The Canadiens' first quarter of the season.

We are about to complete the first quarter of this 2008-2009 season in the NHL. Some teams have risen up since last season while some are having big problems.

The New-Jersey Devils and the Vancouver Canucks for example should have a hard time in the coming weeks. Both teams have lost their star goaltender because of injuries and those teams are now vulnerable. The Canucks have a bit more offensive firepower and could go through these difficult times a little better than the Devils.

For the Montreal Canadiens, the 100th season of the club started with an irresistible string of victories as they picked up 18 points on a possible 24 during the first twelve games of the season. But the team's performances declined dramatically since that point.

Yesterday's match between the New York Islanders and the Montreal Canadiens was a good indicator of how the Canadiens are playing these last weeks. With a two goals lead under five minutes to play, defense men Ryan O'Byrne committed a huge mistake when he pushed the puck in his very own net during a delayed penalty to the Islanders.

The young defensemen didn't need to act at all. The referee would've stopped the play as soon a New York player touch the puck. But the young defense men decided to push the puck away from his opponent and pushed it inside his own net who was vacated by Carey Price in favor of a sixth skater.

O'Byrne's latest brain freeze allowed the Isles to tie up the game and eventually fly out of Montreal with a 4-3 victory after the shootout session.

The slide of the Canadiens as of late is not the responsibility of a single player in the roster. The whole team is playing sloppy as of late. The offensive line composed of Alex Kovalev, Tomas Plekanec and Andrei Kostitsyn is having all kinds of trouble finding it's marks and the Canadiens' power play (who went from No. 1 last year to No.25 this season) is pitiful at best.

The team record after 20 games (11-5-4) is still good enough for the fifth place in the Eastern conference. For the general manager and coaching staff, it is not the time to push the panic button. But there is work to be done to put the train back on it's rails.

Will the General Manager Bob Gainey be active on the market or will he try to find a solution within the organization?

(Picture: Ryan O'Byrne, Canadian Press.)

Celebrating the Saint Patrick in November.

Tonight at the Bell centre, the legendary Number 33 worn by Patrick Roy will be raised to the ceiling of the arena.

The glorious debuts in the NHL in 1986, the two Stanley Cups won with the organization and the dramatic events that ended his association with the Montreal Canadiens. The life and times of one of the very best goaltenders of all time will be remembered.

Patrick Roy's legacy as a member of the Montreal Canadiens can be described as being the ultimate competitor. He hated the taste of a loss and wanted to win each and every game he took part of during his career. A leader in the room, a fierce competitor and a dependable ally.

In honor of his contribution to the team and his fans, in honor of the last two championships of the franchise, a banner with his name and his number will be raised to the ceiling. Rpy will be celebrated despite the chaotic end of his association with the Canadiens this Saturday December 2nd 1995 when his head coach at the moment, Mario Tremblay, left Roy in the net after he allowed a total of nine goals to the Detroit Red Wings.

Tonight's moment will be emotional and Patrick's elocution to the sellout crowd will come straight from the heart. The return of Patrick Roy into the great family that is the Montreal Canadiens will finally take place.

We will exceptionally celebrate the Saint Patrick in November this year to forget all about Dec. 2nd 1995.

Everything you need is at Sierra Adventure Gear.

If you love the outdoors and go for camping or trekking under various weather conditions, you might be interested in visiting Sierra Adventure Gear's website.

Everything you need for a safe and memorable experience outdoors is available at this unique site. You can find various outdoors gear from backpacks to emergency kits, sleeping gears, lanterns, tents, digital compasses, watches and much more.

Sierra Adventure Gear also offers the versatile Maxpedition Gear. An interesting brand containing multi-functional backpacks and other cool utilitary items.

The item missing in your hiking or camping gear is available at Sierra Adventure Gear.

The watches section of the website is also vast enough to satisfy any budget. Some interesting choices are at low prices while those over a hundred dollars are definitly tempting over there. I have always loved watches and own a couple of them already. For sure, there are some nice looking ones at Sierra Adventure Gear.

To finish the tour of the website, a stroll to the optics section showed me some decent choice at low prices. Monoculars and binoculars of all sorts, camo available. Items are coming in a wide range of quality and prices. Again, for all budget is the range.

Don't take my word for it and go visit Sierra Adventure Gear to find out for yourself.

The official end of an era.

It became official today. The mission to save the Canadian Grand Prix failed. Gerald Tremblay, mayor of Montreal and Raymond Bachand, minister in the province's government met Bernie Ecclestone in England a few weeks ago in a last valiant effort to save Canada's Grand Prix.

With Bernie Ecclestone's demands, no private corporation or individual was able to run the event with a profitable outcome. Even the provincial and municipal governments didn't see their profits at the end of the operation at Bernie's demand.

Bernie's circus will go elsewhere from 2009 on. Both parties did not agree and the event is not on the 2009 calendar. It is a big loss for the city of Montreal and for North America. Next season, the Formula One will not race on North American soil. Despite the popularity of Montreal's race among racing fans, crew members and drivers, the last page have been turned on that great era.

Gilles Villeneuve won the first Canadian Grand Prix held on the famous circuit named after his tragic death. Other great drivers in Formula One history have also won in Montreal. Michael Schumacher at multiple occasions, Giancarlo Fisichella, Rubens Barrichello, Jean Alesi, Damon Hill and Lewis Hamilton only to name those.

The races held on the Gilles Villeneuve circuit have always defined the course of the championship. Exciting finishes, high speed and dramatic accidents was a trademark of this circuit and defined a trend in this championship for the last 30 seasons.

We will miss the action that this race brought to the F-1 for the last 30 years. A golden era in Formula One racing is officially over.

(Picture: circuit Gilles Villeneuve.)

Got Higgins?

Tuesday evening, Christopher Higgins registered three goals, good for a first hat trick in his career. The Montreal Canadiens blanked the Ottawa Senators by the score of 4-0.

The winger did not play in the early stages of the season because of a minor injury. But now he seems like he's going at 100%.

I picked him in my fantasy league last year and his production deceived me. But if it happens that he is on your fantasy roster for this current season, consider playing him more often now. Higgins' contract expires after this season and his best chance of getting a new and lucrative contract is to have good stats at the end of the year.

Higgins looked very alert against Ottawa and is definitly heating up. His complicity with Saku Koivu looks intact. The duo is lined up with Alex Tanguay who is also having a great start this year.

(Picture: Christopher Higgins.)

30$? Sweet!

I have not played online poker a lot in 2007 and even this year. The reason is simple: I either did not have the time or the freerolls were not interesting enough for me.

That was before the Pokerstars Summer games '08 tournament that took place in Spetember and October. I have participated to the event and qualified for the 5$ prize a total of five times out of the eight events proposed. This was a good way to build my bankroll from scratch.

Once the competition was over, I started playing some ring games on Pokerstars.com and won my fair share of money. Now my bankroll is big enough for me to start withdrawing some money out of my account. So last week I took 30$ out of there and I received the money a couple of days later.

I know, 30$ is not much but it's a start. If I add up all my online poker winnings over the last 3 years, the amount I have withdrawn is a bit more interesting. So, how much have I earned playing poker online thus far? Let me check my notes here...

Hmmm, according to my notes, my ''online poker career winnings'' are at a (whopping) 900$ US dollars. Not bad for an amateur only playing freerolls. :)

Have a nice day everyone.

Montreal get a point despite Halak's play.

The Montreal Canadiens can say that they at least sent their game with the Columbus Blue Jackets to overtime. Sergei Kostitsyn caught a great feed from his brother Andrei with 32 seconds left in the third period to tie the matchup at 3 all.

Canadiens' goaltender, Jaroslav Halak, had a very difficult night. He gave way too many rebounds and looked handcuffed on every shot coming towards him. Halak gave a goal early to R.J. Umberger who is still red hot against the Canadiens. Alex Tanguay tied the game up at 1 when he pounced on a loose puck standing at the goal mouth.

Later on into the game, a quick two goal strike from the Jackets almost resulted in a win during regulation. Marc Methot and Frederik Modin pushed Columbus ahead by a goal before the Kostitsyn brothers connected to allow Montreal to fly away with one point.

The shootout session was short and sweet, the first two Jackets to go at Jaroslav Halak scored. Derek Brassard ended the game when he undressed the young goaltender with a world-class deke.

Final score: Columbus Blue Jackets 4 - Montreal Canadiens 3.

Montreal will probably send Carey Price tomorrow evening to face the Toronto Maple Leafs for another classic Saturday night head-to-head.

(Picture: Derek Brassard, Canadian Press.)

Unbelievable value from Zenni Optical.

If I was telling you that you could buy the pair of glasses shown right here for under 10$, would you believe me?

We live in difficult times financially speaking and every opportunity to save some money counts. Zenni Optical is truly a leader. Their low cost policy for the consumers does not compromise the product quality. With Zenni Optical, you can buy prescription eyeglasses online for as low as 8$.

Yes you read correctly! As low as eight dollars for a pair of prescription eyeglasses.

Zenni Optical offers a wide range of products. Frames, tinted sunglasses lens, bifocal lens, progressive lens and the list goes on and on. Your very first visit on Zenni Optical's website will convince you that their prices are absolutely unbeatable.

We all know someone among our family or friend circle who could benefit of Zenni's products. My very own father has an old pair of glasses and it wouldn't hurt him to buy a stylish new pair of eyeglasses. I can bet my last dollar that he would never find a new pair of glasses cheaper than what Zenni has to offer.

So what is the secret behind such amazing prices? The answer is simple. No middlemen, low advertising budget and they sell their own manufactured products directly to you, the consumer.

So go ahead, visit Zenni Optical's website today and compare. You won't be disappointed.

Brazilian Grand Prix: Suspense held racing fans on the edge of their seats until the last corner.

The final race of this exciting 2008 Formula One season was held today at Interlagos, Brazil and the drivers championship was still in the balance between Felipe Massa of Ferrari and Lewis Hamilton of McLaren.

For Lewis Hamilton, a fifth place was good enough to be declared world champion. For Felipe Massa, a victory combined with a 6th or worse finish for the British driver was needed. Massa who started from the pole position completed his part of the task as he led this race from start to finish.

The race started under rainy conditions, shifted to dry conditions and finished once again under rainy conditions for the last six laps of the race. The final portion of the race gave the racing fans something to remember. As Massa crossed the finish line, his rival had given up the fifth place to Sebastian Vettel and was in sixth place, desperatly driving to gain back his fifth position.

With a couple of laps to go, all eyes were on Lewis Hamilton who was struggling, holding on to the fifth place. With two laps to go, Sebastian Vettel took the fifth position, momentarily giving the 2008 title to Felipe Massa. Until the very last corner, the Scuderia driver was world champion.

But in the last corner, Timo Glock who was still in fourth position because he did not wear rainy tires for the last portion of the race, was passed by Vettel and Hamilton. Lewis Hamilton crossed the finish line in fifth place, barely enough to be declared the 2008 world champion.

As for the constructors championship, Ferrari finishes ahead of McLaren-Mercedes.

This 2008 season was by far the most exciting Formula One season in ages. The drivers championship was decided in the last meters of the eighteenth and final race. Too bad for those who did not follow F1 in 2008, they missed a hell of a show.

Brazilian Grand Prix top ten finish:

Winner: Felipe Massa (Ferrari)
2. Fernando Alonso (Renault) -13.298
3. Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) -16.235
4. Sebastian Vettel (Toro Rosso) -38.011
5. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) -38.907
6. Timo Glock (Toyota) -44.368
7. Heikki Kovalainen (McLaren) -55.074
8. Jarno Trulli (Toyota) -1:08.463
9. Mark Webber (Red Bull) -1:19.666
10. Nick Heidfeld (BMW-Sauber) -1 lap

Drivers championship after 18/18 races:

1-Lewis Hamilton 98 points
2-Felipe Massa 97 points
3-Kimi Raikkonen 75 points
4-Robert Kubica 75 points
5-Fernando Alonso 61 points
6-Nick Heidfeld 60 points
7-Heikki Kovalainen 53 points
8-Sebastian Vettel 35 points
9-Jarno Trulli 31 points
10-Timo Glock 25 points
11-Mark Webber 21 points
12-Nelson Piquet Jr 19 points
13-Nico Rosberg 17 points
14-Rubens Barrichello 11 points
15-Kazuki Nakajima 9 points
16- David Coulthard 8 points
17-Sebastien Bourdais 4 points
18-Jenson Button 3 points

Constructors championship:

1-Ferrari 172 points
2-McLaren 151 points
3-BMW-Sauber 135 points
4-Renault 80 points
5-Toyota 56 points
6-Toro Rosso 39 points
7-Red Bull 29 points
8-Williams 26 points
9-Honda 14 points

(Picture: Lewis Hamilton, Canadian Press.)

Big comeback at Uniondale.

The Montreal Canadiens were nowhere to be found during the first and second period tonight. Their lack of intensity was so obvious that the pitiful New York Islanders were leading by the score of 4-1 after two periods.

But the Habs decided to show up in the third period and came back from this three goals deficit. The Habs scored a total of four goals into the last frame. First, Tomas Plekanec woke up his team mates with two goals early into the third period. Those two goals were followed by the first goal of the season for Chris Higgins and the game-winner was netted by Alex Kovalev with five minutes to play.

The line composed of Alex Kovalev, Tomas Plekanec and Andrei Kostitsyn was a game saver for the Habs. Kovalev and Plekanec each netted two during this game.

Montreal's head coach Guy Carbonneau was happy to steal two points from the Islanders but was not very pleased by the way his team showed up for the first two periods. Carbonneau knew that his team had the offensive firepower to come back in this game. At the same time the coach knows that this kind of comeback would not be possible against a top team in the league.

The Canadiens will enjoy six days of rest before the next game against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

(Picture: Alex Kovalev, Canadian Press.)