Here we go again...



Go get your own history, 'Turds



Didn't we just see this movie?

I hated Groundhog Day. Didn't find it funny at all. Hopefully this rerun will be just as good as last Saturday night when we plopped our butts down to watch the Habs and Sens square off at the Bell Centre. Or at the very least end with the same result, a win for the good guys. 

Tonight's tilt goes down at the Scotiabank place in beautiful Kanata. Ok, so Kanata isn't really that beautiful. It's more serviceable than anything... kind of like Scotiabank Place. I've seen a number of games at that rink (only when the Habs are the visitors, of course) and every time I leave I promise myself that I won't be back. It's too difficult to get to, too much traffic, and I have to remember to bring along a good book for the walk to the rink from the parking lot. But the Habs are playing, so I'll willingly suffer.

It's another of those round, one-concourse cookie-cutter rinks that reflect the boring, bureaucratic personality of the community that it serves. The Palace in Auburn Hills is another one of those; a nondescript round building surrounded by a nondescript parking lot in the middle of a nondescript nowhere.

Scotiabank Place is also under served by what has to be the worst score clock and videoboards in the entire league. Honestly, I'd have a much better view of the replays if I were to stay at home and watch it on TV. And for a lot less money, too. And don't even get me started about the Sens hanging Stanley Cup banners for the accomplishments of the original Ottawa Senators, a successful, though long-defunct franchise that ended it's days known as the Eagles, strung up and left swinging in the wind from an old, knotty tree limb somewhere in St. Louis.

But they still have AK27, who for some reason I still like even though he has the distinct ability to play lazy, yet get payed a lot to do it.

They also have Daniel Alfredsson, who woke up from his slumber last night in Buffalo to smoke the Sabres with a hat trick, including an empty-netter, to notch his 1000th point in the NHL. Great... NOW we have to play him. And speaking of milestones, Kovy sits at 991 career points. That of course means that even though he's only got one point on the season (an assist) he'll pot 5 and assist on 4 more tonight to join his buddy Alfie in the K club.

The Habs will be looking to awake from their own slumber, having sleepwalked through Thursday night's game against the Devils. At least they should be well-rested for tonight. Puck drops at 7pm.


2010-2011 Regular Season, Game 7: Montreal at Ottawa

FIRST PERIOD:

• I'm predicting another one-gaol victory. Not sure who'll get the 2 points, though
• Brian Elliott's got a .888 Save%. Hopefully the Habs can lower that tonight by a few notches
• Kovy, skating backwards, misses a rub-out check along the boards. I guess that's whe he wasn't a defenseman
• Lots of hitting so far by Ottawa
• AK46 takes advantage of a loose puck in the slot... great wrist shot! 1-0 Habs!
• In a scramble, Ottawa forgets that they're playing hockey instead of soccer and blatantly kicks the puck into the net. No goal

The needed to do what they had to in that period, especially considering their terrible performance in their last game against New Jersey. Habs outshoot Ottawa 10-4, and lead 1-0.

SECOND PERIOD:

• You just know that Ottawa's going to come out charging after such a flat first period. They must've been read the riot act between periods
• Lovely. Chris Neil throws an elbow at Lapierre, then looks back to make sure that the referee didn't see it.
• Can the Habs find a way to keep the opposition from taking liberties with them?
• Moen robbed on a shorthanded 2-on-1, and tempers flare around the Ottawa goal
• I like that Subban seems to be making more conservative, wise decisions with the puck tonight
• Man, I LOVE hearing the ole's in the other team's rink!
• My new pet peeve this season: odd-man rushes that don't genereate a shot, never mind a scoring chance. Wasted opportunities by trying to be too fancy
• That's a money off of Pouliot's back! Powerplay just expired, Georges shot from the point off the end boards, tap in for Benny. 2-0 Habs!
• He's playing like a beast this year. AK46 sneaks in off the wing to cahs a short rebound. His 2nd of the game... 3-0 Habs! 

A chippy period, but the Habs manage to put a couple of short ones behind Elliott to move their lead to 3-0. Shots that period: Montreal with 17 (27) and Ottawa with 12 (16).

THIRD PERIOD:

• The dog keeps staring at me. I wonder what she wants?
• Uh-oh! One of our best penalty-killers in the box... Gill sits for 2 minutes
• Nice to see the Habs pushing instead of sitting back on the lead
• Subban and Georges have played solid games tonight
• Ottawa's been laying on some pressure over the last few minutes, but to no avail
• Lots of ole's and na-na hey-hey's. Sounds like a HUGE contingent of Hab fans at the game
• Stymied, the Senaturds look to goon it up with a minute left in the period. I'd like to see coaches get fined more often for this.



Benoit Pouliot celebrates his first goal of the regular season. Photo courtesy Habs Inside/Out



Sweet. Carey Price gets the shutout (his last one, almost two years ago, was also against the Sens), Andrei Kostitsyn pots two, and Benoit Pouliot gets the third. The young guns lead the way as the Habs play a great road game to beat the Sens 3-0. Shots in the 3rd were 7 for Montreal (34 total) and just 3 for Ottawa (19 total).

It's great to see AK46 coutinuing to play like his hair is on fire. I know, bad analogy considering his (lack of) hairline, but two more goals tonight and another all around great effort can't solely be chalked up to a contract year, can it? And if it can, sign him for another year. Then another. And another.

It looked to me like PK Subban was being targeted by the Sens tonight, including an unwarranted pile-on twards the end of the game. In fact, he's been in the sights of a number of teams so far this season as they try to take the rookie off of his game. And for the most part, he's handled it well, and good on him for it. It's all part of his maturation process as he becomes comfortable and learns to play defense in the NHL. He continues to learn to judiciously pick his spots to display his offensive talents, and it's becoming apparent that if he continues to show that he can take on even more responsability that he could very well be in the running for rookie of the year.

Man, I hope that I haven't just jinxed the guy.

And for the record, winning by more than one goal rocks. I don't know if my nerves (of the sanity of my dog) could have taken another close one.
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Ottawa or Nottawa?

Max Lapierre puts those boxing lessons to good use

Which Alex Kovalev will we see tonight at the Bell Centre?

Fresh off of their 2-1 win in Buffalo, the Habs will continue with their first of 15 back-to-back games as they host the Ottawa Senators tonight at in Montreal. Ottawa will me missing the services of Pascal Leclaire, who will probably be out for another week with a tweaked groin. They may also be without the services of the enigma wrapped in a riddle, Alex Kovalev. Oh, he'll be in the lineup; whether or not he chooses to contribute in any meaningful way is another matter.  

The Senators have discovered what the Habs already knew from Kovy's stint in Montreal: though immensely skilled, he's prone to floating like a body in New York's East River. Kovalev loves the city of Montreal, and has made no secret that he'd love to come back to play for the Habs. Tonight he might be on a mission to show Hab management that he should be on their wish list when considering the makeup of next year's team. That said, a little birdie tells me that Kovy could be starting the game on the fourth line.

The "stream of consciousness" entry from the game against Tampa was fun, so what the hell... let's do it again tonight.



2010-2011 Regular Season, Game Five: Ottawa vs. Montreal

First Period:

• Why does the CBC always get a shot of hot Montreal women on the screen during the anthems? Not that I'm complaining...
• Gionta with killer wheels to break in alone 1:06 in. Great deke and backhand. 1-0 Habs!
• AK46 backchecks to foil a 2-on-1. He's playing great without having to worry about little brother
• Good penalty killing as the Habs kill off a 5-on-3
• Some chances on the powerplay at the midway point of the period. No goal, though
• 4-on-2 rush, Price with the glove save, off the crossbar, Michalek gets the easy tap in. Tied at 1.
• Gionta almost cashes an easy one from in close. No dice.
• Entertaining period. Dens had the edge, though...

Second Period:

• Sens starting the period carrying the play where they left off in the 1st
• Wife rattling dishes in the kitchen. Might have to turn up the volume.
• Pouliot almost cashes one. Man, a goal would be great for his confidence
• Subban's got to start getting that point shot on goal
• Gomez drops 'em with Ruutu. More of a wrestling match than anything. He should stick to playmaking.
• Sens first shot comes halfway into the period. Bullet shot up under the crossbar. 2-1 Senaturds.
• Second shot, second goal. 3-1 Ottawa. Habs need to start doing the little things right.
• Halpern throws one out from behind the net, off a defenseman and in. Now 3-2...
• AK46 with hands of silk. The guy's come to play this year. 3-3!

Third Period:

• Ottawa's back-up to start the 3rd?
• Lots of weird bounces tonight, both from the boards and ice
• Elliott back in goal. Skate problem, methinks
• Some chances on the powerplay, but their goalie is seeing everything and no one to cash a rebound
• Did I just see Kovy backcheck? I've got to lay off of the hard stuff
• Pleks cashes a rebound of an AK46 shot. 4-3 Habs!
• Never mind the goal, Pleks has also been dominating in the faceoff circle
• Sens with an empty net, but the Habs do a great job of killing the clock. Habs win 4-3!!!

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Nice. Don Cherry on the post-game bit called Plekanec "platonic". Or at least that's what I heard. Does someone what to give him vocal lessons, or is it too late to teach that dog a new trick?
 
Good signs: Habs dominated in shots and possession; the Sens mustered only 8 shots after the first period, with only two in the third. Habs outshot them by a better than 2-1 margin. After taking the lead with four minutes to play, Habs played hard on the puck and didn't allow a shot for the rest of the game, even after the Sens pulled their goalie in favour of the extra attacker. They didn't get discouraged when down by two goals and showed a lot of mustard with the comeback win. Picard and Subban were both +3 on the night. Subban didn't make as many ill-advised forced plays this game, either. Carey Price won his first regular-season game at the Bell Centre since February.

And how about our new captain? Talk about leading by example... was ANYONE going to dog it after seeing Gionta's huge burst of speed to break in alone for that first goal early in the game? He certainly set the tone for the team effort that followed.






Price gets ready to rob The Enigma. Photo courtesy Habs Inside/Out



After five games, the Habs have now earned points in four straight games (3-1-1) for seven points, with a four day rest before meeting the Devils at the Bell Centre Thursday night. And there's a possibility that Andrei Markov could return that night (that sound you heard was the powerplay saying thank-you). A big concern was how the team would weather his absence. Save for the powerplay, so far they've done fine. Maybe they can practice it with Markov during their off days so that they can hit the ground ice running when he returns.
 
As for The Countinuing Saga of Kovy, well, he was pretty non-existent for most of the game. He managed a couple of shots on goal, but looked like he was skating in mud and did nothing to silence his critics. Was tonight an audition for a possible return to Montreal next season? He'd hardly be worth the $1 that he said he'd play for. Give me the 'Kovy who Kares', and we'll talk.
 
Yikes... the "Leafisation" of the CBC continues. First Bob Cole is introduced as a Leaf during their opening night ceremonies, now they're going to be airing Toronto Marlies games. To be fair, they must have some dead air to fill because even the bigwigs at Mother Corp must realize that NOBODY goes to Marlies games. What makes them think that they'll watch on TV? 
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