Alcine-Simms fight almost official.

Yesterday at 18h00 after long negociations between GYM (Groupe Yvon Michel) and Don King have been concluded and the WBA title fight between Montreal's own Joachim Alcine and american Travis Simms will take place. Rumors say that the fight could take place right here in Montreal in next april. The purse bid scheduled for next February 2nd has been suspended.

The reason why the negociations have taken so long was because Don King wanted the rights to the next Alcine fights if he was to defeat Travis Simms but Groupe Yvon Michel rejected that option.

Begin, still hurt will not start vs. Pittsburgh

Steve Begin has met the press yesterday about his eventual return in the lineup and has declared he is about 85% after yesterday's free practice. So he will not face the Pittsburgh Penguins this week. Begin has now missed the last 8 weeks of play due to a back and a leg injury.

''Right now my starts look just like Guillaume Latendresse's starts!'' said Begin in a joke as Latendresse was walking in the lockeroom, making everybody including the press laugh.

He said that he could make a return sunday but this is still uncertain. The decision will be taken by head coach Guy Carbonneau.

Inspired by Dryden...

The Montreal Canadiens scored 3 unanswered goals in a 2:24 span in the 2nd period to defeat the Ottawa Senators by the score of 3-1.

The whole team seemed to be inspired by the pre-game ceremony of the retiring of Ken Dryden's jersey as they played a solid game. Sheldon Souray, Mark Streit and Tomas Plekanec scored for Montreal. Only Chris Phillips of Ottawa managed to score against winning goaltender David Aebisher who was very efficient all game long.

With the win, Montreal leapfrogs Ottawa once again and grabs back the 4th place of the Eastern conference, one point in front of Ottawa.

Number 29 of Dryden retired tonight.

Tonight at the Bell centre in Montreal before the game between the Montreal Canadiens and the Ottawa Senators will be the retiring of number 29 of Ken Dryden, a legendary goaltender in the history of the Montreal Canadiens.

In his short but eventful career, Dryden won the Stanley Cup 6 times, participated in the 1972 Canada-Russia series. In 397 matches, Dryden won 258 games, lost only 57 games and 74 ties. He also has 46 shutouts and a goal against average of 2.24.

In his 112 playoff games, he signed 10 shutouts and held a goal against average of 2.40.

Federer grabs his 10th Grand slam

Roger Federer defeated Fernando Gonzalez in straight sets of 7-6 (7/2), 6-4, 6-4 and wins his 10th Grand slam title of his career. His domination of the ATP tour is fantastic; during the tournament, Roger didn't lose a single set in any of his matches in this year's Australian open. Only 3 players in history has won a grand slam tournament without losing a set before Roger Federer: Ken Rosewall in 1971 in Melbourne, Ilie Nastase in 1973 at Roland Garros and Bjorn Borg in 1980 at wimbledon.

With this title, Roger is now only 4 grand slams titles away from Pete Sampras' record.

Leafs defeats Habs

Coming back from the all-star game break the Montreal Canadiens shot themselves in the foot yesterday by allowing 3 power play goals to the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Air Canada centre in Toronto. The contest ended in a 4-1 Leafs win.

Mats Sundin scored once and Pavel Kubina twice as both scored on the power play. Tomas Plekanec was the only Montreal player to score against winning goaltender Andrew Raycroft of Toronto.

The Habs with this loss combined to the Ottawa Senators victory yesterday slips to the 5th place of the Eastern conference.

Serena, easily!

Serena Williams easily defeated Maria Sharapova by the score of 6-2 and 6-1 in the finals of the Australian open. This victory is her 3rd australian title and it will skyrocket Serena from 81st place to the 14th place on the WTA tour.

Serena's 8th Grand slam title will do a lot of good to her confidence as she was injuried more than her fair share in the past 2 years.

Fernando Gonzalez to the final

Tommy Haas did not offer much resistance to Fernando Gonzalez in their semifinal of the Australian open which ended with the score of 6-1, 6-3 and 6-1.

Gonzalez will have to face Roger Federer in the final of the event. Federer have never lost a match to Gonzalez so it will be a very difficult task for the 26 year old player.

Federer too good for Roddick

Roger Federer ended Andy Roddick's hopes to win the Australian open in the semifinals easily by the score of 6-4, 6-0 and 6-2. This is Federer's 7th Grand slam final in a row, tying a record old from 1934 held by Jack Crawford. That stat alone reveals how dominant he is on the men's tennis tour.

If Roger wins the title on sunday, his Grand slam title count will be at 10, only 4 away from Pete Sampras' record of 14 Grand slam titles.

His opponent will be known tomorrow between Tommy Haas and Fernando Gonzales.

Serena Williams gets to the finals

American tennis superstar Serena Williams has won her semifinal match at the Australian open against Nicole Vaidisova 7-6 (7-5) and 6-4.

Serena already won the australian event twice (2003 and 2005) and she will face number one seed of the tournament, Maria Sharapova who defeated Kim Clijters 6-4 and 6-2 in her semifinal.

In the mens doubles, the road of canadian Daniel Nestor ended in semifinals.

Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan (1) defeated
Mark Knowles/Daniel Nestor (3), 2 6, 6 3, 7 5

All-star game tonight

Tonight in Dallas, Texas is the 55th edition of the NHL all-star game.

The very best of the NHL will be on the ice tonight and among the Eastern conference stars there will be 2 players from the Montreal Canadiens: defensemen Sheldon Souray in his 2nd participation and goaltender Christobal Huet at his very first all-star game appearance.(both in white shirts on the image)

19 other players are at their first appearance. Among them: Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin, some Quebecquers like Daniel Brière, Philippe Boucher and Yanic Perreault are also at their first appearance.

Fernando Gonzalez surprises Nadal

Fernando Gonzalez eliminated Rafael Nadal in straight sets of 6-2, 6-4 and 6-3 in his quarterfinal match of the Australian open.

After the contest, Nadal said he wasn't perfectly confortable running in the match to explain his 3 sets elimination. The last time Nadal lost in straight sets was in the 2004 U.S. open.

Fernando Gonzalez will now face Tommy Haas in his semifinal match.

NHL all-star game activities begins tonight

Tonight in Dallas,Texas home of the Dallas Stars,will be the very popular NHL all-star game hability contest between the very best players of the Eastern and Western conferences of the National Hockey League.

Different conpetitions will be showcased such as the fastest skater, hardest shot, breakaways, precision shots and barrage of shots for the goaltenders.

A very popular contest that is appreciated by the fans. So don't miss it tonight at 7 PM EST.

Roddick advances to semifinals of Australian open.

Andy Roddick defeated Marty Fish today 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 in his querterfinals of the Australian open, the first Grand slam tournament of 2007.

Roddick (6th seed) is now waiting for the winner between the excellent Rodger Federer (1st seed) and Tommy Robredo (7th seed).

Canadian Daniel Nestor and his doubles partner Mark Knowles advances to the doubles semifinals.

Parcells says goodbye to Dallas.

Bill Parcells quits his head coach duties with the Dallas Cowboys after 4 seasons and a 34-30 record as the Cowboys head coach ending a brillant and successful career.

At 65 years old ,Parcells has 19 years of experience in the NFL , went 3 times to the Super bowl and won 2 super bowls with the New-York Giants.

Good luck Bill.

Colts edges the Patriots

The AFC Championship game kept it's suspense all the way to the end as Joseph Addai of Indianapolis scored the winning touchdown with just over a minute to go to give the Indianapolis Colts the lead for the very first time in the contest, and the victory, 38-34 over the 3-time champions New-England Patriots.

So everything is set for Super bowl XLI on February 4th in Miami. The Indianapolis Colts vs the Chicago Bears.

The Chicago Bears advance to Super Bowl XLI

The Chicago Bears defense forced the New-Orleans Saints offense to commit 4 turnovers in the game and advance to Super Bowl XLI with a 39-14 victory in the NFC championship game at Soldier field in Chicago.

After taking a 16-0 lead, the Bears saw the Saints come back in the game with the 81-yard touchdown run from rookie Reggie Bush to get back at 16-14 but key fumbles sunk the last hopes of the Saints.

The Bears head coach Lovie Smith becomes the first afro-american head coach in NFL history to conduct his team to the Super Bowl.

Habs hangs on...

The Montreal Canadiens barely held on after taking a 3-0 lead to finally defeat the Buffalo Sabres 4-3 at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

After taking an early 3 goal lead, the Habs saw the Sabres come back in the game. Daniel Briere scored 2 goals to help Buffalo even up the score. And with under 3 minutes to go in the 3rd period,Michael Ryder scored the winning goal making the crowd explode in a burst of joy.

With the victory, Montreal is giving themselves a breather and takes back the 4th place in the NHL Eastern conference still 9 points behind the 1st place Buffalo Sabres. The NHL now is taking a break for a few days and will present the all-star game this week.

Today's picture

A canadian pope would look like this....

Breaking the bad habit

Montreal's goaltender Christobal Huet stopped 44 of the 45 shots he faced to help the Montreal Canadiens defeat the Atlanta Trashers 4-1 in Atlanta.

Alex Kovalev scored the first goal of the game that gave enough momentum to the team for the lenght of the game. Sergei Samsonov who was scratched from the lineup in the team's last game, ended his 17 game drought and finally scored a goal. Guillaume Latendresse played well in Kovalev's company as he picked up 2 assists in the game. Sheldon Souray and Thomas Plekanec both scored on the power play.

The next game for Montreal is the last game before the all-star game break and the Habs will face the Buffalo Sabres.

Funny picture of the day

The only man on earth with 3 knees....

Vancouver 4 - Montreal 0

The Vancouver Canucks easily defeated the Montreal Canadiens 4-0 at the Bell Centre in Montreal yesterday. The Habs have lost 9 of their last 12 games, a disastrous streak where the team lost its 4th position of the NHL Eastern conference to the Ottawa Senators.

Head coach Guy Carbonneau tried to spark the club by scratching defensemen Craig Rivet and forward Sergei Samsonov. But the result was the same...they lost without giving a real fight.

Today's funny picture

The new definition of Hole-in-one...

Work ethic is missing...

The Montreal Canadiens offered another weak and shameful performance in Detroit city yesterday as they were defeated by the Detroit Red Wings 2-0.

The problem that is puzzling the Habs staff is not losing to the wings, the problem is to offer to your coaches a no-show, without any fight and effort especially after the coaches has warned them with a meeting and an intense practice this morning.

Goaltender David Aebisher did just enough but lost. He showed on the first goal of the game in the first period that his glove hand is not his primary talent... but even if he was to be perfect yesterday, the score would've still been 0-0. The 4th place of the NHL Eastern conference could now slip out of the Habs' hands pretty soon, as the team lost many of it's last games over the last month.

Next game for the Montreal Canadiens: the Vancouver Canucks.

Funny picture week

I decided to post 1 sport related funny picture a day and comment.

Let us sing together!
"There's a little McDonalds in everyone!''


Now out of the way quick!



More seriously, I would like to add that making exercice regularly is one way to avoid such extreme obesity. If you have obesity problems do not hesitate to get help around you to motivate, plan, detail every step and schedule with you.The breakfast is pivotal in anyone's day. A good choice of bread,cereal,fruit,cheese and milk to compose your meal will reduce the 10:00 AM craving by 50%.

Preparing meals (and only 3 of them a day) and choosing nutritive ingredients is a daily routine that nobody can afford to neglect. The "I don't have the time excuse'' really should't apply, unless scheduling is impossible, the benefits in energy and productivity will be automatic.

The Saints are coming!

I had the U2/Green Day hit on my list of favorites songs lately, and with all the mess Katrina left behind, the only thing coming in my mind after viewing the victory of the New-Orleans Saints over the Philadelphia Eagles this weekend was ....

The Saints are coming, ...the Saints are coming! :)




New-Orleans Saints' young superstar RB Reggie Bush will get a taste of the NFC Championship. In their way... The Chicago Bears who defeated the Seattle Seahawks in overtime 27-24. The 2 teams will give a great show and this will definatly be a championship game.

But my favorites are those Saints!

Ottawa 8 - Montreal 3

After the last game everyone agreed around the Montreal Canadiens staff that a better performance was needed against the Ottawa Senators to expect a win,but the result was awful for the Habs... ending in a 8-3 schooling.

Losing goaltender Christobal Huet allowed 6 goals and was pulled away from the slaughter in the 2nd period.

Montreal scored 2 quick goals (Higgins and Rivet) as the score was 6-0 for Ottawa to make it 6-2 but it was too little too late.

The 3-game road trip ends with a stop in Detroit to face the Red Wings.

Montreal 4 - Philadelphia 2

Not pretty but a win, is a win, is a win. The Montreal Canadiens defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 4-2 in the city of brotherly love.
The Habs played so-so and did just enough to win. For one, Chris Higgins did well with 1 goal and 1 assist. Winning goaltender David Aebisher was at the image of the team... uncertain.

The Habs will have to play better if they expect to win in Ottawa and Detroit, the next 2 games remaining on the road trip.

On the Flyers side, yesterday marked the return of Peter Forsberg, but nobody rushed at the gates... his health and the last place in the NHL Eastern Conference does not thrill anybody. This is definatly the bottom of the barrel for this franchise.

Montreal 4 - Atlanta 2

The Montreal Canadiens have defeated the Atlanta Thrashers 4-2 at the Bell Centre. The Habs got rid of the losing streak and of flu virus that affected the team, the staff deinfected all the equipment and all the players were back healthy yesterday.

Montreal took the momentum of the game losing 2-0 late in the 2nd period when Thomas Plekanec scored the first goal of the team. then 0:46 seconds in the 3rd period Guillaume Latendresse scored on a nice pass by Michael Ryder. Ryder then scored the 2 last goals of the game, including the game winner.

Next 3 games of Montreal will be on the road, in Philadelphia, Ottawa and Detroit.

New-Jersey 3 - Montreal 0

Martin Brodeur and the New-Jersey Devils have defeated the Montreal Canadiens 3-0 at the Bell Centre. Koivu and Latendresse were back from their flu absence, but nobody could beat the flamed masked legendary goaltender.

Brodeur was helped a bit by his friends, the posts, as Montreal players hit a total of 3 posts without putting one puck in. Losing is becoming a bad habit for the Habs as they lose another sequence of 2 games in 2 days in the last 10 days.

Losing goaltender, Christobal Huet did good but no goalie can win without offensive production from his team.

N-Y Rangers 4 - Montreal 3

The New-York Rangers defeated a sick Montreal Canadiens team 4-3 at the Bell Centre. The flu has touched the team and a few starters missed the game unable to play. Sheldon Souray scored on the power play again to give the fans hope with a 3-3 tie in the 3rd period but the Rangers came back and beated losing goaltender David Aebisher a 4th time to win 4-3.

Tomorrow is another matinee game for Montreal against the New-Jersey Devils.

World Junior Hockey Championships-final

Canada wins a 3rd straight gold medal today as they score 4 goals in the 1st period of the gold medal game vs Russia. Cogliano , Little , Toews and Marchand scored for Canada to give them a early 4-0 lead 1st perios lead.

Canada finishes with a perfect 7-0 record in the tournament.

They controled the pace of the game and Russia replied with only 2 power play goals to the final score of 4-2. Jonathan Toews with 1 goal and 1 assist was named player of the game. Goaltender Carey Price was named goaltender of the tournament. Price played all the games for Canada, allowed only 7 goals in the 6 games he played.

For Russia it is the silver medal. USA won the bronze medal match against host team Sweden.

Congratulations to the Canadian players and coach Craig Hartsburgh for the gold medal.

World Junior Hockey Championship-semifinals

In the 1st semifinal of the day, Canada faced USA.

Leading after 2 periods, USA saw defenseman Luc Bourdon of Canada score with a heavy shot from the blue line on the power play halfway thru the 3rd period. The score then tied at 1-1, USA got a power play in overtime but Canada's goaltender Carey Price shutted the door. The game was exciting and the shootout period was not started.

In the tie-break shootout,after many goals by each team, needeing extra shots, Jonathan Toews scored his 3rd goal of the shootout and Carey Price blocked the last american shot to give Canada a 2-1 win.

In the 2nd semifinal, Russia faced Sweden.

In the 2nd period Russia scored 3 unanswered goals to take a 3-1 lead. The Russians are fast and a good player like Makarov show very good stick handling in this game. A real test for the canadian team.

The 3rd period showed a 4-1 Russia lead, they allowed a goal but cruised to the victory of 4-2.

Semifinals:
Canada 2 - USA 1 (SO)
Russia 4 - Sweden 2

USA will then face Sweden for the bronze medal tomorrow.
Canada faces the very dangerous team of Russia for the gold medal.

Only a small slide...

The Montreal Canadiens stopped their bad streak defeating the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-2 at the Bell Centre.

Thomas Plekanec scored 2 goals and linemate Alex Kovalev scored too. Their line, along with Sergei Samsonov were too often silent but yesterday they were hot. Using their speed, they created a ton of chances all game long. Christobal Huet did good in net and adds a victory to his record.

The Habs, still 4th, keeps up a good pace in the NHL Eastern conference.

World Junior Hockey Championships-quarterfinals

The 4 remaining teams are known for the 2007 WJHC as the quarterfinal matches are over.

Quarterfinals:
Sweden 5 - Czech republic 1
USA 6 - Finland 3

For the semifinals, Sweden will play Russia. Canada faces USA in their semifinal. Everything points at another classic Canada-Russia showdown for the gold.