Boston Series Game Four, In-Game Musings and Scribbles
April 22, 2009, by Homme De Sept-Iles
Boston 4 at Montreal 1
Game 4 – Round One
Why does Milan Lucic have to walk as if he has rubber extensions in his knees. <Yeah, that deal is gonna go down.> We are shown the Bruins walking to the game. All the other Bruins seem fine walking like ordinary humans. Chara has an ordinary walk, for example. Julien walks into the arena with his Starbucks. We’ve had a lot of admirable people in this organization. I miss his general decency.
It’s all philosophy and good karma on le passerelle ce soir.
They introduce the team and I feel a wave of emotion and empathy. So what. Sadness that they might see the end of games tonight.
Even the announcer who blares the player names finds a way to be reserved. He yells Price as funereally as it can be yelled.
Montreal can still win. And win. And win.
We could sing Stompin’ Tom’s song before every game. Or get KD Lang to write us a new one.
Kovalev looks concerned. Kostitsyn looks scared (half his face in his glove during the anthem, too). Koivu looks determined.
Dave Jackson and Kelly Sutherland are the refs.
First Period
Mixed result on the opening faceoff. Montreal gains early control, though. Boston seems interested in taking random shots regardless of quality. That’s good for Montreal. Go ahead and waste your possessions.
O’Byrne is on the ice early.
Kostitsyn gets Koivu’s drop-pass. Wrister from the top of the circle. Scores.
1-0, Montreal.
Thirty-nine seconds.
Metropolit sees a rebound bounce over his stick.
Montreal is playing very well. Nothing new. Crowd finds its throat for Thomas. Yelling the goalie’s name. The modern Billy Smith. Minus the meanness. Just pugnacious.
Weber is paired with O’Byrne.
Latendresse is stopped by Wideman. Side-door gap. Lapierre line is flexed. Rude verbosity. But no dumb stick-work at the whistle. Lapierre pisses everyone off.
Deep faceoff for Boston but Montreal moves the puck out. Higgins, Laraque and Metropolit are together. They control for a time. Higgins and then Laraque. Long control. Komisarek comes up to extend this control.
Koivu line is on. They continue the Red Machine control. Kovalev shows disdain for body contact driving middle head down trying to control the puck. He takes a hit for it but is unaffected. Was expecting it. It sends a message. He will go down the middle. That knowledge will open the wings down the road.
Chara knocks down Plekanec with no effort.
Recchi to Kobasew and the shot sails wide. A short Boston sequence.
Montreal in control again. Latendresse bangs Ryder.
Kostopoulos is stopped on a sharp angle shot. Montreal is getting more belligerent. Lapierre line.
Five minutes have gone by and it feels like fifteen. Montreal has done a lot with their time.
Commercials are their usual intrusive selves. Unneeded. We would still get a telecast of this game one way or another without these commercials and their involvement in the pro game. So don’t say that without commercials there would be no game. A marketing exec taught you to say that.
None of these graphics and stats matter at the moment. Just the game.
Weber. Giving all he has. Koivu, too. So many Canadiens on the same page. Seemingly all of them.
A team this young needs pressure to gain self-containment. An older team can create self-containment in other ways. They rely less on externals.
Boston is not playing with fire nor pride and their fear is not helping them. Kobasew is half-assing it, for example.
Montreal is creating again. They need the three-goal lead to leave this period. This time they should get it. The team is showing a good balance of poise and aggression.
O’Byrne takes a penalty. I yell in pain (my tooth doesn’t like yelling) at the television. Roughing. Why? Why! Why.
First penalty-kill. Kill is right.
Puck crosses the crease and all I can look at is the space behind Price. I curse myself because I think of that as a bad luck gesture. No puck. And then Ryder gets called. What luck.
And we’ll take all the luck we can get and more than we deserve. Luck has a sanctified place in this game, I have realised. I am still developing that theme. I mean, some teams manage to win despite the capricious nature of the puck, no? Yes. The answer is yes. But luck is more important on the ice. Just how much more compared to the other pursuits or passions is what I want to know.
Four-on-four is draining. Montreal will go to an advantage following. Twenty seconds. One chance. A low-percentage one.
Once a song is in the public domain for more than five years (let’s say it has to have been a top-forty hit) it should be considered to be partly in the public domain and it should not be able to be sold to outside interests in order to manipulate said public. Non-commercial use only. Maybe if you sold it to a movie that might be ok. But not in a commercial jingle to sell harmful products. Yes, cars are harmful products. Limited commercial use.
We return to the game.
Montreal has TOP advantage are tied 1-1 on penalties. Montreal also has a goodly lead on quality scoring chances.
Metropolit saves a sure goal. Then some high-octane skating from both teams. Puck bang-bangs about. Several good hits. Mostly in the neutral and Boston zone.
Whistle goes (and RDS uses it as an excuse to keep their post-season commercial average higher than in regular season).
Kostopoulos. Interference. Brunet and Houde think it’s a good call. It doesn’t matter what I think. Not that I’d get fined by anyone.
Savard hits the post. Beat Price. Lucky red post. Sounded like a crossbar, actually.
Boston continues after Montreal clears. They get control. Pass it around. Savard on the top. Bergeron on the right side moving down.
Bergeron gets a shot through. But in the ensuing pinball, Metropolit gets the puck out. Power-play ends.
Koivu is like a barracuda. Jaw open. Always coming in. Or waiting at the cave entrance. He gets the puck and drives it up.
Ryder interrupts a sequence in the Montreal zone and hot-fires it into the net. I’m surprised it didn’t rip through the back. Hamrlik lost the puck after Krejci hobbled him some.
1-1, tied. Just over two minutes left in the first.
Another late and lucky Boston goal. Not as lucky as the one in the first period of last game. But really unearned privilege. As if Luck is from America.
Montreal keeps playing and fighting on. They are gutty. Too bad nobody else sees it. Or at least the loud negative elements seem the loudest.
Ryder give and go. Beautiful return pass from Ryder. Goal.
2-1, Boston.
That one was all earned and all skill. Krejci is the beneficiary.
Well, the worst has happened. Montreal is behind. I guess I feel relieved. Montreal puts on great pressure to close the period and Chara stops a great chance from Kovalev. Head-shaker. Just prior to that Koivu hits the outside of the net.
Julien says the words “lucky, lucky” to someone as he walks off the ice. His face said it before that. He looks as if he knows how fortunate his team is. And they are.
And that isn’t sour grapes. Just the way this game goes.
First Intermission
I twittered the First Intermission and the Second Period
Second Intermission
Demers says that Price’s arm-raising gesture should have been avoided. Demers advises Price that it is not personal when the crowd boos like that.
Joel Bouchard says that these tough times may benefit Price and four years from now Montreal fans may have good things to say about their goalie since he went through this in his second year. He won’t be here. Whether that’s fair or not. There are far too many knuckleheads who can ruin players’ careers with their venomous and unfair criticism. Fans and media are just far too out of control these days. And it’s only increasing.
Theodore was ruined by this city. And Price is getting ruined. His confidence. How much pedestal and pillory can a person take?
This is starting to feel like a Raider-style unraveling. But the basic structure is there. As long as no creepy clown comes in and ruins everything.
Demers says Gainey will talk about the pride of wearing the jersey. Bouchard adds that they should close out their last period with a full effort. Or something to do with integrity or something. It’s hard to concentrate on all this positive thinking.
What ever happened to the days of dominance?
Is this why people have children? Now here’s a chance to control something.
Nothing can make me feel as immature as cheering a team on to a sure loss. What the hell am I doing here? What are we doing? Why? Why.
They interview Ryder again. He keeps his poise. He says the next goal is important. Is he paraphrasing? I wonder who talks more in the dressing room; Jarvis, Muller or Gainey. Yes. Muller. I’m certain of it. What would Jarvis say? What would he think of. He seems so reserved.
Third Period
Price is in net. Sticking with him to the end. The advantage is the message; you will start and play. And if you let in five you will get the chance to let in the sixth. It tells a player that he doesn’t have to worry about the hook. It’s a technique Don Matthews used to good effect with his quarterbacks whenever he took over a post. To very good effect.
With Price, it will be good, too, I’m sure. I don’t know if Theodore got the same backing. I don’t think so.
Montreal kills the penalty. Some resentment shared between Gorges and Ryder. More from Ryder as Gorges is a bit rude with his old teammate.
No more game to look forward to. Summer is long and sweet. Bitter and forgetful.
It’s only three goals, of course. Montreal is certainly capable of notching a few. Especially if Boston is going to be as casual as they are being. Both teams suddenly seem to realise that there is a good chunk of hockey to be played.
I wonder how much the young guys are going to reframe what has happened this season. Some will. Others less so or not at all. It will all show itself in the weeks during training camp and in October. The media and fans certainly won’t let anyone do any reframing or forgetting. At least in public.
How different and refreshing is it to play in a city that doesn’t care? I’ve read that players in those cities lose passion for the game they are playing. Because nobody else cares. Some players. It’s interesting. It’s an individual thing. And it depends on the city, too, I’m sure. But it’s an interesting study.
Lots of board action. Puck is jammed behind Thomas. Metropolit line takes us back to the seventies with the freezing on the boards. But these days we don’t get whistles for that.
Koivu line is back on. Boston ices. Non-pressure-related icing. A small opportunity for Red.
Kostitsyn is working well with Kovalev tonight. Drop-passes to him and then skate-lopes off with purpose. Dreaming of pucks to come.
Montreal is waking up. Playing hockey. May as well.
Boston matches the slight upshift in mood. Passes get quicker. Gaps close faster. Bruins ice again.
There are no paintings on my wall. Nothing to interrupt the internal narrative. It makes my television (when it’s on) the most important generator of mood or story in the room. Good thing this thing is never on. Except on Canadiens’ game night.
There should be a widget that just mutes and generates pleasant imagery during commercials. Pleasant imagery could be a Montreal montage. Perhaps companies that make such widgets could advertise along the bottom. Text only.
Team does not give off an air of having given up. They are hockey players and they’ve all seen one or two or three quick goals in their on-ice lives. And they know they can do it here, too. They believe. As players do. And to some degree, must.
Good mucking along the boards. Both teams are interested. But no scoring chances are on the horizon. For either team. Teams max out at about two completed passes in a row at this stage. Midway through the third.
It’s easier to lose this way. It’s gradual. Not sudden. Falling asleep death. Rather than jerked off life-support by a power-failure.
But I’d rather see us score a couple. Hope feels better than resignation. Not as easy. But better.
RDS poll says that 88% of voters believe Bob Gainey won’t be back next season. The seasons of reason and the speed experiment will end. Or no?
What the people want in Montreal, the people usually get.
If Bob Gainey couldn’t get it to work who could? It takes time to repair a culture in disrepair. Does it not? Gainey did do that. I’d rather see him here to finish the job. Did he fire Carbonneau? If it was solely his decision, it would be nice to know how justified it was. But those details are not available to us.
Komisarek is trying to fight Lucic again. Lucic has an “I can’t believe it look” on his face as he returns to the bench. I recognize that look. From my school days. He’s an unsavoury character. Creepy.
He has to get treated for a cut on his cheek. Not sure how it happened.
Bergeron says they should have pulled Price for the period to spare him from the hecklers behind him. Well, the pendulum swings and guys like Bergeron and Bertrand Raymond can have their pontificating say all summer long. Of course, none of them could run a team. Bergeron wasn’t even good back then. Look at his record. It’s less than 45%.
Boston gets a four-minute power-play. For the cut. But Lapierre gets the first good chance. It’s the first real scoring chance of the period.
This summer is going to be very active. Lots of personnel change up and down the stairs and along the bench.
Both teams are playing relaxed. What a way to go out.
Still two and a half minutes left in the power-play.
Should they make booing at sports events illegal? Hmm. Never thought of that. But it’s not a bad idea. What hallowed principle is being harmed in not letting someone boo? Silence could replace booing. Or perhaps crying. Or angry screaming.
Higgins gets free and gets a backhander. Not a high-percentage chance. But an exciting one. Crowd is chanting “Carbo” now.
There is a real mix of views at Bell Central. Fire him. Keep him. Bring him back. Don’t boo. Boo. Get drunk and turn over cars and loot.
Just over two minutes left in the game. Penalty is killed. This is the last two minutes of this edition of the team. The Kovalev edition? The Plekanec edition? Really this is a team that Bob Gainey wanted. It’s missing some key pieces. And the work is not complete. And now we may not get to see the completion of the work. Another job interrupted.
Lots of summertime nailbiting to come.
Just over one minute. Latendresse takes a solid hit and leaves the game. Few notice as he keeps it discreet.
It’s really too bad how public this disgrace is. Most people who watch this game don’t understand it. Myself included. It’s a very difficult sport to quantify.
Siren goes.
Someone throws a bottle on the ice. Get them out of the rink.
No shenanigans from the players.
They shake hands. Nods and respect. Gainey and Julien shake hands. Chara makes a nice gesture towards Hamrlik. So does Yelle.
Team goes to centre ice. Koivu leads them there. Chara has nice things to say to a Hab. Laraque and Chara exchange some very pleasant words. Chara and Laraque share a laugh, too.
Crowd regains some heart as the team raises their sticks to the crowd. Many are cheering. Dandenault is tears-in-his-eyes. Many of the fans have the right supportive attitude.
Debriefing begins. No games to interrupt the theories. To land crushing blows on people’s errors of reasoning. Those blows’ effects are minimal. People see what they want to see.
And though lynchings are minus the hoods and the torches these days, they are still the rule of the day. The outcomes are firings and suits, bitterness and xenophobia, ignorance and loud sound.
Tonight there are no stars in the sky.
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