Ooh, baby, the puck has dropped: The Habs went 1-1 in their first week, losing a squeaker in Toronto before pulling out a comeback in Pittsburgh. They were missing key players, including sniper extraordinaire Mike “Ferrari” Cammalleri, but there’s lots to be happy about, like the solid play of Carey Price. Eric, Pat and Tal experiment with a new and improved format for the latest podcast. We discuss our take on les Merveilleux’ play so far and give great nicknames to some of our favorites. We agree the team needs to score more goals but can’t agree on how. One thing’s for sure, we love the play of PK “Prime Time” Subban – no matter what Don Cherry says.
It’s finally here, people! The first drop of the puck in the 2010-11 NHL season. Mike Cammalleri marked the occasion by getting suspended for the first game Thursday night in Toronto. It’s only one game, but the topic got plenty of mileage from the Three Habmigos (we’re working on the nicknames, we promise). Discussing everything from Cammy’s suspension to the Gionta captaincy to their season predictions, Pat, Eric, and Tal covered a range of topics and refused to hold back.
So take a listen and share your thoughts and opinions. At the very least, we’ll hopefully figure out the proper pronunciation of Lars Eller’s name.
Ah training camp. The one time in the hockey season where the individual performances are actually more important than the final score. It’s in that spirit that we’ve come together once more to record another Habs podcast.
Just an hour before Pierre Gauthier and Jacques Martin made their first round of cuts, the three sages (Pat, Eric, and Tal) came together to discuss what they have seen so far and what they expect in the near future. In typical Tal fashion, Aaron Palushaj was cut by the Habs barely an hour after T. Pinch predicted he would push for a final roster spot. So you might want to ignore his advice the next time you play the stock market.
Nevertheless, this pre-season has already been ripe with intrigue. So just two weeks before opening night, les boys come together with plenty of discussion and a whole lot of booing. And not all of it for Carey Price.
It’s about that time, people. That post-Labor Day period when anyone with a pair of shinpads suddenly starts chiming in with their prediction for what will happen in the upcoming NHL season. And why should we be any different?
Predicting what the Habs would ultimately do last season was next to impossible. Especially with half a roster’s worth of new players coming into le Centre Bell. This year should be less difficult to predict, but no less intriguing. With wunderboy Carey Price now entrenched as the team’s number-one keeper, the season could hinge on the play of one of the most-hyped players in franchise history. Throw in the unknown intangibles surrounding young players like Lars Eller, PK Subban, and Dustin Boyd and the 2010-11 season has all kinds of intrigue.
As usual, each of the three gentlemen behind the latest HabsRadio podcast have divergent opinions on where les Habitants will end up this season. Listen to their thoughts on the season and be sure to chime in with your own thoughts on how les boys in bleu, blanc, et rouge do this season.
Habs are through, just as we all expected, right? Sure. You think Gary Bettman is happy about this? How about NBC? The Habs have given new meaning to the term “refuse to lose” and the entire city is LOVING it. We try to pinpoint what it is that makes this team do the impossible, whether it will continue all the way to the cup, and how all of this might affect next year. Oh, and we go a little nuts.
What is there to say that hasn’t already been said? Here’s a team that, on paper, and in terms of injuries, should no way no how be in a position to eliminate the defending Stanley Cup champions, this after taking down the best team in the regular season in 7 games as well!
Whatever happens, the Habs have caught lighting in a bottle and it’s been an amazing run.
But one thing sticks out: How so many of the Habs have really stepped it up to a level beyond what we thought possible, and how some “champions” have reverted to boy status. So here, on a slow day, is a totally subjective list of the MEN vs BOYS in this series:
THE REAL MEN
1. Hal Gill: Playing mucho-minutes, shaking off the early-season boos, and doing nothing less than holding down the two best players in the game. Yeah, Hal is MAN #1. If he pulled himself out of Game 6, it’s because the pain threshold was just too much. Which means it would be enough to make us mere mortals faint. And he’s a damn leader.
2. Mike Cammalleri / Brian Gionta: These pint size forwards are getting it done down in the corners, in the crease, and in front of the net. And no one has an answer for them yet.
3.Jordan Staal: Coming off a foot laceration? Are you kidding me?
"I don't hurt, I swear"
4. Josh Gorges: This guys bangs into the boards, into the corners, smacks into the goalpost, and he just shakes it off, over and over again. He’s the energizer bunny / indestructible pop up toy. Seriously – I think you would need to hang some garlic around your neck and drive a wooden stake into his heart for him to even realize what pain feels like. This guy is unbelievable.
5. Jaroslav Halak: He’s a “small” goalie, but he shakes off net crashers, team-wide doubt, Carey Price’s “Franchise” status, and the crazy pressure of never having played in the playoffs…what heart. WHAT A MAN.
6. Bill Guerin / Max Talbot / Chris Kunitz: They go about their business quietly, cleanly, with class and calm. All are banged up, Guerin more so, and they deserve the manly salute.
7. PK Subban: He was in Hamilton two weeks ago. He played 30 minutes last night. He also stuck to Crosby like glue, in the absence of Hal Gill in Game 6. Talk about stepping it up.
THE WEE BOYS
1. Sidney Crosby: Yeah, he’s a champ. He’s a national hero. And the face of the NHL. He also still lives with the team owner. Sorry, but at his age? He whines at every call. And that cross check against Pleky after the game? “It’s only Plekanec” says the champ. What a gutless dick.
"But I Wanna the Puck"
2. Sergei Kostitsyn: The whole team hates him now. What a pity.
3. Matt Cooke: Crosby without all the talent. Or charm. Or usefulness. Go away already.
And tomorrow night, we hope for the best in what will be a Game 7 classic for sure.
But no matter what happens, the MEN listed above, and so many more, have proved themselves worthy of their sweaters, and the adulation they’ve been getting from their hero-starved fans.
This is just plain fun. Somehow, some way, this team has taken Montreal by complete surprise and absolutely captured the imagination of the entire hockey world. It seems no matter what they face, they find the way to bounce back from it. Heart epitomized. But now with both Markov and Spacek out, facing the Staal-less Pittsburgh Penguins, they’re up against an arguably bigger challenge than even the Washington Capitals. Can they really keep it going?
For our first official Playoff Podcast, we turn up the intensity a few notches and are pretty much at each other’s throats for most of the show. You gotta hear it to believe it. Somehow amidst the fire, we manage to delve into how the Habs lost control of the series so suddenly, who starts in nets for game 4, and who starts on D: O’Byrne, Bergeron, or … Subban?
Now that the Annual Bass Ackwards Habs Playoff Push has finally ended, we take a moment to review a year that has been everything but boring and turn our attention to the only season that really matters. Enjoy…
It’s finally here, people! The first drop of the puck in the 2010-11 NHL season. Mike Cammalleri marked the occasion by getting suspended for the first game Thursday night in Toronto. It’s only one game, but the topic got plenty of mileage from the Three Habmigos (we’re working on the nicknames, we promise). Discussing everything from Cammy’s suspension to the Gionta captaincy to their season predictions, Pat, Eric, and Tal covered a range of topics and refused to hold back.
