So, my reverse jinx attempt from the 10th turned out to be a vision of the future instead.

Sorry, Amor.

That's the way she rolls.

After a competitive first — maybe the only period like that in the series — as soon as Edler went down I knew it was only a matter of time. A half-fit Sami Salo (do we really not have a single defenceman in the system who could've stepped up?) left us with four blueliners with a B- average. Two mistakes killed us. You can pretty much rely on Bieksa to make one monumental blunder a game and the Hawks weren't disappointed. Demitra playing out of position on the point on the PP due to lack of bodies, I feel sorry for. It was almost certainly his last game as a Canuck — possibly in the NHL, given his wife's health problems — and he deserved to leave on a better note.

So on to next year. It's pretty clear where the deficiencies are, the only complicated issue hangs over the big guy in goal.

Encore une fois: allons-y les Habs!

C'est pas possible.
Mais c'est vrai.

Your lot aren't doing badly either, Helio.

Philly -- had forgotten that it had been 35 yrs. since the Broad Street Bullies short reign.

Montreal -- figured they had won a cup since 1992-1993, but no.

Chicago -- major bridesmaid - last cup win when 99.9% of goalies were maskless.

San Jose -- new kid on the block.


Gotta go for Chicago - big Tony Esposito fan.

Wow, what a game. Whoever wins game 7 down south had better watch out, the Habs mean business!!!

I'd be more behind the Habs if their fans weren't so colossally self-involved. Rioting after winning the 1/4 finals smack of a desperate plea for attention.

That said, I'm rooting for them. And would be 100% certain that they are the team of destiny this year were it not for the fact that Jacques Martin is the coach.

I just don't want the Flyers to win. Their fans will become even more insufferable.

What Gramsci said.

Although in defence of the residents of Montreal, I strongly believe that few if any of the muppets who were looting last night could have picked Jaroslav Halak, Steve Shutt or Yvan Cournoyer out of a lineup.

Hab Nation is better (and more accurately) represented by those poor schmucks who were killed by the landslide while watching Game 6 on their couch.

French seems to be working some magic, so allons-y les Flyers! I don't know what to do if there's a next round, though.

ursus arctos wrote:

Although in defence of the residents of Montreal, I strongly believe that few if any of the muppets who were looting last night could have picked Jaroslav Halak, Steve Shutt or Yvan Cournoyer out of a lineup.


Can't stand Les Habs, but Guy Lafleur was pure magic.

Antonio Gramsci wrote:
I'd be more behind the Habs if their fans weren't so colossally self-involved. Rioting after winning the 1/4 finals smack of a desperate plea for attention.

The idea of 50,000+ celebrating to draw attention from outside is a bit preposterous, AG, considering how detached Montreal is from the rest of Canada (or even the rest of the Province.) This is a fairly spontaneous outburst that's a manifestation of a passion for a professional franchise that is nearly unmatched in N. America. The Habs are pretty much the only thing that binds together one of the most culturally fragmented big cities in the world.

There is a sense of destiny about this team that's building up, the Habs can definitely win it all. The Flyers have momentum too but the Habs go into game 1 with two extra days of rest.

Not really NHL, but...
I'm watching the Memorial Cup on The NHL Network and notice that the coaches and the TV people are wearing poppies on their lapels. What's that about? I thought that was just in November. The Wheat Kings also had them on their throwback sweaters. They got pounded by Windsor.

I'm partial to Windsor because sometimes when I'm driving in Pennsylvania at night, I can pick up their radio broadcasts.

The Memorial Cup is auctioning off sweaters the proceeds of which are going to the Dominion Poppy Fund, which supports vets and their families. The jerseys the Wheat Kings and Spitfires wore were specifically to raise money for CFB Shilo which is close to Brandon. There's a long, though not always evident, military connection to the Memorial Cup, the name refers to Canadian troops killed in WW1, it was donated in their honour in 1919.


So, the 7th & 8th qualifiers playoff for the Eastern title — I wonder what odds you'd have got on that a month ago? Meanwhile 1 plays 2 in the West.

The wounds haven't yet fully healed, nevertheless, I don't think the Hawks have either the fortitude or the goal-tending to hold back San Jose. They're rusty through sitting around for a week or so though, so Chicago may pick up an early game or two.

Sharks in six.

As for the East? Fuck knows. Stick a pin in one. I'll take Philly, on the basis that any team with Chris Pronger on defence has a decided advantage at this time of year.

Flyers in six.

Thanks!

I've stopped watching the game now. Moncton is blowing past Calgary.

I hope you're wrong. Not about the poppies, but about the two series. I'd much rather see Chicago-Montreal.

In pro wrestling there are stars (the ones that people pay to see,) and the jobbers (the ones that lose to the people that pay to see.) However, there are the JTTSers, the Jobbers To The Stars. They beat all of the jobbers, but will always lose to the stars in the end. The Vancouver Canucks may be the greatest JTTSers of all time.

Anyone who congratulates Philly for that comeback may as well be cheering for a cockroach who escapes the sole of some Doc Martens, or a mosquito that gets through a mosquito net to spread the malaria virus.

FUCK PHILADELPHIA FUCK THE FLYERS I HATE BOSTON BUT I HATE YOUR SLIMEBAG SHITBAG CITY MORE YOU SCUMFUCKING MAGGOTS FUCK YOU FUCK YOU GOD BLESS THE YANKEES FOR WINNING YOU LOWLIFE LOSERS GO HABS GO HABS GO HABS GO HABS GO HAWKS GO SHARKS GO HABS GO HABS GO HABS GO HAWKS GO SHARKS.

Thank you. As you were.

Wow. Spectacular comeback! Calgary wins 5-4!

The Vancouver Canucks may be the greatest JTTSers of all time.

Which would make the Blackhawks stars..? Gimme a break!

No JV, we've got/had the stars but it's the jobbers we lack. Steel, spine, leadership all the qualities you can't buy out of a catalogue. We don't have them now, and have hardly ever had them since 1969. It was our "star" goalie who when asked last week — after losing to the same team, in the same round of the play-offs, on the same day as last year — what signs of improvement he could detect sarcastically replied "Well I only let in five goals this time." That's not a captain's comment.

This club has only had two proper captains and each of them led us to a Stanley Cup final. Both were our draft picks, and their teams grew in self-belief around them. That can't be bought in, Messier couldn't do it, Naslund couldn't do it, and Luongo won't do it. This club sucks because there haven't been enough players like Smyl and Linden. And that's because our scouting system was fucked on day one — Dale Tallon instead of Gilbert Perrault...veeeerrrry smart — and, year by year, it's generally been worse rather than better than that. Right now there's a kernel of pure home-grown quality on the team for the first time since the early 90s — the Sedins of, course, but I'm thinking younger: Kesler, Burrows and Edler. There's maybe a couple more in Winnipeg whose time is coming. Perhaps the spirit of 94 and 83 will rise again soon, but it won't if we try and rent it.