Montreal Canadiens vs Minnesota Wild
December 17, 2009, by Homme De Sept-Iles
Musings and In-Game Scribbles
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 (15-17-3) host Minnesota Wild (16-14-3)
Thurssday, December 17, 2009
Game Thirty-Six (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.
Guillaume Latendresse is in town tonight. It’s his first game against Montreal since being traded a couple of weeks ago. He’s been playing fairly well since the trade. And I’ll never learn how to spell his name.
Carey Price starts again. The team has played some of their best overall hockey in the past few games, many penalties notwithstanding.
First Period
It’s a one-one tie when my pen becomes fluid.
D’Agostini remains paired with Gomez.
Latendresse is on a line with Kyle Brodziak and Martin Havlat. Havlat is wearing the “A” (signifying alternate captain).
With just under ten minutes in the first period, shots on goal are 4-2 in favour of Montreal.
Still the orange-slice view of the goings-on. And limited replays. I thought I had more influence than that.
Brodziak beats Bergeron for a pass going over the blue line and is taken down by the defender. First power-play of the game.
Plekanec plays low like Koivu on the penalty-kill. Gets a puck in the bowl corner and clears it. Hal Gill ends the next Minnesota application for scoring legitimacy. Another clear.
Mikko Koivu has some moves like his older brother. At the side of the net he moves the puck from forehand to backhand with the same high-shoulder gesture as the former Canadiens captain.
Whistle follows.
Point-shot from Minnesota downs Price and stays huddled in a crowd. Nobody can see it for a few seconds. It’s cleared.
Re-entry by Minnesota is a petition to the Gods of Hockey. And it’s heard. Havlat to Koivu in the slot from the left corner. Bing. Bang.
Minnesota 2, Montreal 1
Brunet says that the only difference between the Koivus is size and adds that Mikko is a dominant player as was his brother.
Crowd is rippling but watching, almost unconcerned. Possibly patient.
Just under five minutes in the first.
Cammalleri has it in the corner. To the other corner it goes. Andrei gets it. Cammalleri is taken down seconds later and Houde is incredulous that it wasn’t called. Brunet mumbles something in agreement.
Wild have it for a moment in the corner to Price’s right but the Gomez line moves it out. They have it briefly and without a shot in on wild ice. I mean Wild ice.
Price is forced to make a save on Hnidey in the slot. A backhander.
Houde says that team’s rhythm has been harmed by the penalty.
Wild’s passing is generally off. Particularly from their defenders.
Wild forward Kyle Brodziak dispenses with the passes and carries the puck from behind his blue line, through the neutral zone, around here and straight down the middle to Price. His speed declines as he approaches and the save Price makes, while close-up, appears almost bland.
Whistle.
We see a replay. Brunet says that the line-change was slow and that none of the four retreating Canadiens did anything to stop Brodziak’s incursion. The replay is from the POV of the Wild net. Brunet adds that Montreal is being too passive.
I watched as much of the Montreal-New York Ranger game from March 17th, 2009 last night, as I could. That Montreal team was so dominant and skilled it’s ridiculous. They were missing Lang and Tanguay at that point but the time of possession was like watching the 77 Canadiens against the 77 Red Wings. Really striking.
Just under a minute in the first period.
Metropolit and Sergei are working with Lapierre on the boards. Some scrappy cycling. Not smooth. Not uncontested. And thus it ends after about six hopeful seconds. What the team lacks in size along the boards (at the forward position) has been balanced by tenacity and will.
When Markov returns (and Gionta) the team will look considerably better than in the second week of October.
Shots on goal are 10-7 for Minnesota. And I discover that Andrei ha yet another goal. What is that, ten points in five games? Jacques Martin was the right guy for Andrei. And Mike Cammalleri has helped Andrei as well.
First Intermission
Minnesota 2, Montreal 1
Alain Crete and Francois Gagnon. Crete says that the Western team is 8-2 since acquiring Latendresse and that the would-be power forward has three goals and one assist.
Gagnon reviews some of the worst trades in Montreal history. Leclair is the first. Desjardins next. I’m still bitter about these trades so I’m not going to go on about them. Ribeiro is mentioned. Gagnon shows us that Ribeiro has 247 points since leaving while Janne Niinimaa had 3 goals in 41 games in a short stint with Montreal on the blue line.
They mention the losses and trades of Claude Lemieux (who went on to win three Stanley Cups) and Guy Carbonneau who famously gave the finger to members of the press corps one summer and was sent to St. Louis. For Jim Montgomery.
Gagnon ain’t done. He mentions Turgeon, Muller, Dryden and Lafleur and I realise that he isn’t just talking about the bad ones. And not just trades but deals that moved players. Dryden and Lafleur were acquired as draft picks from other teams.
Highlights. Sean Avery still has an NHL job. Well, nobody should complain about anyone else, then. Free passes for all. It’s interesting that Ovechkin’s celebrations get more anger than Avery’s antics. Measure it yourself. Google and count the hits. Or bring up the players in living rooms or pubs. See for yourself.
Demers says that Quebec City can fill an arena easily for an NHL team. He says, in effect, “Look you know what I think and I won’t go on about it”.
I still hate the Nordiques. There’s no team I disliked more. I’m sure I’ll be very mature about the new version. Quite sure. I’m convinced. Don’t worry about ME.
Latendresse is interviewed. Lotta scruff. Red hat. He’s portrayed himself as a sympathetic character, a victim, and many in the press corps have rolled with it. Poor hard-done-by Guillaume Latendresse. (To give you an idea of my struggles with his name; I originally typed Guiauulme).
Second Period
Minny 2, Montreal 1
Paul Mara is back from his injury tonight, by the way. Number 22 on your desktop.
Spacek drops it for Gomez. Gomez takes it up. Loses it.
Lots of turnovers from Gomez tonight. He’s trying a few different things. Maybe he’s trying too much in order to get out of his so-called slump. He’s a good player and he should just ignore the press and fans. He’ll get his rhythm and the silence will forgive him.
Just two and a half minutes elapsed.
Lapierre line is on. Metropolit makes smart plays every shift. One of the highest hockey IQs on the team. And he looks like Michael Ryder.
Kostitsyn leads a to-the-slot three-on-two. Pass is stopped by a stick-on-ice defence.
Brunet says Andrei is playing well these days.
Pyatt shows some Fiat acceleration I didn’t know he had. And then Laraque gives us one smooth move in the neutral zone that is noticed by the Bell Central crew. Sir.
Sergei and Metropolit are back on again. Two of the last three shifts. Who is Martin communicating with?
Cammalleri winds up. Pulls it in, passes to his right to Lapierre. Shot is stopped and frozen.
Andrei enters. Passes to Plekanec. Down in the corner. Cammalleri. Loses and then wins the puck battle. It’s lost moments later.
Re-entry. D’Agostini shoots. Gloved. Commercial.
I’ve been out of Quebec too long. I’ve forgotten how important being emotive is. It’s a normal part of the culture there. They mention a long-time Canadiens staff member retiring and Houde describes Meo (his nickname) as being emotive and well-liked.
Short for Romeo. An Italian dude who was like a grandfather to players’ kids and made sure players’ wives were looked after on game day. Couches and drinks and the Bell Central visiting area.
Whistle. And another whistle.
Andrew Brunette is flashed on the screen. It’s his 902nd NHL game tonight we are told.
Gill captures it briefly behind the Montreal net. Plekanec and Kostitsyn are wheeling. Kostitsyn passes. Receives a pass. Top of the Wild zone. And now in front of the net. He’s all over the ice. Dominant. Imposing. Skilled.
Wraparound. Pass to the slot. Another rebound. All on the same sequence. Two goals. But none.
Now Gomez and Moen are causing serious problems for the Wild. And the Westerners are a bit overwhelmed for three nine-second sequences. Give us more.
D’Agostini and Gomez leave the ice. Bergeron starts a rush which fails. He starts a second. About nine minutes. I guess both the Cammalleri line and Gomez line got the message from the Metropolit double-shift.
Andrei nearly scores. Crowd is in it now. Loudest of the night. And a chant extension. And then they fade off. Canadiens lull for ten seconds but their urgency climbs again when Gomez’ line returns. Gomez is a very good skater. Very fast, effortless-looking stride.
Moen enters on the left side. His pass is intercepted by Mikko Koivu.
Goes the other way. The same seven-yard passes to get in.
Minnesota finally gets some control in the Montreal zone and a shot from the right circle is stopped and controlled by Price.
I hate Santa’s exaggerated laugh. Whoever developed that style for Santa (which is imitated far too much) should be deported. Ok, how about just fired, then.
They show some scientist in a hoodie in the crowd. His hair is wild. Gravity orphan.
Plekanec. Backhand to the slot. Missed. Cammalleri has it. Passes to the point. Bounces back to him. Another pass. Another block.
Montreal resets. Spacek. Behind Price. Sends it up. Lapierre line can’t keep it in. Miettinen is interrupted by Hal Gill.
Koivu is getting extra shifts late in the second. Just under five minutes left in the second. Koivu shoots left but I always think of him as a right-shooting guy. There’s some unexplored child logic in there.
My first stick was a rightie. A red-trimmed wood Sherwood. I thought because I was right-handed, I should have a “right” stick. But I shoot left. Power hand higher. Bah. Myths. Both views. Nobody seems to give me a logical reason.
Mikko looks like a guy from the Chicago Blackhawks. Nineteen sixty-five. We see a picture of the two brothers. Saku looks about ten years younger.
Kostitsyn line is causing problems. But no goals. Serious problems. Andrei moves down, beats a man. Passes. No shot. Then a pass from Plekanec is intercepted but the spacing is not right for Minnesota. Montreal should have scored by now. Minnesota is dying out there.
Desperate reaches for the puck. Bad passes out of their zone.
Sergei centres it. Right onto a Wild stick.
Price sends it around his net and has to rush back to block it. Shot from the hash.
Gomez enters. With purpose. He looks tall when he skates straight up like that.
Price chops it off the back boards. This one gets the team out. Pacioretty fires wide and it bounces in front for Lapierre.
Sports guys in suits watch from a luxury box. Wild people. One youngster, two middlers and an older, stern patriarch. Does a suit make you smarter? Just asking.
Koivu is working on the left side but Cammalleri comes up with some help from Gorges. Koivu has it again. You can’t keep it from the guy. He taps his stick on the ice to mislead the Habs. He does it at the end of a shift. He cares about winning as much as his brother. Competitive dudes.
Just under thirty seconds left in the period.
Faceoff at centre ice. Metropolit loses it to Schultz. Puck enters Montreal ice. Mara retrieves it. Puck sudden. Price. Just as the siren went. Houde says that would have been catastrophic.
True. Especially after the Canadiens carried the action throughout the second.
Shots on goal are 12-7 in favour of Montreal for a total of 19 for Montreal and 18 for the other team.
My first true hate was the Minnesota North Stars. Yes, 1979-80. The names Al Macadam and Gilles Meloche remained seared in yellow snow for me. (Canadiens, four-time defending Stanley Cup champions were eliminated in seven games by a team that played above their capacity. Final score in the seventh game was 2-1. And Meloche was like nothing I’d ever experienced to that point. Robbery. Crease and filament. Robbery.)
Second Intermission
Minnesota 2, Montreal 1
Joel Bouchard shows us some highlights. Describes “one pad down” in French. Goalie is to his left. Right pad is down. Left pad is up. Bouchard says Price should have come out in a butterfly on that play. Shows us the holes.
We see a failed clear after a Montreal faceoff win deep to the right of Price. Move the puck away from the strong side. That’s the message. At least on that play it was. We see a defender flip it into the strength of the forecheck rather than around the other side where a Montreal teammate was alone.
Interesting stuff, as usual.
Paul Mara is interviewed. Hamrlik is missing. Mara talks about keeping the pucks in their zone and some other pertinent things (you know, get pressure on their quarterback, hang onto the football, stuff like that).
Houde and Brunet have a couple of masks and they give us a web address to bid on them. Winner can meet Carey Price in person.
Third Period
Minnesota 2, Montreal 1
This team is ready to fall. Wild wood swing, Montreal mettle mulches tree’s flesh.
Sergei and Gomez try and contain but fail. And the blue line support didn’t help. Whistle. Ref makes a chopping signal low. Some kind of leg on puck offside or something.
Latendresse is wearing number 48.
Metropolit wins the faceoff deep. Shot from the point. Lost in the woods. Wet in the grass.
Montreal wins the next faceoff. Lapierre and some thug get into it. Thug has his arm wrapped around the back of Lapierre’s neck. Latendresse is close by. Who’s he going to punch? Clayton Stoner (the thug) or his old buddy. No need.
Next sequence; delay of game. James Sheppard.
Brunet says the Wild are nervous.
Montreal wins the faceoff. Plekanec. First wave is the usual; Cammalleri, Plekanec and Kostitsyn. Line one.
They control. Some good passes. A clear in front of Cammalleri.
Second wave. Pacioretty, Gomez and Metropolit. Carbo got fried for doing stuff like this.
Well it could be worse. It could be Moen. I personally don’t mind. Whoever gets it, I don’t give a hoot. Get guys on there that want to work.
Penalty expires. Canadiens keep it deep.
Plekanec stays on for about twenty seconds after the penalty. Longer. But he wasn’t on the second wave. Gill watches Koivu in the slot. Pass is intercepted.
Cammalleri and Kostitsyn enter two-on-two. Crowd rises. Tangle and turnover.
Pyatt. Zip, zip, zoop. Lapierre ahead of him. Grabs it behind the net. Pyatt was more than more.
Lapierre. Wraparound. I can’t believe it. How did it not go in? Houde says something similar.
Out and back in.
Gomez driving. Behind the net. Loses it to Hnidey. Support wasn’t there.
Mara shoves Brodziak down after the whistle. A little crowd. But not much more because Mara has stature.
Who’s Gary Kurtz? Some obscure scientific entertainment commercial.
John Ralston Saul is a long-time Montrealer. We may speak with him.
Just over thirteen minutes. Kostitsyn. Turns. Wheels. Beautiful chance created. No.
Montreal controls like it’s a power-play. Like it’s 1999. Er. 1989.
Nope.
They return to the bench. Kostitsyn leans forward so that he doesn’t have to talk. No eye contact. He’s so shy.
Sergei. Gomez. Shoots. Hard wrister. Bounces up off the biscuit. Backstrom has had a fortunate night. He watches it roll harmlessly and a Minnesotan picks it up.
Wild are showing more life than in the second. More life than in the first seven minutes of this period, too.
We see Gorges take a good hit from Cal Clutterbuck. Moments later Pacioretty gives a hard hit to Schultz. But it’s Pacioretty who falls.
Mara pinches. Cammalleri to the slot. Kostitsyn fans. Houde how many goals could Kostitsyn have had tonight?
Sheppard works with one arm. Behind the Montreal net. Wild control. Kim Johnsson fires. Boof. Stopped.
Gomez blasts it in from centre ice. He’s there to support Moen. Sergei can’t get over to the other side.
Now Gill gets it on Montreal’s blue line. Passes it up.
Shot. Trapped. Commercial.
Sixty-nine of respondents believe that Guiauullme will relaunch his career with the Wild. Guillaume. Got it.
Metropolit wins the faceoff. Pacioretty has it smooth on the boards. Canadiens are forced out.
Gill has to take it from the blue line. Montreal re-enters.
Schultz enters. To Kobasew. Shot. Bounces back out to Price’s left. Shot. In. What. I shake my head. What a waste. Montreal is the better team.
Just under eight minutes.
Price is not as urgent as usual.
His team has to help him, though. But on the other hand. Hmm?
Six and a half minutes. Dump-in is followed by Metropolit and Lapierre. Crowd is too disappointed to boo.
Spacek pinches.
Brunet says that it’s good that the team continues to work hard.
What can I say. Sure. Yeah, that’s true. I think we should be ahead 4-1. What does that mean. Speculative. Hypothetical. Imaginative. Disappointed.
Five minutes.
Plekanec retrieves it from behind the Montreal end line. Line change follows his medium pass to the neutral zone.
Sergei’s line. Moen loses it near the red line. Sergei gets it to Moen moments later. He takes it deep. Tries to get it to the point. Havlat gets it instead.
Minnesota is deep. Koivu. Gomez takes it. Passes to Mara. Some slide and turnover. Gorges advances on the opposite side to keep it in. Gomez shows some good moves to keep it and control for a tantalizing four seconds.
Metropolit line replaces them.
They continue to work in Minnesota ice. On Minnesota ice? “In” is fine. It feels about right.
Faceoff.
Commercial.
Three minutes. Spacek fires from the point. Rebound. Cammalleri could have put it in. Backstrom got over.
Cammalleri tries to swirl his pen around the defender. Empty net. About two and a half minutes. I like the decision. The team needs more than two minutes with a man advantage this time. Usually it’s about one minute with an empty net. Of course, with a two-goal deficit, the math is about right. It’s not that aggressive a move.
Price is back for the faceoff. He’s looking to return to the bench, first chance he gets, though. Icing. Long pass missed.
Dot outside the blue. Montreal wins it.
They enter. Prices races for the bench. Minnesota forks it out.
Montreal gets it in. Gomez to Sergei. Deflected by Nick Schultz. Penalty.
Holding. Johnsson.
It will be six-on-four. If there’s any justice…
One minute and twenty. Deep faceoff. Plekanec loses it. Bergeron has to retrieve the long clear.
Another clear. One minute. Crowd doesn’t like it but no booing.
Cammalleri loses it on the way in.
Metropolit carries it to the blue line and chips it down the left side.
Martin calls a time-out. He’s not happy at all. Lots of looking down and trying not to shake his head. White board comes out.
We can see the play. This will be the last time.
Remember that call Carbo made to get us a goal?
Montreal wins. To the point. Cammalleri. To Bergeron. Shoots. Stopped. Rebound. Backhand. Backstrom stops it.
Next faceoff is Minnesota’s time to possess. They clear it. Boos are heard with five seconds left.
Siren goes.
As far as I’m concerned, Montreal is on a four-game winning streak. What frikking ever. Instead the record shows the fifth straight Montreal loss. They’ve been playing much better than their record. And tonight and this week they are going to get fried in olive oil with basil and garlic.
HDS Stars: Andrei Kostitsyn, Mike Cammalleri, Scott Gomez
RDS Stars: Mikko Koivu, Nick Schultz, Andrei Kostitsyn
I don’t care. They’re my stars.
On RDS, the details matter less and less each episode as the panelists become more and more emotional and judge the team’s progress by the final score as much as the on-ice goings-on.
PJ Stock is the most reasonable man in the room tonight. That should tell you something. Or maybe two somethings.
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