False alarm?

I just remembered one of my favourite old quotes, and since its originator was Mike Boone I thought it a propos to post it here:

"All my anarchist friends say that if voting could change anything it would be illegal"

Apologies to Mr. Boone if I screwed it up but I think that was the gist. Was having a discussion on another board about the utility of voting and posted this so I thought I'd share it here.

hi wencz, my oldest memory is 1965, i was 13 and wanted to work at forum, i went just befor the game and the ticket usher let me in for free.He told me that they did not take applications at that time of night,lol, That was my first hockey game live.

In the 84-85 Adams Semi between the Bruins and the Habs, I believe we scored with about 51 seconds left in the 3rd period to win game 5 at the Forum... I think this is my oldest Habs' memory, I can't seem to remember anything before that. Anybody else remember watching that game?

One other thing. I've heard quite a bit about how Gainey and Robinson essentially coached the Habs to the 86 Cup after Perron lost the dressing room. Anybody know more about this?

Robert L your coments are right on the nose. I have a question for everyone who is going to be the surprise of training camp

Moey mentioned Lafleur's early years a little further down in the thread. I'm posting my take here, as to not have it hit Page 2 in the next five minutes.

Lafleur's first three seasons are often misjudged in hindsight. Folks forget that he was joining a Stanley Cup championship team that was full on right wing with Cournoyer, Rejean Houle, Jim Roberts and Claude Larose.

Lafleur often played out of position often in his first three seasons, sharing the center position with Lemaire, Henri, and Pete Mahovlich. When Guy played third line wing, it was with Pocket Rocket as a centre and Marc Tardif on the left.

What frustrated many folks was when he was compared to the likes are Marcel Dionne and Richard Martin, who were putting up great numbers, while getting all the icetime they wanted on weaker teams.

The context for Lafleur was quite different. He had to earn his way to the top line and he wasn't given the most suitable linemates to start with. As time went on, and he found his natural wing position, he played with Pete and then with Lemaire.

Lafleur was a very shy and timid individual in his first years in Montreal. Between games, he'd retrun to his Quebec City friends for company, as he was quite lonesome in Montreal. In 1975, Lafleur stopped going up north during the season, and brought both his head and his heart to Montreal.

Often it is cited that his new contract, or his removal of the helmet, or having better linemates, is what turned finally Lafleur into the superstar everyone was waiting for.

As it usually goes, those were only the things the public saw, and what truly made the biggest difference, was Lafleur's increased focus on his game, rather than his surroundings.

Oddly, there is bit of a lesson for Habs fans in the early comparisons to Dionne and Martin, who never tasted Stanley Cup glory in their careers. If one goes through Canadiens history, apart from Lafleur's run in the 1970's, it was often the other teams whose players had great individual stats, while Montreal won Cups.

The great Bruins and Hawks teams of the 1960's and 1970's were loaded with talents like Esposito, Orr, Hull, and Mikita. They won all kinds of individual awards but only a few Cups. Well balanced and intelligently groomed Habs teams won Cup after Cup by insisting their players become more complete.

Even with all the great stars of the past that the Canadiens had, the team concept was always stressed as the most important factor. It was way ahead of individual achievement. Rocket Richard had to backcheck, Yvan Cournoyer was taught his position in both ends, and so on.

They didn't not alter the philosophy for Guy Lafleur, and they certainly did not alter it for Doug Wickenheiser, their next number one draft pick a decade later.

The bottom line is that the Canadiens do not need to have 50 goal scorers and 100 point centers to win another Stanley if the roster is filled with players doing all the little things it takes to win.

Gotta go for a walk with the wife but I'll be back in a hour. :)

Everybody keeps talking about a plan B in terms of a trade and complaining that Bob hasn't done anything.

Relax people.

IF Sundin doesn't sign with us then there'll be plenty of time for Bob to look into trades. The best course of action right now is to wait on the Swede and see where we are once he decides. It would be retarded to make a trade now and find out in two weeks that he would have come to Montreal if we had the cap room.

So let the Sundin thing run its course and rest assured that Bob will be looking at all his options if it doesn't pan out.

watching the espys and have they forgotten about hockey?? Tired of them talking about how hot beckham is too. Timberlake is pretty funny though.

It doesn't surprise me that today's lazy Sunday posts have turned to hot girls from TV's past, but it does that Boone hasn't thrown in his two cents yet on whose hotter - Mary Anne, Ginger, Hot Lips Houlihan, Janet, Chrissy, Terri, etc...

Does anyone have any comments for a topic that I brought up below. I think it's worth talking about!