Plan the Parade: Habs 3, Pens 2

There was a Penguins massacre last night in Pittsburgh...ok maybe not a massacre, but something occurred that should strike fear in the rest of the NHL. The Saviour began his journey to replace a Saint, 22 years later to the day in the same arena. And he did NOT disappoint. Oh, FHF is giddy this morning!!

Plan the Parade: "The Saviour" Carey Price, but that's it's own post. Future Captain and My Boy Chips makes his under-hyped debut as well; started off slow (a little over 3 mins in the 1st), but by the third almost scored playing with HF10's Boy Higgins and LG77's Boy Ryder (kidding!). Besides The Saviour, Pleks was the best player on the ice (yes, better than Crosby - not that he was shabby, but The Kid is incredibly still looking for his first goal of the season). Pleks scored on an outstanding shot on the Habs first goal and made a gorgeous tape-to-tape pass off the boards to Kovy to set up the second goal. Both the Pleks and Koivu lines looked like #1 lines last night. The PP scored again and the only PP goal allowed was bullshit. Markov seemed intent on replacing Souray's offense.

And special mention has to go to the players on the ice in the last minute - I haven't seen that many Habs players throwing their bodies in front of shots since '93. Think it had to do with the kid in nets? Me too.

The Sky is Falling: As a team, faceoffs and discipline need, umm, work. Crosby was a whopping 67% on faceoffs. We acknowledge he's the best player on the planet, but come on, tie up his damn stick! Almost makes us long for the Yannick Perrault days. Almost. As for discipline, Markov's blatant cross-check to the other team's (and league's) best player, right in the crease, 5 feet from the ref comes to mind as an example.

As for individual performances, Gui! was invisible again last night. Josh Georges had a few gaffes and looked a little overmatched, prompting us to look longingly up to the press box for Breezer (ok, that line was just to see HF10's head explode). Mrs. Panger couldn't understand why Georges doesn't go with the French pronunciation of his last name - he may have to if he wants to keep O'Byrne down in Hamilton. Smolinski icing the puck with an open net in the last minute - just the kind of thing that comes back to bit a team in the rear, to steal a classic line from The Saviour - although he was there to make sure it didn't happen. Markov seems intent on replacing Souray as a defensive liability (see the Pens second goal). Cover the open man in front of the net, Andy!

What we can blame the refs for: Even though the PP's were 5-2 in favour of the Pens, the refs really only made two mistakes: Crosby clearly made no effort to avoid contact with The Saviour while in the crease on the 1st goal. "But he was pushed" is always the excuse - I'm sure when he was hit by Hamrlik on the right side of the crease, it meant he couldn't recover 5 seconds later on the left side of the crease...you know, as opposed to when he's getting hammered driving to the net but still manages to keep skating. Don't get me started. Plus they missed the obvious high stick of Old Man Roberts on Big Tits. Although the Whitney penalty was clearly bogus, from the replay.

Chez Paree bound? With The Saviour on their shoulders. Gui! stays on the bus, keeping Georges company.

10 Lap Dances (out of 10): This isn't a reflection of the Habs dominating the Pens (it could have gone either way). Except that in 20 years, (hopefully) Habs fans will look back and remember this as the start of the rebirth of the Stanhely Cup winning days of the Storied Franchise, as The Saviour fulfilled even the most optimistic prognostications during his first game. That rates a 10 on its own. Plus, you know, they won and everything.

NEXT EVIL FOE: Saturday against the Canes. The Canes are evil because of Justin Williams' blatant, unpenalized high stick on Saku Koivu. And no, we haven't gotten over it, as it directly resulted in the Habs elimination. Also, what the f@#$ was the Stanley Cup doing in Carolina? Seriously, Lord Stanley is still rolling over in his grave (wherever that may be over in England). Plus, everyone says Cam Ward is from Sherwood Park. It's EDMONTON, people. If I made the NHL, I wouldn't say I was from Cote St Luc instead of Montreal. But then again, that's just because I would never want to be associated with Red Fisher in any way.