Posts by Mike Boone

Friend and colleague Patrick V. Hickey summed up the mood of the media succinctly as we boarded the elevator to head down to the Canadiens' dressing room:

"A game like that," Hickey sighed, "and now we have to interview the Kostitsyn brothers."

I didn't stick around the room long enough to hear clichés tumble out of the mouths of Sergei and Andrei in halting English.

What could they or anyone else say about a game in which the Canadiens were lucky to take points from the worst team in the league? 

This one won't be in the Second Century Classic DVD collection.

Now that we know the Canadiens MVP didn't have his knee destroyed by Mattias Ohlund last night, let's get back to the math problem:

Will the team sign Tomas Plekanec?

And for how much?

As befits the team's hottest player, Scott Gomez offered the most succinct analysis of your seemingly-playoff-bound Montreal Canadiens:

"We're starting to look like the team we should have been all year."

And they're still missing two important players: sniper Mike Cammalleri and power-play specialist Marc-André Bergeron.

Despite their absence, the Canadiens are playing like the team Professor Gainey may have envisaged when he started stitching components together last summer.

Gomez and Gionta aren't as young as they were when they broke in with New Jersey. But energized by the addition of Benoit Pouliot, the former Devils are playing their best hockey of the season.

And they picked a good time to peak.

The Canadiens have 15 games left in their regular season: nine at home, six on the road.

A fan offers this analysis of why the Canadiens (for whom he uses the first person plural) are in the catbird seat for a playoff spot because of a favorable schedule:

Of the 15 games we have left, six are against teams currently in playoff position (40%). The average point total of the teams we face going forward is 65.4, a total below the Canadiens'.
 
Rangers: 16 games left, eight against teams currently in playoff position (50%). Average point total of opponents: 67.4
 
Lightning: 18 games left, 10 against teams currently in playoff position (56%). Average point total of opponents: 72.5
 
Thrashers: 18 games left, 12 against teams currently in playoff position (67%). Average point total of opponents: 73.3
 
Thrashers have the toughest schedule going forward. In their last five games, they face the top three teams in the Eastern Conference: Penguins twice, Capitals twice and the Devils.

The Canadiens, by contrast, end their regular season against the Conference bottom-dwellers: Leafs, Islanders and Hurricanes).

Plan the parade.

It wasn't quite the 0-5 comeback against the Rangers.

But a week after The Game, this was quite a game.

Down 3-1 on the road with 110 ticks left in the second game of a back-to-backer ...

The Canadiens kicked open the door of the hurt locker and maybe offered an avatar of what we'll see in the regular season's last 15 games.

OK, last desperate try for an Oscar tie-in.

I promise.

The winner was ... the Canadiens, and the improbable W lifted them into seventh place.

Jarred Friedman found this video of two Finnish friends, talking about how much they love each other.

It's a given that Scott Gomez's contract is ridiculous.

Glen Sather is the Santa Claus of the NHL – Wade Redden: $6 million – and found an elf in Bob Gainey.

But what was Gomez supposed to do? Become the first person in the history of capitalism to decline a raise?

(Detroit Tigers star Al Kaline did once, but I digress.)

Last night in L.A., we saw the skills that bedazzled Sather and Gainey.

Gomez played is best game of the season, centring the only dangerous line wearing white.

Two dominant shifts, at the beginning of the first and third periods, put the Kings back on their royal heels and set the tone for an outstanding team effort that lifted the Canadiens back into eighth place.

Equally impressive was Gomez's play in his own end. 

Never forget this is a player who broke in with the New Jersey Devils.

We saw a cum laude graduate of Lou U. last night.

Tip of the tuque to video scout Jarred Friedman for this L.A. Kings commercial.

Always fun with Chris Lee, eh?

Is there a Montreal fan alive who doesn't wish the ref got a lift back to the hotel ... from Dan Heatley?

Seven minors called on each team, most of them in the second period, several of them bizarre and woefully inconsistent.

The parade to the box disrupted the flow of the game and prevented Jacques Martin from rolling the lines to the extent he was able to in Boston.

The result: Single-digit minutes for Glen Metropolit, Tom Pyatt and Mathieu Darche.

The result of that: fatigue in the third period – and two unanswered goals by the home team.

San Jose took over about midway through the middle period, and then it was just a matter of time before the number two team in the league, with a goal differential of +51, beat the number 23 team, which is -10.

Sean F. Avery

He's a jerk, but he understands show biz.

No, that guy in the Leafs jersey wasn't Mike Komisarek.

Colton Orr gave Milan Lucic all he could handle last night.

Of course, BGL couldn't fit that into his busy schedule last season.

The San Jose Sharks sell hockey to northern Californians.

Habs I/O chief video scout Jarred Friedman found this commercial featuring Joe Thornton as a ventriloquist.

But my favourite is coach Todd McLellan.

There are others with Joe Pavelski, Rob Blake,  Ryan Clowe and Dan Boyle.

This music video is amazing.

Something to entertain Habs fans until the puck drops hours and hours from now.

So, buyers, sellers or innocent bystanders?

The consensus prediction from radio guys and the Antichambre crew is a quiet Trading Day for the Canadiens and their fans.

Nothing we saw in Boston changes that scenario ... except a win makes a stand-pat trade day easier to accept.

All credit to the Canadiens for a very solid effort ... against a very bad hockey team.

What's happened to the Bruins?

No one can score, the D is pathetic and Tim Thomas is signed to watch Tuukka Rask for four years.

But enough about them.

Boston sucks. The Bruins have not won in the TD Banknorth Centre this year. They're about to go on the road for seven games.

The Canadiens are in seventh place, and the team we saw last night  â€“ trailing after two periods, then scoring four unanswered – looked like a playoff club.

Something to chase your post-Games Blues:

During the Montréal-Québec TV series, Patrice Brisebois gets into with Bob Hartley.

I won't provide a full translation, but several "shut your face"s, a couple of Stanley Cup ring citations and Breezer told Hartley "you have trouble finding a job."

•  •  •

Best line on the Games ceremonies from my great and good friend Josie Gold, the Photo Shop wizard of Four Habs Fans:

"Giant penises to open the Games, giant beavers to close them."

•  •  •

Damien Cox on Twitter:

A reader says the 3 biggest goals in Canadian hockey history are from Paul Henderson and 2 guys who live in the same house in Pittsburgh.

Some quick-hit observations:

• If Canada lost, there wouldn't be enough alcohol and meds in this country to deal with it.

• Our Montreal Canadiens have NO ONE as good as Toews, Doughty, Kane, Keith ... well, I could go on, but we don't have enough alcohol and meds.

• I was among the second-guessers on Niedermayer when the tournament began. Too old. Too slow. As usual, I was wrong.

• This tournament will define the career of Rick Nash.

• Mike Babcock is as smart a guy as my alma mater ever produced.

• Two words for the Sid skeptics: B--- me.

• My friend and Gazette colleague Don Macpherson points out the best part of this for a Montrealer: We are spared the Réjean Tremblay "humiliation" column whining about Martin St. Louis and Vincent Lecavalier not being on the team.

• Hey, Reggie: Brodeur and Bergeron were great, eh? The best franco in the tournament was Zach Parise.

• Given a mulligan on the 2003 draft, I'd have taken Ryan Getzlaf or Zach Parise or Corey Perry or Mike Richards or Dustin Brown or Shea Weber.

• Did anyone miss fighting?

• Are the Hawks loaded or what?

• Are the Kings loaded or what?

• Man, Parise ...

• Can we bag the Burke-bashing, please?

• Is Ryan Kesler's locker beside Roberto Luongo's?

• How can we get excited about the NHL after this?

Canada vs. USA

Best of seven for the Stanley Cup

Good idea?

Back-up plan: Sid vs. Toews for the Cup

•  •  •

Only two sleeps until Canadiens-Boston

• We are two sleeps closer to the month in which Spring begins.

• Regardless of what happens in the Bronze medal game, Jaro Halak has buttressed his status as a Number One goaltender in the NHL.

• There is no danger of complacency in the Gold medal game. Team Canada got the scare of their lives last night.

• Sidney Crosby is due for a big game. And he will have one against the Americans.

• At 3 p.m., we will know where our children are. Also our parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, colleagues, friends, enemies and total strangers.

• Joannie Rochette.

• Speedskaters with dreads.

• We may not own the podium, but we're renting with the option to buy: Canada has won more Gold than any host country ever.

Canadiens season ticket-holders got their playoff invoices this week.

A friend of Habs Inside/Out has two seats in the Red A section of the Bell Centre.

He and other season ticket fans have to shell out in advance for 15 possible playoff games.

He's writing the team a cheque for a cool $6,462.40.

What happens if the Canadiens miss the playoffs or are eliminated short of 15 home games?

There will be refunds, of course.

But that's a hefty cash outlay.

Canada vs. the U.S. in the women's gold medal game tonight.

Then the courageous Joannie Rochette skates for a medal.

And if that isn't enough to get you lovin' the ladies, check out Grace Potter and the Nocturnals doing the classic White Rabbit.

•  •  •

Morning line on tomorrow night:

I want Jaro to be magnificent in defeat.

After Weber, Toews and the boys pounded the snot out of Ovechkin, just imagine what they're going to do to Gaborik.

Jaro Halak made 26 saves last night as Slovakia beat Sweden to advance to the semi-finals.

In playing every minute of his country's five games, Jaro is 3-1 with a shutout, a GAA of 1.97 and a save percentage of 92.3.

It's the Slovaks' best-ever performance at the Olympic Games.

And, dare we say it, they aren't done yet.

The other semi pits Saku Koivu and Finland, 2-0 winners over the Czech Republic last night, against the U.S.

Listen to Yogi Berra, for he is wise.

As Mike Babcock is wise.

Wise enough to play Chris Pronger and Dan Boyle 3:46 and 4:00, respectively, in the third period.

Wise enough to play Drew Doughty and Duncan Keith 9:41 and 8:44 in crunch time.

But now Canada faces the ignominy of playing Germany tomorrow in the qualification round.

So tell us, Wise One, who is your starting goaltender?

Martin Brodeur was not good last night.

Four goals on 22 shots?

Flopping around like David Aebischer.

Shedding the shackles of the trapezoid, Martin F. handled the puck with all the aplomb of a farmer trying to kill a rattlesnake with a shovel.

Anticipating Brodeur's prefrerence for playing the puck on his forehand, the Americans overloaded his left side to excellent effect.

As for the weak liner to shortstop .... well, the less said, the better.

Not good, certainly in comparison to red-hot Ryan Miller.

And maybe, just maybe, Brodeur is too old, his Hall of Fame creer prolonged past its Best Before date by New Jersey's hermetic system.

•  •  •

Unless Canada is about to string together four Ws, there are going to be a lot of questions asked about this team's personnel.

Are Pronger and Scott Niedermayer better than Mike Green?

Are Jarone Iginla and Corey Perry better than Martin St. Louis and Steven Stamkos?

Is Ryan Getzlaf better than Brad Richards?

Is Joe Thornton the worst money player in the history of hockey?

Patrice Bergeron played 5:27 last night, while Jeff Carter watched the game on TV.

Much to discuss.

Have at it.

Jaro Halak made 21 saves as Slovakia beat Latvia 6-0.

It was Jaro's first shutout for Slovakia since April 28, 2007 in IIHF world championship, that one a 24-save, 3-0 preliinary-round round win over Norway.

Jaro lowered his Olympic tournament GAA to 1.30. His save percentage is 95.1.

Alan Walsh is running out of decimal places on his calculator.

•  •  •

Guess who's the leading Olympic scorer?

Sergei Kostitsyn had a goal and three assists in Belarus's 5-3 win over Germany. His five points in three games lead the tournament, pending today's action.

•  •  •

In other Olympic news, Mikhail Grabovski was arrested after a street fight in the wee hours of Saturday morning and spent the night in the slammer.

Steve Kerley, aka 24 Cups, scouts the web and has found some excellent pieces on the tournament:

• Damien Cox of the Toronto Star on finding the right linemates for Sidney Crosby

• From Sports Illustrated, Kostya Kennedy on Martin Brodeur

• Bob McKenzie on the game against Switzerland

• Roy MacGregor on what we've learned about Team Canada

• Eric Duhatschek on the U.S. game

Tomas Plekanec is on a goal-a-game pace at the Olympics.

Pleks scored in the Czech Republic's 5-2 win over Latvia on Friday. He had four shots on goal and played 17:10, second among Czech forwards to Patrik Elias's 18:37.

Sergei Kostitsyn played 16:51 and had a SoG but was kept off the scoresheet in Belarus's 4-2 loss to Sweden.

Jaro Halak will be in action Saturday afternoon at 7:30 when Slovakia plays Latvia.

And on Super Sunday, it will be Pleks and the Czechs against Andrei Markov's Russia at 3 p.m., followed by Canada vs. the U.S. in what should be a prime-time classic, then Sweden vs. Saku Koivu and Finland at midnight.

Making his second start in as many nights, Jaro Halak stoned mighty Russia.

36 saves – including 15 in the second period – in a 2-1 Slovakian upset.

Jaro stopped Alexander Ovechkin twice in the shootout.

Pavel Datsyuk, Ilya Kovalchuk and Evgeni Malkin also failed to beat Jaro in the shootout.

Andrei Markov played 15:40, assisted on Alexei Morozov's goal and had one SoG.

Tomas Plekanec took a pass from his hometown hero, Jaromir Jagr, and beat Jaro Halak for the insurance goal in the Czech Republic's 3-1 conquest of Slovakia – the most exciting and competitive game to date.

Pleks played 16:16 and had three shots on goal, second only to Tomas Kaberle's six.

Halak allowed three goals on 24 shots.

Including his last three NHL starts, Jaro has stoped 75 of 89 shots, an 84.3 save percentage that is well off his performances in 40-shot games.

After the Canadiens lost in Philadelphia last Friday, About last night ... began with my hate-on for the Flyers, a loathing that dates back to the Broad Street Bullioes of the mid-1970s.

I compared the revulsion I feel in watching Philadelphia play hockey to seeing German athletes march into the Berlin Olympic stadium in 1936.

This admittedly over-the-top metaphor did not sit well with Flyers fans.

A sampling of e-mails:

Kommandant Pronger didn't take off your "star is born" Subban's head. Tell the fans to keep booing Briere, maybe he'll show up for a few more games this season. What a wimpy team up there.

Basically,  the  Habs and their gutless fans have always been nothing more than a bunch of whiny pussies.  This includes you.   I don't  care how many cups your franchise has won.   You guys will always be a pussies.   Keep up the crybaby routine. It is hilarious.

You really shouldn't be giving your opinion about the NHL.   You are an idiot.   The Habs are a team of cowards.   You should be angry with  the Canadians management, for putting a bunch of f-----ts on the ice. As long as idiots like you make statements about Nazi hockey players  the league will only get worse.  Don't you see all of your crying is making things worse?   So a couple of players pushing  each other is cause to make Nazi analogies?  What do you want, figure skating?

A Flyers' fan site, www.broadstreethockey.com, invited me on for a podcast.

Anyway, I still think the Flyers are thugs who play ugly hockey.

But judghing by the cover photo, it was Philadelphia magazine, back in the day, that thought at least one of them would look cute as a Nazi.

•  •  •

My two cents after watching Andrei Markov play against Latvia:

I love the guy and respect Markov's love for his country.

The patriotism and blood of the Russian people defeated the aforementioned monsters in World War II.

But there are 5.75 million good reasons why the best player on the team should maybe have played against Philadelphia

Steve Kerley, who posts as 24 Cups, weighs in with a look at our Olympic team:

There doesn’t seem to be any point in reviewing all the players on Team Canada.  Everyone on the site has an excellent knowledge of who these players are and what they bring to Canada’s hopes for Olympic gold.

I thought a different way to preview the team would be to try and see what questions and challenges the players face and what they might have to do in order to succeed.

Here’s my Letterman Top Ten list of questions for Team Canada.

This has not been a great season for your Montreal Canadiens – and the worst may be yet to come.

Beyond offering unsolicited (and ignored) advice to Pierre Gauthier and Jacques Martin, there's nothing much Habs Inside/Out can do about what we see on the ice.

Sadly, however, the malaise is spreading to the web site.

The decline in the team's fortunes has been matched and frequently exceeded by the degeneration of the Comments section into name-calling and personal attacks. The finger-pointing is childish, obnoxious and profoundly alienating to fans who come to the site to have rational discussions/debates about the Canadiens.

The BS has to stop.

And it will.

The HIO monitors have spent the first 63 games of the season doing their best to excise profanity, racism, homophobia and other intolerable excesses.

We're expanding the mandate to include monitoring and deleting playground brawls.

We don't care if beefed-up policing cuts the Comments count in half. What we lose in quantity we'll gain in quality.