Er... Good hustle?

I kid you not, it really was like the dance and this time no one really boogied down to the rhythm. I mean, someone must have messed up the music because the game actually moved so slow I probably left to pee and came back and the ref was still deciding whether to drop the puck. Everything just went all slow mo and I could turn off the sound and add little "noooooooo" noises. The more time passed, the more I glanced at my watch to make sure that the timer wasn't tricking me.

Now the D, they played surprisingly better than usual. Markov was out with the flu and that meant "worst trade ever" D; Janne Niinimaa got a shot. Well they still slipped up but to be honest, we sucked. But I guess the nicest way to say is that Jersey wore us down with their stupid lame trap. We fell for it easily.

Additionally, the third line tried their best as usual but it didn't really make up for everyone... sucking. I have to give props to David Aebischer, facing 31 shots but saving only 29. Unlike everyone's favourite Marty who faced only 19, you have to be thankful this wasn't a Leafs game or we would've never gotten the OT point. We seem to be pushing this trend of defensive hockey which is particularly hellish when Souray's on the ice. But Aebischer tried to be a little too fancy sometimes and came out doing weird acrobatics (I must've said this a while ago. Aebischer does strange things). Nonetheless it wasn't his jumps that cost us the game. He didn't do completely well with rebound control but nonetheless is a great backup and deserves to stay or be traded for good money/players.

And Sammy. Okay I always keep an eye out for him since he's the chunky monkey. But what happened? Did Thornton just break up with him? This guy was high on red bull and bouncing everywhere. He gave some dodgy plays though he probably played the only way he could think. I mean after all, Guy Carbonneau has happily blamed the line for any past and future problems, and Samsonov has lately barely registered seconds on any powerplays - his time only coming on the even strength. Additionally all the second liners have close to 20 minutes of ice time while Samsonov only holds 13:19, mainly because of his limited role from being denied PP time. Latendresse holds a similiar case. Whereas Kovalev is being mixed up with both of the top lines, Carbonneau hoping to see extra output from the winger. However I have to say that's pretty dud considering that he's doing terrible even with the extra time.

Well maybe I'm exaggerating. But methinks Carbonneau still has his Samsonov/Kovalev fetish and won't give up until Higgins makes his triumphant return. However this is nothing surprising, I mean he put faith in the worst first liner rookie ever. I mean why can't we just put Kovalev or Samsonov instead of Latendresse up there? Latendresse is not the second coming of Wayne Gretzky and any dumbass can see that forcing him to play with Koivu makes him look better than he really is.

Another thought is that we are taking so many darn penalties. A lot of people are claiming it's because the refs hate us, and they hate christmas. Last time, I heard refs take old women to the middle of roads and run them over with their fancy SUVs. But I'd rather just see us try nothing amazingly different but just... a little more hustle.

And to the person who searched for "Gullaime Latendresse shirtless", shame on you!

More food for thought (sorry for the ever increasingly long post), recently a fight erupted between Downey & Begin during practice. Now this is apparently nothing new to the world of team hockey. And some may argue it actually helps the team chemistry. I myself don't hear much about it and I was quite shocked. I mean all I know is that every team member always praises the good chemistry of the entire team and the feel good vibe. Is this to combat the possible idea that behind the locker doors, there's a Mean Girls scenario? Is Rachel McAdams secretly hiding there and being the Queen Bee?

This was apparently a very popular topic to the media in the past, something which helped feed the tabloid fodder. A fan on a board joked that it's a good thing Ribeiro was gone since Latendresse would probably be hungover from late night rave parties with Ribeiro (Latendresse at the start of the season mentioned that his mentors were Begin and... you guessed it, Mikey Ribs). Now this actually interests me since it makes Huet's comment, of how more players are starting to join with each other and attending team dinners collectively, more in conext. I believe he even said that it was more usual for a group of 4 to eat dinner together rather than everyone turning up like he believes now. Other fights in the past include a Higgins - Komisarek showdown last year which apparently proved beneficial to the team and a Koivu and Ribs rift some time ago. Interestingly, there was a "clique" which was mentioned often in the past of three ex-Habs members. Those three are our very own Ribeiro, Dagenais and... surprise! Jose Theodore. They tore up the team into rivalries, did crazy stuff. And who knows, maybe they sold drugs to kids. Okay that was a lie, the last thing.

But I'm no idiot, when a player says that he's good friends with everyone - he either has a great Blackberry or is lying. The latter is more obvious considering the married guys spend more time with each other and not everyone can be friends. And maybe these fights do break the team apart. Which is probably why people can easily say "I don't miss Ribeiro" - and we definitely don't miss Theodore. (no returns!)

Lastly, our next game is against the Islanders. Let's not make this a losing streak. I like my chances. I'm actually not that against for a Souray trade if we can get some high rewards for this guy. He's such a hot potato that it's tempting.

Last-lastly, I'll be in Toronoto tomorrow-wards on. Everyone in on Saturday please send a message to hockeygirl as she'll be filling me in on everything else