TECHNICALITIES

OK so I had a bone to pick with the so called almighty Square Pants last night during our regular round of golf. He had promised me a win, and I wanted some answers. Being the ever so powerful and knowledgeable being he is, he corrected me and got off on a technicality. If I may quote from my post yesterday:

[i]… Brisebois is back in the line-up, replacing our (currently) only defensive liability Gorges…[/i]

A scratched player, mainly Bouillon, due to the cheapo hit in the dying seconds of overtime against the Pens was an unexpected part of the equation. The almighty, being as virtuous as he is, felt bad for leaving me high and dry and assured me he would make it up on Saturday against the Mapleturds.

With that said, what kind of a lazy, uninspired, down right poopooesque first period was that! :blink: I was hoping we could go through the whole season without having to do this, but 11 games in to the season, I am left with no other choice.

[b]HeeeeeeeeeeeeeerE's Jerry!:[/b] here’

[i]Last year I decided to make a small skating rink in the back yard. With some help from the neighbours, we put together a half size rink, with boards and everything! It proved to be a great idea and entertained us all winter.

I’m thinking back to a particular event. It was a snow covered Saturday morning; with no one to be seen on the roads. It was peaceful, and beautiful. Out of nowhere popped out a squirrel. I recognized this squirrel. This was the squirrel that ripped apart my BBQ cover, and tore the filter off the top of my deep fryer to feast on the sweet juicy vapors of fries, fish sticks, onion rings and stuffed jalapeño peppers. Lets call this squirrel, for argument sake, Jerry. Jerry cost me a new BBQ cover and a new deep fryer. I did not like Jerry.

I saw Jerry hop and skip through the snow. He was trying to get to a half eaten hot dog on the other side of the rink, and decided to take a short cut through the rink. Little did he know squirrels can’t skate.

Jerry stepped on to the rink, took three steps and then began to flop around the ice like Hashek makes saves. The poor thing had no idea what was going on and was frantically flopping his little feet about trying to get a grip, bouncing back and forth off the boards like a little furry puck on a ice hockey table. I watched him go through this fish on ice routine for about 15 minutes before I decided to go down and “help” him out of the rink. Poor Jerry must have been so tired, and hungry for that hot dog. That would explain why he took the poison right out of my hand. That was the end of Jerry.

There is a moral to this story. That little furry rabies carrying it devil I call Jerry showed more energy on the ice that the whole HABS team last night, and that’s all that needs to be said about that game.[/i]

MULLIGAN, SMULLIGAN…LET’S MAKE SOME HISTORY

I don't think I have been the only person fretting this game tonight due to the record of the opposing team. The Atlanta Thrashers are 3-8 and are currently hogging the Leafs spot at the bottom of the Eastern Conference barrel. However this team is far superior to what their record indicates, and the fact that they are 3-2 in their last five shows that this team is just starting to catch its stride, and we sure don't want to be caught along the way. It would be easy to take the Thrashers lightly and go down early, loose confidence and tumble down that oh so familiar slippery slope to a loss.

With that said, the all mighty Sponge Bob visited me in a dream last night, as he usually does where we play a round of golf in which the golf balls are mini Maple Leaf player, and the holes are filled with hot boiling oil, and we have a cheering section following us around mainly composed of Angelina Jolie, Heidi Cloom, that chick from Underworld, and Youppi (yeah...that one threw me off too :blink:). In any case he told me if I win this round, the HABS continue their winning streak. In many ways, thanks to the Holy Sponge Bob taking repeated mulligan on Tucker's face, I won by 11 strokes (my lucky # and our Captains jersey #...must be a sign). So the all mighty said this one's in the bag, and I believe him...let me tell you why.

First off Brisebois is back in the line-up, replacing our (currently) only defensive liability Gorges. Furthermore, Jesus Price (a.k.a. the Great Wall of Montreal) will be making his first appearance at the Bell Center, and you can bet you last buck they boys will be extra motivated to give him the win. As far as special teams go, Montreal is ranked first with a 30.4%, which will go against Atlanta’s PK ranked second to last in the league with a 71% efficiency. I like those numbers, especially given the fact that Atlanta is one of the more penalised teams in the league (7th overall) with 62 penalties (6.2 per game). It doesn’t take a genius to figure out there is a high likelihood of 2-3 PP goals in Montreal’s favour tonight…but that’s just the numbers. It could be 0 or it could be 6.

As far as the team’s approach to the game is concerned, I don't believe this locker room is taking the opposition lightly. Several players (mainly vocal leaders in the locker room) have stated publicly on several occasions that the Thrashers are a much better team than what their record indicates, and that since the change behind the bench they are far superior and cohesive on the ice. So the team has their game face on, and that pretty much guarantees the win, because we're at home, we have the final change, and as long as Markov and Komisarek are on the ice, Kovalchuk’s line (incidentally the only real danger) is mute especially with the support of the likes of Smolinski, Chipchura, Dandenault, Kostopoulos and Begin.

I was cautious, timid and somewhat worried coming into this game tonight, however following my round of golf with the all might square pants him self, my mind is at ease. I'm looking forward to this game as yet another historical moment I will be watching live as Price makes his debut at the Bell Center and does it in style with a.......do I dare say......the "s" word!.

UNDERDOGS WOULD BE AN UNDERSTATEMENT

We begun the pre-season with experts ranking the HABS at around 10th in the East with most of them confident the HABS were a weaker team and would miss the playoffs completely. Some of us, including yours truly, could not comprehend how anyone could consider this team weaker on paper or on the ice, compared to last year, given the importance of maturing juniors, and our improved blue line, as well as our more experienced and enlightened coaching staff.

Currently we have been bumped up to 9th in the East on the Power Rankings, just ahead of Boston. Eight of the ten games we have played so far this season have been against teams ranked higher than us (and Boston) in the experts’ opinions and we have accumulated 12 out of a possible 16 points in these match-ups.

This means two things:

1) It’s good to know I’m not as crazy and delusioned as I was beginning to think given the discrepancy of opinions of the team between my self and my MNers, versus the experts and a pocket of consistently pessimistic fans.

2) If I was looking for “expert” hockey advice, at this point I would be more likely to speak to the Crazy Cat Suit Man.

For those of you who are new to the thread, or don’t remember my psychic friend, I’m sure Kindred would be kind enough to re-post my antics with Crazy Cat-Suit man from last year. He seems to have re-appeared with the cold snap running through the town, so we can look forward to more ludicrous, but accurate predictions by the louder and stinkyer version of my good friend.

TWO FOR TWO…STICK THAT IN YOUR PIPE AND SMOKE IT!:

It blows my mind how a team can go through such a test, two road games back to back, against two of the top teams in the East mind you, win them both and still criticized for being a terrible team. There is room for improvement and weaknesses to mitigate, however picking up four out of four points given the circumstances and the match-up in our last two is nothing short of an astonishing achievement.

Playing two games in a row against 110% offensive minded teams undeniably exposes a teams weaknesses, and we are all well aware by now what ours are. The “killer instinct” to finish off teams or keep them down when they are in a desperate place is a must have for any cup contender, and we showed lack of it on both games. Furthermore, during both games, we did not continue our successful formula of keeping the puck deep in their zone behind the goalie, and punishing their defensemen, which effectively terminated any offensive plays and chances before they even begun. Once we established a cushion of goals, we stopped finishing our checks, and backed away from the dump/chase, stop & go style of hockey which has been winning games. With that said, we did have a unique schedule this past 24 hours, and in both cases this was a direct result of saving energy/fatigue. Does the schedule justify the errors by the team…no. Does it excuse for these two games…yes. The coaching staff, and most fans, can overlook the lack of 60 minutes of consistent play, however we would all expect them to get back on to their horses and play a full game on Tuesday against the Thrashers (another offensive minded team).

Is it just me, or does Cindy Crybaby have a crush on Kovalev? In our last game he was trying to dry hump him in the corner, and yesterday I saw him trying to undress poor Kovalev on the ground. I wonder what his wife thinks of that?

There is no hiding the fact that Carey Price let in a soft goal to let the Pens back in the game. Some may choose to critique him for that, but one has to keep in mind that he is a rookie goalie who doesn’t see consistent ice time, and is learning. What it important about Price is his attitude. After letting in that goal, he didn’t loose his calm demeanour, got back in net and did his best impression of a brick wall. This was further highlighted by his composed and almost tranquil performance in the shootout. As a fan watching from the comfort of my own home I though I suffered no less than three heart attacks and might have soiled my self several times….on each penalty shot coming our way. Price on the other hand had this divine composure that was almost eerie and just down right cool. The force is strong in this one!

Other notable items…did anyone else notice that blond behind the Pens bench….that’s two in two nights…we’re blessed people.

Also…to HHN and mateus….now we’re 4-0 since the creation of you know what…at you know where…I think we might have something here.

ONE DOWN ONE MORE TO GO

Well our first two games in two nights stretch, and it got off to a good start. Despite some fans and their criticism of the team, here are some facts to keep in mind:

• We won the game.
• We won against a hot team (they have earned points in seven games in a row).
• We just beat the number two ranked team in the Eastern Conference.
• We won a game on the road.
• We shut down completely the third ranked power play in the league.
• We have won three in a row.
• We scored 14 goals in those three games.
• Our power play continues to dominate and is currently ranked 1^st in the league (leading by a huge margin of 5.6% between 1^st and 2^nd).
• Despite criticism of the team 5 on 5, we continued to have several good chances and shoot the puck at the net (another 30+ night).

Over and above this reality, let us keep in mind that the win came in such a manner that the players did not over-exude them selves. Some could argue the team disappeared after the first, and no one can argue that we gave Canes a small window of a chance to get back as a result of laying off. However with a four goal lead and a demoralised home team, you can be sure that everyone was thinking of conserving some juice for tonight’s match against Cindy Crybaby. Thanks to a parade of power play goals in the first period, I think we will be able to play three periods and push till the very end without the effects of fatigue.

On another note, it’s nice to see Kovalev continue on this run of his as a leader, scorer, quarterback of power plays, etc... Yes I know he still has his critics out there, but these are people who also complain about the win last night and the earth’s gravitational pull.

And this post would not be complete without mentioning Bouillon standing up for Huet in the second on that disallowed goal. Such gestures are imperative to the chemistry of a team. Others in the locker room will roll off of such responses, and the camaraderie will tighten with each passing game and practice.

In summary the team played a solid game, but I didn’t see the HABS doing anything differently. They had the same game plan and did the exact same thing they have been implementing since the beginning of the year. The details are slowly being tightened, and indiscipline penalties are being reduced (11^th least penalised team in the league, up from 28^th last year). Although the team was a total -6 last night, we outscored the opposition, by three mind you, and that’s all that counts at the end of the day. The statistic definitely shows what the team needs to improve on, however there is nothing wrong with depending on power plays to win games. Penalties, power plays and special teams are all part of the game, and in the new NHL they are a significant part of it. Complaining about the +/- ratio of the team after that performance is as dumbfounding and ludicrous a concept as calling Raycroft an NHL calibre starting goalie. I feel pity for someone who cannot get past such arguments, because this mentality leads to consistent disappointments, let down and despair. Me on the other hand, I had a blast watching that game last night, and I look forward to another solid (yet very tough) game tomorrow.

Some notable items from the RBC Center. Anyone else notice the cute blond in the pink shirt behind the Canes bench? How about the cameraman standing at the end of the Canes bench wearing a shiny black helmet? More importantly, how cool is it that they serve beer in bottles at the RBC Center arena? Gotta give the Caniacs credit for that one.

MAPLE LEAFS NEED TO BE MORE CONSISTENT

Unbelievable those Maple turds. They loose to Atlanta, than pummel the Pens! What kind of inconsistency is this! They should be loosing ALL their games…but JFJ must have more tricks up his sleeve, obscure contracts, washed up players to sign and all in all garbage to add to the compost heap some people call the Maple Leafs.

We have back to back games for the first time this season. It should be a good test for the youngster, because they will be expected to step up tomorrow and continue skating hard all the way into the third, while the vets stroke their boo-boos from tonight’s physical game. I expect it to be a tough battle, and the HABSydoodles will definitely show more grit than the home opener we had against them. I think/believe/hope that we were a tad nervous during our home opener, which is why we dropped the game, but given our consistent play recently and the plentiful rest we’ve had, I would hope the third and fourth lines to tenderize the Caniacs, and Kovalev to spark it up on his 1000^th game in the NHL (only the half way mark in his career claims Kovy…oh Kovy….quit the dope).

So what else is there to say but GO HABS GO, here’s hoping Crystalballs or Jesus Price has a whale of a game and gets our first shut-out (though unlikely against the Canes) and that Komisarek finishes what he started the last game against Brin d’Amour, crunches him into the boards a few times, and helps him put his face back to “normal” (again highly unlikely…that face is waaaay beyond repair).

APPRECIATION FOR MN

Every morning we rush into the MN thread to do our updates. I usually see HHN and CH logged in doing their posts, results and reports, while I do my best to fight my hangover and try to figure out what I can moan and grown about in the day’s post. Later on in the morning we get the wave of scouting reports, stats and predictions. Than during the afternoon the late night birds wake up, and complete the scouting reports, post their predictions, HTL has a side-splitting back and forth with HHN that lacks any form of cohesion or meaning unless you are well versed in their special language and/or are partaking in a “special” form of medication that makes your stapler look edible, and couch feel softer than a baby’s hair conditioned with mango extract.

Further to the daily rush, there is continuous improvements to the thread, one of which is the new NL standings board and the new MN scoreboard who have their great unveiling today thanks to HHH’s wonderful work. If you haven’t thanked him publicly already, make sure you let your appreciation be known, because he had to put up with my impracticable demands and continuous irritating request that would put any dictator to shame, and he did this all through exam periods while creating various formats to try and cater to our selfish need. The thread is a better place thanks to his efforts, and his title of MN-Artist is well deserved.

During slumps the MN thread is a heaven from the pessimistic Epsilons and the arm chair GMs who have the solution to all our problems in the form of sacrificial lambs, voodoo spells, magical gems or just trading the whole team including the coach, GM, owner and mascot. During long stretches between games, it gives us a place to discuss real issues and significant impact to the team, without being sucked into a pissing-match about a detail, or a definition or the type of drawers a player prefers.

There are two reasons I’m bringing all this up. First off it’s been so long since the last game, Kovalev is not being picked on by the media, and so there is nothing else to talk about. Secondly, yesterday I was amused and disturbed in an exchange between two forum users in another thread. It went on for about two pages about a statistical definition. Despite their best attempts, the argument was clearly about semantics and egos. It proved to be good for a laugh until the argument came to a point where one side argued they’re correct because their job title superseded the other side, and someone got flamed for debating with researched knowledge. Now I’m not one to judge a persons argumentative style, however I will say that male ego is unmistakably present in many posters’ responses. The inability to disagree, distinguish opinions from fact, and take constructive criticism with a grain of salt, leads to many of these unpleasant exchanges which, IMO, clogs up the threads, and gets many valuable forum users in trouble.

Whether it has to do with the culture in the MN thread, or the nature of its current users leading by example, or whether it was sheer luck, we’ve had three years of troll/flamer/egoistic free users in this thread. I know I’m not the only one who appreciated this safe haven we call the MN thread during the dire months we had following the holidays last season. For a while it seemed like not a single poster outside the thread had something good to say about the team, administration and organisation.

This thread is what it is thanks to its users, and I would like to thank all of you, whether you’re involved in keeping it running, whether you drop in just for predictions, or whether you’re just a reader. It is thanks to the camaraderie and the mutual respect we all assert to one another that this place is as peaceful and courteous as it is. So do HLD a favour this morning and give your selves a pat on the back.

FREE AGENT SIGNINGS SHINE FOR HABS

The free agency market this summer did not yield the expected results for most fans and the administration, however in retrospect our free agent acquisitions have turned out to be more than impressive. Hamrlik has proven by now to all the critics that compared to the previous owner of #44, what he lacks in offensive power he more then makes up in defensive plays. For anyone who is even remotely thinking of arguing this point, just stop...don't hurt your self...here's a free math lesson from HLD:

In a game that would have finished 3-3 in regulation, with a power play goal scored from the point by Souray to tie it in the last minutes is last year's scenario.

Not having that power play goal, but keeping two from going in on our end due to a failed transition play, and a best attempt at a pylon impression would yield a 2-1 win for the HABS.

If you still don't get it, -1 + 2 = +1....still lost? Than just accept the fact that in the balance of things, Hamrlik has proven to be more value added to the team so far this season than "the Don".

Smolinski is a proven NHLer, celebrating his 1000th game with many more to come. He has proven to be a more than adequate replacement for Bonk (not to take anything away from Bonk's superb shut down capabilities).

So how about our Greco Roman wrestler disguised as hockey player? Is Kostopoulos the value added, energy filled leader we've been told he is, or should we just call him Gyro with a side order of Greek salad since he'll be another flavour of the year and disappear into the mist like many other hockey players did after playing in Montreal?

You might have a differing opinion on #6, but in my very useless and humble opinion Kostopoulos is and will be an integral part of the team, and can have a long presence in Montreal. He has many qualities comparable to his occasional line mate Begin. He's full of energy, grit and intensity. Every time he steps on the ice he has the demeanour of a hockey player on his very last shift. By the time he gets back on the bench he’s got nothing left in the tanks, and this shows he does exactly what is asked of him. He hurts the opposing D, causes several turnovers both in the neutral zone and deep in the opposing zone, and he let's his presence be known to all when he's skating. So far we're agreed (if you agree with me) that scotch tastes good, down with broccoli and Kostopoulos is an A1 model of an energy player.

Now here's what makes him extra special. As much as we all love Begin's style, energy and intensity, he lacks in scoring talent. Not that this is expected from him, but it's always nice to have some skills in those hands. Kostopoulos (OK his name is getting tiresome to write...can I just call him K?)...K has shown that he's got some skills. He's no Chris Neil, but the 2 on 1 with Begin against Boston showed clearly that K possesses a good vision of the play, patience, calm nerves and some soft hands because that pass was threaded to the tape with a 0 margin for error.

So K's an energy player, with skills, at a great price. But the ultimate question is whether he can survive this pressure cooker we call Montreal and its media/fan frenzy. He started off the season promisingly, and was flying under the radar until the Ottawa game. His lazy zone clearing attempt in the third single handedly cost us a point or two...there's no hiding that fact. A whole game of effort, and solid play by the whole team gone down the composter because of 5 seconds of lack in concentration from one player. Come Saturday, playing against Buffalo, he started the game as if nothing had happened, and continued with his inspiring level of play. Same thing on Monday. This level of maturity he's shown by publicly accepting the blame, than forgetting about the negatives, going out and bringing his “A” game the very next day is what makes this guy extra special. All players will make mistakes and/or go through slumps. Only the better ones can roll with the punches and recover asap. In my books special-K is so far an integral part of the team, and will continue to be so. Kostopoulos is the type of player that cannot single handedly win a cup for a team, but is the type of player that a team cannot win a cup without. I for one hope he stays with us for a long while (especially at his price tag) and help us in our journey to #25

SIX SHOOTER NOT DRAWING BLANKS

Knock two more off the MN! Knock two more off the MN! Knock two more off the MN! Knock two more off the MN! Knock two more off the MN! Knock two more off the MN!

How often do we score six goals…I had to indulge. Last night’s performance finally gave us a cushion and a more relaxed last five minutes than we have been presented thus far in the season. Last night’s game however, was no different than any other game we’ve played so far as far as the team strategy, intensity and level of errors are concerned. This is something I have been trying to reiterate to all the pessimists out there who believe we will be going through our regular post holidays slump. The 2007-2008 HABS have shown a level of play which is modest, tight, cursed with continuous minor errors, but all in all a defensively solid team. Unlike the fireworks we saw early last year, this year’s team has proven to be a lot more evenly spread out with respect to its performance. The level of intensity is high, but not dramatically high where expectations of keeping it up for 82+ games are unrealistic. Furthermore, the random brain farts that have, do and will occur are further masked by a solid defensive core and consistent goaltending.

What I’m trying to say is the way te team has been playing is such that we can keep up with any team, and keep it up all the way to the end. The fact that 14 different players contributed to the score last night is testimony to the fact that this team does not rely on any one player to perform consistently night in and night out to be able to bring home the points. Furthermore we have promising youngster waiting in the flanks to jump in at any time, and the coach has shown that his patience won’t be as forgiving as last year when it comes to under performing and slumps.

I still believe, as I did prior to the beginning of the season, that this team will beyond any shadow of a doubt make the playoffs. Furthermore, as long as we are not faced with a hot team in the first round, and Price continues gradual entry into the number one spot in nets with expected results, this team can finally breach the first round and maybe more. The talent is there, the lines are there, the goalies are there and most importantly the team does not have an Achilles heel. The fate of many top tier teams depend on the likes of Crosby, Lecavalier, Brin D’Amour, etc…but the HABS have the true makings of a hockey team that can continuously and consistently perform for almost 100 games (pre-season and post season). That’s a lot of games to be played with my team’s future on one line’s hands.

On that note, I would like to further elaborate on my views on the impact of the third and fourth lines, with special emphasis on Kostopoulos who deserves some praise for not letting up after making a costly mistake and continuing his inspiring level of play. With the unfortunate break of four days between games, I’ll leave that for tomorrow.

And on a final note, I would like to mention once again the power play. At this point I don’t have to say much, we all know how well we’re performing (2^nd in the league with 26.8% - only 0.2% behind first). I was given more than a lot of grief this summer on the boards, when I came in defending our power play and the impact of Souray leaving. I was further ridiculed when I argued that Kovalev and Markov had as much if not more impact on the power play than did Souray (not to take anything away from the Don, his shot was hard, precise and opened up a lot of ice in the slot for the forwards). Now I’m not a petty man, but the type of names I was called and given results I just had to say NAAA NA NA NAAA NAAAA!

HOCKEY, FAMILY, DOG AND RACOONS

Our regular Tuesday night game has been bumped up to Monday, and our regular Thursday game has been bumped back to Friday. End result is a loooong week, a tough game on Friday after getting cold, and another tough game against a hungry team with the HABS facing the two games in 24 hours fatigue factor. It also means I have to spend my weekday evenings this week interacting with.....the family ....in an attempt to help the agonising and painful non game nights to go by.

No hockey and all family make HLD go crazy! I suppose this would be a good time to continue with my research project, which was initiated to try and answer an age old question: How much beer does a racoon have to drink to pass out before making it out of my lawn. So far we're up to a full bottle with no results. Not only does this show that the Canadian racoon makes this nation proud in its fermented yeast tolerance capabilities, but it also means that this rabies wielding wild rodent has put my dog to shame. The HLD family’s dog, companion and protector hasn’t made it past half a bottle of beer before hurling a projectile that would make Chris Farley proud, making sweet sweet love to the cat's litter box and finally passing out upside down and stretched out half way down the stairs with its legs up in a possum like manner and drool hanging out further than it’s tongue. His only saving grace is that waking up hung-over in the morning, he's as lazy, if not more so, than his drinking companion/owner. On any other morning he would be waking me up in bed, leash in mouth, and tail in wag. Hung-over however, walking is the least of his priorities, and in an ultimate testimony to his laziness, I have seen him attempt to use the cats litter box (yes...the very same one he was cuddling the night before) for his business.

So all this to say Boston is on a mega roll and we're not guaranteed any points this weekend, so two points tonight would go a long way tonight. The team has been playing a style of hockey that can shut down any hot team (and has proven to do so), so sticking to the game plan, laying out some hits, fore checking hard, and getting some great goaltending from Huet is the key to success. Unfortunately it would have been nice to see Price get the nod in net tonight, but it seems like Huet gets the start. Not to take anything away from him…he’s been amazing and deserves the job. I just can’t wait to see Price play his first home game.

FIRST WIN AT HOME…AND MANY MORE TO COME

Game #7 and another one goal game (empty netters are icings on the cake). I think heart medication is of the essence to make it through the whole year.

Another solid performance from our boys. Despite the apparent negativity in the ranks, I feel like this team has played fairly consistently during all our games. We don’t have those highs and lows from last year, which can only lead to further success in the long run.

The officiating was once again as consistent and accurate as a blind man trying to conduct a triple bypass surgery. However, it was nice for a change to have the aggregate of the calls be in our favour, and we made the most of our chances.

Some honourable mentions from last night. How about that guy sporting number 22. Talk about an energy guy! He worked every ounce of energy every lsat second he was on the ice. And what about his fellow “energy” guy Dandoony. I’m trying to figure out if his speed is his best asset, or his work ethic. He has been consistently working hard for us and creating chances for the fourth trio. He is defensively sound and has a good read of the play in the offensive zone…and did I mention he’s fast!

It as been a while sine I’ve been so confident and comfortable with our blue line. Hamrlik educated the hockey world once again on how to be a defenseman in the new NHL. With consistent plays like he did last night, Hamrlik is quickly helping the HABSnation forget about that guy who used to wear #44.

Drum roll please….The skater who caught my attention the most last night was Kyle Chipchura. Talk about making good decisions, playing heads up hockey, skating hard and creating chances. I guess the first few games he was trying to settle into his new skin, but if last night is any indication of what the future brings (and we all know it is) we are looking forward to a top tier checking line (don’t under estimate the power of a league leading checking line…or have we forgotten about the Bonk Johnson tandem early last year?!)

Final thoughts on the game…as I have been reiterating since the beginning of he season, this team is far superior to its predecessor last year. Bob has done a superb job of consistently improving the team over the year. He never made a big move, and will not until the time is right. It could have been this summer, but we’re a better team because of it. By slowly adding the small pieces together, rather than making drastic moves, we have been presented with an overall well balanced team, with a series of minor issues to work on. I don’t believe there is one area that is a MAJOR concern. The most significant item to address right now (perhaps through a trade) would be the lack of scoring 5 on 5. 9/18 goals were scored 5 on 5…this ratio is not as alarming as most would like to believe, and it CAN be dramatically improved with one player. All other problems the team faces is “workable” and this makes us a stronger team who can better deal with adversity and prevail in the long run. I still feel the 2007/2008 HABS are not getting the credit they deserve (although many of the self proclaimed analysts are changing their mind faster than Sydney Crybaby can take a dive). But I never had a problem with being the underdog, and neither does Carbo. Let’s get two more points on Monday, with Price hopefully playing in net for his first home game.

THE ONE GOAL BLUES

Game number six and another game decided by one goal. Was the game winning goal the softy let in by Price 30 seconds into the game? Or was it Ottawa's fourth resulting from the worlds laziest zone clearing attempt by Kostopulous (I mean come-on...Steve Urkle could have done a better job)? The answer is neither. Fact of the matter us Price played a solid game, Kostopulous played a solid game and we were going toe to toe with arguably the best team in the NHL, and almost got some points out of it. The likes of Kovy, Koivu and Higgins continued their on ice domination resulting in various chances and points, and Ryder and Latandresse broke the ice.

Speaking of Latandresse’s first goal, I would like to draw your attention to the first paragraph of the MN post yesterday talking about shots on goal, garbage goals and the argument of quantity over quality. Latandresse’s unlikely goal from where the red line meets the board is proof positive that ANY puck going at the net has a chance of going in.

The problem remains however that we are unable to get that one goal that will make the difference. Perhaps I should rename today's post "The missing piece of the puzzle blues..." or rather “The elusive star center man blues", because the performance of this team last year, and this year so far into the season gives me a feeling that we are one player away from being cup contenders (damn you Briere!) and maybe two away from being heavy cup contenders.

On a final note, yesterday I was catching up with the Kovy debate in our beloved forum. I was happy to see that most of the forum members are supporting our MVP thus far in the season, and are giving him the credit he so justly deserves. Unfortunately I also saw some posts along the lines of "So he played solid in a hand full of games...he's lazy and he'll disappear for 10 games and come back and forth....so just TRADE him now and cut our losses".

What kind of an ignoramus "hockey" fan with half a brain can make a statement like this, and notbe forced to curl up in a dark corner of the room in the fetal position and cry all night at their own oblivion and stupidity. Put aside the arguments of Kovalev's point production, leadership, drama, locker room antics and whether in the balance of things he is and asset or a liability to the team given ALL the positives and negatives (although I think these Epsilons making outrageous comments like the one above clearly DO NOT consider any positives, and dwell only on the adverse arguments). The fact that after six games some people are ready to give up on a player of Kovalev’s talents, or any player for that matter who has had six solid and consistent performances with NOTHING to suggest that this trend is going to change anytime soon makes as much sense as pack of Raccoons doing the Macarena in synch on my porch with a dozen squirrels synchronized swimming in the pool as a background back-ground show while I enjoy my morning coffee. I'm HLD and that's my rant for the day.

THE KOVALEV SAGA CONTINUES…IN THE EYES OF THE PRESS

Picking up from where we left off yesterday, we seem to have this habit of making opposition goalies look good as of late. Does it mean that they are extra pumped to play the Montreal Canadiens, or are we taking a high number of easy shots to inflate their save percentage? My answer to that is simple…there is no such thing as a weak shot. Any puck going at the net has a chance of going in the form of a garbage goal. I would rather have 35 shots with 15 quality ones in there, instead of just 20 quality shots. Shots on goal tired the D and the goalie and they put pressure on the opposing team. So in my humble opinion the argument of, quality over quantity is mute.

The reason I think we have goalies and offensive players who have superb games against us is because in the eyes of the majority of the league, the Montreal Canadiens are a lower tier team which should be beat by any team who is looking to make the playoffs. This offers the extra motivation for some to get “psyched” out and play superb games against us. Why do they get the results? Because if a goalie is on his game, he’s just hard to beat…simply put. As for the offensive players, it has to do with the intensity level. If the opposing offense plays with a high level of intensity and fore-checks, it is no secret that we break down in our zone and that it usually leads to adverse results.

I would like to further expand on this idea, however with recent news on Kovalev dramatics, I feel certain things have to be said. From what I hear and read, fans are beginning to re-educate them selves on what Alex brings to this team. Every time he’s on the ice there is a chance of something happening. He has been tough, consistent, a leader and an intense player for our team. He deserves our praise, thanks and support, as the media has taken it upon them selves to try and tarnish his time here. I know there are a few of us in here who heard the interview first hand, and the description given by the media (both French and English) of Kovalev’s comments could not be taken out context any further without turning into claims of him harbouring the illusive Big-Foot in the VIP box he has donated to the kids heart foundation, in an attempt to reintroduce the creature into society by funding a remake of King Kong starring Big Foot as the Big Ape.

Regardless of whether Kovalev’s comments are right or wrong, whether the fact that there was no time for a time-out is factual or not, or whatever the circumstances; when the interviewer asked the question “What would you have done differently” it was a set-up. Any answer would have gotten Kovalev into the situation he is in now, whether he would have been called lazy, heartless, or criticising the coach and trying to divide the locker room. The fact of the matter is, he made a good point in a very humble way and sounded almost apologetic doing it. Furthermore, his reaction shows that he is intense and cares about the win…two dimensions in which the media criticised him through out the previous season. I say good riddance, and I sure hope the trade rumours of him leaving Montreal are not true, because if this team is going to have any sort of a long shot to the cup this year or the next, it will be in he hands of a select few with Kovalev near the top of the list. For whatever reason, all the intangibles he brings to the team have been overlooked...and I’m not talking about just this season.

Thankfully we have a coach who is astute and understands how the Montreal media works, and nipped this tabloid trash in the but by downplaying the issue, leaving the reporters and pests baffled at how the gloves didn’t come off. What oh what will they report on now? For some reason I get a mental image of an intern named “Jacques” sneaking into Kovalev’s house and planting a piece of negligee belonging to Mrs. Carbonneau. I can see the headlines now: “Kovalev questions Carbo’s coaching and now his manhood!” Give me a break. Why don’t these pests go do some real investigative journalism and figure what happened out of college to bring these aspiring journalist to become low life tabloid hustling sleazebags, pretending to be hockey connoisseurs.

COULD HAVE, WOULD HAVE, SHOULD HAVE

One of the benefits of taking train in to work every morning is that it gives me an hour to try and sleep off my splitting headache and other accompanying hang over symptoms. On some rare occasions however I'm simply too lazy to go on a beer run, and it takes me a half and hour argument with my dog to realize I haven't taught him how to fetch a six pack yet. On mornings following such disappointing and deceiving evenings I get to meet some interesting character and this morning was no different. I was having two interesting one-way conversations with two fanatic HABS fans. One guy was eccentric, somewhat aggressive in his arguments and came across cool as a cucumber. He was wearing a red HABS jersey and was sitting on my right....no left...I think (whichever shoulder the little devil guy in cartoons sits on). The other guy was modest, calm, collective and seemed more optimistic. He was wearing a whit HABS jersey. They were both knowledgeable and made very good points. Here's the conversation that ensued:

White Jersey Guy: The team played with high intensity and everyone seemed relaxed and having fun (especially on the power play). This showed result in the way of puck control and domination

Red Jersey Guy: The team blew a lead yet again (2nd time in three games) and settled for a point.

White Jersey Guy: Higgins and Plec played awesome. It's nice to see them break out of their shells. Hopefully this will lead to point production in the long run.

Red Jersey Guy: They didn't score, they didn't put up points...pointe finale. And Higgins had a chance to redeem him self on the shootout and failed.

White Jersey Guy: The first line is gelling! They played awesome! The line is currently low scoring but is getting so many chances.

Red Jersey Guy: Same point as above. Chances don't win games; goals win games...goals which they did not get especially with 2/3 of the top line missing on the shoot out.

Whit Jersey Guy: Komisarek was creaming the Panthers on the boards...no better way to break an offensive play than to take the body and take the opposition out of play and throw them off synch.

Red Jersey Guy: Bravo! He had some big hits, the fans enjoyed it, but hitting people doesn't score goals. Unfortunately slashing opposing players leads to penalties and the other team scoring. If Komi could have taken the body when it really counted and not when he felt like it, he would not have been stuck behind the play trying to hack down the guy, leading to a penalty with 2 min & change left, and we would have won the game.

Whit Jersey Guy: Everyone was making smart choices defensively (i.e. Bouillon had a free hit, but didn't take it cause Koivu was stuck behind the play and it could have led to a two on one - during second period 4 on 4)

Red Jersey Guy: Same as above. Everyone was not making smart choices. If they were we would not be in the box getting scored on in the third.

White Jersey Guy: Huet played spectacularly once again. He saved us on several occasions and especially saved Brisebois' honeymoon with the fans following that blunder against Zednik.

Red Jersey Guy: Well once more he played great for the whole game but could not make the one save to win the game (second time in three games). That’s the difference between a goo goalie and a great goalie. Voukoun was superior and he did his job and stole one for his team. Same can’t be said about our goalie, regardless of the circumstances.

White Jersey Guy: I was highly impressed by Kostopulous...he gets a cheap head hunter shot...he gets the team back by dishing out a lickin’ to their star player...all in the same shift. And I'm certain had he not been at the end of his shift he would have fought the bastard too. He just had to take a break before he could drop the gloves on the next shift.

Red Jersey Guy: Good point…a personal victory for Kotsopulous. On the other hand he still didn’t do enough to get a win for his team…

White Jersey Guy: Dandenault continues to impress on offence. His physical and speedy play consistently forces turnovers and scoring chances, and more importantly breaks up the opposition’s game plan.

Red Jersey Guy: Turnovers and chances mean nothing if we can’t convert. We still only got one goal…on the PP mind you. 5 on 5 the team suffered AGAIN!

White Jersey Guy: Well at least the PP scored this game. They seem to be getting back on the horse.

Red Jersey Guy: Don’t kid your self. Our special teams are nothing special. Our PK was once again unable to come through when it counted. You think they would be better after all the practice they got the last few games (ranked 23d in the league).

White Jersey Guy: Refs are still inconsistent. They call Komi with two minutes and change left, but don't call anything in OT...for either team.

Red Jersey Guy: We are indiscipline and deserve a lot of those penalties (including the call on Komi). Let’s face it…the team sucks so we’re always playing catch up…hence the hooking and slashing. Let’s stop blaming everyone else for our mistakes.

At this point in the conversation we had reached Lucien Allier (for those who don’t know Montreal or it’s train system, the Lucien Allier terminus is part of the Bell Center). As I walked down the platform looking up at the giant CH, walking through the atrium and noticed the flags and murals with players’ pictures on it, I came to the realization that I had left my briefcase in the train. After a mad dash to collect my belongings I realized that both these guys had good points, and it’s easy to fall in either o their shoes. I for one prefer to see the season as “half-full”. Otherwise it would be a very very very long season, because as is the nature of the beast, we will loose more games like this where we CLEARLY deserved to win, we will win games where we will rival a 40+ beer league hockey team, we will go on winning streaks, and unfortunately on loosing streaks. This was a demoralizing loss, but it does us no good to dwell on shortcoming. Life’s a lot more pleasant if one focuses on positives, builds off of those.

The only points left to be made are the opposing goaltenders having superb games against us, and the supposedly insurmountable challenge we have on Thursday. Seeing as this post is reaching proportions of a short novel, we’ll discuss those tomorrow.

ONE GAME AT A TIME

So I've noticed that following our first regulation loss this season, fan and analysts have jumped off the "maybe this is the surprise team of 2007/2008 and we'll make the playoffs" bandwagon, and hopped back on to the "this team is too weak to even begin to challenge for the 8th spot" wagon of doom (this can be found in life's shameful spiral of death section).

There's a time for legitimate panic, factual criticism and venting...neither of which merits a mention after four games in to the season. Foolish panic and trying to lay blame on an individual on the team after each loss is outrageously irrational, and doesn't help the current situation.

Let's re-cap all four games so far: They were ALL close and any one of them could have gone either way. With that said we won two, lost one and lost one in OT, with three of those games on the road. The way I see it, things are looking up. As any coach would say lets focus on the here and now, and the here and now is our game tonight against Florida. Let’s play a simple and solid game, win our first home game and move on to Ottawa. It’s a long season, and it should be approached one game at a time. 20-25 games into the season we’ll have a better idea of where things are, but till then, it’s best to take all the ups and downs with a grain of salt…or a case of Rickard’s, whichever floats your boat.

IT’S JUST A BITTER SWEET SYMPHONY

Super game! Awesome start and awesome end! Energy through out the whole thing and we did great by keeping the puck behind ward’s net the whole time. We forced turnover after turnover in their zone and hit them from every angle. It was a total domination on our end, and a superb homecoming. At this point if you’re wondering which game I was watching, you should consider the benefits of selective memory (it’s the ultimate cure for married life). I’m simply remembering the first ten and the last twenty minutes, and the rest of the game joins Mrs_HLD’s lecture of why I can’t get a 52” LCD screen TV in a vault in an obscure, dark and inaccessible corner of “le old noggin”. I’ve filed them right in-between my mom’s lecture of why I shouldn’t lick cake batter off a mixer still plugged into the wall (for the love of god people don’t do it…accidents happen and those things really hurt!) and my grandmother’s informative speech about how I shouldn’t touch my self in private cause my hair will fall out and I’ll go blind. Needless to say, through out the decades the vault has reached colossal proportions, and it’s been growing exponentially since I’ve gotten married (good thing Mrs_HLD doesn’t read these posts anymore!). Here’s a bit of advice for the young guns that might be headed down this slippery slope and don’t know how to “purge” memories completely. I would like to answer this with a quote from one of the wisest characters on TV: “To beer….the cause of….and solution to…all of life’s problems”

OK getting back on track, it was a tough loss. But like the loss to the Leafs last Saturday (wait a minute…we still haven’t won on a Saturday game this year!) it was a much better team n d a much better loss than what we have been digesting last year. The team worked hard, started off strong and finished strong. We were intense, we were fore checking, our transition game was swift and effective for he most part. Huet played awesome; the D kept most of their chances to the outside, and the offence had chances after chances…after chances. The loss is attributable to the penalties and Ward’s solid performance who did not let us com back in the third. As for the penalties, out of the seven calls there was only one (IMO) hat was a bad call (the so called slashing call on Higgins). The rest were up to the refs judgement, but at least there was something to merit the refs’ attention on those occasions. My problem was not with the calls against us, but the inconsistency of the refs. As it seems to be the case every game, the opposition got away with so much that would have been called on the spot had it been us.

As for the nature of our penalties, with the exception of Smolinski’s hook (what a dumb penalty…) the rest were accidental, inevitable and/or a result of the intensity of the team. I haven’t read the game day thread, so I don’t know how people feel about the penalties, but I neither blame our boys for indiscipline, nor do I blame the refs for calling us. I simply blame the reffs for not calling the opposition for things we get called for on a regular basis.

So to sum up, we played an good game, but lost momentum because of unfortunate circumstances. If the team keeps playing the way it did last night (and the previous games) we will win more often than not) and that’s all one can ask for from a team.

Some notable items from last night’s game was Komisarek showing the world yet again what a smart player he is. He was intense, he was disturbing the big guns of the opposition, but a key value to him (and this is in many parts due to Markov’s influence) is his brains. One example was in the second, when Carolina was attacking, a shot came from the point, and someone was cutting across the net. It was a dangerous situation, and Komisarek tried to take the body going across Huet’s net going towards the juicy rebound. Komi missed the body, but didn’t panic and hold, slash, hack, hook, pillage, etc to bring him down. He simply took the guys stick out of play. Sounds simple, but in the heat of the moment, when everything is happening at full speed, this requires brains, dexterity, calm and confidence.

And I cannot end this post without mentioning Guillaume Latandresse. I know he’s having troubles to begin the season, but at least he was going around hitting the opposition….and not just bumping them on the board. Despite the loss last night, at least I can smile every time I think of Walker scraping him self up of the ice (kind of) and barely making I to the bench…only to collapse at the door and crawl in…as his team-mates try to drag him in…Kodak moment.

DO WE HAVE AN ENCORE?

We all recall the booming start to the season the HABS had last year. Essentially we were challenging the top seed spot with Buffalo all the way to mid November. Last year, just like the current season, the experts who had predicted us to rank in the 10-55 range were eating their hats and back-tracking on their opinions from pre-season and talking about what a cohesive team we have and how far we could go. This was an entertaining feat to watch while most analysts couldn’t help but look like a total mushrooms with mikes. The rare few who happened to have a level of language suitable for television broadcast were able alliterate their way around the sad fact that they were simply wrong, had to re-back track on their opinions following our post-holiday melt-down and claim they “knew it all along”. All this to say, despite the adversity we’ve faced last year, at least we were able to make the self proclaimed hockey experts look as smart as the guy who bought the patent for plastic dog droppings for $1.5M (who says the financial post is not an entertaining read!).

This year a similar pattern ensues. We were said to be the second coming of the 06/07 Flyers, but here we are…5/6. We have a more capable, consistent and overall consistent team. The question is however, how much longer will we look this way? Will we go through our perennial post-holiday blues? Hard to answer these questions, but one thing is for sure. This team is a playoff team, and once in could have a Cinderella story given the characters we currently have. Furthermore, we would be more than able to keep this team fairly intact for a year or two more, and that’s important to consider for our centennial celebrations.

Bob Gainey and his team have put together a well balanced team (IMHO) and it has lots of depth in nets, defence and offence. Now I am not a self proclaimed hockey expert or analyst, but I believe this team deserves a lot more credit than it has been getting. Tonight will be yet another stepping stone in showing the hockey world exactly who we are…who are we you ask? A capable hockey team that will be in the upper quartile in the NHL this season, and few more to come.

CANES ON A ROLL, BUT SO ARE WE

With Wednesday's game against Cindy Crybaby well behind us, and having peculated and vented about the continuous failure of the Zebras on skates to provide consistent reffing, we can look forward to playing the Wolverine on skates they call Brin d'Amour.

Carolina is on a two game winning streak, following a whopping 7-1 win against the Leafs in Toronto, and a win against arguably the NHL's top team effectively ending their winning streak. Now I know Ottawa had played the night before, but they were in their home arena and a tired Heatly, Alfredson, Spezza line is still the most potent 1st line in the league. Carolina is on an impressive run and now they come to Montreal's home opener. After ruining their home opener in Raleigh, one can easily assume they will be more than eager to return the favour. Furthermore we will have some jitters and pressure for our home coming. So really we've got everything working against us. Now (in true HLD fashion) let me share with you why I think we're winning this game.

First off let us talk about the goalie. Price's performance on Wednesday surely did not pass Huet by without effect. A quiet competitor like Cristobal, who likes his pads and glove do the talking, will surely go the extra mile to be 110% ready for the game. With Price's stardom hype, Huet knows he's one home opener loss away from a full media onslaught of criticism. He will undoubtedly look to mitigate this.

Next let us compare some team strategy. Toronto and Ottawa are offensive teams. They win games by trying to score more goals than the opposition (until a goalie like Emery goes on a hot streak, then they just win everything). Montreal on the other hand is a more defensive team, and this strategy has worked well against 3 offensive minded teams (win in Carolina, OT loss in TO - loss was due to individual failure, not team strategy, and a win in Pittsburgh). All this to say Carolina may be on a goal scoring parade, but odds are it ends in Montreal.

Last but not least let us talk about motivation and momentum. As far as motivation is concerned, Carolina played a full out game during their opener. They cam out flying and kept up the tempo all the way. We shut them down...simply put. And as for the momentum...they may be on a streak, but we're on a bigger streak coming off a three game road trip with five points. If that's not a momentum builder, I don't know what is.

And last but not least, let's not forget about the fact that this game is being held at the Bell Center...arguably the loudest arena in the league. Our boys may feel some pressure playing in such an overwhelming venue, but the opposing team feels this pressure ten fold. When a team comes to the Bell Center, their goal is clear. Score fast, score early and take the crowd out of the game. Until that time if/when that happens, advantage HABS.

In summary Carolina is a potent team, with a great leader and solid goaltending. The team is almost identical to the cup winning team from two years ago, and they are coming to Montreal tonight with a monkey on their back. However let's give credit where it's due. Montreal currently is the hotter team, just beat them last week, and we're playing at home. This is one believer who thinks Carolina is the underdog coming to HAB town.

PRICE PASSES TEST WITH FLYING COLORS

Good morning MN-Nation. I presume all is well is HABS land today and we're all starting the day with smiles ear to ear (cue the Viagra "good morning" song...not for the same reason obviously...well maybe for some :D)

Three games on the road to start the season, and we accumulate 5/6 points. Not too bad in my books. Furthermore, Price has made his debut in the NHL...and what a debut it was. The first goal scored on him wasn't his fault and should not have counted and the second goal was an NHL calibre play and shot. He kept us in the game during the first where the Pens (rightfully so) bombarded the poor kid long and early to shake him up. And finally, he won the game for us by pulling out the "No Admittance" sign in net for the later stages of the third (something Huet was unfortunately incapable of doing in TO). Price showed us that his skills and bag of tricks extends across the whole spectrum of a net minder’s duties by stick handling the puck behind the net to help his defensemen. This effectively changed our slow, fragile and often costly transition play into a lightning fast and efficient exit out of our zone, with 2 or 3 opposing jerseys stuck behind the play, leading to beautiful scoring chances.

Fleury on the other hand seemed to be playing solid as well. However shots from his left seemed to be thrice as hard to stop (first two goals were undeflected shots from his left). I hope the coaching staff made a note of that giant gaping hole on for next time.

Speaking of giant holes, let us talk about the refs quickly. I'm not even going to get into all the missed high sticking calls against the Pens, but let's get straight to the nasty stuff. The first goal against price was scored with Sydney Crosby dry humping him on the on the opposite side of the net. How is it that a penalty was not awarded for that! He was tapped by Hamrlik and went straight at the goalie, never ever making an attempt to avoid Price. Unless I forgot to take my brain medicine and was hallucinating on Saturday, I thought Plecks got a penalty for being pushed into Toskala, even though he clearly tried to avoid the goalie at a cost of running into the net. This was a major failure on the part of the refs, and yet another VIP pass for Crosby. Favouritism has no place in the mind of the Zebra shirts...jerks.

One more honorable mention goes to Higgins. Poor guy did everything but score. As long as he keeps his work attitude and intensity up (and there is no reason to assume he will not), he'll keep getting his chances and will score his fair share.

THE BEGINNING FOR CHIPS AND PRICE

Good morning all. First off I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Leafs for another entertaining game. They were so far from anything resembling a hockey team, they might as well have been called the Zimbabwe Tubuktu hockey club. On that note, MN-TO-NO-GO is down by two more, and the Leafs are at the bottom (where they belong for eternity) of the NL standings.

I suppose the big news for tonight is Carey Price's NHL debut. Is he the second coming of Ken Dryden and Patrick Roy? Or is he another talented hockey player which will melt and crumble under the NHL's pressure? I don't think many people will argue the fact that given his performance in the past two years is proof positive that he's got the crystal-balls to back up Cristobal. Playing for the gold medal game in the juniors was a test of his character. Furthermore being thrown in to net for the AHL playoffs (without having played in the AHL level mind you) and performing at the same high level and winning MVP honours is proof enough for this believer that not only is he the real deal, not only is he ready, but he doesn't need practice games against the likes of Columbus.

Win or loose, shut out or blow out, Price will play his first NHL game tonight and his next soon there after. Hopefully he has some magic left in his pads to bring us to the cup this year. If he plays at the top of his game, this team has the makings for a Cinderella story. But for now let us focus on the here and now.

For a successful night, we need to slow down their offence and take the ice away from the likes of Crosby and Malkin (which is why Carbo elected to switch up the offensive Grabowsky to Chipchura tonight) and we have to keep their shots to the sides and at angles. We have been more disciplined in recent times, so if Syd the amazing diving kid keeps his terrible acting to a minimum, we should be OK.

ALL ABOUT MOMENTUM

The unsung hero of Saturday night’s game was the fourth trio. I was one of many questioning Carbo's choice in morphing Dandenault in to a forward and keeping Chipchura in the press box, but it's hard to argue with the results. Begin, Smolinski and Dandenault were by far the hardest working players of both teams, and as is the usual case for the best grinders, they got rewarded for it.

Momentum is invaluable to a team. When it's on your side the passes are crisp, the bounces and calls seem to go your way, and the oppositions looks like an AHL team. On the other hand, if the opposition has the momentum, it seems impossible to get the puck out of our zone, every pass seems to be intercepted, all the calls seem to be going against us, and we look completely disorganised and at the mercy of our goaltender's agility.

Unfortunately we have heard this song way too many times last year, especially after the holiday break. Hopefully this year our energy line will keep up the momentum building, tempo setting pace through out the year (and god willing the post season) no matter who plays on that line.

THE VICTORY IN A LOST GAME

Saturday night’s outcome was unfortunately not what we were all hoping for. A loss is always a tough pill to swallow, and a loss to the Maple Leafs is more like an oversized suppository. However, as I usually do, I would like to point out some of the positive aspects of the game, and a few items we can help console our selves with.

For starters, let us not forget the game was on the road. Whenever you can get a point or more out of a road game it’s a victory in its self. Furthermore, having started the season on the road, we have obtained three out of a possible four points. There are many teams who cannot say the same thing after having played two games at home.

We stayed out of the box more than the opposition, and we were only out-shot by three. Last year we would have been out-shot by at least a dozen (against the Leafs by more) and would have doubled them in penalties. This trend so far this year shows a clear improvement in the discipline and work ethic of the team. Our power play may have shot some blanks, but we killed 5/6 penalties and scored short handed. And most importantly, last year we were out worked and out hustled by the Maple Leafs through out our whole series. We have clearly improved this on this trend.

All in all I felt we were the better team in many aspects. We got away with winning many games last year after being out worked and out shot and out hustled, and this year we will loose some games after having been the better team. The important thing here is to keep working, keep outlining the positives and improving on them. I know we lost, but I was satisfied with the team’s performance on Saturday, as was I on Wednesday. Both games could have gone either way, and I would rather loose like that than get dominated all game long.

WE’RE OFF TO THE CIRCUS

It seems fitting that our first Saturday game of the year will be against the Maple Leafs. This should lead to an exciting game and an exciting beginning to the series.

Two games into the season, the Leafs are already plagued with drama and controversies. This of course is inevitable when a team of 40+ years of failure struts around with a culture of entitlement and never really admits to resembling a circus full of monkeys in jerseys more than the hockey team they pretend to be. At this point even a significant portion of their fans (based on online forums and news paper articles) have admitted to requiring a complete overhaul. That of course is difficult when you have major contracts committed to several players who really don’t deserve that kind of money. In this new age of salary-capped NHL teams, a GM must be vigilant and intelligent; neither of which can be said about JFJ. For us HABS fans, this presents valuable entertainment and we sure hope he remains in power or many many many years to come.

My predictions for the night:

1) Tucker renews his rivalry with his water bottle, and they go for round two (my money is on the bottle)

2) Toscraft or Raycala continue their dominant performance is the “how many pucks can I let in” game.

3) Refs continue organising parades to and parties in the penalty box, and Carbo does his …well you know what he does :D

4) HABS win and the Leafs fans and media blame the refs, earth’s gravitational pull and oil prices.

More on the game tomorrow…

PS Let us all rejoice in the MN dropping another point following the games last night!

PPS Don't forget to repeat yesterday's prayer one more time before the game!

TORONTO MAPLE LAUGHS: LOOKING FOR THE 41ST YEAR OF CONSISTENT FAILIURE

Another glorious morning for the MN fans. TO-NO-GO takes a hit after another loss for the Leafs. This fan is hoping that the Leafs begin the season 0-3, and I’m hoping for a blow out!

In reality however, the Leafs are going to be hungry for a win, and they will be settled down with their jitters. It should be a tight game and fun to watch. I believe that we have the upper hand, mainly thanks to the Rayskala, Toskcraft circus they have going in nets. Our PP should have a field day with these guys in net…even if both were playing at the same time! Now onwards to our first Saturday night game…and what a game it will be!

THE BALL…ERRR…PUCK STARTS TO ROLL IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION:

Phew…first game of the season down, and it’s a win. Incidentally the Leafs have their first game of the season the same night and loose. The NL scoreboard remains with the HABS on top and the Laughs on the bottom. Things don’t get any better than this.

Last night’s performance is, in my humble opinion, a clear reflection of yesterday’s post. In all aspects of our game (defence, goaltending, offense, special teams) we were not perfect, but we were better than mediocre.

Huet may have let in a softy by NHL standards in the third, but he made spectacular saves to keep the wind in our sails in the first and second periods. The defence had some giveaways, and at times seemed incapable of getting the puck out of our zone, but they were better than solid for the most part of the game and kept Carolina’s chances to the outside. Offensively some mistakes were made, particularly in the transition game, and taking penalties in the offensive zone, but we were intense and had many many chances, and out-shot the opponent once again (I hope this turns into a theme this year). Special teams didn’t help them selves by giving away two 5 on 3s and missing out on a 4 minute power play, but we killed 7/8 penalties, and were 37.5% on the power play (at this point I would like to let my evil cousin take over and say EAT YOUR HEART OUT to everyone who argued with me over the summer as to the departure of Souray and the performance of special teams…the formula was the coaches, Kovalev, Markov and Souray. We only lost a quarter of the equation, not the whole PP).

We lost momentum on several occasions due to penalties we took (we’ve all heard this tune before). The good news on that front however is two fold. First off, unlike last year, only a small minority of the penalties were undisciplined penalties, and the remainder were results of intensity. Secondly, the guys worked very hard to get the momentum back on their side after killing off penalties. Now I’m not saying that the first game is indicative of a new work ethic we have on the team (remember we started the year intense last year as well and faded off), but what I am saying is that at least we are starting with intensity. It’s an easier battle if we have a good start to the year.

In conclusion, I would expect more of the same for the remainder of the year: A solid performance ALL around, with “glitches” and “brain-farts” along the way. The key to our success this season will be to limit these errors and keep up the same work ethic which was present on the ice last night.

But hey, it’s only one game, 81 more to go. Good news is we get to sulk in our success for at least the next few days.

Now everyone, please hold hands and join me in a prayer: “Oh holy Sponge-Bob, please give thy Senators the strength of a thousand mules, and guide thy shoulders into the unholy Laughs’ faces so as to pave the way to a glorious blow out victory for our boys in Tri-colore against a battered and bruised Leafs squad this Saturday. And should all else fail, may the Laughs crotches be infected with fleas of a thousand camels, and may their arms be too short to scratch it. A-men.”

THE PUCK DROPS TONIGHT!

Here we go again folks. Our jerseys have been washed, our TV time booked, our beer fridges stacked and the speed dial updated to include the pizza guy who delivers the tastier New Yorker pizza. another season is upon us and I say it's about time. This summer's hockey drought was way too long, and I for one hope this year the boys should drive further in to the post season to ensure this tragedy does not repeat its self. and thus we face the question everyone is trying to answer: Can the Habs make the playoffs? Are we a better team? We've read the so called experts' articles on it, and now here is HLD's take on the subject:

Goaltending

By now most of us can agree that Huet's performance to overtake Jose Theodore's job two years ago was not a flash in the pan. He is a NHL calibre goalie and will serve us well as the bridge to close the gap as our young guys develop into star goalies. There is no guarantee that he will remain as brilliant as he was in his stretch to earn a spot on last years All Star team, however one thing is for sure; he can and will steal games and can and will make key plays.

The decision to keep Price at the NHL level is a good decision. Even though he did not spend too much time in Hamilton, given his stellar performance against AHLers in a pressure packed situation was proof enough for me (and obviously Bob) that time spent in the AHL has no value added for this talented youngster. Playing 30+ games at the NHL level will be far more beneficial to the team and his development.

With Halak in the AHL ready to jump in at any time (we all saw what he can do last year) our goaltending is as solid as last year, and even more consistent. We can pretty much guarantee we won't have 10 game stretches with Aebischer mishaps.

Defence

The tandem of Markov and Komisarek…enough said. They are solid, they have been and will be. Hamrlik and Brisebois are reportedly the second pairing. I don’t care what people say about Brisebois, and I don’t care what happened three years ago (although I still have some lingering ill feelings there). He is an established NHL veteran defenseman and is a great addition to our second line. Togeather with Hamrlik, they will be an experienced line which should play solid in their own end and move the puck comfortably out of our zone. For the third pairing, we have chouices of Bouillion, Dandenault, Streit and Gorges. I thinks these are pretty awesome names to have for a third pairing on D, and it gives the coaching staff various tools to use on a given night against teams with different strengths. Our first two lines will be able to move the puck up the ice, creating chances for our forwards. In other words, not only is this defensive roster FAR superior to what we had last year (and has more depth), but also it will contribute to our 5 on 5 offense in that the top two pairings will have an immense impact on our transition game.

Offence

Higgins-Koivu-Ryder will be as effective as last year, but even better. They cannot rival other star #1 lines around the league, however we can expect a consistent input from all three of them, both 5 on 5 and special teams.

Kostitsyn-Grabovsky-Kovalev will have the most part of my attention tonight. There is so much potential and talent on this line that point production is inevitable. The only question will remain as to how many points they will put up. I sure hope that Kovalev can be motivated by playing on a line with others he can speak Russian with. This might even be an advantage when they speak to each other in Russian on the ice without the opposition understanding what they are communicating to one another.

Latandresse-Plekanec-Smolinski will have big shoes to fill following the Bonk Johnson show last year. They were undoubtedly a great shut-down line in 2006-2007, however this year’s line has potential. Plekanec has proven to be a superb assets defensively, Smolinski has a reputation for shutting down big names, and Latandresse is a young kid trying to find a niche, who can hit and HURT the opposition. This line not only has the potential to shut down lines, but to put up a considerable number of goals in net (hopefully the oppositions net).

The fourth line, much like the third defensive line, has many names that it can accommodate: Begin, Chipchura, Kostopoulos, Muray, Dandenault, Streit. All are more than worthy (maybe not Muray) to be on a NHL team’s fourth line, and they all offer different tools to the coaching staff. Having this flexibility on our third D and fourth O lines gives the coaches an asset which, in my humble opinion, is worth a lot more than people give it credit for.

Coaching Staff

The coaching staff went through a training period last year. They have openly admitted to making mistakes and learning from them. Given the characters up there (Carbonneau, Muller, Jarvis, and Gainey) I cannot doub t for an instant the hockey knowledge, the work ethic, and the will to win that is present at the top. Furthermore, given those four names, our special teams can be expected to perform at a high level yet again. Everyone can keep talking about Sheldon’s shot we will be missing on the PP, but let us not take credit away from where it’s due. Given the myriad of tools the coaching staff is presented with, we will undoubtedly shut down the opposition on the PK, and perform at a high level on the PP. We may not be 1^st, but we will remain in the 75^th percentile and that’s all a team really needs.

Summary

As this first post of the season turns into a novel, I’ll gather my thought and present you with my conclusion. This team is marginally better in offense, marginally better in goal and far superior in defence. Further more we are better 5 on 5 (mainly thanks to our new found transition play) and will remain as competitive on special teams. The icing on the cake (and the reason why I am confident we’re making the playoffs) is that we have dramatically reduced our areas of weaknesses. I expect a more modest beginning to the season, but a more consistent output through out the year.

As I always say, we can all speculate, but….only time will tell.

Let’s go les Glorieux! GO HABS GO!