Thursday, November 13, 2008

Game 16 Preview: Habs @ Bruins HATE NIGHT

Nov. 13, 2008 7:00 PM ET
On TV: NESN
On the Radio: WBZ
vs. Habs (9-2-2)

Notes:
  • Habs Suck.
  • Going to Bruins games lately, I've run into a bunch of Habs fans. This will not change tonight. If you're a Bruins fan thinking of going to this game, DO IT. They put Pats score updates on the jumbotron, and you can catch the rest of that game after this one.
  • This is a huge test of a game. Last time we played, we lost in the shootout in the Bell Centre. The last time we played in Boston, it was last May.
  • The winner of this game will sit on top of the Northeast division for the day.
  • Puck Daddy is impressed by the Northeast right now.
  • The Bruins got home at about 4am today.

Other Previews:
Tim Thomas Campaign HQ:
  • Looks like the Canadiens official website forums are pointing to a greasemonkey script that has them stuffing the ballot box, Puck Daddy reports.  Check that image out.  The NHL has been alerted, I've heard, so we'll see whether the transparent vote totals change, or the NHL continues to make a mockery of the all-star game.  Eddie Shore weeps.
  • Just for kicks, let's take a little look at the individual goalie statistics, all the way down to Carrie:
Goals Against Average
1.Tim Thomas-BOS1.76
2.Craig Anderson-FLA1.85
3.Erik Ersberg-LAK1.93
4.Henrik Lundqvist-NYR1.99
5.Alex Auld-OTT2.08
6.Ryan Miller-BUF2.12
7.Brent Johnson-WSH2.15
8.Martin Brodeur-NJD2.16
9.Niklas Backstrom-MIN2.19
10.Nikolai Khabibulin-CHI2.20
11.Roberto Luongo-VAN2.23
12.Carey Price-MTL2.34

Save Percentage

1.Tim Thomas-BOS.946
2.Craig Anderson-FLA.946
3.Brent Johnson-WSH.931
4.Niklas Backstrom-MIN.931
5.Mike Smith-TBL.929
6.Henrik Lundqvist-NYR.929
7.Alex Auld-OTT.928
8.Ryan Miller-BUF.928
9.Nikolai Khabibulin-CHI.927
10.Carey Price-MTL.925
Huh. Let's see what the voting looks like as of 8am :
Meneurs gardiens
PRICE, Carey 93128
LUNDQVIST, Henrik 40032
THOMAS, Tim 15127
Well, I'm calling it rigged now, but it was like that from July, when the Habs wrote the ballot.

5 Questions with the Enemy:
Today's guest is HabsFan10 from Four Habs Fans, "their biggest bruins hater."  He's got some interesting stuff to say, for sure.   
  

1) Who has impressed you so far this season?
I'm impressed by many things so far:  I'm impressed that Jeremy Jacobs hasn't sold Phil Kessel or Marc Savard for spare parts, that Tim Thomas still hasn't come back down to earth, that Peter Chiarelli hasn't snapped up another random fourth-liner from Ottawa, and that Zdeno Chara is still able to avoid all those pitchfork wielding villagers and a vengeful Dr. Frankenstein.  But I'm probably most impressed by Milan Lucic's ability to carry around that nose. 
 
2) Tim Thomas left off the all-star ballot:  Victory or more league foolishness? 
 League foolishness.  He's the number one goalie on one of the Original Six, put up fantastic numbers last year, and already played in an All Star game.  The fact that he's not on the ballot is almost as big a joke as the blatant attempt to create an all-Hab starting line-up.  Yeah, I said it. [Ed: emphasis mine]
 
3) Milan Lucic or Cam Neely?
Neely remains the most feared Habs killer I've ever known, and sometimes haunts my dreams.  Lucic is the current standard bearer of snarling, jerk-off, man-I-want-to-punch-him-in-the-face Bruin-ness.  If you're asking me who I hate more, it's Lucic because he's on the ice tonight.  If you're asking who the better player is, it's Neely by a million miles.  That's like Habs fans comparing Andrei Kostitsyn to Lafleur.
 
4) Are you missing Ryder?
Nope.  We've got plenty of guys to sit in the press box, and more than enough incomprehensible accents.  And Gui! Gui! Gui! Latendresse has slotted seamlessly into the whipping boy spot.   
 
5) Prediction for tonight's game?
One of Lucic or Thorton gets a big surprise when they run Price and realize Big George Laraque is waiting around the next corner instead of Steve Begin or Tom Kostsopoulos.  Thomas plays fantastic for about a period and a half, before penalty trouble hits the B's and the Habs go to work.  Chara gets undressed at least twice, misses a wide-open net, and accidentally scores on his own goal late in the third; he finishes minus 3.  Tanguay and Higgins each score a pair, and both Kostitsyn brothers score on the power-play.  Komisarek hits Savard so hard he sends him back in time.  Canadiens fans start the Ole chant in the warmup. 

There you have it, folks!  Four Habs Fans is known for combining pictures of strippers with (unfortunately) good coverage of the Habs.  I begrudge the Habs for having bloggers of that quality.  

Remember not to get kicked out of the game until 8:30, so you can go to a bar across the street to watch the Pats.

Stats:

It's only November, but everyone in the building is going to be thinking about this:

Dafoomie is sick.
I hate the Habs so much right now. Respect? Maybe after the game.
GO BRUINS!

2 Comments:

Young HF29 said...

so where's the Game 7 epic montage? hmmm....

Go Pats!

Unknown said...

What game 7?

That series ended at 6, right?