2006-04-10

Devils **** Habs Gently

Saturday Night: NJ 3, Habs 2.

Now that was some
Tenacious D by the Devils in a playoff-style game. They made few mistakes, and capitalized on the mistakes by the Habs. Jersey made it back-to-back 3-2 wins by beating the Rangers yesterday.

It looks like Montreal is homing in on 7th place and a 1st round series vs. the Hurricanes. That's something I was hoping to avoid. I just get the feeling that Cole will make a dramatic return and spur the Red&Black to a big win. There is a huge drop-off after 2nd place in the Eastern
Conference. The Rangers, Sabres and Flyers all look quite beatable. If the Devils cannot be caught, there may be an outside (way outside) chance at catching the Radio Flyers. At least we're not in the West, where it appears one very good team will not make playoffs.

Steve Begin suffered a gruesome-looking knee injury Saturday night.
According to Pat Hickey,
"Steve Begin said he'll try to skate today."

Considering his MRI is scheduled for Tuesday, this is truly a testament to the insanity of Steve Begin. It looked like one of those knee-destroying incidents, but as we all know by now, the man is made out of kryptonite. From a recap of Game 6 vs. the Bruins in '04:


"...attempting to lay a check on Patrice Bergeron late in the second frame, he collided face-first into the glass and boards and was rushed from the ice with a bloody gash along his cheekbone and jaw. He returned mid-way through the third period wearing a full facial shield after receiving over 30 stitches, losing a tooth, and suffering other dental damage. Said Julien, "It’s incredible. There isn’t anything that can hold this guy back."
Even if Begin is out for awhile, Gainey has provided this club with some good depth up front. Bulis/Zednik and Sundstrom have been frequent scratches lately.

~~~

Caught the first half of "Canada-Russia '72" on CBC last night. Most of the filming was done in Fredericton, so I found myself often looking for faces I recognize rather than following the story. The documentary-style shaky camera was annoying, and there was little new information revealed about the series. I can't help but think a real documentary with interviews and footage from the era would have been better.

Phil Esposito is portrayed as a bit of a pompous ass. This is not surprising, as that is the impression I have of him anyway. Nowadays, Espo is "
Voiping with Vonage," whatever that means.

A commenter over at
Kukla's Corner is disappointed in the calibre of the skating doubles. Yes, it's true - they use doubles rather than the real actors for the hockey action shots. Even in Canada, there is very little overlap between hockey players and thespians. Think of your high school team, then think of your high school drama club. Anywho, I would respond by saying that those skating doubles are mostly very good senior league players. This is a relatively low-budget production, and to expect the skaters to re-create familiar highlights that have been aired thousands of times and look like the best players in the world while doing it is to expect a bit much.

~~~

Fickle Habs fans everywhere have declared Bob Gainey the overwhelming winner in the Jose Theodore trade after Theo's
first appearance in a Colorado uniform. Count on Pierre Lacroix being declared the overwhelming winner sometime later this week.

3 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

OK, I DRV'd 4 1/2 hours of Canada-Russia 72 and haven't watched it yet.
I am depending on you to give me a thumbs up or down before I watch it.

4/11/2006 11:22 a.m.  
Blogger Jeff J said...

Oy, that's a lot of pressure! I'll say thumbs up, but don't expect to be wowed.

I think they depend too much on the tension of the games for drama, and the tension is lost when you already know the results. I don't know how much Canadian TV you've seen, but the film has that instantly recognizable CBC period-piece "feel." That can be a good or bad thing, I guess. Some of the performances are a little sketchy and some are crackerjack. The guy playing Dryden nailed his character.

I don't regret watching it. I probably would have enjoyed it more if I had never heard all the anecdotes a dozen times already.

4/11/2006 12:43 p.m.  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks Jeff, now if I can just find the time...
will watch it over the next few days.
I am familar with CBC, living in Detroit area I grew up with it and I went to school in Toronto so I know what you are saying about the CBC feel.

4/11/2006 10:16 p.m.  

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