What'd I miss!? A lot, apparently...

GAMES NUMERO 4, 5 & 6 AND OTHER HABS STUFF

Wow! You go away for some fun in the sun for a few days and you can miss a lot in a lockout-shortened season.

For instance, I missed the Canadiens extending their winning streak to four before going down against the Senators in Ottawa in their first back to back of the season.

Buh-bye "triple low-five." The fans may like it, but you know what? The team lost a lot of games during the shelf-life of this celebration and it's time to leave it behind. 

It was universally stated by the media that the Canadiens lost the game in a four minute span in the second period where Ryan White took a bad unsportsmanlike penalty, put his team in the soup and the Sens scored three goals. It should be clearly noted that backup Peter Budaj was in nets for the Habs, while starter Craig Anderson was between the pipes for Ottawa. It's going to be that kind of year for Budaj but hopefully he can step it up when needed.

I missed a terrific performance by the two Gallys as they're now known, Alex Galchenyuk and Brendan Gallagher against New Jersey last Sunday. Then head coach Michel Therrien announced after game four the two would stay with the team!!!!

Wow that's big -- big for the two youngsters and the team. Totally a major departure from the way the Canadiens have treated young talent in the past. A big deal was made of how Galchenyuk is the first eighteen year old to make the team like since Mathieu Schneider or Petr Svoboda or something. Nice. Well youngest to make the team since Guillaume Latendresse. But that's not saying much.

Youngsters are making their presence around the league with players staying with their squads. More on this after their true impact reveals itself after more games played.

The New Jersey game was supposed to be the first big test for this team. Well, they passed. Beating Marty Brodeur is always a bonus for this team because he plays so well in Montreal.

Then the Habs continued their winning ways against the Winnipeg Jets. They even came from behind in the third period. This team has character! Good! And the powerplay led by Andrei Markov has kept rolling along.

What else? Well my last tweet before heading down south was about Max Pacioretty who had an emergency appendectomy and would be out for roughly 3-4 weeks. That was Saturday. Today he went through a full practice with the team. This guy is unbelievable. Let's hope that's all for him in regards to the injuries but man the guy's healing and perseverance is inspiring.

And speaking of today's practice no way he's going to get his b@#!s  cracked by his teammates you know who made his first full appearance on the ice with his mates: P.K. Subban. This one is going to take a post of its own tomorrow. But let's just say I'm happy he took the two-year deal and I know the team and more importantly, the head coach, is going to break him in to the TEAM concept the Habs have been preaching this year. And so far, it's been working. The Habs are 4-2 without him, but are a better squad with this exciting, young rearguard.

Probably this means Tomas Kaberle will be the one to ride the pine or visit the press box. We'll see how it shakes down tomorrow afternoon against the Buffalo Sabres -- who had a nice win of their own last night against the Bruins in Boston.

Listen. Michel Therrien was on RDS' "L'Antichambre" all of last year and so it's quite well known what he thinks of Subban's showboating and style. Don't break the personality, but some things could be toned down, especially in the room. So it should be no surprise to anyone that today he came down on the "triple low-five" between Subban and Price after Habs wins. I don't mind it. This team is going to be "...more humble," in Therrien's words.

More on the PK signing and all that jazz in my next post.
Follow moi on Twitter: @HabsFanLeafLand

PS: Alex Kovalev scored the game winner for the Panthers against the Jets.

GET YOUR POPCORN READY!!!

GAME NUMERO 1: HABS VS. LEAFS

Well it's finally arrived, the start of the 2012-2013 NHL season. Kings fans must be ecstatic -- they can at least raise their one and only Stanley Cup banner and get on with it. We know the media is jumping for joy -- they now get to do what they're paid to do.

For us poor sod fans, we don't get much except what we wanted all along. That is, the chance to root for our home teams and debate about it at work. Is that so much to ask for???

But what about those rumours of free NHL CentreIce for us fans? What about something concrete to make us feel better about having our one and only pleasure watching hockey being robbed from us??

You know what we got? An apology... an apology from the NHL in the form of a letter, which ran this week in various sports pages, thanking us fans, asking us for forgiveness, and mentioning that our local team will be running special promotions for us.

Sounds like Nixon's famous secret plan to end the Vietnam War.

Feh!!!

I'm not coming back because of anything other than the fact that I love hockey in all its forms and rooting for the Montreal Canadiens is who I am! I'm not going to let "them" take that away from me. I (we) already lost the Expos. And even if the Habs were "lost" last season, at least there was something to talk about, carnivalesque or otherwise.

And just so it's clear:

• I'm not spending any money on anything NHL-related this season;
• I'm not paying to see a single hockey game in person and if I do (should tickets should fall into my lap), I ain't spending a dime at the rink. I'll bring my own popcorn, thank you very much.

SO GET YOUR POPCORN READY!

Here we are: a 48 game season kicked off with the Habs vs. the Leafs in Montreal. And what can us fans expect? Who knows!? Probably a lot of injuries.

Already Carey Price has tweaked a groin and as a goalie, I'm a bit concerned. I played through a groin injury one season a few years back and what happens is that it gets better as you rest it, then you play and it gets re-aggravated.

"I'm sorry. There will be no free NHL CentreIce this, or any other, season. I still get my huge salary though."

Over and over and over. Until you say finally, "I can't play for a few weeks" to let it heal once and for all. And that was just playing twice a week. So let's say I hope that Price and the medical staff know what they're doing, because it can really affect his performance and without a Carey Price at top form, the Habs are toast this year.

But will that be such a bad thing? Should our hopes really be high for this year!?

There's so much up in the air with this team, but one thing is for certain: the atmosphere has changed for the better, the talent on the ice is bigger and stronger, and a lot of players have a lot to prove:

1. Andrei Markov: can he be the gamer we knew and loved? And keep those knees together?
2. P.K. Subban: can the team move on without him, if necessary? (see 1.)
3. Colby Armstrong: playing for the team he grew up loving, can he stay healthy and still play an effective, physical game?
4. Rene Bourque: can he shut the naysayers up and show he's got what it takes to perform in the pot of pea soup that is Montreal hockey?
5. Brian Gionta: can he lead this team once again with grit and perseverance, and stay healthy?
6. Michel Therrien: from the land of RDS, can he stay within himself and not let his emotions get the better of him?
7. Tomas Kaberle: fitter than he was last year, can he show that he still has it?
8. Tomas Plekanec and co: can the pivot play with the same wingers for more than 3 games this year so he can form some sort of chemistry with them?
9. Alex Galchenyuk: you made the team and that's great. But can you show us that you are ready for this stage full-time?

Scott Gomez of course would have been on this list too... speaking of which:
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LEAGUE UPDATES, ETC.
So now that Scott Gomez has been officially bought out by the Canadiens, the man is free to sign with another team and good for him. There's reportedly been a lot of interest, and he may end up back in New Jersey.

Veteran defenseman Wade Redden signed a one year deal with the St. Louis Blues. Wow talk about coming out of exile. He played for the Hartford Connecticut Whale in the AHL last year. He must be happy to at least show he still may have a few years left in the tank. Or it could be a disaster, but from the Blues' point of view, there's not much to lose.

And our old friend Steve Begin has signed a league minimum one year deal with the Calgary Flames. Couldn't happen to a better guy. He never gave up, trained his arse off and came to camp ready.

Now what about Matthieu Darche? No contract as yet, but he's still with the team.

And then there's l'Artiste... AK27, way down in white-belt, white-shoes-land. ALEX KOVALEV MADE THE FLORIDA PANTHERS!!! The man is back, and not only that, he'll be in Montreal on Tuesday to play against the Habs. LOVE IT!!! Will he pull a Guy Lafleur and score a couple of goals? I hope so (Habs 6, Panthers 5).

Btw, I was following and tweeting about Kovalev all week without any fanfare, response or mention by any of the pro sports media. Then he gets a contract and it's news. You know, this twitter thing let me tell you, it's cool for instant info, but then you get hundreds of people tweeting the same thing and it's kind of boring.

TELL ME SOMETHING I DON'T KNOW!!

That's what I'm trying to do folks. Follow me: @HabsFanLeafLand

Top 5 Pick, Here We Come!!

Wasted!

No I'm not talking about me... well maybe a little bit. It's true. I'm wasted for having wasted my time watching last night's 3-1 loss to the Buffalo Sabres.

What I mean is wasted (i.e. opportunity)... again! The Habs continue to waste any opportunities they have to crawl back into the playoff hunt.

Pricer had a solid outing for his team, but geez! Score some goals for the guy. Pic: Dario Ayala, The Gazette

Here they are, at home and fresh from the All-Star break. Everyone's happy and feeling good coming after 2 solid wins with the last being the 7-2 drubbing of the Red Wings. The team had an energetic practice, things were looking up. And then the game arrives...

What happened?

Well the Habs came out strong and took a 1-0 lead but then fell completely flat through the second period and gave up chance after chance until the Sabres were able to take the lead in the 3rd period and  never looked back.

Lack of intensity and desperation, Price says. Too many players playing from the sidelines.

But does this surprise anyone who's been following the team this year? You know what bothers me most? We're wasting terrific seasons from Erik Cole and Max Pacioretty. These guys have been great. MaxPac needs to work on his consistency but remember, just his first full year. Cole's signing was lambasted by many in the press and after a slow start, they looked right. But the guy has been pretty much Mnsr. Consistency from then on, and has also become the team's leader both on and off the ice. The guy tries hard. Where's that work effort from the rest of the team?

One of my fellow HabsFan in LeafLanders and I had a small agreement yesterday before the game: Habs win, they're going to make the playoffs. Habs lose, Habsnots!!!

My unfortunate yet precise prediction was that the Habs would indeed lose, just because each time this year they've had some momentum, then had a bit of a break, they've come out really flat to lose that next game. It's why they can't get on any sort of run. Everyone was saying after the Detroit win, too bad they had the All-Star break, just stalls their momentum. But you can't make excuses. Come on, the Sabres!? They're on a free-fall. They won only 1 of their last 8 away games for crying out loud. Tell you what. We're on a free-fall!!

But I don't think we need to blow up the team just because it finds itself in the bottom 5 of the league.

Good I say. But it is time for President Geoff Molson to enter the picture. Forget about the delusion of the playoffs. We can find our fun in watching the Leafs blow 4-1 leads like they did last night to the Pens and lose out on the playoffs by one point.

Yes Mr. Molson, you may just receive that letter I promised awhile back. Time to get things in order for the draft. That means letting Mr. Gauthier go and putting an able-bodied GM in his place.

Jeff Carter wants out of Columbus. Columbus wants out of the Jeff Carter contract. Let's take the chance and get rid of Gomez at the same time. Yah it's another silly contract -- but if you throw in that juicy number one pick this summer, it could be worth it.

Let's get that top 5 pick. The draft is going to be a good one, so why not? Even Director of Scouting Trevor Timmins probably wouldn't be able to botch that one up.

In the meantime, how about another trade? I got one for you: Let's swap a problem for a problem. Look we need to get rid of Scotty Gomez, right? Who by the way has a couple more kicks at the can before he can celebrate a full calendar year without scoring a goal. Columbus needs to get rid of party-boy and injury prone Jeff Carter, a guy who has offensive upside when he's engaged and healthy. So why not Gomez, Kaberle and Kostitsyn for Carter (who's currently hurt) and Columbus' 1st round pick in this summer's draft??? Which for all intent and purpose will either be 1 or 2.

Yes you heard me right, trade Kostitsyn. Look I love the guy, you all know that. But I don't want to see him leave for nothing. Carter's contract bites, but you know, it could be a gamble that pays off for the Habs, conditional on getting that 1st rounder.

Never happen you say? Just watch...

I deleted the "...me" above. Too Trudeau-esque.