Erik Cole

The Long Road Trip Starts in Montreal

January 25, 2012

Two of the most storied franchises in NHL history. A match up between Original Six teams. The final game before the All-Star break. All of these factors culminate in what might be one of the more underrated games in the season.

As the first half of the season has shown, these teams certainly don't have much in common at this point.

The Red Wings (8-2-0) are sitting on top of the NHL with a seven-game win streak, and 17 consecutive victories at home, a franchise record. They haven't been the strongest team on the road, but the momentum they have right now can only be easing that pain.

The Canadiens (4-4-2) are 12th in the Eastern conference and are trying to get o...

Habs Win Habs Win Habs Win - Finally Effort

January 15, 2012

habbykins

2 Comments

First game in the Rene Bourque era in a rare Sunday evening game in Montreal. The scratches for the evening are Petteri Nokelainen and Chris Campoli. The Habs went with seven defensemen and eleven forwards once again. Peter Budaj started against the number one team in the eastern conference.

First period started with the Habs putting on some pressure on the Rangers and Max Pacioretty scored with assists going to Erik Cole and David Desharnais. With the Habs leading in the game and having territorial advantage at five minutes Stu Bickle and Travis Moen squared off in a staged fight off a face off in the Rangers zone. The Habs continued to bring the play to the Rangers and continued t...

Mike Cammalleri's Displaced Anger

January 12, 2012

George Prax

3 Comments

Among all the controversies, all the language debates, all these trivial issues that seem to plague many people in and around the city of Montreal this hockey season (and that I’ve been categorically trying to ignore), there’s an overlying issue that tends to get swept under the rug more often than not with this team.

The Habs just suck.

Blame it on the Anglophone coach, blame it on the incompetent GM or the face-saving owner, but when push comes to shove, the onus of the win-loss record and performance of the Montreal Canadiens falls squarely on the shoulders of the players, and the players only.

Is it Randy Cunneyworth or Jacques Martin’s...

Game Day: Canadiens @ Panthers

December 31, 2011

David Collins

0 Comments

The Montreal Canadiens finish up a six-game road trip in Sunrise, Florida tonight as they face the Panthers in the BankAtlantic Center. This road-trip has been a miserable one for the Canadiens, as they have dropped four out of five games so far. Tonight they will try to end 2011 with a win, something that hasn't come easy to them this season.

In seasons past, this game might be an easy win for the Canadiens, but not this year. This year, the Canadiens (14-17-7) have been around the bottom of the Eastern Conference for the majority of the season. Meanw...

Habs' Win-Streak Ends at One

December 30, 2011

czechtacular

1 Comment

1st2nd3rdTMontreal1203Tampa Bay1124

The Montreal Canadiens were unable to build on their performance against the Ottawa Senators earlier in the week, as they dropped tonight's matchup against the Tampa Bay Lightning by the score of 4-3 despite being up 3-1 past the halfway mark of the second period.

Vincent Lecavalier completed Tampa's rally at 8:37 of the 3rd and former Canadiens JT Wyman and Marc-Andre Bergeron scored for the Lightning. Steven Stamkos was the one who opened the scoring just under four minutes into the game, redirecting a Pavel Kubina shot for his third goal in two games.

Some time later, two...

Canadiens Lose Tug-of-War With Flyers, 4-3

December 16, 2011

czechtacular

2 Comments

1st2nd3rdTPhiladelphia1214Montreal0303

Gord Miller is probably not wrong in his assessment that HBO could probably have made a special about this game. Unfortunately for the Canadiens, they would not be the heroes in this one.

After a topsy-turvy matchup that saw the game tied three times, the Flyers finally came out of the Bell Centre with a 4-3 win in hand while the Habs saw more of referee Chris Lee than the back of the Flyers' net.

Philadelphia got on the board first as everyone's eyes were on Jakub Voracek's dazzling dashes into the offensive zone, leaving none on Max Talbot, who potted the game's first ...

Montreal Too Much for Isles to Handle

December 14, 2011

Chris Hessel

0 Comments

The Islanders were in Montreal on Tuesday night, hoping to get back on the right track after a tough loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Canadiens Hold Off Islanders, Win 5-3

December 13, 2011

David Collins

0 Comments

The New York Islanders were in town on Tuesday night, looking to steal two points from the Habs on home-ice. It didn't work out that way, however, and the Canadiens were able to win their second game in a row with help from a few unexpected scorers.

The first period featured a lot of scoring, for a Canadiens game anyway. Things didn't start off all that well as Lars Eller took an interference penalty just 40 seconds in, which put the Habs stellar penalty kill to work right off the bat. They managed to kill the penalty fairly easily, without the Islanders providing much of a threat. The first five minutes di...

A Stud Goaltender and an Offensive Defenceman Is All You Need Right?

December 11, 2011

Shahab Khan

1 Comment

Montreal Canadiens 2 – New Jersey Devils 1

The Habs Win – Someone Must Have Either Been Fired Or Traded

To judge any team and organization all you must do is look at one game. A nondescript game, where nothing is at stake and nothing out of the normal is happening. When it’s just one game out of the 82 a team plays, that is when you can evaluate a team. How does a player play when nothing is on the line and when there is no pressure? How does a player play when it’s a ho- hum game in the middle of December when nothing is on the line.

A championship team, heck a good team, plays every game up to its ability. A go...

Game Day: Habs vs. Canucks

December 8, 2011

George Prax

0 Comments

The Montreal Canadiens will look to bounce back from a slightly embarrassing 3-2 shootout loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday evening, as they prepare to face the Vancouver Canucks at the Bell Centre.

Logic would dictate that the Habs will be looking at another loss after tonight's game, but this team doesn't exactly follow the laws of physics. If this season has proven anything, it's that when their backs are up against the wall (i.e., the coach's job seems to be in jeopardy), this team will bust out a win against the most unlikely opponent. It happened in Winnipeg when the Canadiens beat the Jets in their long-awaited home opener. It happened...