Leafs Lose Against Habs

The Toronto Maple Leafs were facing the Montreal Canadiens in a Saturday Night showdown between the 2 teams. It was a battle of 2 teams going in different directions. The Leafs winning 6 of their last 7, and the Habs playing their worst home hockey since 1968. It was sure to be a good game.

The 1st goal of the game went to the Canadiens, as Saku Koivu snapped a 12-game scoreless drought with goal off Hal Gill's skate. The Leafs then pressured all period to get the goal that would tie it, but they couldn't get it passed Carey Price, who was playing amazing. The shot total was 13-6 in Toronto's favour at the end of 1 period, but the Habs still held the lead.

Then the 2nd period started. The 2nd period had been a place that the Leafs had dominated all year, scoring a league-high 44 goals in the 2nd. But that was not the case in this game.

Early in the period, Saku Koivu scored his 2nd of the game to give the Habs a 2-0 lead, and the effects of the game a day before, were starting to show for the Leafs. They let the Habs have consistent pressure in the zone, playing almost a penalty kill system, but 5-5. Eventually, the Canadiens scored again, when a shot from the point from Mike Komisarek was tipped in by Andrei Kostsitsyn. Going into the 3rd period, the Habs had a 3-0 lead.

It was more of the same in the 3rd, as Alex Kovalev added to the lead before a late goal by Devereaux cut the lead to 4-1. Then, with the game virtually over, Bryan McCabe went down after receiving a check from Kostsitsyn, and went straight to the dressing room. What the Maple Leafs trainers found was not good.

After the game was final, at 4-1, the trainers found 3 breaks in McCabe's hand. The earliest he could come back is in 6-8 weeks. Toronto coach Paul Maurice was livid, saying Kostitsyn horse-collared McCabe and threw him into the boards.

"He's too good a player to miss that much time after a (expletive) play like that," he said.

But in the other dressing room, it was a much happier feeling. Saku Koivu ended a 12-game scoreless drought, and the Habs ended a horrible winless streak at home.

"When you don't score and there's a lot of talk about not scoring, getting that first goal was a big relief," said Koivu. "But this was more about getting that win on home ice. We played well for 60 minutes and, when you play well defensively, it gives you a chance to win."

The Leafs will now play Tuesday against the Ligtning, while the Habs will play the Panthers on Tuesday.

Canadiens Sink Hurricanes

Although it has been a long time since my last post, I'm still watching the sports world. Yesterday, I saw a great game that I had to cover.

The Montreal Canadiens were facing the Hurricanes in Carolina. But it didn't look like the Canes had a home-advantage, as Montreal scored 5 goals in the 1st period, to give them a 5-1 lead! From there on, Montreal just held back and kept the lead. Both teams traded goals in the 2nd, and Carolina got 2 i the 3rd, but the Canadiens ended up on top to win 7-4 for!

The key to the game was the Canadiens powerplay. Montreal scored five power-play goals, four in the first period, en route to its third straight victory. The Canadiens have scored eight of their NHL-best 16 power-play goals in two games in Carolina, both wins.

When Montreal coach Guy Carbonneau was asked what was working for the Canadiens with the man-advantage, he answered, "everything."

"There are no secrets to it," Carbonneau said. "We have guys that can move the puck and make plays. You can pass it around for two minutes, but you can't score if you don't shoot it. That's all we did. Just by shooting the puck a lot, it opened other options."

Montreal will now play Pittsburgh in the Saturday Night Hockey game tonight.

Leafs Get 1st Win Against Habs

The Toronto Maple Leafs have high expectations for this season. They are expected to make the playoffs for the 1st time in 2 years, and contend for the Cup. But before yesterday, the Leafs didn't even have a win. They were looking to change that against the Canadiens.

The game started out fast, as Mathieu Dandenault scored on the Leafs just 2:43 into the 1st. But Toronto answered back quickly when Ian White scored his 1st of the season . The goals were just 2minutes a part! In the 2nd, the Habs once again opened the scoring when Andrei Markov scored a short-handed goal to give the Canadiens the lead. Montreal then padded the lead near the end of the 2nd with a goal from Andrei Kastsitsyn. But the Leafs wouldn't go into the break down 2 goals, as a bad play from Huet led to Alexei Ponikarovsky's 1st goal of the season. In the 3rd, Ponikarovsky struck again, firing the puck past Huet from the slot to tie the game up. The game would be scoreless from there until overtime.

In the O.T period, each time had it's share of chances, but it was the Leafs who capitalized on those chances. They had a powerplay late in the period, gave the puck to Kaberle, who scored his 1st goal of the season to win the game 4-3.

"Finally," Leafs forward Alexei Ponikarovsky said Saturday after the 4-3 overtime win over the Montreal Canadiens. "We worked hard for it. The first two games we've been working hard but we didn't get the results we wanted."

Both teams look great, but in the end, it came down to goaltending. Vesa Toskala was the best player in the game and stopped shot after shot.

The Leafs will look for their 2nd win of the season against the Hurricanes on Tuesday.

Remembering John Ferguson Sr.

John Ferguson Sr., one of the 1st real enforcers in the NHL died yesterday in his home in Windsor, Ontario.

The 68 year-old defended all of the great Canadiens of the 1960's. He got in his 1st fight just 12 seconds into his 1st game in the NHL! ''He was tough, he wanted the best for his teams, his teammates and his players, and his country, and would stop at nothing to try to help them win. His fight against cancer was every bit as fierce as his competitive drive on and off the ice.''

But he was more than just an enforcer. He scored 20 goals 2 times in his career. He scored 145 goals and 303 points in his career while tailing up 1,214 penalty minutes. He won 5 Stanley Cups in his playing career.

After retiring from playing hockey in 1971, Ferguson pursued his coaching career. It didn't take him long to get a job, as he was an assistant coach on the famous 1972 Canada team. He then spent a short time as the head coach of the New York Rangers, and then became the GM of that same Rangers team. He later was GM of the Winnipeg Jets of the World Hockey Association and, starting in 1979, the National Hockey League. Later, he worked for the Ottawa Senators in the early 1990s and was a Special Consultant to the General Manager of the San Jose Sharks.

His son, John Ferguson Jr. followed in his dad's footsteps becoming the GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs. ''My father battled cancer with the same spirit in which he played the game of hockey,'' Ferguson Jr., said in a release. ''He showed courage, strength, class and tremendous character. He had deep appreciation for the support he'd received from so many people beginning with his initial diagnosis."

A beast on the ice, but nothing short of a gentleman off it, Ferguson died at 68. A 2nd battle with prostate cancer took his life.

John Ferguson Sr. (1938-2007) ''My father's spirit will continue to live on in all of us whose lives he touched.'' - Ferguson Jr.

What Can You Do?

It's seems things can't get any worse for the Montreal Canadiens . After missing the playoffs for the 1st time in 2 years, the Habs looked to get better offensively and get a substitute for Sheldon Souray during the NHL free-agent signing period. But that plan is very quickly falling a part for Bob Gainey and the Montreal Canadiens.

After the 1st day of July was done (which was the 1st day of free-agency), almost all of the big names in the free-agent market were gone. Daniel Briere signed an 8-year, $52 million with Philadelphia, Chris Drury and Scott Gomez both signed on with the Rangers, Ryan Smyth went to the Avalanche and Jason Blake signed on with Toronto. Other notable signings include Paul Kariya going to the Blues and Brian Rafalski to the Red Wings.

But where you might ask are the Canadiens in this signing frenzy? Your 1st reaction might be that they didn't try for anyone, or at least didn't make a very good try at anyone. But this is where we get to the problem. The Canadiens did try for some of players, and they made good offers as well. So good, that they offered more money to Ryan Smyth, Paul Kariya and Quebec boy Daniel Briere than they signed for.


These players all signed lucrative contracts, and to think that the Habs offered more money is mind boggling. So what is the Habs answer to this problem, that players don't want to play in Montreal? Well, to the dismay of Habs fans everywhere, there isn't one. The Canadiens can't help it, if players don't want to learn french. The Canadiens can't help it, if free-agents sign for less money, than what they offered.


So the Habs plan to upgrade their offense is gone, but what about their defence? Well the Habs where so caught up in trying to sign offence, they missed out on all of the big defence men. Rafalski as I already told you went to Detroit, Matthieu Schneider went to the Ducks and Scott Hannan signed with Colorado. So the Canadiens solution to Sheldon Souray's is..., Roman Hamrlik? Yes the defence man who was supposed to be the best thing since sliced bread, and then never developed signed with the Habs for 4 years and $22 million! It was quite evident to the world that they Habs signed him for to much, but what happened next was a shocking blow too Montreal.

Sheldon Souray, who was supposed to sign for $6-7 million in either the free-agent market or in a contract extension with the Habs ended up going to Edmonton for 5 years and $27 million! Do the math and Hamrlik, a liability offensively and not much better on defence will make $100,000 more than Souray!

Now, Montreal couldn't of seen the massive under payment of Souray coming. But really, the Habs free-agent troubles are getting embarrassing.

Samsonov Shipped to Blackhawks

In the 2006 NHL off-season, the Montreal Canadiens signed Sergei Samsonov to a multi-year, multi-million contract after losing out with Bill Guerin. But after a very disappointing season with the Canadiens, Samsonov was traded today.

The 28-year old who once scored 29 goals in 1 season was a healthy sratch for 18 games of the Canadiens season. Samsonov, a Moscow native had just nine goals and 17 assists in 63 games.

He was traded to the Blackhawks for defenceman Jassen Cullimore and forward Tony Salmelainen.

Bob Gainey talked about the trade and Samsonov's disappointing season. ''Considering we didn't have plans for Sergei Samsonov in our organization for next season, our options were either to buy out his contact or to trade him in order to allow us to save valuable cap room over the next two seasons,'' Gainey said in a release.

Samsonov will be a welcome addition to the Blackhawks, who have a lot of young talent ready to break out.

The Price is Right

Right now, life is good for 20 year old Carey Price. He just won the Calder Cup with the Hamilton Bulldogs (the Canadeins Farm Team) and was named MVP of the series. He has been heralded as the savior for Montreal in the net, and has drawn comparisons to Patrick Roy and Ken Dryden already. An NHL scout has been quoted as saying "Price will be a Michael Jordan at his position". But what is the next step for Price.

The #1 spot at goalie is unknown for the Montreal Canadeins for the '07-08 season.
After a break-out year in '05-06, Cristobal Huet played average hockey in the '06-07 season. David Aebischer, who came over in the Jose Theodore trade had a chance at the starting job last year, but played poorly giving up 3.17 goals per game in 28 games. Finally, Jaroslav Halak made his debut with the Canadeins last year and played well going 4 games over the .500 mark. Right now Price has a huge chance of taking the starting job.

But none of these goalies seem ready to take the starting job in Montreal and play consistent. The players who have the most experience out of those 4 are David Aebischer and surprisingly, Price. Aebischer made it to the playoffs many times with the Colorado Avalanche, and Price just won the 2nd biggest prize in hockey. It is unlikely though that Price will take the starting job at his young age. "Nothing's going to be forced," Trevor Timmins, the Canadiens director of player recruitment and development, said Friday. "We'll just take it step by step .

"I've always preached patience ever since I got to Montreal. We can't be impatient with a young goaltender, especially, because most of them don't come into their prime until their late 20s."

This is a growing trend in the NHL. Many teams have young goalies who are being labeled as the next big goalie. Players like Justin Pogge, Kari Lehtonen and Tuukka Rask are all young goalies that are going to be or have already been thrust into a pressure situation in the NHL at a young age

We'll just have to wait and see what is going to happen over these next 4 months with not only Price, but goalies all over the league.