Habs versus Leafs - February 7, 2009

2009-02-08T08:46:00.000-08:00

Watching last night’s Habs/Leafs games last night I took down some notes. Before Ron McLean started setting the stage I wrote down a few notes about the key matchups I would be looking out for, aside from the obvious outcome. Here they are:

1 The much anticipated Battle of Belarus aka Sergei Kostitsyn versus Mikhail Grabovski.
2 Alexei Kovalev versus Complacency.
3 Carey Price versus Inconsistency.
4 HNIC announcers’ infatuation with the Toronto Maple Leafs versus My Head Exploding.
5 The usual battles of Don Cherry versus Europeans, French Canadians, Fashion Sense and Modernity.
6 Me versus my gambling addicted and Habs hating friend.
7 The Habs versus bad luck, lousy play and the freaking Leafs.

Admittedly, taking notes while watching a hockey game is the height of dorkiness and usually I would spend such an occasion out with friends or on the couch with family but tonight I was riding solo and thought it might be a good idea to analyze the hell out of the Habs to identify just what they are doing so horribly wrong and who exactly is doing it. Here we go:
It sucks horribly that the CBC was stupid enough to let the HNIC them go. That said we can all still catch it on TSN or RDS. Their real crime is using the Nickleback “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting” remake. Really? That`s the best you can do? Why don’t they use Fifty Mission Cap? I realize it’s about the Leafs but let’s be honest, the early game is all about the Leafs. The announcers openly root for them, Don Cherry touches himself when talking about them, the new opening montage shows projected maple leafs darting over the ice surface and crowd...if non-Leafers can handle all of that crap we can surely endure a great song with a Leafs leaning if it means losing Nickleback.

On to the game. It should be a high energy smackdown. These usually are. The Belarusian element, while ridiculous, is a nice little subplot. The pre game chatter reviews the history of the battle. The highlights are basically a collection of shots of a referee holding one of the two players. Apparently Grabovski spoke poorly of the Kostitsyn brothers to some Russian hockey rag. (We are taken to the Habs dressing room where Sergei Kostitsyn is seen shadowboxing in his stall).

Anthem: A fluffy headed Charles Prevost Linton sings. Always great when there is only one anthem. Montreal fans heard singing. Both the French and English parts. Swell.

More review of last game: Mike Van Ryn getting hit from behind. Chatter about Price’s inconsistency.
Jim Hughson and Craig Simpson announce. This is a big improvement on the Bob Cole and Harry Neal `Go Leafs Go`days. Those two turds were shameless in their support of Toronto. They were as friendly to the Habs point of view as a CNBC talking head is to Barack Obama.
Montreal`s first period is a horror show. The Leafs outshoot and out turnover them. Carey Price looks like he has mononucleosis. He`s dazed, confused and seems to have the reflexes of Stephen Hawking (not mental). The second period is mildly better. The third period is the Jason Blake show. A total disaster.
Let`s look at this game through my point by point pre-game questions:

1 The much anticipated Battle of Belarus aka Sergei Kostitsyn versus Mikhail Grabovski.
An official non-event. Nary a shot fired. Grabovski was much more noticeable in the game as he was involved in a variety of scoring chances. He also got knocked around by the likes of Laraque and Komisarek. I barely noticed Sergei at all. If he can’t get up for a game when he is clearly in the spotlight what is he doing with the big club. His progress has come to a dead stop. Where the hell did he go?

2 Alexei Kovalev versus Complacency.

All I can say is I really hope that Kovalev is playing with an injury right now. That is his only possible excuse. He was under the spotlight for shoddy play before this weekend. His play over the last two games has been getting worse not better. He avoids traffic, turns the puck over regularly and seems disinterested in chasing the puck. In past years when he touched the puck I would gasp with anticipation. Now I simply await the eventual cough up. I hate to be a fair weather fan but if the Habs intend on even making the playoffs it might be time to start shopping 27 around. He`s 35. He plays when he wants. He’s a free agent at the end of this year. He seems to have zero chemistry with the emerging young guys. Let`s get some value for this guy while we still can. Even if he returns to last year`s level for a game or two I would keep expecting the wheels to fall off.

Note: He has again been moved around on the power play. He started the night working the left rather than right wing and by the end of the game was working the point.

3 Carey Price versus Inconsistency.
I`m sad to report that Carey lost this one. He`s in trouble. He`s completely lost confidence. Toronto spent the first period firing shots from the blue line having obviously watched tape of the Friday night game where he game away the deep shot goals. This does not bode well for the coming road trip. I`m confident he will bounce back but the when is a big question.

4 HNIC announcers infatuation with the Toronto Maple Leafs versus My Head Exploding.

All in all I was presently surprised. Aside from some gushing over Luke Schenn`s first career goal I thought it was a very un-Fox-like fair and balanced game.

5 The usual battles of Don Cherry versus Europeans, French Canadians, Fashion Sense and Modernity.

Did you see Coaches Corner Don was presented with a very creepy montage of his Boston coaching days. The highlights were shots of him on the bench or shots of Bobby Orr doing Bobby Orr things. After the montage Ron McLean soothed an almost bawling Cherry.

6 Me versus my gambling addicted and Habs hating friend.

F*%K

7 The Habs versus bad luck, lousy play and the freaking Leafs.

The Habs look like hell. Here’s a list of guys who are making an effort:

Andrei Markov. Should be wearing the C. Consistently brilliant. A.

Maxim Lapierre, Max Pacioretty, Matt Dagostini. All of these guys just keep getting better. They play hard, they go to the net, they chase the puck. They are the future of this team. A’s all around.

Roman Hamrlik. Quietly calm and consistent. A.

Chris Higgins. Though he wasn’t as good tonight as he has been recently. He has been played hard, smart hockey. B.

Andrei Kostitsyn and Saku Koivu. C.

Everyone else gets detention.

NaNaHeyHey

Habs versus Leafs - February 7, 2009