By Steven Ellis, Staff Writer, All Habs Hockey Magazine
OAKVILLE, ON — You know, being a Canadiens fan in the heart of Maple Leafs territory is usually a good thing. Playoffs are common, we have an abundance of young talent sitting in the minors and, oh yes, those Stanley Cup’s are quite enticing too. But last year, instead of finding out who the next playoff Superman was ready to emerge from behind he shadows, we sat at home, watching the LA Kings take what was rightfully ours.
It’s been way too long since that warm, spring night of April 27th, 2o11, the night the Boston Bruins took out the Canadiens in the seventh and final game in overtime. Ugh, those were some tough times, but luckily the Canadiens pulled it together and won the Northeast Division regular season championship. Let’s hope that isn’t the biggest thing the Canadiens win this year, but regardless 2013 has been much better than 2011 and 2012. Let’s take a look at what has gone on in the world since the last Montreal Canadiens playoff game, shall we?
Apr 27th, 2011 – The final Habs playoff game of the year saw the deadliest day in America in 2011. Super outbreak of tornadoes, the largest tornado outbreak, in United States history. In total, there were 29 confirmed tornadoes in Central Alabama on this day, and 62 confirmed tornadoes across the State of Alabama.
May 2nd, 2011 – Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the September 11 terrorist attacks is killed by the United States special forces in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
May 16th, 2011 – Space shuttle Endeavour launches for its final commission in space. Endeavour completed its final mission with a landing at the Kennedy Space Center at 06:34 UTC on June 1, 2011. Over its flight career, Endeavour flew 122,853,151 miles and spent 299 days in space.
May 22nd, 2011 – A deadly Tornado sets down in Joplin, Missouri killing at least 158 people, becoming the deadliest US tornado since records began to be kept in 1950.
May 25th, 2011 – TV talk show superstar Oprah Winfrey airs her final show, ending her 25 year run of The Oprah Winfrey Show.
May 29th, 2011– The Saint John Sea Dogs defeat the Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors 3–1 in the finals to win the 2011 Memorial Cup.
May 31st, 2011– The Atlanta Thrashers are dead, and the Winnipeg Jets are born. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman announces that the Atlanta Thrashers have been sold to a Winnipeg-based group and will move to the city.
June 15th, 2011-The Boston Bruins defeat the Vancouver Canucks 4–0 in Game 7 to win the 2011 Stanley Cup Final. A fanbase in red, white and blue weep behind their computer screens.
June 16th, 2011-The Western Conference champion Dallas Mavericks defeated the Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat, 4–2, to win their first NBA title.
July 9th, 2011– Southern Sudan gains independence from Sudan.
July 22nd, 2011– Norway is the victim of two terrorist attacks, with the first being a bomb blast which targeted government buildings in central Oslo, the second being a massacre at a youth camp on the island of Utøya.
September 7th, 2011– A plane carrying KHL team Lokomotiv Yaroslavl crashes, killing all but one player and one flight crew member. The one surviving player, Alexander Galimov, would later die of his injuries. The team would pull out of the KHL for one season.
October 16, 2011-During the Indycar season finale, the race is red-flagged after a fiery 15-car collision on lap 11, and eventually ended after long-time fan favorite Dan Wheldon died from injuries sustained in the crash. Six other drivers suffered minor injuries.
October 23rd, 2011– A powerful 7.2 magnitude earthquake strikes Van Province, Turkey, killing 582 people and injuring thousands.
October 31st, 2011 – The world population reaches 7 billion inhabitants. That just means more people to cheer for the greatest team on earth!
November 20th, 2011– Tony Stewart wins the final race of the Sprint Cup season, the Ford 400, with Carl Edwards, the points leader entering the race, finishing second. The two drivers finish in the first tie for the season title in NASCAR history, with Stewart winning the championship by virtue of the most race wins on the season (five to Edwards’ one).
January 5th, 2012-Sweden defeated defending-champion Russia 1–0 in overtime to win their first title in 31 years. Russian forward Evgeny Kuznetsov was named MVP of the tournament.
January 18th, 2012 – Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) blackout becomes the largest protest in the history of the internet, with Google, Wikipedia, Reddit and more turning their websites black in protest of the American law. Just a few days later, it was canned, and the internet as we know it was saved.
January 19th, 2012 – FBI shuts down Megaupload.com for alleged copyright infringement, hacker group Anonymous responds by attacking government and entertainment industry websites. At the time, MegaUpload was one of the leaders when it came to downloading legal and illegal software and music.
February 2nd, 2012 – NHL player Sam Gagner becomes the first player to scores eight points in one game for the Edmonton Oilers against the Chicago Blackhawks since 1989.
February 14, 2012– The Detroit Red Wings set a new NHL record for consecutive home wins at 21 straight with a 3–1 win over the Dallas Stars. The previous record of 20 consecutive wins was originally set by the Boston Bruins in 1929–30 and tied by the Philadelphia Flyers in 1975–76. The new record is 23 consecutive home wins.
February 17th, 2012 – Approximately 70 ancient Olympic artifacts are stolen from the Archaeological Museum of Greece.
March 18th, 2012 – A Greek soccer match between Olympiacos and Panathinaikos is abandoned after fans set fire to Athens’ Olympic Stadium.
April 14th, 2012 – Canada defeated defending-champion United States 5–4 in overtime to win their tenth title overall and the team’s first IIHF World title since 2007.
April 10th, 2012 – Apple claims a value of $600 billion, making it the largest company by market capitalization in the world.
May 20th, 2012 – Russia defeated Slovakia 6–2 to win its fourth title.
June 9th, 2012 – The Norfolk Admirals defeat the Toronto Marlies 6–1 in game four of the Calder Cup final to win the championship.
June 11, 2012 – The LA Kings defeat the New Jersey Devils to win the Stanley Cup.
June 21st, 2012 – Miami Heat win the 2012 NBA finals after defeating the Oklahoma City Thunder 4 games to one.
June 24th, 2012 – Female athletes will be allowed to compete for Saudi Arabia at the Olympics for the first time.
July 25th, 2012 – The 2012 Summer Olympics begin.
September 15th, 2012 – The NHL locks out its players upon the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement between the league and the players’ union.
October 7th, 2012 – Sébastien Loeb wins the World Rally Championship for the ninth consecutive year.
October 28th, 2012 – San Francisco Giants defeat the Detroit Tigers in game four to take the 2012 MLB World Series. Pablo Sandoval is named MLB 2012 World Series MVP.
October 29th, 2012 – Hurricane Sandy makes landfall in New Jersey resulting in 110 deaths and $50 billion in damage and forces the New York stock exchange to close
November 10th, 2012 – The final US presidential election results are declared after Barack Obama wins Florida to defeat Mitt Romney 332-206.
November 24th, 2012 – Gangnam Style becomes the most viewed youtube video surpassing 808 million views.
December 14th, 2012 – 28 people, including 20 children, are shot to death at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut
December 21st, 2012 – The NHL announces a further cancellation of games until January 14 bringing the total number of cancelled games to 625. The world didn’t come to an end that day, surprisingly, and instead Gangnam Style reached 1 billion views.
January 5th, 2013 – The United States defeated defending champion Sweden 3–1 to win their third junior gold.
January 6th, 2013 – The NHL reaches an agreement to end a 113 day lockout.
January 17th, 2013 – In an interview with Oprah Winfrey that aired January 17, Lance Armstrong confessed that he used banned performance-enhancing drugs throughout much of his cycling career.
January 19th, 2013 – The 2012-2013 NHL season begins. Welcome back.
March 8th, 2013 – North Korea terminates all peace pacts with South Korea.
March 25th, 2013 – Tiger Woods regains the honor of being the world’s top golfer.
April 2nd, 2013 – The United States defeated Canada 3–2 to claim its fifth title in this championship.
April 15th, 2013 – 3 people are killed and 183 are injured after two explosions near the finish line of the Boston Marathon.
April 17th, 2o13 – A massive explosion at a fertiliser plant in Texas devastates a town, levelling buildings, setting others on fire and causing more than 150 casualties.
April 20th, 2013 – Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was captured after a wild man hunt that put much of Massachusetts into lockdown mode.
It may have just been one season of no playoff hockey, but that’s one too many. Let’s hope this postseason makes it into June this time along, as Canadiens fans deserve much better.
Go Habs Go!
