Why Zdeno Chara is a DISGRACE

Tonight was the game Habs and Bruins fans alike have been looking forward to for weeks. It was hyped up in the media for days; the Canadiens sought to avenge the beating they took during the 8-6 loss to the Bruins in February. Also on the minds of Habs fans was the fact that the Canadiens were looking to extend a 4 game winning streak, along with Hal Gill's rare scoring streak. From all angles, it was sure to be an exciting night of hockey...

The 1st period was an excellent one for the Habs. Early on in the period, we were treated to a great fight as Ryan White showed Johnny Boychuk that the Habs wouldn't back down, by defending a hit on PK Subban. The first period also saw a pair of goals from Lars Eller (I'd like to also add that AK46 had an assist on the 2nd one, officially extending his point streak to 7 games).

The Canadiens entered the 2nd period with the dreaded 2 goal lead. The Habs looked sloppy and took ANOTHER too many men on the ice penalty. Carey Price continued to play well, keeping the Bruins scoreless for another period, and 2 powerplay goals from Gionta and Wisniewski made it 4-0.

Then, things took a turn for the worse. With 16 seconds left in the period, Bruins' Zdeno Chara nailed Max Pacioretty into the stanchion at the Habs bench, completely leveling Patches and rendering him unconscious. Pacioretty lay motionless on the ice for what seemed like an eternity, while medical staff tended to him. He regained consciousness before being wheeled off the ice on a stretcher and taken to the Montreal General Hospital, where he was reportedly lucid, able to move his arms and legs, and not in any immediate, life-threatening danger. He was later diagnosed as having a severe concussion and a fractured vertebrae.

The remainder of the 2nd period was added on to the start of the 3rd period, where Lucic scored the Bruins only goal of the game. Habs won 4-1, although the win was the furthest thing from the players' and fans' minds.

Now, I'm someone who thoroughly enjoys the rock 'em sock 'em aspects of hockey, but this hit left me feeling nauseated. When Patches hit the ice, I sincerely thought he was dead. I was sure 255 lb Chara had killed 196 lb Pacioretty. I sat in my living room, crying, praying for Patches to be okay. This wasn't a depiction of a sport I've grown up loving, this was an absolute disgrace. What's even more disgraceful are Chara's post game comments, in regards to the hit:

"We were racing for the puck and battling for position. As the puck went by obviously I was riding him out. Unfortunately at the same time when I pushed him a little bit, kind of leaned, jumped a little bit and just hit the glass extension. It's very unfortunate." (courtesy of CJAD's Abe Hefter)

That doesn't sound like the remorseful comments I'd expect to hear out of someone who accidentally inflicted a potentially career-ending injury on another player. In fact, he does not take any responsibility for his actions, deflecting part of the blame onto Pacioretty. This is what left me reeling. How you handle these types of situations is of the utmost importance, and Chara failed.

Despite the fact that Chara is a marquis player, I sincerely hope Mike Murphy will dole out a lengthy suspension, though I'm trying not to get my hopes up. I personally believe that the punishment should fit the crime, and the severity of the injury sustained also needs to be taken into account. The perpetrator should be suspended for as long as the victim who sustained the injury is kept out of the lineup as a result of the incident. Will this be the case? No. We'll be lucky if Chara gets a 3 game suspension, in my opinion.

Regardless, Chara's actions cannot be condoned. Pacioretty did not have the puck, and Chara lifted his arm to drill his head into the turnbuckle. He knew where he was, and he knew that the outcome of such a hit would be devastating. Doesn't Chara realize that there are kids watching, trying to be just like their favourite player? Players need to realize that they are role models for the next generation of NHL caliber hockey players. Moreover, as a human being, the ultimate goal of a hockey game should not be to target players with intent to injure. I fully believe that Chara intentionally did what he did, but I'll let you watch for yourself. You decide.

Habs are #WINNING!

In the week that saw the beginning of Charlie Sheen's meltdown, it was hard to focus on little else. In fact, it already seems like the most boring trade deadline in the history of the NHL was a million years ago, when in fact it was 6 days ago. I myself came home early from school to watch live coverage on TSN, where I was bored out of my tree. There was so little happening that I actually felt bad for these guys. They even resorted to drafting a fantasy 2014 Team Canada Olympic hockey team in lieu of trade coverage.

After hearing speculation for WEEKS that Dustin Penner may find himself in a Canadiens jersey at the trade deadline, I was watching anxiously to see what kind of moves Gauthier would make. As soon as the announcement came that the power forward was headed to the LA Kings, I knew that the Canadiens would not be making any big moves. Was I disappointed? Not at all. I knew that the price tag on Penner must have been too high, and Gauthier clearly didn't wanted to part with some integral part of the current roster (or future roster, for that matter). Personally, I'm content with the team we have right now. After the circus that was our last matchup against the Bruins, I'll admit, I joined in with the gripers to complain about a lack of size and grit on the team, but in retrospect, I was just being a big baby.

Who on the roster am I stoked about? Let's start with Patches (Max Pacioretty). He had a pair in last night's game against Tampa Bay, and has displayed skill and consistency since he left Hamilton to join the lineup. Despite having only played 36 games this season, he already has 14 goals and 10 assists, just 10 points shy of Scott Gomez, who's played in nearly twice as many games (64). Gomez is still getting loads of ice time, and I really don't understand why. It seems like any time anything bad happens on the ice, Gomez was there, doing absolutely nothing. In fact, the numbers back that up, as Gomez has the team worst in +/- with a -15 (which is actually an improvement on how bad it was a few weeks ago). But this isn't a Gomez rant, this is a "who impresses me" rant, and $8 million Gomez doesn't belong in this category, so let's go back to Patches. Remember when he had bruised ribs? Oh yeah, he kept playing. He must have some of Josh Gorges' tiger blood, and this makes me stamp him as #winning.

Next, is David Desharnais. Why isn't this miniature guy getting more ice time?! He's reported to have been working on his faceoff taking abilities with Jeff Halpern, and it's definitely paying off (with the exception of Thursday's 4-0 win in Sunrise, where he didn't fare so well with his faceoff winning percentage). But he impresses me elsewhere than the faceoff circle. He's a +1 with 16 points in 27 games, and I'm more than content with those stats.

Next, is AK46... Right now. He's in the midst of a point streak, with 7 points in his last 5, including the game winner against Carolina last Saturday. He sure picked a heck of a time to get hot, being that the vast majority of fans wanted him gone at the trade deadline. I'm hoping he'll keep it up well into the playoffs.

Next, is Wisniewski. After the devastating loss of Gorges and Markov to knee injuries, it seemed like he blue line was completely shot, but now I don't remember what it was like before the Wiz filled that void. While I think PK Subban is wonderful and exciting to watch, I feel so comfortable when the Wiz is on the ice. Ignore his -15 (bear in mind he came from the Eastern conference bottom-feeder Islanders). Since joining the Habs, he's a +3 with 21 points in 27 games. That's good enough for me.

Next is Hal Gill. The big tree has 2 goals in as many games for the first time since October 2002. Fans have already coined the term "Hal Gill Hat Trick", as we anxiously await to see if he'll turn this into a 3 game scoring streak. But all that aside, his leadership on and off the ice, as well as blocking a ridiculous amount of shots makes him awesome in my books.

Last, and most certainly not least, is Carey Price. There has been talk about him being a potential Hart trophy candidate this season but I wouldn't call him a candidate; I'd call him a #winner. While Boston's Tim Thomas may be out-stat-ing him in most categories, Boston would be doing just fine without Thomas between the pipes. Tuukka Rask isn't quite 500 on the season, but the team plays well in front of him. The Bruins may not be leading their division without Thomas, but they'd still be in a playoff spot. Riddle me this; where would the Habs be without Carey Price right now? My guess would be uncomfortably sitting 13th, making a desperate but futile playoff run in the final games of the season, à la Toronto. While Thomas may be the most likely contender for the Vézina, I think Price is without a doubt the most valuable player to his team, giving him my official Charlie Sheen #winning stamp as well.

After forcing the Southeast division to submit this week, and currently being in the midst of a 4 game winning streak, the Habs look to remind Boston on Tuesday that they won the first 3 matchups of the season between the clubs. It should be an interesting game...

Box Score (With Personality)

Game Notes		Montreal Canadiens/Florida Panthers					Thursday, March 3rd 2011.
1st Period				Shots: Habs-6, Panthers-8
Habs PK	1st Penalty – 02:37			Subban (Roughing)		No goal scored
1-0	1st Goal – 05:02			Gill from AK46 & the Wiz		Gill’s 1st since NYE 2009 & the Game Winner!
Fun Fact! Habs are undefeated when Gill scores a goal (3-0)
2-0	2nd Goal – 08:54			AK46 from Moen & Eller		AK46’s 6th pt in 5 games
Panther’s goalie Vokoun pulled after 2nd goal (allowing 2 in 3 shots) – Clemmensen in
Good News of the Week: Cammy’s tweeting more since Twitter-savvy Sopel joins the roster…
2nd Period				Shots: Habs-15, Panthers-12
Habs PP	2nd Penalty – 01:10			Callahan (Roughing)		Florida has 3rd best PK in league
3-0	3rd Goal – 04:59			Desharnais from Pouliot		David was 0-3 on faceoffs in 1st
Puck crosses the line after the whistle after a Panthers shot, no goal
Weiss gets a breakaway opportunity, Price makes the save
Habs PK	3rd Penalty – 19:23			Pouliot (Tripping)		No goal scored
Price makes the save a game, sprawling with a snow angel stop
Fun Fact! Desharnais has apparently been working with Halpern on his faceoff-taking abilities
3rd Period				Shots: Habs-10, Panthers-10
Habs PK	Carry over from 2nd			Pouliot still in the box		No goal scored
As per Sergio Momesso, Pyatt will play when facing “skating clubs”, White will play vs. “grittier clubs”
4-0	4th Goal – 03:21			Eller from Moen & the Wiz		Mål is Danish for “goal”
Price makes another epic save
Habs PK	4th Penalty – 10:00			Eller (Boarding)		No goal scored
PING!	Patches hits the post			AK46 hits the post		Twitter explodes in “PING!” tweets
Momesso (on CJAD w/ Rick Moffat) almost says the forbidden “S” word with just over 5:00 remaining…
Sloppy line-change by Habs with just over 1:00 left almost results in Too-Many-Men penalty
Gomez & the Wiz try to win the fans some chicken wings with a 5th goal, but they do not succeed
Carey Price gets his 7th shutout of the season, tying Roy, Théo & Huet for the most in 30 years (since Dryden)
Habs win 4-0! PK & Pricey do a fancy triple low five, to celebrate Price’s 30th win of the season (90th career)
Three Stars:			1: Carey Price		2: Andrei Kostitsyn			3: James Wisniewski
In other news, the Leafs beat the Flyers 3-2 in Philly… WTF?

Why I REALLY Don't Want the Habs to Finish 8th

Let's take a snapshot of the Eastern Conference as it stands right now, assuming all games were played and the playoffs started tomorrow:

1- Philadelphia Flyers

2- Tampa Bay Lightning

3- Boston Bruins

4- Pittsburgh Penguins

5- Washington Capitals

6- Montreal Canadiens

7- New York Rangers

8- Carolina Hurricanes

As of today, the Habs would be set to play the Bruins in the first round. While for some, this is a scary concept, I would much rather play the Bruins than the Flyers. Fans seem to have developed an intense fear of the Bruins, after the bloodbath on February 9th. However, fans seem to forget about the 3 prior matchups this season; which the Habs won. I feel that while the Bruins may have gotten better with the acquisition of players like Kaberle, they are still only a better team on paper. I believe that the Habs are more skilled, and simply have more heart. Brute force does not a Stanley Cup win, and I would put my money on the Canadiens in a 7 game series versus the Bruins.

That being said, if I could choose any of the current top 8 teams to play in the first round, it would be Pittsburgh. Recent injury hardships have caused headaches for more than Sydney Crosby, and I think the Habs would take that series in 5. If I couldn't play the Penguins, I would take the Rangers & the Hurricanes, though this is an impossibility, given how strong the teams in the top seeded positions have been playing.

Ultimately, I would rather meet any team other than the Flyers in the first round. In fact, I'm PRAYING for some sort of magical upset that will see the Flyers being eliminated in 7 against the Hurricanes. If the Flyers are eliminated in the first round, I think the Habs will stand a good chance of making a run for the conference finals like they did last year.

Whatever the matchup, you can be sure I'll be ready.

Sopel to the Habs

What makes me happiest about the Canadiens acquisition of defenseman Brent Sopel? How excited he is to be coming to Montreal. Being one of the few NHLers with a Twitter account, he immediately changed his avatar to the Habs logo, updated his bio information (now reflecting his Habs status, as opposed to the Thrashers) and tweeted: "@BrentSopel: Looking forward to getting to Montreal to start the running for another Stanley Cup." Might I mention he's acquired roughly 4,000 new followers on Twitter since yesterday's trade announcement?

While Pierre Maguire described Sopel as an "older, slower version of Josh Gorges" on the Team 990 yesterday afternoon, I think that any version of Josh Gorges is a great acquisition, particularly in light of the fact that we do not currently have the original Josh Gorges in the lineup. What does this mean for the Habs? More blocked shots, mainly, taking some pressure off of Carey Price.

Ben Maxell was a great bargaining chip, and while I've heard a lot of people complain about the deal, I have to say that I like it. While it doesn't get me jumping up and down with excitement, I think it was a good move on Gauthier's part, and I'm looking forward to seeing Sopel join the Habs lineup Saturday against the Hurricanes, where the boys will no doubt be hungry for a win, after a disappointing loss against the Leafs Thursday night. Also, Nigel Dawes will indeed add depth in Hamilton.

All in all, I think it was a good deal. Feel free to disagree if you must.

PS. Sopel's wife has a blog about being the wife of an NHL hockey player. It's worth checking out, and I've added it to the list of my favourite blogs. When you have a chance, make sure to throw it a glance!