Assumption is the mother of all fuck-ups : Montreal Canadiens VS Boston Bruins
You know, there’s a funny thing about sports. They say only a fool would bet on the outcome of a game; a fool or a Boston Bruins fan.
To prove that theory, just about everyone who’s ever seen ice or snow in their life is willing to bet their kids’ college funds and teeth on this edition of the Bruins to beat this edition of our Montreal Canadiens.
If I’ve learned anything in my 18 years watching professional sports, it’s this: never bet on sports. You can’t. There are too many intangibles during the course of a game that decide the final outcome.
Last year, we were the heavy favorites. This year, they are. Plays right into our hands, doesn’t it? You can sense it; the city of Montreal holding its collective breath waiting for puck-drop come Thursday.
Andrei Makov is highly doubtful, Carey Price hasn’t played like the sex he’s supposed to be, the team just hasn’t produced like it did last year, our D has been fragile, our overall state has been comparable to that of the New York Islanders.
What some people fail to remember is the amount of injuries we’ve suffered this year. I hate to blame the bobos, but I believe aside from the Isles, the Habs lost the most amount of man-games due to player inactivity.
We’ve seen this before though, the ‘underdog’ coming out of nowhere and causing a huge upset? Look up Liverpool in ’05, Greece in Euro ’04, Miracle on Ice 80, Montreal Canadiens comeback VS Rangers 08, Nuggets over SupeSonics in ’94. I could literally go on for hours and hours.
What’s to say that these Habs can’t pull off something remotely resembling that? Is this edition of the Boston Bruins that good?
“There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics” is a quote attributed to Benjamin Disraeli and popularised in the US of A by mah homeboy Mark Twain. The phrase refers to the persuasive power of numbers to back up weak arguments.
I’m talking about Boston’s seemingly overwhelming suppremacy to their Thursday night opponents, the bleu, blanc et rouge. The B’s were second in the league in goals scored, had the fourth best powerplay in the NHL, a good Penalty kill unit and conceded the least goals in the entire league.
Our Montreal Canadiens finished 21st in goals against, their PK unit was 11th, the usually dominating powerplay could only muster up a percentage of 19.2% which was good for 13th, and they also scored the 13th most amount of goals in the NHL.
We have no chance. These Boston Bruins are just too good, right? Don’t jump on the black and yellow bandwagon just yet.
I see a strong, organized, talented but beyond Zdeno Chara and Marc Savard, very ordinary team. Is Tim Thomas as good as people make him out to be? Once again, you can point at the numbes. I belive Tim Thomas is a good goaltender, don’t get me wrong. But I think he was helped by Boston’s domination over teams this year. Would he have taken a team like St Louis or Columbus to the playoffs? I have a hard time thinking he would have been able to. Rattle him, get in his face, and he lets in weak ones. He’s really just a fat Matt Damon.
Dennis Wideman is a very good, reliable Dman, and aside Chara, they make a very formidable presence on the back end of the ice. They will probably play against the Koivu line, and the human gorilla will be charged with neutralizing Kovalev. Too bad for him there’s two other guys on that line that are pretty good too.
Don’t get me wrong, Boston is the hardest opponent the Habs could have faced in the first round, they have a formidable attack and a tough D, and if our defense plays like it did for large parts of the season when we sucked and let in 500 goals a game, we’re in trouble. But if they play like they know how, notably Komo and Hamrlik, we have a chance.
Any team always has a chance. I don’t know which smart motherfucker said it, but “hard work will always beat talent, if talent doesn’t work hard”. We’ve gotta get both going, and hit ‘em hard and make ‘em work hard. We have to create traffic in front of the net, I want that crease to be as crowded as a Fillipino whorehouse.
We have to play to our strengths, and not to theirs. We can’t play Boston Bruins style hockey, we need to play Montreal Canadiens style hockey. We need to beat ‘em with our speed and also be gritty when the time comes.
Andrei K, the season has started. Plekanec, I love you and the fact that you think goatees are still cool, but you gotta step it up man. D’Agostini, Sergei K – I don’t care which one of you plays, but whoever it is, go to the net and stay there. Keep your stick on the ice and cause ‘em troubles.
Steal a game and the mental games start. This is a team we beat 12 times last season, and the only major roster difference is that they added Michael Ryder. Is Ryder really that dominant? No, he’s from Newfoundland. Hockey’s 70% mental, and if we manage to get a win in Boston, the doubts in their minds start to form.
Every monkey with a half brain that works for TSN, CBC, ESPN and even RDS has picked the Bruins to win, and rather easily. Those are the same guys who, at the beginning of the season, predicted these very same Habs would finish atop the East and make a run to the final. The same guys who said the Bruins would struggle to get into the playoffs. The same guys whose ‘expert analysis’ pointed to the Habs’ lack of size in picking them to finish 14th in the Conference last year.
Let them hate. We’re up not just against these Bruins, but against pretty much anyone and everyone who watches the National Hockey League. When you’re in the heart of the fire, you gotta keep going. That’s what they say. You gotta keep moving, and you’ll eventually get out of that fire.
Saku Koivu said being the underdog can only benefit the team. Glen Metropolit was quoted as saying he’s ready for the Bruins. Alex Kovalev, without having to say anything, is gunning for Tim Thomas and this Boston team.
For once this season, no one expects them to suceed. Sports have always surprised people. No one can be sure of the outcome, no matter how much the circumstances favor one team, not even the performers. I say bring ‘em on. This is a huge chance to salvage this centennial season, and I just don’t think this version of the Montreal Canadiens will let that opportunity pass them by.
Do you really wana bet against guys that re-wrote 100 years of history?
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