Thursday, July 16, 2009

The Morning Skate takes a closer look at the schedule for Thursday, July 16th

Well as you all know by now, the NHL schedule was released yesterday. Here's the entire season for the Habs. Motherfucker, there's a lot going on there.

First off, we're still not sure about the Olympic Stadium cash grab celebration of hockey. The Caps are scheduled to play here November 28th, but there's no indication (yet) that the game is at the Big Owe. We'll keep an eye on that.

Leafs! Habs! Opening night on HNIC in Tronna. Should be fun. Habs open with five straight on the road, including a West Coast swing? That's fucking bizarre. Look for Panger and the rest of the FHF Calgary crew October 6th. Home opener is October 15th against the Avs. We've got the December 4th game against the B's that's the official 100th anniversary.

We'll see Kovy for the first time in Montreal October 17th and Higgy October 24th. Dou$harek gets mercilessly boooed for the first time October 31st. Saku won't be coming to visit, but we'll go see him March 7th.

The schedule is actually pretty brutal 'cause of the Olympic break, but it will be the same for everyone. 12 times we'll play 3 in 4 nights. Twelve! That's fucking ridiculous. Fifteen back to back nights. But at least the home-away balance is better than last year. The longest road trip is 7 games over Christmas, including the Florida swing. Hang on to your purses, ladies!

Check your watch games include a 5 PM start New Year's Eve in Florida, a January 3rd matinee against the Sabres, and the usual Super Bowl weekend double matinee.

All in all, not too bad for the Habs. Around the league, there's some other interesting stuff like Fenway, Stockholm, and Helsinki, but we don't give a crap about the rest of the league, right?

26 comments:

Ian Vitro said...

I hope the classless fucks that seem to be the majority at the Bell Centre keep a handle on the booing for Higgins. He doesn't deserve it.

Kovy doesn't either, but I don't really care as much.

Cumisarek on the other hand is going to get beer cups thrown at him and shit. Fuck him.

Navin Vaswani (@eyebleaf) said...

Komisarek is going to run wild on your midget Habs on opening night. It's going to be oodles and oodles of fun.

Lukestar said...

I would LOVE to see BGL devastate a certain traitorous fucking pigdog defenseman on halloween, but chances of that going down are minimal. Possibly one of his much cheaper replacements could pound his face in, that would be acceptable and equally as embarrassing.

As for the sked, twelve times we play 3 in 4 four nights!?!? That IS ridiculous... nearly half the schedule. TOUGH. Anyone checked it out in enough detail to know how that ranks in comparison to other teams? I'm guessing Van must have a pretty brutal road trip in there somewhere as they prep The Garage for 2010...

Young HF29 said...

@lukestar - Canucks have 14 straight on the road. 8 before the break, 6 after. yikes

Boob Gainey said...

@eyebleaf

Indeed. Komi is the second coming of Todd Gill.

You won't win many games though.

Which is the point.

Lukestar said...

Sweet...nothing better than living in Van and watching Canucks fans and local media bail off the bandwagon and shit all over the team after a particularly nasty road trip!

Hopefully the Habs display here on Oct 7th is a little better than last year's snoozefest/shitstorm (although I'm a little sketchy on the details beyond the midpoint...I just remember it sucked).

Sonia said...

Rather than someone pounding Dou$harek, an even better scenario would be to see him made a giant fool of. I think it would hurt him more.

Like the time Komisarek (when he was still called that) intercepted a Bryan McCabe pass & went up the ice for a breakaway goal. A lovely moment, that. Only this time, the part of McCabe would be played by Dou$harek...and his pass would get intercepted by Hal Gill for the breakaway goal. Ooo yeah!

Habsfan10 said...

@ Sonia:

The only way Hall Gill is getting a breakaway is if everyone else on the ice falls down in the Habs zone just as he is coming out of the penalty box. Even then, he might get caught.

Tom said...

Why do the Habs always seem to travel at Christmas? It would be nice for those of us who don't live in Montreal to be able to go there and see a game once we're off for the holidays.

When does Koivu come back?

Sonia said...

@HF10 - a girl can still dream, can't she?

@Tom - Saku doesn't come back this season unless the Habs & Ducks meet in the finals, and the likelihood of that happening is about the same as Hal Gill getting a breakaway.

Doogie2K said...

Where will the FHF Calgary crew be meeting? I missed it last year.

L Dude said...

I agree Higgins and Kovy shouldn't be booed. Especially Higgins since he was traded. You could make a case for Kovy for choosing the Sens. But it's not like they're any good, so what's the point. Kovy will get a mix of cheers and jeers I'm sure.
Woulda been nice to see Saks back. Next year maybe.
Can't wait to watch the game on Hallowe'en! Wish I could be there, but will be BOOing along from NB.

Tom said...

"Saku doesn't come back this season unless the Habs & Ducks meet in the finals"

Send the schedule back, and rejig until Koivu gets a game back in Montreal.

Rédaction said...

Kovy is probably going to get a standing O before the game, and when he scores. But that love is only going to last for one game. We won't boo him.

If Higgins is as invisible as last year, odds are he'll barely touch the puck, therefore wont get booed.

And we were softies with Chara compared to what we'll give to Dousharek.

kevincrumbs said...

@Tom: I believe the circus is always in town during the Christmas period, hence the Habs' roadtrips.

f komisarek said...

@kevincrumbs

actually, the montreal canadiens are always in florida for xmas because the montreal community is also always in florida for xmas.

it's easily the biggest revenue generating game for the panthers all year.

Boob Gainey said...

Eklund claims Marleau for Pleks.

Impossible. We don't have the cap space.

Young HF29 said...

@Boob - e0.00000001

James said...

lol yeah that would be a really good move by the Sharks... trade your star captain who's coming off a career year for an underachieving midget center. Praise be Eklund!

Boob Gainey said...

Sharks need to make room for Heatley.

Maybe a 3way:

Pleks + --> Sens
Heater --> Sharks
Marleau --> Habs

Rédaction said...

@Boob: in Brian Murray's attempt to recreate the 2008 Habs?

moeman said...

Go Pants!

moeman said...

Speaking of clothing, if Pleks comes back and plays like last year, I am buying one of these .

Sonia said...

@moeman - See, this is why I don't like the nickname ZombiePleks. Zombies are scary. While Pleks, well, you just want to give him a lollypop, tug on his pigtails, and send him on his way.

Number31 said...

The schedule is like an AHL schedule. I think the kids would be used to it but the millionaires might freak.

And if they didn't throw the Habs into Florida over Christmas, the Panthers and Lightning would probably fold a lot quicker...

But hey, the Stars appear to be coming to town! BOOOOO MICKEY RIBS BOOOOOO! (Just practicing)

Bryan Driscoll said...

Oct 6th! Oct 6th! Oct 6th! Oct 6th!