Joel Bouchard:
"Ce n'est pas cute, là. Ce n'est pas un grand match." He heaps praise on Price.
I love this guy ... Bouhard, I mean. Price, too. All of 'em. I love everybody north of Pennsylvania.
And the Steelers.
No Breeze:
Five defencemen in the third period.
3P 00:00:
The Flyers.
HATE 'EM!
3P00:35:
Are you kidding me?
Bégin deserved that
5-3
3P 1:04:
What a sequence in the neutral zone. Flyers take timeout.
Great game. Playoff hockey.
3P 2:30:
Canadiens hanging on by their fingernails. Price will have to be huge.
3P 5:16:
It ain't over.
Gorges late on Gagné
4-3
3P 5:16:
It ain't over.
Gorges late on Gagné
4-3
3P 6:20:
ROBERT LANG!
From SK74
4-2
Over.
Stevens will have the goons out
3P 6:40:
Suicide pass. And Markov has ti take a penalty.
Rats!
3P 7:20:
PP goal here would cinch it
3P Break:
Way to crash the net, literally, Gui! And Tanguay gets the puck to him.
3P 8:00:
My man Gorges: quietly excellent.
3P 19:53:
HORRIBLE penalty by Tanguay
3P 11:30:
Flyers will try to bang their way back into this. Could be some odd-man breaks
3P Break:
Some very good shifts. I can't wait for Higgins to get back on the second or third line.
3P 12:30:
Very steady game by the D. And Tom the Bomb blows another SK74 set-up.
3P 14:00:
Need some industrious, clock-eating shifts
3P 15:10:
Great PK, but then some anxious moments.
2P 17:40:
Way to kill momentum, Sergei
Why coaches go gray
3P 17:58:
Wow!
What a turnaround.
Komisarek dings one off Coburn
3-2
3P 18:42:
Roman Hamrlik: sniper.
Great passes by AK46 and Kovy.
2-2
3P 19:50:
Goons to start the third.
Out of town:
Luongo yanked ... Mike Green has three goals already ... as does Brandon Dubinsky, whom my man McGuire has tabbed for a big year.
3P 20:00:
Canadiens have to make a statement in this period. They've been outplayed by a team that is showing, through 40 minutes, that the playoffs weren't a fluke. The road to first place in the Eastern Conference runs through Philadelphia ... and New York ... and maybe a few other cities that aren't celebrating centennials.
J.T. on the second period:
Power Forward: (pow-er fore-wurd) n. One who uses his large physical mass to displace opponents while maintaining possession of the puck, and who subsequently employs superior skill to bury said puck off the rush. See also, Kostitsyn, Andrei.
Lapierre might be giving thanks for his job today and decided some fisticuffs might help cement his spot. He's got the trash talk down,
but not so much the punching part.
I love Tom the Bomb's heart, but imagine how much better Higgins would look with Lang and Sergei. With the skills of those two on his line, Higgins would hit at least three posts a game.
Latendresse looked great last game, but in this one he looks like he's thinking about skating. "Okay, first this foot, then this one...push off, glide..."
Price's glove is quick as a Hail Mary in a plane crash tonight. That save...you know the one...was great for the highlights. Now to take care of the long shots.
There's something missing from our team. They're fast, they're skilled, they're big. But the Flyers still look like the better team tonight. Biron's making the saves and our guys are hitting the posts. If this is the Habs' Cup window, I hope they don't become the Flyers' bitches at the same time.
Komisarek sacrificing his body to clear the zone has him up to 3.8 million per in the running tally.
I really like Josh Gorges, but he's not old enough to be Breeze's babysitter.
Are the bluelines slightly off in Philly or something? I don't remember seeing so many off-sides in a game in ages.
Habs had better get aggressive in the third, or they're going to make Philly think they're Montreal's overlords. If they're not thinking it already.
3P 4:30:
Hold onto your hats!
Between periods:
Michel Bergeron says stick checks won't cut it. And he doesn't like splitting the PP evenly between two waves.
2P 00:00:
It's called puck support. Detroit does it better than anybody. Forwards come back deep and zone clearances are effected by short, crisp passes. Not lazy, backhand crap without another white jersey in the camera frame, which we saw a few times in that period.
2P 1:00:
That Luca Sbisa kid looks more NHL-ready than Luke Schenn
2P 2:00:
Some Canadiens forwards –º I'm not naming names – are really pussy-ass on backchecking. And that's death against the Flyers.
2P 3:43:
true that. Pierre Houde says this is the kind of game that needs Francis Bouillon
2P Break:
May have to upgrade my opinion of Biron. That was some glove save on Kovy. Flyers are steamrolling Komisarek with impunity. Gui! has to flatten someone on the forecheck.
2P 5:00:
Another lazy, my-man-has-beaten-me penalty. And Knuble misses an open side. Gorges good on the PK. Then Lang hits the post.
2P 8:11:
Gut check for the Canadiens. They have to win some battles and get into this.
2P 8:20:
Horrible shift for Pleks line, which has to stay out.
3P Break:
Crazy game, eh? And it started so slowly.
2P 1Break:
Price huge on Brière. Sequence starts with Richards beating Breeze.
2P 10:30:
Flyers PK pressures the puck and the Canadiens PP can't adjust. Shades of last spring.
2P 12:28:
PP. Chance to get back into this, with their best D-man in the box.
2P Video review:
Timely break for the Canadiens. They've got to get their act together here. Nothing happening offensively, and the Flyers are buzzing Price.
2P 12:51:
If that stayed out, it was the save of the season.
2P 13:40:
Oof! Coté laid a huge hit on Komisarek. Then Lapierre challenged Downie. Brunet said Price should have warned Komo that someone was coming.
2P Break:
Amazing how fast things turn. I didn't like that Carter goal. It was Umbergeresque.
2P 15:00:
This one is headed south ... fast.
2P 16:47:
Bégin and Lapierre great on the PK. Very aggressive and fast.
Briere makes a nice play to gain the zone, then Richards smokes one from the point. SK74 late to cover the point.
2-1
2P 16:47:
Flyers PP. Mo is shifting.
2P 17:14:
Price beaten by a long one. Started with a Tanguay giveaway in the neutral zone.
Carter
1-1
2P 17:45:
I like Canadiens' zone clearances. Flyers forecheckers are slow.
2P 19:06:
AK46!!!!
Flattens Richards, opens the scoring with a screened wrister.
1-0
2P 19:50:
A little 4-on-4
Brière:
Smart. Articulate. One of the league's good guys.
2P 20:00:
Man, I hate the Flyers. Sending out the goons against Kovalev, with last change. And their imbecile fans eat that crap up.
J.T.'s notes on the first period:
Komisarek is up to 3.5 million per on my running tab of how much he should make in his next deal. Blocking a Downie shot and nailing Cote on the same shift helped his cause in that period.
The PP clinic is closed for Thanksgiving. Big bodies who know how to clog the passing lanes and clear rebounds aren't conducive to continuing to score on a quarter of your powerplays.
If icings were dollars in that period, these teams'd have enough to bail out the US banking system on their own.
I like how the Habs are clearing their own zone quickly. Last year teams like the Flyers camped out in their zone like hippies at Woodstock.
In honour of Patrick Roy's retirement next month, Carey Price gave a lovely example of Roy-like puck-handling, followed by the Roy-like saving of his own butt.
Speaking of Price though, he's looking really relaxed. Like he kind of moseyed into that ol' crease and aw shucksed himself a couple smooth glove saves.
I wish Ryan O'Byrne had a more definite destination for the puck than simply "outside the blueline" when making a pass under pressure.
Plekanec apparently thought it'd be a good idea to let the Flyers haul his turkey-gut around. Too bad the ref was watching.
I no longer automatically assume the Habs will give up a goal when down two men. I'm trying to figure out when that happened.
Captain K looks like he wants revenge. The embers of last year's playoffs are still burning there, I think. Hope he fans it into a total conflagration and torches their asses before this is over.
Between periods:
One curious stat: Roman Hamrlik played more minutes than Andrei Markov. Flyers blocked seven shots.
1P 00:00:
Same old Flyer crap. Lupul goes after Markov to set off a big scrum. Then more at the siren. And the idiot crowd loves it.
Georges: Get well soon.
1P 2:28:
Price is hot! Good to be tall, with screening like that. Great plays by Gorges, Hamrlik.
1P 2:28:
5-on-3. Dumb play by Pleks.
1P 3:00:
They're booing O'Byrne
1P Break:
Bégin hustles Eminger into a penalty. Kovy hits the post off a great AK46 feed from behind the net. A forest of black jerseys in front of Biron, giving canadiens the perimeter.
1P 6:20:
Seeing Breeze in trouble, Price comes out to help but clears right to Hartnell and has to make a big save. Whew!
1P 7:00:
Good shift for Brière line
1P Break:
Koivu wins two faceoffs from Richards. Lots of good passing by both waves. But Flyers clog the slot and take away the cross-ice pass as they did in the playoffs. PP needs more movement and net-crashing.
1P 11:00:
Will that juice things up? Komisarek flattened Riley Coté
1P 12:00:
15 faceoffs .. and counting. Less rhythm to this game than a high school dance in Idaho
1P Break:
Price looks very sharp. I fear he'll have to be.
1P 13:30:
Canadiens have one shot. About seven play stoppages. "Not a classic" says Pierre Houde.
1P 14:44:
hamrlik: two turnovers in one sequence.
1P 15:37:
SK74 waited forever and then had his pass intercepted while Komisarek was pinching. Tom the Bomb got back to save the bacon.
1P 17:20:
Philly winning a lot of battles.
1P 18:00:
Feeling each other out.
1P 19:00:
Fourth line gets second shift, against theirs
Biron:
GAA: 15.00
Save percentage: .750
The anthem:
Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman! Great!
Joel Bouchard:
thinks Gui! should stay with Tanguay and Koivu when Christopher Higgins comes back. Interesting idea, but how will my manHiggy react to being on the third line in his contract year?
Give a bad speller a break!:
Flyers have a guy named Ossi Vaananen
Special teams:
PP: 25 per cent to date
PK: 90 per cent
Ryan Hollweg:
McGuire says the Leafs should put him on waivers and send him to the AHL ... where I hope he goes nowhere near Mx-Pac or Weber.
R.J.F. Umberger:
How did that guy score EIGHT GOALS in the series?
Match-up D:
With last change, John Stevens will try to play Braydon Coburn and Kimo Timmonen against Kovalev's line. But who'll watch Koivu-Tanguay-Gui!? And Lang-Sergei?
Pleks:
Interviewed at home in Kladno, his hometown and Jaromir Jagr's. Plays tennis and a bit of ice shinny on the Jagr Team during the summer. He'll miss Mark Streit, his road roomie.
Playoff highlights:
And lowlights on RDS
J.T. alert!!!!!:
RDS feature on Tomas Plekanec coming right up
Joel Bouchard:
Likes the Richards-Brière-Gagné line and thinks they'll be more dangerous than Grabovski's line was on Saturday
The bangers:
Physical guys – Gui!, Bégin, Lapierre and Tom the Bomb – will have to come up big.
2P 9:16:
Canadiens' transition is very poor tonight.
Cherepanov:
I'm totally freaked out by this. Is there anything sadder than the death of a young person?
Share the agony and ecstasy of Habs fandom and read live blogs from every game with Gazette columnist Mike Boone.
Habs Inside/Out main RSS feed
Progressing Habs Unveil New Layers
http://wwweyesontheprize.blogspot.com/2008/10/progressing-habs-unveil-ne...
what a bunch of idiot goons the flyers are, a guy like Hartnell like what the hell is his problem all of the time
Good job Boone getting the blog figured out
I agree with you, how can the Flyers be so stupid? Against the top power play in the league, they play like brainless goons. Can't believe they will keep on doing this, although their management doesn't seem to care. Is this only to sell tickets?
www.sportsirens.blogspot.com
2P 2:00: Some Canadiens forwards –º I'm not naming names – are really pussy-ass on backchecking. And that's death against the Flyers.
hmmmm. I wonder
Canadiens have two superstars in waiting, AK46 and his remarkable younger brother, SK74. What a game by the brothers, anymore kids in that family? Say a puck moving defenseman
i'm a happy camper. i don't think there's anything more we can say right now about our boy Sergei. the kidis just so consistent, it's scary. (and Andrei is just a f-ing bulldozer with skill out there.) i hope Carbo's at least thinking about putting Higgins in with Lang and Sergei now.
Why what has Latendresse done?
I think he has shown improvements from last year and has 20 goal potential but Higgins is a proven scorer.
what's also crazy is that they don't even play on the same line...and when they do...they have that innate sibling chemistry.
So I'm home from the game...
Observations from the arena: MAN, was it EMPTY! Not as many Habs fans as the last time I went. I think the last time I was there they had a literal busload from Montreal. Seems like the attendance report says it's a sellout. Trust me. The place was empty. I'm guessing that might have showed up on TV too.
The stops and starts in the first period were frustrating, the second period was worrisome, but that third period? The transition game was humming, the Habs were flying and the goals were a comin'. FUN game to be at.
Favorite moment #1
I wear a McLAREN Canadiens jersey with a #12 on it to games. When I stood up to cheer Hamrlik's goal on the great feed from Kovy, some yutz in the crowd yells "Sit your ass down, McLovin'"
Good one.
Favorite moment #2
About forty minutes into my ride home from the Wachovia Center a car pulls up next to me and starts honking. Looks to be a husband/wife or boyfriend/girlfriend team wearing red shirts - I roll down my window and they yell "We love your license plate! Go Habs Go!"
/\\ike
GO HABS GO!
on phily network they said it was near a sellout, could see lots of open seats. don't know why there werent busloads of canadiens fans there (you talking about during the playoffs)
most flyer fans prob at bars watching the philies play
It still counts as a sell out when scalpers have a few thousand un-bought tickets
I go to the Boston games once in a while because it's so easy to get tickets (and driving down, staying in a room and driving back is cheaper than a night @ the bell center)
35$ for a beer, 2 hotdogs a nacho and a water... insane!
Brisebois did play in the 3rd period as per nhl.com. They show him playing as late as the 18:16 mark.
http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20082009/TV020035.HTM
If he played in the third period, I didn't notice him. But for a defenseman, that's a good thing.
__________________________________
Well Chuck, I noticed Hamrlik, Markov and Komisarek and they all had outstanding games, so I'm not sure your theory holds. :)
Same with Gorges...a few gr8 moment and a few mistakes...
I started watching the game on the NHL network, but the bias of the Philly announcers was more than I could stand. Switched over to RDS for the third, not sure of everything they said, but hearing them say Montreal scores gives me goosebumps.
Haha you gotta love the little giggle said by the play-by-play guy on RDS (his name escapes me) after Begin scored
Random thoughts on tonight's game from the Hockey News Canadiens Blog.
Habs Win First Battle in Philly War
http://www.thehockeynews.com/articles/18664-Canadiens-Blog-Habs-win-firs...
T.C.
tc.denault@habsworld.net
Good job I enjoyed your commnets. I thought this was character building game. This win is more satisfying as i had to watch the Philly feed. After the second the Philly annoucers had the game won and were accusing the Habs of "tip toeing" in the game.
mjames
Five out of a possible six points on the road to begin the Centennial Season? That will do pig, that will most certainly do!!!
I think you can comfortably pencil in Laraque for the rest of the Philly games this season.
I think you can comfortably pencil in Laraque for the rest of the Philly games this season.
Cant agree more...they'll get their dose...
Yep.
_____________________________________________________
Mad Pax...Beyond Powerdome
"2P 20:00:
Man, I hate the Flyers. Sending out the goons against Kovalev, with last change. And their imbecile fans eat that crap up."
Man, I love this blog lol
Do you know what Laroque's going to do too those wannabe goonette's,lmao
Yeah I can't wait to see him play the Flyers!
Joel Bouchard is amazing.
He's also an assistant coach with the Montreal Juniors.
One night he took the entire staff (of which I am apart of) out to dinner in the Old Port and picked up the entire tab.
He's such a gentleman too.
"I love everybody north of Pennsylvania.
And the Steelers."
And me too?
And ME, and Jay in PA....
/\\ike
GO HABS GO!
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