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About Mike Boone
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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'm pretty happy with the win. Carolina and Toronto, other 2 of 3 worst NHL teams won last night. Just goes to show there isn't a gimme in the NHL anymore. Halak let in 2 softies but I'll take his 21-10 record over fancy saves and heroic losses any day of the week.
Scott Nichol played tonight, for everyone's information. Missed one game in total, fair to say he faked an injury considering he played 14 minutes, got 2 assists and was +3 tonight.
both halak and price will give up bad goals...the key is which one gives up more bad goal when the game is tied in the third. i heard people many times say fuhr gave up bad goals but rarely when the game counted
21-10-2
_________________
Don't argue with an idiot; people watching may not be able to tell the difference.
Price is 22 years of age!!
he's the second youngest "starting" goaltender in the league. (next to steve mason, and we all know how well thats going this year)
Halak's playing great and should be starting right now, but to talk about trading price is LUDICROUS.
I FEEL LIKE I'M TAKING CRAZY PILLS!
TSN has the highlights up - and a short interview at the end with Halak and then Benoit Pouliot. Pouliot's response was startling.
He started to say, "Jaro's been our be-" and then he caught himself and didn't finish. You could see by his expression that he knew full well that he almost said something he wasn't supposed to - that Halak has been the best goaltender this year.
So it's pretty clear - the players have been instructed NOT to say that Halak is the best goalie this year. Wow.
Now either mangaement believes that Price's psyche is so delicate that he can't bear to hear the truth (not likely) or they plan to deal Halak and go with Price again next year, hoping to prove once and for all that they were right in selecting him instead of a big centre like Kopitar (possible). How strange - a player not allowed to compliment his own goalie by saying he's been the best between the pipes this year.
If The Canadiens played the same in front of Price as they did Halak there would be no Bashing either goalie.
Useless speculation.
Or maybe, just maybe, Pouliot doesn't wanna come off as a bad teammate by saying that Halak's been the best goaltender this season. Seriously, I don't think this goaltending situation matters as much to anyone on the team as it does to some of you Twihards.
I can't imagine that one would be a bad teammate by acknowledging Halak's contribution this year.
During the Olympics, Price was interviewed practicing and was asked about the Olympics and Halak. He answered that "Both of us feel that we're the Number 1 goalie." I was floored. Could he really and truly believe that with his play this year?
And now we see that Pouliot can't even allow himself to say that Halak's been our best goalie this year. The proirity on this team has to be to win, not to soothe the feelings of a particular player. They sure didn't care about SK74's feelings. Only certain players I guess.
Men didn't land on the Moon. Little green men have visited Earth. Area 51 exists. 9/11 was a US government plot. And the Habs instruct their players not to hurt Price's feelings.
Suddenly, it all makes sense.
_____________________________________
Cheer for the crest on the front of the jersey, not the name on the back.
Telling the media that Halak's been the Habs' best goalie this year does not mean Pouliot's refusing to ackowledge his contributions. It's just a statement, and needlessly controversial.
What is Price seriously supposed to say? Should he announce that he feels like a backup goaltender? Will that make him play better, or just his bashers feel better?
And what does the priority to win have anything to do with stating who's the better goaltender?
Hahahahaha twihards, wicked analogy.
Got a tinfoil hat to go with that theory?
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu. http://habsandhockey.blogspot.com/
instructed?
nobody's been giving this guy lesson's, it's called respect for your teammates.
Chris Higgins scores for Calgary.
guys dont mean to start any unneeded discussion all I want is simply ur sincere and honest answer from deep down in ur heart...
this summer if the situation leaves us with no choice and we have to let one goalie leave, WHO WOULD U BE SADDER SEEING LEAVE? PRICE OR HALAK?
tnx for taking the time to answer this
They're goalies!!! Let them both go if we can get great compensation. OK maybe not but seriously, this might sound preposterous but Sanford and Desjardins are 1-2 in the AHL, which yes isn't the NHL but still, it shows promise that we're deep in that position. The league is stocked with good goalies and no-one's winning anything solely on goaltending. It takes good goaltending yes, but an all around team is needed and it's better IMO to build up front with talent than from the back-end, although I'll easily concede that both are needed. It's like a band, regardless of how good the bass (defense) and drums (goalie) are the band will suck if the guitarists (forwards) are lame. Many a guitarist can carry a crappy rhythm section but eventually it wears thin and the hope would be that the lead section boy would get a solid back-end to crank out the hits.
It's very rare to see any blockbuster deals with goalies, especially these days. My biggest worry though would be to lose them to RFA and get crappy picks, getting good picks would be worth it.
The post of a sane, insightful hockey fan. They're goalies! Phoenix needs a goalie - they pick up Bryzkalov for air. Toskala is great - then he sucks - and now he's playing well in Calgary. Tim Thomas spends the better part of a decade in the minors, then he plays outstanding at the NHL level - then he falls back. A goalie gets hot and carries a team - and then he doesn't.
Which is why drafting a goalie Number 5 overall is ludicrous to begin with - and staying with him while he struggles over a lengthy period is basically insane. There's always another goalie out there.
Toskala is a career back-up goalie who only really looked good on a stacked San Jose squad. Bryzgalov took until 29 to start really dominating. Tim Thomas is a 1-hit wonder as a starting man and the Bruins are handcuffed to his ridiculous contract. Huet looked good, but his fading over a series of games always holds him back and makes his contract the worst goalie contract in the NHL.
Carey Price at 22 can play in the NHL and play dominantly in games far more often than any of those guys could have managed in the AHL for the most part at his age.
There's always another goalie out there? Than why have the Flyers struggled since Hextall to find a man? The Senators have never had a Top goalie for more than 2 years since they brought in to the league. The Blackhawks had to settle for Huet in free agency, Washington went through Huet and is now on Theodore and hoping Varlamov comes around in time for playoffs. The Lightning have had nothing since the Bulin Wall and nothing before him... Always another goalie out there my butt, the freakin' Red Wings have been getting by on Osgood for how long, you think they haven't looked for better options? There is not always 'another goalie' out there at all.
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu. http://habsandhockey.blogspot.com/
Amen.
Just give it up man.
I truly want Price to leave.
Ummm, yeah and Price played only one period of one of those games. Nice try.
Dont you know that when you type the name "Halak", poster Shiloh gets a bat signal informing him someone is talking about Jaro. That is why he is always responding within moments.
Great sleuthing there - I guess that means we should go back Price immediately. And - if he loses a bunch of games and continues his two or three year slide, we'll just put him in there next year - every game. If he's bad next year, no problem. Just keep going with him until he retires - even if it means we miss the playoffs for the next 20 years. It's not important how the team does, just that St. Carey gets a free ride for his entire career. OK? Will that do it for you? Will that be enough? Or does Halak have to face a firing squad too?
STOP
The great Halak has got us 8 points in four game's dark dodo and is one of the premier goaltenders in the whole wide world(top 5)!Try cheering for the team for a change cause your stir stick stuck up your ***!
Top 5? Well in the NHL Halak is #8 in SAV% & #17 in GAA
One bad game and he's slowing down? So how do you characterize St. Carey's 3-year swoon?
3 year? His whole career? Really? You know going back 3 years at this point would also include his MVP performance in the Calder cup playoffs?
This is where you piss people off Shiloh, you're talking to a Price fanboy, and instead of being rational you go for the hyperbolic stupidity and make *** up.
There's been lots of players who have had a flash-in-the-pan playoff run - especially at the minor-league level. Price has had great games - but not nearly enough of them. His career curve is definitely waning.
Actually his career curve is technically a parabola thus far. Despite your insistence to the contrary, Price is having a good season. His numbers are all on the good side of average for a starting goaltender, and to do this at 22 is amazingly impressive. His numbers at 22 are better than Brodeur's at the same age, behind the Devil's trap and in the dead puck era in the NHL.
Your pathetic hatred for Price is astounding.
double
My thoughts on the game (I know you were all waiting for this):
-Until I had to leave to go ref at the end of the 2nd, our passing was utter crap. NOTHING (except from Pleks, Gomez, sometimes Markov) was tape-to-tape.
-Also, having them take us to OT isn't something to be ashamed of (unlike the oilers first goal), remember, they shut out NJ with Kovalchuk and Parise 2 games ago. We scored 5. Had halak a decent game, that's 5-2 us.
Go Habs Go!
Ah... CougarLife is back... sweet!
was that 4 5on5 goals tonight? how many have we got in the past few games? What a difference not relying on your PP can do.
I called the AK46 winner tonight :)
I figured he would score tonight based on some earlier work he did in the 1st, it was nice for him to get the Game-Winning honours, it's been a while for him (the Toronto OT winner!) and hopefully this reignites him. Cammy will be back soon, Pleks/Cammy/AK line would be nice to see in action.
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu. http://habsandhockey.blogspot.com/
Not pretty, but a W is a W. They will need to step up the intensity on Saturday if they plan on winning. I think they're up for the challenge. I really like that people are starting to realize some things some of us 'fans' have been saying all year:
1. The team is good, just give them some time and a healthy lineup.
2. Gomez is good, don't focus on his salary.
3. Who cares if it's Halak or Price. It's the logo on their chest that matters.
4. Go Habs Go!
lapierre should start looking for a job at a male strip club
Yep, because Maxwell was really the difference maker out there tonight.
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu. http://habsandhockey.blogspot.com/
no, the difference in the last 4 games was the entire team not being embarrassed about lapierres chicks**t style of play. they all played like they don't want him back.
i don't care if technically he is an upgrade to maxwell---his attitude has alienated himself from the team and we are better without him!
whos with me?!!??!
I thought they were playing these games well because they wanted to get into the playoffs myself. That's just a crazy opinion though, what do I know?
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu. http://habsandhockey.blogspot.com/
he is cancer!!
everyone in the world with a habs sweater is ashamed when we see him hiding behind linesmen.
maybe you are his friend or something?, its not that i hate him or want to see him punished, but he should look for a new career
Mike Cammalleri did this in the playoffs last year
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cum7t3QTHZs
Guess we should throw him off the team as well.
Every player does something they shouldn't have done at some point in their NHL career, this is Lapierre's first suspension I believe, for what was an illegal hit but wasn't a pattern of behaviour like Gauthier or Cooke. He is not a 'cancer' and that's not a term that I like reading when describing players, disruptive, malcontent, dishonorable, there are a lot of terms to throw around that don't come across quite as outlandish as 'cancer'.
He doesn't fight, but that isn't his job. He's an agitator, he gets under the other team's skin and throws them off their game. He hits, he does PK work, he plays the checking lines and does the role well when he is motivated, as he was for 79 games last season when he scored 15 goals, 13 assists and was a +9 and awarded the Beauchamps Trophy for most improved player by the local media. He is a role player, you may not like that role but he does it very effectively at times.
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu. http://habsandhockey.blogspot.com/
so you don't think his absence had ANYTHING to do with this 4 game win streak?
remember, check your favouritism at the door
I think our team scoring a minimum of 4 goals in 5 of their games this month helped quite a bit. The team came back refreshed and recharged from some Olympic vacations and others came back either with something to prove or wanting to improve on their Olympic performances. We've never had a goal-scoring stretch at any point this season where the team scored 24 goals in 6 games, this was a lot of scoring that saw the team pick up wins. The team generated a lot of offence and that delivered a lot of wins, rather than scoring just two and going for that 3rd goal in OT and SO as was the case so many times this season. We're 9-4 with Cammalleri as one person pointed out, does that mean he's a bad person to have on the roster?
If Lapierre was that disruptive, JM would have made sure he got sent off at the trade deadline, we sent BGL home and told him we're buying his contract out, tossed Gui for Pouliot and sent SK down to Hamilton over his early-season attitude. if Lapierre was a huge problem within the team, JM would have dealt with it by now.
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu. http://habsandhockey.blogspot.com/
No, it had nothing to do with it. Lapierre has been playing very well for about 15 games, and every time Ben Maxwell takes a shift it should remind you of how much better Lapierre is.
i feel like im taking crazy pills!
ahh, i guess it will all come out in the wash, but i have a feeling that laps is gone after this year...
We're 9-4 since Cammalleri got injured. I think we'd still be better off with him in the lineup. I don't think that Lapierre is the difference between winning and losing for us, but I do think we're a better team with Laps playing instead of Maxwell.
Lapierre replaces Maxwell, Cammy replaces Pyatt. But when MAB comes back he could very well be the odd man out.
didn't you see on the bench, after max was joking about his attempted murder--i remember dominic moore of all people was just looking at him like 'dude, wtf--not cool--don't talk to me'
max is finis ( i hope)
He was laughing about how Nichol was faking it.
I didn't catch that. I'm just saying what will happen. The question is who goes if everyone is healthy and MAB is ready to come back? It's Laps or Darche, and I'd go with Darche to play. I still rather Laps over Maxwell or Pyatt.
Did you know that the Sharks player got up seconds after he was hit as well? The play would have been whistled dead had the guy been on the ground and not gotten up after the Lapierre hit. Lapierre delivered an illegal hit yes, but the camera was on the bench for about 2 seconds showing Lapierre cracking a smile and for all you know, it's because someone on the bench said something funny.
Why do people self-appoint themselves experts of what goes on with players based on short clips of video?
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu. http://habsandhockey.blogspot.com/
he got up because he's not european.
JK, i love europa
He hasn't, but he'll be back soon. Listed as day-to-day I believe.
hes out 7-10 days with a shoulder, probably separated.
Attempted murder? Lol talk about over exaggerating
We only need MAB on the PP because JM won't play AK on the back end and use his big shot on the PP. MAB is not a good 4th-line winger and is too disasterous to use on the back end and we don't have a place for him anyway back there without injuries.
MAB doesn't let the team roll 4 lines like they do right now, I'd say sit him unless there's an injury issue.
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu. http://habsandhockey.blogspot.com/
I'll take an ugly win over a pretty loss.
I haven't watched a hockey game since the gold medal game in the Olympics. Not out of mourning for the US, but I've been busy. Considering the tear that the Habs have been on since, I am not going to watch a single game live for the remainder of the regular season. I am also going to walk around my car three times backwards before getting in. (To be fair, I have yet to recover from the flying moose and the gigantic beavers of the closing ceremony in Vancouver!)
Well if you're expecting games as good as the gold medal game, you might want to never watch another NHL game again...
I haven't been watching because I've just had a boatload of things I'm working on. Still, I don't want to break the luck by watching live. It's like turning down tickets to a Habs game at MSG because more often than not they lose when I go. Hey, if I never watch another game live for the rest of the season and they win the Cup, it will be well worth it.
Well if you make that sacrifice, I think we'll all love you for it. Very difficult to do though, I admire your willpower.
Mentally, it has been very healthy. I actually was able to get the French broadcast on the radio driving home this evening and I knew it was 4-4 late in the third. Instead of tuning into the game when I got home, I talked to the wife for about half an hour about her work day. I got a bunch of sensitivity points and the Habs coped two points. Everyone was a winner!
And over here I had 3 guys from HIO ignoring their wives and watching the game at my place. As long as we keep winning I'm sure we'll both be happy!
Halak had a bad game, that is clear. What I like about most of the posts tonight is that they relate to only tonight's performance and not extending to his career prospectives and his overall personality. Whenever Price has a bad game, I find that the criticism goes beyond that one bad game and posts become general, umbrella-like statements about Price's talent and his future. Halak had a poor effort tonight and people are talking about his play tonight only. Just because he was bad today doesn't mean he'll be bad forever. I just wish that the same would be done for Price.
Excellent post, I also wish this were true. There are a couple guys who do the same thing for Halak though. Priceberg/Dark Cloud goes for the personal insults for one.
WTF is your problem Andrew. Have I ever talked smack to You?
Just stating what I see to be the case. And under other usernames, yes you have.
Listen Andrew, there are over 35 million people in Canada. Milions of which are Habs fans. I'm Me! Not anyone else. I have never posted here with another user name. Well I did post with Dark Cloud but it got delete for some reason. So I went with DARK CLOUD. I don't know what the big deal is with this Priceberg fellow! Just because I love price it doesn't mean I have to be someone else!
well said... now make dark cloud read your post over and over again and memorize it
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"enough said" is never enough said
go throw darts at a picture of halak.. seriosuly dude, since you joined all you did was bash halak... give it a rest
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"enough said" is never enough said
Ok I will. When you Halak lovers stop!
shows that you know lol... i am not a halak lover.. i am a habs lover.
i give credit to both goalies and i try to call it like it is. when price plays great i congratulate him on it. but halak has been great for almot all season and one bad game doesn't make him a bad goalie
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"enough said" is never enough said
Yes, I second this sentiment.
I guess people understand now why we didn't trade a goalie? As I said - ride their streaks. If one starts to falter throw in the other. We are in a better spot goaltending wise than even the big names, because we have TWO of them that can step up. Marty has a bad streak? Game over for NJ, no one to step in. Habs? No problem, Halak or Price.
For instance start Price against the B's and Halak can pretend this game never happened, then come back against NYR. So MEH! We win!
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