Game Review: Habs TD+ Convert (FG), Sens 1 / Game Preview: Sakuuuuu!

29 teams in the NHL use these as sleeping pills...

... the Sens wish they were cyanide tablets for use during intermission

While last night wasn't the snoozefest that I thought it would be, I still found it to be a hard game to watch. Had it been the Bruins, Leafs, Flyers or, heck, even the Rangers, I would have rubbed my hands with glee over every goal and cackled with delight when the Sens were getting "hey hey goodbye-ed" in their own fucking barn.

The problem is that I harbour no real ill-will towards the Senators. They, much like the city they call home, are like that geeky kid that lives next door: always trying to hang out with the big boys, but never be able to fit in 'cause he's not cool/athletic enough. He gets on your nerves because he tries so damned hard, but his efforts are usually laughable. His heart's in the right place, though, so you feel bad for picking on him so much.

The geeky kid looks strangely like a Spartan, er... "Centurion" that I remember having seen somewhere before...

Watching the Sens in their prolonged death spiral this season makes me sad for their fans. I know what it's like to watch the team you love find new and creative ways to suck every night.

So, Sens fans, pretend that last night's game was Kovy's tribute to Saku. He got his team to play like the Late 90's/Early 00's Habs with which Koivu was saddled for most of his tenure in Montreal.

Does that feel better?

No? Ass still smarting from the spanking that you got from a team that either can't score or that inevitably chokes on any commanding lead it manages to get?

Oh... My bad.

Moving right along, then...

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I'm not sure what else to say about this game that hasn't already been said before by people far more eloquent than I.

So I'll just say this: If the Canadiens are the lifeblood of Montreal, then Saku was our heart for many years. And, although we've all had to move on (and, by and large, are the better for having done so), he'll always have a special place in our hearts.

Saku, even though you said yesterday that don't think your name belongs in the rafters of the Bell Centre, I think you're dead wrong. You showed everyone in this cynical, money-grubbing league filled with zillionnaires for hire that sometimes, what you do off the ice is more important than the final score of any game.

Welcome home, Saku Koivu.

Puck drops at 7:00.

Comments/Memories/Tributes? Talk about 'em in the comments... And, while you're at it, why don't ya go and vote for Saku as first star of the game so that we can thank him together one last time?