Thursday, October 29, 2009

Cup Champs Continue Hot Start


Discussion in FHF headquarters late last night:

HF29: Listen, HF4 and I were at ball hockey and missed the whole thing. Who saw it?

HF10: Mini-HF10 2.0 has the croup. I spent most of the night trying to get him to sleep. Oh, and since the free NHL Centre Ice preview is over and I don't have RDS, I couldn't have watched anyway. Panger?

Panger: You volunteered to do it earlier this week, so I didn't watch with my usual analytical goalie awareness. And I have depositions all day so I can't write anything now (random spelling mistake).

HF4: I'm busy. What are we going to do?

HF29: Okay, okay calm down. We'll just post a classic FHF ... no one is gonna know the difference.

Cup Champs Teach Pens a Lesson; Canadiens 6 Pens 1

With the World Series over and the Yankees returned to baseball's summit, the NHL season is starting to pick up steam, with the defending Cup champs already off to a roaring start. And why not? After all, they feature the most marketable and arguably best player in the league (some would plump for another, but they'd be wrong), a bevy of other high-scoring, MVP and Art Ross worthy talents, an all-world goalie and a third line shutdown player who is the envy of every other team in the league. Frankly, with the champs rolling like this, it wasn't going to be a good night for a rebuilt squad starting their back-up on the road.

Fresh off a four game winning streak that featured a come-from-behind win against the Goal-a-Game line Rangers and two wins over the Islanders and their hot-shot rookie goalscorer (mark my words, that Bossy kid can score although his skating needs work ... if the Isles keep that young core together and get a veteran final piece, I see them contending for Cups in the next 3-5 years), the Canadiens rolled home to face a Penguins squad that is in transition; Pittsburgh has made some wholesale changes over the summer, and while their offensive talent looks promising and their goaltending has potential, their defence lacks an all-star presence and might be an Achilles heel.

The Canadiens are not without their own minor troubles, as a manufactured goalie controversy looks to rear its head yet again. Look, we understand that people love Bunny Larocque, and yes, his numbers look superior to Dryden right now. Bunny is an ideal back-up who can win games and even get on a hot streak and carry the team when needed. But Dryden is a big, rangy, calm and cool goalie and the future of this franchise. Now that he has that silly law career notion out of his head, expect him to be manning the nets for Montreal for at least another decade. Bunny is a good little goalie, but his upside doesn't come close to matching Dryden.

Tonight the goalie issue was a moot point, as the defending champs got a hat-trick from Lafleur and one each from Cournoyer, Mondou and defenceman Bill Nyrop. Dryden stopped 17 Pens shots and was only beaten by Pittsburgh second-liner Jean Pronovost on a rare 5 on 3 man advantage. Based on their play tonight, the defending champs are still the ones to beat, with two Art Ross candidates in Lafleur and frequent linemate Lemaire, another potential big-time scorer riding shotgun on the wing in Shutt, wily veteran Cournoyer, and talented defenders like Robinson, Savard and Lapointe in front of Dryden. They will battle the Bruins and Flyers (and possibly the fast starting Sabres) for class of the Prince of Wales conference again.

As for the Penguins, a new coach and a big turnover in the dressing room won't immediately make fans forget a decade of playoff near misses and disappointments. No one really knows what to expect from this team, and they may need a third of the season to figure it out. Based on last night, they are clearly not up to the level of the defending champs, but few teams are. However, they are battling every night and fans seem to be warming up to them.

Next up for the Canadiens is a date with former Habs goalie Tony Esposito and the Blackhawks on Friday, followed by a meeting with the Leafs on Halloween night. No doubt the bombastic loudmouth at the head of the Leafs organization will have something to say (as usual).

16 comments:

Guillaume Theoret said...

Check out ustream.tv (Search for Montreal or something when the game is on) if you want to stream games for free.

It's usually pretty crappy quality and it can sometimes end up rebuffering a lot but hey, it's free.

Young HF29 said...

/ begins slow golf clap.

the Falkland Islands tag is a real bonus

fezworth said...

IMHO, this could be the best game review you've done, 10.

For a little while, I even felt happy.

Robert L said...

Kiss the greatest Jewish band ever?

With an SS logo?

Wait, wasn't Ace Frehley a Nazi?

BJ said...

is that a picture of the fhf in halloween costumes? i like the one with the tongue. is that you 29?? on saturday i'm going to a great party. it's a toga party. i'm wearing my favorite pillow case. its a little short but it doesnt matter. oops, i guess i'll have to wear underwear!! Lol!! maybe i'll see ya'll there.
hugs
xoxo

Rob said...

I would take bunny Larocque any day over ''Dollar $ign''(but never ever Dryden). Ahh... the good old days, when The Flower and Shutty and Lemaire coasted and owned the inside circle. When the Road Runner ran and ran and ran and from time to time actually ran into the net...ahh...them was the fucking days having big lanky fucking defencemen who couldn't skate (yes that includes Big Bird) but didn't matter. When free-wheeling and end to end took 9 seconds and meant running the obstacle course of big guys littered around the ice like giant pylons on a defensive driving course. Ahhh.. those were the days when you could actually tell if a goalie was 5 ft 8 and 175lbs becasue he didn't have enough equipment to hide behind. Ahhh... those were the days when blocking a shot meant everyone on the ice face first. Ahhh...those were the days when the guy behind the bench actually had a system and the guys playing understood it and applied it...for fear of being beaten by a verbal spew of epic Bowman scale..ahh those were the days...anyone seen my kiss album around?

BJ said...

I don't know why I'm telling you all this but I just got my dream job in Europe and they don't have internet there. I fly out this weekend and I have no idea when I'll be back. Do they have hockey in Europe? I'll miss you all.

hugs
xo

GoldenGirl11 said...

I clicked on the pic and it zooms in considerably for anyone who wants to check out JM's crazy long tongue.

bea.habs.fan said...

after last night, I really needed a pick me up
and more than usual FHF came thru.

you've made my day.

(images of FHF as Kiss may haunt me forever - cant decide whether it's a good thing or not)

GoldenGirl11 said...

@bea
Kiss is not FHF, it's your coaching staff. It explains why JM doesn't smile that much. Has to keep that huge tongue in his mouth.

Kmaxx said...

BJ - Not much hockey in Europe - European Ice Hockey but very little NHL. Get an internet connection - this is the 21st century for christsakes - then stream the habs o Justin TV or ADTHE - feed vary but it gives you options!

Anonymous said...

Wow. That review is simply great, even for FHF standards. It's something very special among the many awesome things posted here. Thanks for investing the time and dedication for me!

Senators Lost Cojones said...

Ooh, you guys have a headquarters too?

Is it built from couch cushions, cardboard, a couple of ratty blankets and a dead hobo just like mine?

p.s: Falklands tag = gold

moeman said...

GG11s photoCHopped Cammalleri with sweet sideburns is fucking hilarious. Is that Gui! in the bottom right quadrant?

WV = poload, as in the short version of porn-load (screengrabbed for the non-believers).

GoldenGirl11 said...

@Moe
It takes so little to make you happy. Glad you enjoyed

Anonymous said...

Where is the half naked men on your site? They do not deserve equal time so that it can be pleasing to the women who enjoy hockey and hot bodies as well? I enjoy your site much. gracias