Habs Make Leafs Look Like Cup Contenders

Embarrassing performance by Canadiens at home against Leafs leaves team looking for answers

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Wha happen?

Huh?

Err... is this the Mongolian bar-b-q!?

Last night's game in Montreal against the Leafs -- was it one big "wake up and find Bobby in the shower" type dream!?

No. Unfortunately not.

But was it reality? Not entirely...

The Habs were looking to bounce back after two disappointing losses this week and maybe get some revenge for their opening night loss against the Leafs; instead they laid one very large egg in front of their hometown supporters, losing 6-0, their worst home loss since 1996.

Embarrassing is one way of looking at it. But it isn't the time just yet to push the panic button.

The Habs came out flat and lost faceoffs, puck battles -- you name it. And the Leafs to their credit came out with a lot of speed and pounced on Montreal's errors right off the bat.

Are the Habs that bad!? No sir.

Are the Leafs that good. Definitely not.

As always, the truth lies somewhere in the middle.

In this lockout-shortened season, weird things are going to happen. Last night was definitely weird. The Canadiens couldn't establish any flow or net presence and made Leafs starter James Reimer look like Ken Dryden. Or maybe his brother Dave. Whatever, Reimer didn't have to work that hard to get his shutout, even if he stopped 20 shots in the second frame alone. He might have been tested five times all night.

Then the weird stuff happened in the third. The game was out of reach and Prust et al tried to at least send some messages for the next time. But when Colton Orr ran viciously towards Tomas Plekanec's knee, or when Mikhail Grabovski apparently bit Max Pacioretty's forearm in a scrum, things downright turned from the surreal to the nasty. Grabovski is set to have an NHL hearing Sunday afternoon.

But I'll tell you something. That was a major mistake by the Leafs moving forward against the Habs. You know why? Because the classic rivalry between the Habs/Leafs just hasn't been as strong from Montreal's perspective for a long time now. That's why for the last 10-15 years the Leafs seem to better the Canadiens, no matter how bad the buds are. They just get up for these games much more than the Canadiens, like they do for the Bruins.

But next time might be different. Next time the Habs have something to fight for, to get up for, to play for...

And that's all what Habs nation has right now after a loss like last night. Next time...

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24CH -- Entertaining but a bit soff

Like pretty much all of Habs nation I've seen the first two episodes of the HBO 24/7 type series 24CH which gives us an insider's view of the Montreal Canadiens like never before. This would've never happened under Pierre Gauthier's watch, that's for sure.

And it is entertaining, though a bit on the superficial side. Unlike the HBO series, the show doesn't seem to build on any storylines except that the Canadiens as a franchise are moving forward from last year's disaster. Maybe it's still a bit early, or maybe it's because it's only focused on one team, whereas the HBO had two teams to play off of. For me as in the HBO series it's the locker room stuff that I really enjoy. And probably the most evocative image -- for me at least -- was that of a Molson Centre staffer removing a picture of Scott Gomez from a wall.

The French version on RDS is also just a bit different than it's English counterpart on TSN, so I recommend watching both. Obviously the language of the players is English, so there's more footage of the players shown in the English version. And the music is different. The French version's soundtrack really was pretty cheesy. Glad to see they toned that down in the second installment which unfortunately only ran for a half hour. Doesn't seem long enough. In any case, 24CH is worth watching if you're a diehard Habs fan but as a show it doesn't bring as much of that sports documentary feel that HBO does so well. Maybe it needs Liev Schreiber narrating.

Follow me on Twitter: @HabsFanLeafLand

Back to Normalcy

I awoke to a better world this morning.

A world that is back in sync; one where things feel and look like I remember them.

A world, namely, which does not include the Boston Bruins as Stanley Cup Champions.

You may have noticed my radio silence during this opening round of the 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs.

This was not completely intentional.

I needed a bit of a break but also, since I was behind in posting my first round predictions I decided to let things unfold before chiming in.

Now I can...

Sometime after 10pm in my home last night, it was if the Stanley Cup had been won. But indeed it had been lost, and was as much of a victory for me as anything.

The Boston Bruins are now relegated to that spot where they can only watch who will take the trophy away from them, like an outgoing Prime Minister who's lost the election, or a Richard Nixon watching his foe in JFK taking the oath from another Nixon foe, Chief Justice Earl Warren (I'm reading his bio now, thus the reference).

Timmy Thomas didn't do his usual race off the ice after losing in overtime bit. This time, all he could do is watch. Caps beat the Bruins 2-1 in OT to win the series 4-3. Thank you.

LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bruins lose, Bruins lose. Hey Jack Edwards, what do you say!!!???

It has been quite the interesting first round: Nashville's Shea Weber taking Zetterberg's head in hand and whacking it against the boards; the Raffi Torres hit; the OT's; the crazy (read: crap) goaltending in the Philly/Pittsburgh series; the Torres suspension; the lack of suspension to Weber; and now the Caps taking out the Bruins. There's more.

LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh that deafening silence in Boston when Joel Ward slipped that rebound past a sprawling and finally not-so-lucky Timmy Thomas. Beautiful.

You got to love the irony, that it's Washington to beat the Bruins, after the now infamous snub of President Obama by Thomas when the team visited the White House. God Bless America, Timmy!

It's kind of funny that Ward scored the winning goal. I was thinking last night how clutch he was last year in the playoffs for Nashville and then signed a juicy contract with the Caps based on that performance. And this year? Disappointing to say the least.

But then he goes and redeems himself with the biggest goal of his career -- and for me, the biggest goal of the year!!!!!!!!!!

The playoffs make strange bedfellows. I found it somewhat odd rooting for a Capitals team that I so often have despised, especially in 2010 vs. the Habs. But there I was, sweating along with every play as if it were Carey Price in nets instead of the upstart rook Holtby.

Can he pull a Kenny Dryden and take the Caps all the way!?

Why not!? Even more possible if the Senators stay keep with the programme so far and knock out the Eastern Conference top seed New York Rangers.

And of course you know I was rooting for the L.A. Kings against Vancouver--a team I'll never root for again after letting the Bruins win the Cup.

Once it's set, second round predictions will be posted -- I promise.