100th anniversary ceremonies
Last night was a magical night for Montreal Canadiens fans. I thought they would have some special surprises planned but I couldn’t have guessed how it would have unfolded.
I watched RDS for many hours before the game and was impressed from the beginning. I thought it was just great.
When they dimmed the lights in the Bell Center I almost felt goose bumps all over.. I knew something pretty neat was gonna take place.
Then… when the pucks were dumped on the ice and I saw Patrick Roy walking on the ice in full gear…. I was in awe. It was awesome. Seeing all those guys jump on the ice brought back alot of memories. One guy I hadn’t noticed walk on the ice was Mats Naslund… later when he was introduced I was so pleased to see him there. He was one of my favorite players in his time in Montreal.
I won’t try to name every player that skated with the alumni… but let’s just say I thought it was very classy and very cool for the die hard Canadiens fans. Many of those guys I hadn’t seen in their playing days but like some of you (I’m sure) I’ve read about them and have seen their statistics over and over again. I’m not just really a fan of the Montreal Canadiens I’ve seen on the ice….. I’m a fan of the Montreal Canadiens rich history as much as I am the current team they ice year after year.
Read more…
Posted by Yves Date: Saturday, December 5, 2009
Categories: Former Players, Legends, Montreal Canadiens, My thoughts
Tags: Bob Gainey, Butch Bouchard, Chris Nilan, Dickie Moore, Elmer Lach, Gordie Howe, Guy Carbonneau, Guy Lafleur, Henri Richard, History, Jean Béliveau, Ken Dryden, Kirk Muller, Larry Robinson, Legends, Lyle Odelein, Mats Naslund, Montreal Canadiens, Patrick Roy, Pierre Bouchard, Pierre Turgeon, Ryan O'Byrne, Serge Savard, Steve Shutt, Viggo Mortensen, Vincent Damphousse
Has the season self-destructed??
The constant injuries and lack luster play has certainly been tugging away at the optimism I had coming into the season. A quarter of the way through it’s still pretty hard to read exactly who this team is. But although it is hard to discern it’s not really something that can be faulted on management.
I’m not saying that there haven’t been moves (or “non-moves”) made in the last few years that I think were bad in hindsight leading up to today… but what I am saying is that one can’t honestly measure just how good this team is
We’ve been without our best player and other players who were keyed in as integral parts of this team.
When compared to last year’s team and the “core” that the Habs had prior to this season it still speaks loudly to me that this group is 10-11-0 after 21 games… without Markov… and other pieces of the puzzle also out.
There’s a great article on the numbers without Markov over at Lions in Winter… check it out.
There’s been quite a bit of doom and gloom from what I’ve been hearing in regards to the season and the talk about a “rebuild” has begun. Honestly, I think we’ve just begun “the rebuild”.
Read more…
Posted by Yves Date: Friday, November 20, 2009
Categories: My thoughts
Tags: Andrei Kostitsyn, Andrei Markov, Brian Gionta, Guillaume Latendresse, Max Pacioretty, Maxim Lapierre, Montreal Canadiens, Ryan O'Byrne, Slump
Thinking about the team 3 games in
So we’re 3 games into the 2009/2010 NHL season. In these first 3 games there’s been many ups and downs already.
The Canadiens have had 2 big injuries and 1 minor injury in their first 2 games and thankfully last night everyone made it out ok!
Here’s a few thoughts on some ups and some downs so far (in no real particular order).
Read more…
Posted by Yves Date: Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Categories: Montreal Canadiens
Tags: 2009/2010, Andrei Markov, Brian Gionta, Carey Price, Georges Laraque, Injuries, Jacques Martin, Mike Cammalleri, Montreal Canadiens, Ryan O'Byrne, Scott Gomez, Travis Moen
Season just about on and some last cuts made
As I write this there is 2 more sleeps before the new 2009-2010 season opens with the Montreal Canadiens facing the Toronto Maple Leafs. I’ve been waiting for this long enough to qualify me as a slightly obsessed fan.
Jacques Martin has made some more cuts and now we have the team or roster together that will start the year.
The cuts that were made today were Ben Maxwell, Tom Pyatt, Yannick Weber, Mathieu Carle and Curtis Sanford.
Read more…
Posted by Yves Date: Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Categories: Montreal Canadiens, Prospects, Roster
Tags: Ben Maxwell, Curtis Sanford, Mathieu Carle, Montreal Canadiens, Prospects, Roster, Ryan O'Byrne, Tom Pyatt, Toronto Maple Leafs, Yannick Weber
Canadiens vs Senators – Terrible pre-season game
Last night’s game certainly wasn’t a great performance by the Montreal Canadiens. At first, the pace of the game seemed to indicate that we were gonna be in for an entertaining game…. both Habs fans and Sens fans alike. The pace was fairly quick and there was some jump on both sides.
But it soon started to turn for the worst for the Habs.
Read more…
Posted by Yves Date: Sunday, September 20, 2009
Categories: Game comments, Videos
Tags: Alex Kovalev, Game highlights, Highlights, Montreal Canadiens, Ottawa Senators, Ryan O'Byrne, Shawn Belle, Videos
Habs VS Isles – Who will step up?
At the start of the season the talk was about how deep the habs were, there was lot’s of talk about a couple of the prospects in Hamilton and talk about being atop the league with whispers of a cup coming to Montreal had become common.
I’m still not sure I would panic at this point but I must say that at this point of the season, we’ve seen both great potential and also some of the things that may need a “tweeking”….
One of the things that sticks out a bit and has been talked about is on the D. Especially now that Komisarek is out. Brisebois is having to be in the lineup full time… O’Byrne is getting prime time…
About Brisebois, I think that playing a certain number of games, he can give some quality. Playing full time, I’m concerned that the quality will surely diminish.
For O’Byrne, I thought he was gonna play a great game against Boston…. he came out being much more physical, which is an important part of his game. Not sure if it’s all psycological, but he’s made quite a few mistakes… some being quite costly.
I’m starting to wonder if playing Dandenault at D wouldn’t help at least in the short term. He’s a guy I think works hard, plays his role and he’s played on D most of his career…
I would love to see a couple of farm “teamers” come up and maybe shake it up a bit… like D’Agostini, Maxwell.. Max Pac.. but I think it’s hard to make those moves because there aren’t very many guys you can move to make room.
I’m sure whatever happens, Gainey isn’t sitting around “hoping for the best”…. if there is a good move to be made, I’m confident he’ll pull the trigger.
Tonight, the Islanders are in town. I really want to see guys play hard…. and EVERY shift. Tonight, they gotta start kicking the monkey off their backs.
Hard hitting, hard skating…. lot’s of shots on goal.
One would hope that this is “the slump” in the season, and that the tides of work ethic (etc..) will bring the habs to peak at the end of the season… what a story that would be.
Peace!
Posted by Yves Date: Monday, November 24, 2008
Categories: Montreal Canadiens, Pre-game comments
Tags: Ben Maxwell, Bob Gainey, Mathieu Dandenault, Matt D'Agostini, Max Pacioretty, Mike Komisarek, Ryan O'Byrne
Habs and the monkey
It has been a while since I’ve posted.
In these last few weeks my total enthousiasm was somewhat stumped… The team that I’ve seen as having great potential and talent seemed to hit an early season wall and most chemistry had flown out the window.
I’m not sure that I’m in panic mode yet. There are new faces and I think they’re facing their first challenge together… some of the young guys are facing new challenges in being on a team that is expected to deliver.
There have been some positive signs.
The 4th line has played well pretty much consistently.
But, there seems to have been a lack of heart for the most part at times and that is what concerns me the most.
On last night’s game, I was very happy to see them rally back…. tie the game… Price stood on his head a few times (almost literally)… I was also very happy to see some enthousiasm coming from the bench when Alex Tanguay scored that shootout goal.
I’m hoping we’ll see lot’s of heart in the next few games. I read that Komisarek is out for a month. That is not good news…. and this team is gonna have to play hard without one of their emotional leaders.
Here’s a chance for some other guys to step it up in the dressing room.. as well as on the ice. I think Komisarek being out another month is a BIG opportunity for O’Byrne….. O’Byrne had a rough game last night. Let’s hope he starts playing the way he should….. responsible on D and physical.
Let’s get the monkey off their back!
Posted by Yves Date: Friday, November 21, 2008
Categories: Game comments, Montreal Canadiens
Tags: Alex Tanguay, Mike Komisarek, Ryan O'Byrne, Slump
