The game’s number one star.
posted by habsbloggergirl
So I just got back from my first (and most probably last) game sitting in the Molson Ex Zone at the Bell Centre.
When my friend got these tickets, I was excited! We had actually seen Florida a couple of times in past years, but still, they always tended to be somewhat interesting games.
Tonight was an experience to say the least, but I’d hardly call what happened on the ice tonight interesting. To be honest, it was actually a pretty boring game…. Or rather it would have been, had we not been sitting where we were.
We were actually in the 300-level seats so it was equivalent to grey, which was great, or so we thought. I was at the end of the row, which I liked, although sometimes it’s annoying since you have to get up so many times to let people through and miss parts of the game.
Anyway, the game starts and this girl comes and sits on the steps right next to my seat, and unpacks a bag of signs and Habs memorabilia. Of course, she was one of the Molson Ex people… and had the goal of getting everyone up and screaming. Before she got there, our area was relatively quiet. I mean there were a few loud people and everyone was cheering, but nothing too intense. However, that soon changed. First, the two guys behind me would not stop screaming, booing… you name it, they did it. Second, Molson Ex lady was giving away things to people who were loud, so of course these two guys got even louder. And to top it off throughout the entire game she was smashing around a tambourine (part of the job description unfortunately). I can’t tell you how many times I looked over, wanting so badly to take that tambourine and throw it at the two guys behind me…. and I seriously don’t think I was alone in that line of thinking.
You’d think during the breaks in game, we’d get a break too… but in fact, just the opposite occurred. Every single break was filled with that damn tambourine, followed by more screaming.
It wasn’t all bad… We actually saw Bob Gainey right above us walking (I got a blurry picture!), the goaltending was fabulous on both ends of the ice, and I’m happy my section was a little bit enthusiastic at least (though it went way overboard at times).
Back to the goaltending, it pretty much led to all the highlights of the game. Jaro was amazing, and definitely earned his shutout, and Vokoun did a stand-up job as well, so much so that it could have gone either way. Luckily Pouliot got a goal, because honestly had it been 0-0 until the end I’m not quite sure we would have won in OT.
The rest of the team was abysmal. Markov really did not have a good night (though he did made some a few nice defensive moves (I mean, he’s Markov!) but there were some defensive errors), and Plekanec and Cammalleri looked completely out of sync. Speaking of line #1, during the game, I turned to my friend and said something I thought I’d never say: “I miss Kostitsyn”. Not that I’m not a fan, I actually really like Andrei, and he’s been doing great this year, it’s just that he seems a little space-y on the ice, and I know that he can do even better. However, perhaps I was wrong… maybe this space-iness allows for Plekanec and Cammalleri to have more time (I’m just grasping at straws here), but without him they were the ones who looked “dans la lune”, so I’ll be glad to have him back ASAP.
Laraque was really bad tonight too… It made me miss Kostitsyn (Sergei this time) because honestly, anyone could have done a better job than he did. I still rue the day that Gainey gave him a no trade clause (or a 3 year, 4.5 million dollar contract for that matter). When he came he told us he was a good fighter who would help protect our team and that he also was skilled hockey-wise. I’ve yet to see him perform in either of those categories and the three years are almost up…
The three stars were predictably Halak, Vokoun and Pouliot. Why? Because there was actually no one else. Every other player was either invisible, or doing something wrong. I just hope that we can get our acts together, and quickly. We are very fortunate because Halak and Price have been playing well of late, but that doesn’t give the rest of the team the right to put in absolutely no effort.
On that note, I think I’m going to get to bed since I’m still hearing tambourine sounds in my ringing ears. Hopefully sleeping it off will do the trick, though I doubt it will be erased from my memory anytime soon.
So we’d better hope for some stellar goaltending Saturday night against Jersey… and someone’s gonna have to get a puck past Marty B., and to be honest I have no idea who that will be. We seem to be lacking in scorers lately. Either way, it should be an interesting one.
Good recap, habsbloggergirl! I wholeheartedly agree, this wasn't a very exciting game.
Let's be clear. Collecting 2 points was very important especially against a team that is chasing the Habs. It wasn't a very difficult night for Jaroslav Halak, but he deserves full credit for the shutout.
It was reported that Jacques Martin was giddy at the post-game conference. I really hate to rain on his parade, but did anyone notice that the Habs only scored 1 goal (excluding the empty netter) tonight?
The Habs scored one goal against a team who has lost 4 of their past 5 games.
Only one goal after the #1 power-play in the league got nothing on a 5 on 3 power-play for 1:40.
Should we be giddy?
Max Lapierre played well meaning that he played to expectations. It was his 2nd strong effort this season. (Tonight marked game 46 in the Habs schedule)
The Habs are a much weaker team with Laraque, D'Agostini and Mara in the lineup.
While we are weary about discussing injuries, it has been underestimated the impact that Sergei and Andrei Kostitsyn and Ryan O'Byrne have had while out of the lineup.
And the coaching staff has not been able to come up with solutions to plug those holes.
d'agostini was terrible. game was very boring. if this type of game keeps up, this habs team will be very short-lived.
Yikes, the Molson Ex zone. Not only is it loud and filled with drunks, but it's filled with drunks loaded on…Molson Ex. Yuck! I sat in that section years ago when if your section's "assigned" player scored a goal, everyone gets a free beer. Well, our designated player was none other than Karl Dykhuis. Just great. This would be today's equivalent of being assigned Paul Mara. Dude just ain't gonna score. Well, lo and behold, doesn't Dykhuis score a goal…late in the 3rd (as I remember it) to put the game away. Needless to say, by the time our beer arrived, there was little time left, so we all did the chug-a-lug, which was not cool.
Anyway, there's my Molson Ex Zone experience.
Yes, Jacques Martin was positively beaming after last night's game. Like a proud father with his newborn child. For the life of me I couldn't figure out what was so funny. Like it was mentioned, the Habs managed 1 goal against a pretty sad Florida team that had managed to win once in the last 5 games. This is the same Florida team that gave up 4 goals to Toronto. The same Florida team that we managed to score 5 goals on just a week earlier. So what is Martin smiling about? It was just another night of too many shots and letting Halak do the work (though it must be said that as far as 38 save shutouts go, this was as easy as they come. Still, that's not Halak's fault and he gets full marks for it).
Maybe he's all smiles because his team is starting to play more discipined hockey. I just can't see the reason for his smiles. It couldn't just be the 2 points, this is the Habs' 22nd win of the year and we've not seen him glowing like this after a game.
I thought Laraque was decent, considering it's Laraque. He laid a couple hits instead of just floating. Still not worth having him in the lineup though. Same can be said for D'Agostini. He looked good on a couple shifts last night, but you don't get first line duty in order to look good. It's to produce. He didn't even register a shot on net. He had 1 giveaway and 1 takeaway. Wow. This kid is not an NHLer, at least not right now. Is he here because management believes he can be a player very soon, or is he here because this team is so tight agains the cap that there is no other choice but to press kids in to action that come with a cheap price tag. If it's the latter, then Gainey MUST be held accountable. We can throw Pacioretty in this same group of players who, in my view are not NHL ready, but are here because they *may* be able to play, and come cheap. The General Manager has to be held accountable for this. Again, I ask how a team can be so tight against the cap yet be so thoroughly mediocre.
I hope somebody is able to score some goals on Saturday, because the Devils are entirely capable of coming to town, scoring a goal and then lulling everyone to sleep. Not how I want to spend my Saturday night.
Here's hoping for a return to action for the K bros, and to O'Byrne!
Great, I think I'll be stuck in the Molson Ex zone for my last game of the year in a couple of weeks….my ears are already hurting at the thought of that tambourine!
Kyle – It wasn't just D'Agostini and Pacioretty either. At the start of the year the Habs also had Chipchura and Stewart. Stewart is not an NHLer (although might I say he's doing a fine job in the AHL right now?) and Chipchura is in Anaheim after struggling a lot here.
Either management grossly over-estimated their players' development or they brought them up because they were a cheap way to fill up the roster (like you said). It's very frustrating to watch a guy like Pacioretty right now. I feel like I'm watching a train wreck in slow motion….
I know sometimes people at the game see more than on TV, but I think Laraque played his best game of the season and Jacques Demers agrees…He made a beautiful pass to Metro who hit the post…so that one observation seems off…he's getting better and really strong on the puck in the corners..
Its a truly sad day for Habs fans when we get excited over Georges Laraque playing for 5 mins in a game. We are rejoicing because he had been averaging just over 2 mins per game recently. Is this really an NHL caliber player worth $1.5M per year?
Well, what did he do to deserve this praise from Demers, the buffoon, and others? No shots, no fights, 1 hit and 1 nice pass.
If BGL plays 5 mins, he should have 7 hits. If his code doesn't allow him to defend his teammates, the least he can do is to intimidate the opposition with thundering hits. Oh, but I guess, then he would have to be able to skate to catch them.
Are our expectations so low that Laraque's effort, while pathetic, deserves special recognition because it is an improvement?
Similar comments in differing degrees can apply to Lapierre and D'Agostini.
In general, all three have been nothing short of terrible this season and aren't worthy of being on this team.
I take a much different view of Pacioretty. MaxPac has been giving effort on every shift sometimes with success and other times its misguided. Inconsistency means he is on a normal development path. He has been effective on the 3rd line and only looks out of place when bumped up.
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