"(Love stinks)Love stinks yeah yeah(Love stinks)Love stinks yeah yeah(Love stinks)Love stinks yeah yeah(Love stinks)Love stinks yeah yeah – J Geils Band"
On this day dedicated to the Patron Saint of artificial flowers , hollow chocolate and edible undies – do not get your panties and / or briefs in a bunch. Put down those Jean Beliveau Pez dispensers before someone gets hurt. Fly those Canadien car flags at half mast and for the love of mother … do not let your sons grow up to be Scott Gomez.
The Montreal Canadiens came away with three out of a possible four points in their previous two games. Three points is great as the team attempts to solidify a play – off spot . Three is also a magic number when it comes to every man’ s fantasy. If the fans in Montreal believe that the 2010 – 2011 edition of Nos Glorieux are going to win a Cup – a fantasy is exactly what they are living …
Montreal beat the Toronto Maple Leafs and Carey Price earned a shut out.Break out the Baby Duck wine! Toasts all around ! Beating Burke ‘s squad is something that has happened thirty – three times this season. Face it – most teams beat the Leafs . A Pee Wee AAA team with a hot goaltender could defeat this ‘ sapless ‘ group that reside down the 401. Suddenly , the massacre in Massachussets is forgotten. All’ s well in the land of Guy Lafleur all because the team earned points against the Islanders and the Leafs. Gimme an Auriel Joliet Aspirin – a sudden ‘ mal a tete ‘ has impeded my vision and blurred my Stanley Sunglasses. If three points against a duo of teams that wrote the manual on ‘ How not to win the Stanley Cup ‘ is reason to celebrate – a move to a town that has erected a statue honoring a dog is in the works . ( see Slapshot – the movie ).
Where’s St. Patrick ?
The last man to wear the passion that is the French Canadian uniform was Patrick Roy. Number 33 did not enjoy losing and more importantly he did not enjoy having his or the Habs ‘ pride obscured by obstacles such as Lucic or the logo of the Islanders and Leafs. Love him or hate him – Patrick oozed a winning attitude that displayed itself over and over in the form of championships and juvenile behavior. That sort of behavior is what is lacking on the Habs . Chris Nilan tossing a bucket of pucks from the penalty box at an opposing combatant. Chris Chelios taking a dumb penalty to get a point across. An exclamation point in the face of an adversary stating firmly – DO NOT MESS WITH THE MONTREAL CANADIENS ! Shayne Corson had it. So did Guy Carbonneau as a player and as a coach.
As the Canadiens were being pushed around more than a wrestler on the losing end of a fixed match , Jacques Martin was spotted standing serenely behind the bench staring in disbelief and writing down notes. The missus need bread Jacques ? Gotta pay a Hydro bill before they cut off your power ? Write it down Mr. Martin – the fans in Montreal really do not want you to miss Lady Gaga at the Grammy awards. Martin should have been at the very least , standing on the bench and singling out the black and yellow perpetrators. Take ten game misconducts and allow any player sporting red , white and blue the freedom to leave the bench and beat the potatoes out of one of the Pilgrim ‘s ancestors.
Memo to Self
As the years have passed , the Habs ‘ management have become too concerned over their public image. They have arrived at the point where they take the Habs ‘ logo and themselves too serious.
Chris Chelios was the Captain of the team and Monsieur Chelios adored the night life in Montreal as do most of the players that ply their craft in this city. The Canadiens of the seventies won four Stanley Cups and several of the players , most notably , Guy Lafleur , were out carousing and drinking everywhere in Canada ‘s version of Babylon. It was okay because the players partied hard and played harder. That is the difference that the current management must decipher before cutting lose any more star players. Chelios was dispatched to his home town of Chicago instead of captaining the Habs to three or four championships. Instead of swallowing their pride and admitting they hired the wrong people in the form of Houle and Tremblay – management traded Roy for a couple of good skaters and a skinny netminder rather than apolgize to Patrick and enable him to carry on le Habitant pride.
A tradition of errors
David Desharnais has managed to add eleven points ( 5 goals and 6 assists ) to his NHL point totals in eighteen games since being called up from Hamilton. Desharnais is also a + 1 . In the off – season , the Habs traded Jaroslav Halak for Lars Eller and Ian Schultz. Eller was projected and hailed by management as a future top six forward in the league and Ian Schultz was to be an eventual tough guy who would one day tally points in the shadow of Sergio Momesso.
In fifty – three games , Eller has accounted for 8points ( 3 goals and 5 assist ) and is a minus 6 . Scultz , who is skating in Hamilton , has zero points in thirty – four games.
On Valentine ‘s day , flowers to the one that loves you are a necessity. An apology is also something that is required when you wrong the one that you love.
You are welcome Monsieur Gauthier. Flowers are not necessary…
Notes
Mark down November 14th on your calendar for next season.Scott Gomez is one point shy of the 500th assist of his career. At his current pace , that will be the date that he achieves the milestone.Way to go Scott ! We are rooting for ya ….
Visit Sabre Noise and read what Tim Redinger has to say about Ryan Miller.
Too May Men on the Site discusses the return of Forsberg to the Avalanche.
Les Habitants are playing Buffalo Tuesday evening. What better time than to head to La Kachette . Order a drink and you can receive All You Can Eat Wings for 14. 95 ! Mention A Winning Habit and receive 10 % Off Anything You Order Every Time the Habs play ! Tuesday is also Acoustic Night – once the game is finished either join in or listen to an acoustic jam hosted by Ross Griffiths !
Vote on this week ‘s question – Is Martin good or bad ?