Fun wow

Due to my unwillingness to shell out for exotic TV packages, I couldn't watch Friday's game vs. the Sabres. We made do with Ott/Fla, while tracking updates via message board threads.

A comparison of the degree of insane fanaticism at fan boards of each team (the names have been changed to protect the innocent):

Montreal's

Poster #1:
Another penalty to the Habs... 3rd in a row... Buffalo's all over us. Habs keeps making mistakes.
Come on damnit! Hit them, hurt them, skate harder...
Habs kill the penalty... we're playing with fire. We need to raise our intensity to make Buffalo create turnovers too.
SHOOOOOOT GODAMNIT

Poster #2:
My god, where is the dive call .. that was a joke.

Poster #1:
Ryder hooked Briere... 4th straight Habs penalty.
Habs are always behind the play... they dont look confident at all.
BIIIIIG SAAAAVE HUET!
Just robbed one there. Point blank shot from Drury.

Poster #3:
2nd period is over...
Simply awful!

Poster #1:
Carbo better kick some ass in the locker-room... Habs didnt skate with Buffalo at all there.
Just 3 shots by the Habs in 2nd, and 2 of them were by Lats alone.

Buffalo's

Poster #1:
Walker Evans is feeling much better now; thanks, Poster #2, although he pooped a bit sparkly tonight
He got into some foil wrap while we were at the family Thanksgiving gathering. Nothing large or damaging to him, but it is damn weird to be picking up dog poo with sparkles in it.
Is your wee bairn sleeping a bit better now?

Poster #1:
DAMN DAMN DAMN
1-1; Koivu on a 3-on-2, hon.

Poster #2:
DAMN.
Yeah, the little one is sleeping a little bit better in general, but I think tonight is going to be a long one.
One of my cats got into the easter grass one year and it was sticking out of her ass for like a week. Fun wow.

~~~

Saturday was Red Fisher night in Montreal. Jack Todd and Le Gros Bil documented the affair.

Red has been in the Hockey Hall of Fame for 21 years. He's a living anachronism. Nowadays, I don't know if it's even possible for a journalist to have the kind of relationship Fisher has with the Canadiens organizations and it's players.

He's written millions of words over more than 50 years in the business. I'd wager that not one word of it was gossip. Now that's something to strive for.

~~~

Stu Cowan penned this article about heart health & hockey. It's a subject that hits close to home for me. My Junior High phys ed teacher and former neighbour passed away several years ago after playing a pick-up game.

"MacDonald says he has already received information about three deaths and about seven non-fatal heart attacks."

And that's only one month into the rec season.

"With things like running or cycling, you maintain a steady pace and you can listen to your body when it says slow down or speed up," MacDonald said. "But when you're out for a jog, you don't necessarily need to race down the street with somebody else. But when you're on the ice and the puck is ahead of you and someone else is going for it, you don't think: 'Gee, I wonder what my heart rate is.' You think: 'I'm going to get to that puck first.'

From www.hockeytakesheart.com:

"Have you, a friend or a teammate experienced a heart attack on the ice during or within one hour of playing a hockey game? Medical researchers at the Hockey Takes Heart Study are asking you to contact them with your information through this website or by calling (902) 567-0898."

There is a line at their website that bears repeating:

"Hockey is a great way to stay active, but players should get in shape to play hockey, not play hockey to get in shape."