Peach Fuzz wins me over

But first I have one thing to say......

Oh my god. Roger Federer just beat Rafael Nadal. On clay. In Madrid. What. The. Hell.

For those of you who don't know.... the More-Adorable-Version-of-Crosby never beats the Ovie of tennis on clay courts. Never. Except for that one time in Hamburg a couple of years ago. The Ovie of tennis has an amazingly wickedly sick record on clay (try three loses in four years). He doesn't lose on clay. And he doesn't lose at home in Spain. Hell, the MAVC has not beaten the Ovie since.... well, it's been a while, let's put it that way. So yes. WAY TO GO ROGER! Yes, Djokovic probably did half the work for you by pooping out Nadal, but yeah. You won and deserved it. Congrats Roger =) For today, you are the hero for downing the Clay Monster. Way to go.

Now back to hockey...

So the Hawks lost in what looked too much like the very first time I saw Detroit play. You know, the first game of the Stanley Cup finals last year... where they blanked the Puffles? While the Wings didn't blank the Hawks, it was one of those games where you go "do they really have to play that well?" It was a statement game by the Wings. They're reminding the Hawks just who's boss. If it wasn't for Crabby Khabby then it would have probably been 10-2 for the Wings. Not kidding here. The Wings completely dominated the game and looked freakishly scary doing it. You just had to sit there and go ".....oh dear.....if they played like this maybe they could repeat?"

In the strange mind of EP that means that she's going for the Hawks now.

So Peach Fuzz Kane didn't do anything that I noticed. In fact I spent most of the game looking around for him.

But I think I like this team. I think. I think me saying "Peach Fuzz" all day today was what made me like them. I mean, how can you not like a guy who's called "Peach Fuzz"? Granted nobody but me knows who Peach Fuzz is but who cares? People are only now starting to get who Puffy and Eggplant are. And I'm not even sure about Eggplant. But still... It was so refreshingly nice to see someone's face other than Puffy's that I just had to go and be a fan. Especially when said face has peach fuzz instead of a crap excuse for a "beard". Yes, peach fuzz wins over the ugly "wannabeard" that Puffy has. Anybody but the Puffy! Please. For the love of hockey. Anybody but the Puffy.

Okay. I'm clearly beyond tired now because sane and awake people don't pick teams based on their playoff beards, right? right. Or that's just my very immature side coming out again. But yeah. Peach Fuzz Kane for the Cup, baby!

One day I will learn not to write up these things when I'm half asleep....

Note: from here on end, Peach Fuzz will refer only to Patrick Kane and not the entire Blackhawks team.

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....

Habs zap Bolts in SO

Pre-game rant:

Now. I know what happened last time I compared the teams on paper so I'm not going to do it this time. Let's just say this:

• despite stinking big time, the Lightning are looking for their FOURTH win in a row. That's still two more than the Habs can say for themselves (thanks stupid game against Carolina) and considering the losers are in 28th place....they shouldn't be stringing that many wins in a row. You can thank a pathetic display of hockey from Pittsburgh and Florida for those.
• The Lightning completely embarrassed the Habs in Habsville last time these two met. I personally would like to see revenge taken. And I'm hoping the rest of the team wants that too.
  
• If the Habs win, it would go some ways to trying to consolidate their place (4th) in the conference. Let's not forget that the Bruins still have over ten points on us.
  
• While the Habs just played last night, the good news is Tampa Bay is a lot closer to Sunrise than say... Newark is. Less travel time is good. I'm still hoping that they'll be motivated to win tonight.

Later:

Habs sweep Florida. Kinda.

Well... that wasn't quite what I had in mind but I guess a win is a win. Then again, the fact that the Habs had to go to shootouts against a team ranked 28th in the league is not very nice. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

It was clear that the nice warm Florida weather had done something to the Habs brains from the moment that they stepped on to the nice. They were severely outworked by the Bolts for most of the game. The first period was an absolute mess with both teams taking four penalties. Oh and the plexiglass or whatever it's made of wall things around the arena are clearly not made to stand up to people being slammed into them - I believe it was Tanguay who got rammed into the boards and then promptly didn't show up for the rest of the game - and one fell out 'causing a loooong delay which had me screaming. Actually, what really got me screaming was how awful the Bolts goalie was in the first period. He must have provided the Habs with at least a gazillion chances to score which included losing the puck on a clearly attempt and leaving a WIDE OPEN NET for the Habs to promptly not score in. He gave up a lot of rebounds which no one picked up on either. Of course who lets in the first goal? Why not the terrible goalie but Price! And how does Price let in said goal? You tell me. Malone - aka the guy that Pittsburgh should have kept - takes a shot or whatever... or a pass... which ends up on the stick of Prospal who is standing ALONE in front of Price and a half open net. Score.

Well, no matter. the Habs wonderful offense will get another goal or five and flatten them, right? Wrong. The offensive was sleepy and the Bolts defense was actually good. This resulted in the Habs seemingly being unable to keep the puck in the other zone. I had to sit through forty minutes and forty six agonizing minutes before the Habs finally punished Smith for not so good plays and put the puck over him and into the net. Oh and yes, that was Latendresse who got the goal whith the assists going to Lapierre and Kostopoulos. That was it from the scoring department however. I will say this though, the third period was a lot better for the Habs. A lot better. They had every opportunity to win the dumb game in regulation and OT. They only took one penalty and seemed more focused. Could have had something to do with that goal... See what no penalties and scoring goals does for your moral? You should do that more often!!!!!!!!

Anyway, over time solved nothing and it was shoot out time. Now, given how Smith had been for most of the night - okay, okay, so in the third period he came up with some big saves. Yeah, yeah. - and given the Bolts track record in shootouts (2-6 before tonight), I wasn't completely worried but shootouts give me a heart attack anyway. Memo to self: write up a rant on why shootouts should be gone forever. Jokinen went first and put it past Price in what I have to admit was nice enough goal. Thankfully Kovalev put the cheers from the poor Floridians to rest with a nice goal past Smith. Why couldn't you have done that earlier in the game?! And from there on it was all over for the Bolts. Price stopped Prospal who kind of shot the puck right at him while Lapierre sank Smith and effectively ended the game. Well, okay, so Lacavalier could have been the hero and extended the Bolts chance at winning but Price stopped him too so it was byebye Bolts.

And Carbo and I could finally breath a sigh of relief and be happy that the Habs escaped with this win. Now. Get some rest. And come back and put up a much better effort against the Devils. You're going to need it.

The good:

• Um... the shootouts? And I guess the effort was better in the third period.
  
• I like the effort put worth by the Lapierre/Latendresse/Kostopoulos line. I've heard people talk about how Lapierre makes up for his lack of skill by the incredibly effort he just puts in almost every game. Now, can you imagine what type of team the Habs would be if the "more talented" guys put in the same type of effort?
• I liked how Markov single handedly stopped a three on one attempt at a goal by the Bolts. Why it was three on one, I'm not sure... but yeah. Yay for Markov.

The bad:

• I'm too tired to list them all. The whole effort from the Habs for most of the game could have been better.
  
• the power play is non existent again. Carbo, please do something about this. I lost count on how many times the Bolts nearly got a shorthanded goal.
  
• the penalties hurt the Habbies too.
  
• Brisebois. 'nuff said.
  
• Tanguay leaving the nice with a possible injury. NO MORE INJURED PLAYERS PLEASE!
  

The interesting:

• Someone thought that it would be a good idea to hit Smith. I seriously can't remember who it was. Latendresse maybe? I don't think so. Well, he promptly got beaten to an almost pulp for that. Though I suspect that if the roles had been reversed and someone had done that to Price then they would be in the hospital right now. C'mon... If Plekanec can go insane over the mere fact that someone tried too hard to get the puck off of Price can you imagine what he would do if someone hit him? Yeah. Lights out.
  
• I didn't notice this last time but tonight the Bolts seemed to play a very physical game almost Flyers-like. Well okay... not quite.. but yeah....
  

The very strange:

• Did anyone see Prospal's reaction when he got that goal past Price? He looked like a guy who had been playing for twenty years and had just scored his first NHL goal. For the records, that was his seventh this season. He must have been so devastated when his shootout attempt failed miserably.
• Speaking of reactions.... Price pulls a Roger-Federer-at-the-US-Open and displays some emotion after winning! Isn't that awesome?
  

IN OTHER NEWS THAT YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT!

• Wings blank Blackhawks. Not good news for that whole outdoor thing but maybe the Blackhawks will put up a better effort, yes? I would hope so.
  
• Leafs actually win one against... the Thrashers. Wow. I'm so impressed. Yeah, I get (more) sarcastic at 12:00 at night.
• Poor Dustin Tokarski - you know, the guy who's one of Team Canada's goalies - just got signed to a 3 year entry level thing by the... Bolts.... well, they could use a good goalie I guess. I haven't seen Tokarski fall on the ice while he was just standing there doing nothing.
• Bruins skate over Pens. Not very cool but not exactly unexpected. Can someone though, please tell me where Crosby and Malkin have gone lately? The only Pens to score were Sykora and Dupuis (who's goal I saw. It was really nice). I've said this before but for the sake of being uncreative I'll say it again: I'm no fan of Crosby but he needs to step it up if the Pens have hope in hell of not finishing fourth in their division.
  
• Team USA routs Team Kazakhstan 12-0. Canada did better.
• The Hammies aka the Mini Habbies blanked the Baby Leafs the other day. Nyah!
  

I love Christmas...with a couple of exceptions...

Apart from the nice happy holiday stuff (in which Santa Hab was very nice to moi), I like the Christmas presents that I got - albeit a tad late - from various teams. Let's see.....

1. The Islanders beat the Maple Leafs 4-1. I guess the Leafs are still on Holiday break. Oh well. Isn't that smashing though? Eat that Leafs!
2. Penguins shut out the Devils 1-0. Yay for Fleury. Yes, I'm still hoping that they all implode tomorrow. Sowwy. No idea what type of game that was.
   
3. Chicago beat the Flyers 5-1. Not a huge fan of the Blackhawks but yeah, it's always nice to read about the Flyers losing so yay!
   
4. Team Canada smashed the poor Czech Republic 8-1. They got off to a rocky start and the Czechs held them off until there was about 30 or something seconds left in the first period and guess who scored on the powerplay... with a really nifty goal.... Yeah, Tavares. And that, everyone, was the beginning of the end for the Česká republika. A whole host of players brought the tally to 5-0 after the second. Some point in here, the Czech's switched goaltender Tomas Vosvrda out and replaced him with Dominik Furch. Unfortunately, Furch did not do too much better than Vosvrda and by the the time the last three or so minutes came it was 8-0 for the host team. Their one goal was due to a mistake by Canadian goalie Dustin Tokarski who's attempt at clearing the puck resulted in the Czechs taking it and scoring on him before he was fully back in place. Minor blip over all, but something that team Canada may want to be careful of when they play next time - then again, if the Kazakh junior team is anything like their men's team then there really shouldn't be an issue. The Czechs hardly seemed to touch the puck al night. A perfectly sad example of that was when Tavares set up one of the goals. He took the puck off of one of the Czech players who was trying to get out of his own end like he wasn't even there, passed it, and there went another goal. It was nice if you were team Canada wanting to make an impression 'though I'm sure it was a reeaaallly loooong night for the Czechs.
   
   In other news:
   
   Canada wasn't alone in the mauling department. The U.S.A ran over the newly promoted Germany 8-2. That's to be expected and I expect another fairly high score when they take on the Czechs next.
   
   Russia downed Lativia 4-1. No scoring by Nikita Filatov although apparently he did well. A good start for the Russians for sure, though apparently their goalie could be a lot better. By contrast, Latvia's goalie kept the score from easily reaching double digits. Should be interesting to see how the Russians do against Finland next.
   
   Sweden is off to an so-so start after edging past archrivals Findland 3-1. That third goal came on an empty net. Apparently the Swedes didn't do so well after the first period. Oh well. Better news for Canada then. Mind you, I expect that the Swedes will aim for a better game when they take on Slovakia on Sunday.
   
5. Chelsea beat West Bromwich Albion with a nice score of 2-0. Then again, their opponents were sitting in the bottom of the premier league. But moving on...If the stats are anything to go by, the Blues were in complete control for most of the game with 25 shots on goal. Drogba and Lampard netted the ball in the 3rd (?!!!!!!!) and 45th minutes of the game. Lovely.
   
6. Liverpool remains at the top of the league, however, with a resounding 3-0 over tenth placed Bolton. Is it just me or have the Reds done something similar before? Oh yeah, they have. Anyway, I'm still waiting for Torres to get back into the lineup again before I really start taking a huge interest in Liverpool but as it is, I still love the Reds. So thanks Riera and Keane for getting those goals.

Random note: It just dawned on me that the colours for the three football teams that I follow are red, white and blue... like the habbies!

I was NOT happy to hear that the Habbies called up Max Pacioretty and Kyle Chipchura. I've got nothing against these guys in general, it's just that call ups mean injuries and that's bad. In this case though, I believe Chipchura is here to replace Maxwell - and it really should have been Chipchura called up instead of D'Agostini AND/OR Maxwell but he was injured at the time - and Pacioretty is just here in case Andre Kostitsyn can't play tomorrow night despite practicing with the Habs in Penguinville. I would much prefer a healthy and motivated Kostitsyn to Pacioretty at this point. Again, I've got nothing against Pacioretty but I wouldn't mind jump starting the rest of this season with a good win over the Pens and let's face it, Kostitsyn is more qualified for that job than Pacioretty is. We shall see what happens.... Oh and Laraque who probably would have sat this one out anyway, will be out again with more groin issues. Jeez, this guy is proofing to be worse tha Marian Gaborik is for the Wild. And at least Gaborik does something when he's on the ice!