Montreal Canadiens vs. Edmonton Oilers

March 11, 2010, by Homme De Sept-Iles

What a winner. Oh, did I spell that right?

Montreal Canadiens vs Tampa Bay Lightning

March 9, 2010, by Homme De Sept-Iles

Downie hacks Moen right in the mid-section. Replay shows how deliberate and iron-hawk it was. Man. Sticks are like email. They make people brave.

Montreal Canadiens vs Anaheim Ducks

March 8, 2010, by Homme De Sept-Iles

Carlyle is hiding his disappointment behind his ferocity.

Montreal Canadiens vs Los Angeles Kings

March 7, 2010, by Homme De Sept-Iles

We see a shot of the King bench and I don’t see a lot of silver glitter. The days of grainy gay and grey gretzky are done. It’s all matte and mute now. The uniforms look fat letter and thick font. They’re not bad but they’re not compelling.

Montreal Canadiens vs San Jose Sharks

March 5, 2010, by Homme De Sept-Iles

Heatley is in. Uses the screen. One-on-two. Leans left. Shoots. High. Glove. The glove. The Pricey, dicey, smiling red gant glove. We loves it.

Montreal Canadiens vs Boston Bruins

March 2, 2010, by Homme De Sept-Iles

Canadiens win the faceoff on the glistening ice. Boston’s logo at centre ice, as I’ve said often, is compelling and tonight it is nearly majestic. I’m glad to return to a traditional rivalry with the usual suspects on a Tuesday night when only those who care about and understand the teams involved are watching. More or less.

Montreal Canadiens vs Philadelphia Flyers

February 13, 2010, by Homme De Sept-Iles

Briere has a “my business here is done” look on his face as he settles onto the bench. It was done here a long time ago, bud. Now you’re just wasting everyone’s time. Must be nice. Four-gamer.

Montreal Canadiens vs Philadelphia Flyers

February 12, 2010, by Homme De Sept-Iles

Stick to Price’s mask as he lies on the ice. And the Flyers jam at it like witch-hunters. And it goes in. Hartnell’s pitchfork was sharpest.

Montreal Mystique Interviews Jean Béliveau

February 11, 2010, by Homme De Sept-Iles

Montreal Mystique Interviews Jean Béliveau (Dec 30, 2009). Béliveau may be the greatest captain the game has seen. He was offered the Governor Generalship of the country in the mid-nineties and remains an active Montreal Canadiens ambassador.

Montreal Canadiens vs Washington Capitals

February 11, 2010, by Homme De Sept-Iles

Demers talks about Neuvirth a bit. Then he references the NFL. He wants to know what the details are on injuries. Renaud Lavoie adds that in a serious league, we are told what is going on. Oh, get over it. In a league run by gambling interests, we are told what is going on. Be glad that this league, your NHL, doesn’t have the same type of transparency.

Montreal Canadiens vs Pittsburgh Penguins

February 6, 2010, by Homme De Sept-Iles

We get a brief shot of the Pittsburgh bench. The grey ash of the crowd is behind the players' winking white helmets. And a balding dude who resembles Rick Tocchet is behind the Penguin players. I wonder how bad it all smells. Hockey is one of the most unpleasant-smelling of the sports.

Montreal Canadiens vs Boston Bruins

February 4, 2010, by Homme De Sept-Iles

Bruins move it out. They are bent raster and dusty spider; confused offensive.

Montreal Canadiens versus Vancouver Canucks

February 2, 2010, by Homme De Sept-Iles

Canucks set it up. Pass goes to the slot. Sedin. For Sedin. I watch the back of the net. Old, haunted child reflex. It stays white. Whistle. Someone falls on Halak. Nothing else.

Montreal Canadiens versus Ottawa Senators

January 30, 2010, by Homme De Sept-Iles

More Olympics-flavoured commercials. The experiment is a grand disaster already and threatens to be one of the great white elephants in Canadian history. It will be a worse economic blunder than the 1976 Olympics in Montreal. Felicitations.

Montreal Canadiens versus Tampa Bay Lightning

January 27, 2010, by Homme De Sept-Iles

Not good enough. How do we know Cormier is a good kid? Just watch this kid, Cormier. Take a look at how he carries himself in the future. And look at the tape; see how he carried himself in the past. And then decide for yourself. Lots of guys don’t have track records. And yet they manage not to commit these kinds of attacks. Is Cormier as good as those kids? Mistakes don’t happen at random. They happen as part of a pattern of behaviour.

Montreal Canadiens versus Florida Panthers

January 26, 2010, by Homme De Sept-Iles

We hear that Panther snarl over the PA system. If we didn’t have audio recording technology, somebody might have to provoke a panther after every goal. Another plus for technology. I guess they could provoke an ocelot or a very big housecat. All you’d need then is a megaphone. Hmm.

Montreal Canadiens versus New York Rangers

January 23, 2010, by Homme De Sept-Iles

Bettman and the Governors should have to ref games. You know. Just like how state governors should be on the front lines in Iraq. Get going. Oh. And get back to work you others over there. You slum-rogues.

Montreal Canadiens versus New Jersey Devils

January 22, 2010, by Homme De Sept-Iles

Then we see the rapidly declining Subway franchise try and convince us they are still cool and relevant. No. Maybe the odd location but as an entity, you have entered the Roman phase of your fast-food history.

Montreal Canadiens versus St. Louis Blues

January 21, 2010, by Homme De Sept-Iles

Referee Bill McCreary has such an earnest, honest woodsman’s face. Healthy grizzly mustache to go with it. Or do you prefer moustache?

Montreal Canadiens versus Florida Panthers

January 7, 2010, by Homme De Sept-Iles

This guy in the Maple Leaf bacon commercial is a great actor. I can’t help but be creeped out by his “Mom, make me and my girlfriend some breakfast” shtick. This one isn’t dubbed and the French version features different actors and is more powerful than the English one. Because of this guy. Guys with curly hair have perceptual disadvantages (and advantages) that the rest of us don’t have.

Montreal Mystique Interviews Guy Carbonneau

November 30, 2009, by Homme De Sept-Iles

Montreal Mystique interviews former Canadiens captain, head coach, three-time Stanley Cup champion and three-time Frank Selke trophy-winner, Guy Carbonneau.

Montreal Mystique Interviews Sylvain Archambault

November 18, 2009, by Homme De Sept-Iles

Montreal Mystique interviews Sylvain Archambault, director of Pour Toujours...Les Canadiens.

Hey Jimmy, Billy, Bobby, Danny, Freddy, Davey, Tommy, Ralphie and Ricky! Are You A Real Hockey Fan?

November 16, 2009, by Homme De Sept-Iles

Do you drink a specific Labatt product and think any other beer is for sissies?

Why Do You Hate the Leafs So Much?

September 18, 2009, by Homme De Sept-Iles

In the meantime, hatred became a common elixir for me to deal with this new end-of-season elimination spectacle that saw the Canadiens go from common champion to chump commoner.

Montreal Mystique Interviews Jack Layton

August 25, 2009, by Homme De Sept-Iles

Montreal Mystique interviews Jack Layton. Downloadable podcast through iTunes.

Tej, Fix My Team

July 7, 2009, by Homme De Sept-Iles

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One Cup Juggernaut (Life Without Our Captain)

June 5, 2009, by Homme De Sept-Iles

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The Logo

April 13, 2009, by Homme De Sept-Iles

Bill Parcells once said (and I’m paraphrasing) “They’re not rooting for us, they’re rooting for the jersey.” Parcells who is a Jersey guy and who began his head-coaching career in the NFL in the early eighties with the New York Giants, knows about fan loyalty and its opposite.  No crowd is tougher than a New York [...]

Atlanta Musings, In-Game Scribbles

March 24, 2009, by Homme De Sept-Iles

Sergei is also back. And he's with his best linemate match this season. His older brother. Andrei is flying from the word go. There is nothing like playing with his younger brother for the reserved Belarusian.

Mais Tu N’es Pas un Vrai Québécois

February 14, 2009, by Homme De Sept-Iles

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