posted by habsbloggergirl
Allhabs.blogspot.com
O’Byrne, coming down along the boards makes a blind pass in front of the net. But Price is on the bench for the delayed penalty! It’s in! #!$%##!… I’ve never seen anything like it before in my life!
That, my friends, was my favourite moment of this unlucky, albeit unusual, centennial season.
After the loss Wednesday night, I’ll admit I was quite sad. I didn’t want the season to end on a seemingly endless losing streak, but let’s face it, the minute Grabovski laid that hit on Markov a couple weeks back, it was over. Actually when you think about it, it has pretty much been over since the All-Star Break, other than a couple of heroic performances by a certain Mr. Jaroslav Halak, and a few games where we learned what it would be like to have a first line that could really do some damage out there. Instead of dissecting the inexplicable hell that was February, the wishy-washy unsteadiness that was March, and the dreadfully disappointing month of April, I think it would be fitting to list my 10 favourite moments of the 2008-2009 season (in no particular order). Feel free to sound off on yours in the comment section below!
1) Well I think I made it clear above, but when I think of my favourite things, the O’Byrne “goal” tops the list. It provided some much needed comic relief, and although it would have probably been funnier had we won the game, it still tops my list!
2) 2 was more difficult to decide, but I think I’m going to have to go with Carey Price and Tom Kostopoulos sacrificing Josh Gorges’ stick, to try to bring him some goal-scoring luck! Funny thing was, it actually worked (though it took a couple of games to sink in)!
3) I’d have to go with my favourite unlucky jerseys… Montreal tends to be known for its nice classic jerseys. I think that this year after the barber pole striped ones, our reputation has changed!
4) Getting Mathieu Schneider. What a difference a player makes… to the power-play that is. We went from being at the bottom of the barrel to coming up somewhere in the middle. He really helped us out there.
5) Grabovski also getting linked to gang members. Not sure how many of you heard about this… but about 2 weeks or so ago, I saw a news piece linking him to the same gang member as the Kostitsyn brothers and Roman Hamrlik. Looks like they did hang out together when he was still in Montreal…
6) Speaking of Grabovski, (and I can’t believe I didn’t think of this sooner) these comments about Sergei Kostitsyn were probably some of the funniest I’ve ever heard: “I think he is not Belarussian now, he is French because I never fight with Belarussian guys. I don’t know why he wants to fight with me. If he wants to fight, we’ll go in the street and every minute of every day I’ll wait for him and we’ll fight.” Oh Grabovski…
7) Chris Higgins’ hat trick versus the Sens early in the season. What can I say, he’s my favourite player and the rest of the team gave a great showing that night as well.
8) Kovalev returning after his “vacation”. I was really scared that Kovalev would be gone, after watching L’Antichambre, where Michel Bergeron said he could never come back after that embarrassment. I was angry at the Habs. I was angry at the media. I was just angry in general. But thankfully he came back, and it made me really happy, and I think it made most of Montreal happy too. Kovalev may have off days, but he is the talent and one of the prominent leaders of our team. Without him, we’d be lost.
9) I know this has little to do with the Habs, but it has to do with Montreal, and I was there, so I thought I’d include it anyway: The Skills Competition. Ovechkin’s skills competition get-up was really funny, and was made funnier by the fact that it was Malkin, his alleged enemy, who dressed him up. But the real hilarity came from Mark Streit, who when skating, tripped over a wooden triangular blocker, smashing into a million wood chips and falling to the floor himself. He was okay after thankfully but it was just really funny, especially watching it again afterwards, since they were filming his face, and all of the sudden he was gone!
10) Last but not least, I think I need to include Marty Brodeur’s win a couple of weeks ago. Again, it wasn’t a great achievement for us, but seeing Brodeur tie Roy’s record with Roy in the crowd was really an emotional experience. It was also special since Brisebois played his 1000th game that night. Speaking of Roy, his jersey retirement should probably have a place on this list too.
So there you have it: my ten favourite moments of the season. This season has been full of ups and downs, and next year I fear we’ll be seeing a very different team… I really hope not, but re-signing that many free agents will be difficult.
I’m not bitter about this season or angry… It’s tough to win when most of your team is in the infirmary instead of on the ice. It’s also tough when rumours are spread, when players get suspended and when they are linked to gang members. This centennial season may not have lived up to everyone’s expectations. But hey, at least we can say it was interesting.
Well, at least they don’t have to blow it up to start over from scratch. Gainey set a built in self destruct timer rigged to go off in July. About half the NHL players on the roster become free agents at that point. Most will leave, I think.
(Higgy’s hat trick was against the Sens)
I was there when Rhino tossed the puck in his net. It was hilarious, but it was so sad and he looked like he just wanted to vomit. I was there the next home game and led the cheer to silence the boos to tell the kid we all don’t hate you.
Kovy must return. We have good kids in the system but regardless of his inconsistency, he’s the best we got!
@ Rob… you’re right I think, but I’d really hope not. We have a lot of good players but the injuries really got to them
@ Number31… wow I can’t believe I made that mistake… honestly am out of it today I think haha thanks for picking up on it! I’m going to go fix it! As of O’Byrne you’re completely right. It was just a mistake but it really shattered his confidence for nothing. And I totally agree about Kovy! :)
Thanks for the comments guys!
Komisarek was asked about signing a new contract and said..”Well, I think the team has to do a few other things before they start signing players”….which likely means an ownership/management shakeup. Perhaps he has been notified that there will be no serious negotiations under the current regime. But that will be a huge handicap for the team. If the players have to wait until the summer for dust to settle, they are unlikely to give up their chance at UFA. It may be only a matter of waiting a couple of extra weeks for them. But then again, they are not likely to sign without knowing who their bosses are, as well as not knowing who their teammates will be. It seems to be the perfect storm for a mass exodus, provided there are other teams out there who want the players. Alex Tanguay is a key. They have to sign Tanguay, and Koivu would be a plus. It would be great if Komisarek returned but I don’t hold much hope for that. As for Kovalev, I wonder how popular he is with his teammates. Certainly if Gainey is fired and Carbonneau returns Kovalev won’t be back. I’ve had more than enough of him in any case. He will be another year older as well. Should be an interesting summer, if they get Landon Ferraro in the draft I will be happy, regardless of what else happens.
You’re right. I really hope they don’t leave it until the last second, but every year it seems that they do… and then we end up losing valuable players. I still think Kovalev is key but Tanguay is definitely up there on my list as well… Koivu definitely also.
I also think that Kostopoulos would be a good signing. I think everyone likes him, and he really puts his heart into everything he does. I feel like Gainey may stay… we’ll see I guess but it seems from his comments that he’ll continue.
Rob :
Regarding Komisarek’s comment about changes that might happen to the team, there is also the possibility that he didn’t want to answer the question regarding his situation with the team next season. Then again, there could be some major changes, only time will tell. I trully hope Kovy, Tanguay, Lang and Komo will be back, but I might be asking too much.
habsbloggergirl :
Those are really good (or bad) moments indeed.
I didn’t know about Grabovski, it just shows that we don’t have a clue of everything that’s happened.
The love fest for Kovy at the All-Star game was great, especially when he scored the winner. Now if you told me at the beginning of the year that the all star game would be one of the top highlights for the season, I would have cried on the spot. Any time a season is highlighted by an ASG, you’re in trouble!
@ Tatie: I think you are right about Komisarek… and agree with you on most of who you want back. As much as I like Komisarek though, I don’t want him back if we have to pay 5 million… 3 or less I’d consider it, but based on his season I don’t even think he deserves that… but we have to think about last year too I guess. That’s why 3 seems reasonable, but chances of us signing him for that are slim.
@ kyleroussel: I totally agree with you Kyle haha… it is kinda sad, but it was a really happy moment. Too bad he only started being himself towards the end of the season… He was the best player on the team in the playoffs (along with Higgins and Metropolit). Let’s hope that next year he’ll have a chance to prove himself again! :)
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