Back to hockey

Ok, after all, this is still a hockey bog, so let’s talk hockey again! It’s not going to be an easy weekend. I’m sorry for stating the obvious, but playing Washington and Detroit in back to back games isn’t exactly going to be a pleasure for the habs, given all their recent issues. But let’s start with tonight’s game:

Game 22

Stewie is back to the Bulldogs for two weeks, and it’s lines juggling time in Montreal. It’s not exactly the sign of a confident team and coach. During the last game, Metro played on the first line. Now, according to Habs Inside/Out (yeah, I kinda have to rely on them, I can’t really go to see the practices myself…) Metro is back to the fourth line, with Pyatt and Laraque. The third line features Lats, Lapierre and White. Plekanec, Kostitsyn and Pacioretty are on the second line. So, that means it’s Travis Moen’s turn to play along Gomez and Cammalleri on the first line.

Habs fourth liners line up to play on the first line, in front of a pre-crisis habs billboard ad.

It’s really a bad sign when you have to use your 4th liners to play on the first line. No offense to Metro or Moen, who are playing well this year (especially Metro), but I don’t think it’s their role to play along guys like Cammie. Even worse, I think it sends the message that you’re really desperate to find solutions. I have a lot of confidence in Martin’s coaching abilities, but this kind of moves is disturbingly reminiscent of Carbonneau.

With Gionta out for an indefinite time, I think it could be time to send someone down and call up Desharnais or Sergei K. (I’m sorry for the Bulldogs, really, but I’m still a habs fan first… and that’s unfortunately the way things work for affiliate franchises: they’re bound to lose their best players during the season…)

The good news for the habs is the return of O’Byrne. Like the rest of habs fans, I’m really hoping his injury didn’t completely turned him back to 2008-09 O’Byrne. Otherwise, we’re screwed.

About the Caps, they’re also missing important players (Semin, Knuble), but Ovie is back. With him and Backstrom, they’re still pretty scary.

I’m sorry, that’s pretty much all I have to say about this game. I’m not very confident about the habs right now, but if they can somehow win this one, or at least get a point (this will probably necessitate another good game from Carey), it would definitely be a welcome confidence boost.

~~~

Just an update about the French soccer team: there were petitions in France to have the game played again. Now it’s getting really funny, because everyone is making fun of Henry. In the news, on tv, on the radio, in the streets, really everywhere. I have yet to see someone seriously defending him. It’s getting to the point where politicians are asked their opinion about it. Which causes them all sorts of embarrassment, because they can’t defend cheating, but they don’t want to look unpatriotic if they criticize les Bleus. So they’re really beating around the bush (I’ve just learnt this expression, I hope it makes sense)

Henry himself admitted that he thought the game should be replayed. But the FIFA confirmed the result, and it’s very unlikely there will be a rematch. If things stay that way, I think we should just have fun with this: let’s embrace our cheaters status, and let’s have the French fans come to South Africa with big foam hands. Humor is the only way out of this embarrassment!

I would LOVE to see something like this catching on.

La honte

Yesterday, France met Ireland for a crucial game to determine who would take part in the FIFA soccer world cup in South Africa, next summer. Last week, in the first leg, France had beaten Ireland 1-0 in Dublin. Yesterday, the French only needed a tie in Paris to be qualified. After regulation the score was 1-0 Ireland, and the game went to overtime. Then, Thierry Henry, the French captain, blatantly used his left hand to control the ball just before he made a pass to Gallas, who scored. The referee somehow missed it, and the goal was allowed. The game eventually ended in a 1-1 tie, and France got his ticket to the world cup.

I just want to say I’m really ashamed today. Yes, I was rooting for France, but winning like this is not winning. Henry should be ashamed of himself. This is pathetic.

I think it’s understandable that he controlled the ball that way and made the pass. It happens so fast, it’s a matter of reflexes, and when the ball hits your hand so close to the goal line, you just can’t stop playing right away But then, after the goal was scored, he ran around celebrating wildly, as the Irish were storming the referee to signal him what just happened. Of course, after the game, Henry admitted he touched the ball with his hand. I’m sorry but that’s too late.

I’m happy that the French will be in South Africa for the World Cup. But I’m ashamed of the way it happened.

(On a sidenote, bravo to Algeria. They beat Egypt and will take part in the World Cup for the first time since 1986. There is a strong Algerian community around where I live, and it was pretty crazy yesterday night. Congrats!)

1 year and 2 days!

Damn, I missed my own birthday! I started this blog exactly 1 year and 2 days ago. I wasn’t around this weekend to post this on the right date, but I’ll celebrate anyway!

Overall, it has been a shitty year to follow the habs, and the immediate future doesn’t look so bright. But writing this blog has been a LOT of fun. I didn’t really know what to expect when I started this, and I was afraid I wouldn’t find enough things to write about. Fortunately (or unfortunately), the habs provided lots and lots of drama over the last 12 months, and never really left me searching for discussion topics… I wrote about olympic mascots, vampires, Josh Gorges, booing Bettman, how to properly riot, the montreal media, Pucky the Whale, Josh Gorges, the prejudice against Europeans, statistics, sports trophies, Josh Gorges, superstitions, the Hockey Gods, women blogging about hockey, Josh Gorges, and I’ve photoshopped virtually every habs player in ridiculous situations. To a certain extent, I’m still not sure of what this blog is really about.  It’s mostly silly and sometimes a little serious too. But I’m having fun, and that’s why I’m still doing this.

But of course, the best thing about this whole experience has been interacting with you, my beloved readers. You’re not very numerous, but I don’t mind, let’s just say you’re part of  a very exclusive club of awesome people. Everyone of you, especially those who took the time to leave comments, you’re invited to join me for a virtual birthday party, starting right now. (Those of you who read the blog without leaving comments, you’re invited too, but you won’t have cake.)

We definitely know how to party here at the Soft European Headquarters.

Now my dear habs, don’t ruin this celebration, I want a win tonight. You’re playing the freaking Hurricanes. They blow even harder than you do, so don’t mess this one up. Otherwise, I’ll have to ridicule you once again with stupid photoshops. No one wants this.

Un peu de nostalgie

Bon, il est quand même temps de parler au moins une fois de hockey français sur ce blog. Je vais être franc, je ne suis pas vraiment le hockey en France. Je ne vais quasiment jamais voir de matchs, et je ne regarde jamais les résultats.

Mais il y a quelques années, j’allais régulièrement voir l’équipe de Nantes jouer à la patinoire du Petit Port. Mon petit frère avait une dizaine d’années, il jouait dans l’équipe moustique, et on allait en famille voir ses matches et ceux des Corsaires, l’équipe première, le samedi soir. L’équipe n’a jamais été au plus haut niveau. A l’époque où j’allais voir leurs matchs (c’était il y a au moins dix-quinze ans), les Corsaires jouaient en Nationale 1, c’est à dire en réalité au deuxième échelon, en dessous de la Ligue Elite. Aujourd’hui, les noms des championnats ont changé, et ils jouent en division 2 , le troisième échelon (la Ligue “Elite” est devenue “Ligue Magnus”).

C’était mes premier contacts avec le hockey, bien avant de m’intéresser à la LNH et au Canadien. Je me souviens des bagarres, des bruits des patins sur la glace et du palet qui arrive sur la crosse (oui, en France on dit “une crosse” et pas “un bâton”), des habitués (le public n’était jamais très très nombreux…). C’est aussi à cette époque que j’ai acheté nhl ‘95 pour ma SEGA megadrive, et que je suis tombé définitivement amoureux du hockey.

Des heures et des heures de bonheur.

Ce matin je me suis dit que j’allais regarder un peu sur internet comment vont les Corsaires, et en parler un peu sur ce blog. Et là, c’est la déception. Je m’aperçois que l’équipe a complètement changé ses couleurs et son logo cette saison…

Voilà l’ancien logo et les anciens uniformes:

(photo: nantes.maville.com)

Et ils ont abandonné ça pour…

ça:

(photo: asgtours.fr, Tibashoult)

Beurk! Vraiment, j’espère qu’ils n’ont pas payé trop cher pour ça…

Je ne comprends pas pourquoi les clubs sportifs s’acharnent à essayer de transformer leurs logos, ou à  changer leurs couleurs aussi souvent. Je sais bien que c’est une histoire de marketing. Mais sérieusement, là on est à une si petite échelle que je me demande bien quel est le bénéfice. A Nantes, les Corsaires ont un petit public d’habitués, mais ils passent quand même relativement inaperçus. J’ai quelques doutes sur le fait que renoncer à toute l’identité du club permette aux Corsaires de devenir subitement ultra populaires.

Bon, j’imagine bien que ça ne va pas passionner grand monde cette petite histoire sur le logo d’une obscure équipe de troisième division française, mais tant pis. Je suis un traditionnaliste en ce qui concerne les logos et les maillots des clubs sportifs, et ça m’énerve de voir que même dans les petites divisions, le marketing pousse à renoncer à ses couleurs.

A somber revelation

- Oh look at this Komi, it’s awful!

- What?… Ugh!

The Habs and the Leafs are behind the Islanders.

Merci!

That’s it. That’s how I feel this morning. I don’t care the habs almost blew it again. I don’t care they couldn’t win in regulation once again. I’m just happy, because they beat the Bruins, and Price looked really good. That’s a great way to start my weekend. Because yes, this is already my weekend. I’m leaving in 20 minutes to take the train to no-computer land. I’ll be habs deprived until sunday night. So I’m :-) that they left me on a good note.

See you soon!

Habs Fail

Sigh.

A Warning from the Hockey Gods

Dear Montreal Canadiens,

It appear that yesterday, during the game you played at the Bell Centre against the Toronto Maple Leafs, you repeatedly blatantly tried to provoke us.

First, there was this.

It was our understanding that we had previously made it very clear we don’t like those jerseys. Do we have to remind you what happened when you wore those uniforms last season? We thought you got the message. So we were a little surprised to see you using them again yesterday.

We initially thought this was just a halloween prank, and we decided to let it go. But then, some of your fans decided to really anger us. With 5 minutes to go in the third period and the Canadiens up by a pair of goals, they decided it was time to sing. Now we don’t mind singing and cheering. Not at all. But there are some songs that should be used very carefully.

“Na na na na hey hey goodbye” is one of them.

You left us no choice, really.

We eventually decided to let you win in the shootout, mostly because we never miss an occasion to tease Toronto, and we thought it would be funny to let Toskala entertain us. And of course, he didn’t disappoint.

But consider yourself warned. Don’t mess with us. Next time, we won’t be so lenient.

Love,

Your Hockey Gods.

Goalies goalies goalies!

Game 13:

(I’ll be honest here, this photoshop idea directly comes from the avatar of weazel-1, a poster at the official blackhawks discussion board. I stumbled upon it looking for a pic of Huet, and I couldn’t resist redoing it)

I love this picture so much I could just end the post here. But I won’t. As I said, I got the idea while looking for a Huet picture. And I wanted a picture of Cristobal, because I wanted to aknowledge he seems to be playing much better these days. He only allowed 3 goals in his last 3 starts, getting a shutout in the meantime. Yeah, those games were against the Preds (2 times) and the Wild, who are not scoring a lot this season, but still. People were quick to bash him when he struggled earlier in the season, but no one seems to be giving him credit for his improved play.

Anyway, I admit I’m a little biased when it comes to Huuuet, so you just know I’ll defend him…

I love this mask

Now speaking of goalies, it’s time for me to write a little bit about Price and Halak.

Price will get his first start tonight in almost two weeks. As you all know, Halak started the last 5 games. He was relieved by Carey during the last game in Pittsburgh, so it’s not really surprising to see Martin giving Price the start tonight. Of course, there has been a lot of discussion over the goalie situation over the last few days. What I’m about to say probably isn’t groundbreaking, but if you’re reading this, maybe you’re actually interested in my 2 cents.

I think the current Price/Halak tandem is not sustainable in the long run. I know it’s good for a team to have two young and talented goalies, so the habs are not in a terrible situation here. And I also think it’s good to give Price a little bit of competition, and to show Halak that he’ll get his chance. But in the long run, the Habs know they’ll have to make a choice. It pains me to say so, because I am a big fan of both of our goalies, and I’ll be sad when one leaves (it’s not a if, it’s a when. It may not be before next season, or even the one after, but one will eventually leave). The situation is a little complicated for the habs and their goalies because Price and Jaro clearly never had the same status in the organization. Price, selected 5th overall, has always been projected as the future of the franchise. Halak, on the other hand, was picked 271st. He climbed his way to a backup job, but until recently, I never had the impression the habs seriously considered him for anything else than that.

Then,the question is: should we start questioning Price’s future status as a franchise goalie, and give more of a chance to Halak? This is not an easy question. If you still believe that Price should be considered as the future of the franchise, you want to be very careful. Sure you can give him a little competition, but you have to make sure he still understands that the team is not giving up on him. And of course, this means that you will continue to be a little unfair with Jaro, who will get less starts than he deserves.

If, on the other hand, you think Jaro and Price should be given an equal chance to earn the starting role, then it’s a little tricky too. You need to give more starts to Halak. But in doing so, it’s hard not to think you’re going to mess with Price. One of the issues with Price seems to be mental. He’s very young, and he’s slowly learning what it takes to be a #1 goalie. Price had success at all the levels he played before he made it to the nhl. So it’s probably the first time he has to cope with real performance and confidence issues. And he has to do that while being under the intense scrutiny of the media and the fans in Montreal. It’s obviously going to take a few years for him to learn how to deal with that. And have you heard of a goalie hitting his prime at 22? Of course not. What I’m trying to say is that giving Price the impression you’re not so sure anymore he’s the future of the franchise is probably not going to help him. At the same time, you don’t want to give him the impression he’s already earned everything…

As for Halak, he obviously is not facing the same pressure. If he becomes a bona fide #1 goalie, he will have beaten the odds and exceeded all the expectations. If he doesn’t, he might still get a chance somewhere else in the nhl. The issue with him is that it’s difficult to assess what he’ll be in five to ten years. It’s a little risky too to keep trusting Price no matter what, at the risk of frustrating Jaro and eventually losing him, only to see him outperforming Carey in the long run.

Now, I think the situation is not problematic in the short run. The habs have two goalies capable of winning games. The challenge for the team is to manage to handle the situation smartly. It’s crucial for Gainey and the coaching staff to turn this into a learning experience for both goalies, and a situation of healthy competition and emulation. It may not be possible in the long run (it could be in one year or more), and at least one of the goalies is likely to feel increasingly frustrated. But hopefully, by then, the habs will have made their choice.

Wow, I’m sorry, that was way too long… I’m not sure I’ve really helped to clarify the goalie situation… Now if your brain is not hurting too much, tell me, what do you think of all this? :)

Crosby’s Halloween Costume Scares Habs, Pens Win 6-1

How can you win a game when the opposition has such an intimidating captain?

The most photoshopped man in the History of hockey. By far.

And he deserves it. 3 goals yesterday. Nothing to say about the game, the Pens are the Stanley Cup Champs, the Habs are a .500 team without their only legit All Star player (and I’m not talking about Price). It was pretty clear yesterday.

But let’s not get too depressed. Bad nights like that happen in a 82 games schedule. The habs have shown some character this season, I want to see that on Friday in Chicago.