Montreal Canadiens vs. Carolina Hurricanes

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 (37-31-8) host Carolina Hurricanes (32-35-9)

Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Game Seventy-Seven (score posted following scribbles)

Missed it? Musings capture the game in writing. Based on the RDS telecast, Musings take about 20 minutes to read. More detailed than an article, fresher than a looping highlight and good with morning coffee. Or late-night chocolate.

In pregame discussion, Jacques Demers admits that Marc-Andre Bergeron is a vulnerable player defensively in five-on-five play. He emphasizes, conversely, that Bergeron’s power-play effectiveness is important, (he) has produced big regular season goals and could be even more valuable in the playoffs.

Children and flags. And in helmets. Heralds for ice-troopers.

The Montreal Canadiens take the ice under spots and with fanfare.

The starting line-up is introduced. The big screen features tough arms crossed and promising glares of doom. Andrei’s glare is nearly the smile he feels inside. He and irony have had many chance meetings.

Tom Kostopoulos is back in the rink. So is Roid. And Carolina coach Paul Maurice. It’s more fun to pronounce it Paul Morris.

Some entraineur dude named Dominic Gauthier is introduced to the crowd. And now some Canadian Olympic gold medal winners. Two Canadian winners are introduced. The effect is one of a homecoming. The smiles from the athletes are those of Disney’s ever after. They truly believe. For them, life is in chapter form. Verses, too. But nearly unnoticed behind them in the hall to the dressing rooms is Henri Richard. His face is as close to a scowl as the scene allows. Perhaps it’s unrelated but I am certain that the gold bushwa has no Walt’s World effect on him.

Canadian anthem. Comes and goes.

Now two guys in E.T. all-white uniforms skate out to roll up the blue carpet.

Cam Ward and Carey Price are your goalies. Some mediocre dissident is your scribe.

First Period

Kerry Fraser is on the ice. So we can expect an unbiased game leaning towards the old Smythe style. A bit more elegant and free than an Adams game. The old Fraser you used to hate is long gone. He is, yes, one of the best in the NHL. Top three.

Early incursion by Carolina lasts four seconds and shotless and the Canadiens, led by Tomas Plekanec, are over the line down the left and also held shotless.

My carpet is a cushion, two small rugs (white and blue) and a sandstone beanbag. The familiar faces are welcome in my living room in Toronto.

Faceoff to Ward’s right. Won by the Canadiens. Sergei Kostitsyn is on. Hal Gill and Josh Gorges are the defence pairing. Gill waits. Carries it up from behind his net. Passes to the left. Canadiens are turned away but regain the puck and are stopped at the centre line this time.

Mathieu Darche is on with Lapierre and Bergeron. Bergeron will play on the left wing again tonight; his normal spot is on defence. He’s only been back for a few games and placing him on the fourth line is a way for him to get his game legs back and to keep his turnovers in the harmless category.

Plekanec is harassing Eric Staal at the end boards. Carolina exits from the left side. Ray Whitney, skating hard but getting little velocity.

Sergei receives a pass just over the red line, accelerates in that jog-skate almost showy way that some athletic skaters have; shoulder-pad jiggle and gets over the blue line. Trapped; a body-check the instant he enters.

Lines change without a shot.

Brind Amour is over the line. Drops it in front of two defenders. Play funnels to the net. Whistle. Price is knocked down. Puck slides in after the whistle. Call is no goal. Of course; Goaltender interference.

Canadiens go to a power-play.

One shot from Bergeron. Nothin’.

Whistle.

Faceoff. Canadiens control.

Cammalleri, Plekanec and Andrei K are on.

Plekanec and Cammalleri effect two difference-making board plays one after the other and allow for a Canadiens extended possession.

Exited.

Re-entry. Gionta. In past everyone on the right side. Goes to his backhand. Hooking. Still gets the shot. Ward flails onto his back and makes the stop. Brunet says that one player can make a difference tonight and that is Cam Ward. The one guy that can thwart Montreal, he means.

Fine. Brunet is free to say whatever he wants.

And so am I.

Cam Ward is an Alice in Wonderland goalie. What sprite and wisps. Great in a tunnel. Sudden silence. Sixty games, seventy games. And then a carrot in the hat again.

Not this time, though.

Bergeron scores from the point.

Montreal 1, Carolina 0

Ward Wonderful didn’t see it.

Moen line follows.

Puck goes out of play within moments.

Replay shows Gomez’ good work in circling in the corner and passing to Bergeron for a one-timer from the opposite circle, leaning towards the slot.

We resume.

Moore holds onto the puck skating down the right side. Crowd’s murmur rises to more than kitchen wondering; it’s a living room hope. I can hear Quebec kitchens from my beanbag in Toronto.

Moore sends the puck to the slot but no Canadien can scope it.

Action rounds the Carolina net. Canadiens keep it as it leaves the zone and circles into the neutral zone and back into the Carolina zone.

The passes stay ahead of Carolina force points; Andrei Kostitsyn emerges with the puck on the left and crosses the slot. Forehand to backhand becomes a stacked pad and fallular for AK. Crowd is appreciative.

Habs contain it and then resume another left-side attack. It’s more of a keep-the-puck rather than a frost point strike. But the crowd’s noise suggests they are ready to believe.

Just give us a bit more, they shudder.

Brunet says that Ward is on fire right now. We see a montage of three great saves from the fictional goalie.

Shot of Paul Maurice and we see those Krishna lips of his again. And the Himalayan glasses. He is such a mountain professor. Wisdom and winter.

Or maybe he just knows his own mind.

We resume. O’Byrne is chasing Whitney behind the Montreal net. Whitney turns and heads the other way and O’Byrne goes to the cage, leaving the forward to the opposite defenceman.

Gorges is down. Trainer is out. Small discussion between the two. Gorges took a stick to the face on a follow-through from the point. He’s ok and leaves the ice for now. Trainer goes with him. (Yeah, not like last time)

Long pass off Brandon Sutter’s stick and the puck goes into a Carolina corner. Plekanec is behind the play and fore-checking. Somehow the Canadiens keep it in. Andrei Kostitsyn supports well.

Carolina ices it.

We resume to Ward’s right. Gomez wins it. Hurricanes players are able to move it out and get the line-changes they need.

Behind the net. Gomez. To the slot. No shot. Picked up by Carolina.

Small rush. Weak shot. Price stops and holds it.

O’Byrne is jostled and jostling a bit. Talks to the Carolina offender. Talks to the ref. Telecaster takes a break.

We’re back. Faceoff to Price’s right. Barker.

Lapierre wins the draw. Come on Maxim. We just want you to be Napier. Or Risebrough if it can be managed. All will be forgiven.

He wins a board battle under the Montreal end-line and I quietly cheer. It’s the first time in months (feels like years) I’ve seen him take a puck from an opponent so openly, so easily.

Hey, if I can forgive my sister for being a diva, I can forgive Max Lapierre for being Matinee.

Human is human. Titles are meaningless.

Markov reaches for an escaping puck and corrals it at the Caro blue. Sends it quickly to the slot and Moore very nearly Espositos it in. Or Kerr if you prefer someone a bit more, uh, modern.

Price plays it behind his net. Waits. Clicks it back the other way. Lots of white on Carey’s equipment. As some of us had noticed last time.

Brunet comments on and we see film of Lapierre’s confident-or-not play; different sequence; a breakout.

Cammalleri jams it up against the boards. It being a puck and opponent combination.

Out and in.

Plekanec. Past everyone. To the hash-slot; mini-slapper – appears to miss the net. Replay shows that it went high and to Ward’s right. Cammalleri sent Plekanec in on the left side with a small pass near the centre line.

Faceoff.

We resume.

Gomez and Pouliot enter on a two-on-two.

They can’t get a shot. Just under a minute left in the period.

Neutral zone.

Carolina finally gets some control. Cole. Staal. Boards. Puck knocked down in mid-air. More boards. Perimeter passing. No shots. But about eight seconds of control.

Puck leaves. And then is back along the perimeter.

Siren goes with a two-on-two board battle going on to Price’s right at the hash.

Maurice looks annoyed. Shots are 12-2 in favour of the hometown team.

First Period
Montreal 1, Carolina 0

Francois et Alain. Francois is quite jolly tonight. It’s because they’re discussing Kerry Fraser. Fraser is reffing some key game for him tonight. One thousand or something.

He will be signing his chandaille and giving it to Stephen Harper after the game. Because Harper is a collector. Stephen Harper. Does he deserve all this recognition through the lens of our favourite game? Hack in the museum. Security!

Probably not.

Gagnon goes on about Fraser for a while. Past controversies are shown (calls gone wrong). A goal from April 28,1987. And some other stuff. Gagnon says that Fraser sometimes refs and sometimes he directs a game. Alain laughs and faux-admonishes Gagnon. There is a tone of respect to the humor directed at Fraser.

Harper has wasted a lot of our national time and energy and money in aping the Reagan sports gestures of the eighties. Or the Bush (square) gestures of the nineties. Phone calls and jerseys, photo-ops and so forth.

But Harper takes it further; he is a fawning, out-of-shape, genuine fan; a Hilton-like lover of the icy laneways. None of his skills could have brought him close to the game naturally; either as a professional observer in the media or as a teacher or player.

So his science-fiction fanzine devotion style has found its best utterance and false camaraderie in the coterie of unearned privilege. As False Minister of this country, he is free to query Gretzky, talk gold with Sidney and attend Leaf games wearing itchy sweaters.

Could be worse; he could have been a soccer guy.

Next time you see him ask him if he’s an NFL guy or a CFL guy. What he says and how he says it should tell you all you need to know.

False Canadians are best ferreted out on the gridiron. Most satisfyingly, to this scribe, anyhow. And as black-and-whiters love to say; bottom-line. Bottom line. As the most prominent Canadian employee, he has failed.

What happens if your daughter needs leg-braces and is dyslexic? What’s the bottom line on that? Hey? Fail?

Second Period
Montreal 1, Carolina 0

Price scrapes up his crease a bit and his long neck makes me fear for his health again. He doesn’t wear a neck guard. Neither does Ward. Can someone big and tough just say something? Gordie? Or how about Mess? Just speak up and do some good for the game you love. At least do it for your buddies; it’s always the macho cronies who go without proper protective equipment. And I want all of them to be safe. Not just the polite guys.

Plekanec is down. Up to one knee. Trainer runs out. Sneakers on ice. No mistakes.

Replay shows the three-on-one I rambled through and Plekanec took a puck to the lower leg.

Gomez line.

Flurry and a rise. Ward is fluctuated. Gomez tries a side-pass.

Gomez is working very well tonight and someone should support him.

Carolina enters. Wham. Larry check on the left. Total trap. Komisarek style. It was Gill. Brunet loves it.

We see it. Boom [use the French accent and keep the word short].

We resume.

Brind’Amour is stopped by two Habs as he hustles down on the forecheck and dump-in.

Other end. Darche supports. To the point.

Shot.

Lapierre is there.

He’s there earlier than normal. Trying to make things happen. Good to see. Keep it. How long do these wake-ups usually last? Depends. Generally one to three games. In some cases a wake-up is permanent and a player doesn’t need to be traded.

I hope the best for Matinee. If he does well, we can change his name to Mercury. Or something better.

Maxim is pretty good, actually.

Entry by Carolina. One-handed. Backhand. One hand, still. Falls. Price stops it. Whistle.

Fraser is talking with the younger ref. Explaining something. Fraser has a very Sather countenance and appearance.

Hamrlik’s stick was the one that interfered. Now they are saying that it might be a goal. Two looks and both Brunet and Houde are convinced it’s a goal.

Net went off. Puck went in. If it’s no goal, there will be a penalty shot. We wait for a decision.

Puck crossed before the net went off its moorings.

Brandon Sutter gets credit for it.

Carolina 1, Montreal 1

Sutter has the confidence of a farm-boy from Tatooine.

Gionta line follows (Gomez and Pouliot with him). Failed entry.

Carolina enters. They manage two passes but are neutralized.

Puck stays on the boards.

Pace is as slow as it can get without reverting to practice-level intensity.

Moen line is on. Moore. He settles into the cockpit and flicks a few switches. Throttle. Other stuff. The pace increases. He doesn’t take any shifts off.

Yeah, if he was a Hab, I’d like him. Oh. He is a Hab. Uh. Well, I don’t like him. But I can be convinced.

Lines change.

Brind’Amour intercepts a pass. Athletic play. His own pass is a turnover.

Canadiens get a left-side entry. Andrei K on his off-wing.

I feel a sudden urge to see Andrei use all of his cosmotic skill and verve to score three unanswered goals. To shut these guys up.

Staal is in. Heavy leaning. He unleashes a weak shot. Price is tested very close to the crease.

Jussi Jokinen is in the corner. Works it to the point. Shot. Price gloves it. Stops play.

We resume to Price’s right. A new car.

Habs win it.

They are forced back. Lapierre gets back to support and send a lead pass from under his own hash.

Carolina stops things. Down the other way.

The game is on the edges. Carolina doesn’t have enough speed to create openings for themselves. Or so it seems.

Faceoff is outside the Montreal blue line. Cammalleri has to take it. He wins it.

Montreal entry. Cammalleri creates a triangle of his two linemates with a pass that finds Plekanec alone in the slot. Plekanec has to turn and shoot and Ward has time to get there.

Save.

Brunet says that Ward is the difference in the game so far.

Plekanec says something you don’t say in an airport lineup.

Stoppage soon afterward.

Brunet is not one to offer a storyline and then repeat it frequently. Neither is he one to hold up trophies if a story-line is correct.

The simple story-line approach is not one used by RDS, in fact. Spoon-feeding is something they don’t engage in. They assume their viewers are intelligent.

Carolina goes to a power-play.

Early control sees several complete passes by Carolina but no shots. Finally a pass to the corner to Price’s left leads to a Montreal clear.

Two more clears; second one by Markov.

Gomez and Moen are paired for the final thirty seconds of the man-advantage. First time I’ve seen Gomez and Moen together on a kill pairing all season. Or that I can recall, anyhow.

Remainder of the penalty is shotless.

Canadiens enter soon after killing the penalty. A shot goes wide.

Cammalleri and Plekanec are on. Ward stops a shoot-in behind his net.

Lapierre line.

Four on two. Lapierre leads it. Slows. Clever move to the middle, witch on a broomstick. Shot wide. Very nicely conceived. Lapierre is having his best game in months.

Gionta. Left side. Knocked down working.

Now Gomez. Another bright moment. Pass to Pouliot who is too slow to convert the slot chance. But not for lack of effort. He is not 100 percent. My feeling.

Gomez is also having a fine game. But he’s been good for weeks now.

Price makes a stop and the net slides away and a crowd mobs onto Price. It’s a grade six pile-on.

Ya love wrestlin’ dontcha? Dontcha? Yeah. Ya do.

They sort it all out and go to a break.

Staal and Markov are in the box. Staal is wearing the C for captain. I shake my head and chuckle. Eric Staal. A team captain. What a joke.

About four minutes left. We go to four-on-four.

The guys from the back of the class are running things. No wonder they didn’t apply themselves. Saved by the sands.

Lapierre is in over the blue. Left side. Head up. Looking for a receiver. Incursion ends.

From the neutral zone, Lapierre sends it in down the right side.

Lines change.

Samsonov is on for Carolina.

Staal passes it up for Samsonov on the left side.

Slow and stupid ways. The body doesn’t lie.

Shot. Faceoff.

Staal wins the faceoff against Gomez. Point pass. Shot. Deflects to the corner.

Canadiens exit. Pouliot doesn’t want to hit. Protecting his ribs?

Just under a minute.

Turnover inside the Carolina blue. Pitkanen. Darche gets a fifteen-foot chance. Big booming shot wide.

Neutral zone tennis and a mild right-side entry by Carolina end the period.

Brunet remarks that the Canadiens dominated the period. He says that despite out-playing the Canes, the Canadiens must adjust their approach.

Maurice’s scowl is milder than his exit last period. Canadiens lead 13-8 on second period shots. And 25-10 overall.

Second Intermission
Carolina 1, Montreal 1

We’re stuck with the two Olympians now. Alain Crete interviews them. Jennifer Heil’s sense of self-importance is subtle but unguarded. She won a silver in some skiing event. We see a shot of her self-entitled expressions as she stands on the podium to receive her medal.

Canadian athletes were more like Americans than ever before in that they felt any wins or successes were richly deserved and cinematically unique. Many forgot that the other athletes worked just as hard (or harder) and had their own countries supporting them.

The French dude comes off humble and is a good listener besides.

Heil’s royal head-gestures suggest arrogance and set views. I wouldn’t have a beer with her. No, oh no. Yeah, or a coffee.

The practiced movements of the falsely modest.

It’s satire. And it’s a first impression.

But yes. Yes, I can be glad every day that the poison gourd gluttony of the Olympics has come to an end.

Rills of metallic venom continue, however.

Dommage. Nationalism does more to damage unity than to bolster it. It unifies the ugly set.

Remember your allies.

We return to Jacques and Joel. Joel says that the Canadiens are dominating the game. He states the Habs have registered just four turnovers. Impressive number.

He reviews some tape. Crete says that Ward could beat the Canadiens on his own tonight.

Demers says that since January, Carolina has been one of the best in the league. He says that without Ward, the score would be 4-1 for Montreal. He’s being conservative in his estimate.

Third Period
Montreal 1, Carolina 1

We are told that Dominic Moore is 89% on faceoffs and that Joni Pitkanen has logged more than nineteen minutes of ice time coming into the third.

Good numbers today. Meaningful.

Early entry by Plekanec’ line is punctuated by a great check by Cammalleri. Delayed call on that.

Great save by Price getting across to end it.

Cole was hit by Cammalleri.

Glove save was on Sutter. High glove as Sutter crossed the slot unimpeded.

Hurricanes go to the power-play. It’s the only sustained offence they’ve had all game. During the man-advantage.

First control. Some passes. No shots. Clear.

Second control. Nearly interrupted at the blue line by Moore. Shot follows. Rebound is golfed after a Price save.

Gionta and Gomez are the second pairing.

They get good coverage and two clears.

With about thirty seconds left in the penalty, Moore is on. A clear.

Lapierre and Moen are the final kill pairing.

Cammalleri is back on the ice now.

Hurricanes keep it in. Shot. Rebound. Side. Goal.

What silence. A dark, Montreal silence. It’s the response when the undeserved are lucky. Staal got the goal. Brunet says that Staal has had an ordinary game but he got the goal.

Carolina 2, Montreal 1

One of the benefits of not watching English-announced Canadian hockey telecasts is that, as viewers, we are more free to decide for ourselves who the heroes and villains are; who the skilled and unskilled are; the English-Canadian networks are far too influenced by the star-makers culture that has slowly poisoned Canadian sports television.

You can thank the NFL and ABC’s Monday Night Football, in particular. The technique of promoting an individual star player over a team became more entrenched, sophisticated and deliberate from the early eighties and became a series of buzz-words and nearly embarrassingly predictable cliché by the late nineties.

English-language hockey coverage has clumsily followed suit. But their errors are those of amateurs bungling magic tricks. The biggest error was the insistence in promoting above-average Sidney Crosby over A-list Alexander Ovechkin.

Lost votes are rarely regained. Especially with the young who can afford to have their own opinions and not worry what the “water-cooler set” may think.

The kids can tell the difference.

Promoting a team mythology over the cult-of-personality approach favoured by Americans (a culture that loves its Kennedys and Bradys, eye-test guys) is more likely to succeed here in Canada.

Even better, just go for the unvarnished truth. Canadians love that stuff. Especially the unvarnished part.

Mercer will always beat Dice Clay for viewers even if we don’t agree with our favourite Newfie.

Brunet repeats what we already know. Canadiens are the best team tonight. But at least he waited til thirteen minutes left in the game to say it.

Canadiens are on the power-play.

First minute is defenced well by Carolina.

Second minute sees Brandon Sutter escape as a puck hops over Bergeron’s stick on the right side. He is free, Price at his mercy.

Right up close. Shot. Price.

Another chance. Almost as blunt. Price again. Two great saves to go with one other great one and about three good ones.

Bien fait, goaleur.

Canadiens can get nothing else going.

Moore shoots from the corner.

Ward traps it.

Lapierre is shoved. Moen and Moore support him.

Lapierre isn’t smiling after this one. I think he realises that it’s close to the end for him. It’s still in his hands, though.

RDS flashes a stat that shows Lapierre as the leader in hits on the team. He has 155 to Moen’s 150. No commentary adds texture.

Puck is free in front of Ward. All three Hab forwards are the crease and slot. No sticks connect.

Puck is cleared from danger by Carolina.

Nine and a half minutes left.

Carolina entry. Houde’s voice rises. Price stays in position. Tracks the puck.

Another Carolina entry. Price is puck. Puck only. Puck track. Puck-black white. Price blank black.

So just support him.

Ward is a problem, I finally agree.

And Price is all game, all goal.

Most RDS voters say that Pavel Datsyuk (47%) was the best defensive forward of the past decade. Brind’Amour is second with 29%.

Faceoff outside the Montreal blue line. Won by Carolina. Sent in.

Supported. Finally Gionta cruises back with Martin St. Louis-type moves and scoops it up.

Stopped. Plekanec line is slowly, one by one, substituting themselves on.

Shot by Andrei K. Curled around from behind the net. Ward stopped it.

Faceoff to Ward’s left.

Spacek and Hamrlik are the defence pairing.

Plekanec lobs the puck in.

Carolina takes advantage of Montreal’s difficulties in controlling the bouncing disc.

Gorges is pinching. He moves forward from his blue line on two occasions during this forward shift.

No shots result.

Price traps a puck on the other end. Oblique shot.

Faceoff.

About six minutes left. Less than that.

Canadiens’ urgency climbs.

Work is on the Montreal end boards. Gomez sweeps a puck away from forechecking Hurricanes along the boards. But it results in a turnover.

On the other end, Hamrlik enters and shoots. His stick breaks and he keeps using his stick, a big, dangerous no-no and a punishable offence. No call. Paul Maurice is furious, says Houde.

Whistle soon afterward.

Just under four minutes. Cammalleri, Moore and Andrei K are on together. Interesting.

Moore is parked in the slot and waits for Cammalleri to get him the puck.

Moore was on early for a line change. So scratch that “interesting” comment.

Pouliot tries some big man moves, what reach he has. Gets around one guy. Almost. In his own zone. Right circle (from Price’s point of view). Loses it.

His teammates help him out and with over two minutes left, the Canadiens have it on a Carolina circle, sweeping like curlers. Screaming a bit less. Carolina moves it out.

Faceoff outside Carolina’s zone.

Quick shot of Price shows his loosey-goosey side. He knows he has done well and that his time is coming to an end tonight.

Seconds later, Houde says that Price didn’t see the signal to return to the bench.

Faceoff. Cole gets out. Price has to return to the net. Cole is in alone. Price stops him.

Gomez starts the team out from behind Price.

Canadiens get an eight-second possession but no shots.

They’re back in with thirty seconds left in the game.

Cammalleri gets it to the slot. Shot by Gionta. Direct. Ward stops it.

Another pass. Ward stops it. Direct. What a save.

Carolina 2
Montreal 1

HDS Stars: Cam Ward, Carey Price, Dominic Moore
RDS Stars: Cam Ward, Brandon Sutter, Carey Price

Related posts:

1. Montreal Canadiens vs. Carolina Hurricanes
2. Montreal Canadiens vs. Washington Capitals (Game Four)
3. Montreal Canadiens vs. Carolina Hurricanes
4. Montreal Canadiens vs. Philadelphia Flyers
5. Montreal Canadiens vs Boston Bruins
6. Montreal Canadiens versus Florida Panthers