Montreal Canadiens vs. Winnipeg Jets
January 5, 2012, 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 (14-18-7) host Winnipeg Jets (19-14-5)
Wednesday, January 4th, 2011
Game Forty (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 23 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)
Marc Joannette and Marc Vinnerborg are the refs. Vinnerborg is the first European NHL ref. He’s from Sweden.
First Period
Jets win the draw.
Long pass for a turnover, immediately.
The dump-in. Can’t anyone carry anymore.
Moen does. Right side. One weak shot. A weak shot of the rebound. Both turned away.
Jet defenceman Ron Hainsey (a former Hab) has it and the Canadiens retreat to change units.
Winnipeg ice. They, too, reset.
Long pass. Hainsey. Another turnover.
Tomas Kaberle carries it out.
Houde’s voice is drowned by the crowd sounds. Reseau hasn’t adjusted yet.
As Pavelec traps one, they make the audio change.
Moen’s high wrister was a look-away shot and off the left shoulder.
Testing him high.
Louis Leblanc is not in the lineup tonight. Healthy scratch.
Two minutes gone.
Some controversy on the leaving aside of the former 18th overall pick, still a very young player who hasn’t completed a full NHL season. Coaches’ decision. I’m sure there’s not much more to it than that. Players are scratched and expected to learn from these experiences. Leblanc is likely in a suit and up in an exalted seat somewhere in this rink.
Ok, arena.
Ok, cathedral.
Puck is trapped on the boards. Jets’ Slater doesn’t like something. Pacioretty is there. Stick shoves.
Desharnais stands up for his teammate and takes a crosscheck, himself.
Slater. Thug.
To the net.
Stapleton. Pots a rebound.
Long puck off the end bards. Price had trouble with the backhand. Kane. Then the puck floated to Stapleton’s stick. An easy bang home.
Winnipeg 1, Montréal 0
Eller is over the line. Hot pass for Kostitsyn.
Around the net. Eller sends it to the crease. Kostitsyn nearly scores. Puck is in the net but it’s after the whistle.
Moen shoved a defender and a goalie over to jam it in.
Cunneyworth is emoting and gazing upwards to the side.
Stoppage.
Faceoff to the right of Pavelec.
Quick shot of the overly assured Claude Noel, Winnipeg’s head coach.
Nokelainen wins the draw.
Wrister from the high circle. No.
Pace slows as the Jets become more guarded. Shorter passes and finally a real carry-in. Kyle Wellwood has it. Why is he allowed to wear Selanne’s number?
Out and then in.
Jets’ defenceman Zack Bogosian gloves one high on the Montreal blue and then shoots quickly from the right point as the swarm tickles his beard. Price traps it. Holds it for the draw.
Desharnais wins it but the support isn’t there. Long blue line shot.
Blocked.
Pacioretty bats one into the zone from centre ice.
Desharnais takes on one and then another Jet and nearly snares the puck in the deep corner.
Montreal reenters. Desharnais, again. Brakes. Seventies vignette. His improbable stops and starts make wheeling derby trash of defencemen.
Thirteen gone.
Lines have changed after the failed segment. Again, nobody knows how to get open for Desharnais.
Someone who knows how to find spaces, is active in doing so and is hard to find is the ideal winger for him. That rules out Pacioretty. Pacioretty could be a finishing winger, though. The two have played together in the AHL and know each others’ game.
But that doesn’t mean they are suited for one another. And Cole is the best finishing winger for Desharnais, regardless.
Emelin doesn’t pick players or situations. He’s robust, regardless (or irregardless if you’re looking for a change of pace). This time, he’s up against the monstrous but placid Nik Antropov. Corner work sees the puck escape both and a stoppage occurs shortly.
Faceoff deep right, three Jets in the slot. Pavelec is well out of his net. Aggressive, exciting goalie.
Ten and a half.
Darche water-buffaloes his way across the blue, covered and wrists a weak one. Pavelec smothers it for the draw.
Cammalleri nearly ticks a puck off a careless Wheeler’s stick. Puck and players flow out and the Jets retain for twelve seconds.
Finally Campoli and Cammalleri combine. Cammalleri is in on the right. Plekanec is shoulder to shoulder with him as the two cruise behind the net following the slow-moving puck.
Jets clear.
Faceoff, deep right.
Subban gets to an own-zone puck ahead of Ladd and leaves it for Gill.
Two flies to the paper and Kostitsyn’s shot is blunted. Rebound can’t be had.
Desharnais seems folded against his will for a moment after the play. The game isn’t bending.
Gorges and Subban combine to launch the Canadiens. But a backhand pass is intercepted and cleared back in. A smiling Wheeler is shown. He takes his stop on the right wing against Pacioretty. Draw is lost. Jets send it in. Another gift.
Cole. Right side. Reaching, shouldering, the puck waiting to be commanded. And Desharnais takes it. To the blue.
Shot. In the net.
Gorges.
Denis compliments the diminutive centre’s patience. Cole and Pacioretty were waiting, one in the low slot and the other near the post to Pavelec’ left.
Montreal 1, Winnipeg 1
Net-cam shows the puck blow by Pavelec past his right elbow. Deflection is unclear here.
Six and a half.
Montreal ice.
Jets are in right away.
One strength, perhaps the only one, of the crony set is that they understand hockey’s emotional game.
Eller scores.
The horn sounds different. Higher pitched.
Puck rounded the Jet net and a turnover at the blue, giveaway by Wellwood, with Emelin stripping left Eller in the slot for a freebie shot. Wrister.
Montréal 2, Winnipeg 1
Stoppage. Eller is back on the bench. Mouth open and that same nearly sullen bubble-gum expression. He gets a congratulatory pat on the back from a coach.
Coaching choices. I was thinking … what about Roy as head coach and Carbonneau as one of the assistants? Let Roy choose the other one, as well.
Larry Carriere is interviewed. He has an Anglo accent. <insert exclamation point>
I mean, wow.
He looks French.
Now what’s that supposed to mean, citizen?
Faceoff outside the Montreal blue.
Price handles it briefly.
Emelin takes the man and nearly generates a turnover. But good balance sees the Jets retain.
Five oh two.
Subban around the net.
Crowd loses it. He’s accelerating past it all. And someone enters offside. Houde chuckles at the crowd reaction. Adds that it creates a challenge for the forwards. Will he pass? Will he dump? Will he attack?
Cammalleri with a shot. Not enough blade. Squirts out. Another one. Misses the puck entirely. The uncle shot on the low circle.
Out and then in quickly.
Moen. Waits. Doesn’t want to touch it and cause the offside whistle. Jet whack. Stays in off the corner boards.
More perimeter work. Up and down the left side. Montreal’s left.
Kane. To Wheeler.
Wheeler has a free shot. AT the post. And how did that not go in.
Now two struggle low against two. But Wheeler inexplicably backs off and the resulting two to one set-up allows Montreal to exit.
Another missed goal. How?
Emelin.
Ladd hit Emelin in the face in reaction. Houde says that Ladd was frustrated and punched the defenceman in response. Emelin turned Ladd away from the hydrant using strength and leverage. Ladd didn’t like it.
What a childish, surly play. And Ladd, the captain (insert guffaw) is called. How the average Canadian player has the character to be captain is beyond me. The exceptions are rarer than you’d believe. They’re taught hog hockey in junior (and lower). And it shows.
Yzerman. Sakic. Gainey. Some exceptions that come to mind.
No hubris. All character.
Montreal power-play.
Habs first minute is defended well by a now desperate Winnipeg team.
The problem for teams that run on emotion is their susceptibility to events, to outcomes and to the scoreboard. Systems players that bow to discipline don’t waver from minute to minute and period to period.
Habs fail to score nor generate a threatening shot. Siren goes.
Montreal led on shots 12-7.
First Intermission
Montreal 2, Winnipeg 1
Team is playing as a team. The crisis is over. This is the third such game. Ignore the scoreboard.
Lanny MacDonald comes to mind. With so many know-it-all lunkheads in Canadian minor hockey, all with the wrong ideas of what it takes and what makes a team and player, no wonder so few emerge with good shoulders. The ones that do are exceptions or played in the QMJHL, which emphasizes character much more than the other Canadian amateur systems.
Go to a few coaches’ conferences sometime. But if you can’t, just watch the players and note where they played.
Subban is called out for his attitude. Denis Gauthier says that the team can’t adjust to Subban. Subban must adjust to the team. Brunet says that Subban was asked to sit after a turnover and didn’t want to, initially. Campoli replaced him. That’s something Martin didn’t do. It’s needed and the corrective measures will mean a better Subban down the road. Lots to learn.
Second Period
Montreal 2, Atlanta 1
Thrashers win the draw and have to hesitate as Kostitsyn stepped into the passing lane.
And another deep pass and turnover by Atlanta. I don’t think Claude Noel is a technician. I watched fourteen or so of his interviews last week and was a bit appalled. He’s someone’s friend. He’s in over his head at the pro level.
Lots of those guys in the league, yet.
It’s not 1978 anymore but one can still hear the echo. Live on Versus any NHL Centre Ice night. Just float around. You’ll find em.
Two minutes gone.
Blunden takes one away and saucers one to Nokelainen on the left. Mild entry. Nokelainen has not been very impressive of late and one might say throughout his stay here. But I’m no defensive guru. He does lead the team in faceoffs with a 54.5 rate.
I’d like to see more takeaways generated. Nokelainen is credited with two. Eller leads the team with 22. Sure Nokelainen logs less minutes and the stat itself is a subjective one, changing from rink to rink depending on who’s designated to track the number. But. The games I’ve seen (all of them) don’t show enough. Yet.
Moen. Working, off-balance. Regains. Enters. Backhand pass. To Kaberle. Slapshot. Glove side goal.
Montreal 3, Winnipeg 1
Kaberle’s first goal since March 2011. A goal he scored against Montréal, chuckles Houde.
Fourteen left in the period.
Cole up for Pacioretty. Backhand. Beaten goalie? Puck bounces back and appeared to have hit the crossbar.
Another Montreal rush. Jets are slowing down.
Jets are sluggish. They didn’t play last night, their last game on the 31st.
The “we gotta hustle more” mantra can only do so much. Particularly at this level.
Lines change. Jets cause snow to rise and a man to fall. The puck is under Price and his carrot nose is still in place.
Stoppage.
Subban is back on a regular shift.
Cole with one arm around the net. Keeps to the high hash and nobody challenges him. Long backhander that finds Desharnais.
Subban advances to keep one in.
It’s back to him and he makes the decision to carry past two teammates, parallel to the blue and turns it over.
Oh, Pernell.
Ten and fifteen.
Stuart gives one away. Cole. Shoots. Stopped. Low column.
Cole shakes his head and says something. Broods inwardly and shakes his head again. Goal-scorer’s fume.
Such a marked lack of intensity from the Jet team. Tanner Glass fails to tap down a pass and then just jogs to the Montreal zone.
Montreal must press here.
Eller across the blue. Brakes. Two with him and two back. And the shot goes up and out of play.
Kane talks over positioning prior to the drop. Hubrid hockey tends to see reinforcement rather than reflection. Nobody is screwing up. It’s always something outside the mirror’s boundaries.
Yeah, hubrid.
Break wills. That’s all that’s needed from Montréal. Let them know that we’ll block it again.
“… And if he comes down a fifth time, we’ll block that one, too. You’re not going to be able to do that. You’ll just have to find another way.”
Bill Russell. He worked hard to send an early message every game.
Under eight.
Hainsey with a dump-in. And another turnover.
Dump and chase.
Have a laugh.
Teams that read from the Flyer textbook, that old orange bully-book are going to fail against Montréal. Smaller doesn’t mean fewer puck battles won.
Speed. Desire and stickhandling. Awareness, too. Not size.
Slater slashed Pacioretty. Pacioretty has the glove off and is checking his hand and is in pain.
Slater whacked down on Pacioretty’s glove. Unapologetic expression in the box. Pacioretty is quite irritated. Glove still off, one hand on his left hip, he sits on his bench and glares up at scoreclock, studying the replay.
Montréal man-advantage.
Six minutes.
First segment is fluttered.
Second segment sees Burmistrov enter with a teammate but the two defenders are there and two forwards behind. Turnover.
Montréal enters. Desharnais tries Cole in the slot and the shot fails. Looked like he didn’t get all of it.
Subban makes another ill-advised play. I think he’s advising himself.
Puck stays in.
Now Subban with flair. Keeps a puck alive.
Pacioretty shoots from the high slot. Wide.
Penalty comes to an end. But a long shot, sweeper goes just wide.
Kostitsyn floats back, wheedles and leans and then drops it to the defenceman.
Puck is lost on the deep boards. Enstrom noodles through two forwards, including Moen and the Jets set up.
Gorges is behind his net. Plants his man. Goes a bit far. Delayed call.
Six seconds later Emelin touches it to stop play.
Jets power-play.
Wellwood, still wearing thirteen is on the left hash.
Plekanec. Somehow gets free. One man. Angle ……. no. So he swerves. Plekanec is through on the right. And he races and one-hands it. And the unexpected shot nearly works. Nearly crosses the line. Faceoff to Pavelec’s left. Low and compact, he leans forward on the corner of his crease. His legs are two quick doors.
Jets struggle to set up. Absence of Byfuglien is hurting the … Thrashers. Their star is out tonight.
Still can’t set up. Now a Winnipeg offside.
Claude Noel stands on the bench with nary an answer. Hands in pocket, suit jacket fully unbuttoned, his huge mint green tie adds to the comedic image.
Draw. To the blue. Shot. In the net.
From the centre of the blue. Clear lane.
Deflected high in the low slot. Wheeler’s stick. Bogosian’s shot.
Montreal 3, Winnipeg 2
Ninety seconds in the period.
Kostitsyn to the net. Pass finds him. Shot, immediate. Just a whack-at-her. And nearly drills through.
And it’s out.
Price is knocked down.
Penalty?
Diaz is called.
Antropov was pushed into the goalie.
Test of character, says Houde. You bet, responds Denis. Here we go again. Another lead and another test.
Jets power-play.
Kane to the net, free. Through two. And Price is juddered off-balance. Puck stays out.
Kane’s game has matured. More focused on the arrows and pathways, he’s at his best when he’s pushing the fence-posts and leaning hard against the beams. Work and wonder.
A big shot goes off the back boards.
And the period ends.
Thrashers led on shots 9-5.
Second Intermission
Montreal 3, Winnipeg 2
Hot dogs.
Third Period
Montreal 3, Winnipeg 2
Canadiens kill the remainder of the penalty with Gill nearly leading a two-on-one short-handed rush. Yes. You read that right. He decides to leave off at the last moment and returns to the bench.
Price nearly gives one away behind his net but stands and slaps it forwards despite a man in his grill.
Eller logged good time on the PK as well.
He takes and wins the draw to Price’s left.
Kostitsyn to Moen. Moen to the post and at the last moment a pass to Eller in the crease. Whack-in, no goalie.
Montreal 4, Winnipeg 2
Confidence remains a fragile thing.
Another goal. Next shift.
Blown coverage by Jim Slater. And the rest of the team folds in front of Pavelec. Easy goal.
Winnipeg. What an awful team.
Montreal 5, Winnipeg 2
Poor Ondrej Pavelec.
Another goal.
Hat trick. Eller.
He’s embarrassed. Self-conscious. Whacks it in from Kostitsyn. Side of the net. Hats fall to the ice.
And keep falling. The astronauts are out and Price helps by sweeping some of these into a pile.
Very nice play by Kostitsyn, says Houde.
Montreal 6, Winnipeg 2
We’ll take it.
Plekanec is happy for Eller. He likes him. Who doesn’t?
Halak.
Eller.
The trade. And a throw-in.
Three and a half gone.
Ole, ole chant begins.
There will be no punches to the face, no fluke goals and no rollicking, jingoistic crowd tonight. Jets will try for a few minutes and then fold in.
As for Montreal, this team has always been pointed to the horizon.
Cammalleri may be even more motivated than in recent games. Match Eller.
Cole. Cammalleri, Emelin. Pressure.
Cole keeping. Jets watching. Finally a pass bounces off a Jet stick and then it’s sent into the corner. Lofted. Icing.
The wave. The wave? Been a while, says Houde. The crowd is roiling relief.
Montreal continues the pressure. Jets are out of sync and out of sorts.
Little keeps the fuselage clear. Chases a man close and then nearly strips the puck. Stoppage. Eller takes to the bench.
I believe the record is six in one game. Isn’t it. Your buddy Sittler.
Just sayin’.
Cole receives a long passes between two defenders and falls to his knees, playing the puck all the while. It’s lost.
Action slows. Lobber and Pavelec gloves it.
Mason is inserted. Denis says that Noel is very respectful of his players. Sure. Players’ coach. Liked. And not much else.
Good baritone, too. I’m sure he’s swell.
I’m swell, too. But I don’t think you want me in the Montreal net. For any length of time.
Kostitsyn to Eller. A new hobby for the Belarusian? Bay-bro got three the other night. It was bound to happen. A Nashville hat trick. The third was an empty-netter.
Did you get that, Sergei.
Ba-bruh? Bay-Brow?
Plekanec from Emelin. Crosses the goal and the puck stays out after a failed backhand.
Off his skate and he couldn’t’ control it.
Pass was into his skates.
Emelin’s first such play with Montreal. It’ll come. That pass on entry and moving low. Doesn’t happen often and the product of increased confidence and knowledge of the system and teammates’ positions.
A little girl in a Santa hat is behind the glass behind Price’s net. She watches Price make a save and claps. But I don’t know if she understood what she saw. Very cute. She’s up late. She must be about two.
Nine and fifteen. Eller is back on.
Eller is found. To the net.
Penalty shot.
Hainsey was bear arms on him. Not too strong.
It’s Eller’s night, suggests the ref.
Brakes. Turns. YouTube.
And they love it. And we love it. And I love it.
He’s smiling but he keeps it under control. What a guy. Truly grounded young man.
Montreal 7, Winnipeg 2
Eller fell backwards over Mason, the goalie an embarrassed, rumpled white log.
Eight minutes.
More Ole, Ole.
I believe Brian Savage had the last four-goal game for Montreal.
Darche. Takes a pass. Big wind-up. Easy save.
Mason is from Red Deer and is 35 years old. He’s seen a lot.
Jets score.
A Jet fan stands and nods vigorously looking upwards and behind him all the while. Baseball hat and a Jet jersey.
There’s no shutting up certain guys. Is there.
Sat down, Joe.
He’s the kind of guy who would celebrate a goal in this situation. A la Tiger.
Williams.
Those guys don’t win much. I guess that’s why they have to crow. Get in the end-zone? Act like you’ve been there before. So goes the old-school line.
It’s blurry nowadays.
Five and a half.
Price must be annoyed with the goal against.
He’s predictable. And I like that one.
Who knew? He’s one of the great ones. But it took his playing in the pros for the rest of us to find out.
Great junior performances don’t guarantee pro pedigree.
Cole with a shot.
And now another Montreal segment. Bulis, actually. He had four last.
Jan Bulis. He finished that season with less than 20 goals. Such a disappointment. I liked him. Calm sort.
Budweiser is wolverine urine. For sell-outs.
One can by all kinds of urine in Alberta. So I found on a trip to the farmers home depot in Edmonton last summer. Wolf urine. And others. In bottles. Marking territory? I forget.
Three and a half.
Jets show some life.
Kane, Fehr and Stapleton. The best Winnipeg line tonight.
Price makes a mild save off a faceoff segment.
Jets win the next one.
Long shot. Off the side o the net to Rice’s left.
Montreal is twelve points out of a playoff spot.
Now a Jet wants to go. Gill and Thorburn.
Gill is taking several punches. He’s very strong but not the best fighter says Houde.
Gill just keeps Thorburn off him.
They separate the two and Gill says a few things to Thorburn. Thorburn appears to accept the sentiments.
Strange. Did Gill rough up Thorburn?
Thorburn is not a small fellow in comparison with his usual NHL compatriot. Listed at six three and 230 pounds, the Sault Ste. Marie native is an imposing forward. Gill is six seven and 241 pounds. A bit lankier than I expected. If the numbers are right.
Cole is chatting with Kane. Kane gives him a friendly elbow through the discussion. Puck is dropped. Could have been anything. Could have been fishing. Do people even do that anymore?
Yeah, I’ll have two shots of espresso in that Americano. And the low-fat soy milk.
Low fat soy milk. Someone’s going to make fun of me.
I don’t think there’s any fat in soy. Is there.
Darche is hit by Stuart.
Doesn’t like it. Responds. Stuart is probably amused. Darche is probably not.
(I believe Ali is clowning)
Stuart should be out of hockey for all of that. Darche has a family.
Stuart is right in character. The kind of guy who yells at small Pilipino grocers.
Winnipeg penalty.
Plekanec, Cammalleri and Cole. What work from Cole. As if the playoffs are on the line. Falls and hooks a puck anyway. Keeps it in play. All after chasing it down like an angry whale.
Under forty.
Subban presses inward. Keeps. Around the net. Wasted gesture.
Stays in.
Cole and Kaberle share the puck. Plekanec behind the net.
To Cammalleri. Misses it. Subban keeps it in. One pass. One shot. Mild. Mason holds it.
Desharnais gives a glove-on to both Eller and Moen.
Habs win the draw. Shot. Off a leg.
Cunneyworth is happy.
So is the team.
Crowd stays for the stars.
Final Score
Montreal 7
Winnipeg 3
Get Stuart out of hockey.
And the rest.
HDS Stars: Lars Eller, Andrei Kostitsyn, Erik Cole
RDS Stars: Lars Eller, Andrei Kostitsyn, Erik Cole
Lars has four pucks to lob under-handed into the crowd instead of the usual three. He takes his time skating around the rink. Soaks it in. Stays in the centre. Does the double-arm rock and roll arm raise; demanding more noise. Crowd accedes. Keeps clapping for his fans, saluting them in this way. All with the smile of a prince. Lovely moment.
It’s his and ours.
<insert avuncular, relieved laughter>
Four.
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