Toronto 5 - Montreal 4 (SO)

The Bell Centre in Montreal was electric yesterday, as every time the Toronto Maple Leafs are in town. A sea of white and blue shirts from Toronto was in the building, screaming as loud as the home crowd. Toronto had a fast start and not even 5 minutes in the game they were already leading 2-0.

Down 4-2 halfway in the 3rd period, the Montreal Canadiens found a way to get back in the game (again), Sheldon Souray pleased the crowd and tied the game at 4-4 with a heavy slap shot that got past Jean-Sebastien Aubin.

The overtime didn't solve the tie and in the shootout each team sent 7 skaters to finally declare a winner, the Toronto Maple Leafs thru Kyle Wellwood.

Defensemen Thomas Kaberle of Toronto scored 3 goals and added 1 assist. Sergei Samsonov of Montreal scored 2.

Montreal's No2 goaltender David Aebisher didn't look good on the 4 Toronto goals but at least played well in the 2nd half of the 3rd period, saving the game (and 1 point in the standings) on a few occasions after Montreal tied the game at 4.

St-Louis Cards: 2006 World Champs.

The baseball season ended yesterday and the St-Louis Cardinals are the 2006 World champions. They have defeated the Detroit Tigers 4-2 and won the series in 5 games.

This is the 10th championship in St-Louis franchise history, their last World Series was acquired in 1982. David Eckstein was declared the World Series MVP. Manager Tony LaRussa has won his 2nd title and is only the 2nd manager to ever win the world title in both National and American leagues, the only other manager to accomplish this was Sparky Anderson.

A great way to inaugurate their brand new Bush stadium.

In extremis!

The Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins were in a 2-2 tie late in Boston yesterday and with 1.2 seconds left in the 3rd period, Andrei Markov scored the winning goal in a dramatic fashion on the power play to give Montreal a 3-2 victory.

This loss is dramatic for the Boston Bruins as they lose again a chance to get at least a point in a game that they should've won. A stellar performance from Montreal's goaltender Christobal Huet (picking up the 1st star of the game) is the main reason of this Boston loss as they stand in last position of the Northeast division.

Buffalo is still perfect

The Buffalo Sabres kept their perfect record intact tonight as they shutout the New-York Islanders 3-0 tonight. With a 10-0-0 record,they are without any doubt the team to beat this season, everything seems to click...

Who will stop them???

Buffalo 4 - Montreal 1

Janne Niniimaa's prediction was way off as the Buffalo Sabres defeated the Montreal Canadiens easily 4 - 1 yesterday. Buffalo's perfect record is still intact this season as they have yet to lose a game. Buffalo's record is 9-0-0.

Now we are sure that Janne Niniimaa will never be a successful medium.

Niniimaa predicts a Buffalo loss tonight

Montreal Canadiens defensemen Janne Niniimaa said today that he predicted the first loss of the Buffalo Sabres tonight in Montreal. This declaration to the press should motivate Buffalo players even more now and the article could be pinned in Buffalo's lockeroom.

Let's see if Niniimaa is right tonight. Montreal receives Buffalo at the Bell Centre.

Montreal 8 - Colorado 5

Jose Theodore had a very difficult evening yesterday, giving 4 straight goals in the 3rd period and the Montreal Canadiens won the game. Theodore wasn't able to protect the quick 3-0 1st period Colorado Avalanche lead.

On the other side, David Aebisher wasn't very impressive either. Shledon Souray scored 2 goals again and added 2 assists.

Jose Theodore back in Montreal

Tonight the Montreal Canadiens receive the Colorado Avalanche and Jose Theodore will play his first game in Montreal since he has been traded to Colorado. Theodore said he can't wait for the game to start. Another ex Montreal Canadiens is in the Colorado lineup.

Patrice Brisebois will play his first game in the Bell Centre since traded to the same Colorado Avalanche team. Brisebois took some time yesterday to donate 50 000$ to a Montreal children hospital.

Chicago 2 - Montreal 1

The 2nd game in 2 nights in Chicago for the Montreal Canadiens winded out in a 2-1 loss in regulation. Only Chris Higgins managed to beat blackhaws' netminder Nicolai Khabibulin picking up a solid win.

First loss in regulation for Montreal this season. David Aebisher did well in the losing cause.

Montreal 5 - Calgary 4

A very exciting matchup yesterday ended in another Montreal Canadiens win, this time 5-4 over Calgary. Radek Bonk scored 2 goals, Sheldon Souray added 2 goals himself with 2 heavy slaps from the blue line and late in the 2nd period Alex Kovalev scored what was the winning goal of the game.

Evgeni Malkin to start wednesday

Young rookie phenom Evgeny Malkin will play his 1st NHL game wednesday says the Pittsburgh Penguins. Malkin separated a shoulder in the 1st pre-game when he collided with teammate John LeClair.

The Carbonneau effect.

An eventful game for the Montreal Canadiens home opener ended in a shootout again this time a 3-2 Ottawa win.

Chris Higgins opened the score shorthanded (already his 2nd shothanded goal this year) and sparked the cheers in the crowd. Montreal led 1-0. Ottawa got 2 goals during the 2nd frame and led the major part of the contest 2-1. Also a long fight that Aaron Downey dominated gave a good pace to the game. Then late in the 3rd Sergei Samsonov scored his 1st as a Habs tying the game and giving a point in the standings. Overtime didn't solve the 2-2 tie.

''The Carbonneau effect''
After 4 games the team totals in Penalty killing is 1 goal allowed in 24. 95.8%.

This is a major factor, explaining the team's place in the standings. 6 points out of a possible 8. Guy Carbonneau is and will be for a long time a very successful coach. He already blueprinted his DNA into this team and the effects are immediate. To be continued...


***Personnal ranting***
Christobal Huet's focus is WAY OFF! He allowed 2 goals because he made basic errors, and made those errors all game long. The kind of stuff I knew when I was a pee-wee... don't take off that damn skate off that damn post AND my hockey stick is not a decoration, keep it square on the ice!

P.S. I love you Christo I know you can make them all, your mechanic is sound. Just focus please.
Go Habs Go.
:)

Montreal Canadiens home opener

Tonight the Montreal Canadiens opens their home season against the Ottawa Senators in the Bell Centre. Montreal has made 5 points out of a possible 6 after their first 3 games and Ottawa is still looking for their first points as they lost their first 4 games of the season.

Head coach of Montreal Guy Carbonneau announced that Christobal Huet will get the start in goal.

Corey Lidle crashes in a building

New-York Yankees pitcher Corey Lidle was on board of his own plane yesterday and crashed in a 50 stories building in Manhattan, New-York. An early report says that there are 5 people dead. Lidle had around 75 hours of flight experience and sent a distress beacon before crashing.

This accident brought the 9/11 events back to the memory of some of the New-York residents.

Joe Torre will stay one more year.

After the New-York Times announced that Joe Torre could have coached his last game with the Yankees, the team owner, George Steinbrenner announced himself that Joe Torre will be there for the 2007 season with the Yanks.

Nice try New-York Times!

The end for Torre?

Yesterday the New-York Times announced the New-York Yankees coach Joe Torre was fired and would be replaced by Lou Pinella.

At 66 years old and 4 World Championships with the Yankees under his belt, Joe Torre has probably coached his last game this week. The last championship is already 6 years old and during the last months the idea of retiring must`ve been constant. He coached some fantastic baseball rosters, some of them even questionned if they were the best Yanks ever.

Good luck Joe.

Schumacher 8th title in smoke

Suzuka, next to last race of the F1 2006 season. Schumacher and Alonso tied for the driver championship. Schumacher starting from pole and coming back from a big deficit to tie the championship. Everything was pointing at a Schumacher win and possible 8th title.

Schumacher led the race from the start and was looking good. I was ranting inside myself about looking at another boring Shumi win. Then badluck struck...right after his last pitstop his Ferrarri engine exploded ending his race and giving 1st place to Alonso and a 10 points advantage.

Now with only 1 race to go and a 10 point deficit, Michael Schumacher`s hopes to win a 8th title are next to none. His last Ferrarri engine failure dated from 2001... but this one will sure leave a bad taste in the mouth of the champion who was drooling over the tought of a 8th F1 driver championship title.

Carbonneau gets 1st win

Guy Carbonneau wins his 1st game as head coach of the Montreal Canadiens. His reaction after the winning goal was nice...a big smile,the game puck handed by Michael Ryder as many came to shake is hand congratulating him for breaking the ice.

They have defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs in a shootout 3-2. The first 2 games of the 2006-2007 season for Montreal have been decided in the shootout.

After 2 games Montreal has 3 points out of a possible 4 in the standings.

Montreal Canadiens` false start

Leading 4-2 late in the 3rd period the Montreal Canadiens have left the Buffalo Sabres get back in the game and Maxim Afinogenov scored with 14 seconds to go to tie the game 4-4. Buffalo won the game in the shootout.

For Montreal, Saku Koivu scored 2 goals and Chris Higgins scored 1 goal and added 2 assists.

Game on!

The NHL season is underway and yesterday 3 matches were scheduled.

Buffalo defeated the Stanley Cup champs Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 in a shootout.
Ottawa Senators defeated Toronto Maple Leafs 4-1.
Dallas Stars defeated Colorado Avalanche 3-2 in overtime.

Don Matthews quits

The Montreal Alouettes` head coach Don Matthews quitted his job today in a very cowardly way...letting the team president announce it without being there himself. And even worse, the reason for his departure are the same as when he left Edmonton in 2000...health problems.
But those ``health problems`` of 2000 weren`t serious or life threatening so he accepted the head coach job in Montreal.

If you ask me, the actual ``health problems`` are as serious as the 2000 ones...total bullshit.

I personnally am glad to see that Don Matthews quits, even with the record of most wins in the CFL in history, his talents as head coach are doubtful, his charisma inexistent and how about his magnificient 2002 song: What time is it? It sucked.

So Don, guess what time is it now?

Surprise trade

The Montreal Canadiens have traded Mike Ribeiro and a 6th round draft pick to Dallas Stars for defensemen Janne Niniimaa and a 5th round draft pick. The need of a regular defensemen for the start of the season dictated Bob Gainey`s decision.

The trade itself sounds good...nobody robbed the other part.