This writer needs to be honest. There was a time when I was fully prepared to watch every single game the Montreal Canadiens played and then report on it. Other reports on the Habs would come at a rate or one to two per week – maybe more – as needed. The reality, though, is that hockey has dropped in my estimation rather drastically.
The first issue was the year lost to the lockout. There was little to no respect given to the fans that ultimately drive the sport. I wonder how all these spoiled athletes would survive their three mortgages and five sports cars if the buildings were empty when they played? The whole affair left a sour taste in my mouth.
Additionally, covering the Canadiens is probably the most difficult thing you can do – in any sport anywhere. Why? Well, other than the fact that fans seem to think the Cup is their right, and ignoring that every fan knows best (yes, I know that’s true for all teams, but honestly, I’ve followed sports all my life, and Canadiens fans are the most informed… and by far the least informed of any out there), the biggest issue for me was the media.
How ridiculous does that sound when I was ostensibly covering the Canadiens.
In sport, though, Montreal is a fairly unique market: it’s bilingual. But it’s not just two languages covering the sport, it’s two political points of view and a segment of the population that doesn’t want to even be in Canada. It’s the litany of completely ignorant comments from both spheres, including my favourite: Saku Koivu is not French enough to be captain. Honestly, when you factor in the utter ignorance of people working in places like 110%, a French show covering les Habitants, with the disrespect of the French culture shown by many of the English speaking media, and being associated with the Canadiens is nothing more than a trial.
The tipping point for me, though, is the actual game itself. For a decade, enthusiasts have been treated to a butchering of the game through the trap and the associated failure of the system to call the game by its own rules. When they came back from their year-long break, the league was adamant that the game would be different; faster and more skilled with far less of that which was ruining the sport.
To my eyes, they’ve failed utterly. Clutch and grab has been lessened very slightly, at best, and as usual, whistles are pocketed late in games more often than not. Look at how the skilled players in the 80’s danced with the puck and made people look silly. Today, if anyone actually follows the rules, they’re benched by their own coach for not slowing down the opposition. The “fastest game on Earth” has been butchered.
Do I still follow the Canadiens and hockey in general? Of course. It’s like a smoking habit, you have to keep quitting over and over before you get it right. And I guess I’m hoping that before I quit entirely, they’ll find a way to fix what was once a fantastic game to watch. Maybe they’ll even make goalie equipment small enough so that you can tell it’s a person behind it all and not an ogre or sasquatch.
As a result of all this, I’m taking a new direction with this site and will look at the world of sport, rather than just focusing on hockey. I hope you’ll join me in looking around the world at the games that we play. From the ice to the fields, to courts and other venues, I aim to have a lot of fun and I hope you do to.
Friday, September 5, 2008
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Over Priced
There was nothing near the excitement in the Bell Centre on this night, nor was there anything approximating the quality from the home side. From a porous duo in front of the cage to a disappointing defense to the less than stellar group attacking the opposing goal, this was not the greatest night for Montreal fans. However, as always, blanket statements are never accurate, and there were some decent performances tonight.
Impressing the most:
Smolinski: He was billed as a good two-way guy who could put the puck in the net and that's exactly how he played. Controlled and intelligent, he's the kind of guy every team likes to have.
Begin: After a poor campaign last season the Habs sparkplug was looking to rebound and fire up the team once again and with a few really solid hits and typically good play all around, he looked ready to start the season.
Lapierre: Something I wasn't expecting, quite honestly. He has a great work ethic, and of that there's no doubt, but tonight he looked to add a little more offensive flair and I found him going to the net more often than he did last season. Good on him - particularly since he maintained a good defensive posture.
O'Byrne: Yes, Habs fans, he looks just about ready. As the game wore on he was more and more comfortable on and off the puck and his positioning was very good. At times he even looked more poised than Hamrlik, he who is supposed to be tutoring the youngster. Quite an impressive skater for a guy his size and lo and behold he's not just a defensive defender, he made a couple of very good rushes!
Wouldn't be tossed out for eating crackers on the ice:
Koivu: He also wins the award for "Now You See Me Now You Don't." His shorthanded goal was quite delicious in that he won the puck, scored the goal, then nicely evaded Orpik's attempt to put him in the hospital. The cherry on top? Orpik cleaned out Sykora with the best hit of the night.
D'Agostini: While he wasn't special, he put in an agreeable performance. Will have to step it up considerably, though, to be wearing la tricolore on opening night.
Hamrlik: He was anything but spectacular and at times you could tell he was the new guy getting used to a new system, however he was, for the most part, steady and quietly effective. Perhaps not $22M effective, but it was his curtain raising; we'll give it time.
Bouillon: A few unforced errors marred what was a fairly good night. Then again, with the competition on the blueline, fairly good might not cut it.
Urquhart: He's come a long, long way from his banishment in the ECHL. Another Ryder in the making, perhaps? He's good on his skates and was not bad at all both on and off the puck. He's not making the team out of camp, but with continued improvement he could actually warrant a callup this season.
Beauregard: If you were like me you looked at him on the ice and you said... "Who?" This kid, however, has a lot of potential based on what he displayed tonight. I quite liked his enthusiasm and obvious offensive abilities.
I smell a rat:
Cote: There are many who feel he should be the guy with the Habs this year and that he should have been there last year over Dandy or Bouillon. I don't know what those people are thinking. Yes, he looks for the big hit and yes he can handle himself against the big guys. On the other hand, he was about four steps behind and made more than a few mental errors. I'm not sure this guy is really an NHL-calibre kid.
Manlow: Pretty much invisible tonight - not that he had an abundance of playing time.
Rivers: For a guy who's played in the NHL for years you just have to wonder. What were those other team's thinking? A good depth guy I suppose, but he's just aged AHL fodder as I see it.
White: While I wouldn't call him horribly disappointing as some of these others were, I was still somewhat disappointed that he didn't bring a little more. He'll probably be in amongst the first cut.
Lemieux: I think the announcers called his name twice which shows how much he was involved in the action. That pretty much sums up his night.
Ryder: This guy should be taking things into his own hands and instead he lays the royal egg tonight. The official scorers generously gave him two hits, but he was pretty much a non-entity. Unacceptable.
Latendresse: Other than the classless hit from behind on Whitney, ostensibly as revenge for the hit Orpik used to level the Hab, 'Tender was, with Ryder, a virtual no-show. I don't think he can play himself off the team, but he still has to work far harder to achieve success at the NHL level.
Halak: Once he started playing the game he looked pretty good. Sadly he didn't show up until the game was already about 10 minutes old. Scattered and flopping, this was the worst I've seen Halak since his first Montreal appearance.
Price: Yes, none of the goals were really his fault and yes, he did make a few pretty good saves. However he looked small in the net, this 6'2 goalie. He was also deep in his crease far too often and please someone PLEASE tell him never to handle the puck again. Shades of Theo... 65-70 games in the AHL should settle him down this season. (I know it's early to say that, but if you consider the first appearances of Huet and Price this season.......)
Please remove the dead fish:
Dandenault: Do you think he got the memo that there's serious competition on the blueline in Montreal? Didn't look like it. Looked more like he was interested in a game of shinney. Either that or he was more interested in playing for Pittsburgh.
~~
Let's see what the rest of the fun games offer, but at this point I see Chipper on the fast track to Montreal up front and Carle and O'Byrne looking to be serious challengers at the back. Halak will probably look more relaxed next time out since it's probably a decent bet that Price gets the Hamilton assignment.
Then again, as everyone knows, anything can happen in the preseason. See you after game one of 82.
- A Concerned Fan.
Impressing the most:
Smolinski: He was billed as a good two-way guy who could put the puck in the net and that's exactly how he played. Controlled and intelligent, he's the kind of guy every team likes to have.
Begin: After a poor campaign last season the Habs sparkplug was looking to rebound and fire up the team once again and with a few really solid hits and typically good play all around, he looked ready to start the season.
Lapierre: Something I wasn't expecting, quite honestly. He has a great work ethic, and of that there's no doubt, but tonight he looked to add a little more offensive flair and I found him going to the net more often than he did last season. Good on him - particularly since he maintained a good defensive posture.
O'Byrne: Yes, Habs fans, he looks just about ready. As the game wore on he was more and more comfortable on and off the puck and his positioning was very good. At times he even looked more poised than Hamrlik, he who is supposed to be tutoring the youngster. Quite an impressive skater for a guy his size and lo and behold he's not just a defensive defender, he made a couple of very good rushes!
Wouldn't be tossed out for eating crackers on the ice:
Koivu: He also wins the award for "Now You See Me Now You Don't." His shorthanded goal was quite delicious in that he won the puck, scored the goal, then nicely evaded Orpik's attempt to put him in the hospital. The cherry on top? Orpik cleaned out Sykora with the best hit of the night.
D'Agostini: While he wasn't special, he put in an agreeable performance. Will have to step it up considerably, though, to be wearing la tricolore on opening night.
Hamrlik: He was anything but spectacular and at times you could tell he was the new guy getting used to a new system, however he was, for the most part, steady and quietly effective. Perhaps not $22M effective, but it was his curtain raising; we'll give it time.
Bouillon: A few unforced errors marred what was a fairly good night. Then again, with the competition on the blueline, fairly good might not cut it.
Urquhart: He's come a long, long way from his banishment in the ECHL. Another Ryder in the making, perhaps? He's good on his skates and was not bad at all both on and off the puck. He's not making the team out of camp, but with continued improvement he could actually warrant a callup this season.
Beauregard: If you were like me you looked at him on the ice and you said... "Who?" This kid, however, has a lot of potential based on what he displayed tonight. I quite liked his enthusiasm and obvious offensive abilities.
I smell a rat:
Cote: There are many who feel he should be the guy with the Habs this year and that he should have been there last year over Dandy or Bouillon. I don't know what those people are thinking. Yes, he looks for the big hit and yes he can handle himself against the big guys. On the other hand, he was about four steps behind and made more than a few mental errors. I'm not sure this guy is really an NHL-calibre kid.
Manlow: Pretty much invisible tonight - not that he had an abundance of playing time.
Rivers: For a guy who's played in the NHL for years you just have to wonder. What were those other team's thinking? A good depth guy I suppose, but he's just aged AHL fodder as I see it.
White: While I wouldn't call him horribly disappointing as some of these others were, I was still somewhat disappointed that he didn't bring a little more. He'll probably be in amongst the first cut.
Lemieux: I think the announcers called his name twice which shows how much he was involved in the action. That pretty much sums up his night.
Ryder: This guy should be taking things into his own hands and instead he lays the royal egg tonight. The official scorers generously gave him two hits, but he was pretty much a non-entity. Unacceptable.
Latendresse: Other than the classless hit from behind on Whitney, ostensibly as revenge for the hit Orpik used to level the Hab, 'Tender was, with Ryder, a virtual no-show. I don't think he can play himself off the team, but he still has to work far harder to achieve success at the NHL level.
Halak: Once he started playing the game he looked pretty good. Sadly he didn't show up until the game was already about 10 minutes old. Scattered and flopping, this was the worst I've seen Halak since his first Montreal appearance.
Price: Yes, none of the goals were really his fault and yes, he did make a few pretty good saves. However he looked small in the net, this 6'2 goalie. He was also deep in his crease far too often and please someone PLEASE tell him never to handle the puck again. Shades of Theo... 65-70 games in the AHL should settle him down this season. (I know it's early to say that, but if you consider the first appearances of Huet and Price this season.......)
Please remove the dead fish:
Dandenault: Do you think he got the memo that there's serious competition on the blueline in Montreal? Didn't look like it. Looked more like he was interested in a game of shinney. Either that or he was more interested in playing for Pittsburgh.
~~
Let's see what the rest of the fun games offer, but at this point I see Chipper on the fast track to Montreal up front and Carle and O'Byrne looking to be serious challengers at the back. Halak will probably look more relaxed next time out since it's probably a decent bet that Price gets the Hamilton assignment.
Then again, as everyone knows, anything can happen in the preseason. See you after game one of 82.
- A Concerned Fan.
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