You are the hysterical one dude. No one has said O’Byrne will tip the scales or is the second coming of Scott Stevens.
Those of us who can see clearly, realize a big Dman might help our beleaguered defense. We can see that MAB’s ice time must be limited as well as that of Hammer who is but a shell of his former self.
Perhaps you will inform us how playing MAB 18 minutes a game helps the team? How forcing Hammer and an injured Gill to play extra minutes helps the team? How not icing the best possible roster helps the team?
I think you are the hysterical and irrational one in questioning the insertion of O’Byrne, when you have not one rational reason not to play him.
SOMETIMES IT IS THE MINUTES YOU ELIMINATE RATHER THAN THE MINUTES YOU PLAY. LESS MAB MINUTES IS A HUGE GAIN.
“Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement.”
O’Byrne back in the lineup, with Darche sitting. Bergeron likely to see time on the 4th line. Thank god he’s out of the defensive rotation. Just shoot the puck on the PP, nothing else.
So for what it’s worth, here’s coach kempie’s game plan (devised from the comfort of my couch):
We have last change so maybe consider reassembling the Giant Mexican Squid for a few shifts, and while we’re at it, maybe try Plex between the brothers for a few. For the love of everything that is good, INSERT OB!!!! I know he won’t score, and I was saying this last game mostly for the sake of adding his size, but now I just want MAB off period. I know big shot, power play blah blah…. but he’s not taking those shots anymore and how much good is he when the puck hops his stick at the line and we have to go back for it? 20 seconds gone. Not on the 4th, not on the pp, just off. Is there any way we can get Spatch on his right side for a few shifts? Let’s try cycling hard down low and drawing some pp time and maybe cashing them when we get em. Some guys seem like they are trying to do too much (PK I’m lookin at you man). This sounds dumb but Gomez… please try and stay out of the box for the first 3 minutes. We need to remember that Leighton is giving monster rebounds and try to force more of them and anticipate them. Halak/Price? Forget it. 41 is driving this bus and I’d give him a medium-long leash. This is his ship to go down with if that’s what happens. And finally…
H is for Hell–the deja-vu Hell of Le Centre Bell in a Game 4 following a Game 3 where the Habs, already down 2-0 in the series, lay an egg! The Hell of 2009, Round One… the Hell the Habs must escape, at any cost!
This BGL VS GSP thing is going to be fun. Everybody seems to be bashing Laraque for this or are misunderstanding this as a real fight. Rest assured that this is only a fight for fun and nothing more. BGL is now 270 lbs!! try moving that in front of the net.
Relax. SK makes zero difference, Pouliot back is good whatever line he is on (if he’s going to work hard for a change) and the OB thing is a tossup. You take his size and his penalties or you reduce your chances of penalties overall. Given their PK failures recently I’d prefer fewer penalties and that means no OB. I always try to keep in mind that we’re a bubble team, a .500 team and we have very little depth to call on right now. None of those 3 guys are game changers except OB whose penalties could be.
Agreed… Lets score a few tonight so that we can give a little help to our Goalies no matter who it is… I don’t care if the Pope is in goal… As long as we win..
In all seriousness, goaltending (aside from game 1) has not been the issue. We have to get pucks past Leighton, plain and simple. Price may very well be more aggressive to any Flyer that breaches his crease, but I have a little more faith that Halak will make those big stops, just like in the Washington and Pittsburg series. What needs to happen is to put O’Byrne back in the lineup, and have him play the crease-clearer defenseman. Aside from Gill, he’s the only guy big enought to do that job.
He does make a good case. I was annoyed at the headline, but after reading it, I liked the case he presented. However – and only in my opinion – he comes to the wrong conclusions. Halak gives us a better chance to win the game. He is the better goalie. What we really need is to score goals and tighten up the D.
__________________________
“Peoples will only be truly free when the last king is strangled by the bowels of the last priest” Francois Laignelot -
Damien Cox makes an excellent case for Price getting the start tonight. I know I’m probably in the minority, but I agree with him. Know it’s not going to happen though. I also agree with Cox’s assertion that JM’s conservative style isn’t particularly well suited to the playoffs. His unwillingness to think outside the box has MAB firmly entrenched and eating up minutes on D and on the PP, even though he can’t play D and the PP is in need of some stability and smart puck movement. IMO, JM needs to make some bold decisions to keep the Habs in the series..
Excellent post… Nice to see someone else feels positive too. BTW I saw Mikko Koivu today, he was having a coffee at the same place as me. Almost asked him ‘Is it nice to have holidays same time and as long as your bro?’
You should know you need a physical presence when your Dmen can’t clear Briere from the front of the net. Plus I hope he plays with Hamrlik so that he can cover for his lapses in defense. The initial poster forgot to mention that OB would also make a better PK man than Hamrlik and was a decent sub for Gill when he went down.
If the Habs do end up losing this game, how poetic would it be for them to come back from 3-0 deficit against Philly? The way this playoffs has gone, I wouldn’t discount the possibility.
That said, hope it’s a blowout for the Habs and Leighton goes back to being waiver-wire material.
I’m not sure I’m comfortable with the team’s attitude… They have a sense of confidence that is probably not helpful. I feel they’re thinking “we’ve been here before, no sweat, we can pull this off.” That’s NOT the attitude that carried them through the first 2 series. JM says “we’ve overcome adversity before.” That’s not a good reason to feel less worried. They won the first two series as underdogs, no one giving them a chance, “against all odds”, with nothing to lose, etc. They have something to lose now; they’re within just 4 wins of the Stanley Cup Final… Anyone else share my concern?
“We didn’t give up and we are not giving up.” – Jaroslav Halak
Yeah but it would give them the confidence that they need right now.. And frankly it would be nice to see a pasting on another team then the Habs for once.
Pretty simple how to beat a hot goalie. Go to the net. Create traffic. Grind. Get in his face. Dig for the puck, and don’t quit on plays. (It’s what Philly has done to Halak – it will work on Leighton as well))
As for our crease, get them the heck out of there. Make life miserable for them. Don’t allow them to walk to the net with impunity. Force the play. And again, grind and don’t quit on plays. Just want it more than them.
If we do these things, we will win.
__________________________
“Peoples will only be truly free when the last king is strangled by the bowels of the last priest” Francois Laignelot -
H is for hard. as in, play that way. finish checks, drive the net, no more lateral passes when you cross their blue line (that means you, pleky and gomez), knock those youppi-colored skids on their a– in front of your net.
I think we need to avoid raising the Flyers to God-like status like the schmucks on TSN and CBC do. They flopped into the playoffs just like we did. They took out the NJD in the first round, we took out the Caps, the number one team. They beat the Bruins (6th place team with a lot of injuries) in the second round. Yes, the did the amazing, coming from 3 games down to win the series but again, the Bruins were a hurting team and did a lot to beat themselves. We took out Sidney, Geno and the rest of the Cup champs. Round 3…..
While it’s true that the Caps and Pens came out on the ice and played their arrogant way of ignoring what the Habs were doing, never adjusting their game significantly and lost because they thought they could continue what they were doing and win.
The Flyers are a different team which, at times, gives us a glimpse into the BSB past. Not in this series though. Carcillo has been put on a leash and Harntell is behaving himself as well. The Flyers are a pretty good team. They’re no Washington or Pittsburgh but Laviolette has them playing a very good game right now and it’s beating us.
The big physical game everyone was afraid of isn’t there. The nasty edge to the Flyer game isn’t there. They are playing a smothering game and we aren’t adjusting to the play of the game. Surely to God, if we lowly fans and armchair coaches can watch the games and can draw logical conclusions as to what’s right and wrong, the Habs coaches must be able to do the same.
For everything the Flyers are doing right, we are playing some of the worst hockey in the playoffs right now. Can the Flyers play a better game? I don’t think so. This is as good as they get. We can and have played better which is why I am so optimistic about this game tonight and the rest of the series. Halak, Gomez, Cammy, all of them can play better and will….starting tonight!
GO HABS GO!!!! I Believe……
“Without the strength of the past, the team may face a choice – to win, or to be French-Canadian?” — Ken Dryden
Have to disagree with your assertion that OB didn’t factor squat in the Caps series. OB knocked Backstrom into the Hab’s bench in game 5 (I could be wrong on the timing). Backstrom played like a girly man the rest of the series. May not be a connection there, but IMO strong correlation.
Because Jacques Martin belives that if you make 1 mistake as a rookie, you’re a hopeless case and unfit to play. However if you’re a veteran and you spend the entire game giving the other team chance after chance to come back into the game (Hamrlik in Game 7!) you will get regular ice time. JM gives way too much preferential treatment to his veterans even when they’re wretched.
O’Byrne can play well when has his confidence, which probably is low since JM has treated him like a leper since he had some trouble in the last few games of the regular season. O’Byrne playing in the later games of that series gave the Canadiens a physical force to use against Washington forwards that helped keep them off of Halak. I want someone besides Gill capable of clearing the crease with physical power to back it up, that’s not insane to expect more than 1 of 6 defencemen to be big guys who can do the jobs those guys are expected to do.
Gill is still injured and more immobile than usual so having O’B back is a good thing. MAB looks like a scared little girl when the Flyers are bearing down on him and his big shot from the point has vanished.
I don’t think O’B is going to win the game for us but at least he won’t wet himself when the Flyers are forechecking…..
“Without the strength of the past, the team may face a choice – to win, or to be French-Canadian?” — Ken Dryden
Agreed, Corporate. And in fact I asked a similar question about 7 posts below. No answers yet. Probably the best point is where someone said that unless Gomez, Gionta, and Cammy start scoring, series over.
O’byrne is a bigger body out there, but people are building him up like he’s Scott Stevens. What do you think he was benched against the Pens in game 7 for? Because he’s so great? MAB is not a good defenseman, but O’Byrne is also just a 6th fringe guy. Just because a guy is big and makes 3 hits a game, doesn’t mean he matters all that much. O’Byrne didn’t factor squat in beating the Caps. It was 80% Halak and 15% Gill and Gorges, with 5% the rest of the team clogging up the neutral zone and blocking shots. I think O’Byrne is just as liable to screw up than he is to do anything else. I’m not saying he shouldn’t be given a try, but keep some perspective. The guy is a 6th or 7th defenseman! He basically means nothing.
That all makes sense BT. If he can just control the puck at the line, then I’m happy if his presence creates space for someone else. But the guy is giving me apoplexy!
Everyone is missing the point here… We win as a team and we lose as a team. So no matter who makes it on the official final roster sheet, we must play as a team. 4 lines that compliment each other. Bodies that are not scared to get ripped off. I truly believe that the Flyers are running on reputation more than on actual talent. Yes they have the Gagne’s and the Briere’s, but I still say we can still beat them. In addition, everyone is talking about how tough they play. They have not really played that tough… They through a few hits which is normal but other than that it is fine. So I wish our habs a great game and win one for the Montreal fans.
Difference is the Flyers have a far superior defence group right now with Markov being out for us and have an excellent capacity to clear the crease and rebounds. O’Byrne adds a missing element to the blue line, a bigger, healthy defencemen who will play at 100% because he doesn’t have 50 stitches in his leg. MAB is killing us in our zone and making the team waste time clearing the puck more often than they should while they score on us because a guy can sit in front of our net without incident.
O’Byrne factored into the 3-game comeback over Washington let’s not forget. Making the Flyers pay a physical price in our zone, especially the smaller ones like Giroux and Briere can work for Montreal, much better than see MAB put on a horror show. I’ll take OB for 20 minutes a night over MAB playing 20 a night.
Flyers wouldn’t worry about Krajicek playing because they’d still have Carle, Timmonen, Pronger and Coburn to use, we don’t have that luxury of an excellent D-group with Markov out and Hamrlik alternating playing like he’s 35 or 53.
Somewhat agreed. I go back and orth on whether he should even be in the line-up. I know JM will never take him out completely, so it’s pretty much a moot point, but the argument for keeping him in is that the 4th line players don’t play that much anyways, and if he’s not there, it means we go back to having Gorges, Gill, or OB on the PP, and Spacek back on the first unit. It’s not the end of the world, and Gorges does a decent job keeping the puck in but he’s not a threat to score. Even if he’s playing poorly, MAB is at least a guy who Philly has to respect as a possible shot and it may open up space for other guys. One could equally make a case for taking MAB out altogether, but as i said, that would be the argument for keeping him in.
Apologies. Just realized Kempie made exact same point below. Different arm-chairs, same conclusions.
So a question: really — but really — exactly how physical has it been? The reputation is there, Clarke is (still) there, the height/weight stats are there. But are we getting killed in their crease or in the corners? I’m not seeing it (comfortably ensconced in my arm-chair). Remember Fonzie explaining how everyone considered him so tough but no one ever saw him in a fight? I mean, are they significantly more physical than either the Caps or Pens?
Here comes the savior himself, Ryan O’Byrne. I guess now the Habs are a shoe in to score at least 5 goals and will win the next 4 straight. At least according to all the misguided geniuses on here. I have never seen so minor and irrelevant an issue get discusssed to death, in the face of so many bigger problems. O’Byrne will play like 12-14 mins tonight and maybe be responsible for a goal or maybe not. There is no way you can look at this move and say it will impact the game in any significant way. Even though it is probably better that O’Byrne is in the line -up, the incessant commenting about him, is really mind boggling to me. All Habs fans must have actually lost their minds after that game 7 win against the Pens. i really believe the Flyer fans are finding all this hilarious. If we were up 2-0 on them, after having shut them out back to back and they were all losing it over whether Ryan Parent should be playing, I would be laughing my ass of. I would say they are all blaming Laviolette for this, siting his not playing Parent. Poor misguided children, they don’t even have a clue.
I share your reservations about MAB, but wouldn’t stop at removing him from D duty. When I think of how many pucks have eluded him at the blueline on PPs, and a few potential shorties for Philly, and how seldom he actually unloads the big shot, I wonder is he worth a spot on the bench at all at the moment?
Hey did you read what I said? i said I believe O’Byrne should be in the line-up. Why are you saying I’m questioning that? What I am questioning is this complete uproar that O’Byrne being in or out of the line-up is a huge deal. It’s just been way overblown and it’s dumb really. I feel it’s just embarrassing that Habs fans are so small minded to believe that’s the issue at hand.Also MAB is only -1 in this series. Only Spacek has been better, so calm down that MAB is ruining the team. MAB belongs on the 4th line, but no, the Habs are not down 0-2 because of MAB.
Just cause OB is in, doesn’t mean JM will necessarily take MAB off of defense. OB has been in the line-up before wehre he’s played sparingly and MAb has taken a regular D shift. If JM is smart, he’ll use OB as the 6th D man and MAB on the PP only, but who knows what JM is thinking. He obviously likes MAB much much more than any fan who has seen him play.
Feels great to have something to shout about again! Good start by the Habs but they have to keep up the pressure. Would be nice if we scored on this PP.
I don’t know. I thought he was rubbin’ in the Leafs’ faces that they don’t draft local boys who go on to excellent careers elsewhere. Me, I kind of like the idea of the Habs succeeding by plucking gems from the Buds’ backyard.
Bah. JM has to staple someone each game. It was OB’s turn. Hey, he got to put on the uni tonight. It’s a start. I say he dresses again Saturday, not that he’ll see much playing time, but if it gets ugly early he’ll be thrown out there for sure.
Actually I couldn’t give a rats behind who dresses, plays or sits when the final is 5-1 for the good guys.
Put the Genny back on ice. The wake is off for another few days!
For those who think OB makes no difference, the fact we play 7 D actually helped a great deal tonight. What it does is get players like Cammy and Gionta more ice time, and even though its with the 4th line Cammy especially looked very good on those shifts. Plus, should the game become more physical, JM can always use OB on D over MAB if he feels he’s on his game. It may have been a bit premature to relagate him to the bench so soon, but I guess JM didn’t feel he was on his game today, and I’m not going to argue with the coach that got us here.
If you don’t, then you don’t need to respond. I just wanted to post some ridiculous pictures of Russian fans to give u folks some laugh. Why do I always get this every time I post something about WC?
MAB is the worst excuse for an NHL defenceman / player I ‘ve ever seen in all my years watching this game. He is truly clueless out there. As bad as he is , he actually made some good passes tonight and scored a goal so I have to give him credit for that. WTG MAB….HA !!
I was in French Immersion growing up in Ontario. I can usually pick up most of the game… while I hate CBC I actually seem to value Friedman – he’s decent and usually asks intelligent questions. From now on I’ll just switch to RDS for the intermissions.
haha ya actually I thought I’d take the Cup oer the girls since I am hetero girl… but Carey and Maxim for a year or the Cup!? That’s a hard choice I’d take the Cup since the boys are on the road too much to keep me fully satisfied :p
Give O’Byrne some shifts. On his penalty one offical was indicating the puck was tipped and the ref overruled it. Hardly worth beanching him for the game especially when MAB is playing so not good.
Except he didn’t really play as a 7th D because his TOI went to 1:03, JM’s one mistake is too many policy with non-veterans paying big dividends, MAB turned over the puck so often you’d think he was making pancakes.
Had to work so listened to CHAD on the computer. Come Sat. glued to the T.V. 1 rum per goal. Hope for another 5 or more goals. Way to go boys and all the goonery leads to penalties but i do wish we had an enforcer out there for times like that as you knew it was coming, however he would probably not have been playing with the flyers playing 6 skaters anyway. Also have Versus at the cabin so no f#@king CBC announcers to listen to.
p/s What happened to that Flyers twit who was on the site the last 2 games. Also speed can overcome size. End it by saying Chris Pronger sucks and swallows.
I know there’s still 13 minutes left, and you never know what could happen, but if I’m JM I would drastically reduce Cammy’s ice-time……he’s been out there the whole game and I don’t wanna see him go off wincing
MAB has been on the ice for 1 of all 10 on Philly’s goals… OB took a penalty with his firts touch of the puck tonight….
I don’t agree with it. But for god’s sake lets be realistic. Isn’t it possible there isn’t anything there at all, JM just feels like he doesn’t need OB right now, and will when he feels he does???
When OB did play in the playoffs he had his fair share of ice time so…
We just won 5-1…….Played one of the BEST games of the season and we are STILL criticizing the coach??????????/
There may be other teams, but only ONE Club De Hockey…
It’s a total bone tourney for losers who either didn’t make the NHL playoffs or got bounced early. Hell, it’s worse than a friendly in international football!
I’m a HUGE price fan, but I have a bad feeling he’d be saying “ATTA BOY GOOD CANAJIN!” if Price were doing what Halak was right now. Which is major BS – he can’t even get Halak’s name right? After SEVERAL broadcasts?
Lol. He made one pass from beside the Habs goal straight out to a Philly D-man in the slot. Nicest pass I’ve ever seen… to the opposing team. 15 seconds later, on the same shift, the Flyers scored.
I HATE THOSE GOONS… now that was the Habs team that played in the first 2 rounds, what a difference home ice can make to kick start us back to life. Honestly i don’t see Philly as having the same kind of threat that we faced with WASH/PENNS….speed/finesse/passing/superstar awe…etc… Philly has none of that, but they have GOONERY and ‘large body cycle and crash net and kill our forwards’… but it seems we found the solution to beating that kind of team…use your speed.
Outstanding effort, grit, never give up, teamwork, tapetotape passing and timely saves…outstanding.
I don’t like the idea of a young defencemen who’s trying to get it going getting benched over single mistakes, what does that do to a guy? Nothing good, messes with the head when he doesn’t need it.
Great game, but MAB could have given the Flyers the opportunity to get back in the game with the turnovers he kept making, I don’t want to gripe about a win but MAB is just such an eyesore sometimes I can’t help but get ticked of.
Someone has to really nail Richards. He’s a punk and at the top of my list of Flyers who should be leg-checked accidently on purpose. Either that or plant a snapper off his mouth early in Game 4. Yes, I think we should injure him for all the right reasons.
Why wouldn’t you put O’B on in the last 2 minutes. When the Flyers went stupid, you needed O’B out there. Do you want Spacek or Subban in a fight. or is JM just dressing him so he can punish him. MAB was HORRIBLE tonight, except for 1 good shot!!
Canadians need to finish this game with a convincing win to send the right message for game 4, and not let Philly get back into it. Need to keep the forecheck and score another goal…..
MAB is the most exciting guy on either team, more often that not for all the wrong reasons.
Laviolette trying to stir his troops: “They’re putting a garden gnome on the ice against you guys. A freakin’ garden gnome. What’s next, a plastic pink flamingo?”
LOL…I was just going to comment on that to. He decided to go with six D and at least he got some ice time. WTF? JM reminds me of a sleezy used car salesman like his boss PG…..LMAO
“Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement.”
I hadn’t watched much of the bruins-flyers series, but from what I saw, it was a significantly slower paced then the Montrel-Pens series. I had a hard time understanding why we lost the first 2 games and am confirming my initial Habs in 5 prediction. I think we might take it in 6, but like the stat has been floating around that Phily has never lost going up 2-0 in a series, but whatever. Habs in 7.
Edit: Oh and if I jinx this game you can blame me, I already jinxed the shut-out earlier.
don’t worry…I figured out JM…he goes on hunches… so he figures to bench Obryne, no problem, as someone pointed out it allowed dbl shifting on the 4th line giving gionta/cammy more ice…and he has one heck of a hunch with MAB because he doesn’t miss a shift, but i like MAB, even with his mistakes, reminds me of Kovy, full of tricks,,,at least we saw the laser tonight, finally.
Obryne will get his time, he is an excellent defenseman
For a full year? One whole year? This is a hard choice… I would say the Cup because I am a true Habs fan. But maybe I could have them for a couple months across the summer?
Hey, that’s Mr. P.O.S. to you. He smoked the Habs like a ham en route to getting his Stanley Cup ring. Remember that one? Justin Williams damn near cyclopsed Koivu and not one of the gutless bastards dressing for the Habs did jack!
On the quote, if he didn’t say it, he should have! LOL
Gorges is finishing his check and gets called. Beautiful officiating.
Hey refs, how about that slash on Lapierre? Or the 20 high sticks by Flyers players you missed? Nah, I guess a clean, hard battled check is a punishable offense.
Still got my annoying Leaf fan friends to deal with. My friend is telling me we are in no place to be cheering Flyers suck. Trying to talk hockey with them is like talking to a brick wall
It is incredible to think, but completely possible, to be outscored 9-0 in two games and win tonight’s game in OT 2-1 and you are right back in the series. Amazing! This is a funny looking series.
I knew i remembered that P.O.S.’s face somewhere, the coach of the bas*()&TARD UnJusticeWilliams taking Koivus eye out,
well that team is long gone, same yellow team that didn’t react to Gorges being hit as well when he was wobbly.
Just do what i do. Tell them how much better they are than us………IN GOLF, because they have had ALOT more practice in the last 5 years than we have…. They at least have a chance at a trophy in that…
Or you can say we are 7 wins away from the Stanley Cup, they are only…. oh wait. Never gonna happen. maybe if the League ever goes back down to 6 teams…
There may be other teams, but only ONE Club De Hockey…
No. But Bergeon still gets a regular shift. If JM doesn’t want to play O’Byrne on D have him on the 4th line to forcheck on Pronger, Carle and Timmonen
I hate when the Habs layback & wait till the endof the game, I wish they would get control of the puck and take it out of their end instead of slapping almost wildly at every puck as it circles the boards & hopint to clear the zone………Control it boys like you did all game
1) Michael Leighton played like Michael Leighton. Jaroslav Halak played like the Halak we know.
2) Hamrlik was outstanding. Gorges was very good. The rest of the D was also reasonably solid. Poor OB played two bad shifts and got benched. Yet he was replaced by MAB, who has had an unrecordable number of bad shifts and continues to play. Other than his late (and rather meaningless goal), he was not very good on the PP and kept turning it over while trying to break the offensive blueline. Yes, his play was masked by how much energy the team brought, but still not impressed. Hope OB gets another shot next game because his upside is much better than what MAB has shown all playoffs long. OB had to have been nervous and that will improve with more time.
3) The Flyers today played up to the expectations set by their fans. They had a number of penalties, but they could have easily had 25-30 more and that’s not an exagerrration. They went ater players late, they went after players after the whistle, they ran into Halak, they hit from behind (including one where Hamr could have been seriously hurt). The reffing was brutal tonight, they let way too much go. It looked like it was mainly Devorski asleep again (he did this to us last time he reffed too). When Gorges got called for interference late, it was pretty clear Carcillo wrapped him up and yanked Gorges down on top of himself. During the timeout, it looked like Watson even went up to Devorski to tell him he had gotten in wrong and then Devorski looked like he was trying to explain to Gorges what he had seen. In the first, the flyers interfered with the Habs all over the place and knocked their sticks out o there hands at least twice. No calls. When lapierre does it, suddenyl the refs remember it’s a penalty. When Plekanec and Timonen were grappling (and got coincidentals), Pronger skated up and gave Pleks a punch to the back of his head while he couldn’t see. No call. The linesmen also missed a number of calls, notably a non-call on icing on Philly in the first that then led to us being called or icing, and a call where they left the faceoff in our zone even though Coburn came in from the point to push in the scrum. Yes, they also missed the Gorges shot on Giroux, but all in all very displeased with Devorski in particular. Absolutely unacceptable for the stanley cup semifinals to have such low-calibre refereeing.
4) Habs finally took advantage of their speed and the Flyers D looked tired and slow because of it. How many times did Pronger have to clutch and grab to stop them? If the flyers are going to play 4 D, this has to keep up.
5) Finally, two things I really liked about the way we played tonight that we didn’t do in the two losses: one, we took the puck to the middle of the ice when we obtained the offensive zone instead of going down the boards and flipping it weakly at the net. Caused a lot more movement and confusion. Second, we didn’t back up when the flyers hit our zone. We pressured the puckholder much more and didn’t let them establish themselves in our territory. That needs to be there next game too. If we play this way, we will be the better team for the rest of the series.
The two Jaro’s: first the one with the mask — there definitely seems to be a correlation between Halak’s state of mind and this team’s performance. When he is sharp, it feeds back into the energy of this team, and that in turn raises Jaro’s game. He made a couple of huge saves early, and it set the tone for the rest of the game.
Jaro, the flag-bearers’ best friend: his game may have sagged in the late stages of the regular season, but he is playing some of his best hockey right now. On one of the Flyers’ early power-plays, he almost single-handedly killed it off, repeatedly winning the battles along the boards and clearing the puck. And what about his countryman, the Czech Hammer? Much maligned this post-season, he was fully deserving of the first star. Brilliant.
Speaking of defenseman and PK’s,:Subban rebounded after two games in which he very much looked like a rookie to play with fire and grit and SPEED. Every time we upped the tempo of the game, the Flyers’ very tight unity began to fray, and they got caught out of position. 3 assists! Say no more.
Maddening MAB: Staying on defense, I am sorry, but MAB’s one late, meaningless goal does not make up for a game filled with ridiculous turn-overs and errant passes. No surprise that he was on the ice for the Flyers’ only goal.
Tom and Dom: Pyatt and Moore also fully deserved their star-turns. They may not get as much attention as Halak, Cammy, Gill or Gorges, but to me they have been just as important to our playoff success. They skate, they harass, they create turn-overs, they embody the relentless drive of this team.
The two errant ships find their bearings: AK has been steadily improving over the 16 post-season games, and tonight may have been his best since his mid-April hat-trick. He is incredibly strong on his skates. Almost impossible to knock over. There was one sequence when he was battling for a loose puck in front of the Philly net as Flyers bodies kept bouncing off him. Finally one wise cookie decided to just lift Andrei’s stick to get the puck away from harm. The only thing he is missing is a goal, and Cammy tried hard to get him one when, despite being in perfect position to shoot, he chose to feed AK in front. Leighton foiled him. Dommage.
And even Benny P. showed signs of awakening. By far his best game in about two months. He is clearly snake-bitten and is afraid of making a mistake, but he worked hard, used his body size well, and had a few good scoring chances. He just may become a valuable asset in the games ahead.
And finally the enigma that is Count Coach: JM had his team back playing the way that gave the Pens and Caps so many problems. Two forecheckers, active defense, speed up the wings, and clutter in front of their goal. But where was that in the first two games? When we play passive, we may out-shoot the other team, but we lose. When we open up the throttle and use the wheels that guys like Gomez, Cammy, Pleks, Pyatt, and, yes, Laps have, we win the races to the puck and cause big problems for teams that are built to crash deep, and defend in tight.
One last note: Pronger is such a grade-A a$$. In that final scrum, he held Pleks in a head lock for no reason, and then dropped his gloves and tried to get Tommy to fight. What a twerp. There are few things sweeter than seeing Pronger stew in the sin-bin as his team gets scored on for yet another of his stupid, undisciplined penalties.
I wonder if the team distancing itself from the trap is more a result of Muller’s coaching, or JM’s. I wish I knew more about what went on in that locker room.
I can’t recall when I have seen a team lose with such a lack of class. That was not only disgusting, that was downright embarassing for the Flyers. What a bunch of tools.
Great game, another copy of this for game 4 and we’re right back in this series. Lapierre played a great game, just the way he has to. The grinder lines really won it for us with the dominant play, plus the usual Cammy and Gionta goals. Halak with a spectacular bounce back game. Couldn’t have asked for a better performance out of everyone.
Masterpiece of a game!!!!!! My 3 stsrs would’ve been Hammer, PK, and Cammy. Team leading 24:31 TOI for Cammy. I can’t believe that! Props to everyone though, EVERYONE busted their asses of tonight, no free loaders tonight!! Let’s ride this momentum into game 4!!! Go Habs Go!!! OLE!!!!
See…Its not about single players….Its not about O’byrne…Its not about poor ole SK…Its about the team…When our Goalie makes the saves…And our Defense wins the battles…And our forwards score…We take over the game…I agree JM’s benching of Obie is a little premature (although he’s made 2 mistakes early in his first shifts)…Its not only JM who see’s fault in Obie…Its obvious Perry Pearn and Kirk Muller have a say in who goes in and who stays on the bench…MAB is just….MAB…He is a huge liability…Im still shocked he’s taking a shift…But unlike most…JM has had a part in bringing this team to where it is…So I aint gonna insult his intelligence on the game…WERE ALIVE!!!
“I went to see a fight the other night…And A hockey game broke out!” ~Rodney Dangerfield~
Yeah, one mistake is enough for a benching with JM. Not that it’s messing with the guy’s head and making him shaky on the ice or anything… head games with a young player end the same every time, badly.
Greatest team effort and overall game in the playoffs. Congrats to the Habs for coming out and playing their hardest. If they would have done this in Philly we’d be up at least 2-1. Saturday is huge. I believe whoever wins that game wins it all.
plecks,pouliot and ak46 looks like they have no idea what to do when they get a scoring chance…they look like they have never scored a goal in the nhl……maybe a fluke goal gets their confidence back
MAB just guaranteed himself MORE ice next game….ugggg. If you think we won’t need O’Byrne next game and for sure in Philly, you are in for a surprise. It will be all UFC in Philly.
“Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement.”
How sweet it is!! Massive effort by the Habs, dominating in every way. Would have been nice for Jaro to get a SO, but it’s the W that counts. Terrific game, arguably one of the best of the playoffs for the Habs.
How does the Habs win come back to the players from the GTA? I don’t understand you, Don. Ugh… and did anyone hear his comment when they started to interview Jaro?
Anyway, who the *** cares? Glad to see our Habs back in action!! Great win. The boys did all us very proud. Three more games like that please…
Oh for heavenn sack. That’s comment is just plain unfounded, untrue and unbelievable. Torture young players? What proof do you have of this X? You have access to the bench? The room? The bus? Stop this mad, whacked out hate for the coach and stick to hockey please.
WTF, we win tonight , kick butt and half the idiots on here are still bitching because OB’s not playing and MAB scored. Figure it out after. After 99 games, he’s not a defensive stalwart and no one ever claimed he was. He was brought in for the PP not to go head to head with Pronger in the corners. It never ends on this site. I’m going to bed!
everyone has to say something about Toronto cause a) it’s the centre of Canada and the entire universe and if Toronto didn’t exist it’d be 2012 b) I’m beginning to think the CRTC has regulations of how much air-time must be dedicated to Toronto
I hope he spots OB in the third to take a little pressure of the big 4 tonight. It will get ugly in the 3rd and even though he is not a heavy weight he can go with most of the flyer morons. Lets go JM play some muscle here.
Could not help noticing as the players leaving the bench and Laps was tapping everyone…..as he tapped O’Byrne there was nothing….the poor dude is devastated…I don’t know if he can come back if the team needs him in Philly.
“Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement.”
Well done. We’ve been at eachothers throats over who JM sits and plays. Why this guy, why not that guy? Really, to what end?
This series is far from over but somehow this team keeps digging deep and coming up with ways to figure out their opponents. It’s a team sport from the GM on down to whoever sits in the press box. Game to game though it’s the coaches and the guys on the ice who make it happen. All together they’re doing a pretty good job in spite of all the adversity. And in spite of our “cheap seats” suggestions. I think they may know a bit more about the game than any of us.
He’s a damn racist that’s why, and torana biased. He doesn’t care about Hamrlik’s fight, Halak’s awesome performance…..NOPE good canajin boys from torana!
I don’t want to take all the credit, but, I decided to try to change the momentum of the series by getting a haircut. I got to my guy five minutes before closing with three guys ahead of me. I debated. I might miss the start of the game. My barber might be pissed at me. He waves me in, I wait for nearly an hour, I get home just as the puck is dropping, and the rest, my friends, is history.
Darren McCarty is a f#cking idiot…how does he land a job as an analyst?…
He says he hopes the Flyers bring some of that “broad street bulleys” in the 3rd…he can hatrdly speak let alone provide any intelligent analysis…total homer…
Center Ice sucks…they check out at the playoffs and we in the States are forced to watch these @ssholes on verses…other than Engblom they are freaking worthless…
I can watch RDS on the computer but I lose the HD feed…
“The ‘System’ will not stop until it owns Lord Stanley’s Cup…All hail the System!”
he was A+ tonight – antagonizing the hell out of the Flyers even while on the bench and when on the ice. v good.. under their skin.. just by smiling at them
Can’t slow down now, Flyers are no strangers to being down 3-0, and they’ve put 3 by Halak before. Another period like the first two though and it will probably be our most dominant game these playoffs.
I hope OB gets a chance to play more than a minute this entire series, he made a mistake, but MAB could have given the Flyers a couple goals tonight with all of his giveaways.
2nd goal in the playoffs, he’s been responsible for 6x as many against.
Its known they will be aggressive in the Third. So McCarty simply pre-empts it and brings in the history of the team. Nonsense comment. He means nothing by it.
There may be other teams, but only ONE Club De Hockey…
Well to be fair to us armchair coaches, JM did take some or our suggestions. Putting Pouliot back on the top line and not pairing PK with MAB as well as putting together an actual disruption line.
“Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement.”
Actually, PP goals don’t count towards the +/-’s. That’s why he was 0. MAB was not on the ice as per the official scoresheet at canadiens.com 15, 26, 32, 41, 75, 94 were.
- A
I wish I undertsood French, then I could just watch RDS and not put up with that garbage.
And I meant to ask you… there was an interesting debate about winning the Cup or having those two chicks from that guys avatar the other day. So, badangel, the Cup or Carey and Maxim for a year? Can’t let the guys have all the fun afterall.
Not sure if there was an event last night at the BC, or if it was just due to today’s heat, but that is sloooow ice. And it resulted in a goal for us on Pronger’s muffed outlet pass. Our guys better bear down on their passes as this game progresses!
Pronger turnover. Tom
Pyatt, the sniper. Under review
LOL…Pyatt hands of stone and soft skates…..sniper? Mr. Boone
Is O’Byrne the unluckiest dude in the world? Makes one mistake ( not really a mistake….stupid rule ) and he gets benched. Time for O’Byrne to ask his agent to move him away from JM.
“Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement.”
Great period, exactly what the doctor ordered. Both goalies look hot, which is excellent for us since we’ve already managed two. Leighton made some nice saves and it took 2 unstoppable goals to beat him, which is usually the case when a goalie is hot. Keep it up, another garbage goal, and hopefully we’ll knock him outta that zone. Jaro faced fewer shots as usual, but this time came up huge on those high quality chances. Important not to sit back on this lead, 2-0 leads are the most dangerous in hockey, an early goal to start the period 5 on 3 would be amazing.
i must say….everytime they say Halak makes a big save(s)….. i think to my self…really?…..probably because i’m so used to seeing him make those big saves
The Montreal Canadiens have officially arrived to play!
Now finish them off…run Leighton out of town…pound the snot out of Carcillo…pull Hartnells mop top…burn a Philly news truck…spit on their fans…payback is a medevac…
Just kidding…about some of it ;P
Lol..Verses doing a piece on how great Leighton is…timing is everything…
“The ‘System’ will not stop until it owns Lord Stanley’s Cup…All hail the System!”
I really hate comments like that dude. It just tends to generate bad karma. Celebrate the great Habs plays and just hold back on the insults until the win is in the bank.
“Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement.”
Remember when Theo won the Vezina, stoned Boston in the first round, then, after game 4 against Carolina, suddenly lost the ability to stop a carcass? Yeah, I want that part to happen to Leighton.
-Dustin-
“The good thing about drinking during games is if they lose, you’re too drunk to care during and too hungover to care after.” – J.T.
Head west out of Thunder Bay, home of Tom Pyatt (and the Staals and Patrick Sharpe). Head up the highway to Dryden, home of Chris Pronger, then 88 miles more brings you into Kenora, home of Mike Richards. This is a Northwestern Ontraio series.
“Benny’s been pretty good.” Boone, you gotta let go of this teenage crush you have over Benny… Just because he didn’t fall on his butt once doesn’t mean he was good!
I notice that Leighton is slow and isn’t tracking the puck well when there is traffic. Keep it up and next game there will be a lot of doubt in his mind.
There you go smart guy. Your boy O’Byrne plays 1.5 shifts and almost loses the game twice for us. Maybe from now on, when you get an impulse to tell everyone how much you know, you should keep quiet.
LOL…..wow dude take a midol. I guess O’Byrne is the first player to put the puck ove the ice. I guess you are from the JM school of coaching …..make one mistake a sit….unless your name is Gomez, MAB, Hammer, PK , Spacek…….
“Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement.”
I can’t believe this. Are those lines for real? Really?
Seriously, fire Martin already. Right now. That’s just ridiculous. Before he messes up this team more than he already has. Replacing him just before game 3 can’t hurt the team more than letting him keep goofing things up.
I mean, he’s been a thorough failure all year, but keeping Pyatt with Gomez and Gionta after he neutralized them for 10 minutes last game is… profoudly stupid. What does he hope to accomplish, besides forcing Gomez and Gionta to babysit the team’s worst 5-on-5 forward and reducing them to uselessness?
His inexplicable absurd love for a fourth-liner is hardly the worst blunder Martin has done this year (at least he’s been consistently awful) but it speaks to his inability to adjust and recognize something that was bold-faced stupid on the face of it.
Pyatt has no business anywhere outside the fourth line and the PK and that’s the end of it.
And now Martin “took the team to the ECF” so his job his safe. Montreal will lose Boucher, who’s actually a competent coach, to keep a guy who’s been awful all year and already induced the organization to make damaging long-term personnel move to keep him happy.
What a complete disaster. I’m not seeing playoffs next year, gang. I’d say this will set the Habs back 2-3 years, if not more.
I agree with you on Pouliot.This game could be a “series changer”.For awhile ,Martin had us going with surprises as he was juggling the lines,short shifts ,and you never knew who you were going to get on the us.
This series is almost predictable.Actualy it is.ONE PERSON I AM NOT GOING TO BLAME IS HALAK.AND HE COULD USE LITTLE HELP<dont you think?he cant do it all.Leighten,gave up a bunch of rebounds in game 2,but the habs didnt bite.They need to be super aggresive tonight.Like they were with the Caps and the pens.Come on they beat those 2 teams.!Go Habs.I dont want this to be over.I want an original 6 six final
between the hawks and the habs.TRivial anyone?When was the last time 2 original 6 teams met in the finals?
I have no idea.I prob bet in the 70s or early 80s???
Enjoy your game!Go habs!You can do it!Gosh it will be nice not to see those ugly orange fans in the stands!That is eye-blinding!
I agree with you on Pouliot.This game could be a “series changer”.For awhile ,Martin had us going with surprises as he was juggling the lines,short shifts ,and you never knew who you were going to get on the us.
This series is almost predictable.Actualy it is.ONE PERSON I AM NOT GOING TO BLAME IS HALAK.AND HE COULD USE LITTLE HELP<dont you think?he cant do it all.Leighten,gave up a bunch of rebounds in game 2,but the habs didnt bite.They need to be super aggresive tonight.Like they were with the Caps and the pens.Come on they beat those 2 teams.!Go Habs.I dont want this to be over.I want an original 6 six final
between the hawks and the habs.TRivial anyone?When was the last time 2 original 6 teams met in the finals?
I have no idea.I prob bet in the 70s or early 80s???
Enjoy your game!Go habs!You can do it!Gosh it will be nice not to see those ugly orange fans in the stands!That is eye-blinding!
I’m more concerned about putting someone who can play hockey with Gomez and Gionta than worrying about the performance of the third line, to be honest.
Crippling your first line with self-inflicted stupidity is not a good way to start a must-win game.
Putting Pyatt with Gomez and Gionta after he so effectively shut them down for 10 minutes last game is so asinine it doesn’t require any coaching skill to recognize as a mistake.
Pyatt may be a hard worker, but he sucks at hockey. He’s the worst 5-on-5 forward on the team. Yes, he looks like he’s working hard because he skates fast and all, but the object here is to win and I take actual effectiveness over the appearance of effort any day.
Pyatt playing on the top line is asinine. Trying it after it’s been tried and failed is beyond asinine. It’s crippling the first line before the game even starts. Way to go, Martin.
F**** KAte Smith. She is dead, and so are we if we don`t get Nikki Yanovski to sing our anthem! As a season ticket holder, I have been to a few games where Nikki Yanovski shook the Bell Centre. What is Geoff molson waiting for? Its time to turf lcharles prevost limp-ton and get our generation`s Roger doucette in (PK Subban style!)
Tabarsnack!…we better get going tonight…Last two games have been miserable…
Glad to see or enforcer is at least doing something…I miss Aaron Downie…at least that mug would drop gloves and look after les boys…Shawn Thorton veggie man…he’s cheap and he can skate…UFA next season…make it happen…
GO HABS GO!!!!!
“The ‘System’ will not stop until it owns Lord Stanley’s Cup…All hail the System!”
Do you not feel like a real ass hole now that Pyatt scored and has fit in pretty good. I know its frustrating some times but when you get you foot out of your mouth you should yhen stick it up your arse.
Thanks. When has JM become a sacred cow that one dare not criticize? Yes he has taken the team farther than any coach I have witnessed, but it does not mean he is beyond making errors. JM has a blind spot when it comes to positioning players. I am not questioning his strategy just the use of his assets.
“Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement.”
But he’s only 6’1″ and around 200 lbs. Smurf status according to some here. Nope, not big enough. Needs to be 6’4″ and 235 minimum to make these folks happy. Skate? Who cares as long as he’s a headhunter, right?
JM has not “taken” this team anywhere. He’s been awful all year, and he’s been hauled where he is by Halak and Cammalleri, in spite of Martin, not thanks to him.
He has a blind spot in strategy, he has a blind spot with young players, his lineups used to be reasonable but now even that’s gone. He’s worse than Carbonneau.
Youppi to be with Don Cherry around 7:00 tonight on HNIC, one of them will be much easier to understand than the other, can you guess which?
Ron Maclean also to release his memoirs: Rejected titles included How to spend most of your life as a babysitter on TV and How I Gave up trying to be a Decent sports journalist.
Who’s with me for signing Alexandre Frolov in the offseason? A guy like him could really help us right now. He’s 6’2″ / 210 pounds … slightly bigger the AK. Everyone knows how good him and Cammy were together back in LA AND if I stand correct, Cammy has approached the brass about getting him a few times …. time will tell I suppose…
————————————————————————
Never judge another man’s decision poor until you actually have proof of it failing!
Frolov has had some sharp criticism from the LA Kings management over the last year or two I understand about his commitment and he wasn’t exactly carrying the offence for the Kings this year, rather leave him to the free agency market where he’s going to be getting a huge contract anyway that the Habs can’t match because of the lack of scoring forwards in free agency this year.
You make some good points. I remember reading about some of the Frolov issues this year. I think most of, if not all of it, was eventually solved though. Im not expecting 90 points from the guy, but he is capable of geting around 75, which is slightly more then AK has EVER pulled in. Perhaps a deal could be worked out with LA as well for the Kostitsyns, but Frolov would have to agree to re-sign of course. With Cammys influence, you just never know, lol
————————————————————————
Never judge another man’s decision poor until you actually have proof of it failing!
Devorski gave us the old scroogie last time he reffed. Better be an improved showing tonight, none of these garbage interference calls for a hand brush. Here’s hoping the refs are consistent all night long and the linesmen just drop the puck instead of acting like they’re a baseball pitcher trying to make a pick-off.
Notice how he spent all the game on a line with Moore and Lapierre — ie. not being asked to do something he can’t do. While Pouliot was with Gomez and Gionta, and that line was exponentially more effective. That’s not a coincidence.
Pyatt had a very impressive game, but at his best he’s a third liner — this would never have happened if he’d been asked to play first-line opposition. Thankfully, Martin hasn’t gone so completely bonkers as to give Pyatt first-line minutes two games in a row.
Who knew how easily we could have solved our goalie controversy merely by keeping Michael Leighton? I have to believe we are making this guy look better than he actually is. I have to think that or … have my head EXPLODE!
Markov’s surgery: CKAC reports it
was in Cleveland. No reliable orthopedic surgeons in Montreal? Or is
there something particular about the injury?
Odds are the Canadiens medical staff did a bit of research on who the best available surgeon was and the guy happened to be in Cleveland. Given the 10-1 population ratio and the demand for high-level sports medicine for pro athletes wiith the NFL/MLB/NBA factored in, it’s not surprising Markov would go to the States to get his operation done, that and there’s no waiting list.
I’m sure he had the surgery done at the Cleveland Clinic, which is one of the best medical centers in the states, and has a top-notch orthopaedic center.
That line is a bit of a cliche in the playoffs isn’t it? I think we’ve had our biggest game of the season 16 times in a row now. 19 if you count our last 3 regular-season matches.
desperation is a dangerous drug! Hopefully the habs can walk the fine line between the buzz and the trainwreck!
Simple key to the powerplay is give up on the point shot. they are rushing our D and making us force passes. set up with pleks or gomer by the far hash marks and move it around until you can get cammy or a d man break through the top two guys, then its a one-timer shelf!! I gotta good feeling about tonight!!
That has surely nothing to do with waiting lists. For these kind of surgeries you only consider the very best. I know a
lot of European players who even went to the U.S. after an ACL injury. For many years a
certain Dr. Richard Steadman seemed to do all these surgeries. Maybe the
new Steadman lives in Cleveland…
Any time Kate Smith has appeared live or on tape, the Flyers are 82-21-4. Record for her duets with Lauren Hart: 8-1.
I heard Burger King said the Smith effect was when kate smith came and ate all the burgers and drank all the mayonaise. She can’r sing, and she isn’t much of a looker, so when we go back to game 5 knotted at 2, the record will change to 8 and 2. That hart girl is good looking, but she can’t sing. She tries to do these runs and she always ends up behind the music!!
Boone, I am pretty sure there is an orthopedic surgeon in Cleveland who does a new synthetic ACL replacement which heals much quicker than the traditional surgery which can have a 6-9 month recovery period.
God JM is so stubborn. Pyatt does not belong with Gomez and Gionta. Gomez never shoots and when he does he misses, so the Flyers just key on Gionta since Pyatt has hands of concrete.
Put Pouliot on that line! If he is ever going to regain his touch it will be where he had all his success, and not on a checking line. Note to JM! Pouliot, SK and AK are not checkers they are skilled players who need ice time and skilled linemates to be effective.
This team needs scoring and it will not come from Pyatt.
“Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement.”
Pouliot has had enough chances on just about every line.
He may not be a checker, but Pyatt works way harder than he does. Gomez and Gionta needs somebody to get nasty in the corners, and work their ass off to keep pucks deep.
Pouliot has been an epic fail. He doesnt deserve a million chances. Its the playoffs.
Exactly. And they never get called for it when it is illegal. Kind of like how Carolina won its Cup by running every goalie through the backboards with nary a call. When it comes to officiating, the NHL is GARBAGE. The NHL wants goon hockey. Go figure.
Goaltending is a major factor that has brought us here thus far – not only the stellar play of Halak but also the shaky performances from opponents such as Fleury and Varlamov. Leighton (5GP/4-0/4GA/0.87/.969) is a career back-up who every once in awhile gets hot for a few games. Halak may have dipped a bit in comparison but I’m not sure it’s as much of a factor as our inability to score. Regardless, our ace card should have been a huge advantage in this series and is now being negated by a fluke injury to the opposition that has turned surprisingly into a huge benefit. Go figure.
Simply stated, Philadelphia’s top six forwards are better than our top six collective. Richards is far superior to either Gomez or Pleks and Briere has come to life at the most opportune time. Simon Gagne is doing for Philly what Cammalleri did for us in the first two series. Sparks are just flying off this guy (no pun intended). Every Montreal fan hates Hartnell but wouldn’t we all love to have him in our line-up? The gifted play and upside of Claude Giroux only highlights the ineptitude of young draft picks such as AK46 and Pouliot. Not to mention that Jeff Carter is on the injury list and is being replaced by the nutbar, Carcillo. Could you imagine if we also had to contend with the player who was the last cut from Team Canada? It’s no wonder that these Flyer forwards may well be responsible for the poor play of the Habs special teams just as much as our own player’s incapacity.
Various people have brought up the issue of size in this series. Size is important but you also have to consider how it’s utilized. The Flyers play hard and hit harder. You can sense the aggressive edge even before the hit arrives. They leave their feet with many of their checks and they go to the dirty parts of the ice. Their sandpaper is the coarsest grade available at Home Hardware. They are willing to pay the piper and also make sure that the other team pays an even higher price. A few of them are head-hunters and one or two even have a screw loose. They also excel at creating mayhem around the other team’s net. Conversely, their opposition is hesitant to park themselves in front of the Flyer net. Hence, the intimidation works at both ends of the ice. They also appear to skate faster in comparison to the Habs which is something that I wasn’t expecting. All these factors add up to a Flyer advantage that can’t be measured by stats alone. Simply stated, we are their bitches at the present moment.
24, I like 2 out of 3 paras! Indeed, what’s not to like about the Flyers? (For me Carcillo and Pronger; long-term goalie situation). And you mention speed and I agree. Before Game 1 I asked here whether anyone really thought the Flyers looked slow. (A Boston fan replied that both the Bruins and Flyers looked in slow motion compared to Habs-Pens). I guess speed can be deceptive, but to me Philly looks plenty fast as you say.
Maybe you’ve been at games and I’m only watching on TV. But I would challenge your summary of the physical contest. I think the Flyers’ size has been much less of a real factor than a kind of aura: the tradition, the reputation, the height-weight stats. But I don’t see Habs getting murdered in front or in the corners, certainly not in the neutral zone. We seem to be going hit-for-hit with them, or nearly. But maybe you have 18 Youtubes to demolish me!
The main size advantages I see is Leighton watching everything over the heads of the smurfs, and our D men sometimes — though not always — having trouble shifting Richards or Hartnell from in front. (Hammers has been quite physical so far this series, making up for some disapointments in the first 2 rounds).
We mostly outplayed them in Game 2. If we can start converting that into scores, we win. And with two teams so well aware of the reality of unlikely comebacks, maybe just maybe we get inside the Flyers heads a little.
I predicted before the regular season that the Flyers would be in the conference finals. How can anyone look at that roster and not be impressed by the shear talent and toughness? I was shocked at how they faltered in the regular season and was at a loss to explain it.
Of all the teams the Habs could face I feared the Flyers the most. They have the type of players and style of play that is the worst possible match up for the Habs. The Achilles heel was always the goal tending and now that appears to be solid.
I still believe the Habs CAN win, but it will take a supreme effort with a lot of luck and a coach willing to adapt.
“Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement.”
True, but he helped win Round 2. I felt Markov was hamming it in for Round 1 so while it stung to lose him it was a blessing in disguise. I only hope PK realizes he can’t single handedly win a game and not to dwell on his mistakes. Otherwise it’s going to sting.
Yeah, you could see already in Game 2 that the anarchy of Game 1 had been eliminated. Not doubt the coach had a few words. But you’re right — hopefully he doesn’t dwell on it and lose some of that cowboy attitude. We need that. Other thing is, he’s not a secret weapon anymore.
Not sure what you mean by Markov hamming.
Would love to see Pronger physically neutralised, even for just one shift. Could anyone do it? Max? Pouliot?
Markov went into more of a defensive role in the first series and focused in on that. He wasn’t exactly contributing to a lot of scoring, but has Subban really collected many points either since he’s basically had to take over Markov’s job? Markov played as best he could, in a year he had a tendon injury that he came back early with and clearly struggled, as the smooth skating All-Star clearly didn’t have the same fluid movement on the ice as he usually did. For a skating defencemen, an injury that affects your skating can have a huge impact on your game, it’s pretty simple.
With Markov in, we could’ve had Markov, Subban, Hamrlik, Spacek, Gill and Gorges as our 6-man defensive unit, I would have much rather have had that than MAB with any TOI.
Yet if Hamrlik were to say, play like he’s 85 years old, he gets regular minutes. A veteran can make a mistake, a rookie can not. Show me the logic, how are the rookies supposed to learn or try and make up for something if they never get a chance?
Your sig sums up the issue with young players, but JM isn’t a subscriber.
It wasn’t just the penalty, OB gave up the puck to a Flyer in our end. He may settle down as the game goes on, but at the start, he was a danger out there.
Yeah but how can the guy ever settle down in a game when all he is thinking about is his next mistake means he’s back in the press box or plays more than 4 minutes in a game so he has a chance to settle down? He had a bad start but he’s never going to have good starts if he doesn’t get some regular time in.
What makes it worse is that JM will never give that young player a chance to make it up. Just sits them on the bench to feel terrible with no way of helping and to lose even more confidence. How is any player supposed to perform under the knowledge any mistake EVEN A FLUKE will result in a benching.
I know if I was O’Byrne I would want to throw JM over the glass.
“Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement.”
Great effort by the boys so far. They’ve taken two games to do it, but they’ve adapted to Philly’s style of gameplay, and now we’re takin it to ‘em.
–I was given a plastic Canadiens stick when I was only a couple weeks old. I come from a line of Canadiens fans. Its in my blood, and though I’m anglo, I still bleed bleu-blanc-rouge.–
Hamrlik is a 1200-game NHL veteran who worked hard to put the Penguins back into Game 7 against PIT when we were leading 4-0, he should know better to make stupid, unforgiveable mistakes. OB makes one, his butt is nailed to the bench or put to the press box when he’s been pulled in and out of the lineup for far less, how does letting a veteran be a complete ****up but not forgiving a young guy for smaller stuff make any sense or not mess with his head?
Why is a 6’3″ forward who’s having a great game not get any PP time? I hear big bodies near the net can create goals, crazy rumour I heard from these guys in Chicago.
You leave me little notes on my pillow. Told you 158 times I can’t stand little notes on my pillow. “We’re all out of cornflakes. F.U.” Took me three hours to figure out F.U. was Felix Unger!
That’s exactly it Tony. The Flyers are good, not great. We’ve just been kinda lousy against them. I really think we can take the next 2 games chez nous. One goal to end this drought. Then it’s a whole new series. You asked me how the boys can do it in another thread, well, here you go: Other Wing.
pitts and wash did not care about the habs …they were too full of them selves so they employed no strategy and were under the impression all they had to do is throw line after line out and win easily…right now it is easy to coach vs the habs…as long as your goalie does not give up bad goals all you have to do is stop 2 forwards from scoring and than you have a pretty good chance the habs will score at most 1-2 goals a game. all season posters argued about who should play net or d but 90% of the reason habs struggled in the reg season was lack of secondary scoring. based on cap space and whats on the farm for next year this problem will continue next year and may even be worse
The place will be rocking. I’d love to see us come out flying, totally carrying the play and having great shifts of sustained pressure to keep the crowd’s energy sky-high. Pot the first goal of the game halfway through the first so that the first ten minutes actually seem like a buildup. Then keep coming at them. The “Leighton” taunts will make him soil himself.
Get those white jerseys out of Halak’s way. Get in Pronger’s head. Get Carcillo to snap and take stupid penalties. Expose their third D pairing. Score at least one with the man advantage. We can do this! A win and we’re right back in this thing!
Young players who benefitted from constant benchings over single mistakes this season and responded positively: Oh right, None of them. JM’s head games with his young guys have produced **** all.
H is for Help which is what the Habs need right now. G is for Goal which is what the Habs also need. Halak may finally be exhausted. We’ll see. Normally I would be rooting for the Habs but I want the parade in my back yard, not at the usual route. Cretins, ooh that hurt. My mother has called me worse names.
Ironically I had a dream that I was watching a Habs game and we were down 2 and came back to win 4-2… Now I don’t know if it means one game or the series.. Either way it would be nice if they won tongiht..
Down 2-0 but coming back home for the next two… not the end of the world, but it’s a must-win game tonight. Nonetheless, we need to use the age-old adage of taking it one game at a time.Key points:
-Philly is still a team using a career minor-league goalie, a team with injuries, and a team that snuck into the playoffs on the last day of the season. This is not to say that we are any better, only to say that as good as their team is playing now, they have had a massively inconsistent season and a little bit of luck our way could easily put them onto a 4-game losing streak (they did lose 3 straight against a weak Boston team before bouncing back).
-The Habs still have some fire-power in the line-up and a lot o guys who are playing under their potential, not like a year ago when all our good players were hurt and you knew everyone was giving 100% and just didn’t have the talent to do any more. The guys this year have shown they can play with the best teams, and we can certainly play with Phi.
- Phi’s success has come mainly off of the PP and momentum generated from the PP. At least 2-3 of their even-strength goals came within a minute of their PP ending, so tack on their 4 PP goals and that means most of their offence is special-teams generated. Our pp had some moments where it looked better last game but still no goals… if we can turn around the PP situation, we can likely give ourselves the chance to take the lead in the game and make them play from behind or a change.
- We have a guy in reserve (OB) who can bring a much better physical presence to the game, and at no expense to the rest of our line-up. Let’s say MAB goes to line 4. No one is missing his play on D, and with the minutes that Metro or Pouliot or SK were getting on line 4, no one will notice their absence either. So adding OB means we have a chance to improve our line-up (and maybe PK) for free. Any boost helps.
- Throw in home ice advantage and we have lots of reasons to believe we can come back and win the next two. Just winning tonight wipes out all of the gusto and confidence the flyers have built up. the season is on the line tonight, so if ever there’s a game where the boys were to step it up, this is just as big as the two game 7′s. Let’s hope they do the job. Go Habs Go!
Considering this is basically a win or die game with the series possibly going down 3-0, I think it would have been prudent for Boone to use his rervese jinx.
For the love of everything on Earth WHY IS MAB playing? He is minus 11 and he just gave away the puck THREE TIMES in the last power play!! THREE TIMES!
OB will be press box’d next game for a couple of first period mistakes in his first game of the series, typical JM coaching. Guy is never going to settle down and feel confident with that kind of restriction.
You are the hysterical one dude. No one has said O’Byrne will tip the scales or is the second coming of Scott Stevens.
Those of us who can see clearly, realize a big Dman might help our beleaguered defense. We can see that MAB’s ice time must be limited as well as that of Hammer who is but a shell of his former self.
Perhaps you will inform us how playing MAB 18 minutes a game helps the team? How forcing Hammer and an injured Gill to play extra minutes helps the team? How not icing the best possible roster helps the team?
I think you are the hysterical and irrational one in questioning the insertion of O’Byrne, when you have not one rational reason not to play him.
SOMETIMES IT IS THE MINUTES YOU ELIMINATE RATHER THAN THE MINUTES YOU PLAY. LESS MAB MINUTES IS A HUGE GAIN.
“Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement.”
O’Byrne back in the lineup, with Darche sitting. Bergeron likely to see time on the 4th line. Thank god he’s out of the defensive rotation. Just shoot the puck on the PP, nothing else.
kindda like we did to the penguins in game 7
So for what it’s worth, here’s coach kempie’s game plan (devised from the comfort of my couch):
We have last change so maybe consider reassembling the Giant Mexican Squid for a few shifts, and while we’re at it, maybe try Plex between the brothers for a few. For the love of everything that is good, INSERT OB!!!! I know he won’t score, and I was saying this last game mostly for the sake of adding his size, but now I just want MAB off period. I know big shot, power play blah blah…. but he’s not taking those shots anymore and how much good is he when the puck hops his stick at the line and we have to go back for it? 20 seconds gone. Not on the 4th, not on the pp, just off. Is there any way we can get Spatch on his right side for a few shifts? Let’s try cycling hard down low and drawing some pp time and maybe cashing them when we get em. Some guys seem like they are trying to do too much (PK I’m lookin at you man). This sounds dumb but Gomez… please try and stay out of the box for the first 3 minutes. We need to remember that Leighton is giving monster rebounds and try to force more of them and anticipate them. Halak/Price? Forget it. 41 is driving this bus and I’d give him a medium-long leash. This is his ship to go down with if that’s what happens. And finally…
Green T-shirt power… ACTIVATE FFS!!!!
THANK YOU BABY JESUS
H is for Hell–the deja-vu Hell of Le Centre Bell in a Game 4 following a Game 3 where the Habs, already down 2-0 in the series, lay an egg! The Hell of 2009, Round One… the Hell the Habs must escape, at any cost!
About goddadamn time. JM always seems to forget why OB is the lineup every once in a while.
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu.
http://habsandhockey.blogspot.com/
This BGL VS GSP thing is going to be fun. Everybody seems to be bashing Laraque for this or are misunderstanding this as a real fight. Rest assured that this is only a fight for fun and nothing more. BGL is now 270 lbs!! try moving that in front of the net.
Then I’ll revise my response below to you as follows:
OB…ABOUT FREAKIN’ TIME!!!
I wish Darche was in though. I always liked him.
FEEL THE PRIDE!
Looks like O’Byrne is in after all and Darche is out.
“Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement.”
Relax. SK makes zero difference, Pouliot back is good whatever line he is on (if he’s going to work hard for a change) and the OB thing is a tossup. You take his size and his penalties or you reduce your chances of penalties overall. Given their PK failures recently I’d prefer fewer penalties and that means no OB. I always try to keep in mind that we’re a bubble team, a .500 team and we have very little depth to call on right now. None of those 3 guys are game changers except OB whose penalties could be.
FEEL THE PRIDE!
Whoever he puts in must play better and harder. No point in saying the coach is a door knob because in the end, he is the coach and we are not.
It doesn’t matter. O’Byrne won’t score goals, SK and Pouliot aren’t game changers and the 4th line is never used.
If Cammalleri, Plekanec, Gionta or Gomez don’t score then the series is over. Case Closed.
So according to the practice lines. NO O’BYRNE and SK is out and POULIOT is on the FOURTH LINE. OMG JM!
“Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement.”
H is for Halak
Author of the best playoff goaltending performance this team has seen in a generation.
Let it continue tonight…
__________________________
“Peoples will only be truly free when the last king is strangled by the bowels of the last priest” Francois Laignelot -
FREE MARC EMERY, POLITICAL PRISONER!
Agreed… Lets score a few tonight so that we can give a little help to our Goalies no matter who it is… I don’t care if the Pope is in goal… As long as we win..
How many goals is Price going to score?
In all seriousness, goaltending (aside from game 1) has not been the issue. We have to get pucks past Leighton, plain and simple. Price may very well be more aggressive to any Flyer that breaches his crease, but I have a little more faith that Halak will make those big stops, just like in the Washington and Pittsburg series. What needs to happen is to put O’Byrne back in the lineup, and have him play the crease-clearer defenseman. Aside from Gill, he’s the only guy big enought to do that job.
He does make a good case. I was annoyed at the headline, but after reading it, I liked the case he presented. However – and only in my opinion – he comes to the wrong conclusions. Halak gives us a better chance to win the game. He is the better goalie. What we really need is to score goals and tighten up the D.
__________________________
“Peoples will only be truly free when the last king is strangled by the bowels of the last priest” Francois Laignelot -
FREE MARC EMERY, POLITICAL PRISONER!
Damien Cox makes an excellent case for Price getting the start tonight. I know I’m probably in the minority, but I agree with him. Know it’s not going to happen though. I also agree with Cox’s assertion that JM’s conservative style isn’t particularly well suited to the playoffs. His unwillingness to think outside the box has MAB firmly entrenched and eating up minutes on D and on the PP, even though he can’t play D and the PP is in need of some stability and smart puck movement. IMO, JM needs to make some bold decisions to keep the Habs in the series..
Excellent post… Nice to see someone else feels positive too. BTW I saw Mikko Koivu today, he was having a coffee at the same place as me. Almost asked him ‘Is it nice to have holidays same time and as long as your bro?’
http://media.turku.fi/kamera1.html
BINGO!
You should know you need a physical presence when your Dmen can’t clear Briere from the front of the net. Plus I hope he plays with Hamrlik so that he can cover for his lapses in defense. The initial poster forgot to mention that OB would also make a better PK man than Hamrlik and was a decent sub for Gill when he went down.
If the Habs do end up losing this game, how poetic would it be for them to come back from 3-0 deficit against Philly? The way this playoffs has gone, I wouldn’t discount the possibility.
That said, hope it’s a blowout for the Habs and Leighton goes back to being waiver-wire material.
I’m not sure I’m comfortable with the team’s attitude… They have a sense of confidence that is probably not helpful. I feel they’re thinking “we’ve been here before, no sweat, we can pull this off.” That’s NOT the attitude that carried them through the first 2 series. JM says “we’ve overcome adversity before.” That’s not a good reason to feel less worried. They won the first two series as underdogs, no one giving them a chance, “against all odds”, with nothing to lose, etc. They have something to lose now; they’re within just 4 wins of the Stanley Cup Final… Anyone else share my concern?
“We didn’t give up and we are not giving up.” – Jaroslav Halak
Yeah but it would give them the confidence that they need right now.. And frankly it would be nice to see a pasting on another team then the Habs for once.
LET’S SHIFT THE MOMENTUM HABS! Win game 3 and it’s a completely new series!
follow me on twitter — http://twitter.com/spoons91
Pretty simple how to beat a hot goalie. Go to the net. Create traffic. Grind. Get in his face. Dig for the puck, and don’t quit on plays. (It’s what Philly has done to Halak – it will work on Leighton as well))
As for our crease, get them the heck out of there. Make life miserable for them. Don’t allow them to walk to the net with impunity. Force the play. And again, grind and don’t quit on plays. Just want it more than them.
If we do these things, we will win.
__________________________
“Peoples will only be truly free when the last king is strangled by the bowels of the last priest” Francois Laignelot -
FREE MARC EMERY – POLITICAL PRISONER
screw giving me an ‘H’, gimme a freakin’ W!!!!
Go Habs Go!
Not having MAB on D is greater than the difference that O’Byrne himself will make.
It’s hard to stick up for the guy when he acts like he’s 5
H is for hard. as in, play that way. finish checks, drive the net, no more lateral passes when you cross their blue line (that means you, pleky and gomez), knock those youppi-colored skids on their a– in front of your net.
What we would need is a good old fashon Shellacking by our habs… A good 10-2 win would be good for everyone.. lol
For whom? It would simply make the habs think they “have it”. I’d rather they win by a goal or two so they know they need to keep working
I think we need to avoid raising the Flyers to God-like status like the schmucks on TSN and CBC do. They flopped into the playoffs just like we did. They took out the NJD in the first round, we took out the Caps, the number one team. They beat the Bruins (6th place team with a lot of injuries) in the second round. Yes, the did the amazing, coming from 3 games down to win the series but again, the Bruins were a hurting team and did a lot to beat themselves. We took out Sidney, Geno and the rest of the Cup champs. Round 3…..
While it’s true that the Caps and Pens came out on the ice and played their arrogant way of ignoring what the Habs were doing, never adjusting their game significantly and lost because they thought they could continue what they were doing and win.
The Flyers are a different team which, at times, gives us a glimpse into the BSB past. Not in this series though. Carcillo has been put on a leash and Harntell is behaving himself as well. The Flyers are a pretty good team. They’re no Washington or Pittsburgh but Laviolette has them playing a very good game right now and it’s beating us.
The big physical game everyone was afraid of isn’t there. The nasty edge to the Flyer game isn’t there. They are playing a smothering game and we aren’t adjusting to the play of the game. Surely to God, if we lowly fans and armchair coaches can watch the games and can draw logical conclusions as to what’s right and wrong, the Habs coaches must be able to do the same.
For everything the Flyers are doing right, we are playing some of the worst hockey in the playoffs right now. Can the Flyers play a better game? I don’t think so. This is as good as they get. We can and have played better which is why I am so optimistic about this game tonight and the rest of the series. Halak, Gomez, Cammy, all of them can play better and will….starting tonight!
GO HABS GO!!!! I Believe……
“Without the strength of the past, the team may face a choice – to win, or to be French-Canadian?” — Ken Dryden
Jesus H tapdancing christ just win this game….
Thanks… I bought the pro jesery back when everyone loved him
Have to disagree with your assertion that OB didn’t factor squat in the Caps series. OB knocked Backstrom into the Hab’s bench in game 5 (I could be wrong on the timing). Backstrom played like a girly man the rest of the series. May not be a connection there, but IMO strong correlation.
Because Jacques Martin belives that if you make 1 mistake as a rookie, you’re a hopeless case and unfit to play. However if you’re a veteran and you spend the entire game giving the other team chance after chance to come back into the game (Hamrlik in Game 7!) you will get regular ice time. JM gives way too much preferential treatment to his veterans even when they’re wretched.
O’Byrne can play well when has his confidence, which probably is low since JM has treated him like a leper since he had some trouble in the last few games of the regular season. O’Byrne playing in the later games of that series gave the Canadiens a physical force to use against Washington forwards that helped keep them off of Halak. I want someone besides Gill capable of clearing the crease with physical power to back it up, that’s not insane to expect more than 1 of 6 defencemen to be big guys who can do the jobs those guys are expected to do.
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu.
http://habsandhockey.blogspot.com/
Gill is still injured and more immobile than usual so having O’B back is a good thing. MAB looks like a scared little girl when the Flyers are bearing down on him and his big shot from the point has vanished.
I don’t think O’B is going to win the game for us but at least he won’t wet himself when the Flyers are forechecking…..
“Without the strength of the past, the team may face a choice – to win, or to be French-Canadian?” — Ken Dryden
Agreed, Corporate. And in fact I asked a similar question about 7 posts below. No answers yet. Probably the best point is where someone said that unless Gomez, Gionta, and Cammy start scoring, series over.
Enjoy! Starts midnight here in Ireland.
O’byrne is a bigger body out there, but people are building him up like he’s Scott Stevens. What do you think he was benched against the Pens in game 7 for? Because he’s so great? MAB is not a good defenseman, but O’Byrne is also just a 6th fringe guy. Just because a guy is big and makes 3 hits a game, doesn’t mean he matters all that much. O’Byrne didn’t factor squat in beating the Caps. It was 80% Halak and 15% Gill and Gorges, with 5% the rest of the team clogging up the neutral zone and blocking shots. I think O’Byrne is just as liable to screw up than he is to do anything else. I’m not saying he shouldn’t be given a try, but keep some perspective. The guy is a 6th or 7th defenseman! He basically means nothing.
That all makes sense BT. If he can just control the puck at the line, then I’m happy if his presence creates space for someone else. But the guy is giving me apoplexy!
Everyone is missing the point here… We win as a team and we lose as a team. So no matter who makes it on the official final roster sheet, we must play as a team. 4 lines that compliment each other. Bodies that are not scared to get ripped off. I truly believe that the Flyers are running on reputation more than on actual talent. Yes they have the Gagne’s and the Briere’s, but I still say we can still beat them. In addition, everyone is talking about how tough they play. They have not really played that tough… They through a few hits which is normal but other than that it is fine. So I wish our habs a great game and win one for the Montreal fans.
Difference is the Flyers have a far superior defence group right now with Markov being out for us and have an excellent capacity to clear the crease and rebounds. O’Byrne adds a missing element to the blue line, a bigger, healthy defencemen who will play at 100% because he doesn’t have 50 stitches in his leg. MAB is killing us in our zone and making the team waste time clearing the puck more often than they should while they score on us because a guy can sit in front of our net without incident.
O’Byrne factored into the 3-game comeback over Washington let’s not forget. Making the Flyers pay a physical price in our zone, especially the smaller ones like Giroux and Briere can work for Montreal, much better than see MAB put on a horror show. I’ll take OB for 20 minutes a night over MAB playing 20 a night.
Flyers wouldn’t worry about Krajicek playing because they’d still have Carle, Timmonen, Pronger and Coburn to use, we don’t have that luxury of an excellent D-group with Markov out and Hamrlik alternating playing like he’s 35 or 53.
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu.
http://habsandhockey.blogspot.com/
Somewhat agreed. I go back and orth on whether he should even be in the line-up. I know JM will never take him out completely, so it’s pretty much a moot point, but the argument for keeping him in is that the 4th line players don’t play that much anyways, and if he’s not there, it means we go back to having Gorges, Gill, or OB on the PP, and Spacek back on the first unit. It’s not the end of the world, and Gorges does a decent job keeping the puck in but he’s not a threat to score. Even if he’s playing poorly, MAB is at least a guy who Philly has to respect as a possible shot and it may open up space for other guys. One could equally make a case for taking MAB out altogether, but as i said, that would be the argument for keeping him in.
Apologies. Just realized Kempie made exact same point below. Different arm-chairs, same conclusions.
So a question: really — but really — exactly how physical has it been? The reputation is there, Clarke is (still) there, the height/weight stats are there. But are we getting killed in their crease or in the corners? I’m not seeing it (comfortably ensconced in my arm-chair). Remember Fonzie explaining how everyone considered him so tough but no one ever saw him in a fight? I mean, are they significantly more physical than either the Caps or Pens?
Here comes the savior himself, Ryan O’Byrne. I guess now the Habs are a shoe in to score at least 5 goals and will win the next 4 straight. At least according to all the misguided geniuses on here. I have never seen so minor and irrelevant an issue get discusssed to death, in the face of so many bigger problems. O’Byrne will play like 12-14 mins tonight and maybe be responsible for a goal or maybe not. There is no way you can look at this move and say it will impact the game in any significant way. Even though it is probably better that O’Byrne is in the line -up, the incessant commenting about him, is really mind boggling to me. All Habs fans must have actually lost their minds after that game 7 win against the Pens. i really believe the Flyer fans are finding all this hilarious. If we were up 2-0 on them, after having shut them out back to back and they were all losing it over whether Ryan Parent should be playing, I would be laughing my ass of. I would say they are all blaming Laviolette for this, siting his not playing Parent. Poor misguided children, they don’t even have a clue.
Give us an HH!!
I share your reservations about MAB, but wouldn’t stop at removing him from D duty. When I think of how many pucks have eluded him at the blueline on PPs, and a few potential shorties for Philly, and how seldom he actually unloads the big shot, I wonder is he worth a spot on the bench at all at the moment?
What is this about dancing “naked ” in the center of town?
Do you have a date and time picked yet?
Wow that is good. They’re Leafs fans but they’re talented…
PS I was the “Like a Boss” guy for Halloween, it was awesome
Down Goes Brown and Bloge Salming do it again…
“Like A Bettman”
Very funny poke at that moron commissioner
Screw the “H.” Give me a W!
http://habsloyalist.blogspot.com
Hey did you read what I said? i said I believe O’Byrne should be in the line-up. Why are you saying I’m questioning that? What I am questioning is this complete uproar that O’Byrne being in or out of the line-up is a huge deal. It’s just been way overblown and it’s dumb really. I feel it’s just embarrassing that Habs fans are so small minded to believe that’s the issue at hand.Also MAB is only -1 in this series. Only Spacek has been better, so calm down that MAB is ruining the team. MAB belongs on the 4th line, but no, the Habs are not down 0-2 because of MAB.
More hyperbole from a non-supporter. Yawn.
Just cause OB is in, doesn’t mean JM will necessarily take MAB off of defense. OB has been in the line-up before wehre he’s played sparingly and MAb has taken a regular D shift. If JM is smart, he’ll use OB as the 6th D man and MAB on the PP only, but who knows what JM is thinking. He obviously likes MAB much much more than any fan who has seen him play.
Lets see big OB clear out the front of the net for Halak tonight! I’m not giving up on the boys!
You know who I feel kinda sorry for?
Anyone who has Kostitsyn 74 on the back of their jersey…..perfect way to ruin le bleu, blanc et rouge
funny cause I’ve noticed that too.. Weird isn’t it… You’d think with fresh ice and all
He actually had a very nice period. Don’t let hate delude your perspective
I disagree but I dont hate, I strongly dislike. He needs to shoot more and stop turning the puck over.
“It’s not an obsession, It’s a way of life..”
You watching it too, dad, or would it wake them up?
Good call. Never in doubt. Delay of game tactic.
Pyatt! Let’s riot!
“Hey Richard, two minutes for looking so good!”
Maybe we should pay Pyatt 8 mill a year. lol
Thunder Bay’s own Tom Pyatt!
Man that was close! Have to stop doing that!
Make it 6-0 tonight… Get that revenge
I know he’s on a roll, but that would be expensive TP
)
“Hey Richard, two minutes for looking so good!”
DIFFERENT TEAM ON THE ICE – HABS ARE SOMETHING ELSE COME ONNNNNNN
There’s the Pronger from the 2006 Olympics.
Thanks
….Hab4life….
C’mon everyone:
LEEEEIGH-TON
LEEEEIGH-TON…
So far so GREAT!
Keep shooting low Philly, you bunch of LOsers!
They Call Me Shane
MAB is really pissing me off
“It’s not an obsession, It’s a way of life..”
Attaboy Pronger.
Back to Olympic form.
Big bag o’ doorknobs.
Habs just needed to recharge their batteries and the Bell Centre is the charger!
Following in the footsteps of “facing adversity” and “stepping up,” the next big-thing in annoying hockey sayings/cliches: “good goal.”
What, pray tell, is a “bad goal”? Would the referee say, “he kicked it in so – BAD GOAL!”?
That one annoys me to no end.
Pronger should get 2 penalties.
Ha-ha, suck it Pronger.
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu.
http://habsandhockey.blogspot.com/
Pronger gooning it up. That’s right, keep on taking penalties ya FILTYH PIG!
Thr big key to these goons is to frustrate them, then they will take lots of penalties and if we can get our PP back we can kill them.
Feels great to have something to shout about again! Good start by the Habs but they have to keep up the pressure. Would be nice if we scored on this PP.
Love it when Pronger looks like a pylon
————————————————————————
Never judge another man’s decision poor until you actually have proof of it failing!
alright, kids are iin bed and I can get online……
YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS Cammi
YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS PYATT
Now we’re cooking
“Without the strength of the past, the team may face a choice – to win, or to be French-Canadian?” — Ken Dryden
I have NEVER seen a team score on a PP that’s split by a break
If that isn’t holding I own a Mat Sundin jersey…
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu.
http://habsandhockey.blogspot.com/
5-ON 3
MAKE IT COUNT!!!
now these are the Flyers we all know and love
The period ending is going to mess this up
Best thing MAB has done all series
The team has regrouped and come back stronger…Sometimes Adversity can be the best thing for this team
“I went to see a fight the other night…And A hockey game broke out!” ~Rodney Dangerfield~
LOL grappling match between GSP and Laraque.
http://tsn.ca/mma/story/?id=322070
OLE OLE OLE OLE
OLE OLE
There may be other teams, but only ONE Club De Hockey…
I don’t know. I thought he was rubbin’ in the Leafs’ faces that they don’t draft local boys who go on to excellent careers elsewhere. Me, I kind of like the idea of the Habs succeeding by plucking gems from the Buds’ backyard.
That is a goal scorers GOAL!!!!
Actually we won cause I watched the game on a different TV. I threw the loser to the curb.
OLE OLE OLE OLE
OLE OLE
There may be other teams, but only ONE Club De Hockey…
I just don’t get it. What’s the inside story? OB makes mistakes, but
MAB is the supreme artist at f#*k-uppery. He shouldn’t be allowed
to touch the puck unless it’s to shoot it. He couldn’t carry a take out bag
out of a chinese restaurant…
Hate to be bitchy, cause really, I’m SO impressed with the overall effort.
What a game!!
http://www.youtube.com/user/ahengnbo
OLE OLE OLE OLE
OLE OLE
There may be other teams, but only ONE Club De Hockey…
Bah. JM has to staple someone each game. It was OB’s turn. Hey, he got to put on the uni tonight. It’s a start. I say he dresses again Saturday, not that he’ll see much playing time, but if it gets ugly early he’ll be thrown out there for sure.
Actually I couldn’t give a rats behind who dresses, plays or sits when the final is 5-1 for the good guys.
Put the Genny back on ice. The wake is off for another few days!
FEEL THE PRIDE!
LEEEEIGH-TON
LEEEEIGH-TON
LEEEEIGH-TON…..
Watching RDS is a good way to learn French and watch hockey at the same time! Without the benefit of Donald F. Cherry.
WOOOO HOOOO!!!
I don’t know. Even the wife thought it was a helluva haircut!
We’re getting some firewagon hockey now!!
Flyers behaved like, well… the Flyers. They have a lot of class – third.
THE BACK-BREAKER!
Yet another gigantic goal by our tiny giant! Giiiiiiiiiioooooooooooooonnnnnnnnntaaaaaaaaaa!
WHERE ARE THE NAY-SAYERS NOW?
“Hey Richard, two minutes for looking so good!”
Nary a nattering nabob of negativity now.
“Hey Richard, two minutes for looking so good!”
OLE OLE OLE OLE
OLE OLE
There may be other teams, but only ONE Club De Hockey…
You have a very polite son.
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu.
http://habsandhockey.blogspot.com/
He can score a backbreaking goal in a 3rd period of a game to put it away for his team.
He can play against guys a foot taller and be casual about it.
He can kill a penalty with ease.
He is the most interesting man in the world.
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu.
http://habsandhockey.blogspot.com/
Yes, yes, and also yes.
http://www.youtube.com/user/ahengnbo
Leeeeeeeeeeightooooooooon Leeeeeeeeeeeeeightoooooooooon
Being a Habs fan is a way of life, and a great one at that.
Didn’t watch the game.
What happened to O’byrne?
I smell some chicken wings coming up…
For those who think OB makes no difference, the fact we play 7 D actually helped a great deal tonight. What it does is get players like Cammy and Gionta more ice time, and even though its with the 4th line Cammy especially looked very good on those shifts. Plus, should the game become more physical, JM can always use OB on D over MAB if he feels he’s on his game. It may have been a bit premature to relagate him to the bench so soon, but I guess JM didn’t feel he was on his game today, and I’m not going to argue with the coach that got us here.
Heaven forbid three of the goalies in the Conference Finals actually be European. So, we should what? Cheer for Leighton? Right.
Bergeron is terrible. That pass nearly got Pyatt killed.
Flyers are TURD class
“Hey Richard, two minutes for looking so good!”
He doesn’t always drink beer, but when he does, he drinks Dos Equis.
Being a Habs fan is a way of life, and a great one at that.
What a blumpkin. He’d fit right in with the other goons on the Flyers.
Willy The Bum, I am 2/2 when I predict wings to you.
I have a feeling it’ll be 3/3!
Flower jacket in honour of Guy.
I said it before the game: I have a good feeling about tonight.
Genny? You just gave me shivers.
Pronger is a NASTY pice of S**T for that on Plec!
If you don’t, then you don’t need to respond. I just wanted to post some ridiculous pictures of Russian fans to give u folks some laugh. Why do I always get this every time I post something about WC?
they sould chant U S A ! U S A!
Yeah, we smelled that downtown!
MAB is the worst excuse for an NHL defenceman / player I ‘ve ever seen in all my years watching this game. He is truly clueless out there. As bad as he is , he actually made some good passes tonight and scored a goal so I have to give him credit for that. WTG MAB….HA !!
EPIC!
1 mistake with a delay of game, benched.
MAB tried to set up the Flyers for about 3 goals though…
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu.
http://habsandhockey.blogspot.com/
OMFG…I was praying and hoping for a win. But total domination?
I PROMISE TO NEVER DOUBT THE HEART OF THIS TEAM!
“Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement.”
Love that tag line
______________________________________ Gionta for Captain.
Keep eating pie and beans! I don’t care if you have to watch the game on the flush, that a winning combination meal lol!
And I’ll back off your comments for a while
FEEL THE PRIDE!
Popped the puck out of the rink early on for a delay of game penalty.
I was in French Immersion growing up in Ontario. I can usually pick up most of the game… while I hate CBC I actually seem to value Friedman – he’s decent and usually asks intelligent questions. From now on I’ll just switch to RDS for the intermissions.
Pronger -4, HAHAAAAH
Haha. True. Though I doubt he got the idea from here.
Nice win.
FEEL THE PRIDE!
lol thats a bloody lie
“I went to see a fight the other night…And A hockey game broke out!” ~Rodney Dangerfield~
Every time Scott Hartnell scores a goal, a stripper breaks a heel.
16 for 25
xxxx xxxx x— —-
Pronger -4 mouaaahahahahahaaaaa
Goalies in Montreal have two roles, netminder and scapegoat.
haha ya actually I thought I’d take the Cup oer the girls since I am hetero girl… but Carey and Maxim for a year or the Cup!? That’s a hard choice
I’d take the Cup since the boys are on the road too much to keep me fully satisfied :p
now I know what indecent proposal feels like
you?
Give O’Byrne some shifts. On his penalty one offical was indicating the puck was tipped and the ref overruled it. Hardly worth beanching him for the game especially when MAB is playing so not good.
Except he didn’t really play as a 7th D because his TOI went to 1:03, JM’s one mistake is too many policy with non-veterans paying big dividends, MAB turned over the puck so often you’d think he was making pancakes.
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu.
http://habsandhockey.blogspot.com/
I’m being blown away by how spot-on Hammer is tonight.
Being a Habs fan is a way of life, and a great one at that.
Halak, Gionta and Cammi LIVE!!
http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/hockeynightincanada/idesk/
“Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement.”
Lapierre’s got half the Flyers spiking the blood pressure, love it.
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu.
http://habsandhockey.blogspot.com/
Had to work so listened to CHAD on the computer. Come Sat. glued to the T.V. 1 rum per goal. Hope for another 5 or more goals. Way to go boys and all the goonery leads to penalties but i do wish we had an enforcer out there for times like that as you knew it was coming, however he would probably not have been playing with the flyers playing 6 skaters anyway. Also have Versus at the cabin so no f#@king CBC announcers to listen to.
p/s What happened to that Flyers twit who was on the site the last 2 games. Also speed can overcome size. End it by saying Chris Pronger sucks and swallows.
I know there’s still 13 minutes left, and you never know what could happen, but if I’m JM I would drastically reduce Cammy’s ice-time……he’s been out there the whole game and I don’t wanna see him go off wincing
Took the stink out of the Habs and directed it back into the Flyers. Right into Hartnell’s ugly ape-face.
Fartology is my forte.
“Hey Richard, two minutes for looking so good!”
THIS is why we are going to crush Philadelphia.
Too bad Hammer doesn’t have a shot like MAB. The number of open shots he gets is incredible
this is a good point! Though I haven’t been able to get RDS on justintv anymore
No. God Bless America.
“Hey Richard, two minutes for looking so good!”
More like savior and scapegoat
Voulez-vous bien me dire comment on a perdu deux matchs contre ces “Flyers”?
MAB has been on the ice for 1 of all 10 on Philly’s goals… OB took a penalty with his firts touch of the puck tonight….
I don’t agree with it. But for god’s sake lets be realistic. Isn’t it possible there isn’t anything there at all, JM just feels like he doesn’t need OB right now, and will when he feels he does???
When OB did play in the playoffs he had his fair share of ice time so…
We just won 5-1…….Played one of the BEST games of the season and we are STILL criticizing the coach??????????/
There may be other teams, but only ONE Club De Hockey…
Lol…these Habs do nothing the easy way…make us all bi-polar!
“The ‘System’ will not stop until it owns Lord Stanley’s Cup…All hail the System!”
It’s a total bone tourney for losers who either didn’t make the NHL playoffs or got bounced early. Hell, it’s worse than a friendly in international football!
ROFL
“Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement.”
eliisa..its a shot against the laffs. cherry is right they never take any players from the GTA. i hear it all the time living in TO.
Series on! They’ve found a system to counter the Flyers!
I’m a HUGE price fan, but I have a bad feeling he’d be saying “ATTA BOY GOOD CANAJIN!” if Price were doing what Halak was right now. Which is major BS – he can’t even get Halak’s name right? After SEVERAL broadcasts?
No excuse.
The Philthy Liars Cinderella story comes to a crashing stop.
“Hey Richard, two minutes for looking so good!”
Here’s the beauty of it, now they’ll try to pepper Halak with rubber. Then they’ll realize what Pittsburgh and DC found out the hard way.
Parce que ce n’était pas les mêmes Canadiens…
Lol. He made one pass from beside the Habs goal straight out to a Philly D-man in the slot. Nicest pass I’ve ever seen… to the opposing team. 15 seconds later, on the same shift, the Flyers scored.
Gotta like Carey, just like Jaro..
Filthy is giving them all this crap and we’re still playing great! Proud of this effort tonight! Keep it up!!!
I HATE THOSE GOONS… now that was the Habs team that played in the first 2 rounds, what a difference home ice can make to kick start us back to life. Honestly i don’t see Philly as having the same kind of threat that we faced with WASH/PENNS….speed/finesse/passing/superstar awe…etc… Philly has none of that, but they have GOONERY and ‘large body cycle and crash net and kill our forwards’… but it seems we found the solution to beating that kind of team…use your speed.
Outstanding effort, grit, never give up, teamwork, tapetotape passing and timely saves…outstanding.
I really hate that stupid goalie chant. I already said it after last game (saying that I hope it just stops)…
Everytime I hear that, it just reminds me of CAA-REY… CA-REY and pisses the sh*t out of me. If I was Price, it would piss me off too.
On another note, man, Hamrlik been’s shootin a lot tonight!
Yeah but where was Mr Rockem Sockem’s praise for Spacek and Hamr dropping the gloves? Oh that’s right, not canajin
True, but that depends on the situation.
Goalies in Montreal have two roles, netminder and scapegoat.
MAB, more turnovers than a bakery.
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu.
http://habsandhockey.blogspot.com/
SUBBAN T-SHIRT 1-0-0
I am not suggesting anything Dave. I am saying that JM cracks me up. He’s been doing this all playoffs. I don’t really care because it’s working.
I just think it’s funny.
BERGERON!! Come on, how could O’Byrne be worse?
Yea, JM in 48 hours time has gone from shithead to genious. Hopefully this function isn’t periodic and he goes back to shithead in 43 hours time.
If I may say – Lapierre has played very well. To hell with Carcillo – I go with Lapierre
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
We spotted them the first two games because they suck so bad. Habs in six.
“Hey Richard, two minutes for looking so good!”
First road goal of the series……wow
Criss de callis de tabarnac
Goalies in Montreal have two roles, netminder and scapegoat.
I don’t like the idea of a young defencemen who’s trying to get it going getting benched over single mistakes, what does that do to a guy? Nothing good, messes with the head when he doesn’t need it.
Great game, but MAB could have given the Flyers the opportunity to get back in the game with the turnovers he kept making, I don’t want to gripe about a win but MAB is just such an eyesore sometimes I can’t help but get ticked of.
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu.
http://habsandhockey.blogspot.com/
OK Jacques. Can you PLEASE glue MAB’s ass to the bench?
59 years ago today ..the world welcomed Stevieray…. 59 years later .. what a great b’day present 5-1 lovinit !!!
Damnit! Spoke too soon perhaps!
Like I said above. We spotted Philthy the first two games because they suck. Habs in six.
And Don Charra’s jacket — Somewhere there’s a cheap hotel missing a set of curtains.
“Hey Richard, two minutes for looking so good!”
The frenchies get us again, no matter, now Jaro can shoot for the shutout next game
Someone has to really nail Richards. He’s a punk and at the top of my list of Flyers who should be leg-checked accidently on purpose. Either that or plant a snapper off his mouth early in Game 4. Yes, I think we should injure him for all the right reasons.
Why does it always have to be Quebec-born players killing the Habs every time?
Daniel Briere, Simon Gagne, Martin St. Louis etc..
What a bunch of heartless bastards…How dare they ruin Jaro’s shutout…Oh wait were winning…Full of heart these guys!
“I went to see a fight the other night…And A hockey game broke out!”
~Rodney Dangerfield~
Why wouldn’t you put O’B on in the last 2 minutes. When the Flyers went stupid, you needed O’B out there. Do you want Spacek or Subban in a fight. or is JM just dressing him so he can punish him. MAB was HORRIBLE tonight, except for 1 good shot!!
Cool.
FEEL THE PRIDE!
Why is MAB playing 5 on 5 and O’Byrne sitting? Because of that penalty at the start of the game. Give me break JM. Goal Halak to deep in his net….
UNLUCKY. Lets pot another….
There may be other teams, but only ONE Club De Hockey…
HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY SR…………HERE HOPING YOU GET SEVEN MORE WINS FOR YOUR BIRTHDAY………….
There may be other teams, but only ONE Club De Hockey…
Lucky bounce for Gagne. Gotta stay with it
cherry can’t get any names right just not havlat..
What are the odds that the Habs got the best 2 players in the Gomez trade?
Happy Birthday!
Everyone a little too noncholant. Including Halak, who was at best a foot off the goal line.
Who’s going to take care of Richards? Queen MAB?
Full Breezer 4 Life
Wo-hooo, Pronger only minus-3 now, lol
Do they realise there is still plenty of time?! Come on guys!
Oy Oy Oy!…Bouncer…not much Halak could do…
Come home Gagne…You know you want to be a Hab!
“The ‘System’ will not stop until it owns Lord Stanley’s Cup…All hail the System!”
Happy Birthday, we got any Habs fans with a Saturday birthday? We might have a new Boone Reverse Jinx on our hands!
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu.
http://habsandhockey.blogspot.com/
Jaro scores before Pouliot does..
“Not a punishment” on OB not seeing action for 57 minutes, suuuuure Jacques.
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu.
http://habsandhockey.blogspot.com/
Cause there are so many of them…
There may be other teams, but only ONE Club De Hockey…
We are playing nervous again!!!IT’S 4-1!!!!!!
Oh no please, don’t remind me of Queen MAB. I just finished an essay writing on Romeo and Juliet, haha.
It PING PONGED IN, LUCK… Relax were still playing great……
There may be other teams, but only ONE Club De Hockey…
I agree…it would be great to see Kostysr nail him like a russian tank… or Laps level him.
MEH – keep at em. THEY are on the run, not us!
When you go to blow the candles out on your cake, make sure you wish for a nice tall silver mug and a parade.
“Hey Richard, two minutes for looking so good!”
hahaha lappiere!
“I went to see a fight the other night…And A hockey game broke out!” ~Rodney Dangerfield~
Canadians need to finish this game with a convincing win to send the right message for game 4, and not let Philly get back into it. Need to keep the forecheck and score another goal…..
MAB is the most exciting guy on either team, more often that not for all the wrong reasons.
Laviolette trying to stir his troops: “They’re putting a garden gnome on the ice against you guys. A freakin’ garden gnome. What’s next, a plastic pink flamingo?”
Damn. They ruined Jaro’s SO. Oh well, let’s put another one in, just to make sure.
I love Lappierre. The Moore line is fantastic. I’m loving this game.
The clock is taking WAY too long to count down. The 3rd has felt like an hour already, and there’s 8 mins left.
Being a Habs fan is a way of life, and a great one at that.
Another well used roster spot!
Love to see Pleks get out of his funk…
LOL…I was just going to comment on that to. He decided to go with six D and at least he got some ice time. WTF? JM reminds me of a sleezy used car salesman like his boss PG…..LMAO
“Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement.”
I hadn’t watched much of the bruins-flyers series, but from what I saw, it was a significantly slower paced then the Montrel-Pens series. I had a hard time understanding why we lost the first 2 games and am confirming my initial Habs in 5 prediction. I think we might take it in 6, but like the stat has been floating around that Phily has never lost going up 2-0 in a series, but whatever. Habs in 7.
Edit: Oh and if I jinx this game you can blame me, I already jinxed the shut-out earlier.
Happy birthday!
could you read his lips?? I’m no good at it.
Being a Habs fan is a way of life, and a great one at that.
don’t worry…I figured out JM…he goes on hunches… so he figures to bench Obryne, no problem, as someone pointed out it allowed dbl shifting on the 4th line giving gionta/cammy more ice…and he has one heck of a hunch with MAB because he doesn’t miss a shift, but i like MAB, even with his mistakes, reminds me of Kovy, full of tricks,,,at least we saw the laser tonight, finally.
Obryne will get his time, he is an excellent defenseman
Hammer 3rd star?
Agree. It could have been OB instead of Hammer.
MAB is useless, can’t stay on his feet
Don’t back down HABS, keep it up
When this team wins, it is in spite of Martin. He’s still a dope!
Somebody please get MAB out of there!!
For a full year? One whole year? This is a hard choice… I would say the Cup because I am a true Habs fan. But maybe I could have them for a couple months across the summer?
Good play by Hammer.
Spot on analysis.
Only thing missing in this game is Briere getting ktfo.
did that P.O.S. really say that?
no idea but it annoyed me so i can only imagine it annoyed the flyers lol Hes so annoying yet so effective when he wants to be
“I went to see a fight the other night…And A hockey game broke out!” ~Rodney Dangerfield~
What a great bunch of fans/friends ,..thanks all !!! go Habs !!!
Guuh……
Goalies in Montreal have two roles, netminder and scapegoat.
Kovalev had golden hands, despite his work ethic issues his stickwork was brilliant, MAB? Not so much.
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu.
http://habsandhockey.blogspot.com/
Any chance they’ve got to send us to the box is pounced upon.
I think that’s do able !!! thanks JB
You knew they were looking for a cheap call on us.
Hey, that’s Mr. P.O.S. to you. He smoked the Habs like a ham en route to getting his Stanley Cup ring. Remember that one? Justin Williams damn near cyclopsed Koivu and not one of the gutless bastards dressing for the Habs did jack!
On the quote, if he didn’t say it, he should have! LOL
Ugg. I hate interference. I saw it coming too. C’mon guys, kill it!
FU ZEBRA!
Happy Birthday! Glad you liked your present lol! GO HABS GO!!!
Maybe it will come down to how much gas is left in the tank. The officiating seems to be unpredictable as well.
Ya knew they were gonna screw us! F^^&*(%^$%#@@!!!!!
Hey, down that beer and have another! Happy birthday!!!
Gorges goes for what exactly?
It’s true.
Full Breezer 4 Life
Love it. I couldn’t be happier to see him step up his game (and not just because I’m a t-shirt owner!)
Has OB seen the ice since the DOG in the first period?
Gorges is finishing his check and gets called. Beautiful officiating.
Hey refs, how about that slash on Lapierre? Or the 20 high sticks by Flyers players you missed? Nah, I guess a clean, hard battled check is a punishable offense.
Kovy has golden hands and MAB has golden shorts from pissing them when he sees a Flyer coming in on him in the corner….
“Without the strength of the past, the team may face a choice – to win, or to be French-Canadian?” — Ken Dryden
It annoyed you? I see him doing it and I lmao and/or rofl.
Being a Habs fan is a way of life, and a great one at that.
done !!! especially for you !!! Day off tomorrow .. thank god !! Head hurts !! LOL
2 guys fighting for puck, 1 guy gets call. guess what sweater he wears?
Idiots!
….Hab4life….
Price seems a little inexperienced “” to me…
It’s all about the Cup anyway. Cupgasm!
Ed Snider must have complained to Bettman. Instantly, weak call on Gorges. What a joke.
Happy birthday SR. Glad the boys could give you a nice big present!
“Without the strength of the past, the team may face a choice – to win, or to be French-Canadian?” — Ken Dryden
I am at a complete loss as to why JM loves him…great on the PP…horrible on D…the worse he plays the more ice time he gets…
“The ‘System’ will not stop until it owns Lord Stanley’s Cup…All hail the System!”
Still got my annoying Leaf fan friends to deal with. My friend is telling me we are in no place to be cheering Flyers suck. Trying to talk hockey with them is like talking to a brick wall
1st Star for the Flyers: MAB.
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu.
http://habsandhockey.blogspot.com/
What a joke call!
haha I hope Hartnell gets ktfo too… with Smokey doing the commentary
Flers = no class a…aholes ! Greg Berube a ASST Coach ..nuff said !!! Hey Flers .. we’re coming to get ya !!!!
BS call!!!!! Fn refs
it annoyed me in a good way…if that makes sense
“I went to see a fight the other night…And A hockey game broke out!”
~Rodney Dangerfield~
Happy Birthday, Stevieray. I’m 59 too – got a round number coming up this November. Canada Pension time!
It is incredible to think, but completely possible, to be outscored 9-0 in two games and win tonight’s game in OT 2-1 and you are right back in the series. Amazing! This is a funny looking series.
Is there any Philly media for the mob to harrass tonight?
Healy: Happy Lappy. LOL. New nickname perhaps?
MAybe habs fans will try something different after tonight’s game; They might try to show some class.
Hope we both make it !!!!
Oh my…Verses saying Max has been “truculent”…
“The ‘System’ will not stop until it owns Lord Stanley’s Cup…All hail the System!”
I knew i remembered that P.O.S.’s face somewhere, the coach of the bas*()&TARD UnJusticeWilliams taking Koivus eye out,
well that team is long gone, same yellow team that didn’t react to Gorges being hit as well when he was wobbly.
we’ve got a real TEAM here.
I want a rally towel but Im not paying $20 to buy it on Ebay,
“It’s not an obsession, It’s a way of life..”
Just eke out another minute or two, boys.
Just do what i do. Tell them how much better they are than us………IN GOLF, because they have had ALOT more practice in the last 5 years than we have…. They at least have a chance at a trophy in that…
Or you can say we are 7 wins away from the Stanley Cup, they are only…. oh wait. Never gonna happen. maybe if the League ever goes back down to 6 teams…
There may be other teams, but only ONE Club De Hockey…
That newfie Cole is going senile
Are any of these clowns in BGL’s weight class?
Time to score an empty netter to bury these FILTHY PIGS!
Can HIO please employ a professional lip-reader to read Lappierre? He’s hilarious.
Being a Habs fan is a way of life, and a great one at that.
I wanna see Jaro score!
“I went to see a fight the other night…And A hockey game broke out!” ~Rodney Dangerfield~
Laviollette the show boat pulls the goalie.
CPP…what a great country regardless of what them num skulls in Ottawa are tryin to do !!!!
That wasn’t a smart play really.
Flyers= Classless, can’t take a loss without being sore losers..
Max – to the MAX!
No. But Bergeon still gets a regular shift. If JM doesn’t want to play O’Byrne on D have him on the 4th line to forcheck on Pronger, Carle and Timmonen
or riot lol
“I went to see a fight the other night…And A hockey game broke out!” ~Rodney Dangerfield~
I hate when the Habs layback & wait till the endof the game, I wish they would get control of the puck and take it out of their end instead of slapping almost wildly at every puck as it circles the boards & hopint to clear the zone………Control it boys like you did all game
I best get to bed …SR is feelin’ it way to good tonite !!!! to much b’day today…later !!!
Has a team with a minus goal rating ever won the Stanley Cup?????
There may be other teams, but only ONE Club De Hockey…
I agree with you. Say what you want to about Gainey, his attempted heart transplant has worked wonders to date.
At least your friend is seeing what a winning team looks like. He or she may learn something.
Let’s find out together!
Double post
LOL! Right on man! Good night!
And there’s the goons coming out.
Being a Habs fan is a way of life, and a great one at that.
Littie boy Briere needed Richards to save him from a 36-year old Spacek, wow.
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu.
http://habsandhockey.blogspot.com/
Man would I like to see a _rick like _ronger get his faced punched in.
By the Way the ‘P’ is silent just like in Psalm……………
over and out !!
I see your’re from Freddy town ..my son goes to UNB!! or he says he does !! LOL
Richards should be 3rd man in. Why not O’Byrne right now?
I wonder what Briere did to Spacek to elicit the jab with the stick?
Yes, what a game! The Habs finally got back to THEIR game rather than playing into the Flyers’ game.
Continue to use your speed, boys, and the Flyers can’t keep up.
I just heard that Jeff Carter is supposed to be back next game. Honestly, who cares? If the Habs play the way they did last night then it doesn’t matter who is in the Flyers lineup!
http://www.habsaddict.com/2010/05/canadiens-flyers-montreal-turns-tables.html
Habs Addict.com http://www.HabsAddict.com on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Habs-Addict/293450486615 on Twitter: http://twitter.com/HabsAddict on Hockeybuzz.com: http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blogger_archive.php?blogger_id=137
Flyers suck! Hilarious.
Highly doubt it haha. I mentioned some things about hockey to explain how Montreal was winning, their head probably exploded upon reading it
FLYERS SUCK!
This having no enforcer sh#t is killing me…Flyers know we got no one who can fight…Really hard to watch…
“The ‘System’ will not stop until it owns Lord Stanley’s Cup…All hail the System!”
Now we can use the word “goon”.
Bunch of goons.
Goonery.
Goonerama.
Goonacious.
Goonelicious.
FEEL THE PRIDE!
Had it been friday I’d have the same problem but I’m a good boy tonight
Couldn’t they award us a goal on Pronger’s penalty? The net was empty.
After the last two series’, I think anybody writing obituaries for this team have a good chance of looking foolish.
Great, great effort tonight…on to Game 4!
Briere and Tiominen are both complete phonies who hide behind their teammates. They’re jokes
JM should get OB out there.
lol…… what was that
Meh heh!
LOL! What kind of a boneheaded play was that?!
Smooth play, Braden, my boy.
Some observations about tonight’s game:
1) Michael Leighton played like Michael Leighton. Jaroslav Halak played like the Halak we know.
2) Hamrlik was outstanding. Gorges was very good. The rest of the D was also reasonably solid. Poor OB played two bad shifts and got benched. Yet he was replaced by MAB, who has had an unrecordable number of bad shifts and continues to play. Other than his late (and rather meaningless goal), he was not very good on the PP and kept turning it over while trying to break the offensive blueline. Yes, his play was masked by how much energy the team brought, but still not impressed. Hope OB gets another shot next game because his upside is much better than what MAB has shown all playoffs long. OB had to have been nervous and that will improve with more time.
3) The Flyers today played up to the expectations set by their fans. They had a number of penalties, but they could have easily had 25-30 more and that’s not an exagerrration. They went ater players late, they went after players after the whistle, they ran into Halak, they hit from behind (including one where Hamr could have been seriously hurt). The reffing was brutal tonight, they let way too much go. It looked like it was mainly Devorski asleep again (he did this to us last time he reffed too). When Gorges got called for interference late, it was pretty clear Carcillo wrapped him up and yanked Gorges down on top of himself. During the timeout, it looked like Watson even went up to Devorski to tell him he had gotten in wrong and then Devorski looked like he was trying to explain to Gorges what he had seen. In the first, the flyers interfered with the Habs all over the place and knocked their sticks out o there hands at least twice. No calls. When lapierre does it, suddenyl the refs remember it’s a penalty. When Plekanec and Timonen were grappling (and got coincidentals), Pronger skated up and gave Pleks a punch to the back of his head while he couldn’t see. No call. The linesmen also missed a number of calls, notably a non-call on icing on Philly in the first that then led to us being called or icing, and a call where they left the faceoff in our zone even though Coburn came in from the point to push in the scrum. Yes, they also missed the Gorges shot on Giroux, but all in all very displeased with Devorski in particular. Absolutely unacceptable for the stanley cup semifinals to have such low-calibre refereeing.
4) Habs finally took advantage of their speed and the Flyers D looked tired and slow because of it. How many times did Pronger have to clutch and grab to stop them? If the flyers are going to play 4 D, this has to keep up.
5) Finally, two things I really liked about the way we played tonight that we didn’t do in the two losses: one, we took the puck to the middle of the ice when we obtained the offensive zone instead of going down the boards and flipping it weakly at the net. Caused a lot more movement and confusion. Second, we didn’t back up when the flyers hit our zone. We pressured the puckholder much more and didn’t let them establish themselves in our territory. That needs to be there next game too. If we play this way, we will be the better team for the rest of the series.
LOL! COBOURN!!!!
HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
And you see Laps screen the goalie on the third goal. That was my idea. Too coincidental. I think JM comes on this site regularly to get ideas
LOL I knew the Flyers didn’t know how to play hockey!
and i quote” first he lost his stick and then he lost his mind”
1:34 ice time.
Gomez just punched subbie in the face lol
“I went to see a fight the other night…And A hockey game broke out!” ~Rodney Dangerfield~
MAB will be a plus tonight – there is no justice.
Just for the record, there are no OT losses or ties in the playoffs. You’re Subban Tee is 1-0.
why can’t he do that when it’s tied, or we’re losing?
So much to love about tonight’s performance:
The two Jaro’s: first the one with the mask — there definitely seems to be a correlation between Halak’s state of mind and this team’s performance. When he is sharp, it feeds back into the energy of this team, and that in turn raises Jaro’s game. He made a couple of huge saves early, and it set the tone for the rest of the game.
Jaro, the flag-bearers’ best friend: his game may have sagged in the late stages of the regular season, but he is playing some of his best hockey right now. On one of the Flyers’ early power-plays, he almost single-handedly killed it off, repeatedly winning the battles along the boards and clearing the puck. And what about his countryman, the Czech Hammer? Much maligned this post-season, he was fully deserving of the first star. Brilliant.
Speaking of defenseman and PK’s,:Subban rebounded after two games in which he very much looked like a rookie to play with fire and grit and SPEED. Every time we upped the tempo of the game, the Flyers’ very tight unity began to fray, and they got caught out of position. 3 assists! Say no more.
Maddening MAB: Staying on defense, I am sorry, but MAB’s one late, meaningless goal does not make up for a game filled with ridiculous turn-overs and errant passes. No surprise that he was on the ice for the Flyers’ only goal.
Tom and Dom: Pyatt and Moore also fully deserved their star-turns. They may not get as much attention as Halak, Cammy, Gill or Gorges, but to me they have been just as important to our playoff success. They skate, they harass, they create turn-overs, they embody the relentless drive of this team.
The two errant ships find their bearings: AK has been steadily improving over the 16 post-season games, and tonight may have been his best since his mid-April hat-trick. He is incredibly strong on his skates. Almost impossible to knock over. There was one sequence when he was battling for a loose puck in front of the Philly net as Flyers bodies kept bouncing off him. Finally one wise cookie decided to just lift Andrei’s stick to get the puck away from harm. The only thing he is missing is a goal, and Cammy tried hard to get him one when, despite being in perfect position to shoot, he chose to feed AK in front. Leighton foiled him. Dommage.
And even Benny P. showed signs of awakening. By far his best game in about two months. He is clearly snake-bitten and is afraid of making a mistake, but he worked hard, used his body size well, and had a few good scoring chances. He just may become a valuable asset in the games ahead.
And finally the enigma that is Count Coach: JM had his team back playing the way that gave the Pens and Caps so many problems. Two forecheckers, active defense, speed up the wings, and clutter in front of their goal. But where was that in the first two games? When we play passive, we may out-shoot the other team, but we lose. When we open up the throttle and use the wheels that guys like Gomez, Cammy, Pleks, Pyatt, and, yes, Laps have, we win the races to the puck and cause big problems for teams that are built to crash deep, and defend in tight.
One last note: Pronger is such a grade-A a$$. In that final scrum, he held Pleks in a head lock for no reason, and then dropped his gloves and tried to get Tommy to fight. What a twerp. There are few things sweeter than seeing Pronger stew in the sin-bin as his team gets scored on for yet another of his stupid, undisciplined penalties.
YEAH!
FNALLY MAB – NOW YOU USE IT DURING OTHER PP’S AS WELL!
SUBBAN 3 POINTS!
Subban with 3 assists!!! What a night!
Free wings for the Cage Au Sports folks!
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu.
http://habsandhockey.blogspot.com/
When Gorges got nabbed for that penalty, I read his lips and he said “Are you kidding me?”
Perfect
PP confidence +1
Leighton’s confidence -1
Nice. PP needs confidence.
MAB…I take back all the bad things I said about you tonight!
“The ‘System’ will not stop until it owns Lord Stanley’s Cup…All hail the System!”
Whats the schedule now, I notice the Hawks-Sharks got an extra day to rest.
Yes nice goal MAB’s needed that
Icing on Hartnell’s cake… hair… thing…
I wonder if the team distancing itself from the trap is more a result of Muller’s coaching, or JM’s. I wish I knew more about what went on in that locker room.
MAB! The difference maker. If you’re at Le Cage.
FEEL THE PRIDE!
MARC ANDRE BERGERON…………………….
TAKE THAT ALL YOU OB LOVERS…
IM YOUR FACE……
ok I dont care I love OB…… Im just HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY…..
There may be other teams, but only ONE Club De Hockey…
Subban with 3 points…..such a huge game
PP goals don’t add a +. He finishes the game even.
Way to go MAB. Show everyone your power.
love the previous comment about hartnell! finally seeing the type of shot blocking that was so prominent in the previous two series…
Man that felt so sweeeet.
wow, triple post… go habs go, great game
YES!!! Game, set, match!!!
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!
Bell Centre is a zoo and the Flyers are the fat kid who fell into the Lion pit.
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu.
http://habsandhockey.blogspot.com/
love the previous comment about hartnell! finally seeing the type of shot blocking that was so prominent in the previous two series…
One thing is for sure: John Stevens would’ve sent everyone out to mug us.
Laviollette isn’t THAT dumb.
Cammalleri goes nose to nose with every guy who bumps Halak, great team player.
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu.
http://habsandhockey.blogspot.com/
Oh, and BTW: FU!
LOL Says it all!
Goalies in Montreal have two roles, netminder and scapegoat.
Asham blatantly hit from behind on Hamr.
blatant holding the stick.
Way to stick it to them BOONE.. I KNOW HOW MUCH YOU HATE THE FLYERS….
Everyone now
FLYERS: F U
There may be other teams, but only ONE Club De Hockey…
Cammy was too nice, he should have shelfed that himself
You can’t buy the ticket JM gave OB.
AK46 OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
Well done, lads!
Man , Cammy had an wide open net
“It’s not an obsession, It’s a way of life..”
Stupid is as stupid does! Thank you Philly.
….Hab4life….
SO CLOSE!!
I dont know about you Joey but I’m my own face thank you very much!
“I went to see a fight the other night…And A hockey game broke out!” ~Rodney Dangerfield~
So close, Cammy should have shot that Leighton was way outta position. Another great period though.
AHAHAHAHAHAHA
I LOVE IT LAPPY! Haha.
ROMAN HAMRLIK! If you played that way every game we’d have a better relationship!
Cammi got too generous because he had an open cage!
Knob Hole has lost his mind.
Andrei!
Woulda, shoulda, coulda. Didn’t.
“Hey Richard, two minutes for looking so good!”
I can’t recall when I have seen a team lose with such a lack of class. That was not only disgusting, that was downright embarassing for the Flyers. What a bunch of tools.
Great game ….cheers !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now if we could just get AK and Benny going this team would be 10 X better. Nice garbage goal MAB, Its is now a series boys
“It’s not an obsession, It’s a way of life..”
absolutely
“It’s not an obsession, It’s a way of life..”
1993
AK has been playing hard tonight even if it doesn’t show up on the score sheet.
1993
The goons will be out in full force in the 3rd. The refs better wake the @#$$% up!!!
1993
AK with a nice play to gain the zone and set up the attempt. Unfortunately, he couldn’t cash in the one-time return from Cammi. Good work tho.
I thought PK was going to get a star.. but Hammer is deservant of the 1st star amazing game.
Halak and Camy were brillitant too.
Great win!!!….Hating the Flyers more each day…Need the same effort Saturday…
“The ‘System’ will not stop until it owns Lord Stanley’s Cup…All hail the System!”
They never call anything likethat unless a stretcher is involved. Hooking and holding though…a different story.
Momentum is a very funny thing, isn’t it?
Every time Scott Hartnell scores a goal, a stripper breaks a heel.
16 for 25
xxxx xxxx x— —-
It could easily be 6-0 Habs out there tonight.
Virtuoso performance!
Every time Scott Hartnell scores a goal, a stripper breaks a heel.
I guess I am too then huh???
Im not even going to change it……..
IM YOUR FACE……..
There may be other teams, but only ONE Club De Hockey…
Is O’Byrne benched?
Great game, another copy of this for game 4 and we’re right back in this series. Lapierre played a great game, just the way he has to. The grinder lines really won it for us with the dominant play, plus the usual Cammy and Gionta goals. Halak with a spectacular bounce back game. Couldn’t have asked for a better performance out of everyone.
Masterpiece of a game!!!!!! My 3 stsrs would’ve been Hammer, PK, and Cammy. Team leading 24:31 TOI for Cammy. I can’t believe that! Props to everyone though, EVERYONE busted their asses of tonight, no free loaders tonight!! Let’s ride this momentum into game 4!!! Go Habs Go!!! OLE!!!!
Moore’s goal was huge
Crabvader, 3/3!
See…Its not about single players….Its not about O’byrne…Its not about poor ole SK…Its about the team…When our Goalie makes the saves…And our Defense wins the battles…And our forwards score…We take over the game…I agree JM’s benching of Obie is a little premature (although he’s made 2 mistakes early in his first shifts)…Its not only JM who see’s fault in Obie…Its obvious Perry Pearn and Kirk Muller have a say in who goes in and who stays on the bench…MAB is just….MAB…He is a huge liability…Im still shocked he’s taking a shift…But unlike most…JM has had a part in bringing this team to where it is…So I aint gonna insult his intelligence on the game…WERE ALIVE!!!
“I went to see a fight the other night…And A hockey game broke out!” ~Rodney Dangerfield~
That’s what happen when you put skates on monkeys folks, they get into stupid fights and throw the puck around like a piece of feces!
I knew the boys would come up huge at the Bell. Love this team. All the haters can shut the #$% up tonight.
lol Woooohoooo!
“I went to see a fight the other night…And A hockey game broke out!” ~Rodney Dangerfield~
JM is not doing to much for OB’s confidence.D is playing great.
Nice Habs get a life,with convincing fashion….
AFHALAK………………your insurance :
Great Game!!!!
What I don’t get is he keeps playing MAB, and benching O’B!
O’B had a rough start, but MAB has had a rough 2 periods. I don’t know where his head is!!
I don’t get it…
Yes, Hats off to Hamrlik. He even got into a fight! (No fight strap for that boy.)
Every time Scott Hartnell scores a goal, a stripper breaks a heel.
16 for 25
xxxx xxxx x— —-
What was the deal with Cherry’s jacket? Not watching CBC.
“Hey Richard, two minutes for looking so good!”
Secondary scoring….who would have imagined? The Flyers reverting to goonery…..not a surprise.
“Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement.”
Ahaha!
Full Breezer 4 Life
MAB wasn’t on the ice for the goal against, it was Gill and Gorges with Metro, Moen and Pyatt. Other than that, good post.
WE ARE ALIVE AND HUNGRY – THIS IS NOT THE SAME TEAM – THIS IS DIFFERENT
No Yeoman work by Bergeron on D, Boone?
Smokin’ hot! Kind of like the wings!
I don’t think he was punishing him. He just doesn’t have any confidence in him. He tried, but the first 1.5 shifts ended that very quickly.
Yeah, one mistake is enough for a benching with JM. Not that it’s messing with the guy’s head and making him shaky on the ice or anything… head games with a young player end the same every time, badly.
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu.
http://habsandhockey.blogspot.com/
NICE
There may be other teams, but only ONE Club De Hockey…
Good post bro
Cammy 16:08 TOI already. That’s insane!!
Greatest team effort and overall game in the playoffs. Congrats to the Habs for coming out and playing their hardest. If they would have done this in Philly we’d be up at least 2-1. Saturday is huge. I believe whoever wins that game wins it all.
LOL
JM is into sadomasochism. He loves to torture then destroy young players he dislikes..
“Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement.”
Double post.
plecks,pouliot and ak46 looks like they have no idea what to do when they get a scoring chance…they look like they have never scored a goal in the nhl……maybe a fluke goal gets their confidence back
Cherry should shut up about the GTHL.
MAB just guaranteed himself MORE ice next game….ugggg. If you think we won’t need O’Byrne next game and for sure in Philly, you are in for a surprise. It will be all UFC in Philly.
“Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement.”
Hey, it’s not nice to make fun of the handicapped, it’s not MAB’s fault he has 300 bouts of temporary blindness a day.
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu.
http://habsandhockey.blogspot.com/
Up 3-0 Martin should gie O’Byrne some shifts. At any score he souldn’t give Bergeron any shifts.
LOL, that’s a great clip of Gagne and Subban leaping over the linesman.
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu.
http://habsandhockey.blogspot.com/
How sweet it is!! Massive effort by the Habs, dominating in every way. Would have been nice for Jaro to get a SO, but it’s the W that counts. Terrific game, arguably one of the best of the playoffs for the Habs.
I hate Briere his voice sounds like he should be on reading rainbow or something.
HaHaHa, that is funny
“It’s not an obsession, It’s a way of life..”
I can’t imagine why Martin would dislike O’Byrne. He stopped stealing purses before JM was the coach.
How does the Habs win come back to the players from the GTA? I don’t understand you, Don. Ugh… and did anyone hear his comment when they started to interview Jaro?
Anyway, who the *** cares? Glad to see our Habs back in action!! Great win. The boys did all us very proud. Three more games like that please…
Wow, Claude Lemiux should be full time on CBC.
Missed the game but apparently Lapierre did something funny?
People talk about Gill, Cammalleri, Halak stepping it up big time for the playoffs…
What about Lapierre? He’s doing his job perfectly!
Thank you! It’s driving me freakin’ crazy.
It’s not “Clod” Lemieux you iDesk hack.
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu.
http://habsandhockey.blogspot.com/
Oh for heavenn sack. That’s comment is just plain unfounded, untrue and unbelievable. Torture young players? What proof do you have of this X? You have access to the bench? The room? The bus? Stop this mad, whacked out hate for the coach and stick to hockey please.
FEEL THE PRIDE!
3P 6:40:
First Star: Roman Hamrlik
Good call, B!
B.Burke is building the Bruins through the draft.
yep, some good games
Tell us how you REALLY feel Mr. Boone!!! I feel the EXACT same way about
Habs finally have that orange monkey off their backs.
“Hey Richard, two minutes for looking so good!”
WTF, we win tonight , kick butt and half the idiots on here are still bitching because OB’s not playing and MAB scored. Figure it out after. After 99 games, he’s not a defensive stalwart and no one ever claimed he was. He was brought in for the PP not to go head to head with Pronger in the corners. It never ends on this site. I’m going to bed!
EVERYBODY, WATCH OUT FOR THE THIRD!
MAB is BRUTAL!! If the Habs collectively made 10 mistakes tonight, MAB was responsible for 9.
I get loose bowel syndrome every time he touches the puck.
http://www.youtube.com/user/ahengnbo
I REALLY want us to re-sign Moore.
everyone has to say something about Toronto cause a) it’s the centre of Canada and the entire universe and if Toronto didn’t exist it’d be 2012 b) I’m beginning to think the CRTC has regulations of how much air-time must be dedicated to Toronto
I hope he spots OB in the third to take a little pressure of the big 4 tonight. It will get ugly in the 3rd and even though he is not a heavy weight he can go with most of the flyer morons. Lets go JM play some muscle here.
No sorry, but you are wrong. MAB was on with Metro and Moen. He finished with a zero plus-minus: one goal for, one against.
I hope you’re at La Cage.
Typical CBC shove Toronto down collective throats mentality. The CBC makes it easy to hate Toronto.
I agree, especially AK, you can see the frustration in his face.
“Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement.”
First win in the playoffs where we’ve outshot the opponent. It was dominance all game imo.
habs have refueled and this one is now up for grabs
Here is a big sigh of relief: Hamrlik is back.
Could not help noticing as the players leaving the bench and Laps was tapping everyone…..as he tapped O’Byrne there was nothing….the poor dude is devastated…I don’t know if he can come back if the team needs him in Philly.
“Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement.”
Well done. We’ve been at eachothers throats over who JM sits and plays. Why this guy, why not that guy? Really, to what end?
This series is far from over but somehow this team keeps digging deep and coming up with ways to figure out their opponents. It’s a team sport from the GM on down to whoever sits in the press box. Game to game though it’s the coaches and the guys on the ice who make it happen. All together they’re doing a pretty good job in spite of all the adversity. And in spite of our “cheap seats” suggestions. I think they may know a bit more about the game than any of us.
FEEL THE PRIDE!
I agree!
He’s a damn racist that’s why, and torana biased. He doesn’t care about Hamrlik’s fight, Halak’s awesome performance…..NOPE good canajin boys from torana!
BS
Is Darren McCarty braindead?
Habs come out hard in the third and score the backbreaker.
“Hey Richard, two minutes for looking so good!”
What’s the deal with his jacket tonight? Didn’t watch CBC…
“Hey Richard, two minutes for looking so good!”
I don’t want to take all the credit, but, I decided to try to change the momentum of the series by getting a haircut. I got to my guy five minutes before closing with three guys ahead of me. I debated. I might miss the start of the game. My barber might be pissed at me. He waves me in, I wait for nearly an hour, I get home just as the puck is dropping, and the rest, my friends, is history.
Darren McCarty is a f#cking idiot…how does he land a job as an analyst?…
He says he hopes the Flyers bring some of that “broad street bulleys” in the 3rd…he can hatrdly speak let alone provide any intelligent analysis…total homer…
Center Ice sucks…they check out at the playoffs and we in the States are forced to watch these @ssholes on verses…other than Engblom they are freaking worthless…
I can watch RDS on the computer but I lose the HD feed…
“The ‘System’ will not stop until it owns Lord Stanley’s Cup…All hail the System!”
he was A+ tonight – antagonizing the hell out of the Flyers even while on the bench and when on the ice. v good.. under their skin.. just by smiling at them
Absolutely. Lapps has had a great playoffs. He’s doing exactly what he’s supposed to.
Being a Habs fan is a way of life, and a great one at that.
“Orange monkey”… you mean Hartnell?
Nope… didn’t you see him trying to “mount” Hamr?
Scary sight for children.
IF JM BENCHED EVERY PLAYER WHO MADE A MISTAKE WE WOULDN,T HAVE ANYBODY PLAYING
Felt more like FU FU FU FU FU! That’s what we chanted at home!
Can’t slow down now, Flyers are no strangers to being down 3-0, and they’ve put 3 by Halak before. Another period like the first two though and it will probably be our most dominant game these playoffs.
we have liftoff!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
…And one more because they love the fans at La Cage.
It doesn’t make much sense to dress OB and staple him to the bench though. And, you don’t need to be Toe Blake to figure that out.
Hammer seems like he’s out for redemption after playing soft on a Philly goal last game. Good for him, he’s been good tonight.
It would be great to get Pleks and/or AK going with a goal. Both have been relatively quiet this series.
I hope OB gets a chance to play more than a minute this entire series, he made a mistake, but MAB could have given the Flyers a couple goals tonight with all of his giveaways.
2nd goal in the playoffs, he’s been responsible for 6x as many against.
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu.
http://habsandhockey.blogspot.com/
I value Engblom’s analysis… but GD does he ever look like Chucky!
I could only imagine if Benny had a goal and If AK had a goal that wasn’t in game 2, which was 15 games ago
“It’s not an obsession, It’s a way of life..”
Unrelated, but Canada unfortunately lost to Russia in World Championships tonight.. This was happening in the crowd.
And you’d think we’ve seen it all from Philly fans?
Joe Beninati is a complete joke, he’s horrible.
Mike Johnson (former #20) has been on NHL network, he’s pretty good as an analyst. Versus should bring him on.
No, no, no. The real reason we won is because I had pie and beans for supper.
“Hey Richard, two minutes for looking so good!”
Its known they will be aggressive in the Third. So McCarty simply pre-empts it and brings in the history of the team. Nonsense comment. He means nothing by it.
There may be other teams, but only ONE Club De Hockey…
Well, unlike Moore, I don’t think he got a degree from Harvard.
PG traded for for him sooooooo
JM kills me.
O’BYRNE, RYAN TOI = 01:03
I just figured him out. JM is a hockey coach’s version of a stand-up comic. His one-liners are his line combos and designated bench warmers.
I think I see Leno stealing some material here.
Sheesh!!
Well to be fair to us armchair coaches, JM did take some or our suggestions. Putting Pouliot back on the top line and not pairing PK with MAB as well as putting together an actual disruption line.
“Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement.”
Actually, PP goals don’t count towards the +/-’s. That’s why he was 0. MAB was not on the ice as per the official scoresheet at canadiens.com 15, 26, 32, 41, 75,
94 were.
- A
Everyone here knows I am a huge Plek fan…but he is missing in action…
“The ‘System’ will not stop until it owns Lord Stanley’s Cup…All hail the System!”
I wish I undertsood French, then I could just watch RDS and not put up with that garbage.
And I meant to ask you… there was an interesting debate about winning the Cup or having those two chicks from that guys avatar the other day. So, badangel, the Cup or Carey and Maxim for a year? Can’t let the guys have all the fun afterall.
Need a beer to calm my nerves ))
Who gives a crap about the IIHF World Championship? That tourney runs a distant third to the Spengler Cup!
And we’re up 3-0. Sheesh!!!
Do you mean to suggest we’d be up by a greater score if he was playing? Or would we be losing?
He’s
warming the bench because we don’t need him yet.
FEEL THE PRIDE!
YESSSS!!!!
I assume all is well again in HI/O world?
______________________________________ Gionta for Captain.
YEAAAH!!
BRIAN GIONTA!
My son described the jacket thusly: “It looked like a furniture store barfed.”
Mea culpa. I’m wrong. He wasn’t on the ice. Gorges and Gill were. My bad.
Gionta!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
“The ‘System’ will not stop until it owns Lord Stanley’s Cup…All hail the System!”
Lucky guy, Danno. Thoughts on this series for me?
GIOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!
A great game, good effort by everyone from Hamrlik to Pyatt, goalie, D, forwards.. Let’s keep it up, Habs!!
B.Burke is building the Bruins through the draft.
Yeah, just saw that. My apologies.
Way to hold onto it Gio!
Till 2:10pm Saturday?
Amazing!
Unrequited love. A one-way bromance?
“Hey Richard, two minutes for looking so good!”
Where’s this team been the last two games? Looks like they woke up.
Not sure if there was an event last night at the BC, or if it was just due to today’s heat, but that is sloooow ice. And it resulted in a goal for us on Pronger’s muffed outlet pass. Our guys better bear down on their passes as this game progresses!
1 minute of ice time, do you think JM really benched OB…
Truth is we haven’t needed him out there so far.
There may be other teams, but only ONE Club De Hockey…
That was a perfect period of hockey for the Habs.
Pronger turnover. Tom
Pyatt, the sniper. Under review
LOL…Pyatt hands of stone and soft skates…..sniper? Mr. Boone
Is O’Byrne the unluckiest dude in the world? Makes one mistake ( not really a mistake….stupid rule ) and he gets benched. Time for O’Byrne to ask his agent to move him away from JM.
“Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement.”
Great period, exactly what the doctor ordered. Both goalies look hot, which is excellent for us since we’ve already managed two. Leighton made some nice saves and it took 2 unstoppable goals to beat him, which is usually the case when a goalie is hot. Keep it up, another garbage goal, and hopefully we’ll knock him outta that zone. Jaro faced fewer shots as usual, but this time came up huge on those high quality chances. Important not to sit back on this lead, 2-0 leads are the most dangerous in hockey, an early goal to start the period 5 on 3 would be amazing.
Don’t let up boys. Shove it down their throats.
-Dustin-
“The good thing about drinking during games is if they lose, you’re too drunk to care during and too hungover to care after.” – J.T.
i must say….everytime they say Halak makes a big save(s)….. i think to my self…really?…..probably because i’m so used to seeing him make those big saves
Michael Leighton: career minor leaguer. Keep up the pressure and show the world why he’s been in the A for so long.
The Montreal Canadiens have officially arrived to play!
Now finish them off…run Leighton out of town…pound the snot out of Carcillo…pull Hartnells mop top…burn a Philly news truck…spit on their fans…payback is a medevac…
Just kidding…about some of it ;P
Lol..Verses doing a piece on how great Leighton is…timing is everything…
“The ‘System’ will not stop until it owns Lord Stanley’s Cup…All hail the System!”
Nary a nattering nabob of negativity now.
“Hey Richard, two minutes for looking so good!”
Just getting off from work. I just saw that the Habs up 2-0. Hope you all are enjoying this game. Hopefully the rest of the game is as much fun.
I really hate comments like that dude. It just tends to generate bad karma. Celebrate the great Habs plays and just hold back on the insults until the win is in the bank.
“Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement.”
Remember when Theo won the Vezina, stoned Boston in the first round, then, after game 4 against Carolina, suddenly lost the ability to stop a carcass? Yeah, I want that part to happen to Leighton.
-Dustin-
“The good thing about drinking during games is if they lose, you’re too drunk to care during and too hungover to care after.” – J.T.
I am negative. I missed that 1st period because I am just finishing up work. Been so busy didn’t even have time to check the scores.
What if we insult our own players?
-Dustin-
“The good thing about drinking during games is if they lose, you’re too drunk to care during and too hungover to care after.” – J.T.
Don Cherry mentioned Pat Hickey on Coach’s Corner… I forgot what he’s saying ’cause I got distracted by that flower suit.
Head west out of Thunder Bay, home of Tom Pyatt (and the Staals and Patrick Sharpe). Head up the highway to Dryden, home of Chris Pronger, then 88 miles more brings you into Kenora, home of Mike Richards. This is a Northwestern Ontraio series.
…Cherry: pointin’ at his jacket, “…This is for Guy !”
…all these years later ? …Don Cherry is startin’ to grow on Me
Habitant means PASSIONATE HOCKEY
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=423049
“Benny’s been pretty good.” Boone, you gotta let go of this teenage crush you have over Benny… Just because he didn’t fall on his butt once doesn’t mean he was good!
Best first period of the playoffs was game 7 against Pitt, that Gionta goal like a minute in… awesome
Parents called me after the first but hadn’t seen pre-game, I warned them to put their sunglasses on.
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu.
http://habsandhockey.blogspot.com/
Of course that is always allowed. Come on, that is part of being a Habs fan!
“Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement.”
Whew! Just think if that generated positive Karma??? This playoff run would be the drive for 78!
-Dustin-
“The good thing about drinking during games is if they lose, you’re too drunk to care during and too hungover to care after.” – J.T.
I notice that Leighton is slow and isn’t tracking the puck well when there is traffic. Keep it up and next game there will be a lot of doubt in his mind.
There you go smart guy. Your boy O’Byrne plays 1.5 shifts and almost loses the game twice for us. Maybe from now on, when you get an impulse to tell everyone how much you know, you should keep quiet.
GO HABS GO! i’ll be back folks, the wifes needs the puter
————————————————————————
Never judge another man’s decision poor until you actually have proof of it failing!
Clean sheet of ice, 5-3, hope the boys take advantage of it. It would be a huge goal.
Mmmh… Highest shot total in a first period since 1991? Maybe it is the best 1st period of the playoffs after all!
Which Staal is playing, and where is Patrick Sharpe?
Come on, guys…
MAB!!! Geeeeeeez.
LOL…..wow dude take a midol. I guess O’Byrne is the first player to put the puck ove the ice. I guess you are from the JM school of coaching …..make one mistake a sit….unless your name is Gomez, MAB, Hammer, PK , Spacek…….
“Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement.”
You missed the turnover which lead a great halak pad save in the first
“I went to see a fight the other night…And A hockey game broke out!” ~Rodney Dangerfield~
Miss the dumbass penalty by Laps? Think he should be benched?
“Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement.”
Best first period of the playoffs is debatable, Boone. What isn’t is the fact that it’s our first 5-on-3.
Let’s keep our senses — Best 1st period of this series. By far.
Note to Triple-X: You are not and never have been an NHL coach. Enjoy the ride; the semifinals don’t come around too often anymore.
Hmmm Has there been any confirmation from this on HIO/The Gazette ???
___________________________________________
Ya! The Habs Rule! now on Twitter!
I’d actually give Moore a shot with Gomer and Gio.
I can’t believe this. Are those lines for real? Really?
Seriously, fire Martin already. Right now. That’s just ridiculous. Before he messes up this team more than he already has. Replacing him just before game 3 can’t hurt the team more than letting him keep goofing things up.
I mean, he’s been a thorough failure all year, but keeping Pyatt with Gomez and Gionta after he neutralized them for 10 minutes last game is… profoudly stupid. What does he hope to accomplish, besides forcing Gomez and Gionta to babysit the team’s worst 5-on-5 forward and reducing them to uselessness?
His inexplicable absurd love for a fourth-liner is hardly the worst blunder Martin has done this year (at least he’s been consistently awful) but it speaks to his inability to adjust and recognize something that was bold-faced stupid on the face of it.
Pyatt has no business anywhere outside the fourth line and the PK and that’s the end of it.
And now Martin “took the team to the ECF” so his job his safe. Montreal will lose Boucher, who’s actually a competent coach, to keep a guy who’s been awful all year and already induced the organization to make damaging long-term personnel move to keep him happy.
What a complete disaster. I’m not seeing playoffs next year, gang. I’d say this will set the Habs back 2-3 years, if not more.
I agree with you on Pouliot.This game could be a “series changer”.For awhile ,Martin had us going with surprises as he was juggling the lines,short shifts ,and you never knew who you were going to get on the us.
This series is almost predictable.Actualy it is.ONE PERSON I AM NOT GOING TO BLAME IS HALAK.AND HE COULD USE LITTLE HELP<dont you think?he cant do it all.Leighten,gave up a bunch of rebounds in game 2,but the habs didnt bite.They need to be super aggresive tonight.Like they were with the Caps and the pens.Come on they beat those 2 teams.!Go Habs.I dont want this to be over.I want an original 6 six final
between the hawks and the habs.TRivial anyone?When was the last time 2 original 6 teams met in the finals?
I have no idea.I prob bet in the 70s or early 80s???
Enjoy your game!Go habs!You can do it!Gosh it will be nice not to see those ugly orange fans in the stands!That is eye-blinding!
I agree with you on Pouliot.This game could be a “series changer”.For awhile ,Martin had us going with surprises as he was juggling the lines,short shifts ,and you never knew who you were going to get on the us.
This series is almost predictable.Actualy it is.ONE PERSON I AM NOT GOING TO BLAME IS HALAK.AND HE COULD USE LITTLE HELP<dont you think?he cant do it all.Leighten,gave up a bunch of rebounds in game 2,but the habs didnt bite.They need to be super aggresive tonight.Like they were with the Caps and the pens.Come on they beat those 2 teams.!Go Habs.I dont want this to be over.I want an original 6 six final
between the hawks and the habs.TRivial anyone?When was the last time 2 original 6 teams met in the finals?
I have no idea.I prob bet in the 70s or early 80s???
Enjoy your game!Go habs!You can do it!Gosh it will be nice not to see those ugly orange fans in the stands!That is eye-blinding!
Quite a good possibility, but who can score on the Lapierre line? Not dissing Lapierre, he can score… and Gionta’s one of a kind scorer.
Lines should be even out for scoring, not placing more scorers on one line, in my opinion.
I’m more concerned about putting someone who can play hockey with Gomez and Gionta than worrying about the performance of the third line, to be honest.
Crippling your first line with self-inflicted stupidity is not a good way to start a must-win game.
Putting Pyatt with Gomez and Gionta after he so effectively shut them down for 10 minutes last game is so asinine it doesn’t require any coaching skill to recognize as a mistake.
Pyatt may be a hard worker, but he sucks at hockey. He’s the worst 5-on-5 forward on the team. Yes, he looks like he’s working hard because he skates fast and all, but the object here is to win and I take actual effectiveness over the appearance of effort any day.
Pyatt playing on the top line is asinine. Trying it after it’s been tried and failed is beyond asinine. It’s crippling the first line before the game even starts. Way to go, Martin.
F**** KAte Smith. She is dead, and so are we if we don`t get Nikki Yanovski to sing our anthem! As a season ticket holder, I have been to a few games where Nikki Yanovski shook the Bell Centre. What is Geoff molson waiting for? Its time to turf lcharles prevost limp-ton and get our generation`s Roger doucette in (PK Subban style!)
Leafs looking for new fans with truculence like yourself. Enjoy.
FEEL THE PRIDE!
Pyatt is the least skilled offensive forward on this team. Good idea to put him in an offensive role. it is a pure sign of desperation.
Oh give it a rest.
FEEL THE PRIDE!
BGL, I dedicate this video to you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rirHYEk3n3I
Too bad he didn’t put half the effort in the hockey that he has into being a sideshow clown in his post hockey career.
We know, we know. You hate Martin. We get it already.
FEEL THE PRIDE!
Tabarsnack!…we better get going tonight…Last two games have been miserable…
Glad to see or enforcer is at least doing something…I miss Aaron Downie…at least that mug would drop gloves and look after les boys…Shawn Thorton veggie man…he’s cheap and he can skate…UFA next season…make it happen…
GO HABS GO!!!!!
“The ‘System’ will not stop until it owns Lord Stanley’s Cup…All hail the System!”
Do you not feel like a real ass hole now that Pyatt scored and has fit in pretty good. I know its frustrating some times but when you get you foot out of your mouth you should yhen stick it up your arse.
Thanks. When has JM become a sacred cow that one dare not criticize? Yes he has taken the team farther than any coach I have witnessed, but it does not mean he is beyond making errors. JM has a blind spot when it comes to positioning players. I am not questioning his strategy just the use of his assets.
“Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement.”
Sounds reasonable. Man, those Flyers are like ugly steroid users who won’t stop bothering us.
I wouldn’t yell after Martin if I didn’t love my Habs. He’s a disaster for the club.
I wouldn’t yell after Martin if I didn’t love my Habs. He’s a disaster for the club.
But he’s only 6’1″ and around 200 lbs. Smurf status according to some here. Nope, not big enough. Needs to be 6’4″ and 235 minimum to make these folks happy. Skate? Who cares as long as he’s a headhunter, right?
FEEL THE PRIDE!
JM has not “taken” this team anywhere. He’s been awful all year, and he’s been hauled where he is by Halak and Cammalleri, in spite of Martin, not thanks to him.
He has a blind spot in strategy, he has a blind spot with young players, his lineups used to be reasonable but now even that’s gone. He’s worse than Carbonneau.
Dave…Lol..very true…no one is big enough…
Thorton is the perfect enforcer because he can skate faster than the flag boys…he seems like a hard working good dude also…
“The ‘System’ will not stop until it owns Lord Stanley’s Cup…All hail the System!”
Good call, Chris.
From CBC: Australian Habs fans at a Bell Centre game, this team Effin’ rocks.
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu.
http://habsandhockey.blogspot.com/
Halak will shine and Philly S U C K S !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hartnell needs a freekin haircut and shave. The guy looks like an animal FFS!
If I,m JM I put OB and Gill on the PP …….In front of the net
Can’t wait for the game to start. The Habs might be planning something special for the opening.
mirtle
@ArponBasu I love
how the alums all wear their jerseys… when I was there, Cournoyer and
Henri Richard were walking in before me.
“Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement.”
That’s all kinds of awesome.
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu.
http://habsandhockey.blogspot.com/
Youppi to be with Don Cherry around 7:00 tonight on HNIC, one of them will be much easier to understand than the other, can you guess which?
Ron Maclean also to release his memoirs: Rejected titles included How to spend most of your life as a babysitter on TV and How I Gave up trying to be a Decent sports journalist.
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu.
http://habsandhockey.blogspot.com/
I heard he called Danny Williams to ask his opinion of where to go.
/\\ike
GO HABS GO!
Just take all these guys for a quick walk through the room after the warmup. Could be the spark the boys need.
FEEL THE PRIDE!
Can Youppi pronounce “Halak”? End of story.
FEEL THE PRIDE!
Agree with your point that Martin is a terrible coach
Who’s with me for signing Alexandre Frolov in the offseason? A guy like him could really help us right now. He’s 6’2″ / 210 pounds … slightly bigger the AK. Everyone knows how good him and Cammy were together back in LA AND if I stand correct, Cammy has approached the brass about getting him a few times …. time will tell I suppose…
————————————————————————
Never judge another man’s decision poor until you actually have proof of it failing!
Another possible title for Maclean, “How to care for the belligerent senile person in your life”.
Ian: We starting with clean diaper this evening?
Frolov has had some sharp criticism from the LA Kings management over the last year or two I understand about his commitment and he wasn’t exactly carrying the offence for the Kings this year, rather leave him to the free agency market where he’s going to be getting a huge contract anyway that the Habs can’t match because of the lack of scoring forwards in free agency this year.
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu.
http://habsandhockey.blogspot.com/
Here we go. Let’s see what their made of.
FEEL THE PRIDE!
You make some good points. I remember reading about some of the Frolov issues this year. I think most of, if not all of it, was eventually solved though. Im not expecting 90 points from the guy, but he is capable of geting around 75, which is slightly more then AK has EVER pulled in. Perhaps a deal could be worked out with LA as well for the Kostitsyns, but Frolov would have to agree to re-sign of course. With Cammys influence, you just never know, lol
————————————————————————
Never judge another man’s decision poor until you actually have proof of it failing!
Watch out for an oily discharge in the first five minutes.
Frolov is exactly what this team doesn’t need.
Devorski gave us the old scroogie last time he reffed. Better be an improved showing tonight, none of these garbage interference calls for a hand brush. Here’s hoping the refs are consistent all night long and the linesmen just drop the puck instead of acting like they’re a baseball pitcher trying to make a pick-off.
They found the guy who stole Pat Hickey’s plate. In typical Philly fan fashion, this guy used his brain and posted the plate on Facebook.
http://www.crossingbroad.com/2010/05/the-guy-who-vandalized-the-montreal-journalists-car.html
HAHA.
Not at all.
Notice how he spent all the game on a line with Moore and Lapierre — ie. not being asked to do something he can’t do. While Pouliot was with Gomez and Gionta, and that line was exponentially more effective. That’s not a coincidence.
Pyatt had a very impressive game, but at his best he’s a third liner — this would never have happened if he’d been asked to play first-line opposition. Thankfully, Martin hasn’t gone so completely bonkers as to give Pyatt first-line minutes two games in a row.
Who knew how easily we could have solved our goalie controversy merely by keeping Michael Leighton? I have to believe we are making this guy look better than he actually is. I have to think that or … have my head EXPLODE!
Go Habs!!!
was in Cleveland. No reliable orthopedic surgeons in Montreal? Or is
there something particular about the injury?
Odds are the Canadiens medical staff did a bit of research on who the best available surgeon was and the guy happened to be in Cleveland. Given the 10-1 population ratio and the demand for high-level sports medicine for pro athletes wiith the NFL/MLB/NBA factored in, it’s not surprising Markov would go to the States to get his operation done, that and there’s no waiting list.
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu.
http://habsandhockey.blogspot.com/
H is for Help. And we need it. Badly.
I’m sure he had the surgery done at the Cleveland Clinic, which is one of the best medical centers in the states, and has a top-notch orthopaedic center.
Biggest game of the season. I hope we respond.
That line is a bit of a cliche in the playoffs isn’t it? I think we’ve had our biggest game of the season 16 times in a row now. 19 if you count our last 3 regular-season matches.
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu.
http://habsandhockey.blogspot.com/
True, but the next game is always the biggest!
“I’ll take potent potables for 500, Alex” JB
I think this is our best lineup combo. We can substitute Metro and Moen in with an alternate winger as the game dictates.
I think this is our best lineup combo. We can substitute Metro and Moen in with an alternate winger as the game dictates.
desperation is a dangerous drug! Hopefully the habs can walk the fine line between the buzz and the trainwreck!
Simple key to the powerplay is give up on the point shot. they are rushing our D and making us force passes. set up with pleks or gomer by the far hash marks and move it around until you can get cammy or a d man break through the top two guys, then its a one-timer shelf!! I gotta good feeling about tonight!!
“I’ll take potent potables for 500, Alex” JB
Probably Metro-Moen-MAB, if OB is indeed playing.
That has surely nothing to do with waiting lists. For these kind of surgeries you only consider the very best. I know a
lot of European players who even went to the U.S. after an ACL injury. For many years a
certain Dr. Richard Steadman seemed to do all these surgeries. Maybe the
new Steadman lives in Cleveland…
Any time Kate Smith has appeared live or on tape, the Flyers are 82-21-4. Record for her duets with Lauren Hart: 8-1.
I heard Burger King said the Smith effect was when kate smith came and ate all the burgers and drank all the mayonaise. She can’r sing, and she isn’t much of a looker, so when we go back to game 5 knotted at 2, the record will change to 8 and 2. That hart girl is good looking, but she can’t sing. She tries to do these runs and she always ends up behind the music!!
“I’ll take potent potables for 500, Alex” JB
Boone, I am pretty sure there is an orthopedic surgeon in Cleveland who does a new synthetic ACL replacement which heals much quicker than the traditional surgery which can have a 6-9 month recovery period.
God JM is so stubborn. Pyatt does not belong with Gomez and Gionta. Gomez never shoots and when he does he misses, so the Flyers just key on Gionta since Pyatt has hands of concrete.
Put Pouliot on that line! If he is ever going to regain his touch it will be where he had all his success, and not on a checking line. Note to JM! Pouliot, SK and AK are not checkers they are skilled players who need ice time and skilled linemates to be effective.
This team needs scoring and it will not come from Pyatt.
“Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement.”
…H = HALAK
…HALAK = HOPE
…IMhumbleO
Habitant means PASSIONATE HOCKEY
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=423049
Pouliot has had enough chances on just about every line.
He may not be a checker, but Pyatt works way harder than he does. Gomez and Gionta needs somebody to get nasty in the corners, and work their ass off to keep pucks deep.
Pouliot has been an epic fail. He doesnt deserve a million chances. Its the playoffs.
Lines: Gomez-Gionta-Pyatt, Pleks line intact, Moore-Lapierre-Poiliot, Metro-Moen-?
Martin should stick with these lines:
Gomez – Gionta – Moen
Cammalleri – Plekenec – Kostitsyn
Moore – Lapierre – Pyatt
Pouliot – Metropolit – Bergeron
“They leave their feet.”
Exactly. And they never get called for it when it is illegal. Kind of like how Carolina won its Cup by running every goalie through the backboards with nary a call. When it comes to officiating, the NHL is GARBAGE. The NHL wants goon hockey. Go figure.
Goaltending is a major factor that has brought us here thus far – not only the stellar play of Halak but also the shaky performances from opponents such as Fleury and Varlamov. Leighton (5GP/4-0/4GA/0.87/.969) is a career back-up who every once in awhile gets hot for a few games. Halak may have dipped a bit in comparison but I’m not sure it’s as much of a factor as our inability to score. Regardless, our ace card should have been a huge advantage in this series and is now being negated by a fluke injury to the opposition that has turned surprisingly into a huge benefit. Go figure.
Simply stated, Philadelphia’s top six forwards are better than our top six collective. Richards is far superior to either Gomez or Pleks and Briere has come to life at the most opportune time. Simon Gagne is doing for Philly what Cammalleri did for us in the first two series. Sparks are just flying off this guy (no pun intended). Every Montreal fan hates Hartnell but wouldn’t we all love to have him in our line-up? The gifted play and upside of Claude Giroux only highlights the ineptitude of young draft picks such as AK46 and Pouliot. Not to mention that Jeff Carter is on the injury list and is being replaced by the nutbar, Carcillo. Could you imagine if we also had to contend with the player who was the last cut from Team Canada? It’s no wonder that these Flyer forwards may well be responsible for the poor play of the Habs special teams just as much as our own player’s incapacity.
Various people have brought up the issue of size in this series. Size is important but you also have to consider how it’s utilized. The Flyers play hard and hit harder. You can sense the aggressive edge even before the hit arrives. They leave their feet with many of their checks and they go to the dirty parts of the ice. Their sandpaper is the coarsest grade available at Home Hardware. They are willing to pay the piper and also make sure that the other team pays an even higher price. A few of them are head-hunters and one or two even have a screw loose. They also excel at creating mayhem around the other team’s net. Conversely, their opposition is hesitant to park themselves in front of the Flyer net. Hence, the intimidation works at both ends of the ice. They also appear to skate faster in comparison to the Habs which is something that I wasn’t expecting. All these factors add up to a Flyer advantage that can’t be measured by stats alone. Simply stated, we are their bitches at the present moment.
24.6 Cups
It’s not too often that you hear the phrase “lucky injury”.
_____________________________________
Cheer for the crest on the front of the jersey, not the name on the back.
24, I like 2 out of 3 paras! Indeed, what’s not to like about the Flyers? (For me Carcillo and Pronger; long-term goalie situation). And you mention speed and I agree. Before Game 1 I asked here whether anyone really thought the Flyers looked slow. (A Boston fan replied that both the Bruins and Flyers looked in slow motion compared to Habs-Pens). I guess speed can be deceptive, but to me Philly looks plenty fast as you say.
Maybe you’ve been at games and I’m only watching on TV. But I would challenge your summary of the physical contest. I think the Flyers’ size has been much less of a real factor than a kind of aura: the tradition, the reputation, the height-weight stats. But I don’t see Habs getting murdered in front or in the corners, certainly not in the neutral zone. We seem to be going hit-for-hit with them, or nearly. But maybe you have 18 Youtubes to demolish me!
The main size advantages I see is Leighton watching everything over the heads of the smurfs, and our D men sometimes — though not always — having trouble shifting Richards or Hartnell from in front. (Hammers has been quite physical so far this series, making up for some disapointments in the first 2 rounds).
We mostly outplayed them in Game 2. If we can start converting that into scores, we win. And with two teams so well aware of the reality of unlikely comebacks, maybe just maybe we get inside the Flyers heads a little.
Well thought and objective analysis as per usual.
I predicted before the regular season that the Flyers would be in the conference finals. How can anyone look at that roster and not be impressed by the shear talent and toughness? I was shocked at how they faltered in the regular season and was at a loss to explain it.
Of all the teams the Habs could face I feared the Flyers the most. They have the type of players and style of play that is the worst possible match up for the Habs. The Achilles heel was always the goal tending and now that appears to be solid.
I still believe the Habs CAN win, but it will take a supreme effort with a lot of luck and a coach willing to adapt.
“Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement.”
Dohhhh!
Double Doooh!
I might get flamed for saying this, but Markov’s injury and PK’s additional ice time was a lucky injury for the habs.
If you ask me anyway…
Not if you include PK’s headless chicken act in Game 1!
True, but he helped win Round 2. I felt Markov was hamming it in for Round 1 so while it stung to lose him it was a blessing in disguise. I only hope PK realizes he can’t single handedly win a game and not to dwell on his mistakes. Otherwise it’s going to sting.
Yeah, you could see already in Game 2 that the anarchy of Game 1 had been eliminated. Not doubt the coach had a few words. But you’re right — hopefully he doesn’t dwell on it and lose some of that cowboy attitude. We need that. Other thing is, he’s not a secret weapon anymore.
Not sure what you mean by Markov hamming.
Would love to see Pronger physically neutralised, even for just one shift. Could anyone do it? Max? Pouliot?
Markov went into more of a defensive role in the first series and focused in on that. He wasn’t exactly contributing to a lot of scoring, but has Subban really collected many points either since he’s basically had to take over Markov’s job? Markov played as best he could, in a year he had a tendon injury that he came back early with and clearly struggled, as the smooth skating All-Star clearly didn’t have the same fluid movement on the ice as he usually did. For a skating defencemen, an injury that affects your skating can have a huge impact on your game, it’s pretty simple.
With Markov in, we could’ve had Markov, Subban, Hamrlik, Spacek, Gill and Gorges as our 6-man defensive unit, I would have much rather have had that than MAB with any TOI.
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu.
http://habsandhockey.blogspot.com/
O’Byrne put the puck over the glass. Young players are not allowed to make a single mistake in JM’s world even if it was just a fluke.
He is benched and MAB is back on D. MAB never makes mistakes. I have to admit MAB has played well in the first.
“Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement.”
much much better hockey from our guys…
If O’B is playing tonight, why is MAB on D?
“Without the strength of the past, the team may face a choice – to win, or to be French-Canadian?” — Ken Dryden
Yet if Hamrlik were to say, play like he’s 85 years old, he gets regular minutes. A veteran can make a mistake, a rookie can not. Show me the logic, how are the rookies supposed to learn or try and make up for something if they never get a chance?
Your sig sums up the issue with young players, but JM isn’t a subscriber.
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu.
http://habsandhockey.blogspot.com/
It wasn’t just the penalty, OB gave up the puck to a Flyer in our end. He may settle down as the game goes on, but at the start, he was a danger out there.
Yeah but how can the guy ever settle down in a game when all he is thinking about is his next mistake means he’s back in the press box or plays more than 4 minutes in a game so he has a chance to settle down? He had a bad start but he’s never going to have good starts if he doesn’t get some regular time in.
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu.
http://habsandhockey.blogspot.com/
What makes it worse is that JM will never give that young player a chance to make it up. Just sits them on the bench to feel terrible with no way of helping and to lose even more confidence. How is any player supposed to perform under the knowledge any mistake EVEN A FLUKE will result in a benching.
I know if I was O’Byrne I would want to throw JM over the glass.
“Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement.”
Bergeron is still a useless tard.
Bergeron wtf.
MAB can’t keep the puck in, shocking.
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu.
http://habsandhockey.blogspot.com/
HA-LAK!
JAro!!!!!!
I hope that doesn’t come back to haunts us later. Great save Halak!
That blown PP just gave them free momentum, they’re going to push hard now
Clear the track. Halak is back.
“Hey Richard, two minutes for looking so good!”
Giroux is such a ginger. So is Hartnell.
Red-headed stepchilds.
It’s Kick-a-Ginger Day.
“Hey Richard, two minutes for looking so good!”
…Leighton keepin’ the Flyers in it
Habitant means PASSIONATE HOCKEY
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=423049
Habs are play good sound playoff hockey.
I wish they would shoot stick side on Leighton. Just like Varlamov.
Great effort by the boys so far. They’ve taken two games to do it, but they’ve adapted to Philly’s style of gameplay, and now we’re takin it to ‘em.
–I was given a plastic Canadiens stick when I was only a couple weeks old. I come from a line of Canadiens fans. Its in my blood, and though I’m anglo, I still bleed bleu-blanc-rouge.–
hOLLY Shiet I taught I saw Poulio take a shot….well f*CK WE’RE GOINNA WIN FER SURE!!!!…………….
Filthy is so dirty lol!
DAMN lucky that Subban had a player in front of him because Hartnell would’ve ran him face first into the boards if it wasn’t another player.
What?? It shouldn’t be a penalty if the stick doesn’t break!
Let the Flyers get away with that one early in the game on Gionta. No chance we were going to get away with it, though.
Stoopid.
“Hey Richard, two minutes for looking so good!”
I’ve counted 4 times the Flyers have done exactly what Lapierre just did tonight and it went uncalled every time.
Lapierre takes a penalty, after the Flyers blatantly cross checked Cammalleri a bit earlier, typical.
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu.
http://habsandhockey.blogspot.com/
BS call I think, didn’t even look like the stick broke, just looked like he knocked it out of his hands.
Play smart. Don’t take dumb ass penalties.
So Philly can do anything illegal and a simple tap on the stick is a penalty?
I HATE that call. And I said that last game when the Habs got a PP out of it.
you are imagining things
O’Byrne made an honest mistake and is crucified by JM and a lot of you on HIO. Laps just took a stupid selfish penalty. Think JM will bench him???
“Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement.”
Bettman’s double-standards jar in the ref room must be full enough for him to pay for a private jet by now.
your wrong check the rulebook
It is a stupid call, but they have been pretty consitent with it in the playoffs.
They’ve done that to Gionta three times – never called.
So Cammi gets blatantly cross-checked from behind, no call. Tap on a stick by Lap, and its a penalty. Solid reffing.
Being a Habs fan is a way of life, and a great one at that.
Lapps has a Claude Lemieux face,…noone believes him when he tries to sell te ‘what me’ .and he’s usually guilty of stupidity,not over enthusiasm.
OK!!! Time to take that momentum back.
And now, the dagger.
“Hey Richard, two minutes for looking so good!”
Moore and Pyatt have been awesome role players for us.
Interference on Pleks before the whistle.
Where was this teaam in games 1 and 2??
I repeat, Bergeron is a useless tard.
GLUE MAB TO THE BENCH!
Why did HNIC give those Flyers fans lead-in time?
nice! cbc playing montreal boy sam roberts for intro.
That was nice! As was Oh Canada! GO HABS GO!! SO PUMPED!!!! lol
————————————————————————
Never judge another man’s decision poor until you actually have proof of it failing!
Leys go boys, I still believe and the comeback starts Now. Gomez, get your head in the game early. One goal and it will flow from there
“It’s not an obsession, It’s a way of life..”
Hold tight boys and girls. Tonight is the night we take them! Good luck!
Everyone from Sweden, Finland (swedish speaking), Norway, Denmark: Join the Facebook group “Montreal Canadiens Fan Club Scandinavia”!
Keep it simple, boys — go out there and have fun. If we do the small things right, the pucks will go in eventually.
I BELIEVE!
GO HABS GO!
I hear the two “kids” waving the flags are really short mafia types who will take out Pronger’s knees when he does a pregame skate.
AAAAALLEZ ALLEZ ALLLEZZZ ALEEEZZ MONTREAAAL!
GOMEZ — no penalties tonight!
“Shout-out to Brian Hart:
Whose sister, Lauren, sings the anthems at the Washovia Center. He’s a good example of brotherly love”
Isn’t that the chick you said would be performing at a biker bar next?
GOOOOOOOOOOO HABS GOOOOOO!!!
I have a really good feeling about today.
That’s quite the impressive beard on Pyatt!
Really annoys me we have to guilt the crowd by reminding them we have Americans on the team to try and forestall booing of the US Anthem.
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu.
http://habsandhockey.blogspot.com/
Maybe he can shave it off when the year is over for him and sell it to Crosby for his next playoffs.
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu.
http://habsandhockey.blogspot.com/
Love the instrumental anthems
Flyers don’t do it at Wachovia center and look how retarded their fans are…
I never get tired of seeing le gros Bill sing Oh Canada.
Do us proud
….Hab4life….
I guess, but it’s still irritating.
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu.
http://habsandhockey.blogspot.com/
Gotta get a goal on this guy, bring him down to earth.
Well. He’s benched for the rest of the game.
Good thing OB is dressed
- I Hab Faith
There is the oily discharge.
Looked like that hit the glass to me.
Oh hell, OB makes a mistake on his first shift. His butt is nailed to the bench from here on out.
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu.
http://habsandhockey.blogspot.com/
Not a great start for OByrne…
There may be other teams, but only ONE Club De Hockey…
Well this is going to make everyone who wanted OB in (including me) feel kinda bad
Not good …. poor Obie … nice rush by Pleky though
————————————————————————
Never judge another man’s decision poor until you actually have proof of it failing!
So this was why all the geniuses were crying for O’Byrne.
I’m already happy I don’t have to look at those putrid orange pilon jerseys.
Good ol’ babyface.
Now, JM will bench him!
Don’t worry, he’ll respond for the mistake .. just wait till he creams someone
————————————————————————
Never judge another man’s decision poor until you actually have proof of it failing!
So the guy whos supposed to turn this series around put us on the PK in the first minute? lol
“I went to see a fight the other night…And A hockey game broke out!” ~Rodney Dangerfield~
Damn!
OBYRNE is a genius. He knows a few early shots on Halak will make him play like the brick wall he is……….
There may be other teams, but only ONE Club De Hockey…
I guess they don’t call hooking anymore
- I Hab Faith
LOL Great start obie…
“I went to see a fight the other night…And A hockey game broke out!” ~Rodney Dangerfield~
Wow, hooking, holding, all ok with these ref’s.
F’ing BS. That was a terrible hook, but of course, no ref saw it.
Hamrlik is a 1200-game NHL veteran who worked hard to put the Penguins back into Game 7 against PIT when we were leading 4-0, he should know better to make stupid, unforgiveable mistakes. OB makes one, his butt is nailed to the bench or put to the press box when he’s been pulled in and out of the lineup for far less, how does letting a veteran be a complete ****up but not forgiving a young guy for smaller stuff make any sense or not mess with his head?
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu.
http://habsandhockey.blogspot.com/
MAB is USELESS!
MAB either lets it by on the blue line or gives it to a Flyer when he sends it into the zone, wonderful player…
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu.
http://habsandhockey.blogspot.com/
if there is a player dumber than Lapierre I don’t know him
Bergeron has been terrible on the PP.
Can’t help but feel like these wasted PPs might bite them in the behind
A.Kost is gaining points! Great hustle.
Bergeron is stinking it up.
F-Off Pronger! PK,PK,PK!!!
Please, get MAB out of there, he single handedly wasted 45 seconds of this PP
“It’s not an obsession, It’s a way of life..”
Subban right in Pronger’s face and Pronger naturally pussying out.
Why is a 6’3″ forward who’s having a great game not get any PP time? I hear big bodies near the net can create goals, crazy rumour I heard from these guys in Chicago.
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu.
http://habsandhockey.blogspot.com/
And another MAB turnover
“It’s not an obsession, It’s a way of life..”
My god, Bergeron really HAS been the absolute worst this series
MAB is their best penalty killer. Get him off the &^%$ing ice!!!
MAB crapping the bed, wtf is up with him?
Goalies in Montreal have two roles, netminder and scapegoat.
MAB man…he’s not even useful on the PP anymore.
MAB must be Martin’s love-child-ther can be no other excuse
How is MAB skating, but OB isn’t?
Being a Habs fan is a way of life, and a great one at that.
Moore is so awesome!!
Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut!!
Being a Habs fan is a way of life, and a great one at that.
YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Goalies in Montreal have two roles, netminder and scapegoat.
Softie!!!! In his head now, BOys!!!!
Moore with another HUGE goal
Times like this I love Pierre Gauthier
YES!!
DOMINIC MOORE!
Our grinders have been amazing tonight!!!!
greatest shift of all time
Dominic Moore – the best 2nd rounder we ever used!
MOORE BABY!!! I WANT MOORE!
YES!!! WE OWN You now Leighton!!! GO HABS GO!!!
MOORE!!!
And he reminds us why Leighton is a waivers guy.
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu.
http://habsandhockey.blogspot.com/
2nd rounder lol
“I went to see a fight the other night…And A hockey game broke out!” ~Rodney Dangerfield~
1993 BABY 1993
There may be other teams, but only ONE Club De Hockey…
Definately worth a 2nd round pick! Sign him.
Moore, Moore, Moore!
The Dagger!
“Hey Richard, two minutes for looking so good!”
OLE OLE OLE OLE!
Not over guys… Need to keep playing like this!
Touchable.
You leave me little notes on my pillow. Told you 158 times I can’t stand little notes on my pillow. “We’re all out of cornflakes. F.U.” Took me three hours to figure out F.U. was Felix Unger!
what a well deserved goal:)
All it takes is one goal, (garbage, fluky bounce, whatever) and the rest will come. And if we win tonight, we can comeback.
That’s exactly it Tony. The Flyers are good, not great. We’ve just been kinda lousy against them. I really think we can take the next 2 games chez nous. One goal to end this drought. Then it’s a whole new series. You asked me how the boys can do it in another thread, well, here you go: Other Wing.
I’m getting a little tired of “oh well we came this far” attitude.
We are playing the Flyers FFS! They are not that good!
“If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” (anon)
pitts and wash did not care about the habs …they were too full of them selves so they employed no strategy and were under the impression all they had to do is throw line after line out and win easily…right now it is easy to coach vs the habs…as long as your goalie does not give up bad goals all you have to do is stop 2 forwards from scoring and than you have a pretty good chance the habs will score at most 1-2 goals a game. all season posters argued about who should play net or d but 90% of the reason habs struggled in the reg season was lack of secondary scoring. based on cap space and whats on the farm for next year this problem will continue next year and may even be worse
The place will be rocking. I’d love to see us come out flying, totally carrying the play and having great shifts of sustained pressure to keep the crowd’s energy sky-high. Pot the first goal of the game halfway through the first so that the first ten minutes actually seem like a buildup. Then keep coming at them. The “Leighton” taunts will make him soil himself.
Get those white jerseys out of Halak’s way. Get in Pronger’s head. Get Carcillo to snap and take stupid penalties. Expose their third D pairing. Score at least one with the man advantage. We can do this! A win and we’re right back in this thing!
Easy saves, get traffic!
Everyone raves at how great Leighton is playing, but how many games has he played? Not many because he’s not been tested very much so far.
Why is every team allowed to impede our good players but we get called if we breathe on somebody?
I guess Philly-Chicago looks better to the NHL than Habs-Hawks.
How about a pre-game warmup?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbTAYukpv8I
Our Habs are LOTS SOFTER NOW …..thanks for that LTHF ,it’s been awhile since I’ve seen the Habs with a pair……
Yo Paul I was born in 59 and early lifed her in TMR ,thinking we may have gone to same school long ago?
Halak bales out O’Byrne. MAB anyone?
Ok, we get it, you hate O’Byrne. I guess none of our draft picks should ever play a game according to you, they might make a mistake.
Young players who benefitted from constant benchings over single mistakes this season and responded positively: Oh right, None of them. JM’s head games with his young guys have produced **** all.
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu.
http://habsandhockey.blogspot.com/
Halak is BACK! I hope )
I think the boys look pretty good so far, more aggressive in our own zone and in their zone a lot more! And go Jaro, looking very good
————————————————————————
Never judge another man’s decision poor until you actually have proof of it failing!
H is for Help which is what the Habs need right now. G is for Goal which is what the Habs also need. Halak may finally be exhausted. We’ll see. Normally I would be rooting for the Habs but I want the parade in my back yard, not at the usual route. Cretins, ooh that hurt. My mother has called me worse names.
How is that not icing?
Hamr and Gomez, lets efin go alrerady
“It’s not an obsession, It’s a way of life..”
Cammy joking with AK, great sign
i had a dream i was lifting cars over my head and climbing trees with raccoons last night , habs win.
awesome.
Ironically I had a dream that I was watching a Habs game and we were down 2 and came back to win 4-2… Now I don’t know if it means one game or the series.. Either way it would be nice if they won tongiht..
you sir,
are full of win.
Do I listen to pop music because I am miserable? Or am I miserable because I listen to pop music?
Watching Cam, AK and Pleks laughing together on the bench is a great feeling as a fan. None of that last year.
Why does Pouliot always seem to look for a pass as soon as he gets the puck. He’s got some size and hands, he needs to drive to the net.
- I Hab Faith
Could see that coming f*cking goons
what a well deserved goal:)
Classic Philly hockey right there
It IS possible, we CAN score on Leighton!!!!!
Yes we can
“It’s not an obsession, It’s a way of life..”
That, my friends, is the BIGGEST weakness on a big goaltender.
Now that’s goonery
Down 2-0 but coming back home for the next two… not the end of the world, but it’s a must-win game tonight. Nonetheless, we need to use the age-old adage of taking it one game at a time.Key points:
-Philly is still a team using a career minor-league goalie, a team with injuries, and a team that snuck into the playoffs on the last day of the season. This is not to say that we are any better, only to say that as good as their team is playing now, they have had a massively inconsistent season and a little bit of luck our way could easily put them onto a 4-game losing streak (they did lose 3 straight against a weak Boston team before bouncing back).
-The Habs still have some fire-power in the line-up and a lot o guys who are playing under their potential, not like a year ago when all our good players were hurt and you knew everyone was giving 100% and just didn’t have the talent to do any more. The guys this year have shown they can play with the best teams, and we can certainly play with Phi.
- Phi’s success has come mainly off of the PP and momentum generated from the PP. At least 2-3 of their even-strength goals came within a minute of their PP ending, so tack on their 4 PP goals and that means most of their offence is special-teams generated. Our pp had some moments where it looked better last game but still no goals… if we can turn around the PP situation, we can likely give ourselves the chance to take the lead in the game and make them play from behind or a change.
- We have a guy in reserve (OB) who can bring a much better physical presence to the game, and at no expense to the rest of our line-up. Let’s say MAB goes to line 4. No one is missing his play on D, and with the minutes that Metro or Pouliot or SK were getting on line 4, no one will notice their absence either. So adding OB means we have a chance to improve our line-up (and maybe PK) for free. Any boost helps.
- Throw in home ice advantage and we have lots of reasons to believe we can come back and win the next two. Just winning tonight wipes out all of the gusto and confidence the flyers have built up. the season is on the line tonight, so if ever there’s a game where the boys were to step it up, this is just as big as the two game 7′s. Let’s hope they do the job. Go Habs Go!
There we go boys! Throw the puck towards the net and good things happen…
Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!! What a working mans goal!! Go Cammmy!! Woooooooooooooooo!!
————————————————————————
Never judge another man’s decision poor until you actually have proof of it failing!
AWESOME…………..
There may be other teams, but only ONE Club De Hockey…
Big goal, hopefully this wakes up the rest of the team.
Cammi!!!!!!!!!!!!!!WOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOO
“The ‘System’ will not stop until it owns Lord Stanley’s Cup…All hail the System!”
YES!!!! FINALLY A GOAL!!!
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!
LAYYYYYYYY-TOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
YES! CAMMALLERI!
GO HABS GO!
Unlucky 13 for the Flyers
Cammy’s just brilliant from his knees.
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu.
http://habsandhockey.blogspot.com/
Unlucky #13 breaks the spell!
PLAN THE PARADE!
“Hey Richard, two minutes for looking so good!”
Beatable!
___________________________________________
Ya! The Habs Rule! now on Twitter!
Thank God.
13 for 13 lol!
LOL the flyers D tripped Leighton, thats what it took, but I’ll take it
You beat me by seconds!
“Hey Richard, two minutes for looking so good!”
FINALLY! Maybe the flood gates will open and Leighton will be exposed for the career backup he is.
I love how the announcer says Cammalleri’s name, classic!
No slashing call, cause it was a hab getting slashed…
What a crowd!!!
HELLO HELLOOOOOO I’M AT PLACE CALLED VERTIGOOOOO
why are the Flyers getting away with all the slashing, hooking, and holding?
What a Jr. C calibre goal that was
Finally they got to him.He is only human.NOW if they screen him for a few shifts.
Halak with the HUGE save, Cammy Score… THESE ARE OUR HABS!!! WOOOO
haven’t seen that in a while
——————
“I like what I’m seeing right now,” assessed Markov. “We’re not perfect, but we’re trying to be.”
Beat these bastards. Crush them like bugs. Make Leighton cry.
“Hey Richard, two minutes for looking so good!”
I saw at least four out there and no call.
That’s what she said…at the Bell Canada picnic…
FEEL THE PRIDE!
hahahaha, I would love to see that
————————————————————————
Never judge another man’s decision poor until you actually have proof of it failing!
how does this old coot Bob Cole handle the noise. wouldn’t this drive him to retire?
go habs!
He turns down his hearing aid lol
“I went to see a fight the other night…And A hockey game broke out!” ~Rodney Dangerfield~
bahahahahha!!!
MAB is king of the suicide pass.
Hartnell is just a sad useless teat.
It’s sad that Hartnell makes $4M+
http://nhlnumbers.com/overview.php?team=PHI&season=0910
H is for Harani
“I gotta feeling…that tonight’s gonna be a good night!”
I like the Ole chant the best when it’s coming from the Bell and not the Spectrum
What a long-haired galoot of a GOON!
Considering this is basically a win or die game with the series possibly going down 3-0, I think it would have been prudent for Boone to use his rervese jinx.
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu.
http://habsandhockey.blogspot.com/
Agreed…what the hell, Boone? Time for a little editing. Lay it on us.
__________________________
“Peoples will only be truly free when the last king is strangled by the bowels of the last priest” Francois Laignelot -
He’ll put it in near the start of his pre-game, real-time blogging.
Eeesh Jaro shouldnt be playing that game…Keep focused Jaro, you will get revenge by winning the game
“I went to see a fight the other night…And A hockey game broke out!” ~Rodney Dangerfield~
There’s the goonery for you. Classless pieces of crap known as the Flyers.
Philthydelphia definately gooning it up
Goalies in Montreal have two roles, netminder and scapegoat.
The wiley Hartnell tries to mate with Hamrlik… with little success.
Tune in next time for more “Ornary ugly baboons go wild!”
LOL
Being a Habs fan is a way of life, and a great one at that.
Wow Halak getting aggressive!
YEE BOY!
LOL HALAK with the stick work… I LOVE IT.
Carcillo is a HUGE Douchebag! Nail em Halak!!!
Flyers? Garbage. Goons.
Basically a more skilled Leafs.
When Serge Savard took over as GM after the 1983 playoffs he vowed that the Habs were not going to get pushed around anymore. He kept his word.
What?? How can Richards just push Halak??
That should be a roughing and 10 min misconduct…
Laviolette has lost control of his team. Typical Flyers emotions/stupidity have taken over.
___________________________________________
Ya! The Habs Rule! now on Twitter!
Way to go, Andrei – backing up your goalie and then taking one of their best defensemen with you.
“Hey Richard, two minutes for looking so good!”
Flyers s u c k !
Goon show when Philly is losing. Philly doesnt look too happy when they are down. I like it, let them get frustrated…
Nah, he’s another NHL poster boy.
If he won’t get suspended for almost killing David Booth, don’t expect a penalty there.
Tiominen is such a phony. He loves playing for the Flyers cause he can act tough and then run behind his teammates
For the love of everything on Earth WHY IS MAB playing? He is minus 11 and he just gave away the puck THREE TIMES in the last power play!! THREE TIMES!
HE GAVE AWAY THE PUCK THREE TIMES IN ONE PP!!
Pleks is really struggling, and Moore has been better than AK, Pouliot, and Gomer,
“It’s not an obsession, It’s a way of life..”
OB will be press box’d next game for a couple of first period mistakes in his first game of the series, typical JM coaching. Guy is never going to settle down and feel confident with that kind of restriction.
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu.
http://habsandhockey.blogspot.com/
People using the term “goon”. These guys aren’t goons. Yet.
FEEL THE PRIDE!
JM is being such an arse tonight. Calling MAB useless doesn’t do it justice. PLAY OB!!
Being a Habs fan is a way of life, and a great one at that.
Poke check.
Plekanec with the stage fright…
Road team hasn’t scored in 155 minutes
Carcillo belongs here:
http://www.hulu.com/watch/4097/saturday-night-live-wong-and-owens-ex-porn-stars