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Opening Night Victory

The Montreal Canadiens start their season with a W after defeating the Boston Bruins 2-1 at the “TD Banknorth Garden”.

This escaped me until now, being the first time I heard the new name of the Fleet Center. TD Banknorth Garden? What the hell is that? Wow it just rolls off the tongue.

Back to the topic at hand, the Canadiens came out with 2 pts on the road in their opening game. Did they deserve it? Questionable. After what can only be described as a brutal 2nd period the Canadiens came back LATE in the 3rd with a Michael Ryder powerplay goal. Jan Bulis opened the scoring with a brilliant effort fending off a Bruins defender as he drove the net to chip a shot over Andrew Raycroft’s left shoulder.

Jose Theodore let in what can only be considered a soft goal, and on numerous occasions looked out of place and confused in goal.

The Canadiens scored the winning goal on a powerplay given in the last minute of the game. The NHL said they will enforce the rules and it appears they are after awarding a powerplay so late in a close score game. I’d like to point out this goal, because the real rookie of the year Michael Ryder put it behind the fraudulent Andrew Raycroft.

What was really disturbing about the night was the childish bruins fans who hurled the NHL’s gift to opening night fans, mini Stanley Cups. Maybe this is indicative of the respect the Bruins fans show for the Stanley Cup and explains why they are never close to winning it. As someone who respects the Bruins organization, this was just a distasteful disrespective act on the part of Bruins fans.

In an unrelated story, the First shootout of the season took place between the Senators and the Leafs. Eric Lindros made a surprising strong impact in his first game scoring what looked like the winning goal late in the third. Daniel Alfredsson crushed Lindros’ hopes of being the hero by tying it up late in the 3rd. The Sens went on to win in a shoot out and ended Eric’s debut.

The Habs travel to New York to face the Rangers tommorow night.
My NHL Kicks off Tonight
The long awaited 2005-2006 NHL season is set to kick off tonight and all 30 teams are in action. The hockey pool drafts are over, the mundane pre-season action has ended for good and the greatest sport in the world is set to go. NHL hockey is a distant memory to most of us and I for one am thrilled to be able to relax, crack open a beer and enjoy some NHL action again.

I have ‘come back’ to the NHL, but I never really left. Montrealers will be watching RDS tonight and probably tuning in to the other networks during commercial just to get their hockey fix. The real test will be in the United States and small market teams. Will they come back? Were they ever really there?

The NHL blasts off with all 30 teams playing tonight including many divisional rivalries kicking off their 8 game series.
Key Matchups:
- Leafs vs Sens
- Habs vs Bruins
Sidney Crosby makes his long anticipated debut. The rookie talent pool this year is perhaps the deepest ever. The season will hold many surprises that is certain. The Montreal Canadiens for good or bad, have the highest expectations placed on them in a long time. Let’s hope they live up to their potential.

ShoutBox

Last Message 8 hours, 33 minutes ago

muller93 : Very true Senet, you do need luck and we haven't had any luck it seems since the habs moved to the Bell Center. We had an incredible run in 2010 with some crazy goal tending from Halak. With Galchenyuk-Tinor di-Gallagher all in 1 year--not too bad, even with an early exit in the playoffs.
Senet1 : Muller I guess we all have our own ideas, but there has never been too many times that were successful when they traded their draft picks away. We have a chance to build this team so we have a shot at winning the cup over the next 10 years. Even as good as Pittsburgh has been they have only won the cup once since Crosby and Malkin have been with the team. That is because you not only need great players but you need luck to win, but one thing about Pittsburgh they have a chance every year. The
muller93 : Good point on Torres, he might be a liability. Torres has to tone it down a bit, but that's his game-very aggressive.
goalie : Though I don't condone what Raffi Torres did - thos shows you how repeat offenders or near offenders are going to be treated. His hit was NOT illegal BUT what the rap sheet adn reputation Torres has he got severly punished. Lesson to be learned by OTHER players because Torres dopesn't learn fromk his mistakes.
muller93 : Senet normally I would agree with you on not trading draft picks but we are not in a rebuilding stage. Sometimes draft picks can be a roll of the dice and it can take up to 3 years to be NHL ready. We have a good team and I agree with Stuo players like Clowe-Torres-Ott -Scott will make a big difference. Somebody has to protect Gallagher, he can't keep getting hit the way does--we need a tough forward so they think twice before going after Gallagher.
Senet1 : Really a heathly Habs team would probably win more games against the Pens that we did against the Sens. Reason they Pens would not play as physical against us as against the Sens. If we get good goaltending we win at least two games.
zpezada4ok : hello all «link»
stuo11 : hes a tougher big guy too! Just a minor adjustment but will help a bit
stuo11 : hes better than markov, and hes french who was in mention for defenceman of the year
goalie : Markov for Beauchemin - an injury prone d-man for an ;old timer'd-man. Beauchemin is NOT what the Habs need in my opinion. He is a HUGE defensive liability.
goalie : Stuo 11 I'd make that trade with Oilers fast BUT I doubt the Oilers will make that. Two marginal d-men at the best for a switch of first round picks - not a chance .
stuo11 : markov for beachemin?
stuo11 : let moen go
stuo11 : maybe try and get steve begin back
stuo11 : we wouldve kicked out all other teams but pens, sens,
stuo11 : pens have alot of forwaRDS same with us but we have better goaltending
stuo11 : theres styles of play goalie. Sens played us good, but lost games to southeast teams florida and tampa and get crushed by leafs EVERYTIME. sens and leafsd cant beat bruins but we do frequently
stuo11 : Diaz weber and our 1st for their first edm
goalie : SEns beat us 4 games to 1. Pens had last night's game under their control. What does that mean if we were up vs the Pens in a series. I think the Habs have a way to go before we're competing for Lord Stanley's Cup!
Senet1 : If he could score goals like Lucic and we could sign him to a four year contract then I would consider it too. However, NOT if we only have him for one to two years.
Senet1 : So we went from 27th pick to 21st pick.
goalie : Normally I would not trade draft picks BUT if we could get a consistently, solid player (especially forward) who is BIG I'd trade one of our picks.
Senet1 : The good part of this is with both Detroit and Boston moving on to the 2nd round it makes our draft position better, we move up the list by two.
Senet1 : Bruins beat leafs in OT. It was hard but I was hoping the Leafs beat the Bruins. They had a4-1 lead in the third and two goal lead with less than 4 minutes and lost. Sound familiar.
Senet1 : The thing is just because you get those guys does not guarantee that you will even make the playoffs or get out of the first round. Look at Detroit they built a strong team and organization and have been at the top for years. Yet they only have had a chance to win it two or three times. No matter how good you are you still need the breaks. So putting yourself in position to win is the most important thing to do year after year.
stuo11 : i think rightnow we came 2nd in east, a few tough players and we could win it all. why wait? id rather win the cup and not make playoffs the next year!
stuo11 : and save 4 mill
stuo11 : ryan clowe or raffi torres! and then a big defencemen! trade markov and gionta for Cammalleri. crap for crap but at least hes canadian and good in playoffs lol
stuo11 : goalie and muller, we outplayed the sens, real bad luck, major injuries! i still find were the better team. If the nhl wasnt so dumb about zibinejads goal itd be totally different!
Senet1 : Don't TRADE DRAFT PICKS for one to three year wonders.
Senet1 : Sorry guys but I would not trade our draft picks. We have 1 in the first round, 2 early second rounds + our own 2nd round pick and a good third round pick. We have finally got a chance to build this team like Detroit did and be able to stay up in the upper group of teams for a long time. If we blow this draft we blow our long term success. There are some players we can trade away and hopefully get some rugged players in return and or more draft picks. We have shown other players that we have
goalie : I agree with Muller. I'm not sure how many high / mid draft choices we have but I'd be looking to make some moves (even trade draft choices) for a couple of proven, rugged, players who can help us immediately.
muller93 : Well MB is a finalist for the GM of the year and I for one will say he did a great job with the Habs. We are just a few players away from having a real contender for years to come. But I really don't want to bank on this years draft--We need some NHL ready players. Hab fans have waited long enough and we have a good foundation. Lets trade some players along with some draft picks and get some big players in here. This is the only problem I see.
Senet1 : The leafs were intimidated early not from size but just not believing they could beat Boston and they did not get good goaltending early. Now they believe that they can beat the bruins and I would not be surprised if they do because they have faster than boston. They are beating boston to the puck similar to the way we beat them to the puck. They are exploiting their defence with their speed. So as long as Reimer gives them goaltending they have a chance.
goalie : Senet has it right. Other teams have drafted skill, size and dedication. Those players are out there.