Tout ça, c'est bien beau, mais...

On ne m'enlèvera pas de l'idée que les trois meilleurs joueurs de la série entre les Flyers et le Canadien ont été, dans l'ordre :Lachance, Lepotow et Biron. Place maintenant aux finales d'associations, la série Detroit Dallas semblant, sur le papier, plus alléchante que Pittsburgh Philadelphie.
La chasse au Bouc Émissaire, proche du Bouskachi afghan, n'est pas encore ouverte. On peut donc y aller de pronostics. Ma prévision: 1 Streit, 2 Markov, 3 Higgins; hors concours Ryder.
(G.E.)

NHL : post mortem (2)

For entertainment value during the coming week, one will pay particular attention to the "Rondelle libre" articles by "La presse" Mathias Brunet, the man who, after Game 1 of the series against the Flyers, called Gainey's decision to trade Huet to the Capitals "courageuse et géniale" -"courageuse", it is, more than ever; "géniale" ? Slightly less, though the outcome would most likely have been exactly the same, if Huet had remained in Montréal : his own series against the Flyers strongly hints at it- and unblinkingly explained that, with hindsight, some teams would have chosen Price over Crosby at draft time.

Let us hope the Canadien elimination does not send him into depression on the "injured list".

(PM)

NHL : happy post mortem.

For the sadistic, or masochistic, Habs fan -can a Habs fan not be the one or the other, or both?-, the best is still to come, as the Montreal media, whose sales and ratings bonanzas have come to an abrupt end one month earlier than prayed for, embark on a "take-no-prisoners" hunt for scapegoats.

A prognosis ? Escape most scapegoats to be foreign and Price to be -relatively speaking- spared, not due to an unlikely sense of decency by his last week worshippers, but because it would reflect badly on Gainey.

NHL: official start of the golf season in Montreal.

Does that mean we now have to watch the World Hockey Championship ?

Why were the Montreal newspapers free golf supplements distributed this weekend ? Men of little faith... and still less elegance.

(PM)

NHL : wishful thinking.

During the week, some Habs analysts came to regret Huet had been traded to the Capitals: they though he would have come handy as a back up to Price.

Well, great, but who would have told Huet he had been demoted to back up status for the end of the regular season and the series ?

How motivating would have been this show of defiance for the goalkeeper ?

How eager would he have been to try and save the day for a team which would not signe him to a new contract and which had hit his value on the market by reducing him to number 2 status ?

(PM)

NHL : stats blues.

The playoffs prove at least one thing : a goalie's stats are only as good as his opponents are bad.

Price's stats looked great against the Bruins : was there any real scorer in Boston ?

Huet's, against the Flyers, looked rather like of "the guy can't deliver when it matters" type .

The Habs fans have since discovered there are enough real scorers -and even more real spoilers- among the Flyers to send their boy wonder netminder into Messiah's -and therefore stats'-trouble.

Not to mention Lundqvist, Theodore... and possibly Biron if the Habs rise in the next twenty minutes : it is presently intermission 2 of Game 5 between the Flyers and Montreal.

(PM)

CFL : Alouettes, Alouettes...

Did you notice the Alouettes' ad campaign in the Montreal subway ?

I did not see Anthony Calvillo among the players highlighted on the poster...

Could it be there is a second version of the poster I did not see or could it be a not oversubtle message... ?

(PM)