The Chicoutimi Cucumber

Several people are expressing unease as game time approaches. I think it's because the odds are - as usual - against us, due to the combination of injuries + back-to-back games. I expect the Prunes to enjoy some stretches of domination tonight. Price will need to be huge. If he is, we have a great chance to win.

Random observations: I haven't seen Gomez skate with that kind of eye-goggling speed in a while. When he is in full flight he is one of the most spectacular players in hockey. Now if only he'd do that every night...but I'll settle for his doing it again in Game 7. All those saying the Habs were outplayed and got lucky overlook the legitimate goal that was stolen by the refs, and the fact that the Bruins had ALL the breaks over the last few games. We were due for something to break our way. I don't like the lack of a day off. It hurts us more than the Bruins, since we're the more banged-up club. A day off might have made a difference for Wisniewski. Oh well. This ain't a club that seeks excuses. Mike Cammalleri is one of the great playoff performers of his generation. Brilliant signing by Bob. Brian Gionta may not be the most talented guy on the planet, but he is full value for the 'C' on that jersey. His play has incarnated the best of the Habs's tradition. Which is really saying something. Finally: let's call a spade a shovel. The Bruins are a great opponent. Look at the way they tied it up in the first two minutes of the second period. They did EXACTLY what they needed to do, and they've been doing that most of the series. This series has been awesome, and it's because you have two strong teams bringing out the best from each other. On the eve of Game 7, I tip my hat to them. NOW LET'S GO GET THE WIN AND LEAVE THOSE F*CKERS CRYING!

Well said. The blogosphere and even local broadcasters who naturally have a huge homer bias are one thing; but on some level I can't seem to get over the spectacle of well-paid professional commentators on national broadcast networks acting like buffoonish fanboys of specific teams. OK, so Cherry is Cherry. I can accept that. But for the rest of them to allow their fan bias to contaminate their analysis is an insult to the viewer. You're being paid precisely NOT to be a mindless fan automatically parroting received wisdom, disliking the Habs, overtly pulling for the Leafs, etc.. In the case of this Bruins love from CBC, it's even more pathological, given how hard HNIC has pushed the 'rah rah Canada, go Canadian teams!' agenda over the last 20 years. Apparently Montreal is not in Canada. And these guys make six figure incomes and are hailed as 'experts.' Pathetic.

I wouldn't mind at all except that Pacthes felt the need to apologize for the remark. That's what I find completely daft. It WAS a harmless and funny little tweet. And yet he feels compelled to say sorry. Ridiculous.

100%. The prospect of MaxPac returning this year is BAD news if you ask me. For God's sake, learn from Marc Savard and let him heal.

Can somebody please explain this to me: http://www.montrealgazette.com/sports/Pacioretty+timed+Tweet+causes+uproar+cyberspace/4668608/story.html THIS constitutes some horrible offensive act in today's NHL? An inocuous bit of harmless teasing about a guy's big nose? More to the point: did Chara ever apologize publicly for attempted murder? Did Ferrence apologize for flipping the bird to habs' fans? Oh, right, those guys were just being rough and tumble gritty guys. I'm not the paranoid type, but I swear there is some sort of double standard against the Habs when it comes to player behaviour. Other teams' players are allowed to be irritants, have some charisma and character, etc.. When the Habs do it, ooooo, it's scandalous I tells ya. If PK and Patches were Leafs, they'd be national heroes. That tells you all you need to know about the perversely biased culture surrounding hockey and media.

What Pittsburgh has done is truly remarkable. If Byslma doesn't win coach of the year, then something is gravely askew. Nevertheless I will still complain about injuries. It's three years running we've been ravaged and I see no sense in denying that it sucks. Having said that, I'm not advocating a pity party. The Habs need to - and will - suck it up and play their hearts out no matter what.

The smart money favours Boston to win the series even if it were an even split, if only because of the injury situation. Wiz is hurt. DD is hurt. The former, especially, is extremely bad news for us, given his integral role on our blueline. Then there's the issue of Gill's insane overuse - he's excelled, but he can't keep this up, can he?? - and Hammer and Spatches, both of whom have looked pretty gassed the last few games. The Brutes, meanwhile, appear to be what Red Fisher always referred to as 'disgustingly healthy,' notwithstanding Savard. The psychology of the last two losses is harder to figure. Yes, it could be tough to overcome. Or it could be as BrenDittero says - the Habs just need the breaks to start bending their way and they'll be full steam ahead. It's the aforementioned physical issues that worry me the most. Having said all that, yes, the series is still close and anyone expecting the Habs to just roll over doesn't have a very good read on this hockey club. A lot of the pessimism is founded on the dismal first two periods from last night, overlooking that the Habs arguably had the better of the play after that.

Now both Wiz and DD are 'questionable' for tomorrow night according to CBC The madness continues

Oh, all right, I'm just griping. The point is, our propensity for injuries this season sucks.

Of course it does. Habs player gets hot, Habs player gets hurt. It's like an iron law of the 2010-11 season.

You know, that idiot Michel Bergeron remarked between the first and second OT that this was a game neither team deserved to lose. He was right. That we lost came down to breaks and bounces (including the injury to DD, so typical of this season to have a hot hand go down), NOT to the intrinsic superiority of the Bruins. Just as I said going into this series, the Bruins had to be rated marginal favourites, but we would be fully value, win or lose. We should be proud of our boys for getting stronger as the game progressed and for ultimately giving us one hell of a hockey game. As disappointing as the outcome was, I can't summon any rancour toward the team for an all-around gutsy performance, nor can I begrudge the Bruins the win. They were great too. This was an honourable victory and an honourable defeat on both sides. Where does this leave us? Well, I remember (I think it was) the 1990 Habs losing two straight games in OT in Beantown and going on to lose the series. That was a team with superb leaders like Carbo, Roy and Skrudland. My point is that the Habs have suffered two consecutive heartbreakers - games that, with a different bounce or two, they would have won - and that it's very hard for teams to recover from that. So I say Boston wins Game 6. As for what we do going forward, that's a thread for another day. But I'm with those who thinks this team is close to being really good. And I will point out that it seems slightly odd to talk about not re-signing Gill when the guy played something like 40 superb minutes last night. And Eller was phenomenal last night. Hitting everything that moved and being continuously effective on offence. I think the Habs will probably hold on to Gomez for one more year mainly to protect Eller and allow him to continue to grow. We are seeing the future of our #2 C position develop before our eyes.

Maybe there's something to the idea of putting him on the wing? On another note, Spatches and Hammer look gassed. But they're hanging in. Can't believe how great this game has gotten

Price is a beast. Desharnais - what a warrior. However, Gomez is a real key in this game. Every time he gets the puck things stabilize and the Habs get something going. Wiz's return is huge. HELL OF A HOCKEY GAME Two ancient rivals going toe to toe in the Stanley Cup playoffs - this is what it's all about. Stressful? Hell yeah!! But we should enjoy every second.

The longer this goes on, the more it favours the Bs because we're down to five defencemen. MUCH better overall effort in the third. Probably because they had to go for it. I'm really annoyed at the Habs for letting the Prunes back in this series. The Bruins are now playing with exactly the attitude that I've seen from them every time they eliminate the Habs in the playoffs: fuelled with some sort of sense of grievance, some vision of themselves as avengers of all the terrible injustices they've somehow suffered at the hands of the Habs. They had the same vibe in 1994. However, we're one shot away from being back in the driver's seat. Kudos to Wamsley for being the voice of reason in this thread As for GWG, I go with: -Marchand -Cammy

Crappy effort. It does look like last year's series vs. Washington, except that these Bruins don't have that kind of firepower so there's really no excuse. Not having a great grasp of tactical intricacies, I'm tempted to say that the Bruins altered their game in some way at about the mid-point of Game Four and that the Habs have yet to adjust in response. All that being said, this is exactly the kind of situation you want to be in. Price has given us a shot. One great period and we're ahead in the series. LET'S GO LES BOYS!!!

I especially like #4

My instincts are that the patterns of this series - Habs have the edge, first goal wins - were broken in Game 4. So it stands to 'reason' that the 'home ice disadvantage' pattern will also break tonight. I expect a Boston win, followed by a desperation win by us in Game 6; and then a toss-up for game 7. You heard it here first.

Well, I've been pretty consistent over the last few months saying this team should do WHATEVER it takes to make the jump to bona-fide contender. Dumping Gomez may be a necessary part of that. However, the series isn't over yet and it's perhaps premature to talk about dumping guys. Game 5 beckons.

It's hard to say, isn't it? The hopeful thing is that every time they need to win - almost every single time - they seem to come up with one of those textbook Devils-style performances. Hell, just look at the first 30 minutes tonight. So to me, the question is: are they just not good enough to play that way consistently (your suggestion)? Or do they have an unintentional tendency to take the easier path when things look good (the 'underdog' explanation)? The third option is that they don't do it consistently because it's too punishing, which gets back to team design (too many small players, etc.). This series won't give us the answer, that's for sure, because it's desperation time from here on in.

I don't think I'm making excuses. This team takes its foot off the accelerator at the first opportunity, perhaps because of cockiness, but more likely because The System is very demanding. It's hard to play that way and consciously or not, you tend to let up when you see daylight, or so I'd speculate. It's worth noting that they won two game sevens last playoff. These guys have no track record of handily beating opponents. Their collective psyche just seems to be that of the scrapper coming off the mat to score a KO. You're absolutely right that if they ever actually want to WIN something, they will have to get over that and learn to kill the opponent when they're down. I see the issue as relentless fidelity to the system. If we can sustain that for 60 minutes every night, we will win.

I don't give a sh*t about those kinds of stats myself, and if you ask me, the situation you describe is exactly the sort in which this Habs team has consistently delivered. They seem to love being behind the 8-ball and that's when they bring their best. Unfortunately, as this series have shown, we are not a team that copes well at all with being the favourite. We're the boxer who does his damage coming out of the corner.

Well, fair enough. I sure prefer that analysis to the idea of Price's game slipping in the clutch. As this series wears on the absence of Gorges and Markov become more glaring. That may seem like an obvious statement, but it's still frustrating. What's puzzling, also, is why these guys seem to loosen their commitment to The System whenever they find themselves in a good spot. It happened in Game 3 and it happened after Kostitsyn's goal tonight. It's as if they can only muster the commitment required to play that way when their backs are to the wall. Understandable I suppose - I'm not the guy being asked blocking 95-mph slapshots - but you'd think they'd have learned by now: play the system, you usually win. Don't, you usually don't. It ain't rocket science.

Dream on, bud, Pouliot is almost certainly destined to be another in that long line of players who doesn't live up to their potential, for whatever reason. He will not do the things you want from him on any kind of consistent basis. Any more than Latendresse is likely to show up for training camps in good shape Leopards, meet spots.

I'm a little worried about Price. It's not that he's played badly, exactly; but he seems to be off the angles, overcompensating and giving up too many juicy rebounds. The thing is, if he's merely decent we're gonna be hard pressed to win this thing. Very disappointing game, obviously. This team lives and dies by its shutdown game and that was sorely lacking tonight.