Canadiens Fly Past Senators

Date: 30/10/2017
Opponent: Ottawa
Location: Canadian Tire Cenre
Win: 8-3

Montreal Goalie: Montoya (W)
Ottawa Goalie: Anderson (L)

Montreal goalscorers:  Hudon (2), Pacioretty, Lehkonen (2), Galchenyuk, Gallagher, Plekanec
Ottawa goalscorers: Pyatt, Dzingel, DiDomenico

Kings Give Habs Reality Check

Date: 26/10/2017
Opponent: Los Angeles
Location: Bell Centre
Loss: 4-0

Montreal Goalie: Price (L)
Los Angeles Goalie: Quick (W)

Montreal goalscorers:
Los Angeles goalscorers: Kempe, Toffoli, Kopitar, MacDermid

Habs Find Their Stride Against Florida

Date: 24/10/2017
Opponent: Florida
Location: Bell Centre
Win: 5-1

Montreal Goalie: Price (W)
Florida Goalie: Reimer (L)

Montreal goalscorers:  Galchenyuk, Weber (2), Gallagher, Pacioretty
Florida goalscorers: Yandle

Kings Crown Habs in Third Period Blowout

Date: 18/10/2017
Opponent: Los Angeles
Location: Staples Center
Loss: 5-1

Montreal Goalie: Montoya (L)
Los Angeles Goalie: Quick (W)

Montreal goalscorers:  Byron
Los Angeles goalscorers: Kempe (3), Cammalleri (2)

Habs in Unfamiliar Territory

Date: 14/10/2017
Opponent: Toronto
Location: Bell Centre
Loss: 4-3 (OT)

Montreal Goalie: Price (L)
Toronto Goalie: Andersen (W)

Montreal goalscorers:  Petry, Galchenyuk, Drouin
Toronto goalscorers: van Riemsdyk, Matthews (2), Marleau

Ovechkin Capitalizes on Montreal's Shortcomings

Date: 07/10/2017
Opponent: Washington
Location: Capital One Arena
Loss: 6-1

Montreal Goalie: Price (L)
Washington Goalie: Holtby (W)

Montreal goalscorers: Gallagher
Washington goalscorers: Ovechkin (4), Oshie, Walker

Boston-Montreal Game #7: The Depth of Desire

Date: 14/05/2014
Opponent: Bruins
Location: Boston

Win: 3-1

Habs Goalie: Price (W)
Opposition Goalie: Rask (L)

Habs goalscorers: Weise, Pacioretty, Briere
Opposition goalscorers: Iginla

Three Little Numbers

0.600

Montreal's record in Boston this season, with this team is 3-2-0. If you want look at Boston that have been 2-1-2 (I guess also 0.600 by total points from those available). They have only been the same as home ice then: 3-2-0 (also 0.600).  Throw in other recent years on both surfaces and it only shows that the ice surface these teams meet on, or the fans they play in front of matter little to both groups of players.

This doesn't reveal much. Except this: Montreal is perfectly capable of playing hockey in Boston and winning.


76

A player to watch tonight: PK Subban. This will be his 4th career Game #7 in 7 playoff series with the Habs. Each has been against a higher seed (so well earned). The team has done well, but so has Subban and grown in influence over those series. He was marginal against Washington in 2010 when Markov was healthy, but a couple of weeks later was basically the number one defender against Pittsburgh. Facing Boston in 2011, he was again without Markov, and scored that goal neither Tim Thomas nor any of us will forget. He has two domes in the three games. You can read the reports here: WAS 2010 Game 7; PIT 2010 Game 7; BOS 2011 Game 7.

This series so far has been another big step for Subban. Never mind the goals, he dealt with the sideshow of racism with quite some grace and has shown he is fully capable of pulling behind the team plan when the team needs him to.


0

The number of people who know who is going to win. I am sure there are two coaches who "expect" to win, whether they say so publicly or not. The reason games are any fun at all to watch is because no one can predict what will happen. I don't know anymore than Claude Julien, I'll leave it at that.


GHG

Boston-Monrreal Game #4: Figures

Date: 08/05/2014
Opponent: Bruins
Location: Montreal

Loss: 0-1

Habs Goalie: Price (L)
Opposition Goalie: Rask (W)

Habs goalscorers: None
Opposition goalscorers: Fraser

Revving up Round 2: Strengths and Weaknesses for Canadiens and Bruins

I have done a little analysis and want to take a bit of time to share and perhaps preview the next series. But before that, a taster of a preview: the strengths and weaknesses I perceive in both outfits.


Canadiens strengths


1. Depth of scoring
Right now, one of the Canadiens strengths is depth of scoring talent. Each line rolled out by Therrien has a one-time 20+ goalscorer on it, every line has a guy who has scored an important playoff goal, and even at one time has led his team in a tough situation. The epitome of the strength is in line three where the Canadiens captain skates opposite the current hot duo of Lars Eller and Rene Bourque. This is a fast trio that showed it doesn't need possession to make a dent. It was a nightmare for Tampa, and will be seen as a worry by Boston. If Gachenyuk recovers, this argument is only bolstered.

A Good Week

No the Canadiens didn't win the Stanley Cup, but considering their team has been on the links for weeks, this has been a pretty good week for Habs fans.

Bruins Show True Selves in Loss

Seems as though if you have a bag of skin for a neck, there's a lot of room for sour grapes.

Claude Julien last night, after the hard fought loss was quick to lay blame as so many a puzzled coach has done before at the foot of the referees. Oh, but it wasn't really their fault, because how are they really to deal with all the diving?

Game #1-1 Habs Commit To Bruin Beating Plan

Details

Date: 14/4/2011
Opponent: Bruins
Location: Boston

Win: 2-0

Habs Goalie: Price (W)
Opposition Goalie: Thomas (L)

Habs goalscorers: Gionta (2)
Opposition goalscorers: None

Play of the game

Fitting that the game threw a steal our way so we could highlight the puck battle aspect of the game in the play of the game. Milan Lazic skating down the wing was completely and easily stripped of the puck. It became the play of the game because all the actors knew what was to happen next. Gomez took control flush and found his wingers, a simple drop to Gionta became an open chance down the favoured right wing. Soft puck play was followed by soft goaltending as a puck squeezed by Thomas into the net. This ended the game.

Dome hockey team

The 6 players we're playing in a no changes, do or die contest in the dome

Forwards

Tomas Plekanec
So close to being the player of the game. Aside from missing some glorious chances, he laid down a perfect game. He shadowed Krejci and brought back visions of Koivu on Thornton by not only plugging the offense, but also getting the better chances all night. We asked him to bring something more, he did.

Brian Gionta
This was all for naught if Montreal forwards do what Boston forwards did. They nearly did and maybe would have, but for the 30 goal-man (a season and 3 minutes in anyway). Gionta scored two goalscorer's goals and gave Boston problems all night when he was in their zone.

Scott Gomez
Played the team game and made the only two successful scoring chances of the whole game, for either team. Gomez gets his fair share of criticism, so he should get praise when he deserves it. The value of a player like Gomez goes further than his superficial stats. Every time I see the Canadiens turn back in their own zone, I remember how before Gomez and co. this never happened. This wasn't the perfect puck possession game, but choice moments of calm kept it from being worse. Worth saying after a win.

Defencemen

Hal Gill
Classic playoff game for Gill. He took the looser rules and made his game fit them. At one point I saw him lightly holding a players back until the ref turned his way. Gill played lots against the Bruins "big" line and did the business on Lucic and Horton. It kept shots sensible and saveable.

James Wisniewski
Addition of the year on this team. On any team? Certainly glad we didn't hold out for paying more for Kaberle in this case. James was part of a second excellent pairing that shutout a very good second Bruins unit. Did Recchi play? That's a compliment to Wiz.

Goaltender

Carey Price – Game Puck
The perfect game to start a series from our goalie. There were bad angle shots, hard shots, a couple of what looked like screen shots, easy shots - Carey handled them all. He told us he learned a lot from watching the playoffs last spring, and now we know for sure that's true as he showed the pressure soaking Halak goaltending of last spring in perfect rendition. I wouldn't want to be a Bruins fan watching this goalie, because Price now gives that nauseating impression that he can make quality scoring chances into easy looking saves.

Comments

A slowish end to the season fogs into the memory as the Canadiens came out flying, took a lead and then played the perfect safe game. We heard how the team was getting outshot, we saw how the possession was lengthy at times in the Canadiens end for the opposition, but the team didn't mind. That's because the Bruins were taking the outside shots without asking questions and the Habs were happy to continue on that path - the one they were laying.

The win itself is critical. It at once gives the Canadiens home ice advantage and puts to rest any notion that the Bruins were out to manhandle the Canadiens. yet it is still just a game. Unlike a hockey game, a series win requires more than a single score, and the Bruins will have learned something from this game. Comfort must come from the knowledge that a stubborn vet like Julien might actually feel his team did the right things by outshooting the Habs and might preach sticking with no change. Martin still needs to see the next move when the Bruins do wake-up, as I'm not sure they will surprise another team with the Hal Gill usher out.

Enjoy the lead Habs fans. Your well-coached team won a well-designed victory.

Stanley Cup 2011, Round One Key Bruins Players

The Bruins haven't won anything yet, except maybe the hearts and minds of the reporters who would never choose Montreal anyway.

If they are to beat Montreal, I'd expect some of these players to be key.


Nathan Horton

I wonder if Floridians trotted out the 2003 draft every time they saw Horton play. Heaven knows they could have. After all, all the same players were taken after him as Andrei Kostitsyn, but you could add 7 more.

Essentially Horton is a second fiddle, which is not what you want from a 3rd overall pick, but it suits Boston 8 years later just fine. Still, if Boston hope to dominate anything, their top line will have to be there for them. 26-goal man Horton will have to be there in his first playoff games ever after 500 inconsequential match-ups.


Tomas Kaberle

Kaberle is key for so many reasons. For one thing, he is the second defenceman on the team for a PP that will need to fire. For another thing, he represents the lot that has been thrown in for this playoffs, as a first rounder and another recent one made their way to Toronto.

Kaberle wasn't excellent since the trade from TO, but he has been excellent many times before against the Canadiens. It will be up to the Czech to take the load off Chara, who already has to carry most of the defending and Big Badness mantle. If Kaberle can't help Zdeno on the PP, neutral zone regrouping may be the least of the Bruins worries.


Patrice Bergeron

Patrice Bergeron looked like he might win me my pool this year. Ultimately, he ended up costing me in the end. One goal and a few points to close the season was poor. In fact, take away his Christmas to All-Star break flourish, and he's not outshining Gomez by as much as his numbers suggest.

And it won't be a surprise that Marchand and Recchi go down with their centre, just as they followed him in the season.

Patrice has the ability to be a playoff performer, as he's shown it in the past. But like Gomez, it won't be enough to live on reputation, a turnaround for the Bruins team will provide them the two lines they use to vaunt their depth.


Adam McQuaid

One of the potential greenhorns at the back end, he's impressed against the Canadiens with his grit and even his scoring on a couple of occasions. But that was a couple of regular season games we're talking about.

How McQuaid fares, or Kampfer, or whoever is D #6 will be critical to the Bruins, because a counterattack offense is not kind to weak links.

From what I've seen so far, I'd also mark him down as a temper risk. Playoff hockey can bring out some intense moments, and a series like Boston:Montreal is far worse in that regard. A young hothead sounds like a good idea on paper, but one can also tip a series the wrong way for his team if discipline is lost.


Michael Ryder

A player like Michael Ryder is currently keeping the highly touted Tyler Seguin (he that was nearly picked ahead of Taylor Hall for playoff/grit reasons) on the bench.

We've seen this from Julien before, when he benched Phil Kessel for being too talented as he watched his team lose to Carey Price without being able to score.

If Michael Ryder plays really well, he could be a thorn in Montreal's side. If he plays moderately well, however, he could do Montreal a big favour by staying in the lineup and costing Boston in their ultimate offensive potential. And if he plays badly too soon, he could inadvertently help his team by making the right lineup choice so much clearer.

Stanley Cup 2011, Round One Key Canadiens Players

Each player matters in a playoff series, but some matter more than others. No offense to Ryan White and David Desharnais, but here are the players I think could make key differences in key areas for the Montreal Canadiens over the next couple of weeks.


Carey Price

I write Carey Price, I could have just written goalie. The goalie is always a key player in a series. A goalie playing well can turn the tide, just as a goalie playing badly can turn the tide (see recent playoff examples).

Carey Price is the goalie, and this is important. It's important because Carey doesn't currently have a playoff record he would want me to share with you. But there is something he would want me to share -- he did once have a great playoff record. He did once have numbers for a playoff career to be proud of. Importantly, those were accumulated vs. the Claude Julien Bruins with their on-again-off-again scoring. As well as that, Carey has a season to his credit now that endorses his lasting improvement. He has a video reel full of glove saves since RJ Umberger last scored on him. He's better.

He'll need to be better than before to help the Canadiens avoid a sweep. He'll need to be as good or better than he's been since January to help his team win in this round.

Now that I've covered the obvious, I can move on...


Tomas Plekanec

The last time the Canadiens faced the Bruins in the playoffs, Plekanec was benched. Despite the lack of a superior option, he was put aside for a game -- that's just how uselessly he was playing.

Last season, Tomas wasn't able to be the man of the hour in the Philly series, but he played a big role in the first two match-ups of the spring as checker and agitator, with occasional offensive contribution.

This year, I think Tomas has to find something more. I think Tomas has to step up and lead the Canadiens top line.

His record against Boston this season (4 second assists in 6 games) doesn't promise that this performance will come for nothing. It will have to come from within Pleks. It'll have to be a triumph of will. Frankly, it's time for the veteran centre to take his best regular season play and implement it into the playoffs, else his contract might not look the steal of 2010 that we'd all been thinking.


Scott Gomez

Gomez is a key. Not because he needs to justify his contract (indeed he should try to at some point), but because the centres after him can't be counted on to deliver in the crunch.

Fortunately for Gomez, his playoff history shows some grit (if not a flood of points). Also, he'll be thankful to face the Bruins. Against this bruising team, Scott scored 2 goals and posted 5 points (acting like a 25 goal, 65 point man -- as opposed to the 32 point scoring 5 goalscorer he was against the other 28 teams).

Gomez will miss Max Pacioretty who exploited the Bruins cement feet like no other Hab. But he'll appreciate Brian Gionta, he of 5 Bruins goals this season, together with whoever else will be receiving his shot-shunning passes.


Benoit Pouliot

I suspect that at some point someone on a line other than the two I've highlighted above will need to score. Last year Dominic Moore picked up the slack for all the support crew with many a timely goal. This year, no Moore.

Pouliot is the most talented of the remaining forwards. he is big and he is the only Habs player to actually beat up a Bruin.

At some point, whether to save his team, his teammate, or his career, Benoit Pouliot is going to have wake up and start dominating the light coverage he receives. He did it for stretches before Jacques Martin tattered his confidence with minor league promotions and Benny-benchings.

He's a big boy now, though. He must realise that no one is going to win the Cup he wants for him, no one is going to stop taking stupid penalties for him. No one is going to turn his nifty starts of plays into fully highlight worthy moments for him.

He'll be a key to this series. If he does wake up, even for a game, the Bruins won't be ready, nor do they have an answer. If he doesn't the Bruins will be able to focus on shutting down the two other key forwards.

6 GP, 0G, 0Pts, -2. What are you going to do about that?


Jaroslav Spacek

The Bruins can't have missed Subban, they'll know he's coming. Hamrlik and Wisniewski are a top pairing that has an excellent record, but it may be how the third pairing anchored by Jaroslav Spacek fares that tips the defensive balance.

Last playoffs Spacek took on Alexander Ovechkin and won. With a lesser assignment, he must do the same again. The Canadiens can't afford to have Bruins pluggers doing anything other than wasting time on the clock while being on for Habs goals.

If Spacek is healthy (and we think he is), then he is also rested. His haphazard approach to defending is still effective because he can use a partner well and play a system. If Jaro can put in some minutes to take the Michael Ryders of this series out of the picture, then the Bruins have the scoring crunch -- something which should distract them plenty from physical play and punishment and all that.

Old News Habs, Bruins Players and Fans Hate Each Other

Yesterday's main story around Montreal revolved around the words spoken by Mark Recchi on Boston radio.

The second-hand account is that Recchi came out and flagrantly stoked the rivalry by questioning the severity of Pacioretty's injury.

I had no reason to doubt that that is what happened, but I thought I might as well do a bit of due diligence and listen to the radio interview rather than taking twitter's word for matters. What I heard from the Felger and Mazz, the "reporters" who question Canadiens reporting under the banner of "Fact. Not opinion" (in their opinion).

What I heard was typical sports "journalism". The two jockeys jockeyed by reading one article on the internet and speaking about it for 10 minutes. "Let me be more direct: Does it bother you that they embellished it?". Mark goes on to agree, that it bothered him. He even said the team embellished the extent of the injuries. I don't think he said that Pacioretty embellished anything. After all, one can't embellish a broken vertebrae or a concussion, and he was certainly told to lay perfectly still lest do damage to his spine.

Recchi was a bit irresponsible to make those comments. I certainly don't like them, but they are hardly worse than the extremely insensitive ones Patrice Bergeron made mere minutes after the hit, proving himself to be a hypocrite of the highest degree.

I think we've learned a few things from this whole debacle. The first is that fans and hockey players don't necessarily see things the same way. Just because Mark Recchi has been slammed into the turnbuckle 40 times in his career doesn't give me any more reason to want to see any player slammed into it in the future. There are certain plays that some hockey fans could do without. I can only speak for myself, and my own reaction, when I say that it is those future plays I wanted to see eliminated.

I'm no sure it's a learning, but we've also seen the depth of the hatred between Montreal and Boston. We revile what the Brutes refer to as "Bruins (Brutish) hockey". We watch enough games to know that their brand of hockey is not essential to the entertainment value of the sport. The hatred between cities goes deeper than that though., to the point that fans on both sides can explain away anything using their own particular bias. This is the root of the embellishment story, a long-time Boston mantra that protects them against hating their own bullying. If Montreal players and fans are embellishing the effects of their roughness, then it can't possibly be going too far. They cling to one example from Mike Ribeiro, not exactly a hero for Montrealers either.

Recchi partook in this game, just as other Bruins did, precisely because he is a Bruin and he is immersed in the thinking that engulfs that team's fans, and to some extent the whole underdog city (oh, New York is so close).

But let's not pretend that Montreal and its fans aren't on the hook here too. Some people have gone over the top. And because of that, it's easy to see where outsiders get these ideas about the cloud affecting the city's judgment. I don't think the Habs organization was anything less than sincere in wanting to eradicate violent hits in the wake of Max's injury. However, I do think a large portion of Habs fans were more concerned with Chara's suspension than any waves that might be sent through NHL rule-making circles. i can tell you this based on response we got before and after a suspension announcement.

And Montreal knows it's dealing with a sensitive underdog in Boston. And Montreal must recognize that it takes great joy from poking the dog to get a response. It is the custom for Sportswriters in our city to overdo things before a Brutes game. Everything will be payback, epic, better than ever before. This is the case again today. The Recchi story has been blown up to the size it has to make this game more significant.


Vezina trophy
And don't tell me Boston fans have no reason to suggest that Habs fans are a little bit self-centered. In the midst of Tim Thomas laying down some of the best statistics to be recorded since recording began, the call from Montreal is that Carey Price should get the Vezina instead.

I'm all for riling the Boston fans too. But let's recognize when we're doing it.


About hockey

The rest of Mark Recchi's intervew (most people no doubt tuned out to twitter long before) really emphasizes that Bruins desire to make the game about the result, to make the contest tonight about hockey.

I think Recchi recovered from the lapse to make a good point here. And it was one emphasized by Julien as he faced the rabid Montreal media: that the upcoming hockey game should be about the points, about the goals and the saves.

Let's not forget that amid our calls for justice and change those that went beyond hatred for the Bruins had this at the heart of our desires. We asked hockey games to be about hockey, to have hockey without the nonsense of staged fighting, unprovoked attacks and reckless hits.

Roy MacGregor of the Globe and Mail thinks revenge is going out of style and that the Pacioretty aftermath is proof of that. I would like to think he's right and that retribution and troglodyte codes can be filed for another sport to use.

It remains to be seen if the Bruins will toe the line being laid down by their coach and their elder statesman, whether the jumped-up forwards can subdue some of their natural urges. I for one hope they will. And then maybe we can talk about the Pacioretty hit and its aftermath changing the game for the better.

Game #55Boston Play Dirty; Hey, Maybe On The 40th Try It Will Win Them A Cup

Details

Date: 9/2/2011
Opponent: Bruins
Location: Boston

Loss: 6-8

Habs Goalie: Price (L)
Opposition Goalie: Thomas (W)

Habs goalscorers: Gionta, Subban, Weber, Desharnais, Pacioretty (2)
Opposition goalscorers: Marchand, Seidenberg, McQuaid, Ryder (2), Lucic (2), Horton

Play of the game

I don't really like fights in hockey. I don't mind the odd time when players drop the gloves to stick up for teammates or to send a message, but on a night like tonight I didn't really like what I saw. I can't, however, not choose a fight for in here; simply because I can't remember much else right now. On a night when it was clear for all to see that we aren't built to fight (or be as dirty and cheap as Boston) I liked the fact that calm-old Ben Pouliot laid the nicest punch of them all. Sure he was only fighting Krejci, but a punch (a knock-out in hockey terms) like that deserves a mention. It was an irrelevant play amongst a bunch of meaningless plays, but it stood out to me as the one big Habs-better-than-Bruins moment on the night.

Dome hockey team

The 6 players we're playing in a no changes, do or die contest in the dome

Forwards

David Desharnais
The kid was quite possibly playing for NHL life tonight. He is a small, offensive centre that isn't so great in his own end. So, to be put on the 4th (and later 3rd) line with a certain defensive responsibility against a good (and big/dirty) team was going to be a challenge. I think, though, that he passed this test. He played with heart and made things happen in their end. In all it was a goal, an assist, 56% on face-offs and an even rating.

Max Pacioretty
Players that keep playing until the end, no matter what the score, will always have a friend here. That is exactly what Max did. He didn't give up or stop trying, but instead went for goals. Is it selfish to try and score when the game is out of reach? Not at all. One should always be trying to score and what better practice than to do just that in any situation. That all said he scored 2 PP goals in the final frame to up his season totals to 8.

Brian Gionta
After a weak first period it was our captain who set the tone early in the second. Within 8 minutes the game was tied and he was at the heart of both goals (goal, assist). He also led the team in shots and happened to be the only Hab to finish with a positive rating.

Defencemen

Yannick Weber - Game Puck
If you don't think playoff goals count (like the NHL) then Weber scored his first NHL goal tonight. Of course I can see their argument: why would we count stats from the only time of the year that matters? He also picked up 2 assists and now has 10 points which isn't that bad for him at all, in fact that is a 30+ point season pace. I can't say he played well in his own end (did anyone?), but do like that we are getting contribution from him as it certainly adds to our back-end.

James Wisniewski
I liked PK tonight and felt bad that he is a perceived target around the league and now must fight pretty much wherever he goes. Stupid because apart from playing with a lot of spirit and a big mouth I can't say that he is that bad. If being young and those things is enough to be a target (it clearly is) then I guess watch out. The ironic thing is that the people who say that he has no respect are the very players who lack the most class (Richards, Lucic, Horton etc.) and who think being dirty is the way to 'teach' players the 'code'. Anyway, Subban narrowly misses this dome because I think that Wis played a better game, even though I have more to say about PK. James was instrumental in 3 of our goals (2 assists) and was only on the ice for 2 of theirs. We certainly have missed that positive contribution.

Goaltender

Alex Auld
Was this the type of game that goalies can't do well in (fired-up offence, poor defence)? Or, were goalies the cause? I realize that Carey made some big saves and kept us in it early, but I am thinking that had he played his best, even behind our porous D, we could have won. In fact, I think that this was Price's worst game, by far, on the season. 8 goals, despite making many good saves, is a horrible result. Martin probably should have pulled him after 4 or 5, but I guess assumed that it was just one of those nights. This game alone cost him .004 in Save % (now .918) and .11 in GAA (now 2.43) as he falls back towards the middle of the pack. I, however, am not worried about him because of one bad game and am actually glad that if your stats take a beating they take them all at once. He'll be ready to go next game and can rest assured as he wasn't the only reason that we lost tonight, far from it.

Comments

I can deal with a loss, I can deal with poor D and poor goaltending. One thing that I hate seeing, though, is hockey like we saw tonight. Sure, there were a lot of goals and that is exciting, but what are the refs thinking letting things carry on like this? In all there were 192 minutes of penalties! That is 3+ games worth. There were two full-out, everyone-in type fights and even the goalies got in on it. This to me is not exciting, no, it is far from it. All this really does is put players like Pyatt, Spacek, Pouliot, Pacioretty, Gionta and others at the risk of injury. For what? What is gained by playing like this? Now, don't get me wrong as I don't think that this was the Habs' fault. No, this was Boston's doing. Old Fat-Head and the other brain-dead folk on that team want to intimidate the Habs and fail to see that scoring 8 goals is as intimidating as anything else. There will now be a cry in Montreal that we need to get tougher (otherwise known as the February toughness cry) and you can bet your bottom dollar that Gauthier will give in. That means we'll land a useless player (remember Laraque and how much we loved him) at the expense of picks, prospects or talented players. If we can all agree that Boston didn't win tonight because of toughness (I am pretty sure it was the 8 goals) then we can all ask do we need to be tougher? Chicago, Detroit, Pittsburgh and Washington are far from being as dirty and tough as Philly or Boston (0 cups in 35 years, 4 in 70 playing like this), but their strategies seem to work. We can beat this Boston team regularly enough (and we have been doing for the past 5 years) that I really urge everyone to calm down about being tough, about the need for toughness in the playoffs. What a team 'needs' in the playoffs isn't as simple as scoring or goaltending or toughness, no, it is different for each team. The Habs right now have a very goo team and we shouldn't let one stupid game (in which we managed 6 goals, 4 on the PP, of our own) affect our plans and our design.

Stirring The Habs-Bruins Rivalry

If you follow my thoughts from day to day, you will note my total revulsion for all things coming from the hockey curiosity south of Montreal that is Boston.

To describe Bruins fans as arrogant would be a dis-service to arrogant people all over. So as a public service to all of you I attempt to keep an eye on the Boston media and expose you to stories of their pin-wheel dreams gone berserk.

In July, I found a new thorn in my side in James Murphy of Murphy's Law. Back then he was writing about how the suddenly useful Bruins would undoubtedly conquer all opponents this year in an 82-game synopsis that makes a Halak for Lecavalier and Hedman trade look like good sense talking. With the subtlety of a hammer and the insight of a constipated gnat, Murphy irritated me then.

Well, never one to lie down on the job, James has produced another piece to rile the rah-rah masses of Beantown, with some directed jabs at rivals like us (I'd never do such a thing). So again, for my piece of mind and your amusement, I share with you his piece: Bruins Show Claude Julien the Faith He Always Deserved

Now look, I don't disagree with offering a contract extension to the coach who just won the conference and the Jack Adams trophy. But do we really need to pretend that Julien is the first coach to win those plaudits? Nor would he be the first Adams trophy defender and once-can't-do-no-wrong coach to get fired if things go wrong for him – despite said extension.

The thing that riled me up is the length at which Mr. Murphy criticises the Canadiens organization for their mistreatment of Claude Julien – once again insinuating that he was somehow mistreated in his firing.

It's a myth.

Murphy provides me the ammunition himself:

The Canadiens got off to a strong 12-3 start under Julien that season, before winning just seven of their next 25 games.

7 wins in 25 games!?! That's horrible enough. If you remember the time well, you'll recall there were other issues like the Theodore saga, as well as some other problems with ice time and employing the right players. Montreal fans had been baying for Julien's head for some time without hesitation, simply because he was a rookie coach going wrong. His solutions weren't well thought out. His AHL experiences weren't translating to the NHL for him.

When you consider that Claude had only been allowed to stay on after Bob Gainey's hiring on a temporary basis to begin with and you can see that.

The team was faltering. Players were faltering. Julien, on extended job interview, was not doing great in Montreal – not when you consider the expectations post-lockout were high. His firing was a very run-of-the-mill NHL firing – one employed to give a boost to the team in question – nothing more. No raw deal here.


Julien's other raw deal

For me, Claude Julien's other raw deal is the more telling. As Murphy reminds us, Claude was fired again on April 3, 2007, with his team 47-24-8, holding onto first place in the Atlantic Division and second in the Eastern Conference.

At the time, this was a first for me. This was a winning coach during a winning patch. It seemed to defy logic.

Defy logic, indeed. But was it a raw deal?

Well, that certainly depends on your outlook. While players are quick to hide behind bad coaching when things go bad, so too coach apologists prefer to blame sour culture and bad play throughout. Interesting then that this firing left no one anywhere to hide. All it was was a GM reviewing the performance of his employee and deeming that it was not up to scratch. Is that unfair?

Lamoriello told the Canadian Press, "I did not feel that we were going in the right direction, both mentally and hockey(-wise), going into the playoffs, for a variety of reasons." He went on to say that we were not privy to the inner realities of the club.

It is if you think that a GM should only use a single season of experience in making judgments. But, if you allow a manager with Lamoriello's resume to draw on a longer period of observation, then it gets blurrier. After all, if Lou Lamoriello deems that his team will fail with Julien at the helm in the first playoff hurdle, who am I to say he was wrong? Indeed who is Peter Chiarelli?



Bruins immune to a fall?

I think I've made it clear that I side with Gainey and Lamoriello on their decisions of the past. I see 2 experienced GMs making 2 hard choices to release a coach with lots of long-term potential, but in each instance what they deemed to be too little immediate pay-out.

Murphy sees it differently – he calls each move a raw deal. He would have seen Julien last longer in each position, I suppose.

When it comes to the Canadiens of 2005-06, he prefers to blame the entire roster, even the wider organization:

But if you ask most players from that Canadiens squad -- or any players who played under Julien -- the team’s struggles were more a result of the players on the roster and the culture that dominated the Habs’ dressing room for the next three seasons.

I think I could go on about this, but I don't think it necessary. Only to remind the Bruins again that they are not the first team to lead the conference in points. Perhaps they might check the last page of their history book.

To think the Bruins are immune to a fall from grace is to ignore the lessons that have unrolled in their very own division over the past two years. Indeed, it is to ignore what has happened in Julien's and many another coach's career as well.

I'm sure we all wish the best for Claude Julien the minute he moves on from the Bruins, but until then I know I can count on many of you to join me in toasting the Bruins this autumn:

"Here's to their fall."

Bruins Take Habs Song, But Used Wrong Script

The Boston Bruins were trying to emulate the Montreal Canadiens by coming back from a 3-1 series deficit with hot goaltending and a renewed team effort.

Instead they aired a repeat of the 2007-08 Canadiens – taking the conference crown, beating their main rival in the first round, only to slip vs. a team they had beaten handily 4 out of 4 times over the year.

It must be said that Bruins prolonged the agony (and interest) longer than last year's round 2 Montrealers, but in the annals of the Stanley Cup they don't make room to record the details of teams who slip two rounds away.

It was the rare piece of satisfaction that remained in these playoffs where only exciting hockey and academic interest remain. The Bruins were the only team left that I either loved or hated – and to see them go (especially after being taunted and lumped under the term disgrace by the collective smugness) was a pleasure. It is also a big feeling of escape, because the Bruins that dominated the Canadiens looked good enough to emerge from the East, and that would be too close for comfort.

Incidentally, the Bruins probably brought it on themselves as it's never a good idea to plagiarise. Same coach as our 3-1 comeback? Michael Ryder? Mark Recchi? It's been done... It's also probably not a good idea borrow a chief rival's fight song (which proved a loser anyway).



[I should note that the song here was "created" by the "Gifted" Losers some time after the Canadiens were eliminated from the playoffs. The Bruins are only one of the teams featured with the interchangeable lyrics (lame). Nevertheless, one hapless Bruins blogger posted it, so...]


The better and original version, with its own lyrics and player contributions is form 1991: "Courtnall in flight man, what a goal!"

Canadiens Must Not Allow Bruins To Paint Themselves Victims

The Boston Bruins are in the process of taking a large page from John Stevens' ultra-successful contra-Canadiens playoff strategy book:

Play on the feeling that the league may just favour the Canadiens

After all, how else did this team win so many Cups? How did they scout and recruit better than everyone else for 30 years? Why did French Canadian stars want to play for this team exclusively?

The current rendition of the story has the league and their henchmen (that'd be the refs) turning a blind eye to the despicable and dangerous play form the dirty dirty Canadiens (or Europeans, if you prefer the xenophobic take).

As a ploy from the opposition coach, it is top notch. In theory, at its best it can distract the refs and make them see every Canadiens tumble as a dive. In practice, it seems to have done just that so far.

After all, how do we come out of a game where the Canadiens were assessed 5 of the discretionary penalties (I classify high-sticking as non-discretionary) to the Bruins zero with the Boston coach ranting about how his team has been cheated and treated unfairly?

There is no doubt that Sergei Kostitsyn, Glen Metropolit, Alex Tanguay and Kovalev all hooked, but as was pointed out in the broadcast, many of the calls were recognising plays that had just happened 50 times over in the preceding minutes. Even if the Canadiens were guilty of two thirds of the offenses, their rate of penalization was still disproportional.

The rate of penalty calls was also out of balance in Game #1, where we were all a bit perplexed to see the 47th crosscheck of the game called mid-way through the third period of a pivotal tie hockey game. And Plekanec was certainly the only player called for stick touching opponent's hip.


What should the response be?

This is much tougher than it seems. The Canadiens cannot simply stop taking penalties. They cannot stop hooking or interfering either quite simply because the vast majority of that stuff is not called and so not doing it would put them at a competitive disadvantage.

No, what I think they must do is meet the Bruins at their level. Feel a crosscheck in your back, go down. Player through the crease, flop out. Not quite getting around the player in the corner, go to the ice. If diving is a new standard of play, we should not be left behind. After all, the worst that happens when you dive is no call, or worse a coincidental minor?!?

It's not the high standard the ambassadors of the teams discuss with youngsters in schools, but desperate times call for desperate measures, eh? Besides, teams of the 60s and 70s couldn't have won so much without a little flex in their interpretation of the rules.


In addition, I feel someone from the organisation needs to meet Claude Julien head on and address the media in the following way:

"We feel that Milan Lucic got the suspension he deserved, because intentional or not sticks to the head need to be removed from the game. We also feel that it is insulting to have to listen to the coach of a team that enjoyed all the powerplays of the previous game insinuate that we are being favoured."

All of this nonsense comes out of the very gray area the league has left itself in with regard to calling penalties int he playoffs. In some circles, there is an understanding (nudge, nudge, wink, wink) that the rules from the season are put away from now on. And on certain nights, that seems to be the case.

Obviously, the league needs to be more consistent. I see only two ways to do that: 1) call everything, or 2) call nothing. All this in between leaves no one satisfied and more than a few with a sour taste in their mouths.


Anyway, here's to a better spectacle this evening. Go Habs Go.