Tuesday, May 25th, 2010
Congratulations goes out to Joey for winning the OhCanadiens.com Playoff Beard Contest sponsored by our friends at Upper Deck Blog. They were gracious enough to sponsor this promotional event, in which readers submitted playoff beard photos that were voted on by you, the readers. You can find the Upper Deck Blog on the blog roll or you can use the link above to read more.
As many wouldn’t have predicted, the Habs got all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals, losing the series in five games to the Philadelphia Flyers. I personally grew my beard for 43 days and was saddened with the prospect of having to shave it off last night after the tough 4-2 loss against the Flyers in Game #5.
Although the Canadiens are disappointed in missing the chance to compete for the Stanley Cup, they should be proud of the fact that they made it much further than the experts and even parts of the fan base gave them credit for. Congratulations to Joey for keeping his playoff beard for this long and hopefully, you will start growing another one in the 2011 playoffs to defend your title.
As promised, I will be sending you the card from our friends at Upper Deck, which is a 2007-08 Fleer Hot Prospects Hot Materials #HM-JH card of Jaroslav Halak. Included is a piece of game-used material from his jersey, a blue swatch no less.
1st place: Joey 9.7 rating with 47 votes
2nd place: @UziMTL – 9.5 rating with 30 votes
3rd place: @metricjulie – 5.4 rating with 17 votes
Honourable Mention: @NastyKnate – 4.4 rating with 8 votes
Honourable Mention: @MLSnukka – 4.3 rating with 8 votes
Honourable Mention: @TonyNaldinho – 3.5 rating with 8 votes
Thanks to all who participated and to all of the readers that voted. It was a great playoff run and it was a fun contest to moderate. I will get into contact with the contest winners in the coming days to make arrangements for prize delivery. The 2nd and 3rd place finishers will receive some other cool Montreal Canadiens cards received for this promotional giveaway.
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Friday, May 14th, 2010
Thank you to the folks at Beautifoto.com for sharing their photos of the celebration in the streets of Montreal after the Game #7 victory by the Montreal Canadiens over the Pittsburgh Penguins for the Fan Zone of OhCanadiens.com. We will be posting more photos from Beautifoto.com throughout the remainder of the 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs, documenting the celebrations related to the Habs Cinderella playoff run.
The Montreal Canadiens are surging through the 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs for a chance to win the Cup. These photos show the passion that Habs fans have for their team.
Gotta love Habs fans!
Bring on the next opponent – Jaroslav Halak and the rest of the Canadiens can take them on!
You can find the rest of the photos from this shoot from the following link or on Beautifoto.com. The main site can also be found on the OhCanadiens.com blog roll.
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Sunday, May 9th, 2010
Thank you to the folks at HabsOrDie.com for sharing their beautiful Habs Girls photos for the Fan Zone of OhCanadiens.com.
Featured this month is Catherine.
The Montreal Canadiens are surging through the 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs for a chance to win the Cup. The fan base in Montreal should be proud of how the team is playing and for beautiful fans like these.
Gotta love Habs fans!
You can find the rest of the photos from this shoot from the following link or on HabsOrDie.com. The main site can also be found on the OhCanadiens.com blog roll.
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Thursday, April 22nd, 2010
OhCanadiens.com would like to thank Daniel Grasso, from The Hockey File, for submitting this piece for the Fan Zone. It is a very insightful article, looking at the strategies the Habs need to take in order to get back into this series against the Capitals, after falling behind 3-1. You can follow Daniel’s blog utilizing the link above or through the blog roll. Thanks again for your help Daniel, hopefully, the Habs will listen to your advice!
The Game Plan
by Daniel Grasso from The Hockey File
It was playing out like a dream. Instead, it became a nightmare.
The Montreal Canadiens returned back to the Bell Centre with a 1-1 series score after two games at the Verizon Centre where they dominated the Washington Capitals. It could have been 2-0- and maybe should have been 2-0 considering the Capitals only really won Game 2 after questionable officiating- but nevertheless, the Canadiens proved not only could they compete with the Capitals, they could actually beat the Capitals; and for stretches in both Game 3 and Game 4, the Canadiens looked like they could blow the Capitals right out of the building. Instead, shorthanded goals against the run of play in both games- Eric Fehr in Game 3 and Mike Knuble in Game 4- started Washington onslaughts that effectively killed any hope of the Canadiens coming back in either game, sending Montreal into a 3-1 series hole heading back to Washington.
Now, though the situation is dire- the Canadiens have only won a series once down 3-1, though it wasn’t that long ago (2004 against the Boston Bruins, also a No. 1 seed) – this is not insurmountable, like a 3-0 series disadvantage might be. The Canadiens are arguably the better team in this series even if they’re not the most talented, so the team is more than capable of climbing out of the hole and moving on to the second round.
To get them there, here’s the Game Plan.
1. Someone has to speak up. Far too often in this series, the Canadiens have gotten unhinged and, in turn, their games go off track. In Game 2, Washington never looked back after Nicklas Backstrom cut the margin to 4-2 and, in turn, Montreal goaltender Jaroslav Halak went from stopping to whining and eventually whiffing. In Game 3, Fehr’s shorthanded goal- against the run of play- opened the floodgates for a four-goal period that chased Halak from the net. In Game 4, another shorthanded goal against the run of play- this one as the second period was winding down and the Habs with a one-goal lead- took the wind out of the Canadiens’ sails. The scores may suggest that Montreal has been blown out in the past two games, but the truth is that the Habs did have each game in hand- they just lost their focus. Therefore, someone needs to step up and take charge, starting with head coach Jacques Martin, and right the ship when it looks like it’s starting to sink. There are enough veterans on this team to know that hockey games don’t proceed perfectly, and one of them needs to remind his mates of that when something happens that threatens a victory. The Canadiens should already have this series in hand if not for their meltdowns so it’s up to them to stop them because the next one will cost them their season.
2. Get better goaltending. In most cases, the presence of Halak and Carey Price would be a blessing, since there’s so few teams that have the luxury of having another quality starting goaltender on their roster just in case their current starter starts getting derailed. In this case, it’s becoming a nightmare. At this rate, NHL journeyman Curtis Sanford may have to be called up from Hamilton because neither Halak or Price have done the job, allowing a staggering 17 goals (not counting the empty netters) in this four game set, 15 of which in the last three games. Their play has mirrored that of their team- when things are going well, Halak and Price can look like a 4×6 piece of plywood in front of the net, but when things are going wrong, they couldn’t stop a beach ball. Their form has suffered in this playoff series as well- Price has had difficulty getting across the crease and Halak plays far too deep in his net, both problems which are correctable- but, most importantly, their psyche needs to be held in check. If they don’t believe they can beat Washington, how can their teammates? They’ve shown an ability to defeat the Capitals before- now they need to believe in themselves again. As for who gets the start in Game 5, it may be time to go back to Halak, considering he’s the one who actually won a game in this series, but his case is far from being overwhelming.
3. Keep the Capitals in front of you. It’s a cliché, but when you’re playing against a team that’s more skilled than you, getting into a track meet with them is not the way to beat them. The Canadiens are not going to win by trading chances with the Capitals, because they don’t have the personnel to score with the Caps. Instead, they need to focus on what got them to the playoffs- and a victory in Game 1- in the first place, and that’s sound, fundamental defence based on speed and hard work. Washington showed in Game 1 that they can’t play the patient opportunistic, “tight” game the Canadiens are capable of playing, and Montreal needs to get back to that in Game 5. Far too often in Game 2 (during the latter stages) and at the Bell Centre the Habs could be seen rushing up the ice at a frenetic pace trying to get the goal back quickly and once they do that, they skate right into the Capitals’ hands, creating an open, free-wheeling atmosphere where players like Backstrom, Alexander Ovechkin, Mike Green and Alexander Semin will pick you apart. The Canadiens are fortunate that they have the speed to keep up with the Capitals, but they need to be patient and use that speed to instead clog up the ice and prevent the explosive players from being, well, explosive. Montreal should use the Capitals’ top guns’ inability (or unwillingness) to play in the trenches against them because, lower down the lineup, the Canadiens are deeper than the Capitals (Montreal had 19 players hit double digits in points, the Capitals had one fewer). One of the main advantages the Canadiens had over the Capitals was sound, structured defence, and they used that defence to create scoring opportunities in Game 1, which is what they have to get back to with the series heading back to Washington. The Canadiens are going to get their chances to score- they just have to let them come to them and not try to force it, because then the Capitals will run them right out of the playoffs.
It’s certainly not a cakewalk, but they never are this time of year and if Montreal can take solace in something in this playoff series, it’s that they could very well be the team up 3-1 in the series. A run that would take them to Round 2 is certainly in the cards, but they need to get back to what makes them successful in order to do it. They may not have the guns of “Ovie” or Backstrom or Green but they are much better than their counterparts at defence, and, at this time of year that can mean everything. I hate to end this with a cliché but it’s true- the Canadiens have the perfect game plan with which to beat the Washington Capitals- now it’s time to execute.
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