My Cousin, Habs Good Luck Charm!!!

This story begins earlier in the season when the Habs beat the Senators in Ottawa 4-1.

Great game by the troups, made better for me because my good buddy and cousin Warren Kleiner was in attendance -- with his best bud Charles -- but also because they were in primo position to be shot by RDS cameras on television.

Nice one Warren.

No this guy's not Warren!!! But in any case this gent, wearing Subban's number, was funny looking enough to capture my attention, celebrating the Canadiens' first goal less than two minutes in last night by Benny Pouliot.

The story continues when we fast-forward to a couple of weeks ago when the Habs played the Bruins in Montreal.

Habs are down 2-0 and it looked pretty dire. Thomas was in nets and the Habs weren't really generating any serious offence to even think of a comeback. Then we know the rest of the story. The Habs got a lucky goal (aided by the hockey Gods) by Gomez, Gionta ties it up, then Pacioretty scores in OT for a dramatic comeback win.

Then later that week, I found out that Warren was at the Bell Centre and it all made sense. The guy has a horseshoe up his arse. But it gets better. Turns out after the game he stayed downtown and decided to go for an upscale burger at m:bgr on Drummond St.

And who should he bump into later that night???

That's right!!! P.K. Subban and the game hero, Max Pacioretty.

Warren didn't want to bother MaxPac because he says he was sitting quietly with a hot girl, maybe his girlfriend, maybe not. Hey, Warren understands not to cut anyone's grass... especially the latest Habs hero!!!

So now we get to last night when the Habs marched into Ottawa to face a listless, down-on-their-luck Senators team. Clouston: dead man walking. Murray: dead man walking. Kovalev, back in action and who cares!? The guy's got 18 points in 42 games!!! There was even talk on RDS' "L'Antichambre" after the contest that the Habs could be interested in picking up the mercurial winger for the stretch run. What a joke that'd be.

Who needs that mess on our hands!? The Habs have moved on, and going forward with a new team and new direction.

The Habs got off to a great start with Pouliot's goal then Tomas Plekanec potting a nice one after Andrei Kostitsyn created a turnover deep in the Sens' zone. And I'm wondering, where's Warren? But my question was answered later in the period when I saw him before a commercial break.

So the Habs blew the Sens away 7-1, with pretty much all of the first three lines chipping in, which today Martin said was encouraging. Kostitsyn popped in a nice one, Pleks got another on a sweet breakaway of his own creation, and Subban finished her off with a nice slapper. Nice to see that the young lad is getting his shot off a lot quicker -- he must be working on his release; and, performing for his new good buddy Warren as he sat in the stands.

So I'm watching with a big smile on my face and as the show ends with its usual mash-up, I see the money shot!!! Warren and Chuck...yeah boys!!!

Last shot to end the show. Nice!

Then they appeared again in the mash-up that began RDS' "L'Antichambre":

So, who wants to start a petition these two mensches get season's tickets to all the Habs games moving forward -- fer ever!!!!

Turns out Warren is trading in his big league lawyer suits, working and living in Toronto, for the rolled up sleeves as the owner of Montreal's newest, and best, smoked meat deli to be called "Ettingers"!!! More on this story sometime in the spring when it has its grand opening. I'll see what I can do to make your visit more pleasant should you go... maybe he'll be okay with giving you a 10% discount by saying "Habs Fan in LeafLand" at the cash!!!

Warren and I ring in the New Year, January 1, 2011

Some other game notes:

Engqvist and Ryan White both performed well, playing over 11 minutes each.

Max Pacioretty, what can I say? Comes back from taking a blast in the chest. That's what we need dude!! Scores a goal... alaka.

And finally:

• Story out of Los Angeles that Mike Komisarek allegedly punched a woman at an L.A. nightclub. Details to come, but if it's true, what a loser!!!! Who does he think he is? Star of "Jersey Shore!?"
• I love this one: After the Red Wings tried to get a deal done with goaltender Evgeni Nabokov and then placed him on mandatory waivers first because he'd been playing in the KHL this year -- the New York Islanders picked him up off of waivers. Haha! Not only do the Isles get a decent goalie who can fill in while DiPietro convalesces -- again -- but they screw Detroit at the same time. Love that!!!!!
• Tonight at the Bell Centre marks Saku Koivu's return to Montreal. Gonna be emotional. He's already emotional. I hope he does get the first star of the game so we can give him the love he deserves, one more time. I also hope the Habs don't get too caught up in it and play a solid game. As for Paul Mara, Kyle Chipchura and Max Lapierre, they also have their homecomings... but who cares!?