Segacs's World I Know

Archive for the ‘Hockey’ Category

Au revoir, Gui.

• The 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall was commemorated with free outdoor concerts and celebrations this weekend.
• The U.S. House of Representatives has passed the Obama healthcare reform bill in a narrow vote – a crucial first step towards a complete overhaul of the U.S. healthcare system. But, as the New York Times reports, it came at a heavy price, with pandering to the anti-abortion movement. And the toughest fight may still be yet to come.
• Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, frustrated by his “inability to make peace” (read: his inability to achieve victory over rival Hamas), plans to quit. True to form, he blames Israel for everything. Who’s surprised?
• It’s a witch-hunt, as Nidal Malik Hasan, the gunman allegedly responsible for shooting up a U.S. military base in Fort Hood is being investigated for terrorist links. Never mind that he was American-born, had served in the army for years as a psychiatrist, and seemed to have psychological problems. Nope, all it takes is for Americans to hear the word “Muslim” and they think they have it all figured out. Because everything’s always black or white, with no shades of grey, right? *Sigh*.
• Quebec is being lauded for having the fastest H1N1 vaccine program. Really? Is it possible that, as disorganized as our program has been, everyone else’s is actually worse?
• The Habs fell below .500 with last night’s 3-1 loss to Tampa Bay. Not only that, but thanks to a certain friend, I will no longer be able to watch Jacques Martin without thinking of The Count on Sesame Street.

Allegations that the Calgary Flames cut in line for the H1N1 vaccine:

The provincial health minister wants to know if swine flu shots were “inappropriately diverted” to the Calgary Flames while thousands had to stand in line for hours for the vaccine.

Alberta Health Minister Ron Liepert says he doesn’t know where the NHL team got the vaccine, adding that Alberta Health Services is the only supplier in the province. Team president Ken King says the club contacted the department and asked for the clinic.

[ . . . ]

Alberta’s opposition parties say professional hockey players shouldn’t be getting the vaccine ahead of cancer patients and pregnant women.

Or, more importantly, ahead of other NHL teams like the Montreal Canadiens.

• Bixi is apparently having a problem with too many bikes ending up downtown and not making it back to the Plateau. You’d think someone might have anticipated this issue when they introduced a public bicycle service in a city built on a hill, no?

• Montreal has claimed the #1 spot on AskMen.com’s Top 10 list of Canadian riots… as well as the #2, #3, #5, #8 and #9 spots. Clearly, something to be proud of.
• Apparently, Montreal’s festival season might be one festival short this year, thanks to idiots in the federal government.
• T-shirt slogan of the week: “My drinking team has a hockey problem”.
• I just got offered a hot pepper by a random guy in an elevator.

Well, the Habs are down 3-0 against the Bruins, and the season is a hair’s breath from over. But, watching from the reds this evening, I couldn’t even work my way up to being upset about it.

From the minute the sellout crowd booed loudly and rudely through the U.S. National Anthem, I knew it was going to be a long night. There is no excuse for that kind of disgusting display. If you don’t want to sing, fine, but stand quietly and show some respect.

The boos continued all night for the likes of Zdeno Chara and company. The cheers, on the other hand, were loud and boisterous for hits, checks and fights, but were mostly absent otherwise. Last season, the Bell Centre was so loud during the playoff games that you couldn’t even hear yourself think. Not so this season. When the team needed the crowd to rally behind them as they limped their way through a scoreless third, it was so silent you could hear a pin drop.

This fanbase eggs on the likes of Laraque and Stewart and encourages the team to play like thugs. Meanwhile, the so-called “big bad Bruins” beat us on skill, not might.

Yes, it’s true that a good number of our key players were injured. Yes, it’s true that Gainey has made some incredibly questionable decisions, including giving Carey Price a stranglehold on the starter’s job for no apparent reason.

Ultimately, the better team won all three games. Boston has outplayed us, outmatched us, outdueled us in every critical category, and has walked away with the victories fair and square.

And until we fans start demanding better and acting with class, we can expect more of the same. This season, Montreal fans truly got the hockey team that we deserved.

Shame on us.

Turns out Bob Gainey wasn’t completely accurate when he said he wasn’t going to make any more moves this season. He didn’t trade any players on deadline day, but he did just fire Guy Carbonneau as coach.

It’s hard to argue that the Habs’ recent woes can be blamed solely or even largely on Carbo. On the other hand, sometimes fault doesn’t come into it. Sometimes it’s just about shaking things up.

Can’t help but feel bad for the guy, though. I liked Carbonneau as a player and I liked him as a coach. He led the Habs to their best record in over a decade last season, and this season started off promising as well. Then again, I guess the higher you rise, the further you fall.

Shots: 48-22 in favour of Colorado. Final score: 4-2 Habs.

Halak stole that one for us. At least one of our goalies seems to have rediscovered his confidence, even if it’s the wrong one. But that was a really dismal performance by the rest of the team.

Let’s hope that this victory – however undeserved – helps energize the rest of the team to turn things around for real.

Trying to find an adequate word to describe the Habs’ dismal performance as of late. “Disastrous” just doesn’t seem strong enough.

Gainey’s got a busy couple of weeks ahead. He’ll need to do something to turn things around before the trade deadline.

Update: The carnage continues.

The Habs looked like themselves again last night, handily beating the Penguins 4-2 and playing like they meant it.

About time. Hope they can keep it up.

And now, you can study it at school. Yes, believe it or not, there’s a course at Université de Montréal, all about the religion of the Habs:

The Swiss-born Universite de Montreal professor said the ubiquitous relics and rituals linked to the Habs struck him when he arrived in the city a few years ago.

The similarities prompted Olivier Bauer to launch a crusade – in the form of a university course – to explore the many ties between a team that hails its sweater as La Sainte Flanelle – or holy flannel – and spiritual devotion.

Yes, it’s a religion here all right. In its jubilee 100th year. With a big revival in the form of All-Star Weekend coming up next week. And of course, we’re all hoping that this will finally be the year when Les Boys bring home the Holy Grail: the Stanley Cup.