Montreal Canadiens vs. Anaheim Ducks
December 1, 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 (10-11-3) visit Anaheim Ducks (6-13-4)
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Game Twenty-Five (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)
The Duckpond. You can call it what you want.
Quick shot of newcomer Louis Leblanc, making his first appearance in the NHL tonight. He’s in the lineup because of the reckless Max Pacioretty’s recent suspension (three games for a deliberate hit to the head of Penguins’ Kris Letang in Saturday’s OT loss, 4-3)).
Leblanc currently plays for Montreal’s AHL affiliate Hamilton Bulldogs (their farm team) and has ten points in fourteen games (four goals and six assists). Hamilton scoring leaders Brian Willsie (12 PTS) and Phil DeSimone (10 PTS) have each played 19 games, five more, respectively, than young Leblanc. He’s 20. Leblanc was a first round choice two years back.
Peter Budaj and Jonas Hiller are the goalies and Dwyer and Rooney are the refs.
First Period
Lars Eller, Travis Moen and Petteri Nokelainen are the first line.
Long shot by the Ducks is stopped low by Budaj and he shares a smile with a teammate. A long-lasting smile. Some woman in a Carey Price All-Star jersey is seated behind head coach Jacques Martin. Koivu loses the draw and can’t take the puck from Gionta under the Montreal end line.
Saku Koivu. This is his second game against his former team but there has been little lead-up this week. Koivu, the former captain (as if you didn’t know) was interviewed by Pierre Houde prior to the game.
Teemu Selanne leads this team in scoring (points).
Anaheim’s Ryan Getzlaf line is on for now. He’s their captain. Koivu is the regular alternate.
Nokelainen shadows Getzlaf who leaves a puck behind his net. Two passes and they’re through.
First-year man Frederic St. Denis is back on the ice for Montreal. Youngling defenceman Yannick Weber appears to be on a wing tonight.
Puck is driven in and there are way too many empty seats. We’re three minutes in. Is the food that good?
Turnover.
Stolen. Passed to Plekanec. Right side. Kostitsyn to the slot. Brakes, one-eighty turn. Receives. Shoots. Net, net, net. Gionta took it away on the blue, turned, fell, passed and the rest you know. Kostitsyn smiles brightly on the bench.
Montreal 1, Anaheim 0
Ducks are struggling this season, near the bottom of the standings and being outscored at a fatal pace.
I’m having a coffee during this game.
We’re twelve minutes from my usual designated bed time.
Duck feathers.
And now Cam Fowler. Number four. Anaheim defenceman. Windsor man. Good speed, looking, drops behind him. Ducks can’t enter. And another turnover.
A lot of space being given by the home team. Habs finally tighten up themselves.
Leblanc is wearing number 71 (Patrice!). Just had his first presence. Brief. No disasters. He’s nervous, boy. Sitting beside the relaxed Travis Moen, veteran of five hundred plus games, Leblanc, chomps his mouthguard and manages to look disheveled despite wearing a helmet. (They all wear helmets nowadays, my drakes).
Is there such a thing as a duck den?
Fourteen left. Kostitsyn on the high circle. Pass. Intercepted by Koivu.
Duck entry is short and meaningless.
Esteemed Teemu Selanne intercepts one and a pass sees a Duck lose a puck at the hash to Budaj’s left.
Michael Cammalleri is given one on the low slot.
Misses the net. Houde is generous and says that we rarely see Cammalleri miss s chance like that one. I guess he’s talking about practice? Cammalleri has it again, quick to Desharnais in the low slot. Hiller. The door. What a save.
Commercial.
It’s hard to believe Saku is still in the league. I mean that it seems so long ago, in a way. The summer of 2009. Eleven guys not re-signed.
Cammalleri’s pass was a backhander from the low circle. Blade on the ice.
More Cammalleri as he ends a long shift.
Selanne finds his way across the fences and his backhand pass nearly gets through.
Eller, Cole and Leblanc are together. Leblanc has good size though he’s listed at just six foot one.
I guess that’s decent enough.
Gionta around the first man, 360, and the second guy gets a stick on the backhand pass attempt.
Gionta is on fire. He’s on the ice against our former captain. Nobody wrote about it but Gionta thought about it. And now, so do I.
Gionta’s goatee is gone. I wondered if he ever would. Shave it. I hoped it, actually. He was unshaven the year he got 48. Yeah, he got 48 one year. With the Devils.
Weber is through. Shoots. Traffic closes. Hiller has it.
They’re fellow countrymen and Houde makes note.
Desharnais and Cole. Cammalleri, as well. They win the draw and cycle. Koivu rams Cammalleri after failing toe lift the puck. Now he gets it behind his end line and passes to Selanne after a mid-ice carry. I’m cheering for Koivu. I love it. Seeing him again. And I can’t help it.
Lines change. Perry, Getzlaf and the other dude.
Tony Lydman’s long shot is stopped by Budaj. Slapper. Seen and stopped at crest level. Budaj is too jittery. In quarterback terminology, the guy has happy feet. It’s a way that quarterbacks show nervousness, bouncing in place as they wait for someone to get open. It’s not recommended. But some QB coaches will shrug it off. Pas moi.
Beauchemin’s shot is tapped down nicely but Budaj stops the difficult shot.
Budaj has too many little wasted motions that have nothing to do with covering his angles. Little twists of the skate. May not necessarily be nerves but the gestures are a poor habit to engage in.
He’s a smaller goalie than Carey Price (the established starter) and has to move a bit further and expend more energy to get from spot to spot. Over the course of an evening, it means a more tired goalie. Unless the guy in question is in super shape. But all things being even, a larger goalie with the same quickness as a smaller man is better. And Price has the quickness of a smaller man. It’s one of the reasons Gainey referred to him as a thoroughbred.
Offence, offence, offence. The Ducks quack and circle, spitting pucks and cracking shells. Finally a Montreal presence draws a penalty.
Those Mighty Ducks. Bring back the Mighty. They dropped the Mighty designation some years back. Wanted to be taken more seriously, perhaps. It’s all on the ice. Nobody took issue with the Penguin name when Mario was dominating. Those Penguins were feared.
Beauchemin was called for interference on Erik Cole.
Lots of Habs fans, says Houde. And the camera proves it with four health frames.
Montreal man-advantage. Markov was a nearly tonight. But we have to wait one or two more games. He won’t suddenly be the magic passer we remember. It will take him about nine to fifteen games. More considering he has new teammates. His favourite power-play mate, Alexei Kovalev, is long gone.
Can keyboards sigh?
Five and a half and thirty seconds in the penalty. Habs are unable to set up. No shots.
Subban is hooked by Pelly. Smith Pelly. Hooking Subban as the defenceman left the zone.
Five on three for a few seconds. Hiller stops a long shot.
First bird is back.
Gionta was screening on the Subban shot.
Quick shot of hockey-wizened Anaheim head coach Randy Carlyle. He’s got some insurance since the team won the Cup in 2007. But the Sens played more quality hockey in that series. No matter. He’s got the ring.
And the pedigree. Like it or not.
And I like Carlisle. I mean Carlyle. I like Carlisle, too. Speaking of Birds.
That’s also a long time ago now, isn’t it?
Habs are stymied again and again. Can’t even set up.
Absolument rien de convaincant.
Roughing.
Closed the puck on the hand. Houde made a mistake on the call. Brookbank.
Houde thinks they could have let that one go.
Carlyle waves someone over, a gangster’s small smile, all the while. An official. Speaks with him.
Short five on three. Another long shot engulfed by Hiller. He’s retaining pucks well tonight. But Ellis has the better numbers this season. Too bad. Hiller is a cooler dude than the arrogant Ellis.
Mister 2.1 million.
Montreal sets up. Another long shot. Diaz. This one bounces off Hiller into the protective netting. Or maybe off Beauchemin’s left arm.
Why bother with long shots, they’ve shown to be useless. Unless Ducks are only giving up those types. Hiller’s mask is another artistic special. Postage stamp pictures of various dudes. Black and white. Are they goalies for Ducks gone by? They aren’t old enough for that.
Penalty ends.
Diaz has trouble behind his net and is trap-bumped there for a moment. Retains the puck and gets it out.
Entry. Blast. Way wide. Moen and Darche are with Eller. Moen retains and finds a streaking St. Denis. Boom, just over.
Ducks respond. Coverage sags and a cross-slot pass finds the overconfident Ryan Getzlaf who pots one (he’s got a Messier brand of hubris).
Nice goal. Getzlaf, Spezza and Crosby have very similar wingspan-puck handling; they can get the puck from left to right with great reach and equal grace. There are other physical qualities shared by the three. Physically impressive offensive players, the three.
Montreal 1, Anaheim 1
Period ends with hope rippling the pond.
Shots were tied at seven.
First Intermission
Montreal 1, Anaheim 1
Chronique a La Une. Where’s Francois? Tonight it’s Guy and Benoit.
Guy still has the moustache. Dedicated. Lots of Bobby Ryan trade rumours, says Alain. Guy says that it’s unlikely the Ducks will trade him and that the other GMs are calling and looking. He says the phones ring when teams are losing. GMs hope to pry loose normally fixtured good players from teams desperate to make a change.
The coaching changes. Muller for Maurice and Hunter for Boudreau. I happen to like all four. Hunter has the pedigree. But he’s not just well-connected. He’s an outstanding coach who’s paid his dues and led a dominant London Knights program for a significant period (ten seasons) including a Memorial Cup win in 04-05.
Alain says that Hunter had his choice of clubs. Some felt Hunter might never have come up to coach in the NHL, his London situation being as good as it was. But his number was retired in Washington and he has history there (as he does in Quebec City; we can grit our teeth about that later in the season).
As for Boudreau, he showed his usual integrity in defending his relationship with Ovechkin (after being fired) and I’m sure he’ll be missed by his team. The firing was a shock to Ovechkin. And somewhat surprising for me, as well. They’re a good fit, Ovie and Boudreau.
So were there better candidates available for Florida Panthers other than Kevin Dineen (that laugher choice)? You betcha <Todd Hansen voice>.
Second Period
Anaheim 1, Montreal 1
Habs are zero of nineteen on the power-play in the last five games.
Solved! For now.
No-look backhand pass from Eller to the slot is intercepted easily, no Habs around. Leblanc finds the puck on the blue on the other side and gets a sudden long shot on Hiller who extends fully. Left pad. Save.
Stoppage.
Desharnais emerges from a puck fracas and finds Cammalleri in the high slot. Coverage but Cammalleri has the angle to release. Off the glass. And Getzlaf fails to bump the shorter Cammalleri to the ice a second later. Lines change.
Koivu with his usual verve. Or maybe it’s just because Montreal is in town. Some have said he’s not the same player he was in Montreal. I find that hard to believe.
Delayed call. Koivu is confronted by a Hab. Weber? They trade words.
St. Denis is called for tripping Koivu in the low circle to Budaj’s right.
St. Denis doesn’t see what the cause was in reviewing the play from the penalty box, head up. He shakes his head.
Perry crosses free across the crease. Budaj stays with him on this sparkling chance. And another delayed call. Plekanec for high-sticking. Was Getzlaf acting? Denis seems to suggest it.
Five on three for ninety seconds. Gionta up top. Gill and Gorges down low. Gill is in his crab. Gets up out of it. Now he’s lying on the ice again. One knee down and a leg splayed flat. Like a stubbled Cinderella on the couch.
Shot, wide. Fowler loses it on the right point.
Getzlaf with patience. To the side door. Missed. Getzlaf resembles Messier in yet another way. I think it’s the high-fitting helmet that shows more of the back of his neck than most other helmets.
Koivu talks over some hockey details with his mates. Time-out is called.
There was a cut. No acting from Getzlaf. Four minutes.
Gill is shown, an ugly welt under his left eye from another game.
Thirty seconds in the five on three.
Ducks are offside.
Getzlaf casually cruises and sets up Perry. Great Scott! And Budaj. The pad down.
We got to five on four. Ducks retain. Long shot. Covered. Gill was great, says Houde. Quelle sequence pour Hal Gill. Agreed.
This is the kind of work that gets Gill the HDS star. You know.
Habs clear it.
Cammalleri reaches with a stick and his extra effort tics the puck out of the zone.
Subban is tripped. Puck rounds the net. No call. Smith-Pelly puts it in.
Smith-Pelly is very, very pleased with his goal. Grabbed it with his glove, dropped it and fired it over the left pad. Denis says the kid keeps it simple and is only nineteen. Only his second goal of the season. He’s congratulated on the Duck bench.
Anaheim 2, Montreal 1
Habs pressure. Crowd wants a penalty. Ducks exit. Cogliano, the former Oiler, has room. Why? Fires. Wrister. Low. Wide of the net.
Ducks are maddening for anyone who cares about defensive coverage. And we know that Carlyle must.
Gionta is allowed a turn-around shot in the slot. Another turnaround play. This one is not a tape-on-puck play and the shot is wide.
Diaz with a long shot turned away by Hiller. Habs are awake and very interested.
Darche is pushed over and back onto his butt by a Duck defender. Legit. I’ve never seen Darche knocked over like that. He was turning and standing straight up. Just pushed backward.
Stoppage. And a Bobby Ryan montage. Great performance as a Duck but a lot of rumours, stresses Houde.
He’s struggled this season. He’ll be fine.
Desharnais. One pass. Cammalleri can’t manage it. Desharnais get it back to him from the end line. And more mumbling. Ducks are involved. But a penalty against Anaheim ends the sequence and the dumped Cammalleri will rise to shoot on this duckpond again.
Montreal man-advantage.
Net goes off. Desharnais found Desharnais at the end line and the pass was into traffic. Then it splooted out. And the net fell backward. Brushes itself off. Mumbles with a small embarrassed smile. The nets are alive in this rink.
Hiller finally gives up a rebound. Maybe they saw something on tape? Desharnais misses the doorstep chance. Was tangled and fell. Just about.
Now it’s out.
In again. Plekanec one-hands one carelessly, a torque-band puck and it’s a turnover. Habs are frustrated.
Long shot from the middle of the blue.
Wide.
More perimeter passing. Ducks are playing it up high and close. Very good work from both forwards, Bobby Ryan with the best of it.
Penalty ends.
Gionta ends a sequence on his stomach, staring up at Hiller whose glove cradles the puck. Like a duck egg. Ok, I’ll stop.
Canadiens’ grizzled power-forward, newcomer Erik Cole made sure Louis Leblanc’s parents could be at the game tonight and made arrangements to assure such. Houde informed us as we get a shot of a very serious-looking hockey dad. English.
Under seven.
Hopefully that won’t cost me an interview one day.
It’s good to have a fiction-writing habit to fall back on, though.
Faceoff to Budaj’s left.
Another lost faceoff.
Finally Emelin finds it in the low corner. Up for Darche. Across for Cole. And after a bump and a turnover it’s out.
Leblanc was at some concert when he got the call to get home and get ready for a call from Pierre Gauthier. So he went home. And got a call from Pierre Gauthier. Who pays for the concert?
Just sayin’.
Koivu is on. Selanne with him. These two are dangerous. Who cares how old they are. They’re canny and they’ve played together for some time. I’m counting their work together on Team Finland.
Selanne is one of those guys who could be considered greater than Crosby. Look at his numbers sometime. At the tail end of his career, he still does so much.
I’ve been working on a chart and have made some interesting discoveries about just who the greatest player in the game today might be. It ain’t number 87. It could be one day. But it ain’t today.
It’s really about thirty charts. But I’ll try and summarize.
Yes. I’m so good at being succinct.
Desharnais was tripped by Niklas Hagman.
As for Muller. I agree he’s a gamble. More seasoning needed. But hey. He’s got very good potential. And it could work out, nonetheless. His first game was a loss. As was Hunter’s debut.
Montreal man-advantage.
The coffee is working well. But I’d better not be working on some chart at four in the morning.
Bobby Ryan creates the first chance. Earns a compliment from Houde.
The Ducks make fifteen year-olds of the Canadiens.
No shots. No threats, no presence. Great work by the Ducks and scattered applause and cheers punctuate the penalty-kill.
I shake my head.
Fives. Moen. Around. Finds Eller. No, Leblanc. Shot. Up over the net off Hiller.
Koivu is on. Reaches and can’t trap a puck at the end of his shift.
Ducks have won the period.
Long shot. Budaj handles it.
Short, cheap horn goes off.
Shots on goal favoured Anaheim 11-10.
Second Intermission
Anaheim 2, Montreal 1
This is not quality hockey. This isn’t the Montreal brand. Wake up. Put on the right jersey. It’s Bleu, Blanc, Rouge.
And Gomez isn’t even in the lineup. Know what I mean? Well, he has been better in recent games. Cammalleri, too.
Tricolore. It’s what we signed up for.
Third Period
Anaheim 2, Montreal 1
Leblanc looks less nervous. Still focused.
Your Oilers are something else and they are complimented by Carbonneau, Crete and Brunet in the break. Nugent-Hopkins’ size was criticized by some, said Brunet but he’s a very intelligent player. His pass to set up one of the Oilers’ two goals (so far) tonight was shown.
Over here on The Pond, the Ducks believe. And it’s Montreal’s fault.
Confidence. Ol’ Mo. And so on.
Interference. Against Montreal on the Anaheim possession. Another of the extended variety.
Budaj was unable to grab a puck in his crease.
Backups, it’s true, are on a shorter leash than starters. If Price had been there. If Vokoun had been there. If Lundqvist had been there. If. If. If. And so on.
Backup quarterbacks have the best job in sports according to John Madden. We want Broomell, we want Broomell! Often that backup is found wanting once he does let go of the clipboard and gets his hair mussed up by a helmet. David Humm, sure.
Anaheim scores. Deflection. Long shot. Perry was involved. Perry is so all business. He’s the kind of guy you’d want around when you’re building a house. Perry crosses the crease and deflects it in. He’s always got the same expression. Three shiny silver nails hanging from the lip, hammer in a hand and the ever-present tool belt. Let’s trade Cammalleri and Pacioretty for him.
I feel as if I should say something about that being a joke. That last statement, there. But I won’t.
Anaheim 3, Montreal 1
Another Montreal power-play.
Ducks are the best penalty-killers in the league tonight.
And I’m not making fun of them. They’ve been great.
Denis says that’s it’s been very difficult for Montreal on the power-play tonight.
Cole tries a one-man entry to the crease. Ducks are challenging everything. Habs are uncertain, disorganized and now out of time on the advantage.
Thirteen and eighteen.
Ducks’ Beleskey falls and I wince. In the crease. No. No penalty.
Gorges falls in the corner to Budaj’s left. Houde notes that there have been other falls in that corner tonight.
Ice in California. A hard job for a rink technician.
Moen is called for hitting Koivu behind the head. Not too hard, I think.
Anaheim power-play.
First minute is slow for the home team.
Smith-Kelly is over the blue to begin the third and lofts a weak wrister.
Ducks set up.
Koivu on the hash. To Ryan in the slot. Wrister. Save.
We miss Koivu’s passing and creativity.
Selanne nearly digs one into the net. From the end line, and chop upwards.
Subban injured Selanne. Selanne is down. Subban swears. Replay shows a trip. Selanne seems ok. Fell on his stick awkwardly.
Ten minutes.
Anaheim power-play.
Koivu on the hash. Loses it to Moen who doesn’t fear the old magician’s moves.
Cleared.
Nine and thirty-two. Ninety seconds in the penalty.
Darche and Darche are across the blue Somehow they go offside.
When it’s bad, it’s bad, says Denis. Darche and Desharnais talk it over as they leave he ice. Darche says something about a broken play. In English. Often Francophone players will talk in English to one another. It’s the language of their workplace, after all.
Faceoff to Budaj’s left.
Habs exit. Just under a minute in the punishment.
Nokelainen is haranguing Getzlaf up top. Nokelainen shows how it’s done and an image of Muller swerving near power-play shooters at the blue line comes to me. That strange lighting in the Forum, the shadows under the end line and the bright spots down the middle.
It’s not just a hockey team.
A Duck falls. Habs have it. But seconds later Subban is called for hooking.
That’s how you become a healthy scratch. Pouliot’s numerous calcite penalties come to mind.
Seven minutes.
Marc Denis is asked (the third-period viewer question) what it means when a players is said to do the little things well. Denis talks about the things that don’t make the stat sheet but are important for a team; getting the puck out of the zone, bumping a man, leadership. And so forth. He mentions a few things like blocked shots and faceoffs that are captured by the numbers but he makes the point nonetheless.
Quick line changes, come to mind. Taking away lanes. Shutting down entries, funneling and indirectly causing turnovers, too.
Five oh nine. Ducks aren’t convincing this time and the Canadiens, two goals down, still have a chance. But the Ducks aren’t giving up the spaces as they had in the first ten minutes of the game.
They’re disorganized, though and they still turn the puck over often. So two goals are easier here than against, say, Boston.
A motivated Boston.
Ducks are motivated, too. And they believe.
Hiller’s mask features photos of men in moustaches. His teammates, I think.
Some Duck staff member shovels some unwanted ice off the surface and leaves the rink using one of the lower corner doors.
Montreal is into Duck ice. Three to the net. Penalty. Ducks.
Another chance. Plekanec will be involved. A goal is coming.
Commercial.
Lydman hooked Kostitsyn in the low slot. Stick at the waist and holding him from the puck. Forty-six like a cat after nip. Eyes only.
Better first segment.
Gorges blasts it in. Two after it. They overskate it and it’s launched out. Diaz behind his net.
The season is seeping away.
Cammalleri with a long shot. Off Bobby Ryan.
Ryan continues to follow the puck deep. Houde says a few good things about his game tonight.
Right side chance. Save.
Budaj leaves his net. Two and eleven. Whistle on a puck near the blue. Desharanis’ pass to Gionta was from the slot to the right wing. Gionta looked skyward after missing. Or not scoring, rather.
Fifteen seconds in the penalty. Budaj leaves. Montreal works the perimeter.
One-timer, Kostitsyn from Weber. Off a leg. And it’s out. Budaj stays on the bench. No, price is not in to replace him.
Two on one. Hagman. With Perry. Fakes. Keeps. Shoots. Neither Price nor Budaj are there to scoop it out.
Anaheim 4, Montreal 1
<expletive deleted>
Ninety seconds.
Score the first goal. Lose the game. Remind you of something? Say, the first two weeks of this sloggish season?
Emelin is on low. Takes one from Budaj from the hash. Good speed. Lead pass. Ducks have it.
Crowd cheers.
Bigger horn this time. One of those ship foghorns. Three times.
Ok, ok. We can hear it.
Gad.
Final Score
Anaheim 4
Montreal 1
HDS Stars: Bobby Ryan, Corey Perry, Teemu Selanne
RDS Stars: Jonas Hiller, Ryan Getzlaf, Andrei Kostitsyn
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