Montreal Canadiens vs. Edmonton Oilers
November 10, 2011, by Homme de Sept-Îles
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 (5-6-2) host Edmonton Oilers (8-3-2)
Tuesday, November 8, 2011 (Delayed Musing)
Game Fourteen (score posted following scribbles)
Missed it? Musings capture the game in writing. A written transcript typed during the game, posted and edited about thirty minutes afterward. Based on the RDS French telecast of the Montreal Canadiens game, 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. A unique way to re-experience the game.
click here to expand post (it looks prettier)
This may be obvious but this musing is a tape-delayed one. And one in which I managed to avoid any clues about the final score.
RDS has a new beginning for their Mechant Mardi presentation. It’s Quebec quirky but seems forced, nonetheless.
Of course I hate tape delay. There was, uh, a disaster in my basement.
I don’t want to talk about it. But things are better.
Edmonton is in town. Or was in town. Last night. The town of Montreal. Price contemplates being on camera again. And flips a tennis ball lankly as the network intrusion finds a new subject. Spacek. His expression changes, as well. Becomes less jocular, more business-like.
Kostitsyn is not playing tonight. Alexei Emelin, a defenceman will be in the lineup instead. Emelin was courted by the Canadiens for years. He’s here at last, but can’t get the minutes. Will he leave miffed?
Nugent-Hopkins has a lot of letters but they’re spaced nicely on a keyboard. The ASDF kind, anyway. The first year forward is scoring at an alarming rate and I’m looking forward to seeing his style. Hopefully it’s more swerve than shovel.
Both Alain and Vincent are less able to hide their regard for the cactus. He wears.
I can skip the ads.
Mechant Mardi. Is watching hockey for kids? Some band jumps around in English as a montage of Canadiens highlights interrupts the dopey, staged rock narrative.
I can rewind. Invincible Hedley.
Centre Bell. The Oilers. Vos Canadiens. Firewagon red and oil derrick coppers.
The carpet is across to the centre circle. One rectangle. Another. And a third. Like a large capital I. Some honour guard thing, or other. I find myself wondering what blue carpeting smells like.
Yes. Colour causes smell.
Charles is here. And I feel a twist and delayed extra surge. Where’s my spotlight? The one I hold in hand. It’s a light-up pen.
Emelin’s hair reminds me of ungelled Lapierre.
Start the game. One anthem.
What’s this presentation? Price sports the Fleur de Lis on the left side of his mask.
Oh. Molson Cup. Player of the month. Carey Price. Ok, ok. Good, good.
Shakes some poppied dude’s hand. We should remember those we’ve killed.
War is for those who’ve never fired a gun.
Khabibulin in net for Edmonton with a 0960 + rating.
First Period
Refs are Devorski and Furlatt. Devorski should be out of pro hockey. Amateur, too.
What does that leave us? Hmm.
Oilers win the draw but Cammalleri is to it at the blue and nearly strips it.
I’m on EP speed for the first five minutes and look forward to the switch to SP.
Barker. Short pass. Potter. Turns and bats it. Offside.
Subban bumps Eberle and says something menacing. Eberle ignores him. For now.
One minute gone. Long Montreal puck follows the faceoff.
Nugent-Hopkins on-ice bearing is quite different from his off-ice impression. I know very little about the kid and I like his style already.
Montreal, meantime is down the column and a shot is turned away by the at times fearsome Khabibulin.
Deep right. Belanger. Passes his own man and shovels it back to he corner blue. Shot but then it’s out.
Jones is huge. Ryan Jones. Looks bigger than his listed six one, two oh five. Or is the Oiler team around him just that small?
Oil control. Cycling. One defenceman advances. Price is bonged lightly. Stoppage.
Khabibulin’s save is shown. It was Gorges. Rare incursion. Moreso as it was through the teeth.
Three minutes gone. Faceoff to Price’s left.
An Oiler weaves through two guys and Price swaddles the puck.
Stays in play.
Montreal exit. Tripping. Not called. Oh. Devorski. Great.
Pacioretty across the slot. Bounces off the opposite boards. Subban advances and blasts it. Wide.
Under sixteen.
And a stoppage. Draw to Price’s right.
A Gorges crushing of Jordan Eberle is shown and I’m feeling a bit sympathetic to the speed demons of Alberta’s northern jewel. Let’s call Nanton its southern jewel.
Faceoff to Price’s right.
Stoppage. And we go to SP.
Gill. Called. Has that, come on expression. Smiling. Skates away with little discussion. None, in fact.
Edmonton power.
When I was younger, someone should have told me that I’d miss the Oilers. The Andy, Mess, Gretz and Coffey Oilers. Those ones. I do. I never thought I would. I’ve learned to appreciate them.
And this edition will remind some of the same. What great axles.
One segment. Good diamond, swift passing and sharp positioning. Cleared.
Another entry. Whistled.
And they still have Hemsky. One of the most underrated forwards in the West Conference.
Entry, turn pass and slapshot. Price is low.
Montreal entry. Tripping. Again. And this one is called. Sam Gagner took Spacek down in the right column. Legit call. Spacek, the former, Oiler, the second Montreal defenceman to find that lane. Penalty against Gagner occurred with about thirty-six seconds left in he Oiler power-play.
That expires and Montreal has a ninety-second power-play.
Plekanec on the point.
I wince. Yes, he can shoot. All that. I guess he’s the best option for the quarterbacking.
Until Markov is back. Yes. He’s not a figment. Nor a Rip.
Twelve left.
Thirty in the call.
I’m craving all sorts of things.
Chicken nuggets. Keebler cookies. Kettle chips.
Goals.
Penalty expires. Edmonton is a very skilled team.
Potter is called on a longer Montreal possession. Tripping.
Yes, FFWD, baby.
Guess what the f is for? Cammalleri was tripped on an offwing entry. I hate water in my hockey pants. The seat. It’s a cold game.
Moen. On the kill wave? Weber on the left point.
Plekanec. To Cammalleri. And he rings it, a high peal, off the post.
Cleared.
Subban. Left point.
Another penalty goes uncalled.
Habs pushed out but back in quickly.
And then out as a puck bounds over Subban’s stick. Across. Gionta. Winds and cracks.
Zinger but stopped.
Canadiens get ahead of the Oilers for six seconds. One backhand on a Cammalleri cross-slot entry, sudden. And then some wide gaps but no shots.
Penalty ends.
Very good offensive work from the number eight winger in the NHL. According to THN.
Our Man from Richmond Hill.
Gionta. He’s by. Finds a slot receiver. Khabibulin is glove high, pads low and stick across the crease. That’s gotta be more than forty pounds of equipment.
I’ve got three professional fans with me tonight. Just occurred to me. And a defibrillator. Or whatever that sucker is called. Don’t bump the tubes.
Another Edmonton power-play.
Hemsky. Takes the puck in stride down the right. Turns the net. Can’t find anyone. Has it again at the phone booth. Where’s our creator?
Oilers close to the net.
Belanger from the high slot. Wide. Ugly.
Stays in play.
Perimeter.
Cam Barker gets all of it from the right point. No.
These fans are loud and all I’ve got is a Samsung. Lots more to complain about but someone told me I’m lucky.
Hmph.
Ryan Smyth is shown. Wearing his usual number 94 and with the A on his jersey. For Alternate captain. He’s well-liked in Edmonton, a welcome hero’s return and a welcome six million dollar salary. More than, say Markov, Montreal’s best player. Smyth was a waste of money. A feel-good move for a team that couldn’t afford such. They finished thirtieth last season.
Yet that aroma is covered over by rich new carpeting and the liniment of youth. Oilers are one of the league’s usual eight major surprises. Nine, whatever.
Three minutes left in the first.
Moen tracks an Oiler exit.
Long pass is into legs and back into Edmonton ice. And they reset. And are repelled in the centre ice area. Again.
Stoppage.
And I realise that I’m using the laptop keyboards and switch back to the new ergonomic one. Didn’t even realise. What a difference.
Two minutes.
Gill steps forward to push it back. Turning. Dropped. Shot. The rest wasn’t Gill.
Subban is skilled and has streaks of show-off in his style. This time he turns and two Oilers chase the marvel across the low circle-stripes to Price’s left. He keeps the puck and then passes.
Flow is rerouted.
Last minute.
Two sticks poke at Hemsky’s. They’re close enough and the adroit Oiler is buffeted out of the zone.
Fourteen.
Tom Gilbert. From behind his net. Sends a pass to through to the Montreal blue. And as expected with such a long pass, it’s intercepted and sent back.
Edmonton led on shots 6-4. Very low shot total. Interesting. There were certainly many more possessions than might be assumed.
First Intermission
Montreal 0, Edmonton 0
Vincent Damphousse is shown. In an Edmonton uniform. Some good numbers. Looking skinny. He wore number 9 and then number 21. Damphousse, a host on RDS nowadays (first season) captained the Canadiens in the late nineties was one of the team’s most effective players throughout.
As a commentator, he’s thoughtful but hasn’t shared to a depth that reflects comfort. Yet.
Crete and Damphousse watch Brunet wildly flail, raise his voice beyond but they concur to some degree. In words.
They’re discussing the Jackets. Montage of Ken Hitchcock. Their former coach. Former Flyer coach. Former Dallas coach. He gets bonus points from many for his demeanour. I do like him but his Stanley Cup win with Dallas in 1999 is some distance now and I fear the intelligent, well-respected figure may be overrated.
He’s good. Not great.
I wonder if it’s easier to organize thousands of opinions in a spreadsheet or in a database. Whose nephew would you hire?
Crete reminds us that the Oilers, for all their fleet players, are giving up very few goals. They’re also scoring very few.
I think even a non-Francophone could tell that Brunet is, uh, non-smart.
Crete looks down for a moment. One day, one day. One day, he’s going to laugh. And it won’t go over well.
All three are tieless. Brunet is making up for repetitive surface content with loudness.
Highlights. And some numbers. Pause. Seven shots on goal by Montreal in the first period; both games Rangers and Oil. Habs are 72 percent on faceoffs tonight. Three bodychecks by Emelin.
I gather he’s playing wing.
Second Period
Edmonton 0, Montreal 0
Eller with that fishbowl visor of his. Loses the draw
Four shots against. Hemsky. Tries to make a move around the defender. Falls to the floor like a mannequin. No call. Nor should there be. Weber turned and caught him on the opposite side. Hemsky was looking for the penalty stated Houde.
Pacioretty entry. Shot to come? Offside. Gionta shakes his head in disapproval. Annoyed captain.
Ninety seconds gone.
Pacioretty ropes one with Gionta flanking on the right. Third Hab on the left. Has only enough room to torque a puck down the right. And they veer away, three jets as one.
Cole line follows. Cammalleri continues his fiery work from the first.
Cole. Right side. Finds Cammalleri. Perfect. And how did Khabibulin get across? Puck under him.
Faceoff to Khabibulin’s right. Cammalleri again with presence and flame.
I love it.
But I love goals more.
Yeah, yeah, process. I know. I’m hungry.
Cammalleri’s forecheck, chase and drive to create is always there. But that flame burns brighter as he chooses to support, chase down, round the net and look for his teammates not only as passers but as receivers. An inspired, healthy Michael Cammalleri could be a difference-maker in a league where difference-makers are dwindling.
Above the ordinary. Can change the flow of a game. Not the norm. It’s a nuanced, sophisticated term in coaching and it speaks to many criteria columns and hours of film.
Price corrects a passing error behind his net, stopping a muzzle drive.
Price is, more and more, in his mode. Slumbering in his season. His dreams are silver.
Emelin is bleeding and grimacing. Accidental high stick.
Lennart Petrell.
Montreal power. Edmonton bats one out. All that speed. Being burned wisely in coverage.
Interception. Jones. In alone. Deke. Scores. Tucked it under going left to right.
Very quick stick. And good enough.
Edmonton 1, Montreal 0
Some long, damp hair to go with it.
Five gone.
Darche. Hash. To Diaz at the right point. Subban on the left point.
Pacioretty. Hash. To Subban. Shot. Hit something.
Pacioretty and Subban again combine. Quick passing. From a slightly older young team. But it’s out.
Oiers’ coverage is very good.
They play the PK like it’s drawn up.
They’re a threat to fly out at all times.
Montreal matches for effort and tempo but their interceptive ways continue. And are more the worse against these young sticks.
What’s gotten into Our Man From Richmond Hill?
I hate this keyboard.
Twelve thirty seven. My time of birth, too.
Hall. Oh, he’s actually here tonight. Got a stick around Subban on a zone-exit and Montreal goes to power again.
Plekanec. Cole. Cammalleri.
No call on a crowd-called tripping. Cammalleri fell forwards reaching for the puck. If you work every night, you get those calls. If you work one every twelve nights, no.
Canadiens have no lanes.
Ryan Jones, very effective.
Now two get low. Number ten, Shawn Horcoff is a great penalty killer. One of the best. Gets low under the end line. And is back to the circles to deflect the follow-up puck. Nearly amazing.
And now Smyth is free. Another breakaway. Another right to left deke and tuck-under. Price stops this one.
Edmonton does things I love. Disciplined, one-glove PK, wiry forecheck, commitment to their own zone first. And they do these three better than Montreal. Yes, Montreal has those qualities. But they were late in coming this season and they have been spotty for years.
Denis says that Smyth’s attempt was identical to Jones’ but that Price corrected the error. I suggest that Smyth is simply much slower. I’m beginning to wonder about Denis’ technical knowledge.
I hope I’m wrong.
Eight and twenty.
Hall. Rams a man on the forecheck. On the border. He’s habitually dirty, overly aggressive and a bit of a heavy head. I don’t know how one can miss it.
Emotions cloud judgment. So do expectations.
Seven.
Pace rises and so do the on the border hits. Oilers are leading it.
I start to remember that I’m a red team partisan.
And fried food craver.
Pause.
Adding vitamins to anything quali9fies it as a meal.
Theo Peckham jaws quickly. Earnestly. Or is that gum?
Edmonton, like Montreal, also has a legacy to live up to. Though it’s not a lengthy one, at its brightest it glittered as radiantly as any of Montreal’s best eras. Edmonton Oilers won five Stanley Cups in seven seasons and boasted the best player of his era, Wayne Gretzky. The last cup was in 89-90.
Their fans appreciate offensive, creative play and understand, as a group, much better than Calgary fans, what winning takes and what winning means.
Database? Or spreadsheet?
Montreal power.
Chalk up another Edmonton dust-up.
Cole down the right, bumped to one skate, still herky-jerking. Finally lost.
Out and then in. Cammalleri. On one leg. Shot. No.
Peckham is called. And we’re shown an unrelated takedown of Subban. By Peckham. Legit.
Five on three.
Shot. Siren. No red light. No goal. The back bowl jumped up. Good thing fans can’t vote on goals. But they are allowed to vote for national leaders.
Exactly.
One to one. Pacioretty to Cole. And it’s erased by Khabibulin. Certain goal.
Cleared.
Canadiens are playing as if they realise what they’re up against. A tenacious, fast, skilled defensive unit that can’t be judged on their appearance.
And note, Hall does not play on the PK. There’s a reason for that. Maybe he’ll change that reason.
Penalty evaporates.
Hall goes to the Montreal net. Passer can’t find him.
I wouldn’t look for him either.
As good a shooter as he is.
Who would want to see that guy strutting and smirking nearby in the dressing room? Skivvies and flicking tape. No thanks.
Faceoff and one last segment.
Edmonton won’t let it.
But then a takeaway. Bouncing puck. Montreal will have to fight and pray, beg and flay to get a puck the way they want it. And maybe, just maybe, it will only get harder through November and into December.
We’re missing something this season.
Period ends.
Shots on goal favoured Montreal 13-4. Montreal leads overall, 17-10.
Second Intermission
Edmonton 1, Montreal 0
Where’s Francois and A La Une? Why is Brunet gibbering out at me? Focal off.
Third Period
Edmonton 1, Montreal 0
Can a person look Russian? Oh yes, one can. Nikolai Khabibulin is discussed. Some numbers. And a photo.
Kevin Lowe is shown on the screen. Manager’s box. Two other dudes up there. They’re smiling and sharing comments.
Hockey players as GMs. Two different skill sets.
The Peter Principle. Good at making grommets won’t mean you’ll manage the grommet-makers well. Will it?
Ninety seconds elapsed.
They turn and wheel, two flocks in tandem, sequencing mattering little, weighted seamlessly regardless of who has the puck. Neither team expects anything. Both teams respect the other.
Two systems in sync. The dance that Phil Jackson mentioned comes to mind. Sacred Hoops.
It’s far more possible in hockey and once the pugilist is removed from the game (and certain trogs die or move on ….. ok, die) and the 18th spot goes to the skilled, we will see much more synchronicity in the league.
They flock into Khabibulin. Pacioretty. Another stick. Another. It stays out. Sixteen.
The Oilers fly in response.
Three are across. Two red jerseys close the pass.
This is hockey at its best. Pause, rush, rip and roar, the seams stretch but don’t tear. Cole across. Cuts. He has what he wants. Pointblank crossing the low slot. And Khabibulin sees and stops all tonight. What saves and what concentration. He’s maude mad marionette to the maven named puck.
With sleeve and slap pad laughter.
Some nights the goalie is the game.
And in this period, he’s gone from second star to first.
What a performance.
The swirl is interrupted by an interception and slapshot. Cammalleri. Montreal. And the Russian is out and stopping again.
Cole. Waiting. Gives it. Gets it back. Offwing cannon fire. Another stop.
One man. Two teams. Two wills.
But the Oilers swarm in unison and their night seems complete.
Thirteen. And another fast forward. Smile.
Replay shows Cammalleri hit the post on his interruption interception.
We resume. Long Montreal shot. Just wide and it v-wings off the middle of the back boards.
Under twelve.
Hemsky intercepts.
Pass. High slot. Price doesn’t see it. Moves. Post?
This is the best two-team period of hockey I’ve seen this season. Marvelous work on the boards by the Oilers. One man turning, looping, charging and retaining. Habs don’t panic but the silence and smattered whistles reflect the admiration and respect that grows.
Edmonton is a new team. And they look even better than last season. Granted, they do play well against Montreal. But not every team can say that. Vancouver comes to mind.
Or maybe Vancouver is just not that number one-ish.
Some good ideas but no finish. Blind passes. Poor positioning.
And les turnovers. So many.
Montreal ranks in the top five in the NHL for giveaways. No improvement from last season. Someone. Someone say something.
We’ve been told that newly appointed assistant coach Randy Ladouceur is a strong communicator, always talking, always sharing. Practice footage has been used as evidence.
Uh, yeah. For what that’s worth. Oh, it’s worthy something.
Under eight.
Oilers control as if it’s a power-play. Finally a hash cruise leads to a strip and a reset.
The pace is hectic but organized.
Pacioretty at the high slot. Oilers circle the boards with so much energy and push that the Canadiens are best to lay back in a zone. And loosely, they do. Nobody wants to blow a coverage. But it’s Edmonton who led the way in this. Montreal is responding to the great coverage with decent coverage of their own. Certainly with an attempt to mimic Edmonton’s outstanding own-zone coverage.
Anything less would be embarrassing. They’re living up to a younger team’s mandate in the hopes that nobody will notice they’ve been eclipsed.
Sure, I’m reaching. But may also be foreshadowing. Remember 1981?
Two on one. Montreal. Pause. Drop pass to a third and the Oilers are there with a third and then a fourth man. One falls and slides. The passing triangle is gone. And now, so is the puck.
Three and forty-five.
Fair and square. Both teams. One better than the other but both game.
And Gilbert shoots one in long. Nicely done.
Deflection. Price going right to left. Smyth.
Six million and one.
Reasons.
Database.
Edmonton 2, Montreal 0
Sudden unexpected goal. Max Pacioretty. This game. So unfair. So odd.
Plekanec down the middle. Passed to Pacioretty over the blue. And through the pads.
This game is supposed to be over. Despite the posts.
Instead.
Jones is a small rocket. Right into Price. Crossbar. Off the moorings. Everyone’s ok.
No call.
Desharnais. Cammalleri. Moen. Cammalleri being rewarded for his hard work. How rare. And I keep in mind that one game does not a season make.
It’s not hard to remember anymore.
Two.
Habs press.
Pacioretty. Left side. Plekanec to the net.
Khabibulin can be beaten and the whole rink knows it now.
Montreal presses. They retrieve. But the long puck is (ah) too long.
Ninety seconds. Twenty-two minutes on my SP recording.
If this goes into OT, I’m outta luck.
Shots. Habs close. Arms around each other and the whistle.
These shots are so fast. How can any hockey game end in a shutout? How.
But.
Timeout.
Cunneyworth talks with Nilan eye-fire.
Renney consults cards and clocks. Lets his assistant do the talking.
Pacioretty, Subban, Cammalleri and others. Empty net. Six on five.
Deep right. Won. Subban. One shot. A second. To the end boards.
And a turnover. Smyth. Has it. Slows.
Shoots.
Scores.
Acts as if he’s been there.
And he has. Seventh game loss to Hurricanes. In a series the Oilers outperformed. Dommage.
Edmonton 3, Montreal 1
Thirty seconds.
Three on two Edmonton. Price, one knee. The shot doesn’t come.
Time runs out as the Canadiens close the period in and on Oiler ice. Cammalleri cracks one high off the glass.
It caroms out.
And we hear a short siren.
Final Score
Edmonton Oilers 3
Montreal Canadiens 1
HDS Stars: Nikolai Khabibulin, Shawn Horcoff, Ryan Jones
RDS Stars: They neglected to mention them
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