Tampa Musings and In-Game Scribbles
November 7, 2009, by Homme De Sept-Iles
My English is as good as yours, I just write these in a stream-of-consciousness mode that I insist excuses me from small things like rules of grammar or general etiquette. Let’s call it conversational English, hopped up on beans. You know what kind of beans (no, Carl Mellesmoen, not the magic ones)
Montreal Canadiens (8-8) host Tampa Bay Lightning (5-4-5)
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Game Seventeen (score posted following scribbles)
Musings and In-Game Scribbles are a “live blogging” of the game that are compiled (typed, actually) during the game and edited and posted shortly after the game.
Here we go. The arenas are quiet abroad, wood echoes. In Montreal, even the average opponent is made great. Remember RJ Umberger?
And what does this noise and mystique and expectation, daily, do for the home team? Does it make an average player better? No, it seems to cow the great, creates hesitation in shooters, skittishness in goaltenders and allows players to bloom elsewhere.
That’s how it feels anyway.
And tonight, we get the joy of Martin and Vincent. Two guys who are both past their prime but who can benefit from the artificial atmosphere that is Montreal.
We have to host as if this power is ours to wield. Not our magnifying baleful white glare.
They will return to the pinnacle of their respective games for this night and resume their pointless ways afterward. We have only the Montreal Madness to thank.
Where’s Saku!? Acceuillons. Vos. Canadiens! They hop on the ice one after the other and no captain to enter the rink last.
He’s in Anaheim.
I don’t like how the boom-voice guy says Carey Price. It needs something.
Once again. What do anthems have to do with hockey? New singer. Marie-Anne Fiset. She sounds too wailing British. What in. I can’t even think of an analogy for this. Not only do we have to hear this but we have to hear it in this voice. Not a hockey voice. That’s the best I can say for her. Well, at least she seems happy while singing it.
If the goal was to irritate the Canadiens into a higher sense of urgency, I am impressed.
First Period
Carey Price will start. Very poor 0.896 save percentage. That is a team stat, though. A reflection of back-checking, turnovers, all the stuff that goes on beyond the young lad’s crease (I’m in my forties, I can say young lad now; hey, were you born in the sixties?).
Don’t let these amateurs look any better than they are. And we’re better than our packaging and label might indicate. Maybe 9-7. (We’re 8-8. I feel like saying “we” tonight).
Fanning. Whacking. Missing. All in Tampa’s crease.
Not quite five minutes gone in the first period. Andrej Meszaros gets in for a free shot between two defenders. Misses the net. Price looked in trouble. That kind of proximity makes a mockery of any equipment (except maybe a wall).
Kostitsyn elects to backhand a shot parallel to the goal-line from the corner. And it results in a rebound and two shots follow. It’s an unusual play for the Belarusian and surely a reflection of his taking on the new agenda; shoot more. From wherever. His shot is highly regarded.
Gionta uses pinball logic to create problems. This one is a shot off the back boards to the left of the Tampa net. He whacks the puck as it bounces back. Forces a stoppage in play.
About ten minutes left.
Spacek takes a high stick call. Hits Ryan Malone in the face while the two chase a puck. Accidental. Lapierre and Plekanec are both on first.
Lecavalier is on the point.
Fans on his first shot. Second long shot dings and pings to the front. Shot is taken from the short slot and Price makes a fantastic save but then a second chance shot goes in. Roofer. Malone on both shots.
Tampa Bay 1, Montreal 0
Action resumes after two false starts.
Five minutes of mutual skate, pass and moot. But some good passing in there. Both teams are in a cordial state of intensity. It seems choreographed. We’re gonna skate, we’re gonna move, we’re gonna pass. No goals are to be scored. No shots to be taken. Understand? Hockey as directed by Andy Warhol. Process, no outcome.
Lecavalier tries to go in on his own. Gets by the top left corner of the Montreal box. Not the second corner. That’s Hamrlik. The defenceman takes the puck away.
Then following a brief Gionta, Cammalleri, Gomez incursion, the Lightning get a goal. Puck went off the protective screen and the result was a faceoff outside the Tampa zone. Long shot was stopped by Price but a big rebound went out to the slot and Tanguay fired it in high off the hop.
Tampa Bay 2, Montreal 0
Metropolit gets a dangerous shot to close the period as a result of pressure and control from linemates Travis Moen and Max Pacioretty.
Rick Tocchet is shown leaving the ice surface. One of the least-deserving head-coaching appointments in the past few years. Hey, maybe they should appoint me goalie of the Hamilton Bulldogs.
First Intermission
Francois Gagnon and Alain Crete discuss the situation in Tampa Bay. He remarks that the team is cutting all the links with their recent past. The organization is so annoying that I really don’t want to waste more time translating their shenanigans. Google it. What an irritating franchise. How not to run a company.
They agree that young Lightning golden boy Steve Stamkos is playing well and that we may see him in the Olympics (on the Canadian team). Whoopie-ding-dang. Another story of bunglers. The Canadian national team continues to be run by the Mr. Slates and Mr. Dithers of the Canadian hockey world (and their sometimes innocent protégées).
I guess I have to consider the lesson in all of this. Would you like Steve Yzerman as GM of the Canadiens? Uh. No. Thanks. Would you like Brian Lawton and his frat boys in charge of the Canadiens? Exactly.
Bob gets a second segment to work his mojo. That’s better than a lot of things. Let’s see what happens. What do the Molsons think, I wonder?
We get some highlights. New Jersey and Ottawa are playing. It’s 1-0 for Ottawa. And Toronto is leading Detroit 1-0, as well. What a slice of fiction.
Alain Crete says that one thing that surprises him from the first period is the easy zone breakouts that the Canadiens permitted Tampa Bay.
Two books get replaced by smaller books. Mousepad and laptop support change at the Homme de Sept-Iles’ residence.
How would you rank Stephane Richer ahead of Saku Koivu? I’ll tell you how. We see more of the top 100 list. Some promotional thing.
Now a brief talk with former Canadien and current Lightning, Alex Big Chest Tanguay. He says a lot of bigger man things. High road stuff. Montreal made the changes they had to as a team. Merci, Alex. Et salut.
And of course another look at the lone goal. By Alex Tanguay. Of all the guys. What is it with this building. And we have many fewer guys that know how to play in it.
Second Period
Tampa Bay 2, Montreal 0
Canadiens win the opening faceoff. Long pass from Hamrlik to centre ice is deflected and the Canadiens have to regroup. Now a passé-avec-la-main is called. Moving the puck ahead with your glove.
St. Louis comes in on a three-on-two with St. Louis leading the way. But his pass is behind Stamkos and he can’t control it.
The other way we go and Cammalleri nearly scores. Great save by Niittymäki. Lead pass right to the doorstep but the Tampa goalie slides over right on time.
Pace has picked up for both clubs and we see some early contact.
Latendresse line is showing some rugged intent. Lecavalier, Malone and Tanguay are the foils. And they create some danger. Whenever Tanguay is on the ice, there will be fear. And with Lecavalier, there is a chance that the captain could return for one or two more 45+ goal seasons.
Hale and Stamkos beat Canadiens all over the ice and only a good position by Price prevents greater havoc. Lightning control briefly off the faceoff but Montreal start it back the other way. Moen’s line. And they keep it in with help from Bergeron.
Tocchet is out of place behind the Lightning bench. We see some nodding to his assistant coach. Tocchet’s tie is one of the best I’ve seen in months, however. Bright Hercules gold. With a metallic finish of some sort. How is that possible with threads? Well, we all know it is.
White nails Walker behind the Tampa end line.
Kostitsyn is on with him and he is flying. We got a report from RDS yesterday that Sergei Kostitsyn is happy in Hamilton and wants to stay with the Habs. Should we relax and believe all will be well? That’s my opt. I need to feel good about something.
Lightning are forechecking aggressively and beating Montreal to the puck consistently. No shots. Then Meszaros finally gets one from the point. Price freezes it.
Pyatt chases his own puck down and gets it. We see some ovular movement punctuated with some control on the boards by Kostitsyn. He’s on with Plekanec. Now he carries it from behind his now net and on the way, Plekanec is hit in the face by a stick. Refs miss it and the crowd lets them know.
Mara, Moen and the gang start to pressure. Niittymäki has to make a save.
We see the replay and Plekanec was trapped by the Lightning bench. Brunet takes the opportunity to lob a middleweight championship belt at Vincent Lecavalier, instead. We all know he can fight and he let Tomas off easily. Whatever.
Tampa Bay’s Zenon Konopka now goes to the box. (Zenon Andrusyshyn also wore white and blue for a time. Been a while since I’ve seen a Zenon plying professional athletics up north.)
Gionta line. Houde says that the Canadiens power-play needs to start scoring. Have we heard that before? Gomez wastes some time with a one-on-three attempt down the middle. It is repelled.
Takes a few seconds to get set up but a long shot rebounds and Gionta slices it into the net in midair. Seen that before, eh?
Tampa Bay 2, Montreal 1
Crowd is back in it but ten seconds after the faceoff, Montreal takes a penalty.
We see a replay of Gionta’s mid-air goal against Buffalo. And the penalty is to Paul Mara for tripping but Vincent Lecavalier joins him with a roughing call.
Gionta and Gomez are the first pairing. Stamkos is on for Tampa. Looks impressive. Good reading in space.
We go the other way and Gomez misses a wide-open net. Off a puck that forty-fived off the back wall behind the net. Then Gionta misses an on-the-knee golf shot. Niittymäki stopped it.
Tampa gets a fleet drive off the faceoff going right, Tanguay and he is tripped going into the crease. Houde wonders if it will be a penalty-shot but it’s a tripping call against Josh Gorges. Good play by Gorges. Prevented a very high-percentage scoring chance. In this case, it’s good to take the penalty. Like a deep interference call against a beaten corner.
Plekanec is on for this four-on-three. About half a minute. Plekanec pushes the puck out and past the centre line in the first segment. Then Hamrlik clears a rebound off a long shot. We move to one minute of five-on-four for Tampa now.
Plekanec leads a three-on-two. Drop pass. To Moen. Shot from the high slot. Harmless. Smothered.
We return to the Montreal zone. Some passing around with Tanguay on the side board. Pyatt does some good work and this penalty is over.
Gionta fires wide and wild from the blue line. (Walton)
Craig is working against Gorges down in the corner to the right of Price. Lasts an almost Adams Division length of time. And then it does. Mucking on the boards. We just don’t see much of it anymore. It’s a game of calisthenics, sprints, skirmishes and cardio. It’s as close to classic international hockey as we’ve ever seen it. Now imagine if they went to a larger ice surface to compensate for the growing size of the players.
Four minutes left in the second.
Pacioretty slapshot from the point is blocked.
Gomez turns. Turns again. Cycles. Still alive. To Bergeron at the point. Bang. Blocked. Montreal still controls. Finally a sharp move by Niittymäki interrupts the willing asteroid movement that was threatening their one-goal lead.
Montreal continues to control. Longest such sequence by any team in the game so far. Hockey is like boxing in a way. One team exerts its will over another til we see this type of control. It’s an expression of conditioning. Or a pronunciation of fear.
And just as in hockey, Tanguay takes it down the other way after two minutes of Montreal pressure and the puck goes in. But the net went off. And players slid in. And there’s far too much moisture on the net-cam. The referee has a black Gazoo-looking helmet on with his walkman. He’s listening to the verdict from YouTube. I mean Toronto.
Pause to discuss. Did Price push the net? Did the puck cross the line before the net went off its moorings? Did Carbonneau push it in? Remember when he covered the puck with his head in the crease? It was Gorges, not Carbonneau, if you were wondering. Crease dead doll.
And AC/DC blares. Something from High Voltage.
Call is a goal.
Tampa Bay 3, Montreal 1
Houde says this is a stroke of bad luck. Yes, the French have clichés to go with the lovely croissants. Hardy-har. Sorry.
I’m irritated again. About a minute and a half.
Canadiens’ velocity is diminished. As is their second effort. Fortunately the period ends.
Canadiens got the shot advantage in the second 15-7. Scoring chances might be slightly in their favour, too. Maybe six to five. We may have to start charting those again. Wanted: young numeric turks. Seriously.
Second Intermission
Tampa Bay 3, Montreal 1
A bit of blue arrow instruction from Joel Bouchard. We see the Tampa Bay goals replayed. Martin St. Louis’ on-ice intelligence is evidenced. And I learn something about where to place the puck on short notice. Where we have a man-advantage. Hey, how many guys do it at full speed? The obvious is not so obvious when a deranged defensive end has gotten around the tackle.
Now we go the ice where Joel is teaching with Vincent Lecavalier as a student-assistant. They’re in that three-fan arena again. Bouchard talks a lot. Lecavalier gives us some tips on how to use the back to shield against a defender and buy a bit more time down by the boards. There’s a very annoying guitar riff looping throughout the process.
Then we get an unholy alliance commercial and are ordered to visit a website called hockeymcdonalds.org. Or something like that. What do razing forests, destroying the environment and denying it all have to do with scoring goals on the lake at eleven at night with your cousins?
Some more highlights. More bad riff looping. Boston leads over Buffalo 4-1. And the Sens are up 2-1. While your Leafs are up 3-0. Kessel got his first as a Leaf and they followed with a short-handed goal. Somebody has a rich and vivid imagination. One of the hockey gods, I’ll wager.
Joel Bouchard talks a bit of fan-talk; the team can get back into it if they score early. Alright then. Alain Crete adds that Niittymäki has a 1-5 record against Montreal.
Then Scotia bank tells us they have a few crumbs for their customers. When a bank spends that much money to inform you that they have a few strategic crumbs for you, what does that say? It says they have a hell of a lot more (virtual and otherwise) money that you can ever hope for. All those lovely brochures cost a lot of money. Thanks for the crumbs. All together now, Scotia people (you CIBC and Royal Blue people can join in, too).
Third Period
Tampa Bay 3, Montreal 1
Montreal dumps it in early off the faceoff. Tomas and Andrei with Pyatt. Whack, whack. Plekanec is like a small, fast robotic spider. Niittymäki has to freeze it.
Montreal wins the faceoff. Mara keeps it in. Gomez to Cammalleri. Just too far.
Price is there as the Canadiens get more aggressive in chasing the puck. Here come Les Canadiens.
Metropolit line is on. Moen and Pacioretty with him.
Defencemen are pinching. And it’s working. Pacioretty’s shot is too vague. Too often. Niittymäki stops it easily. He has 23 stops tonight.
Another won faceoff by Montreal. Plekanec. Now he gets it to the slot for Andrei. Interrupted by Niittymäki.
Montreal wins the faceoff again. Action heating all the while. Cammalleri is in with Gionta. And Gionta takes a tumble creating a shot for himself. What a player this guy is. The whole line.
Refs miss another call against Montreal. Brunet is unimpressed.
Spacek fires from the blue line. Stopped. Whistle. And Plekanec is involved in some gloves-squeezing cheek gesture. He’s been more engaged in that type of stuff this season. Hopefully he won’t’ have to do much more of that next year. Once he has established that he can’t be intimidated.
The Code is twice as thick a document for immigrants.
Metropolit does some excelsior work behind the net but the other two are unable to position themselves to take advantage of it. Shame. Then the pinching defenceman fails to help as work. Metropolit’s stickhandling is quick, economic and very effective. He uses it in short bursts to good effect.
Andrei Kostitsyn beats two Lightning players to the puck and the crowd loves it. He knocks down Walker on the way. Brunet thinks it should be interference against Walker. Great presence for the elder brother tonight. And a few seconds later, prior to the faceoff, a look I have very rarely seen on his face. Hunter.
Shy guy gets tough. Hollywood loves those scripts.
We go to commercial.
If Andrei Kostitsyn learns some of Kovalev’s bearing and demeanour he will be a perennial all-star. And a big star in Montreal. The unflappability is what I’m talking about, Steve. I can guess what you might have to say.
Just under fourteen minutes.
Sometimes this game just seems a series of line-changes and knowing when and how to end one’s shift. And whoever does it best, gets the scoring chances. And wins.
Cammalleri dives to keep a breakout from developing at the end of his shift and the interruption gets his linemates off the ice and the puck secured behind Price. And Montreal gets another possession. And another breakout.
They must have shown us Andrei’s takedown shot about six times. He has great balance and strength. It was really just a shoulder-to-shoulder.
Action resumes and we are under ten minutes. With Montreal tilting the big bowl when and how. Ocean of ice.
But the pass that leads to a better shot doesn’t come. Only the first shot and first pass is there. Gionta line is getting double-shifted. Niittymäki freezes it and we go to a second commercial in as many puck freezes.
I read this week that Jacques Demers’ appointment to the Senate wasn’t just a clever gesture. The writer felt that senators should be able to be objective despite partisan leanings in their day-to-day lives and that Demers will be a fine example of this. I suspect the same. He appeared in one of the ads.
Gomez versus Halpern. Gomez wins. But the puck is lost to St. Louis on the boards under the Tampa blue line. The speed difference between the two teams in 2004 is not the same. Montreal has closed the gap. Yes, that was five years ago. Tampa Bay’s skating was a big factor in their sweep of the Canadiens that spring.
Just over eight minutes. Lightning are starting to chase the puck more doggedly. Must have their energy line on.
Bergeron starts from behind Price. Carries. Passes. Deep to Moen. Who carries and gets around passes to Gorges on the point. Puck stays in Tampa territory. Gorges gets it back and passes it to Mara on the left. Mara’s wrister results in a stoppage in play. Faceoff to the right of Antero Niittymäki. Number 30.
Montreal wins another faceoff.
Puck jibbers around in the slot but neither Cammalleri nor Gionta can get close to it.
Just over six minutes.
Kostitsyn gets it to Plekanec in the slot. From the phone booth area. Direct shot. Stopped.
Then Hamrlik shoots from the point. Stopped. Dangerous chance. Niittymäki has 33 saves.
Montreal energy is drooping. Too many realists on the team. You need a few dreamers who think two goals in four and a half minutes is possible. Another missing element of the Kovalev game. Artists have some answers the pragmatists lack.
It’s not a coincidence that Saku Koivu and Alex Kovalev scored the two most decisive goals in Montreal’s greatest comeback in their history (their return from a 5-0 deficit two years ago to win 6-5).
Now Mara ends all dreams for tonight with a holding penalty.
Let’s see.
Three and a half minutes. Lecavalier is on first. Montreal breaks up the first incursion. Plekanec.
Canadiens are outworking Tampa Bay on this sequence. Gionta and Gomez now. Tampa can’t get set up and the pair nearly generates a scoring chance.
Finally Tampa gets set up.
Moen and Metropolit drive it down now. No shot.
Twenty seconds in the penalty.
Pyatt takes it down with Bergeron now. No shot.
Penalty ends. Minute and a half. Nobody can take it away. Finally Bergeron gets it going out. Plekanec gets down on the left side. Goes around the net. But not chance. Price leaves the net.
Gomez is on with Andrei and Gionta.
Thirty seconds and the Lightning move it into Montreal territory to slow the attack. Montreal set up for a brief possession. Not much. Period ends.
Tampa Bay 3
Montreal 1
HDS Stars: Antero Niittymäki, Alex Tanguay, Brian Gionta
RDS Stars: Antero Niittymäki, Ryan Malone, Scott Gomez
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