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As Canadiens celebrate 100 great years ...
posted by Mike Boone at 14h05 EST on Dec 5
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About Mike Boone
Full Name
Mike Boone
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http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/columnists/mike_boone.html
About
I grew up in Park Extension, within walking distance of Dickie Moore's Dairy Queen on Jean Talon. Moore had a place on L'Acadie Blvd., and we used to see him driving around in his convertible with a Samoyed and a very dishy wife.
While "studying" at McGill University during the 1960s, I used to attend games at the old Montreal Forum. My fellow undergraduate reprobates and I would scramble up the stairs to get centre-ice spots in the top standing room section, where aged ushers didn't know or care what we were smoking.
I stood out in the cold for six hours to get tickets to the 1975 New Year's Eve game between the Canadiens and Central Red Army. With the exception of the birth of my daughter, the 3-3 tie was the greatest event I've ever seen in my life.
The Canada-U.S. Gold medal game comes close .... but I wasn't there.
I've been a professional journalist since 1974, when I joined the Montreal Star sports department. I've covered the 1976 Olympic Games, the 1979 Expos, pop music and MSO tours of Europe and Asia (classical musicians are WAY more fun to drink with than athletes). I wrote a TV & Radio column for 20 years and, since 2000, have written a City column for The Gazette.
The best part of being a Habs Inside/Out contributor is attending games at the Bell Centre. I think it's a great building: noisy, raucous and packed to the rafters with Montrealers and visitors who live for hockey.
And I still get goosebumps every time Michel Lacroix booms out "Accueillons nos Canadiens ..."
Having seen the Boston Red Sox win two World Series and the Pittsburgh Steelers add a couple Super Bowl titles, I suppose I can die happy ... but not before another Stanley Cup parade. And I'd really like my daughter to see a historic New Year's Eve game.
I like all the players. Covering baseball gives me a profound appreciation of pro athletes who aren't jerks.
My weltanschauung was summarized by the late great Bill Hicks when he said "all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration, we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively, there is no such thing as death, life is only a dream and we are the imagination of ourselves."
Have a nice day.
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I find it interesting how pervasive Toronto mocking has become in the Montreal fan base, this persistent need to illustrate how the Toronto Maple Leafs are losers, especially when compared to the beacon of winning that is the Montreal Canadiens. Amusing because, as always, it is a matter of perspective. Canadiens fans truly do live in the past, based on the franchise having won 24 Stanley Cups and having produced more Hall of Fame inductees than any other franchise.
Are the Montreal Canadiens really the NHL's marquee franchise today? For a 30 year stretch from 1950 to 1980, the Habs were golden. But let's be honest...since 1993, the Habs have been a mediocre to lower-tier franchise. Even compared to the often mocked Leafs, here is how they stack up since the Habs won their last Stanley Cup in 1993 (a year when the Leafs were also a threat to win the Stanley Cup).
Montreal's Record: 541-481-114-62, 4 Playoff series wins, 9 Playoff series losses (0 trips to conference finals)
Toronto's Record: 576-471-101-68, 9 Playoff series wins, 9 Playoff series losses (3 trips to conference finals)
So Montreal clearly has nothing to brag about on the ice since 1993. So any claims of superiority are based solely on history. So I guess my question is: what is the statute of limitations on past success?
And toronto has been so much better since 67 hmm? You say throw history out the window but you try and portray toronto in the better light by bringing up statistics of the last 15 years. That's history just as much as th habs glory years of the 50's, 60's and 70's and if you want to ignore the canadien's history, well don't tell us toronto is so much better with their recent history. If you really want though, we can compare team records dating all the way back to the leaf's last cup but i think we both know how one-sided that will be!
You're coming to a website for montreal canadiens fans and expect not to see some trashing about their arch rival? Can we get a reality check?
Are you a lawyer? Are you really Ken Dryden???
Seriously, I've lived in southern Ontario since the mid '80s and as soon as I'm found out to be a Habs fan, the first thing out of their mouth is "Habs suck" or "I hate the Habs". I grew up in Montreal and all through the '70s I never even hated the Leafs because they just didn't matter.
I've come to figure it is just envy on a lot of fronts, Montreal is the good looking rock star brother who has beautiful girlfriends, cool cars and just oozes that certain "je ne sais quoi" while Toronto is the stuffy accountant brother who married the first wallflower he kissed and is forever patting himself on the back for all his material gains.
The so-called Leaf Nation spend most of their time trumpeting themselves as "Canada's Team" and arrogantly demanding that the Stanley Cup be theirs upon every training camp opening. They overvalue every player they have and basically are Leaf fans and not hockey fans. Check out their empty Platinum seats at the beginning of the 2nd and 3rd periods as the let's-go-out-and-be-seen crowd are concentrating more on rubbing elbows in the VIP lounges than watching their forever mediocre hockey team.
Yes, the Habs might suck right now too but the difference is they will get better where the Leafs will always suck. THAT is a fact, historically speaking and isn't the big picture everything?
So yeah, I love telling them that at least I've seen my team win the Cup in colour... a lot.
I have also lived in southwestern Ontario for the past 15 years or so, and grew up near Algonquin Park where Leafs fans outnumbered Habs fans by a significant number. So I do know something of your situation.
As you say, there is envy on their side at the Habs' past successes. But I think there is also a certain amount of aggravation with the arrogance of Habs fans. As to some of your comments:
"Yes, the Habs might suck right now too but the difference is they will get better where the Leafs will always suck. THAT is a fact, historically speaking and isn't the big picture everything?"
Really...that opinion has nothing to do with the fact that the Leafs had HORRID management under the worst owner in NHL history? Because since 1993, the Leafs have rebuilt themselves into a team capable of making the conference finals on two occasions: the Gilmour-Andreychuk-Sundin-Potvin led group of the early 1990's followed by the Sundin-Joseph-Mogilny group of the late 1990's and early part of this decade. They are re-building again. The Habs have been stuck in neutral for that entire time.
"The so-called Leaf Nation spend most of their time trumpeting themselves as "Canada's Team" and arrogantly demanding that the Stanley Cup be theirs upon every training camp opening. They overvalue every player they have and basically are Leaf fans and not hockey fans. Check out their empty Platinum seats at the beginning of the 2nd and 3rd periods as the let's-go-out-and-be-seen crowd are concentrating more on rubbing elbows in the VIP lounges than watching their forever mediocre hockey team."
That same paragraph could be said of the Montreal Canadiens, you realize. Take a look in the lower bowl at the Habs games...lots of suits and ties, no Habs jerseys or energy. Habs fans also overvalue every player they have and are often Habs fans and not hockey fans. And we are quite frankly envious that our marketing division did not come up with that moniker of "Canada's Team" (which we are now trying to steal away) as we arrogantly demand that the Stanley Cup be ours upon every training camp. The two fan bases are not so different as you might like to believe.
Okay, we are the same except Hab fans have historical bragging rights 24-13. As for having Ballard, the Habs had Ron Corey's Reggie Houle/Dum-Dum Tremblay misfire and the AWFUL UNNECESSARY Patrick Roy fiasco, which it seems to me has had a sort of "curse of the Bambino" on the team ever since.
Also, maybe the Gilmour-Andreychuk-Potvin team were good BUT the Roy-Damphousse-Muller team won the CUP. I'm so sick of hearing how Kerry Fraser robbed the Leafs out of a Cup in '93. Facts would have pointed to MTL beating TOR in the Final (Leafs, in the Western Conf., went through three 7 Game Series while the Habs, on fire especially in OT, beat QUE 4-2, BUF 4-1 and NYI 4-1) and besides the Laffs couldn't even win Game 7 in Toronto after the Fraser Game 6 call.
What I'm saying is I, a Habs fan, didn't start this witless but fun battle. Like I said, the Leafs to me were such a non-factor from the '70s thru the '80s, I thought of them in the same class as the California Golden Seals. It wasn't until the Leaf fans threw their venom at me when I moved here in '87 along with comments as the plain ol' "Habs suck!" and "I HATE the Habs!" putdowns, there was some "I hope you frogs separate anyways" comments and even being blamed somehow for the tragic Marc Lepine shootings in '89 with "see what you Montrealers are like!".
So yeah, I HATE the Leafs for way more than their team. If the Taliban were playing the Leafs, I'd root for the Taliban. My second favourite team is whoever's playing the Leafs. And so on. I have an arsenal ready for them when they start their yapping.
...good answer Smiler ...disdaining Toronto seems 'normal' for a Montrealer ...or an ex-Montrealer
...just a 'natural' part of Our 'being'
...if We had to 'think' 'bout IT ...trying to be 'fair', 'politically-correct' ...or 'realistic' ...would just take away the FUN of being a Habs' Fan
...to be a True Habs' Fan ...disdain for Toronto and it's MuppleWeeds are 'required' to qualify ...in IMO
Habitant means PASSIONATE HOCKEY
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=423049
I agree with you Chris...time to focus on our Habs and their season and stop the negative Karma inducing gloating and persistent mocking over how lousy the Leafs are and may have been. Karma is a bitch...and it seems to me the more we gloat and mock the leafs the more we tend to suck in our next game...being humble is a strength not a fault and being a proud supporter of the greatest hockey (if not sports) franchise in history is an honour and a privalege.
I know we have the historical English / Francophone debate and challenge that goes on between the two teams...but give me a break...every time the Leafs play, lose, or have someone go down with injury...do we Habs fans need to jump in and belittle and mock their team...seems the more we do this the more injuries we take on for our boys, and the more losses we build up...how about the last Leafs / Habs game...pretty sad how we were beaten so soundly by our mortal ememies the Leafs...I call it KARMA...and Karma is a bitch...in the immortal words of John Lennon..."Instant karma's gonna get you"...
I'm not talking about sending flowers and love to the Leafs...just maybe stick to loving our Habs and letting the Leafs be who they are...a sorry excuse for a team and let them struggle with their season so that we can get on with struggling with ours.
I wholeheartedly agree with your comments. While abhoring everything about the Toronto Maple Leafs,particularily being exposed to it every day living in Toronto,I find this seemingly unceasing putdown of that franchise becoming somewhat tiresome at times. Given what that team and their supporters have had to endure since their last Cup victory in 1967,it would seem to me they would be more deserving of our sympathy rather than our derisive comments.........lol
Sympathy? Screw 'em! Leafs BLOW!!!!!!
Chris-- Very good points my friend. Thank Gawd we have our history to fall back on. We all know it has been a very different ride in this hockey industry for us as we sell this game to the beach combers of the USA.
Well, you just keep your narrative and we'll keep ours. As for statutes of limitation? How many years can those losers continue before being Laffed outta the league? Nice try. ROTFL!
So IF they win the next Stanley Cup, does that mean we should be laughed out of the league? Narratives are great...especially fiction. Subtract the horrible vileness that was Harold Ballard from the Leafs history and you get a very different narrative.
Nothing the Montreal Canadiens have ever faced can come even remotely close to the devastation that Ballard unleashed on that proud franchise. And I, for one, welcome a healthy Toronto Maple Leafs franchise, as it makes what had been a waning rivalry relevant once more.
"Nothing the Montreal Canadiens have ever faced can come even remotely close to the devastation that Ballard unleashed on that proud franchise."
Obviously not a knowledgeable Habs historian, but I would consider losing Scotty Bowman in 1979 an even worse mistake than the Patrick Roy trade. He's the greatest hockey mind in the history of the game, and they gave the GM job to Grundman over him? That's as insane as trading Carey Price for...well, any Leafs goalie you want to mention.
If anyone wants my cell number for the Mini Summit, contact me through the site.
Cheers!
Go Habs Go!! "I can't hear what Jeremy (Roenick) is saying because my Stanley Cup rings are in my ears" - Patrick Roy
Funny how they can't even spell Peterborough right. Sorry you can't "boro" the banners
How come Boone wasn't doing a live blog of the Bruins / laffs game?
Cuase kessel was the ultimate load in burke's pants after being his bulge
OMFG laffs losing 7-0 LOL!
Ooooff! Suffering the wrath of Boston after last night.
"love cannot drown truth, Nefertiti"
I said that to someone this afternoon. Told them that I hope that the Bruins are pissed off and ready.
Bruins spanking the Leafs 4-0 now...guess they want that pick. maybe T/O needs to work a little harder in training camp?
__________________
"The System" is the new black.
Damn, born too late! I could'a been a Leaf!
That's why I like reading your stuff Boone. Your good at finding these little tidbits about the laffs and sticking it to their organization and fans.
I like how the Leafs incorporated golfing into their training camp!
--- Chris
preparing for post-season during the pre-season, of course!
Wait... if the Leafs were defending Cup champions, does that mean that the rest of the teams were only doing 15 sit-ups and 20 knee-bends??
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Cheer for the crest on the front of the jersey, not the name on the back.
LOL!!!!
"love cannot drown truth, Nefertiti"
Didn't get to see much other than the 3rd period last night, awful busy trying to finish off building a few Christmas gifts in the workshop....
What's the story on Lucic? Wasn't he playing last night?
Please tell me he's in the lineup for tonight against the Traitor......
Once a Habs fan, always a Habs fan
Ouch...
Damn, now I'll have to wait until the next time they meet for the continuing Lucic vs Komitraitor saga :o(
Once a Habs fan, always a Habs fan
Yeah he's out for a while did you not see the disgusting way he broke/ fractured or sprained ...his ankle http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeSAvUsF0io so gross
"one win, plan the parade; one loss, tie the noose. It’s super-emotional, it’s completely irrational, but that’s what makes it so glorious." - George Stroumboulopoulos
I believe Lucic is out again for a few weeks with a high ankle sprain..
Just wondering if they were required to do all 3 exercises in the same day.
I'm about 2 lbs under my normal weight but would pass the physical conditioning with flying colours.... and to think back then I would've cracked the lineup.
you'd probably still need to be pretty good at hockey
Classic!!!
"let's make this another profitable year with a big playoff split"
As history proves in Toronto, it's ONLY about the bottom line not about Pride and Accomplishment.
Man, I hate the Leafs.
It kind of goes along with the new motto that they have splashed all over the ACC: "Spirit Is Everything".
Uh, guys, shouldn't you set your sights a little higher? Wouldn't "Winning Is Everything" have been a better choice? Isn't that why you play the game?
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Cheer for the crest on the front of the jersey, not the name on the back.
problem is for leafs fans, the team has none of either
Still livin' in 1993. Jonathan B.
The Bruins are going to make quick work of the Leafs tonight. They probably feel the same today as we did after our lose to them 3, zip.
Ian: -----and in my twisted logic, since the Leafs beat us and we beat Boston, it is poetic justice if Boston trims the Leafs!
(Now if I can just come up with something logical to justify the Sabres and Ryan Miller, I'll be all set!)
it is imperative that the leafs keep their golf swings up to snuff, as April comes pretty quick if you are struggling with your short game!!!
Still livin' in 1993. Jonathan B.
I love the line,"in view of the fact that nearly all players have cars...." That line today would probably read "in view of the fact that nearly all players have chauffeurs...."
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”Playing goal is like being shot at.”
--Jacques Plante
I guess all one needed to do to ensure a spot on the Leafs' club in 1962 was cut back from a case of beer a day to a half-pack a week prior to training camp.
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”Playing goal is like being shot at.”
--Jacques Plante
I'm glad to know that I could pass the Leafs physical .
You will always be a Canadien in my eyes, Saku
Golf is a must because they need all the practice they can get for many many years to come
As with others, love the exercise requirement. Great find.
20 push ups, 20 sit ups, 30 knee bends? is that why kyle wellwood was traded?...he could only do 19 push ups...
- let's make it a triple crown: Impacts, Alouettes and now the Canadiens!
That's cute lol
That's priceless. 20 push ups, 20 sit ups and wtf is a knee bend?
a squat?
- let's make it a triple crown: Impacts, Alouettes and now the Canadiens!
lol, I just like that they call it a knee bend.
"Ah Cheerio, excellent form on that knee bend my boy. After you finish up we can discuss your future with the club over a warm buttermilk. Good day"