Carbonneau fired!

Most mornings I sit around in a semi-conscious fog as I get my day started far too early.

However, this news has me awake. Carbonneau was fired! Gainey is taking over. Big stuff for 6am!

Habs end win streak

Carey Price was in net last night. The final score was 5-1 against Buffalo and that 1 was very last minute. Argh!

The CJAD sportscasters noted that while the first goal was probably not his fault, the remaining four were. There was even talk (by them) in the third of pulling him for the back-up you've never heard of (they needed a last minute guy because Halak has the flu).

I sure hope Halak is better for Friday!

Good news, everyone! (More trouble in Habland)

Good grief (or 'tabernac' if you prefer en français):

'The French-language daily La Presse reported Friday that Andrei Kostitsyn and Sergei Kostitsyn had social ties with Pasquale Mangiola [only 2.5 letters away from Mangini!], who was arrested Feb. 12.

“We’re very concerned,” Montreal general manager Bob Gainey said at a news press conference at the team’s suburban practice facility. “We’re very concerned because we know that this person who became involved with these players, he’s not the only person who wants to find a place to enter the inner area of the hockey team.”

La Presse said none of the three players is suspected of any criminal activity.'

Awesome. Apparently Bob Gainey sat everyone down and said that associations with, you know, those involved with organized crime are a bad idea. He also noted that "it doesn’t reflect well on our team, it doesn’t reflect well on the individuals, it cannot be extinguished as a possible inhibitor to our performance." The third (or 'turd') player in question was Hamrlik.

Quit imploding! Now! Come on!

There was some University of Alberta study a few weeks ago that showed the Habs still have a 95% chance of making the playoffs. I wonder how that number changes from day to day.

Kovalev scandal

Alex Kovalev, one of the key elements in last year's success, did not join the Habs on the road. GM Bob Gainey announced that it was due to his poor attitude as of late. He made this announcement in French, which seems odd seeing as there is a major complaint from xenophobic Montreal fans that not enough players are French.

Guy Lafleur -- swearing in true Montreal fashion -- put in his two cents.

The question is: will he be traded or not? Conflicting reports are currently emerging on the situation.

(How did I miss this? It scares me that I need to spend more time in front of the computer. Eek).

Also, not to keep you in suspense, the Habs lost last night to Washington but it was at least in a shoot-out, so they kept it close.

Habs so bad they require their own franglais

Franglais is the native Quebecois art of melding French and English in a way that creates new functional words (for example, 'j'ai parké le truck' -- I parked the truck) or just appropriating words from English (i.e., coach, game, etc...). From reading a summary of last night's game from the French newspaper La Presse, I discovered a new franglais word this morning: choker, as in, 'to choke.' After last night's 4-1 loss to the Canucks, it was pretty popular.

Here is one of my favorite uses of the word:

'J’aime bien Kovalev mais là il faudrait lui mettre un C sur son chandail. Un C pour Chokeux!'
[Translation: I like Kovalev, but there needs to be a C on his sweater. A C for Choker!]

The Habs: what the hell?

Okay, this post is slightly late seeing as Montreal did actually win last night, but in general let's think this over. Since the All-Star Break, they are 3-9 although they do tend to be pretty streaky -- there was a good stretch in the start of January. There was a front-page story on the webpage for the Montreal Gazette the other day (bless sports towns) and now there are a slew of comments, most of which want to blame head coach Guy Carbonneau. But is that really the problem? I mean, he did take them to a conference championship last year (they then choked Manning-style in the playoffs), so it's hard to think that he is the sole problem. The article claims that Montreal is now 'playing scared' instead of just playing, which seems like a lousy answer. It's hard to know without being able to actually watch a game...I haven't been as good this year and feel a bit behind.

Whatever it is, get your collective acts together!

As a further 'What the hell' how is Montreal not playing on a Saturday night? Is there some national Canadian event I am unaware of?

Guy Carbonneau unhappy with Carey Price

(I know, Superbowl was a week ago. Later today. It's been a hectic week, what with Bad Mormons in my crib and all).

The Canadiens are on the verge of a complete collapse, having lost 7 of their last 9 games. Not to mention that last night's loss was to the Leafs, which is clearly not okay. Guy Carbonneau seems to have one person in mind to blame from his quotes yesterday:

First, “we need everyone to play, and that includes our goaltenders,” said Carbonneau.

Then later, “Where do you want me to start? He gave up five goals.” (in response to a question about what he didn’t like about goaltender Carey Price’s performance against Toronto.).

Please tell me that we can get a 'playoffs?' rant soon with a Québeçois accent, because that would be awesome. (If you're curious, Jim Mora, coach of the Indianapolis Colts, was bitching about Peyton. Yes. Really.)

Incidentally, 'backup' goaltender Jaroslav Halak was supposed to start, but was sick.

What not to wear

The Montreal Canadiens donned some seriously ugly uniforms this weekend in honor of the 1912-1913 season. I don't think that this uniform really needed to be honored by any stretch of the imagination.

They also lost yesterday to the Bruins (there was hockey? Wasn't it Superbowl Sunday? Is there anything else that happens in the North American sporting world than Superbowl Sunday? If so, what is the point???). I'm kind of amazed that they did seeing as if I were the Bruins, I think that the striped pattern would have been horrifically distracting. Maybe the Habs were trying to hide in shame instead of concentrating on the game.

Tampa Bay 5, Montreal 3

Okay, I'm starting to think that I should stop paying attention to the NHL because my Habs are clearly suffering as a result. Both games I've watched this month were losses. I feel like all the games I've listened to (such as against les Trashers) have been losses. Not good! We are still competing with Boston and need to shape up!

One of the weirder moments of the game occurred when the organist broke out in the 'Beer Barrel Polka.' Not exactly what I think of when I think 'hockey music.' They made up for it by playing 'Get Ready 4 This' just moments later. Much better.

There is a whole discussion waiting to be had about why early 90s techno plays such a prominent role at hockey games. Now, though, is maybe not the time.