Segacs’s World I Know

It ended with a whimper rather than a bang. As he often does, the Gazette’s Aislin expressed it best:

Sad as it is, the Habs defied a lot of expectations this season, and I’m predicting even better things next year. Here’s a salute to the bleu-blanc-rouge. Thanks for a great year!

What is there to say about tonight’s loss that puts us down 3-1 against the Flyers other than… ouch.

I don’t want to lose faith in the Habs, but there’s very little hope of them recovering. I think the miracle bag of tricks is gone, and the season is close to being done.

I guess there’s always next season.

I hate the overtime shootout with every fiber of my being. I mention this fact now because I believe a monkey spinning a giant logo-covered carnival wheel is just as entertaining and has as much to do with an actual hockey game as a skills competition deciding a regular season winner.

That’s Greg Wyshynski over at the NHL Experts Blog, in a post about TSN’s famed results-predicting Maggie the Monkey.

For the record, Greg, I couldn’t agree more. Let’s get rid of the shootout during the regular season and go back to 60 minutes plus a 5-minute sudden death overtime. If both teams are still tied after all of that, they each deserve to walk away with a point. End of story.

Tonight’s Game 1 between the Habs and the Flyers featured:

67 shots on goal (34 by Montreal, 33 by Philly)
60 saves by the two goalies (30 each)
60 percent of faceoffs won by the Habs (71% success rate for Captain K)
48 seconds elapsed in overtime when the winning goal was scored
29 seconds left when the tying goal was scored
4 goals scored by Habs players whose last names start with KO
3 big scoring chances by Montreal that hit the goalpost
2 video-reviewed goals (both awarded, but narrowly)
2 brothers netting points
2 powerplay goals
1 short-handed goal
1 goal scored on our own net (Brisebois back in vintage form)
1 missed penalty shot

And a partridge in a pear tree.

Yes, it was a weird game. But at the end of the day, all that matters is the win column. 1-0 Habs after 1, so far, so good.

Philly beat Washington in overtime in tonight’s game 7 to win the first round and advance, ending the Caps’ Cinderella-like late season run in the process. The game was won on the powerplay after a controversial penalty call that really raises serious questions about the quality of the officiating in the playoffs in general. I feel like Ovechkin, the clear NHL MVP, deserved better… not to mention Semin, Green, Federov and – oh yeah – Cristobal Huet. But that’s hockey, and the Caps go home and the Flyers move on.

That means we’ll be taking on the Flyers in Round 2. As much as it would have been fun to see an Ovechkin-Crosby matchup, it’s probably good news for us that we will be taking on the Flyers, against whom we went 4-0 this season, instead of the Rangers. Despite our historic comeback win against the Rangers in February, they’re a tough team to beat. Besides, let the Pens deal with Avery’s Antics.

Of course, the Flyers won’t exactly be a cakewalk. They play a hard physical style of hockey, and the series with the Bruins should teach us exactly what a season sweep of a team is worth in the playoffs: not much. But I believe we can do it. I have faith in these guys.

With Calgary’s game 7 elimination tonight at the hands of the San Jose Sharks, Montreal is now the only remaining Canadian team in the playoffs. The eyes of the nation (including plenty of green eyes in Toronto) will now turn to Montreal to keep the dream alive of finally bringing the Stanley Cup home to Canada where it belongs, after 15 long years. No pressure, eh?

Go Habs Go!

It sounds like we won the Stanley Cup out there, with all the horns honking and people partying in the streets. But no, all we did was win round 1 to advance to round 2.

Not that it was easy, mind you. The Bruins battled back against all expectations and took us to a game 7 that was making even the faithful lose heart. Whatever anyone expected from tonight’s game, it wasn’t this.

And by “this”, of course, I mean a 5-0 blowout shutout, to much singing and cheering, of the Bruins – who suddenly looked much like the hapless team we played all season, and not like the team who game within a shade of one of the biggest upsets in hockey history.

And I got to witness it from the reds of the Bell Centre. Great view!

Now… onto round 2. Go Habs Go!

Update: For the record, I think that the rioting was not only disgraceful, but completely idiotic. WTF??? I mean, it’s only round 1. At least wait until we win the cup. Sheesh!

What she said.

I’ve never understood why foods that bear no resemblance to chametz are outlawed, while matzah meal, Passover “rolls”, brownie mixes and the like are all kosher, either. I’ve been eating kitniyot for the past couple of years, and I’m definitely a happier Jew for it.

(Incidentally, you Ashkenazim out there with more *ahem* recreational interests might want to join the kitniyot revolt, too. Not my thing, but hey, whatever floats your boat.)

However you choose to celebrate, Happy Passover.

The only thing worse than being a loser is being a quitter.

The Habs completely quit tonight – on each other, on their team, on their coach and on their fans. They gave up. Therefore, they choked. Andrei Markov’s exasperated shrug on the powerplay late in the third said it all. In case that message wasn’t received, Carey Price’s refusal to even try to save the fifth goal drove the point home.

The Bruins won because they refused to quit. And now, instead of going to the golf course, they get to go home, down 3-2 in the series but holding all the momentum cards.

How does an offense that was #1 in the NHL all season collapse so miserably? How does the league’s top powerplay fall apart so spectacularly? How does a team that went 8-0 against the Bruins in the regular season let a playoff series that ought to have been a blowout get to game 6?

The Canadiens are going to be doing a lot of soul-searching between now and Saturday. Let’s hope that includes a lesson in perseverence. I still believe that this team has it in them. Let’s hope they start believing that about themselves. Because, as the saying goes, quitters never win, and winners never quit.

It only took the NHL one day to implement a new rule specifically aimed at agitator-extraordinaire Sean Avery:

“An unsportsmanlike conduct minor penalty will be interpreted and applied, effective immediately, to a situation when an offensive player positions himself facing the opposition goaltender and engages in actions such as waving his arms or stick in front of the goaltender’s face, for the purpose of improperly interfering with and/or distracting the goaltender as opposed to positioning himself to try to make a play,” Colin Campbell, the NHL director of hockey operations said in a statement.”

Must be some kind of record. Avery is probably pretty pleased with himself right now.