So far A+

The test was delivered to Halak, with some trick questions and he passed. Sceptics may argue that Halak won two games by very close calls against some of the worse teams in the NHL, and that there isn't anything special there. Here is how I see it and I'll give 3 reasons why I think he's the real deal:

1) One of the toughest things for a goalie is to go cold for extended periods of time, and than be presented with a rush or power play where he has to make the key saves. One of the key attributes that made Ken Dryden arguable one of NHL's best goalies of all tomes candidate was his capability to spend whole periods, leaning on his stick, watching the team in front of him toy around with the opposition like a cat does with a half dead mouse before eating it, and all of a sudden be faced with an odd man rush and make a spectacular save to keep his team in the lead.

Halak made the saves when it counted in the first, and the two goals I'm the second were not softies by a long shot. He made the stops when it counted,

2) Maybe it was the mushrooms on my pizza, but I can swear I saw stick handling by the dude with the pads which put half our bench to shame. Halak's willingness, capability and comfort to come out of the net is one thing that shows how ready he is for the position. However having him play the puck to launch the transition game is not only a positive addition to our momentum, but was also highly successful. I can count at least 5 odd man rushes that began with Halak. Keep in mind these were not pucks dumped behind the net, shot off the boards, or long hail Maries to the other blue line. These were precise passes up the ice, tape to tape, and would trapped 2-3 of the fore-checking Caps behind the play. Here is something that will really help us deal with our Kryptonite (aggressive fore-check)

3) To the argument that the two wins accumulated with Halak in net are not true tests since the teams were bottom feeders of the league. I say pish-posh. We have had so much difficulty against these so called “bottom feeders”. I give credit to Halak for staying focused for 60 minutes and not taking anything for granted.

That’s my two cents on the matter. However I still caution all of you that nothing is for certain. He still has a long way to go to establish him self as a “saviour”, but at least so far he’s headed in the right direction, and all systems are go.

Test Number 2

Tonight will be a bigger test to Halak than Sunday was. On Sunday he had nothing to prove and nothing to be compared to. In a city where a player can get crucified upon demonstration of a decrease in performance from week to week, Halak now has to match or better his performance from Sunday, and prove that Sunday was not a fluke. This is at least what would be going through my mind if I was a 21 year old goalie being called up in to the NHL to save my team from the sand pits it's been sinking into for over a month.

Halak came across as a calm and collective kid in net, just doing his job to the best of his abilities without any regard to what is happening beyond his crease. The way he cam far out of his net to play pucks (rather successfully I might add) shows what a comfort zone he's in. Perhaps it's fitting that he has a HAB holding up the Stanley cup on his helmet, because his Zen and focussed play launched the team in to their own "happy place".

To this I say, proceed with caution. The kid has what it takes and the makings are there for a big charge into the playoffs, but nothing is for certain, and he has only played one game. Although I feel that Halak will do what Huet did for us last year, I am still sceptical and proceeding with caution and baby steps. For now, I am getting psyched for tonight's game and will be cheering the Tricolore as loud as I can without waking up the baby.

The Miracle Begins On The Right Foot

Good morning all and once again many apologies for skipping yesterday's post. There wouldn't have been much to say in any case without sounding like a broken record.

I also noticed that there was an “MN update” out there in the previous page. It’s a cheap knock people, don’t buy it unless it has the HLD brand on it :mrgreen: And for future reference, if anyone wants to plagiarise my official MN updates (which you shouldn’t) at least get it right. The MN is now 44 ;)

So Halak made the key saves when it counted. Too bad he didn't get his shutout, but it could be a lot worse. I hope, and am fairly certain that he will be starting in net on Tuesday night as well, and that his surprising cool, calm and confidence leads us to a charge in the standings, back up in the right direction.

Hmmmmm.......a cool, calm collective back up goalie comes in to play late in the season and leads a team which is out of the playoffs right back in the race......sounds awefully familiar but I just can't put me finger on it.

In any case we are in the realm of speculation and wishing and hoping. Still better than the alternative ...no?

Oh and on a final note, it was good to see another positive thread in the forum (Calling to Arms) Seems we’re not the only positive betties. Someone should let them know that we do that here all year round, not just when the fans get blood hungry.

Now close it off NWT with a w00t, HTL with a w00t w00t, and mateus give it a w00t a t00t t00t.

Looking For A Dryden Miracle

In the hopes of a miracle and a world of what ifs, it seems appropriate that we retired Ken Dryden’s Jersey this year. With Halak being called up late in the season, maybe he can jump in net and have a repeat performance of the Dryden “get called up from the farm team late in the season and bring us to the cup” show.

I read an article on the RDS web-site about how Halak should be played, starting tonight, and I fully agree. He’s got major mojo going for him, which this team is in desperate need of. I say throw him in there and see what he can do. If he cannot jolt this team in the right direction, than no biggie….we’re right back where we started. But maybe, just maybe he can do what Huet did last year for us, what Ward did for the Canes, and what Dryden did whole making history, and be the surprise late comer and just drag this team up the standings by its heels.

On a final note, it is no secret that the mood is bleek in here…yes even in the MN thread. OK it’s not so bad in here compared to the rest of the forum (have you guys been out there :shock: people are getting crazy…I even saw someone suggest trading Koivu for Tucker :ahh:)

In any case I always try to cheer you guys up so today I’ll go with a different strategy. OK….you ready….

UUUGULY BOOGOLIIEEE…..WOBBLE WOBBLE BLAAAAAH….

Did it work? Are you smiling yet? It’s 100% effective with my son so I though I would give it a shot in here. :mrgreen:

No He's Not Confused...

OH YEAH!!! What a game! Complete domination from beginning to end leading to the NHL's Holy Grail and it was sweet sweet pay back to those pesky Hurricanes.

The tone was set by the HABS early on in the first period with Samsonov's goal. A laser beam of a pass from our zone, and off goes Samsonov. By the time he was done with Ward, the goalie was collecting his jock strap from the third row and Sammy was gently pushing the puck in on the left side.

Williams was clearly singled out by our fourth line, and it wasn't long before he was out with a shoulder injury.

The rest of the period was spent mainly in the Canes zone. At all times the HABS had two players in the front of the net, which resulted in two more goals off of deflections on shots from the point.

Carolina came out on the second physical and aggressive after having been schooled on the first. Although this seemed to grab the HABS off guard, we adjusted. Koivu took it up on him self and dropped the gloves with Brin d'Amour and came out the clean winner. This was the end of the come back the Canes tried to stage.

In the third, one more goal deflected from the blue line my Koivu added insult to injury, and Begin delivered the Cherry on top with a sweet move to cut in towards Ward and laid one top shelf on the blocker side.

All in all it was as good as a team effort can get. We won the physical battle and won the score board 5-0. Complete domination of the Canes lead to the Heart Ross trophy, the Rocket Richard trophy and the Stanley cup. It was truly a night to remember.

Note to the reader: This game analysis refers to the final game of the Stanley Cup Finals played last night against Carolina. For 2 months I have been participating in an online league hosted on XBOX Live NHL 2K7. Two months of effort came to an end last night, and I thought I would share it since it was the HABS game with the more favourable outcome.

As far as the real (Florida) game was concerned, Huet seemed to find his confidence back, which was positive. Also the offensive explosion at the end of the third, although too little too late) was a reminder to us all what this team is capable of, which is also a positive.

I'll leave it on those good notes, except one comment I wanted to make. You have to feel sorry for Samsonov. He's going through the roughest patch of his career, he's had a shaky relationship with his current team, and now the opposition has clearance from the league to dry hump him until he comes crashing to the ice surface, without penalty. Now the guy has to drag a 200 pound guy with him while trying to find his mojo? Poor guy just can't get a break.

Just Keep Smiling

What a happy and positive bunch of guys and gals we are! I was glad to get home late last night, log on to my computer to send come e-mail, sneak on the thread very quickly and see the overwhelming positive response. It's good to see we have not forgotten about the heart and soul of this thread, and that we are loyal to the tone of this thread.

Mr. Boustician, 0 is our number. Everybody else, keep the cheers coming as much as you can. Some may find them pretentious, but I for on am uplifted and ready for a charge.

What's even more encouraging is that this positive attitude is not limited to our humble little thread in the middle of cyberspace, but extends to the HABS locker room. Sheldon Souray's comments during an interview yesterday shows that the team has not given up and are ready for a paradigm shift.

Remember guys and gals, boys and girls, dudes and dudettes, sometimes your team needs a reality check, sometimes they need constructive criticism, sometimes they need a harsh slap in the face and sometimes they just need your blind loyal support. Currently I think we're at the latter option. Keep your chin up, don't kick em while they're down and w00t till you're blue in the face....

It Just Keeps Getting Tougher!

There is really not much I can say about last night’s game. The effort was there for he majority of the part. A weak goal was let in and we lost a few, but in all we stayed in it. The reffing was the best I have seen in a while.

I really don’t know how to make light of the situation. This slump (yes unfortunately we’re still in it and it looks like we’ll have the cob webs till the end) has gone on for too long, and I have ran out of euphemisms. All I can do is cheer on and hope something good happens (like Sammy come back and score 10 goals in one night). Anything to get the confidence back to the team. We all know how this team plays when they’re confident (oh how I miss those days!)

If I take a step back and think about the most probable way things will turn back around for us, it will all begin with the goalie…much like it did last year. Someone Huet or Aebi will have to go on a hot streak that would make Dominic Hashek him self look bad. From there the confidence will build out to the blue line and finally offence and things can get back to normal.

Not much I can say folks. There isn’t much else to say that hasn’t been beaten to death already. At this point the choice is really up to you. You can join the masses in assigning guilt to who ever you want, or you can just let things evolve, hope for the best, and cheer for the team you are a “fan” of.