According to the Montreal Canadiens’ website, the Habs are now the ‘undisputed’ leaders in the Northeast Division and the Eastern Conference. Well, I guess this means the season is over, we can put away the jerseys, turn off the lights in the TD Garden and ask each other “So, how about those Red Sox?” Oh wait, sorry. I just realized we live in the real world and not Fantasyland in Walt Disney World.
Yes, the Montreal Canadiens beat us 4-3 last night. They won the game when Alexei Emelin struck Tyler Seguin with his stick in the side, causing Tyler to fall, and slide into the board. (Let’s just forget the simple fact that should have been called at least as a double minor, perhaps with a game misconduct added on for good measure.) So, what do we do when the refs blow a call? We usually handle it ourselves. Zdeno Chara handled it. He handled it well. Perhaps a bit too well. He ended up with seventeen penalty minutes and that fight cost us the game. The Bruins are not a hockey club, they’re a family. This is why I love the Bruins, and this is how we get taken advantage of.
Are the Canadiens the better team? By all means no. However, ancient rivalries mean that we can be a bit predictable. Tomas Kaberle and Michael Ryder, two Bruins who have Stanley Cup rings now play for the evil empire, er sorry…they play in Montreal. They know our ways, and let’s face it, they beat us because they know how to irk us. Please don’t consider this in anyway an endorsement of them. At this point, they are the Teenage Mutant Ninja TURTLES that wear outfits that look vaguely like the French flag. They may have even surpassed the Vancouver Canucks on my personal loathing scale.
Well, that being said let’s focus on the bright spots on last night’s game.
March 3, 2013
Boston Bruins vs The Evil Empire, sorry…fingers got away from me again. The Montreal Canadiens
Final Score: The Montreal Canadiens 666, I mean 4 – Boston Bruins 3
Three Stars of the Game:
Third: Tyler Seguin , Second: Patrice Bergeron , First: David Desharnais (MON)
Causeway Crowd’s Three Stars of the Game:
Third Star: Dougie Hamilton. I can never get enough of saying “Thank you Kessel.” Once again, this kid’s hockey IQ is higher than a number of players on the NHL ice right now. He’s only nineteen. He’s going to get better, and he’s going to get bigger. His goal was well played. Big kid circles the net, tapping his stick to let Marchand and Bergeron know where he is. Marchand gets the pace from Bergeron, sees the open player and gives it to Hamilton who gets a very open side of the crease and his second goal of the year.
Second Star: Tyler Seguin. Seguin, we got to see your magic hands come back last night. Yeah, we lost the game, but you looked good. A goal and an assist. What impressed me the most was the post game interview. I do not know you personally, but as a priest and a therapist, I know cold rage when I see it. A lot of people take cold rage and do horribly stupid things with it. The look in your eyes in the interview though, there was a man who was going to use that rage to fuel him forward. To be honest, I won’t be surprised if someone on the Capitals tries something stupid and you get a fighting major. (I’d rather hope you didn’t though.)
First Star: Patrice Bergeron. When Chara took himself out of the game, you stepped up and became the captain. Bergeron had a goal and two assists. (Both Bergeron and Brad Marchand had a three point game last night.) He was amazing on the penalty kill as usual, and he did everything he could to energize his line. When one line racks up eight points in a three goal game, you know the magic is happening somewhere. He was also named NHL Second Star of the Week. (Some turtle in a French flag was rumored to get the first star.)
Well, tomorrow night is a new game and it’s against the Washington Capitals.