Do You Like Apples?

How do you like THEM Apples!! Canada over Russia 7-3!!

Canada finally gets to meet a Mortal goalie, and chews them up. And it wasn't the big lines -- it was everyone who has been struggling in this tournament: Nash, Perry, Getzlaf, Boyle... This was an awesome win for Canada. And the goals were Canadian style goals: fast counter attacks, driving the net, hard working goals! Its a shame that Russia had to go out in the Quarters; they were a spectacular team who deserves some success. Perhaps a better story would have had this matchup in the semi-finals. But that's tournament hockey -- and Team Canada is flying high. They'll need to settle and focus for their next game, and I'm confident they'll be ready for Slovakia or Sweden.

Go Canada Go!

Canada Avoids Relegation!

They have now earned the right to once again play in the A-league!

All joking aside, I thought this was a very positive game for Canada. There were some mistakes, to be sure, but there was a lot of good as well. Crosby/Staal/Iginla have got some mojo, the Sharks continue to click, and Nash and Toews are really gonna make a difference. Pronger and Bergeron find themselves with Brodeur on the outside looking in, but it shouldn't bother any of them. They need to be ready to help out when called on, and motivate the team.

It was a shame that Getzlaf and Perry can't seem to find their groove - perhaps Morrow and Richards have earned some more icetime, but its hard to say what's gonna happen game to game.

I applaud Team Canada for at least showing the poise to come out strong and fight though their troubles. Now Hopefully they won't need a period to warm up and hit the net vs. the Russians. The Russians are fearful, but I give Team Canada even money - it should be a great (but tense) game. I won't even try to suggest what Canada needs to do to win -- it just seems like such a big game, to try and even talk about it unless you are Scotty Bowman you'd sound like an idiot.

On Shea Weber's goal: the puck was going so fast it not only went through the mesh, it went through without splitting the mesh. This means that the puck's molecular composition was literally compromised; it passed through Time itself! It went to PLAD, man!!

On Nash not getting his penalty shot: it would have been nice to see Nash get the shot, but I completely understand Babcock going to Crosby. Crosby is being looked to to lead this team offensively. He will be called upon in every shootout situation, and looked to for big goals. This was exposure to a pressure situation to set the expectations.  Crosby missed today - but he'll be even more ready tomorrow. In the end, it was a good coaching move.

Go Canada Go! You have eaten a lot of crap this tournament, you deserve some success!

Get Ready For Something Special...

Tonight Team Canada lost to the USA 5-3 in a game where the good guys were never able to get a lead. We were beat by B-Ryan Rafalski and Ryan Miller (note: there are something like 8 USA hockey players named Ryan,) -- a defenceman having the game of his life and perhaps the best goalie playing today.

Brodeur was not himself. He made some great saves, he played pretty well... can't fault him for the 2 tip goals, can you? But to me he looked like he was trying too hard. Everytime he tried something "special" it ended up in our net (the super-cool baseball-bat play, and the diving missed poke check.) Marty is best when he is boring; and in this game he put on a show - intentional or not.

Enough about that. Every analyst, from Hitchcock to McGuire to the idiot hacks (me) are pointing the finger at Brodeur. Poor guy... its not fair, but c'est la guerre.

We are gonna see Luongo in net for the rest of the tournament -- and Luongo is gonna win. Why am I confident? 2 reasons:

1. Luongo is gonna have that positive nervous energy knowing he was not expected to carry the team, but now has been yoked with that responsibility. He is the kind of player who responds to the challenge, and is gonna be awesome.
2. Team Canada is gonna feel pretty bad for getting Marty benched. They are gonna step up their game for Luongo. Its a wake-up call, and I believe there is enough character to respond.

In 2002 Patrick Roy backed out of the Olympics - no one really knows the real reason, but I believe its because he figured Brodeur had the better chance of winning the tourney (but if Patty is on the team, Patty starts.) Brodeur walks in knowing everyone is wondering if he can do it, and he answers.

In the 2004 Hockey World Cup Luongo had to play the semi-final game against the fearsome Czech Republic - in quite possibly the best hockey game I have seen in my life, Luongo rose to the occasion and made it happen. (they won 4-3 in overtime.)

Canada can no longer be a favourite for the Gold, after only winning 1 game in regulation. The pressure is not off, but I think other teams will now be focused on the USA and the Russians. Team Canada is poised for a historic comeback, and Luongo is gonna be the foundation of the meteoric rise to hockey GLORY!!!


Or not I dunno. 

On The Swiss

So the Swiss once again put a scare into Team Canada, this time by taking them to a shootout, where finally Sid was able to crack Hiller for the winning goal.

How did it end up this way? How where the Swiss able to go the distance with Team Canada, after falling 3-1 to the States and having a very limited NHL roster?

What I saw was, in the second half of the game, the Swiss played a better Canadian style game than Team Canada. They were harder on the puck, forced turnovers, dirtier, uglier, and again able to get sticks and bodies in the way of Canadian scoring chances. I saw the Swiss out-muscle Canada in almost every battle; this gave them puck possession, and they were able to control the pace of the game. I know Team Canada out-shot the Swiss 18-3 in the third; but Hiller only had to make a couple "great" saves - the rest of the shots were pretty low percentage.

The Swiss also played without any fear of taking penalties -- whereas Team Canada looked like a big dog on a short leash. Pronger takes 1 bad penalty, and everyone freaks out - there was only 1 strong shift by the Morrow line to start the third - and the Swiss were hitting harder and forcing turnovers. This is how Canada normally plays! Our penalty kill should be strong enough to allow our team to go out there and kick some ass!

And I know we had a lot of power plays, but there was a non-call on Crosby getting sticked in the face, and there was a non-call on Perry getting kneed in the first period. If Canada did that to the Swiss, the players would be up on murder charges.

Canada is playing like they need to be the perfect team: no penalties, perfect passing plays, giving lots of respect to the opposition with the puck... and to a certain extent they are right. (Insert Gretzky rant here.) We have an excellent team. But they have to stop trying to be Dudley Do-Right / Captain Perfection and play 'our' game.

Our game beats you high, and it beats you low.

Anyhow. Team Canada has had their wakeup call - and I am confident they will answer. The other teams will know that an aggressive forecheck will cause problems for Canada, and sitting back (like the Norwegians) will fail. So Canada had best be ready for more of what they got from the Swiss.

Go Canada Go!!

On Laraque...

Today George Laraque was let go from the Montreal Canadiens. Gainey said he was unproductive and a distraction - Jacques Martin obviously didn't want to play him... and I guess they had tried trading him and couldn't waive him. So they bought him out.

The timing sucks. Its a terrible time in George's life to get fired, especially since its obvious teams are not exactly knocking down doors to get to him. Personally, I feel bad for him and wish him all the best.

But as far as a player goes, I gotta say George Laraque was not the kind of enforcer you need on a team. George is too much of a nice guy! He only fights the other heavy weights, plans and discusses his bout before hand, and would usually do nothing else after his fistycuffs -- even if he did get more ice.

"Its my job to fight," he'd be heard saying. So after his 1 fight he would stop playing hockey, letting the rest of the team do their job of winning the game... so why play him? Ever?

Teams didn't fear George Laraque - players feared fighting him, I guess. But he never got emotionally involved in a game - never crashed the net, stirred up the mix, or inspire the team with his play. He could have been like Moen or Kostopolus, but instead he would coast around, stay in the corners, and try and calm everyone down, instead of firing guys up. I almost never saw him come to the defence of a player - always showing up minutes later to go toe to toe with another toughy who had nothing to do with the original play that pestered our talented guys.

In short, Laraque was indeed a side show to the game - its just how he kind of evolved. Now if he was younger, coaches would be able to work with him to turn him into the new kind of tough guy the league has - someone who can bring energy to a game, cause havoc on the other team's defence, and make room for all them little guys on his team. Unfortunately, he is no spring chicken, and his injuries precluded him from training into the player he needs to be.

From a hockey fan stand point, I am glad to see him out. I never liked the signing to begin with, because just having a slugger on your team isn't gonna scare the sh!t disturbers like Ruutu and Avery and Downie - because George would never fight them anyway (too little). So he was pretty useless, especially since the coaches couldn't / wouldn't work with him.

But as a person, I liked George's "code of honour" -- and he showed some interest in being a reporter on the game: given his easy going personality and his passion, and he's bilingual, I think he would be a good addition to any reporting team.

So I am glad George Laraque is off the team. But I also hope to see him again soon, and see him stay in hockey in some capacity.

Good luck George, and good luck Habs.

Why Does Price Look So Bad When Scored Against?

I made this statement Saturday night as I watched Price let in his goals against. For some reason, Almost every time Price gets scores on, it looks like its his fault - lazy, slow on the glove, out of position ... he almost always looks to blame.

I'm not alone: other Habs fans are echoing the sentiment with everything from "He's my favorite goalie, but I've lost confidence." to "He is no longer my favourite player - let down too many times."

Update: to support this, we have the Gazette saying "Price didn't look good on any of the goals" from Saturday v. The sens, and a headline saying "Don't blame Halak for 6-2 loss" - even though Halak let in at least 2 goals the trickled right through him.

Why? Why does Price evoke such a reaction, when other goalies let in all kinds of goals, good and bad, but people don't freak out?

I've got a few thoughts. (Is why I'm writing this, duh...) Ok:

Price is not an "Athletic" goalie. That's not to say he'd fat and out of shape, no no. But Price is not the kind of goalie that roles around after every save. He doesn't dive across the net or turn himself into a pretzel - and even when he does it rarely looks good. But, as a result, when goals go in against him, he looks at fault - as opposed to more dynamic goalies who are still trying to make the save, even though its over. Because Price looks frozen, it looks like a weak goal. In reality, no amount of flopping around like a fish is gonna help.

Price looks behind him if one slips by. Connected to the above comment, if a puck does get by Price he is usually frozen, and looking over his shoulder. Other goalies will look beat - never see the puck go by them, as it were. Watch other goalies and when one slips by, they are rarely looking over their shoulder as it goes by (even if its a rifle from the point) -- they are often looking into the play. Price knows when he's beat, and is sitting there looking at the puck go by him - much more often then other goalies. For some reason, the fact Price is watching the puck go in again gives the impression he could have stopped it, but failed - when in reality, he was beat like any goalie, he just knew it before anyone else did.

The weak glove. Ever since the Philly series (2008, where it looked like he was playing with a club for a catchers hand) it is "known" that Price has a weak glove. He can make tons of windmill saves with that glove - but every time a puck hits his mitt and rolls in (sometimes off his head) fans lose confidence in Price - in "the big game" - is that glove gonna be there? More like "HA! I knew he had a weak glove!" - a little harsh for every glove side goal that goes in.

The shoulder shrugs. After a lot of goals Price's reaction is to give a little shoulder shrug - as if deflecting blame. I don't think he is, mind you. I think he's saying "oh well, no big deal, I'll get the next one..." whereas other goalies seem to have more serious or competitive reactions. Is Price's reaction giving the fans the impression he's being flippant, as opposed to taking the game seriously?

These are just perceptions! I've never met Carey price and I have never heard anything from someone who knows him confirming or denying any of this. Its just perception - but for fans, perception is everything. Halak lets in tons of terrible goals, but fans don't hold them against him. I'd say that for every starting goalie - except in Toronto.

Goals go in. They have too. Price isn't as goofy and sloppy as he looks sometimes - its his reactions which are driving our perceptions.

But, in the end, the best way to get fan confidence is to win lots of games. That's the bottom line.

Terrible weekend!

Man, what a bad week for the Habs, and an abysmal weekend. Although they did manage a win against Dallas, they lost 3 "two-point" games (conference) against New Jersey, Ottawa, and the Rangers. And through the week, they just kept getting worse.

The NJ game they had a great game and were unlucky in overtime. Price shook off a terrible start to win the game against Dallas, and came out stinky against Ottawa. Halak looked equally shaky, and was the victim of terrible defensive play - odd man rushes, d-men getting out muscled and out-played.

I made the comment that Gainey paid for leadership and competitive attitude this summer: getting Stanley Cup winners and big goal scorers. Well, when the pressure was on in Ottawa, the Habs were a no-show. And things absolutely collapsed in New York.

Sad to see. When the Habs lose, its because they play a bad, disorganised, disheartened game. When the Leafs lose, its not for the lack of trying - the Leafs usually out shoot their opponents, put lots of pressure on, and make an exciting game (they just can't keep the puck out of their net.) But the Leafs show up almost every night -- if the Habs showed up every night, we probably wouldn't be once again slogging it out for scraps at the playoff table.