The Pack goes 6-1!

The Green Bay Packers have increased their season record to 6-1 with a dramatic 19-13 overtime victory versus the Denver Broncos at mile-high stadium in Denver yesterday for the classic Monday Night Football match.

Brett Favre completed a 82 yards touchdown pass to Greg Jennings in overtime to finish the game in a spectacular fashion. The Pack is now in great shape in their division standings and are tied at 6-1 with the Dallas Cowboys for the best record in the National Conference.

Goooooooooo Pack!

(Picture: Brett Favre, Canadian Press.)

The Red Sox sweep the World Series.

The Boston Red Sox have swept the Colorado Rockies 4 games to 0 and have won their second world series championship in recent years.

Yesterday, a 4-3 victory clinched the title for the Red Sox. And to think that just 8 days ago, the Sox were losing the AL championship series 3 games to 1 and were on the brink of elimination in front of the Cleveland Indians. But just like every great team, they found a way to regroup and win the crucial games.

For the Colorado Rockies it's a heartbreaker to lose that close to the world title. After winning 21 of 22 games, the Rockies went blank against the powerful Red Sox pitcher rotation. The Sox strenght was the Rockies weakness and the World Series slipped away from the Rockies.

So congratulations to the Boston Red Sox, the 2007 World Champions!

(Picture: Canadian Press)

4 wins in a row.

The Montreal Canadiens extended their win streak to four consecutive games yesterday as they defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 after the shootout session.

The Habs looked like they were away with an easy one early during the second period when Michael Ryder scored the third goal for Montreal, giving the Habs a 3-0 lead. But the Penguins started to play better and cutted the lead to 3-2 before the second period was over.

The Penguins tied the score at 3-3 when Ryan Whitney scored with under 2 minutes to go to the 3rd period. Nobody managed to score a goal during the overtime period, so a shootout session was necessary to decide of a winner.

During that shootout period, both goaltenders played very efficiently. None of the eight players that Carey Price faced managed to score a single goal on him. On the other side, Dany Sabourin did as good as Carey Price but finally allowed a goal to Andrei Markov, the eight player to face him.

Carey Price stopping eight players in a row in yesterday's shootout reminded me of last year's World Junior Championships semifinal match versus the United States where Price stopped an impressive number of players in a row during that shootout to help Canada get to the gold medal match.

This young goaltender is a true gem, only a few mens can achieve such a level of goaltending.

Only a few mens...

(Picture: Canadian Press)

The Habs are on a roll.

The Montreal Canadiens played a very solid game yesterday against the Carolina Hurricanes. They erased their humbling loss against the Canes in Montreal last week by scoring nothing less than five goals during the first period to win the game by the score of 7-4.

The highlight of the evening? Montreal's power play units once again. After yesterday's game, the club shows a 32.7% success rate on the power play, clearly on top of every NHL teams this season.

Yesterday, the Habs scored nothing less than 4 power play goals during the first period, tying a club record established in 1983. The five power play goals in a single game also ties a club record. The last time they scored 5 power play goals during a game was during the club's golden era in 1975. After two games with the Canes at the RBC centre in Raleigh this season, the Habs show an impressive 8 for 16 (50%) on the power play.

Tomas Plekanec exploded for 4 points yesterday, 2 goals and 2 assists. The young veteran is showing a great consistency this season and will probably register the best season of his career. Plekanec's improovement was constant over the last 3 seasons and now the club is harvesting the fruits of his efforts.

Tonight there is no rest for the club as they travel to Pittsburgh to face Sidney Crosby and the Penguins. Carey Price will start in goal for Montreal, the 3rd start of his young career.

Can the Habs keep the winning streak alive?

(Picture: Tomas Plekanec, Canadian Press)

The Red Sox in command.

The Boston Red Sox are now in a good position to win the World Series as they defeated the Colorado Rockies 2-1 yesterday to take a 2-0 series lead over the surprizing Rockies.

Veteran starting pitcher Curt Schilling of the Red Sox only allowed one point early in the game yesterday but then closed the door. Schilling's career post-season career record is impressive: he has a 11-2 record and a 2.23 ERA in 19 post-season games.

The series now moves into Colorado for games 3 and 4 of the world series. The Rockies now needs at least two wins to tie the series up or the Red Sox will wrap up this championship pretty quickly.

The Rockies' cinderella story is about to turn into a nightmare.

(Picture: Curt Schilling, Getty images)

Forsberg: coming back or not?

Peter Forsberg is currently free as a bird. He could sign with any NHL team he wants. His choice will strongly depend on who has a real shot at the Stanley Cup this spring.

At 34 years old, Forsberg has said being tempted to make a comeback with either the Colorado Avalanche, his former team or the Ottawa Senators, who are considered a serious Stanley Cup contender. That is of course if he ever comes out of his retirement.

Forsberg played in his career for the Quebec Nordiques, the Colorado Avalanche, the Philadelphia Flyers and the Nashville Predators last season. Some rumors say that Forsberg is looking for a 3-year deal, complicating his arrival with the Ottawa Senators who are close to their salary cap currently and still with a player like Jason Spezza to sign in a long term contract.

Let's see if Forsberg will sign a contract during the next month.

(Picture: Getty images.)

Habs dismantle the Bruins 6-1.

The Montreal Canadiens have let their scoring problems aside for one game and exploded in a 6-1 victory over the Boston Bruins.

Despite only shooting 18 times on Boston's net, the Habs managed to take a comfortable 3-0 lead after 2 periods. Then the third period allowed Montreal to attack at will, grabbing 3 more goals. Alex Kovalev, Saku Koivu and Tomas Plekanec have contrubuted to the attack with 2 points each.

The first star of the evening goes to goaltender Christobal Huet. Without his solid play during the first two periods, Boston would've been much more in the game.

Montreal has won their last 2 games as they defeated the Buffalo Sabres 4-2 saturday. Can they go on a roll?

(Picture: Canadian Press)

Kimi Raikkonen is champion!

This 2007 championship had one more trick in it's bag during this last Grand Prix. The Interlagos, Brazil racetrack was the theatre of the exciting conclusion of the drivers championship.

Leading on points before the start of the race, Lewis Hamilton once again experienced a catastrophic race. Last week, a tire prevented him for being crowned. This time, an excursion outside the track made him fall nehind. From the back of the pack, Hamilton managed to climb back to the 7th position at the finish line. But those skinny 2 points were not enough for him to be crowned champion.

Kimi Raikkonen, in third place in the points standings before the race exactly needed this kind of scenario to hope for the best. Raikkonen brought his Ferrari at the finish line in first place, followed by his teammate Felipe Massa. Fernando Alonso completed the podium in 3rd but the 6 points awarded are insufficent for him to be crowned champion.

After the race, both Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso totals 109 points. Kimi Raikkonen edges both McLaren Mercedes pilots with his victory: Raikkonen ends this 2007 season with 110 points! Against all odds, Kimi Raikkonen is the 2007 drivers champion.

This completes a very exciting F1 season. Fans haven't had a real race to the championship like this one in many many years. Despite everything that might be said, I really appreciated this 2007 F1 season. The new generation of pilots is well implemented and promises many more exciting seasons.

Massa in front for tomorrow.

Felipe Massa of Ferrari will start from the pole tomorrow for the Interlagos, Brazil Grand Prix. He will be followed by the three 2007 crown pretenders.

The current points leader, Lewis Hamilton in his McLaren took the second place today, Raikkonen third, Alonso fourth.

The outcome of this 2007 drivers championship will then be decided. Can Alonso win a 3rd drivers championship? Can Lewis Hamilton manage his race to strip the crown at his rookie season? Can Massa influence the course of events and favor an outsider in this 3 way race in Kimi Raikkonen?

The story will devellop once the five red lights will be turned off...

Here are the top 10 times of the Interlagos Grand Prix:

Pole:Felipe Massa (Ferrari) 1:11.931
2-Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes) 1:12.082
3-Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari) 1:12.322
4-Fernando Alonso (McLaren-Mercedes) 1:12.356
5-Mark Webber (Red Bull) 1:12.928
6-Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber) 1:13.081
7-Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber) 1:13.129
8-Jarno Trulli (Toyota) 1:13.195
9-David Coulthard (Red Bull) 1:13.272
10-Nico Rosberg (Williams) 1:13.477

(Picture: Canadian Press)

Lucian Bute by TKO.

We witnessed a world-class fight with a happy ending tonight.

Lucian Bute (21-0-0 17 KOs) answered the call and made his dream come true right before our eyes in Montreal tonight. He is now the IBF super-middleweights champion.

Against the IBF champion, a very dangerous power puncher in Alejandro Berrio (26-5-0 25 KOs) Lucian Bute has followed his game plan and drained Berrio with effective combination punching to finally defeat the champion by TKO during the 11th round.

Faster and more effective, Lucian Bute has kept an edge on the champion, exploited his stamina and quickness advantage round after round, slowing down Berrio. The plan was crisp and clear between Bute and trainer Stephane Larouche and it worked perfectly.

Alejandro Berrio did fight forward all night long, hitting Bute with solid shots here and there but missing wildly most of the time. Bute took everything the champion threw at him and answered back with combinations and body blows.

At the 11th round, Bute threw many punches, backing up Berrio in the corner then threw 2 huge blows that knocked the champion out on his feets. Referee Marlon B. Goode stepped in and stopped immediatly the fight.

Montreal now counts 2 world champions. Joachim Alcine and Lucian Bute. The city is now well known in the boxing world and considered as one of the next big thing. Some more world champions can sum up for Montreal next year with Jean Pascal only to name him once again. (after all he is my favorite active boxer at the moment.)

Congratulation Lucian and long live the champ!

(Picture: Canadian Press.)

Elegantly executed.

The Montreal Canadiens battled valiantly yesterday against the Ottawa Senators yesterday but fell just a bit short and lost 4-3.

Carey Price was in net for the second time in his NHL career. The young goaltender allowed a bad goal early but did very well in general. The Habs battled back each and every time the Senators scored.

With just over 8 minutes to go to the game, Alex Kovalev tied the game at 3-3 on the power play giving hope to the Montreal fans. But only 24 seconds later, Tom Kostopoulos (what was he doing on the ice late in the game) commited a very bad turnover in his defensive zone, giving the puck to the Sens. Jason Spezza on the rebound didn't miss such an opportunity to score the game-winner.

All in all it was a good effort but the Habs fell short once again. Next game is scheduled saturday night as Montreal will host the Buffalo Sabres.

(Picture: Getty images)

Carey Price's new challenge.

Tonight, the Montreal Canadiens will face the impressive Ottawa Senators and head coach Guy Carbonneau have given the task to his young goaltender Carey Price.

After his successful debut in Pittsburgh, a real challenge is now handed to Carey Price. He will need to play his A-game if he wants to defeat the Sens tonight.

With a powerful attack, the Senators will probably try to test the young goalie early in the game. Price will see Dany Heatley, Jason Spezza and Daniel Alfredsson hovering around his net all night long especially if the team don't stay disciplined and takes too much penalties.

After a good start, the Habs have played poorly in front of their fans as they have been dominated by the Hurricanes then dropped a sure win against the Florida Panthers in their last 2 games. A great performance will be needed if they ever want to win this game tonight.

Habs drops a victory.

The Montreal Canadiens controlled their opponents at will yesterday but managed to shoot themselves in the foot late in the game. The Florida Panthers tied the game with 10 seconds to go to the 3rd period and finally won the game in shootout 2-1.

Alex Kovalev gave the lead to Montreal early on the power play. The team had many chances to increase their lead but failed to finish around the net, keeping their opponents in the game. Then late in the 3rd period, Mike Komisarek took a bad penalty to give some momentum to the Panthers. The Panthers didn't waste their chance as Nathan Horton tied the game at 1-1 with only 10 seconds to go to the game.

Nobody managed to score during the overtime, sending the game in a shootout to declare a winner. Kovalev, Koivu and Higgins were all unsuccessful in front of goaltender Tomas Vokoun while Josef Stumpel scored on Christobal Huet to finally give the victory to the Panthers.

What a waste...

(Picture: Josef Stumpel, Canadian Press.)

The Colorado Rockies are invincible.

Who can stop the Colorado Rockies? The team is now on an incredible streak after winning 21 of the last 22 games they played.

Yesterday, the Rockies completed the 4-0 sweep of the National League championship series against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The same thing happened in the divisional series against the Philadelphia Phillies. The Rockies were perfect as they won this series 3-0.

Now the Rockies secured a place in the 2007 World Series and they are waiting for the duel between the Boston Red Sox and the Cleveland Indians to end to know their World Series opponent.

(Picture: Getty images)

Brady and the Patriots wins a big game.

Yesterday, the New-England Patriots and the Dallas Cowboys were engaged in a clash of the undefeated. Both teams were showing a perfect 5-0 record before marching inside Texas Stadium.

Dallas showed that they could compete against such an imposing machine as they kept the game very interesting during the first three quarters of the game. Ultimately, the Patriots were just too good for their opponents... winning by a score of 48-27.

Tom Brady had an excellent game as he completed 5 touchdown passes during the game, a new personnal record. His last one, hooking up with Donte Stallworth for 69 yards broke Dallas' hopes of any comeback.

Another undefeated clash points ahead as the Pats will face the Indianapolis Colts in a couple of weeks.

(Picture: Tom Brady, Canadian Press)

The Hurricanes swept the Northeast division.

The Carolina Hurricanes were in town yesterday night to face the Montreal Canadiens. The Canes allowed an early goal to the Habs but then totally dominated the match to finally win 3-1.

Chris Higgins scored very early in the game to give the Habs a 1-0 lead but that was all the offensive output the team was able to produce. The Hurricanes took control of the game and never gave it back to their opponents.

After 2 periods, the shots on goal was giving a very good indication of where the action was taking place...into Montreal's defensive zone. The shot count showed 30-8 for Carolina at some point... If it wasn't for the Habs goaltender Christobal Huet, the game would've ended 6-1 for Carolina.

The Hurricanes end a very good road trip as they defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs, inflicted a first loss to the Ottawa Senators this season to finally beat the Habs yesterday. A perfect Northeast division sweep this week.

Watch out for the Hurricane if it comes into your town.

(Picture: Cam Ward, Canadian Press)

Why not a more constructive penalty?

As I was watching a daily sports discussion show on TV yesterday evening, a constructive approach was thrown into the discussion by one of the panelists. The show host and all the panelists seemed to agree. And I found it to be a great idea too.

I have been a hockey fan for the last 25 to 28 years, and I also noticed the increasing number of hits to the head in the NHL. Even the nature of the hits to the head have evolved. From driving elbows, shoulders and gloved punches towards their opponents heads, the tendency is now shifting towards sticks to the head more and more. A thing that was very rarely seen a few decades ago that is now making hockey headlines more and more often.

The famous Marty McSorley whack at Donald Brashear's head kind of slowly started the tendancy. Since that particular event, (only a few years ago by the way) the number of stick attacks and wild elbows to the head have clearly increased in frequency. The amount of concussions per player must've also increased as a result.

Should some of those events occured outside a hockey rink, many of those cases would've been filed in court. Prison sentences, community work and therapy would've been heard as sentences in some of those cases.

There goes the constructive idea... therapy. Why not attach an anger management therapy to every 20+ games suspension for example in the National Hockey League?

The nature of the agressions have changed, why the penalties awarded should not? Some individuals would really benefit a quality therapy in the NHL. Plus, my guess is that it would make the suspension VERY dissuasive. Some players would really think twice on the ice before swinging their stick at someone's head knowing that a therapy might await them around the corner along with the 20 or 25+ games suspension and salary cut.

(Picture: Jack Nicholson and Adam Sandler. Anger Management, Sony Pictures.)

Boulerice: 25 games.

Jesse Boulerice of the Philadelphia Flyers has received his punishment today from the National Hockey League for hitting Ryan Kesler of the Vancouver Canucks 2 days ago. Boulerice is sidelined from NHL action for 25 games as of today.

The amount of games equals Chris Simon's 25 game suspension for his ''glorious'' hack at the head of Hollweg during the late stages of last season.

The amount of games for such ugly attacks is now more important compared to past seasons, showing that the NHL punish more severely from now on. But in my opinion, some room for even more games should be considered by the league. I would agree with the league if even a full season of NHL banishment would've been given to Mr. Simon, Boulerice and Downie only to name those later ones popping into my present memory.

So Mr. Betteman, could we see even more severe suspensions to make it sink in among the players?

Jesse Boulerice attacks Ryan Kesler.

The 2007-2008 NHL season is at it's early stage and there are already some disgusting events happening in the NHL. Another example that the players don't respect each other happened yesterday in a game between the Philadelphia Flyers and the Vancouver Canucks. Jesse Boulerice used his stick to hit Ryan Kesler in the face while the Flyers were clearly ahead in the game by a score of 7-2 at the moment..

Here is a clip showing the blatent attack on Kessler:



I expect and wish for a long suspension to Boulerice. Those kind of events should never take place on a hockey rink. The NHL has given a 20 game suspension to Steve Downie just a week ago and the amount of games of penalty to Boulerice should be similar to the Downie case.

A new career has been launched.

Just like Ken Dryden and Patrick Roy, Carey Price was in net for the first time in his career against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Dryden in 1971 has begun his career at the Igloo, has won the game 5-1 and eventually won 5 Stanley Cups during his career. Patrick Roy, exactly 22 years day for day before Price was also given a first start at the Igloo. A game that Roy and the Habs won 5-2. Roy eventually won the Stanley Cup 4 times in his career.

Yesterday, Carey Price has given a very good performance at the Igloo in Pittsburgh and the Montreal Canadiens defeated the Pens 3-2. Tomas Plekanec, Alex Kovalev and Andrei Markov scored a goal each to give just enough room to Carey Price. The young goaltender stopped 28 of the 30 shots he faced yesterday evening.

The similarities with the two legendary goaltenders is stunning. Dryden and Roy were tall goalies just like Carey Price and the course of events made them start their respective careers against the Penguins. And even his white mask reminded me of Patrick Roy's debut...

The only remaining question is: How many Stanley Cups will Carey Price win during his career? Alright, I agree to say that I got carried away and it is really too early to ask such a question. But for sure there is a new hero in Montreal.

(Picture: Carey Price, Canadian Press)

Carey Price to play his first NHL game tonight.

Tonight is the night for the young 20 year old goaltender Carey Price. Coach Guy Carbonneau will give the net to his youngster tonight against Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Price has prooved in the past that he is high a quality goaltender. Last year was a breakout year for him. He carried Canada to a gold medal in the last World Junior Championships then was sent to the Hamilton Bulldogs last spring and has gone all the way to the Calder Cup championship. The next step for the young man is now to conquer the NHL.

His first taste of NHL action will include to try to stop Sidney Crosby and the Penguins. We wish him a long and successful career in the NHL.

(Picture: Carey Price, Canadian Press)

Jason Blake hit by leukemia.

The Leafs have signed Jason Blake this summer to help the team to produce offensively. This far, Blake haven't scored a goal yet but the focus today is not on his offensive production at all.

Jason Blake of the Toronto Maple Leafs has announced to the press in Toronto yesterday that he has been diagnosed to a rare form of leukemia. A slow and progressive form of leukemia that attacks the white globules of the blood.

Hopefully for Blake and the Leafs, this form of leukemia is highly treatable and he should not miss any action this season. Blake is currently taking a pill everyday to treat the illness and is followed by the team's doctor, Noah Forman. Forman assured that even with his treatments, Blake should not miss any action and should be able to perform as he normally does.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have signed Jason Blake for 5-years/$20 Millions this summer. Jason Blake scored 40 goals and 29 assists in 82 games with the New-York Islanders last season.

We wish him a speedy recovery.

(Picture: Jason Blake, Canadian Press)

Chaotic Grand Prix.

The China Grand Prix has given us an unexpected turnaround for the drivers championship. Lewis Hamilton had the chance to close the books and take home the drivers championship today.

With rainy conditions to deal with, the race started normally, without any major delay or big upset.

But as the track went dryer each and every lap, Hamilton's car was slowing down dramatically. His tires were suffering and degrading very fast in comparison to his opponents. Only a couple of laps later, Hamilton's rear right tire degraded to a point that we could even see the white strip under the rubber layer. Hamilton was losing up to 7 seconds a lap over Fernando Alonso's car. He had no choice but to stop.

As Hamilton went thru the pitlane to change his tires and refuel, his car refused to take the turn towards the pitlane and his car stayed trapped in the gravel besides the pitlane. The track crew tried to push it, without any result... The whole championship had just took a new turn (once again) at this very point. No crown for Lewis today!

After all the commotion produced by this retirement settled, Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari won the race, followed by Fernando Alonso in his McLaren in second. They both stay alive in the drivers championship. This race also marks the 200th Grand Prix victory for Ferrari. A historical plateau.

Also, a great operation was made by both Toro Rosso cars. They both scored points as Sebastien Vettel and Vitantonio Liuzzi finished respectively in 4th and 6th.

A 3-way race for the championship will be run in Interlagos, Brazil in two weeks.

Here is the China Grand Prix top 10 finish:

Winner: Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)
2-Fernando Alonso (McLaren)
3-Felipe Massa (Ferrari)
4-Sebastien Vettel (Toro Rosso)
5-Jenson Button (Honda)
6-Vitantonio Liuzzi (Toro Rosso)
7-Nick Heidfeld (BMW)
8-David Coulthard (Red Bull)
9-Heikki Kovalainen (Renault)
10-Mark Webber (Red Bull)

Drivers championship after 16/17 races:

1-Lewis Hamilton 107 points
2-Fernando Alonso 103 points
3-Kimi Raikkonen 100 points
4-Felipe Massa 86 points
5-Nick Heidfeld 58 points
6-Robert Kubica 35 points
7-Heikki Kovalainen 30 points
8-Giancarlo Fisichella 21 points
9-Nico Rosberg 15 points

Constructors championship:

1-Ferrari 186 points *(2007 champion)
2-BMW-Sauber 94 points
3-Renault 51 points
4-Williams 28 points
5-Red Bull 24 points
6-Toyota 12 points
7-Toro Rosso 8 points
8-Honda 6 points
9-Super Aguri 4 points
10-Spyker F1 1 point

(Picture: Lewis Hamilton, Getty images)

Habs blows a lead.

The Montreal Canadiens were doing fine in Toronto yesterday. As the second period was winding down, the Habs were ahead on their arch-rivals Toronto Maple Leafs by 3-1.

A small mistake by Christobal Huet while manoevering the puck around his net allowed the Leafs to cut the lead to 3-2 before the end of the second period. More importantly, it gave some hope back to the Toronto team, who really looked down and out at 1-3.

The Leafs were energized and were everywhere on the ice during the third period. They tied the score at 3-3 during the third period and forced the overtime. Montreal tried to win the game in overtime but Alex Kovalev's wild shot ringed on Vesa Toskala's cross bar. Alexei Ponikarovski scored two goals while captain Mats Sundin participated to 3 of the Leafs goals, picking up 3 assists in the game.

Finally, Tomas Kaberle ended the contest during the overtime period, on the power play to give the Leafs a 4-3 win, their first win this season.

As for Montreal, they pick up the lone point for losing in overtime. Montreal has 3 points after 2 games.

Next game: Wednesday in Pittsburgh.

(Picture: Alexei Ponikarovski and Tomas Kaberle, Getty images)

Hamilton on pole, one inch from the crown.

The China Grand Prix was at the qualifying session phase today on the Shanghai recetrack and Lewis Hamilton jumped on the occasion to register the best time of the plateau and grab the pole position for tomorrow's race.

This 16th event of the 17 scheduled races could very well crown this season champion come tomorrow. Lewis Hamilton only needs to finish in front of Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen to be declared world champion tomorrow.

At his very first season in F1, Lewis Hamilton represents the ''after Schumacher'' era. The season has been exceptionally interesting for racing fans this year. We haven't seen a three way race for the individual title in years and it was refreshing for the fans. You can bet that next year, it will be equally interesting... everybody will want to beat Lewis on the track.

Will Lewis Hamilton be crowned champion tomorrow afternoon?

Here are the top 10 times registered today:

Pole: Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) 1:35.908
2-Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) 1:36.044
3-Felipe Massa (Ferrari) 1:36.221
4-Fernando Alonso (McLaren) 1:36.576
5-David Coulthard (Red Bull) 1:37.619
6-Ralf Schumacher (Toyota) 1:38.013
7-Mark Webber (Red Bull) 1:38.153
8-Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber) 1:38.455
9-Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber) 1:38.472
10-Jenson Button (Honda) 1:39.285

(Picture: Lewis Hamilton, Canadian Press)

Briere already contributes.

The Philadelphia Flyers has won the Daniel Briere derby over the Montreal Canadiens this summer and the effects on their club are tangible.

Daniel Briere scored 2 goals yesterday including the game-winner with under 2 minutes to go in the 3rd period to give the Flyers a 3-2 victory over the Calgary Flames.

The very prolific player will change the face of the Flyers team along with defensemen Kimmo Timonen. The Flyers were out of the playoffs last year but I bet that this year will be a very different season for them.

Montreal will face those Flyers on November 1st... the season will be well begun and it could mark a pivotal point in the Habs season already...

(Picture: Daniel Briere, Canadian Press)

Captain Koivu wins the opener.

It's on! The season has officially started for the Montreal Canadiens. Yesterday to open the season, the Habs were in Raleigh to face the Carolina Hurricanes. The Habs started on the right foot by defeating the Hurricanes 3-2 in overtime.

Saku Koivu took the bull by the horns and scored 2 goals during the match including the game-winner during the overtime. So the team captain puts an exclamation point on a game kept alive by goaltender Christobal Huet especially during the first period. Huet made some great saves during the two 5-on-3 man advantages given to the Canes early in the game.

The first goal of the season for Montreal was also scored during the first period as Mark Streit served a perfect shot from the blue line hitting the top left corner of Cam Ward's net. At this time, the score went back to an even 1-1. Koivu gave the lead to Montreal with just under 10 minutes to play but Brett Hedican quickly tied the score at 2-2 with 8 minutes to go in the 3rd period, sending everybody in overtime.

Montreal will travel to Toronto and face the Maple Leafs saturday night.

(Picture: Koivu, Higgins, Ryder, Getty images)

Let's get it on!

Tonight is the night for the Montreal Canadiens. They kick off their 2007-2008 regular season tonight against the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh.

The Habs show a different lineup from last year as they promoted many youth players from their farm system this season. In net, a rookie, Carey Price will complete Christobal Huet. On the second offensive line, Mikhail Grabovski and Andrei Kostitsyn will play with Alex Kovalev. As for the third offensive line, Tomas Plekanec and Guillaume Latendresse will join forces. So this year the Habs have 3 good offensive lines.

Let's see if the youth reinforcement will bring the team into the playoffs this time. We also expect GM Bob Gainey to complete at least one or two important trades during the course of the season.

So let's get it on tonight!

(Picture: Mikhail Grabovski, Getty images)

Habs: ready for the season.

Yesterday, the Montreal Canadiens thru their head coach Guy Carbonneau announced the last cuts performed by the team to respect the NHL rules and constitute the 23 players that will form the starting roster for this 2007-2008 season.

A few cuts in there have caught the fans by surprize. For one, Maxim Lapierre, who was featured in many promotional messages this summer has been cut and sent back to the Hamilton Bulldogs. Along with Lapierre, defensemen Ryan O'Byrne was sent to the AHL mainly because of the congestion at the defensemen position with Montreal. Goaltender Jaroslav Halak has also been sent back in the AHL.

As for goaltender Carey Price, he has been selected to start the season with the team as the No2 goaltender behind Christobal Huet. Let's see if Price performances can steal the No1 job from Huet before the end of the season. One thing is sure: Christobal Huet will have to perform on a constant basis because his No1 spot could be in jeopardy in january or february especially if the team is out of the playoff picture.

Tomorrow evening is the season opener for the Habs as they will face the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh. The first three games of the season for Montreal will be played away from the Bell centre, in Raleigh, Toronto and Pittsburgh.

(Picture: Carey Price, Canadian Press)

Move over Marino!

Yesterday the Green Bay Packers quarterback, Breet Favre registered 2 touchdown passes and has moved in front of Dan Marino to become the new recordmen for touchdown passes in career. Favre's career now totals 422 touchdown passes after yesterday's victory over the Minnesota Vikings. His place in the football hall of fame will be kept warm.

During various enterviews wrapped up during last week, Favre has declared being a fan of Dan Marino himself and didn't want to put much emphasys on the new record he was about to break. His admiration for Marino is genuine: Favre still considers Dan Marino the best passer that football ever produced.

The Pack is back!

But more importantly for Favre is the fact that the Green Bay Packers are now a perfect 4-0 in this 2007 season. The youngest team in NFL is quarterbacked by one of the best QB in history and is heading towards the playoffs already. A little improovement in the Packers running game and we could have a Super Bowl contender over here.

Congratulations Brett!