Yesterday was a day of excitement. People across North America and around the world were thrilled that the Pens were playing. Never mind that it was only their 3rd of 82 games in the regular season - we always get excited when our team plays! I, myself, had a little extra spring in my step. I turned on the internet radio to listen to Lange and Bourque call the game, and I switched on to Game Day Chat so that others could tell me what happened 30 seconds before I actually heard Lange describe the play.
Then, it happened.
Carey Price happened.
True, yesterday I was a tad cautious by not calling him the second coming of St. Patrick, and I'm not quite ready to go there just yet. But wow, Price certainly did put on a show last night at the Igloo. If he keeps it up, Gainey will look like a genius for keeping him in the big league and Price will be knocking on Huet's door for the number one spot. Montreal fans are always looking for a top-flight player to cheer for, and they may force Carbo's hand if Price plays like an MVP.
I really like this kid, and he deserves a lot of credit for standing tall last night.
But did it have to be against the Penguins??
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Pens and Habs, Habs and Pens...who won? Not us.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Is the Price right in Montreal? I'm not so sure
Tonight = game night. Habs and Pens. It's gonna be a rough one.
It was 22 years ago tonight that Patrick Roy made his NHL debut with the Habs against, you guessed it, the Pens. Seems as though Carey Price is going to get the start tonight against the Penguins. Jump to whatever "jump to conclusions" conclusion you want, who cares.
To be truthful, the whole Price thing is confusing me.
At the beginning of training camp, Carbo said that he wasn't going to have Price on the team as a backup goalie because he's only 20 and he could use time in the AHL to develop. As a backup, he'd be sitting on the bench most of the time, so Carbo was right on this one.
At the end of camp, Huet got the nod as starting goalie, but Gainey overruled Carbo and put Price in as backup, sending Halak back to Hamilton. Huh?
Why would Gainey do this? We all know that Price is going to be the franchise goalie in Montreal, and we know that he won the Calder Cup with Hamilton last season (and he was playoff MVP), along with tons of other honours. Blah blah, whatever. What matters is that Halak has more experience and has proven himself to be capable of playing in the NHL - he stole Abby's job at the end of last season (though that's not exactly hard to do). Price had a hard time in the pre-season games and could use a lot more playing time in Hamilton in order to polish his skills. Everyone knows that goalies take longer to develop, and this lack of play could set him back even further.
I have to wonder what Carbo's motives are for starting Price in tonight's game. I know that the Pens haven't come flying out of the gates this season like Ottawa, but it's not like they're a crap team. They have one of the best offenses in the NHL, led by the best player in the world. I think that Price will have to stand on his head like no other, or risk disaster. Does Carbo think that Price will falter tonight, and could this be his way of sending him to Hamilton in exchange for Halak? It's possible. I just hope that the Montreal crowd doesn't get on Price if he does crash and burn - we all know how critical they are of their own.
One thing's for sure though: at the end of the night, we'll know if Gainey's a genius, or if he made a really stupid mistake.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Gerber's no Swiss cheese
GAA : 1.73
A great hockey player retires from the game
Who is it, you ask? Is it Mike Modano?
Nope.
Perhaps Mats Sundin...maybe he really does have a serious hip problem.
Nope, it's not a Swede, but you're getting closer..
It's...and get ready for this...it's shocking...Patrik Stefan.
The casual hockey fan would ask, "Huh? Who's that?" Well, this is the guy who did this in January 2007 in a game against the Oilers.
"Oops, that was supposed to go in the empty net."
Unfortunately, that is what Stefan is famous for...well, that and the fact that he was expected to be a great hockey player, the kind you could build a franchise around. He was great - a great, big, fat disappointment in North America. He probably would have done better in a European league.
Stefan wasn't wanted in the NHL this season, so he packed his bags and headed across the pond to play in the Swiss league, where he promptly suffered a major hip injury to add to his list of (past) hockey injuries (mostly of the concussion variety). Guess he weighed the pros (playing mediocre hockey) versus the cons (all the boo-boos...and maybe the booing from the fans) and decided to hang up the skates for good.
So long Patrik Stefan, you were no Sidney Crosby...or even an Alexandre Daigle. I wish you the best in your new career, whatever that may be.
Monday, October 8, 2007
NHL Standings - October 8th
Never a time like the present to check out nhl.com for the current standings. Sure, it's so early in the season that it's worth nothing, but it's good for a laugh. It's good to laugh at teams who are only in a playoff spot in early October - they will fall out of contention by, say, October 20th.
And the results are.....*drum roll*
Eastern Conference
1. Ottawa (duh. they are beating everyone here. and they're 4-0)
2. Washington (ugh. they can take a nose-dive now)
3. NY Islanders (wow...wouldn't we all look stupid if this wasn't just some lucky fluke? don't know about you guys, but I'm not about to look like an idiot..)
4. Tampa Bay
5. Montreal (they're just happy to be ahead of Toronto)
6. Carolina
7. Toronto (Toronto fans are still celebrating the OT win over MTL on Saturday. one win down, one more to go...and six losses)
8. NY Rangers (ugh. at least the Isles are beating them)
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9. New Jersey
10. Philly (ugh, they improved, darn)
11. Boston
12. Pittsburgh (people are already freaking out..we'll climb the ladder this season, don't worry)
13. Buffalo (long way from the President's Trophy)
14. Atlanta
15. Florida
Western Conference
1. Nashville (wha? Nashville?? what happened to them being lame ducks - uh, predators?? oh well, it won't last)
2. Edmonton (WHAA?? EDMONTON?? but seriously, I hope they kick ass this season)
3. San Jose (can anyone be surprised here? nope. Thornton and the boys will bring it on this year)
4. Minnesota
5. Colorado (Stastny's starting the year off good...real good)
6. Detroit
7. Anaheim
8. Columbus (hahaha...this is the closest they'll make it to the playoffs this year)
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9. St. Louis (they'll definitely be competitive this year. Andy Murray is awesome)
10. Chicago (and now they're without Havlat for a good long time. any chance of a miracle season is all but dead)
11. Phoenix (this will be the highest Gretzky's boys will make it in the standings this year)
12. Vancouver (they'll climb the standings, no worries. they have someone named 'Luongo')
13. Los Angeles (if they keep Bernier, they might have a chance to make the playoffs...maybe...it's a big maybe, but still..)
14. Dallas
15. Calgary (Iron Mike's system hasn't done much in southern Alberta so far, but I suspect that things will turn around)
Pens win home opener Saturday night, sweeeet
I didn't actually watch the game (yes, I know, it's sad). I did, however, catch the Leafs/Habs game on CBC. It's so nice to see HNIC back on the air for season 55. It brought a smile to my face. I missed it.
As I watched the NHL's biggest rivals battle it out for the first time this season (and my, it was certainly a hard-fought game), we - the millions of viewers in TV-land - got a little snippet of info from Ron McLean - Sidney Crosby blocked a shot with his right foot and left the ice in pain. My first thought? "Oh my gosh, Oh my gosh, Oh my gosh, Oh my gosh. Not again." I remember that shot that broke his left foot, and I sure hoped that he didn't break his right foot in the second game of the season. The Pens could survive without, say, Rex in the lineup, but without Sid? Things would be a little harder...
Seems as though the X-rays on the Pens' captain's foot were negative. Certainly something to be thankful for this Thanksgiving weekend.
Free-agent signing Petr Sykora (aka Syko) seems to be kickin' some ass. Again, I didn't see him play these last 2 games, but I've been hearing good things about the new guy up front. If he keeps this up, I'm gonna look like a frickin' genius for picking him up in the fantasy draft. All those suckers thought I was crazy for snatching Syko up for my roster, but who's laughing now? Well, except for the guy who got Paul Stastny...
On a serious note, I was absolutely stunned when I heard that new Leafer Jason Blake is battling a rare form of leukemia. From what I gather from this TSN article, it seems as though Blake is taking a chemo-like pill to fight the leukemia and he will continue to play for the Leafs this season. I think I speak for everyone when I say that I hope Blake beats this thing for good. We may not like all of the teams out there, or all of the players for that matter, but nobody likes to see this. Good luck buddy.
Shea Weber, one of the only good things still left in Nashville, is out 3-6 weeks after dislocating his knee in Thursday's game against Colorado. A few dozen memories of mine say ouch - to say the least... Nothin' like a knee cap stuck on the side of your leg to make you crash to the ground (or ice) and cry like a baby.
Friday, October 5, 2007
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Downie's warming the bench...at least for October.
The Steve Downie saga continues.
The NHL hit Downie with a 20 game suspension last week. Then Flyers GM Paul Holmgren said that the team would deal with the suspension in chunks, by sending Downie down to the AHL to play, and then calling him up to the big team when the Phantoms weren't playing. This way Downie could serve his suspension while still playing hockey.
Creative? Yes.
Screwed up? Absolutely.
The AHL responded by issuing Downie with a 1 month suspension, making him eligible to play in early November. How do the Flyers respond? By calling him up to the roster, of course. If Downie can't play in the AHL, then he might as well start serving his NHL suspension.
You have to give credit to the AHL for actually doing something, and not completely welcoming Downie with open arms. I'll take this over nothing. However, I would rather see the AHL saying to Downie, "If you aren't eligible to play in the NHL due to suspension, then you won't be suiting up for our teams." As it stands, Downie can start playing hockey again before his 20-game suspension is over.
The NHL's attitude in the last week has been, "Oh, we're definitely doing something about shots to the head. We can't have this happening in our game because guys are getting hurt." Right...I'll believe it once they prove it.
Downie means nothing to the NHL.
Let's see what happens when Chris Pronger does the same thing. Will the NHL lay down the law, or will they buy the, "Oh, but I'm so tall and he's so short so he just ran into my arm," excuse?
Monday, October 1, 2007
It's Garytober Time
I wish for the Penguins to be healthy and happy
In their quest for Lord Stanley's Mug.
Please let the Pens win all of their games this year
And sweep the competition in the playoffs.
I hope that the Western Conference Champion
Will have a long and extremely hard playoff run
To make them extra tired when they face Pittsburgh.
I want Crosby to take the Cup from Bettman
And hoist it over his head
And bring it home to Nova Scotia for a kick-ass party.
Alexander Keith would go oh so well with Stanley.
I yearn for the Pens to win "La Coupe"
For the first time in 16 years.
But if it is not to happen this year,
Please oh please don't let me whine and cry like a baby
....in front of anyone else.
The 2007-08 season begins.
Time for Gary Roberts to do what he does best - Kick Ass.
Go Pens
