Habs Fans All Star Prank An Embarrassment

For once I have to agree with the Habs haters out there, and this dumb prank just gives them fuel to spread their wrath.

Just a few days in the 2009 All Star game, six Canadiens players are leading all six starting positions for this year's game. At first the notion of it is kind of fun, as all of Price, Koivu, Tanguay, Kovalev, Markov and Komisarek are players deserving of being in the mix this season while enjoying fairly good starts in 2008-09. The fact that Habs fans would vote often was to be no big surprise.

While everyone recognizes the passion of Canadiens fans, and would have expected them to show up en masse to vote their faves in, it has come to light that certain fans have created "auto voters" that run automatically by voting for a player on a per minute basis 24/7. Fans can literally washthe dishes, make babies, and snore while voting.

Call it what it is - cheating, and term some Habs fans for how this nonsense makes them look - pompous and arrogant, but where something like this really gnaws at me is that it paints all Canadiens fans with one brush. And I don't like the colour of the paint!

It also taints the organization for no reason, and quite rightly perhaps, the NHL, who in all their shrewdness, can never seem to get this All Star game voting thing right for once.

I won't link to this "auto voter", show a scan of it, or spread the word on it further, because it is simply despicable.

I would have liked to cast a vote for Saku, Kovalev, Tanguay and Markov, who I hope to see play in the game, but I now will not. If they were to legitinately get in, along with Komisarek and Price, it would all be good.

As it looks now, the Canadiens will have six starters in the game, and the feeling from the Habs fans, to fans of hockey everywhere, and perhaps even to the players themselves, is that a particular slanted mechanism was used for getting them all in.

Trust me, if this scheme works, it will be an embarrassment to everyone involved.

In a season where the Canadiens should be greatly celebrated by their fans, and the fans of the game hockey everywhere, a devious ploy like this just stains the club from top to bottom.

Somewhere, some twit without much of a life devised this crock, and now all Habs fans will pay for it. Nice move to undue all those seasons of class and dignity by the team.

If you personally have employed this auto vote gadget, please cease to now. The perception of yourself as a fan should be more important to you than getting our guys into some meaningless game anyway.

Do the right thing.

The All Star game is for all fans especially. Not just fans of two teams like any regular game, and not just for Habs fans.

I call for the NHL to cancel this vote, and redo the process, with some kind of blockers in place. The sooner, the better!

Let fairness rule!

One Final Stab At Some Habs Girls

With my move to Sports Blog Nation about 10 days away, I figured it a good time to bundle all these hunnies together for a final Habs Girls post. I doubt they'll let me get away with it over there as they have a semi PG outlook for the kiddies.

I remember when I was 12, and seeing pictures like this for the first time. It messed up my mind big time, and thankfully I never recovered.

Occasionally I get an e-mail asking me where I find all of these beauties. Two have been sent here but for the rest of them, I'm sorry but I cannot tell.

None come over to pose in the backyard beach. However there are some items of Habs lingerie lying about the house and something can always be worked out.

One young lady had asked a time back to remove her photo. No reason was given, and none was needed. I thought she looked like Celine Dion, so I didn't argue

I think this is the third, maybe fourth installment of Habs Girls pics. I'll try to put up the link to the older posts here at a later date. For now, enjoy the photos and keep the comments respectable.

Until then, keep your eyes on the prize!

Canadiens Get On Track With 60 Minute Effort

Last night's 4-0 whitewash of the Ottawa Senators was just what the doctor ordered!

There were several key plays, great performances, and turning points in the game, but stood out most was that the game was a unified effort in which every Hab showed up to play.

None of us could ever know, but it is possible this game might have been won starting with a team meeting called on Monday prior to practice.

It was no secret that despite getting off to a 8-2-2 start that the Canadiens were playing some sloppy brand of hockey. It all caught up to them the past weekend. The meeting called by the coaching staff surely caught the club off guard, and for the moment it seems as though it has served to bring all on board back down to the ground.

What the players offered last night was a true measure of the character of the team - it was a character win.

The Canadiens grabbed the lead, held it, kept the Senators scoring chances to a minimum, and capitalized on the mistakes they forced. They had many great scoring chances, but took less risks offensively, and never allowed Ottawa into the game.

























Carey Price, in registering his first shutout of the season, was not overworked. It is a testament to the team effort that all he needed to be in this one was solid and not neccessarily spectacular.

It was also heartwarming to see a couple of players who had been squeezing their sticks tightly of late hit the scoresheet. It was a breakout effort for Chris Higgins, who always seems to create more chances than he can capitalize on. The most curious part of his night, were that all three goals were untypical of his play. He seemed invisible to Senators all evening, coming out of nowhere to net a hat trick, unsuspectingly.

As good as Higgins performed, he might not have been the best Canadiens player on the ice.

Saku Koivu and Tomas Plekanec had a few good scoring chances during the game, but their best work came in shutting down Jason Spezza, who wasn't a threat by any means in this game. Of course, Spezza often makes it easy on other centres by being easily outworked on all 200 feet of ice.





















The Senators Dany Heatly should see Mike Komisarek in his nightmares for a spell. The Canadiens big defenseman was on his case every time he entered the Canadiens zone. Komisarek seemed on a mission to make Heatly come unglued.

The steadying influence of Roman Hamrlik is unfortunately more evident when he is missed. Not as obvious tonight was the fact that the Canadiens defenseman played their game, and gave the Ottawa forwards practically no clear paths to the net. In consequence to Hamrlik's return, Ryan O' Byrne might have had his best game of the season so far. His did make one near fatal boob, when he pinched, allowing a Heatley breakaway, but his blunders were kept to a minimum and his patience and poise were returned to his game.






















Another point of note, is that the Plekanec and Kovalev penalty killing duo is gaining some grit. The had the Senators power play unit - their most devastating asset - off balance all game.

Kovalev's performances are often measured on the scoresheet, but he put in a great effort on a night when his offensive contributions weren't as badly needed. He had all kinds of puck possession time that translated into chances in this game. He did everything but capitalize.

The effort by the entire team was a timely one. It helps in part remove some of the doubt that may have seeped in from a string of horrid showings of late. With a trip to Boston up next, they might need to be even better on Thursday.

Photos courtesy of Habs Inside Out / The Montreal Gazette / Peter McCabe

Examining A Wartime Habs Myth On Rememberance Day

"He's (Maurice Richard) just a wartime hockey player".

This quote came from the mouth of Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Frank Selke in the mid 1940's, when Richard scored 50 goals in 50 games while World War II raged overseas. While the assumption went more or less undisputed at the time, the notion that Richard was simply a wartime hockey phenominon took root and gained ground outside of the province of Quebec.

Canadiens coach at the time, Dick Irvin Sr.'s rebuttal after the war ended years later amounted to, "We'll the war must still be ongoing, because Richard is still scoring."

While the Rocket never again enjoyed the torrid 50 goal pace he set in the 1944-45 season, he did top the 40 goal mark in three of the following six seasons. Often injured, and playing in newly elongated schedules, the Rocket's scoring feats were practically given an asterisk by Selke's initial comments in the day.

Years later, when Selke moved his talents from the Maple Leafs front office to the Canadiens organization, the perception was rarely put forth by him ever again. Instead, it became Leafs owner Conn Smythe's propaganda in assessing the entire Montreal Canadiens team of era, going so far as to render the club war time cheaters in a sense.

The 1943-44 season was a campaign in which the NHL teams lineups were most drastically affected by players enlisting in the World War II service. The enlisting affected the composition of all six clubs, watering down the product in many views. Several teams lost core elements and the Canadiens were greatly criticized at the time, as it seemed on the surface that the Habs lost less talent than others did to the war.

Smythe, a veteran of the first world war, became a Major in World War II, and served overseas in the 1944 season. Chapters and books have been written recounting Smythe's valiant efforts on behalf of his country. He was without a doubt, a true Canadiens wartime hero.

Where Smythe becomes full of himself, is in his battlefield war of words aimed at the Montreal Canadiens on ice success that built while he was off serving his country. He never quite accepted that the Canadiens gained ground on Toronto while he was not at the helm of the team. Smythe never let go of his notion that the Canadiens organization profited from the perceived weaknesses of others to become an NHL power in the mid 1940's.

In truth, as one can see, the Canadiens did lose a great deal of talent to the war. In the end, what the team ultimately did, was manage their club resources more shrewdly with the war on the horizon.

Around the NHL, the impact of war was severe. The Boston Bruins lost the services of the entire "Kraut Line" of Woody Dumart, Milt Schmidt, and Bobby Bauer after the 1941-42 season. That year the trio had accounted for a total of 41 of the clubs 160 goals, and the Bruins finished third in the standings with 56 points, four behind the league leading Rangers.

The following season, in 1942-43, minus the "Kraut Line", the Bruins finished second, four back of the Red Wings, but scored a whopping 195 goals, an increase of 35 in the absence of their top line. This season, Bruins players would hit the net with even better accuracy, counting for 223 goals, while surrendering a dreadful 268 against.

Losing the "Kraut Line" it could be said, hardly hampered their offense.

In New York, the Rangers also sacrificed a top trio to the war effort, with brothers Mac and Neil Colville, flanked by Alex Shibicky, missing in NHL action starting in the 1942-43 season. In 1941-42, the line's last season together, the trio accounted for 42 goals. In truth, the Colville brothers line were the Rangers second line, as the trio of Phil Watson, Bryan Hextall, and Lynn Patrick, aged 27, 28, and 29 respectively, accounted for 71 goals that season.

What hurt the Rangers most, was the loss of 21 year old rookie goalie "Sugar" Jim Henry to the service, as their goals against ballooned from 143 to 253 in a single season. New York went from 171 goals scored, down to 161 goals that season, but the Watson, Hextall, Patrick trio still packed some punch, hitting the net 63 times between the three of them. In Henry's absence, the Rangers record dropped to 29-7-2 to 11-31-8. In 1943-44, the Rangers employed a horrifying 34 players, while grounding themselves to a 6-39-5 record.

The Maple Leafs were also affected by players having been enlisted in the army. The Leafs lost goaltender Turk Broda and top scorer Syl Apps to the war. Each were undoubtably among the best at their positions in the early 1940's, and their losses surely hurt the team. Howie Meeker, a prospect who had yet to play in the NHL, enlisted and was hurt overseas in a shrapnel blast. Meeker recovered sufficiently to became the Calder Trophy winner in 1946-47.

In 1942-43, the Leafs third place standing involved a 22-19-9 record, while the team scored 198 goals. With Broda in goal, the Leafs allowed 159 goals against. In the 1943-44 season, minus the skills of Broda and Apps, Toronto held onto third place with a 23-23-6 record, only one point shy of their previous regular season. Their goals for increased by 16 goals to 214, while their goals against jumped by 15 to 174. The subtraction of Apps from the lineup was more than made up for by the additions of Calder Trophy winner Gus Bodnar (22-40-62 in 50 games) and rookie George Kennedy (26-23-49 in 49 games).

The Detroit Red Wings were most fortunate in 1942-43. With a lineup that featured neither young stars enlisting, and veterans just old enough to avoid service in the military, they finished second to the Canadiens with a 26-18-6 record for 58 points, a drop of 3 points from 1942-43

The Chicago Blackhawks, a perenial doormat in these times, were mostly unaffected by the war. The season total in both seasons held status quo at 49 points.

What was generally suspiscious to Smythe and others, was the Canadiens going from a record of 19-19-12 in 1942-43, to a superlative season of 38-5-7 in 1943-44. In his mind he smelled a rat, and he blamed the notion that Canadiens players appeared to be the least involved in the war. He spoke his views loud and long enough for them to take hold and became truth to many, but as is often the case, history was simply becoming a version of truth supplied by the loudest historian with the largest pedestal.

If one does not believe the Canadiens contributed to World War, it is surprising to learn that only 8 of 27 players employed during the previous 1942-43 season returned to the club in their record setting year. Many of their elements were off to war, and all that remainded from the club were Maurice Richard, Toe Blake, Elmer Lach, Butch Bouchard, Buddy O'Connor, Leo Lamoureux, Ray Getliffe, Glen Harmon. Only Blake and harmon had made a legitimate name for themselves by this point in their NHL careers.

Richard had tried to enlist, twice, in previous years, but had been turned away both times due to severe injuries suffered in games. Lach also failed his physical. Blake at 32, and often injured himself, fell into the same situation. To the surprise of many, the three who had rarely played together gelled incredibly well. The following season, they would finish 1-2-3 in scoring.

Missing from the previous 1942-43 season, were a core of up and coming stars and able veterans. Joe Benoit, Alex Smart and Smiley Meronek, all set for promising careers, were sent overseas. Benoit had contributed 30 goals and 27 assists the previous year. Smart scored three goals in his first NHL game. Meronek had 9 points in a short 12 game stint before leaving the team early in the 1942-43 campaign. Marcel Dheer, a fourth younger talent also joined rank.

All Star defenseman Ken Reardon was the Canadiens most significant loss, and he was joined by Gord Drillon, a 28 goal scorer acquired from Toronto two seasons prior.

Between Drillon and Benoit alone, the Canadiens were down 58 goals from the loss of their two best shooters - a fact seldom noted in hockey history books.

In a controvercial trade, the Canadiens acquired Montreal born Rangers forward Phil Watson, who had been initially restricted to playing games only on Canadiens soil due to the terms and duties of his enlistement. Over the course of the season, his restrictions were lifted, and he would appear in all games with the Habs. The Canadiens however, paid dearly for his services for one season, sacrificing all of veterans Charlie Sands, Fern Gauthier, John Mahaffy, Dutch Hillier and Tony Demers to acquire Watson.

Perhaps in the final tally, it could be seen that Canadiens General manager Tom Gorman simply managed his club better than anyone else. In hindsight, good fortune and a shrewd knack for talent spotting served him well

When Gorman had taken over the run of the team in 1940, the Canadiens were on the brink of folding due to hard times from the Depresssion of the 1930's. Slowly, Gorman assembled a group of talented players, and they were destined to make the club a league power sooner or later. Injuries to players had stunted this development, and the Canadiens were in fact overdue for a breakthrough season in 1944. Many things, the war nonwithstanding, had fallen into place for the 1943-44 season.

Two off - season moves Smythe made, or in fact didn't make, greatly affected the Canadiens this season.

Having lost goaltender Turk Broda, one of the best in the game, to the war, Smythe loaned the Canadiens Paul Bibeault for a season instead. The price was cheap, as Bibeault was a stiff who'd worn out his welcome in Montreal. A few seasons earlier, Smythe lost Broda's heir apparent in a training camp decision. The goalie, a Toronto native in the Leafs own backyard, would star for the Canadiens in the next seven seasons.

Bill Durnan, the game's only ambidextrous stopper in history, was perhaps the biggest reason the Canadiens turned their fortunes around. He was simply amazing in his rookie season as a 27 year old. In truth few hockey men saw Durnan coming, but soon he would win six Vezina trophies in seven season with Montreal.

Gorman was fortunate with Smythe's next oversight. In the middle of the 1943-44 campaign, the Canadiens GM called around the league to find some interest for an often injured forward he had on his hands that he was unsure would amount to very much. Every team including Toronto failed to make the Canadiens a substancial offer for the so called brittle player.

Returning to the lineup early in the 1944 calandar year after missing four games with another injury, Maurice Richard caught fire once placed with Blake and Lach. He made up for lost time quickly, scoring 23 goals in his final 22 regular season games. He would add 12 more in nine playoff games as the Canadiens captured the Stanley Cup.

Who knew?

Richard would go on to shatter every scoring record in the game while defining the Canadiens organization for generations with his fiery, empassioned play. The Canadiens were lucky - Smythe and four other NHL organizations couldn't have known.

Years later, Smythe made great attempts and offers in the hundreds of thousands to acquire Richard, but the Canadiens would never part with him. He plotted it in some detail, getting the Toronto mayor to honour Richard for various feats, and often spoke of the possibily of making an offer to the media. At one point, a Toronto paper even printed a mock up photo of Richard in the Leafs blue woolies. The courting never amounted to anything serious. Tampering rules would prevent such a thing happening today.

Smythe never admitted to his oversights, just as he was always prepared to brag and take credit for everything his right hand man Selke achieved. It was not in his charcter to admit defeat, as he was a warrior through and through. Credit to others would simply not come from a man as proud as Smythe.



















When the Canadiens came up for discussion with Smythe, the questions always turned to how, in his opinion, the Canadiens basically cheated during wartime.

Smythe often underlined that a Canadiens director named Len Peto, had found war time factory work for the Habs players in a Montreal plant that built products for the war, thus helping to keep them from front line duty. This may have been a case putting the cart before the horse, as the Canadiens players doing factory work were refused by the military, but still sought to do their part for the war effort. Smythe, it could be said, did not overlook the convenience of twisting the truth when it came to serving his own needs.

It is doubtful that he ever got over missing out on Rocket Richard. When Smythe was off serving at war, he liked Selke to inform him of prospective deals. In fact, it is often said that when Selke fleeced the Canadiens of Ted Kennedy that year without first consulting Smythe, it would later lead to a feud, resulting in his termination in Toronto because Smythe had not been advised.

In Toronto, once the talent pool accumulated by Selke ran dry, the Maple Leafs under Smythe's full reign, endured an 11 year Cup drought from 1951 to 1962 - an eternity back in the day.

It is just the character of some people, that when they can no longer boast of themselves, they seek to tear another down. That might just be the bottom line in the long held story of the war time hockey player on the team of cheaters.

For more information on hockey during wartime, and an example of the thoughts above, check out Joe Pelletier's Greatest Hockey Legends' "War and Hockey History".

Lest We Forget!



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Nothing Wrong With Kostopoulos Hit

I finally got around to watching the highlights from last night's debacle against the Maple Leafs. I wasn't too keen on seeing them after the game, the worst one the Canadiens have played in over a year.

Last night, I missed the first ten minutes of the game after arriving home from my daughter's tournament (she was game MVP) and I watched the first half of the game with the sound down and some company in the room. I hadn't seen the Tom Kostopoulos hit on Leafs defenseman Mike Van Ryn, but I had heard a bit about it, and that he'd been thrown from the game.

Late this afternoon I spoke with a Leafs fan friend that called it the most disgusted thing he's seen in years. He's calling Kostopoulos to get 20 games suspension for it. Unfortunately I couldn't give my opinion at the time.

After finding a You Tube clip of the hit, I had to watch it over and over to figure out what the fuss is about. The hit is perfectly legal. The result, anything but pretty.

Van Ryn unfortunately left himself wide open and vulnerable on the play. A player should always be alert and aware of his surroundings and never let up like he did. Stopping to cradle to puck when he knows he's being pursued is just plain dangerous.

There were several intelligent options for a defenseman to make on the play, and any of them should have included Van Ryn bracing himself to take a hit. It is a players perogative to protect themselves when skating to the boards to play the puck, and Van Ryn acted like there wasn't a soul around him.

As is often the case, the officials penalized the result instead of the act, as though it is Kostopoulos' fault that Van Ryn's a lame brain.

I showed my 13 year old daughter the clip of the hit. They teach boys her age in bantam how to give and receive bodychecks. She played three exhibition games last season against that age group. They weren't allowed to bodycheck against the girls team, but that didn't stop my girl from taunting them with a slam or two of her own.

When she saw what Van Ryn did, she was laughing. She couldn't understand what he was thinking when he stopped to pivot on the puck. Neither can I.

Kostopoulos is pretty much faultless in the whole incident. His hitting motion is completely legal, There is no attempt to isolate Van Ryn's head. What was most unfortunate, is that once a player throws himself into a hit, it's practically impossible to put on the brakes. It's akin to turning back once you've jumped from a plane. Kostopoulos can't exactly pull a shute once his momentum has been propelled in Van Ryan's direction.

I doubt that Kostopoulos will receiving anything more than a game for this. I don't even see a two minute penalty on the play.

While searching for the clip, I found this beauty from two weeks back when Milan Lucic of the Bruins hit Van Ryn, shattering the glass in the process. Van Ryn should be made aware that players will attempt to take him out of the play.

Let's hope that everything will be alright in his case, and that he makes a sound recovery and quick return to the ice.

Leafs Hand Habs A Hockey Lesson, And Expose Carbonneau's High Wire Risks In The Process

Raise your hands all those that didn't see this coming!

You in the back with your arms angrily folded, step to the front of the class!

So far this season, the Canadiens are not playing as a focused and cohesive unit. Their 8-2-2 record is not representative of where they are by any means.

After busting out of the gate with a 5-0-1 record to start the season, the Habs have since stunk the joint out by going 3-2-1. Since the seventh game of the present campaign against the Ducks on October 25, they have allowed 22 goals against, while scoring only 19.

The most recent wins against the Wild, the Hurricanes, and the Islanders were almost accidental in nature. In Minnesota, the Canadiens were lucky that the Wild misfired on ten powerplay chances. They needed a shootout to defeat Carolina. Last Saturday, they struggled desperately to come from behind and beat a weak and confidence lacking Islanders club

Last night, the Maple Leafs dealt the Canadiens a lesson in focus, intensity, and hard work. You could also add humility to the growing list.

Cliches in sports have long been invented to explain away what has infested the Canadiens of late.

No game is won before it is played.

Never underestimate an opponant.

Hard work and dedication will beat skill and talent when it doesn't work as hard.

All three of these old adages apply to the loss against the Leafs, and the Canadiens should be feeling quite humbled about now.



















The Canadiens showed up to play the same doormat Maple Leafs squad they easily handled 6-1 in the season's second game. The trouble was, that Leafs team was not their opponant last night. Instead, a hungier and more focused club awaited them, and in the final tally, it was the Canadiens who failed to show up and bring with them an equal appetite.

Part of the Canadiens recurring problem is that they know how good they are. Or at least they think they do. A hockey team might be like a rock group, wherein they are only as good as their last record. The last time I checked, the Canadiens haven't won anything of significance recently.

Some of the Canadiens wins at the start of the season weren't pretty either. The Habs have enough talent that they can often turn a game around within minutes. Learning to rely on that fact is a catastrophic recipe for disaster. The come from behind win against the Islanders, and even the late goal against the Blue Jackets the night before that allowed the team a point in a loss, tends to fuel the notion that they can pull irons out of the fire at anytime.

Last night provided another example. With Toronto ahead by two goals, the Canadiens profited from the Leafs indiscipline by notching a pair of goals on the power play to tie the game. I gather such only served to bolster their overconfidence. What they failed to grasp was that Toronto handed them the opportunities, the Canadiens did not earn them with hard work.

Three successive calls in the Leafs offensive zone, all three for running the goaltender, opened the Canadiens window. It was not the Habs thrusting in the Leafs zone that fed their chances. Once the Canadiens had evened the score, it was as if a forthcoming win was taken for granted.

What disgusts me most, is that even by that time of the game, the Habs had yet to seize that their opponant was their equal.

It should be drilled into this team's collective consciousness that the Toronto Maple Leafs are always going to be a formidable foe, irregardless of what they appear to be on paper, or what their current record is, or how they have played in recent games. The Maple Leafs live, exist, and yearn to eat the Habs alive, especially in a perceived underdog's role.




















The Canadiens approached last night's game as though it had already been won on paper.

But why on God's earth would the Habs think they were in for an easy night against Toronto. The Leafs have beaten the Red Wings, Bruins, Senators, Devils, Rangers, and now the Canadiens so far this term - not a sad sack team in the lot. Coach Ron Wilson is the big difference maker. He has his team poised every game, and playing with a do or die edge.

I'd like to see such a temperment instilled into the Canadiens players!

Perhaps the Canadiens are subscribed into the illusions and distractions brought on by the perceptions of themselves by fans and media. In a celebratory one hundredth season, it isn't unlikely.

Maybe it is because there has been no shortage of excuses to pamper their failures game in and game out, even when they win ugly.

It could be that coach Carbonneau isn't hard enough on the team. I see unflaged accountability issues everywhere I look on this team, yet the team's slow start in games is most often blamed on a schedule that gives them too many successive nights off. What a load of crock!

I like Guy Carbonneau as a coach, but sometimes he could be accused of tiptoeing around things when a hammer ought to be employed a bit more liberally. Most of the Canadiens players this season are doing all kinds of good things on the ice, yet their errors seem to be swept under a collective carpet of absent denial.

These issues do not go away by themselves. They need to be confronted head on.

On ice indiscipline on this team is a recurring issue. Two seasons ago, when Carbonneau was a rookie coach, I could understand that calming such habits was a work in progress. Last season it seemed to be dealt with, but it has made a return this season.

When a former players such as Carbonneau become bench bosses, their disrespect for the game's officials follows them. I'm not privy to Carbonneau's words in the heat of action, but his gestures, mannerisms, and consistent facial smirks speak loudly enough to broadcast his opinions.

Players pick up on such vibes, and the attitude becomes contagious. A coach needs to mute such disgust to unseen and unheard proportions, because it affects his players perceptions greatly. Bad officiating gives all players an excuse, and an out, when a coach publically displays a vivid displeasure on controvercial calls. The next bad penalty they take, will always be the referee's fault, in that line of thinking. Trouble often begins when accountability goes off compass.



























There's another old sports cliche, mostly passed among coaches: Give players an obvious excuse, and they will run with it everytime.It is the nature of the blamed. A coach who is a former player of 20 NHL seasons ought to know this much, and learn to control his every reflex towards that. He's only passing along bad habits if he doesn't reel the instinct in.

Another Carbonneau goof came at the term of training camp, when he was discussing the composition of the teams individual lines and their roles on the club, In boasting of the Habs apparent offensive gunpowder, Carbonneau publically stated that there was no particular trio of the four whose role was mainly to act in a defensive mode.

All four lines had scoring punch, according to the coach, and all four lines would also be tasked with both offensive and defensive responsabilities. To that end, and with an eye on not damaging any egos, the coach also added that the club had no defined number one line as well.

Twelve games into the season, those proclamations may have served to cause the Canadiens current strife.

Roles need to be defined and underlined specifically on a team. Tasks need to be outlined and detailed to precision without fail. Barring such understood definitions creates a finger pointing atmosphere amongst the team, where players blame others without a word being said rather than take responsability for breakdowns themselves.

Ignoring all of this is a recipe for a rot that can eat at a team's core - witness the Ottawa Senators 15 games into the 2006-07 season for an example of this.

Added all up, the Canadiens are an indisciplined team, skilled but over confident, ill prepared for what is at stake in each game, and unaware of forthcoming consequences. It is becoming obvious enough after only 12 games that other teams are learning how to prey upon such cracks in the foundation.

A redefinition of the team is required in order for the Canadiens to carve out an identity that suits their ultimate goals.

It all starts at the top, with corrections made by those who call the shots.


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Don Cherry Was Almost A Montreal Canadien, Not!

Everyone has heard the old Don Cherry tale of playing his lone NHL game against the Canadiens in the 1955 playoffs. Few people realize that Cherry once donned the Habs jersey he would later grow to despise.

Who knows the real story, but it is doubtful an accounting would come from Cherry himself!

Cherry started out in junior as a solid prospect on defense who was signed to a confirmation form (C - Form) with the Bruins in the day. After his first pro season in Hershey, he was called up by the Bruins in March of 1955, to play what would turn out to be his only NHL game.

Did the Habs burn him or what?

All that is known from the game, is that Boston didn't win it.

The Canadiens went on to win the series 4 to 1, but then lost in the Cup final to Detroit in seven games.

In the 1959-60 season, Cherry played the final 23 games of the season for the Trois Rivieres Lions of the Eastern Professional Hockey League. The 25 year old defenseman had been acquired from the Springfield Indians and was in the midst of becoming a journeyman AHL'er. Soon he would play for eight different teams in the next ten seasons.

With the Lions, he was a team mate of future Rangers dynamic duo Rod Gilbert and Jean Ratelle, and one time Habs forwards Dave Balon, Leon Rochefort, and goaltender Claude Evans.

The Canadiens organziation sponsored Quebec based teams and players in the EPHL, and obviously became acquainted with Cherry at the time. After Cherry played with Kitchener, Sudbury and Springfield once more, he was looking to remain in the EPHL, where he had forged a reputation as a tough and dependable rearguard.

Prior to the 1962-63 season, it appears that Cherry was given a tryout by the Canadiens, playing a few exhibition games with the Hull Ottawa Canadiens of the EPHL

Cherry wore number 6 and played in at least a few exhibition games for Hull, as noted by this program for a game against the NHL Bruins.

Curious that an EPHL team would play against an NHL club in exhibition. The Bruins in the day were the NHL's weak sisters, and the Canadiens farm club was a strong minor league affiliate loaded with talent.

Canadiens prospects on that edition of the Hull - Ottawa squad included Keith McCreary, Claude larose, Terry Harper, Jim Roberts, Jacques Laperriere, Germain Gagnon, Andre Boudrias, and goalies Ernie Wakely, Claude Pronovost, and Cesare Maniago.

Few remember Cherry's brief stint in the CH duds. It is likely only after he became famous as the Bruins coach, and later, even more reknown from Coach's Corner, did anyone likely recall his Canadiens cup of coffee.

Of the few recollections from that time, word arises that the team liked Cherry enough to invite him. It is often discussed that the NHL Habs were on the lookout for players who weren't afraid to drop the gloves, and that is where their interest in Cherry may have came from. The following season, the Canadiens signed John Ferguson, and settled the issue of team toughness in one fell swoop.

Why Cherry didn't stick with Montreal could have been that he liked to tip the bottle a touch too much for the liking of GM Sam Pollock. The tryout ended as soon as it began, and the 28 year old went on to sign with the Spokane Comets of the WHL. The Comets had an affiliation with the Canadiens as well, employing the three goaltenders named above, as well as Cherry for the duration of the season.

Cherry then moved on to the Rochester Americans of the AHL, where he would play parts of the next six seasons, in a veteran leadership role that led to his interest in coaching. In Vancouver, he crossed more Canadiens affiliates, in Marc Rheaume, Gagon and goalie Charlie Hodge.

The Canadiens meanwhile, were busy winning four Cups in five seasons from 1965 to 1969.

Were francophone sour grapes born from this?