Andrea Stoppini 6-2, 6-3, 7-5. The world no 220 made life dificult for poor Novak, breaking serve in the second set at one point and actually having a 4-0 lead in the third set. Eventually Novak showed who was the world no 3 and defending champion and won the match in straigh sets. But still... I think this match will be one of those that you would rather Murray and Federer not see....
  

OLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!

[disclaimer: the following is the ramblings of an insane, tired, and extremely happy Habs fan. It may not make a heck of a lot of sense and it's probably filled with Sens bashing. Sorry, I couldn't help myself. And no, I'm not changing the title to "Olay". Pretend there's an accent on the Es]

What?

The football song is stuck in my head now.

This being the first ever time that I've gone to a hockey game - sad, I know. EP wants to thank her uncle for getting the tickets and putting up with sitting with all the Habs fan for the night - I was quite wrapped up in the atmosphere of the whole place - which was mainly Habs oriented - and so I kind of missed quite a bit the finer aspects of the game, therefore, I won't even attempt to break this one down properly. Go read the HABS papers or blogs for that. Buuuuut I can say that the atmosphere was really awesome. Gotta love us noisy Habs fans. We really know how to show the other team who's got the noisier fans *g* Even I - who really doesn't like to display a lot of emotion in crowds (which is technically the time to do it, right?) - was screaming and was tempted to sing even. It's a very catchy song you know. Oleee! Oleee-oh-leeee! Oooo leeeee!!!!!!!!!!

I can say one thing for sure about the actual game though: HOW THE HECK DID WE END UP GOING TO SHOOTOUTS AGAINST THEM??????!!!!! Oh god, I was screaming - which no one heard admits their own booing or cheering - when that goal came in..... I actually haven' got a clue who scored. I did have seats at the end where the Halak was for most of the night but I wasn't paying attention to who scored....Argh....That was.... ick...ick....ick... And it could have been less ick if the stupid Habs hadn't let a 3 on 1 rush happen for the Sens.

The downside to watching Halak all night was that I didn't get to see the Habbies scoring too well. BUUUUUT! I saw D'Agostini score and I'm happy for the guy that he got a goal (finally). Whoopieeeee! Oo and I did get a very clear view of Kostopoulos' goal....I'm totally not complaining that Elliot should have had that one.... I got a clear view of the puck sliding past that red line. Aaaaaaaaaand.... I got a clear view of Spezza and Alfredsson messing up completely in the shootouts which was really nice, but I wish I could have see Kovalev and Lapierre get their goals.

I had to keep sitting there going "Wow.... Halak is actually there..... I'm actually staring at the guy in real life as supposed to on a TV screen. And that's actually the back of Guy Carbonneau's head I've got a good view of....." It was really weird and really cool at the same time. I was prettying high up but I could easily see the bench. It would have been a downside to not being able to see Carbo go nuts in the third period but umm, I wasn't thinking about Carbo at all *g*

Okay look, I hate the idea that we had to go to shootouts against them. The Sens fans on the radio all acted like their team was great again. News flash people: yes, your team showed signs of brilliance (I said SIGNS) but evidently you all missed out on two things. 1) the Sens stank\ in the second period big time. You're lucky that the stupid Habs couldn't get more than 1 goal in on you! 2) the Habs did roll over and die in the third period, making your lives easier. Oh and to the people who think that the Habs fans should stop singing a "soccer song"... first off... it's a "football song" and second of all, what's the big deal if we sing it? It's catchy and easy to sing and we're just going to do it more if we know it bugs other people. You want us to chant "Sens Suck" next time? Oh wait, there were people saying that already tonight.....

So as you can see, I had fun. I'll take the Habs winning any way possible if it's in Ottawa and the place is packed with Habs fans. The Habs get two points, the Sens get to feel special for taking a point, the Habs didn't exactly implode entirely, it's all good... We know that when it matters, the Habs can pull the trigger and produce sixty minutes of brilliant playing. Now, someone just has to tell them that every game matters.... But like I said, two points is two points. Take 'em or give 'em to the Sens. And bring on a better effort against.... whoever is next! Atlanta? New Jersey? Forgot....it's almost 1 in the morning and my brain is shutting down!

Oh and... how come nobody told me that Stewart was getting a try tonight? I didn't know that he was playing until I saw him on the ice...... *dies* Oh well... Didn't he get an assist on D'Agostini's goal? Or at least bonus points for trying?

The gooooooooood -

• HABS FANS ROCK. Sorry to everyone who thinks we're obnoxious...
  
• HABS WON
• Live games are fun
  
• D'Agostini scored
  
• Kovalev didn't hit the posts too many times tonight
  
• Powerplay is still oddly alive despite some seriously stinking tonight... And no, I'm not getting into whether it should have been only 4-3 or not when Kovalev scored....
  

Baaaaaad

• The noise...my ears are still ringing and my head is killing me....
  
• people who drink waaay too much during the game.... yes, I'm looking at the Sens fans sitting next to me. Then again, I can forgive them. They needed to drink to keep their minds off of how icky their team is in general
• Habs dying in the third period.... YOU NEED TO PLAY SIXTY MINUTES PEOPLE! SIXTY! And I said I wanted a resounding win!!!! I'm sure Carbo will agree with me!
  
• Umm.... was that THREE goals in SEVEN shots you let in, Halak?! *sniffles* I don't blame you for that 3 on 1 rush thing but...but.... but..... *wails*
• POWERPLAY for the rest of the game.... *kicks it*
  

Notes on the mind of a rabid Habs fan

• Habs fans like to cheer "Go Habs Go!" before the Habs even come on the ice to warm up (you know it's going to be a looooong night when only a handful of people are in the stands and they're screaming "Go Habs Go" and there's still 30 mins till the players warm up even....)
  
• Habs fans like to cheer "Go Habs Go!" at random intervals of the game
  
• Habs fans like to cheer "Go Habs Go!" when the Habs are doing well
• Habs fans like to cheer "Go Habs Go!" when the Habs are stinking
  
• Habs fans like to sing "Ole!". A lot.
  
• Habs fans like to scream a lot. Yes, you annoying kiddies who were screaming behind me! I was ready to drop kick you onto the ice but I figured as long as you scream "Go HABS Go" and not "Go Sens Go", you deserved to make some noise. And also, I was told that dropping things on the ice could get me fined or booted out. Too bad. I could have hit Spezza with a beernut thing....
  
• They also like to chant "Sens Suck" (I refrained from that).
  
• Habs fans don't shut up. They sing and sing and sing until they're out in their cars. And even then they continue as they wait to get out of the parking lot which almost resembles the traffic in the parking lot at my local shopping center...
• You can't out-chant a Habs fan. Think you can get something going by saying "Go Sens Go?" Forget it. Habs fans will ALWAYS out chant you. They come back and shout at the top of their lungs to drown out any sound that resembles "Sens"
  
• Habs fans like to boo. A lot.
  
• Habs fans took special exception to the "Big Three" doing anything on the ice. Scoring, taking the puck, skating, breathing.... You name it and the Habs will boo 'em. Well... okay... maybe not the last two... or even three.... They haven't reached the "special" treatment class yet. You have to be Briere or Grabovski for that.
• Habs fans hate the refs. Unless the refs are giving the other team penalties.... No, Habs fans don't care if it's a real penalty or not.
• Habs fans are the best fans in the whole league ^___^

And because I like to: Around the league in 30 seconds... or more depending on how much you enjoyed the idea of Boston losing...

• Yes, Boston lost. Amazing, eh? Okay so it was to the Caps.... Why can't a bad team beat the Bruins so the Habbies can move up in the standings?! I thought that Boston would win but they didn't. Hahaha.... Savard's goal in just under two minutes of the second period wasn't enough as Green answered a minute later with his 12th goal of the year. Semin would later add the game winner in the middle of the third period. No, Semin didn't get into a fight....And no, Oveckin didn't score (hmm?!). Caps had 30 shots to the Bruins 24 so I guess it would have been a pity of the Caps lost....
  
• Carolina continues their downward spiral with a 3-1 loss to the Sabres. I continue to be surprised with how badly the Hurricanes are doing... I should get over it soon...
  
• Thrashers earned a resounding 7-2 over the Predators. Yes, I said the Thrashers. No, I can't believe it either...And apparently 7 different guys got the goals.... weird....
  
• Devils beat the Islanders 3-1..... Islanders losing is getting a little bit old now...
  
• Tampa Bay wastes 3-1 lead and lost to the Panthers 4-3.... Fun....
  
• Chicago slipped past St. Louis 2-1 in shootouts....okay?
• Dallas squeaked by the LA Kings in shootouts.... more shootouts?
  
• Ducks shot down Wild 3-0. Poor Wild!
  
• San Jose and Detroit are currently 4-4 going into the third period. Sharks had 2-1 lead on the Wings before a scoring palooza in the second period equaled things out.
  
• Some weirdos called the Montreal Canadiens beat out the Ottawa Senators in shootouts....*G* yes, I'm still gloating.... reality will hit soon enough so don't ruin my fun in the mean time.....