What's up with all this Jekyll and Hyde stuff? Habs 8 - Wild 1

Dr. Gio and Mr. Gomer a.k.a. GG11 really is a friggin' GENIUS!! 

I know, I know, the big story is HOLY FUCKING SHIT!! THE HABS SCORED 8 GOALS! PFK GOT A HATTY! WHITE GOT A GORDIE HOWE HATTIE! CHICKEN HAS A PULSE!! WOO HOO, BABY, ÇA SENT LA COUPE CÂLICE!!

*smacks herself*

Forgive me if I act a little bit like a Debbie Downer this morning... I'm increasingly worried about the fact that the Habs' season is looking like one "en dents de scie" - that is, up and down.  Every time I think that they've kicked this habit, it comes roaring back.  One game they're flying, the next, they need to be relegated to the trash heap.  One day they're kicking ass, the next, they're getting their asses kicked. One night they're the windshield, the other night they're the bug.  One night they're the Louiville slugger...

... Okay, you get my drift.

I'm not smart enough/enough of a hockey analyst/delusional enough explain the Habs' Jekyll and Hyde routine.  I just see the pattern and it worries me because the one thing I do know is that inconsistent hockey kills teams in the playoffs.

That used to be my biggest gripe about Carey Price - his lack of consistency.  Funny that he became consistent (I don't count Friday night's performance as anything other than a sign that the kid needs to rest fer chrissakes) right at the same time many of his teammates began to falter in that regard.

Call me a consummate worrier (I am, thanks to my father who has elevated it to an art form), but the fact that, in a free-for-all game in which goals seemed to come at will, the (backup) goaltender had the same number of points as Gomer and Gio is cause for pause for me. 

I'm not blaming Gio for this.  I am looking squarely in another direction... Gomer has been the Acme Anvil around his linemates' neck for almost every single Habs game this season.  His points production-per-minute is laughable, his work ethic questionable.  Although what little I know about the guy leads me to think he's a good guy and well liked in the locker room, (unlike some of the Habs' previous Anvils), I think that the time has come for him to watch a few games from the pressbox.  

Yes, I know he's a pro athlete and should be able to figure it out on the ice. Yes, I agree, his speed and playmaking ability are amazing.  Yes, I know it's not his fault that he got offered a crazy contract. All of these things may be true, but, while he's searching for his game, far too frequently he's dragging his linemates, and sometimes even the team, down with him.  

I really hope that we get the Gomer we saw in the playoffs back in time for this year's run at the Cup.  That would be a Jekyll and Hyde story with which I could live - Dr. Jekyll eradicates his demons once and for all in time to save the day etc. etc. 

I'm not counting on it anymore, though.

But, in order to leave you on an appropriately happy note after a thoroughly enjoyable win, behold (from Squid's Twitter feed):

No, seriously - ain't he the cutest? I just wanna pinch his cheeks... 

This ebullient and nattily dressed young man, with a grin going from ear to friggin' ear is the future of the franchise peeps.  Fuck the antiquated haters who think that joyful exuberance and a cocky attitude have no place in pro sports. Your lineup for extinction starts to the left behind PJ Stock - I'd say Don Cherry, but he's too short to act as a point of directional reference.

Besides, it's clear that his teammates are always willing to cut him down to size:

Squid sez: "Boys didn't [sic - fucking iPhone autocorrect] Luke his tie though"

The future of the franchise is in good hands. I just hope that it doesn't get buried beneath a lack of consistency.