habitual_hab

The term 'classic' is bandied about far too much in professional sports, but in this instance, it is undoubtedly most appropriate. There was certainly no shortage of hype surrounding the 1975 New Year's Eve clash between the Montreal Canadiens, the NHL's undisputed powerhouse, and the Soviet Red Army, boasting an equally talented lineup from top to bottom. And while both squads were stacked with superstar performers, it was the men between the pipes, more specifically, Ken Dryden and Vladislav Tretiak, that took top billing. It seems most people had short memories when it came to the Soviets ability to play the game. Just over three years earlier, the Russian national team pushed Team Canada, an elite group of NHL standouts, to the brink in the legendary 1972 Summit Series. Some observers termed it an aberration, but for the players who either competed or watched the eight-game back-and-forth battle, they knew better. The thousands in attendance at the Montreal Forum on December 31, 1975, figured on only one outcome. Their beloved Habs, in the midst of yet another dominating campaign, would handle their rivals with relative ease, not even the great Tretiak a worthy foe for Montreal's skilled shooters. Although two points weren't at stake, the game was far from meaningless. As the Canadiens players and supporters saw things, it was, essentially, about pride and proving a point for anyone associated with les bleu, blanc et rouge. As the two sides readied for the opening face-off, seldom in the stands or on the benches could have ever expected as to what was about to unfold on the ice. Montreal, who would go on to win the Stanley Cup that season, seized control from the outset, dashing into the Soviet defensive zone at will, a relentless offensive surge that had their opponents reeling. When they weren't creating scoring chances, they were dishing out hard and heavy bodychecks, a not-so-subtle reminder as to who the Red Army players were up against. At the end of the first period, Montreal had limited the Soviets to four shots on net, a dominating display that brought the Forum faithful to their feet. It seemed as though the Red Army was defenceless against the Canadiens juggernaut, a polished and precise unit. Yet one member of the Soviet squad, a familiar masked man to most in attendance, refused to be bullied by the NHL club on the verge of yet anther dynasty. Tretiak, the goaltender who nearly backstopped the Soviet national team to victory in the 1972 Summit Series, literally did everything in his power to keep the game close, providing acrobatic saves time and again. As the game wore on, Montreal intensified their attack, wave after wave of high-percentage chances waged on No. 20. The Canadiens were in total control, yet the crowd began to grow restless. At the end of the second period, Tretiak's rival at the other end of the rink, Dryden, had faced only seven shots. Montreal's textbook style was in sharp contrast to the Soviets swooping, circular game plan - the very same approach Edmonton would perfect in the NHL in the 1980s and 1990s. Watching the two distinctly different strategies come together, was quite simply, a brilliant spectacle. With every minute played, the game, quite literally, became that much more compelling. Up by a 3-2 count, Montreal, who just as easily could have been ahead by three, four or perhaps five goals, found it increasingly difficult to light the lamp, while at the same time, attempting to interrupt the fleet-skating flow of their foes. A late goal by Boris Aleksandrov, courtesy of a three-on-one rush, secured a gratifying 3-3 tie for the Red Army. Perhaps it was Montreal blueliner Serge Savard who best summed up the tremendous tete-a-tete tilt that ended in a deadlock. "God was Russian tonight," said the future Hall of Fame inductee, of the game that is usually found at the top of any 'Greatest Hockey Games Ever Played' list. It was never pegged to be labeled as such, but some 27 years later, that New Year's Eve clash at one of hockey's greatest buildings is still considered what it rightly should be ... a genuine classic. nhl alumni Somehow I think I missed the gist of this thread... :eyes:

2003 Draft Revisited Here's a look at how Fleury and each of the 29 other first-round selections of the 2003 NHL Entry Draft have developed so far this season... forecaster link 10. Montreal - Andrei Kastsitsyn, RW, CSKA Moscow (Russia) 2003-04 (RSL): 10 GP, 0-1-1, -, 2 PIM The Canadiens gambled on the Belarusian's offensive potential with the 10th pick in the draft last June, despite Kastsitsyn's history of an epileptic-like condition. However, they didn't sign him and bring him over to the AHL, nor did the winger move to the WHL's Medicine Hat Tigers (who selected Kastsitsyn in the 2003 CHL Import Draft). Instead, he stayed with CSKA Moscow but has not been able to crack the Russian Super League lineup. Instead, Kastsitsyn has played mainly for CSKA-2 in the junior developmental league (14 GP, 11-8-19, -, 8 PIM). Furthermore, he didn't dominate in the WJC's B tournament against lesser competition. Therefore, the jury is still out on Kastsitsyn's long-term NHL potential. Development Grade: C-

TORONTO - The CBC has decided to put an end to "reprehensible" remarks by Hockey Night in Canada commentator Don Cherry. Harold Redekopp, the executive vice-president of CBC Television, says the network will put Cherry on a seven-second delay after he made "inappropriate and reprehensible personal" comments during the broadcast on Jan. 24. During the first period intermission Cherry spoke out about players wearing visors on their helmets. In full flight he said, "most of the guys that wear them are Europeans or French guys ..." The remark was roundly criticized by French language groups across the country. Canada's Official Languages Commissioner Dyane Adam also noticed. A spokesperson said the commissioner feels it's an "important enough issue that she's going to investigate" whether Cherry's remarks violate the Official Languages Act. The CBC will now put Coach's Corner on a seven-second delay. "This practice is common on many live broadcasts and is in effect immediately," Redekopp said. The controversy swept across Parliament on Friday, too. The Bloc Québécois called Cherry's remarks racist. And Denis Coderre the minister responsible for la Francophonie, says he's fed up with Cherry. "Frankly, I think that when you are talking about it and calling the Frenchmen wimps, I mean it's unacceptable." NDP Leader Jack Layton said he was annoyed by the implication about French Canadian hockey players. "One of my most vivid memories is going to the Montreal Forum with my dad, at age six, and seeing Boom Boom Geoffrion, Maurice Richard, the Pocket Rocket [Henri Richard], playing the most amazing hockey. They are some of the greatest hockey players in Canadian history." cbc story link

Habs (and Habs' fans) fighting amongst themsleves. Nothing new. Serge Savard and Henri Richard in the 70s Chris Nilan and Stephane Richer in the 80s -- wasn't the Nilan-Richer fight in 1986? - a prelude to the Habs winning the Cup that year?

A month's worth of predictions Tue 3 at Pittsburgh W Thu 5 NY Islanders W Tue 10 at Florida W Thu 12 at Tampa Bay L Sat 14 at Ottawa L Tue 17 Atlanta W Thu 19 Calgary W Sat 21 at Toronto W Mon 23 at NY Rangers T Tue 24 Ottawa T Thu 26 at Boston W Sat 28 Carolina W I'm either deluded or I'm :guru:

Although he retired before I was born I'd have to say that the greatest is the Rocket himself, Maurice Richard. Besides the 8 Stanley Cups, 50 goals-in-50-games, and the 14 All-Star appearances he garnered in his career, the fact that he accomplished what he did while being a marked man and never backing down makes the "power forwards" of today look like Lady Byng candidates IMO.

Habs handle Hawks Habs 6, Blackhawks 4 Summary MONTREAL (CP) -- The Montreal Canadiens built a four-goal lead against the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday and almost blew it. Mike Ribeiro's power-play goal near the end of the second period that gave the Canadiens a 5-1 lead stood up as the winner in a 6-4 victory over the Blackhawks. The Blackhawks made a game of it with three goals in the third period and good chances to send the game into overtime before Niklas Sundstrom scored an empty-netter for Montreal. "We fell into a comfort zone, and Chicago worked a lot harder than us," said a disappointed Canadiens coach Claude Julien. "We played with fire and almost got burned." Sheldon Souray, Patrice Brisebois, Jan Bulis and Steve Begin also scored for Montreal (26-20-6-2), while Saku Koivu and Sundstrom each had two assists. Steve Sullivan scored twice and Kyle Calder and Alex Zhamnov each had a goal for the Blackhawks (13-29-7-5), who fell just short in their attempt to get a win in Brian Sutter's 1,000th career game as an NHL coach. "To see Brian coach in his 1000th game, we sure wanted to make sure we put on a really good effort and try to get a win for him," Sullivan said. "You know what? We came extremely close to tying it at the end of the game." Chicago netminder Steve Passmore was pulled after allowing four goals on 12 shots in the first half of the game. But Craig Anderson, who came in at 10:17 of the second period, took the loss by allowing Ribeiro's goal, though he stopped the other 13 shots sent his way. Jose Theodore made 37 saves for Montreal, including 18 on 21 shots in the third period. "We'll take the two points, but that's not the way you play if you want to have success in this league," Theodore said. "I think we relaxed for a big portion of the game. Even though we were up 5-1 it didn't mean we were playing well, and in the third they caught us off guard." Montreal's Richard Zednik played only four shifts in the third period. "I didn't think he played well," Julien explained. Chicago's rally began three minutes into the third period when Calder tipped a Bryan Berard point shot past Theodore on the power play. Just over four minutes later, Zhamnov came out from behind the net and got two whacks at the puck to score his fifth of the year. Sullivan jumped on a loose puck in the slot and wired a wrister past Theodore for his 13th of the year at 15:37 of the third. Calder just missed a chance to tie it moments before Sundstrom put his sixth into an empty net at 19:10 to seal the win for Montreal. "We had two plays set up at the end, and they were executed to a tee," Sutter said. "We showed a lot of character and a lot of heart doing what we did in the third." Montreal scored in the first and last minute of the first period to take a 2-0 lead. Brisebois scored his second of the season 43 seconds into the game, converting Sundstrom's feed in the slot. Souray scored his 15th with 7.2 seconds to play in the first, blasting a slapper from the point off Chicago's Tuomo Ruutu and past Passmore. Sullivan got the Blackhawks within one on a wraparound 31 seconds into the second period. But Bulis scored his 11th of the year on a wrister off a three-on-two rush at 4:51 and Begin dove for his second of the year at 10:17 of the second to chase Passmore. Ribeiro scored his 13th on a power play in the last minute of the second period, beating Anderson from in tight on a nice feed from Michael Ryder. Notes -- Montreal centre Yanic Perreault was a healthy scratch for the fourth time this season, his first since Nov. 18 in Vancouver . . . Chad Kilger played on the fourth line in Perreault's spot, while defenceman Mike Komisarek and right-winger Jozef Balej were also healthy scratches for the Canadiens . . . Montreal centre Mike Ribeiro was awarded the Molson Cup for the month of January prior to the game. Ribeiro had 17 points (6-11-17) in 14 games that last month . . . Blackhawks winger Matt Ellison made his NHL debut after being recalled from Norfolk of the AHL. He earned an assist on Zhamnov's goal. Summary ----------------------------------------- CHICAGO 0 1 3 --4 MONTREAL 2 3 1 --6 ----------------------------------------- FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Montreal, Patrice Brisebois 2 (Niklas Sundstrom), 0:43. 2, Montreal, Sheldon Souray 15 (Niklas Sundstrom, Jason Ward), 19:52. Penalties: R Zednik, Mon (tripping), 1:57; J Ward, Mon (hooking), 10:51. SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 3, Chicago, Steve Sullivan 12 (Mark Bell, Bryan Berard), 0:31. 4, Montreal, Jan Bulis 11 (Saku Koivu), 4:51. 5, Montreal, Steve Begin 2 (Darren Langdon, Craig Rivet), 10:17. 6, Montreal, Mike Ribeiro 13 (power play) (Michael Ryder, Saku Koivu), 19:19. Penalties: P Dagenais, Mon (tripping), 5:44; K Calder, Chi (tripping), 7:10; J Aitken, Chi (hooking), 12:53; S Sullivan, Chi (holding), 17:51. THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 7, Chicago, Kyle Calder 16 (power play) (Bryan Berard, Alexei Zhamnov), 3:00. 8, Chicago, Alexei Zhamnov 5 (Matt Ellison), 7:05. 9, Chicago, Steve Sullivan 13 (Unassisted), 15:37. 10, Montreal, Niklas Sundstrom 6 (empty net) (Patrice Brisebois), 19:10. Penalties: A Markov, Mon (hooking), 2:20; C Kilger, Mon (tripping), 9:41; S Sullivan, Chi (hooking), 10:15. Shots on goal: ---------------------------------------- CHICAGO 8 12 21 --41 MONTREAL 7 11 9 --27 ---------------------------------------- Power-play Conversions: CHI - 1 of 5, MON - 1 of 4. Goalies : Chicago, Steve Passmore (12 shots, 8 saves), Craig Anderson (10:17 of 2nd period, 14, 13; record: 1-12-0). Montreal, Jose Theodore (41 shots, 37 saves; record: 21-18-5). A: 21,273. Referees: Eric Furlatt, Mick Mcgeough. Linesmen: Michael Cormier, Steve Miller.

The Habs as a team just played their worst 3rd period of the year, IMO. I point the (middle) finger at no one player -- that was a team lack-of-effort. Did they suffer from a simultaneous and collective aneurysm during the 2nd intermission? Did they run out of gas? If so the Habs' conditioning coach had better get off the couch and start earning his paycheque.

Agree with that. Glad that it's Bob Gainey and Andre Savard who will be determining who stays and who goes rather than Gomer Pyle. And Doug Jarvis seems to have lots faith in Hossa so I don't think that he's the odd man out is a forgone conclusion.

although has much to do with the US aggression against Iraq, I think that the US proclaiming its power and dominance over the region (and the world in general) is also a valid argument. Much like a mafia don stating, " mess with me and these are the consequences." Too late. Canada's already part of an empire -- we're nothing more than an economic satellite of our southern neighbour.

Except for the team logo -- should be a Laughs logo. Cherry is such an unabashed xenophobic homer he deserves a blue maple leaf on his head. BTW, Bowman Arbour Irvin Quinn One of these things is not like the other, One of these things doesn't belong, Can you tell which thing is not like the other, Before I finish this song?

Frayed nerves after the Habs fourth loss in five games cause dissention among the faithful. A win over the lowly Hawks could be a welcome elixer to the petulant frenzies of irrational jingoism. [Edited on 2004/2/1 by habitual_hab]

from what I *heard* (damn CBC) the Habs dominated. If they play this way for the rest of the season then they're in the playoffs for sure. And I doubt that Gainey is going to pull any block buster trade in order to fix the Habs' scoring woes (other than moving Perreault) -- the PP has just got to get going... :ghg:

The "intelligence" of G.W. Bush Intelligence throughout the decade showed they had a weapons program. I am absolutely convinced with time we'll find out that they did have a weapons program. The credibility of this country is based upon our strong desire to make the world more peaceful, and the world is now more peaceful after our decision. -- June 9, 2003, remarks to reporters after Cabinet meeting. Our nation enters this conflict reluctantly. Yet our purpose is sure. The people of the United States and our friends and allies will not live at the mercy of an outlaw regime that threatens the peace with weapons of mass murder. -- March 19, 2003, address to the nation. Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised. -- March 17, 2003, address to the nation. The dictator of Iraq has got weapons of mass destruction. He has used weapons of mass destruction. He can't stand America and what we stand for. He can't stand our friends and allies. -- Jan. 22, 2003, speech in St. Louis. Today this regime likely maintains stockpiles of chemical and biological agents, and is improving and expanding facilities capable of producing chemical and biological weapons. Today Saddam Hussein has the scientists and infrastructure for a nuclear weapons program, and has illicitly sought to purchase the equipment needed to enrich uranium for a nuclear weapon. Should his regime acquire fissile material, it would be able to build a nuclear weapon within a year. -- Sept. 14, 2002, radio address. U.S. chief weapons inspector David Kay says of the weapons of mass destruction Iraq was supposed to have possessed; "I don't think they existed . . . What everyone was talking about is stockpiles produced after the end of the last (1991) Gulf War, and I don't think there was a large-scale production program in the '90s." Geez, George, looks like what you did was a crime against peace -- are we going to see you together with your Dad's buddy Saddam in an ICJ courtroom?

just hit the * out of that pingu for 578! gotta work the kinks outa my swing...

Geez, I dunno, puck. I'd prefer to see someone with more substance, charater and of course ANIMATION in the running. some one like: [Edited on 2004/1/27 by habitual_hab]

I wonder if Article 16 of the current National Hockey League Collective Bargaining Agreement is up for negotiation. "During each playing season covered by this Agreement, each Club shall play not more than 82 regular season games." I'd like to see the schedule pared down to 70 games at the most - 50 to 60 more preferably. 82 games is a brutally long and tortuous schedule. cba link

Not meant as hostile or anything just questioning some logic: As a package or seperately arfe those above players even wanted commodities? Players relegated to fourth line duties, castoffs and delapidated centremen are in high demand? If these guys aren't good enough to play for the .500 Habs then why would they be good enough for a playoff bound team in the WC?

I think that it might just be workable if Perreault plays Calgary home games and Colorado away games - or vis versa - unless, of course, they play each other. In that case they'd have to flip for his services. The NHL BoG might go for this sort of salary and service splitting thing but I just don't think the NHLPA will approve of such a trade (whether or not it's in their jurisdiction to approve or disapprove trades is another matter) - this sort of thing might lock up CBA negotiations for months, even years.

Iginla would be useful but what would we do with Sakic and his salary? We've got Begin coming back soon... And with Forsberg still on the mend I don't think Colorado will be looking to downgrade just yet. Just my 2 dollars but no cents worth.

Kelly Hrudey has some good insights not like the banal rants of a crazed former used car salesman. Cherry is biased against the Habs cause for years they showed him to be the "Too many men on the ice" fool he is. Koivu, Theo, et al will bounce back after this brutal weekend.:hlogo: [Edited on 2004/1/25 by habitual_hab]

The only reason the CBC keeps him around is because he'sa controversial SOB who attracts viewers interested in hearing his banal rants. Cole and Neale are the two worst annoucers I've heard in all my years following hockey -- *ing homers make me so *ed off I watched the game in French ( of which I understand nothing).

tough loss for both the Habs and Habs' fans everywhere. The Habs didn't look too much into the game from the getgo and Sundin said the Habs appeared fatigued in the 2nd. From what I can remember Brisebois made a couple of blunders, Zednik played with passion, Dagenais looked slow and the Habs looked to be having trouble winning battles down low - in their own end particularly. Expecting the Habs to play .700 or .800 hockey is unreasonable - .550-.600 is more likely their capability.

Found this great picture posted on the HF Habs board where Laff fans are mercilessly trolling: :hlogo::ghg::hlogo:

I agree with the puck: no need to worry about events beyond the Habs' control.