Expressly Canadian (Game Five)

Thoughts while watching the game again in compacted format
Montreal v Pittsburgh, Game Five

Trailing an opponent, a goalie has to send the message, the consistent message to his teammates, that the game is still there.  We all need to care. It is one of the righteous responsibilities on a long list for a player who spends the full sixty minutes on the ice.

Sergei Gonchar has quick intelligence as a shooter.  He can wind up and deliver a high-velocity Chara or Souray-style blast but more dangerously, he can take a bit off the puck in order to aim a near-slapshot velocity shot to different target areas on net.  The fact that blue line shots (or passes) need quick execution (to prevent odd-man breakout plays by the opponent) makes Gonchar’s quickly applied on-ice intelligence even more impressive.

In Pittsburgh, the Canadiens are just another hockey team.  I’m sure Pen fans are mindful of the history but the mystique just isn’t the same to them.  But the French Canadian members of the Penguins see the crest and it resonates with them.

Letang and Dupuis come to mind.

Boy, Bergeron is making more blunders in the past two games than in the previous ten.  Turnovers.

Yes, the Canadiens, in many on-ice ways, are an ordinary team.  As an organization, however, they remain (or have returned to, some might suggest) an organizational living legend status, a continued presence and a true heritage franchise.  Eventually, that will translate to on-ice brilliance.

The edge that progressive teams hold (or have held in previous eras) is a willingness to look at all players using the same calibrating tools.  That advantage has lessened in the modern NHL but because so many teams remain staffed by old-school thinkers, there may yet be subtle methods to effect an advantage.  But the results will be or are less pronounced.  Less obvious to the casual observer.

Again, the third period of this game feels as if it is not a closing chapter; rather it is part of the next game.  Some narrative threads don’t end at the buzzer.  They are just paused.

Maybe I should have given Fleury a star, after all.  Great closing save on Cammalleri.

By Homme de Sept-Iles
hommedeseptiles@gmail.com

Related posts:

1. Montreal Canadiens vs. Pittsburgh Penguins (Gm 5)
2. Montreal Canadiens vs. Pittsburgh Penguins (Gm 3)
3. Montreal Canadiens vs Pittsburgh Penguins
4. Small Ball
5. Open Letter to Bob Gainey
6. PenCap Musings and In-Game Scribbles (Game Seven)