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.

Wherein Grrrreg realizes he has no clue about the Habs

It’s been a while since I’ve done a regular game preview. So I think it’s time to call back Shania to introduce us tonight’s opponent . By the way I hope you’re not already fed up with her because I found pictures of her wearing almost every nhl jersey, so this stupid gimmick is not about to end. Oh, and for the record, I’m not a fan of Shania. Not at all. Not in any way. Not even close. But I’m amused by her idea to wear local jerseys to please the home crowd. Anyway.

Game 11

The Isles.

Again?

Yeah.

So according to RDS and Habs Inside Out, here are the lines that Martin used in practice:

Cammalleri-Gomez-Gio
Lats-Plekanec-Dags
Pacioretty-Lapierre-Moen
Stewart-Chips-Kostitsyn

Metropolit has the flu, so he could miss tonight’s game. I’m a little surprised to see Kostitsyn playing on the fourth line. I know he hasn’t played well so far this season, but I wonder how exactly playing on the fourth line with Chips and Stewie will help him to score goals. His ice time will probably be reduced, and no offense to Chips, who played a great game against the rangers, but he’s not Plekanec yet… I know the idea is to send Andrei a message, but  I’m not sure what the next step will be if he fails to score on the fourth line (and there’s a real possibility he will struggle with less talented players and a more limited role). Regarding Chips, it’s weird to see him paired with Stewie again. It didn’t seem to work earlier in the season, and he seemed more confortable with Latendresse.

Obviously, I’m not in a great position to guess what the optimal lines combinations are, and Jacques Martin has a tiny edge on me here: he’s actually coaching the Montreal Canadiens while I’m typing this on my laptop, 5 500 kms away. But still, he should clearly listen to me next time.

Also, apparently Halak is playing again tonight. I didn’t see that one coming. I understand the idea of playing the goalie that wins games, but it’s a little odd to bench your #1 goalie for 4 consecutive games. And you’d think a game against the Isles would have been a nice occasion to get him back on the ice. Because the next one is against the Pens in the Igloo, and it won’t be the easiest situation if Price has to play there. But we’ll see. And I guess there will be a LOT of discussion about this everywhere until then…

So to sum up: I’m surprised by the lines, and by the goalie choice. It must mean I know my team very well! I’m so smart…

Grrrreg writes another great post about the habs.

(oh, and the title of this post is a small shoutout to the Ookies)

Good times

Yesterday, I did what I rarely do: I watched the habs game in its entirety. And I’m glad I did that, because it was a great game. It started awfully though. I only arrived home during the first period, and just as I started watching, the habs were stuck in their own zone by the Rangers forechecking, they couldn’t clear the puck, and some Ranger immediately scored. Less than 5 minutes later, NY scored again. It was 3-1 Rangers, and I really felt like I jinxed the habs.

But the remaining of the game was MUCH more fun to watch. As you probably know, Cammalleri got a hat trick, and the habs prevailed in OT.

Here is, in no particular order, what made me happy yesterday:

- Beating the rangers is always fun.

- Obviously, the first line. Cammalleri is on a nice streak, Gionta keeps on being awesome, and Gomez… well, he’s playing good too, even if I don’t always notice him. (I wonder how long it’ll take me to fully accept him as a hab. It’s weird).

- Chips. He had a very good game, and a lot of people noticed him. He even got some praise in the coach postgame interview. I hope he’ll stay with the habs this season, and prove he can be a good NHLer.

- Bergeron. I just liked his goal. Because other than that, he really isn’t making a great impression on me so far…

- Jacques Martin. It’s a little tough to assess the work of a coach, so here I’m pretty much just relying on what I feel. But I like the way he explains his choices, and the players seem to be answering well to what he’s asking.

- The team’s character. That’s one of the things I like the most about the 2009-10 habs: they’re not quitting. Guys like Gionta, Cammalleri, Moen seem to have changed a lot of things in the team character. The habs are still a work in progress (last night’s first period showed that), but even when they’re in trouble, they fight to keep the game close. It’s a real change from the teams of the last few seasons. A welcome change.

- the time change in Europe. It’s now wintertime here. So we got an extra hour of sleep last night (well, I spent it watching hockey, but still). But most importantly, it means that until next week (I think), I’m now only 5 hours ahead of the Montreal time zone. 7pm games will start at midnight! Woooo! I love when that happens.

(This sculpture is in front of Gare Saint Lazare, one of Paris’ train stations.)

First star

2 assists, the first star of the game, and a pirate smile.

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