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.