And Serge Savard, who if anything may be more federalist than you. (Also 70% or so of Quebecers, according to polls.)
Point is, it’s bad PR for the Canadiens to hire a coach who doesn’t speak French. A major part of the job is to communicate with the fans, what with the constant press conferences and everything. It’s not that big of a deal on an interim basis, especially when the team just isn’t expected to go anywhere. And obviously Cunneyworth isn’t coming back as head coach next year.
The next real Habs coach will presumably be able to speak French, but fact is, this isn’t the 70s or even 80s anymore, when I’m told players and coaches actually had some sort of connection to the city where they were playing. Back then Canadiens players actually did learn French, at least to a certain level, since they were there for the long term. But hockey players today are more like hired mercenaries, and coaches are fired every two years or so. It’s just different.
Is there a reason Serge Savard couldn’t fit under the “retarded politicians” category instead of the “butthurt sovereignist” one? I also didn’t bother to enumerate the “rabid media” and “crazy fans” and a bunch of other categories people might fall under.
As you say, Cunneyworth is an interim coach anyways, so I think people should lay off the OMGItstheendoftheworld and just deal for a few months. It’s ideal for the coach to be able to speak French, but it isn’t the downfall of Québec civilization as we know it, which is what some morons are yammering about on the news.
Besides, when was the last time Jacques Martin said more than a handful of sentences to the media? He wasn’t Brian Burke (I know, coach vs GM, whatever) who can’t keep his yap shut for more than 5 minutes and has an absolutely pressing need to let the fans know what colour underwear James Reimer is wearing today. If I watch Martin’s press conferences from the past 2.5 years, I bet I could come up with 10-15 stock phrases…max…that Cunneyworth could memorize and spew out in the press conferences and it would be exactly like having Martin back.
The coach just doesn’t “talk to the fans” or even to the media nearly as often as people like to pretend. When he answers the same 4 questions with the same 4 answers after every game, he isn’t actually talking to us no matter how often it gets replayed on Sports 30.
So, I go back to saying that, sure, it’s IDEAL from a PR perspective and a perfectly rational criteria for the coach to be able to communicate in French. But it isn’t the end of the world if he doesn’t…for a few months…because it’s not like the man ever communicates all that much with anyone outside the team anyways.
It’s the overreaction I’m bitching about, not the premise!
Though that said, I still just want the best coach, not the best bilingual coach. The man* could be MUTE and unilingual Swahili, if he can coach this team - or whatever shrapnel we have next year after this one gets blown up - to the Stanley Cup, I’m happy.
ETA: * for that matter, it could be a woman. Would Mel Davidson do worse than what’s happening now? Does she speak French?
That’s 'cause they had Tim Peel, King of the Makeup Call (Who only looks at one sweater colour).
The other options were Eric “Premature Whistle” Furlat, Chris “I don’t know the rules so I make them up as I go” Lee, or Stephane “I hold grudges” Auger.
It’s sad when I can see who is officiating at the start of the game and make accurate predictions about what kinds of calls will be made.
Habs win a game! 6-2 over the Senators, which is more or less how the universe should be functioning. First win for Randy Cunneyworth, who is très content! Let’s hope this is the start of a turnaround for this team!
The Lars Eller short handed goal should be on highlight reels for a few days, as should the Subban one (the feed from Cole was sick) and I’m over-excited about Louis Leblanc getting his second goal of the season (leading to Anderson getting chased from the crease). I like this kid and I’m happy to see that he’s keeping up in the big leagues (especially given how he was off all summer and pre-season recovering from shoulder surgery).
We just got home from visiting family for a few days and the fridge was nearly empty… poutine, pizza, beer and a Habs win. Life is good.
My brother bought my husband and I tickets to the Sens@Habs game in Montreal in mid-January…can’t wait!
ETA: I also love how at the end of the game, Cunneyworth shook hands with his assistant coaches, and then Josh Gorges looked him in the eye and shook his hand to congratulate him. Gorges has the A, but he’s Captain material, IMHO.
I’m sorry, but you’re clearly seeing that goal through Habs-tinted glasses. That was an awful goal that should never have had a chance on an nhl-caliber goaltender. The one stat that sums up last night is Anderson allowing 4 goals on 7 shots.
When Eller scored my first reaction, as a Sens fan, was “Wow, fantastic wrist shot!” So come on, give the guy some credit. Yes, Anderson should have stopped it but Eller carried the pcuk a hundred feet and took a vicious shot to make it happen.
Not to mention that he managed to avoid getting hauled down and kept control of the puck with a defenceman on his back (not illegal play, just the kind of thing that often leads to not being able to take a good shot) and put some considerable power on it. It wasn’t quite threading the needle, but roofing it from that angle was pretty sweet.
Sure, Anderson was too deep in his net and went down to his knees early, but I’ve now watched the game 3 times (there’s nothing else on TV and I like the background noise…Canadiens Express is fun…it’s on right now!) and it’s always an impressive goal. Shorties are rare enough and Anderson expected his D to be able to prevent Eller from getting off a good shot.
Anderson allowed 4 goals on 7 shots but none of them were particularly weak plays by the goalie (or even the goals against Auld). The Cole, Cammalleri and Plekanec goals were deflections or second shots off of rebounds. The Subban goal had the goalie trying to decide who was more dangerous…Subban or Cole, because both were in position to take a shot. The feed to Leblanc was a sweet cross-ice pass (was there a rebound there too?).
For once this season, the Habs had bounces go their way. The two goals by the Senators showed the same weakness in the Habs D as we’ve seen all season - they collapse near the crease and leave too many players open for those rebound shots.
Eller did well to get as far as he did, but Karlsson essentially eliminated him and Gonchar had taken away the pass. The only play he had was to get off a weak wrist shot while off-balance. He basically shot to the centre of the net and Anderson flat-out missed.
The second goal was a nice play by the Habs – the Ottawa defenceman actually had pretty good coverage in front of the net but Plekanec did well to get free. The third goal was awful. Anderson just can’t kick a rebound into the slot on a “shot” that’s sliding along the ice. On the fourth goal, if J recall, Anderson had all day to get square to the shooter but never did, and consequently got beat by a simple wrist shot.
When a team out shoots their opponent 12-5 in the first period and comes out of it losing 3-1 it’s pretty much always on the goalie. Neglecting the “save” that led directly to the rebound goal, Anderson made one save in the entire period.
You and I have a different definition of “weak wrist shot”. Frankly, IMHO if you’re left with only one play, and you score on that play while unbalanced I think that’s pretty cool. I’ve seen crappier goals end up on highlight reels, so I don’t see why Eller’s couldn’t qualify. I think you’re downplaying it too much. Not that it really matters… he scored, it helped kickstart the team to a win, and that’s what matters.
For WJHC, apparently http://hockeycanada.fasthockey.com/login.php is a free online site to see the games. I haven’t tried it as I don’t need to (TSN/TSN2 have all the games I want to see!)
ETA: and now I double check and see it’s the same site Fred Garvin posted. Sorry…I just saw the address elsewhere and came here to post it; I didn’t look at what it was!
A man who is 5’6" before putting skates on, who hits the puck at his head level hits it higher than 4’0 unless he’s fucking sitting down on a chair. It’s not a matter of “we don’'t have the camera angles” it’s a matter of you being too fucking stupid to understand basic geometry.
Also, in every game I’ve ever seen, if the puck crosses the goal line after the whistle, it’s ruled No Goal. Why the change in rules now? Does the whistle no longer matter? If so, I’d like my team’s waived goals back…I do believe that would result in the Bruins being eliminated in the first round of the playoffs last year, IIRC.
Gah, not only are the on-ice officials retarded, the guys in Toronto are even dumber because they have the benefit of REPLY. Fucking USE IT, you tards!
Fans in Pittsburgh repeatedly boo Jaromir Jagr when his new team the Flyers visits Pittsbugh. A man who was instrumental in bringing 2 Stanley Cups to the city. Just like school on Sundays…
Compare that to the Winnipeg welcome home to Teemu Selanne!
Here are your Eastern Conference All-Star vote leaders as of now:
Phil Kessel, Toronto
Erik Karlsson, Ottawa
Daniel Alfreddson, Ottawa
Dion Phaneuf, Toronto
Jason Spezza, Ottawa
Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh
Milan Michalek, Ottawa
Joffrey Lupul, Toronto
The top goalies are Tim Thomas and… James Reimer, Toronto.
As of today, Toronto is 18-19 and in 8th place, Ottawa is 17-20 and in ninth and is only ninth because they’ve played more games than the tenth place team.
In case you were wondering not a single one of the skaters listed above leads the NHL in any statistical category, though Karlsson does lead defencemen in assists if you count that as a “category.” Not one of these players is in the top 25 in the NHL in plus-minus. Or in the top 50. Or in the top 100. (I’m not making this up.)
You have no idea how he acted here in Pittsburgh back before he left. He made comments about how he was miserable here, he was pulling temper tantrums in the locker room, and acting like a total diva. Okay, fine, it’s been years, we’ve moved on.
Well, for the last few years, he’s expressed interest in coming back to the NHL and he said his #1 choice would be Pittsburgh. His agent said his heart was here, and he’s always talking about how he’d play the league minimum, that Mario was his hero, and how much he owed him, etc etc…
And then bang! He signs with the Flyers, our biggest rival. After flirting around with the contract that Shero offered to him, with the whole, “maybe, maybe not”. He keeps coming up with different reasons. First it was that Sid and Malkin played left-handed, (?), now it’s they were more concerned with resigning Tyler Kennedy, and making an offhand remark about Kennedy being a nobody.
I believe he had stated before that he had talked to Mario, now he’s claiming he didn’t, etc. So it’s not that he didn’t sign here, but HOW he acted about it. And that really, really pissed off a lot of people.
Jagr has a long history here of pulling the primadonna act. But a LOT would have been forgiven if he had come back (as he had hinted for years). Hell, I was sad that he didn’t. I expressed doubt, but you know, I do remember back in the day when it was Mario and Jagr, the big two, and it would have been kinda cool for him to finish out his days here. But ultimately, I believe it came down to the fact that he couldn’t stand the idea that he wouldn’t be #1. (Sid is)
There’s talk that Mario himself was absolutely livid about it and felt really betrayed.
And compare that to the reaction fans gave to Max Talbot. He was given a big tribute, and a standing ovation. Talbot too helped us win the Stanley Cup (he was the one who scored the two goals in that game), he was one of our most popular players. People were really sad to see him go (especially to the Flyers), but except from a few individuals, Max wasn’t booed – he was welcomed back. So you might want to do some research before you condemn Pittsburgh fans. It’s all about context.
I was annoyed that they had showed Max’s big tribute during intermission. Here’s hoping they’ll show it on the finale of 24/7. (They did one for Sergei Gonchar when he left as well, but they did at the beginning of the game)
He is active in our community. I’ve seen him at public skating with his family. (My daughter got his autograph a few years back at the mighty Carp arena.)
Daniel Alfredsson truly is a an all around good guy and deserves nothing but praise, both as a humanitarian and a hockey player.
