MAX PACIORETTY GETS SUSPENDED!

Is it just me that doesn’t understand the NHL disciplinary board?

THEY ARE LACKING CONSISTENCY.

Recently, Montreal Canadiens forward Max Pacioretty received a three-game suspension for hitting Pittsburgh Penguins defenceman Kris Letang. Actually, NHL disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan called it a “reckless” hit to the head. Just so you know what happened, during the third period, Pacioretty hit Letang in the head with his shoulder, leaving him bloodied with a broken nose. If you watch the replay, you can clearly see that it was difficult for Pacioretty to avoid hitting his head, yet he still gets suspended. Let’s be honest, Letang looked like a house league hockey player skating with his head down. This is the NHL, you put your head down for a second and obviously you’re going to get hit. Granted that those may be the NHL rules, but when Pacioretty suffered a concussion and fractured vertebra after being pushed and getting run into a stanchion by the Boston Bruins defenceman, Zdeno Chara, the board did nothing about it. Then again, Boston Bruin’s Milan Lucic did not get suspended for hitting Buffalo Sabre’s goalie, Ryan Miller, who also suffered a concussion. I am not saying Pacioretty did not deserve to get suspended, but what is with all this inconsistency? If one hit deserves a suspension, so does another.

Pacioretty will be eligible to return to the lineup on December 6^th, when the Canadiens take on the Columbus Blue Jackets.

HABS VS. HURRICANES!

What a game last night! After a 4-0 win against the Carolina Hurricanes, the Montreal Canadiens find themselves in a playoff spot and Price earned his first shutout of the season with a 25-save effort.  Roughly seven minutes into the first period, Michael Cammalleri opened up the scoring for the HABS, with an assist by Carey Price. Soon after, Yannick Weber scored a second goal on a power-play with the help of Cole and Plekanec. Six minutes and thirteen seconds into the second period, P.K. Subban made the score 3-0 with a powerful wrist shot that surprised Ward (Carolina’s goalie). In fact, it was Subban’s first shot of the game and 52nd shot of the season. With only 40 seconds left to the second period, a beautiful backhand by Travis Moen finds its way to the back of the net putting the Montreal Canadiens in a 4-0 lead!! The three stars of last night’s game voted by the fans were P.K. Subbam as third, Tomas Plekanec as second and Carey Price as first.

#14

I decided to dedicate my next blog post to my favorite player: Tomas Plekanec.

#14

Position: Center

Born: October 31, 1982 in Kladno, Czech Republic.

Height: 5’11”

Weight:  198lbs. 

After beginning his career by playing junior for HC Kladno of the Czech Extraliga, he was selected 71st overall in the third round by the Montreal Canadiens in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft. 

Plekanec has excellent speed, hockey sense and play making instincts. Actually, he is usually the one who sets up most of the plays and he puts up some strong offensive numbers as well.  Yes, he is talented like that and he looks good doing it!! Amazing and reliable two-way center. He is also very good at killing penalties.

He does lack a bit of physical strength though (he is rather small), which is why I tend to get really angry when other players hit him. Actually, he does tend to disappear a bit when the HABS play against physical teams. But, that is why we have Georges, Subban and Gill.

2010-11 HIGHLIGHTS
Played his 400th career game with the Canadiens in the NHL, on October 23 in Ottawa.

Led the team in scoring in October with 10 points (tied with A. Kostitsyn).

Led the team with 10 assists and 13 points in November.

Recorded his 300th point in the NHL (assist) on February 15 against Buffalo.

Led the team with 5 goals and finished tied for first with 9 points (J. Wisniewski) in January.

Led the team in February in points (9, tied with M. Pacioretty, P.K. Subban, R. Hamrlik), differential (+4) and shots (46, tied with B. Gionta).

Led the team in assists (35) and points (57).

HABS VS OILERS!

The Montreal Canadiens lost 3-1 to the sixth place team in the NHL presently; The Edmonton Oilers. The first period was rather slow; the Habs weren't playing that well. Sadly, the first goal that found itself at the back of the net was an unassisted backhander by Ryan Jones 5 minutes into the second period. Seventeen minutes into the third period, a wristshot by Tom Gilbert puts a second goal up on the score board for the Oilers. Max Pacioretty revived the hopes of the fans with a beautiful backhander, assisted by Tomas Plekanec and P.K Subban, which surprised Nikolai Khabibulin (oilers' goalie) and prevented an Oilers shutout. Fourty three seconds left into the third period, a wristshot by Ryan Smyth made its way into the open net of the habs making it 3-1 for the Oilers, with the help of Shawn Horcoff. The Montreal Canadiens beneffited from more than one occasion to find the back of the net as well, but they were incapable of completing the play. For instance, Michael Cammalleri missed at least three occasions to score. In the first period, he hit the post of the net to the right of the Oilers goalie Khabibulin. Erik Cole also missed a few beautiful occasions to score and Tomas Plekanec made a couple of costly mistakes.

IT'S OKAY BOYS!!
better luck tomorrow ..

HABS VS. BRUINS!

ANOTHER WIN FOR THE HABS!!!!

I am so happy I got to see the Canadiens beat their biggest rivals, the Boston Bruins, 4-2 on Saturday night at the Bell Centre. The crowd was insane; especially when the Habs scored 2 goals back to back. Fifteen minutes and 26 seconds into the game, Brian Gionta deviated Tomas Plekanec’s shot and scored the first goal. A minute and 16 seconds later, Lars Eller scored his first goal of the season! He surprised Rask (the Bruins goalie) with a strong and precise wrist shot. With Bruins defenseman already in the penalty box, the Habs had a 5 on 3 powerplay because Ference got a penalty as well for punching Subban. David Desharnais scored with the help of Michael Cammalleri and Yannick Weber. Sadly, with three and a half minutes left into the second period, a slapshot by Lucic gave the Bruins their first goal of the game. Soon after, Tyler Seguin scored another goal with the help of Bergeron and Chara (ew) displaying a 1 goal difference on the scoreboard. NOT FOR LONG! With only 55 seconds left to the game (my favorite) Tomas Plekanec scored into the empty net! AND THE HABS BEAT THE BRUINS ONCE AGAIN.

At the end of the game, Eller stated "I think there is no discussion, we were the better team tonight." AGREED.

HABS VS. FLYERS!

Finally a win for the Montreal Canadians!!!!! 

They surprised their fans with a 5-1 win after losing six back to back games.

Ten minutes and 43 seconds into the game, Jaromir Jagr scored the first goal for the Philadelphia Flyers. With onlt three seconds left in the first period, a beautiful slapshot by Yannick Weber finds its way to the back of the net with the help of David Desharnais. Ten minutes and 26 seconds into the second period, Andrei Kostitsyn deflects Jaroslav Spacek's shot and scores the second goal for Habs putting them in the lead. Although Max Pacioretty was not at his best due to a wrist injury, he managed to scored two back to back goals, one which assisted by P.k Subban and Tomas Plekanec and the second one in the third period with the beautiful passes of Tomas Plekanec and Josh Gorges. Michael Cammalleri sniped his third goal of the season with fifteen minutes and 36 seconds into the last period assisted by David Desharnais and Erik Cole. As for Carey Price who stopped 22 of the 23 shots taken by the Flyers, he finally achieved his 100th win!!!!!He was able to do so within the 214 games he played in the NHL. The three stars of tonight's game voted by the fans are Erik Cole as third, Carey Price as second and Max Pacioretty as first.

PS. I AM GOING TO THE BELL CENTRE TO WATCH THE GAME THIS SATURDAY AGAINST BOSTON. HABS BETTER WIN !!!! I can't wait. Finally get to see my Plecky up close :) !

FINALLY, HOCKEY SEASON BEGINS!

WHAT BETTER IS THERE TO TALK ABOUT FOR THIS BLOG OTHER THAN THE HABS !!!!

GAME 1: MONTREAL CANADIENS VS TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS.

Quick recap of the game... unfortunately the Habs lost 2-0 :( ... Matt Lombardi scored a shorthanded goal and Dion Phaneuf scored the second goal early in the third period. YUCK. You cannot even begin to imagine how much I HATE Phaneuf. I was never really a fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs, so forgive me now for the fact that this post is going to be really short!

Actually, heres what the coach Jacques Martin had to say after the game : "We had a real strong first period when we were really on the puck (and) created several good scoring chances. We had good support, got pucks to the net, but once they got the shorthanded goal, we got away from our game."
I must say I agree.. we started the game with a lot more confidence then the Leafs did and after they scored we were all over the place. Once again, THANK GOD FOR CAREY PRICE. He played a good game, ACTUALLY he is the only reason the game didnt end 6-0.

HOPEFULLY THEY WILL PLAY BETTER ON SUNDAY!!!!!
LETS GO LES BOYS !!