Tuesday, December 26, 2006

This Wednesday, look at the other 8.


Family Man?


Vicious Womanizer? (I know that's his girlfriend - I'm just trying to make it more exciting. It sounds better than "loving boyfriend")


Wednesday night, prepare for the matchup of two "Gr8" ones. I'm going to skip the traditional game "talk" and let you in on one of our best defensive Ds and unsung hero at times (especially at hitting Darcy Tucker). You know about the guy who dons the number 8 for the Caps and does pretty goals. However what about the other 8 who never reaches the net?

People believe Komisarek is the sound of a Habs player hitting someone. They are neither wrong or right. You see, Komisarek is one of those rough gems the Habs snatched. And according to sources, Komisarek "only has two NHL goals because he doesn't need to score, his mission on this Earth is to crush NHL forwards' skulls in with his mighty shoulder of doom."

If you want to skip my endless chatter, just check out this awesome video on Komisarek. It has cute baby photos as well so if you want to see how cute Komi was in his childhood days - do it (And the dad is pretty enthusiastic "Montreal... Is like New York Yankees!"). Anyway, on with the show. Mike Komisarek (or as I affectionately call him, Mikey K) was an interesting pick for the Habs. Born to Polish parents, Mikey K grew up in West Islip with a love of sports that came easily. Like Ovechkin, he almost never came to play this sport as his mother forbade him to play hockey or American football due to its violent nature. However as a natural athlete, he one day got his chance. He was awarded a full athletic scholarship at the University of Michigan, eventually becoming the Canadiens' first round pick.

Right now he is defensively one of the best Ds on the team, arguably the best in his area. He leads the Ds in the +/- with a +8, and is even 3rd for the whole team in that sense. Offensively, he is very modest, with not many points to show for it. His talents lie mainly in his defensive skills. However the biggest advantage of his is the huge size and weight. And it's even better when he uses it well. Like Phaneuf, he can send players flying or running away from his blows. Additionally, it's the potential a fan can easily see in this defenseman whose maturity exceeds his young age. One could predict that later on he may develop into a well rounded defenseman, he may not win millions of trophies but all he needs to do for now is hit (Darcy Tucker).

Since the cute little World Juniors is on, (with two Habs standouts - Kotsitsyn & Price) Komisarek had been a participant for his own red white and blue, having participated in the Juniors for 2001 & 2002. He was as well part of the Under 18 group in 2000 and had his first step with the big boys in the Men's World 2006.

Reasons to cheer for this 8 bearing player:
- He hits Darcy Tucker
- It's not his first time in giving the Caps hell.
- He's a good kid for the charities, putting in his time especially in one at the start of this year where he chopped off his pretty blonde locks to fight cancer that took his mother. Then everyone else nicked his idea (not really but you know).
- He hits enough to be the 2nd biggest hitter

Reasons to not cheer
- He hits Darcy Tucker (For Leafs fans)
- He hits too hard sometimes?
- His nasty giveaways in which he leads the team in - hey we never said he was good in the other end!

Smack Talk
Montreal - A Theory of Ice, Habs Inside/Out, Eyes on the Prize, habsblog
Washington - Okay there are more than I can be bothered typing, just go to our resident HLOGger Rebecca's site, A View from the Cheap Seats and look at the nice neat sidebar which has who's who for what you want to know from the Caps.

8 comments:

CapsChick said...

Yay, the battle of the 8's! I can't believe the Caps and Habs are just now meeting for the first time this season! Darn crazy schedule...I'm in the parentals' seats tomorrow night, so I'll get a good look at all 40 of my boys. Should be a good one!

I'm trying to be nice with my gameday preview nicknames because I do love the Habs so...if anyone has any suggestions I'll update them as the day goes on. :)

Anonymous said...

Whoa Jordi!

This is why I read bloggers as much as anything else. This is a most excellent post, and I enjoyed reading it TWICE!

It must happen to every writer once in a while that they come across something they've read and think, "Wow, I wish I'd written that!"

This was one of those such instances for me.

I love Komi like crazy! I hope he and his good buddy Higgins are Habs till retirement. I loved reading how they shared in yoga training this past summer. Both have brought enormous contributions to this years Habs team.

This a great piece - expect me in the coming days to tag my readers onto it. thanks for writing it - I look forward to more!

Miss. Scarlett said...

Okay, that picture of Ovechkin makes me look even more like Skeletor.

Are you sure that's his girlfriend? Maybe he is an adulterer.

Jordi said...

I love the idea of two 8s. I hope Komi hits Ovie extra hard for me, and not anything against Ovie, it's like a respect hit. Ahaha.

Thanks reality check! I loved Komisarek for his decent plays and to learn more about him adds so much to seeing him play. It's great to hear you enjoy this, I love the support for sure. And as well, I really hope Komisarek & Higgins will stay Habs. Their attitudes are fabulous for the team and they remain great guys off ice to reflect their love for our favourite team.

Sherry: Well there are rumours... But lets not get into that. But hey, anyone who loves that crazy face has got to love him beyond his funny accent & quotes.

Margee said...

I heard Ovie's dating a blonde now. They were spotted at a Wizards game recently. Scandal!

And once again, have to point out that Komisarek is from Long Island. Land of Billy Joel and Zooba pants. He's another jewel in our crown. That crown is on our dashboard of an IROC, though.

CapsChick said...

Well...at least the Caps didn't get shutout.

And Margee, you're right - he's dating some blonde chick. I think it may actually be the girl in that photo. I'm pretty sure she's not a natural blonde.

See, no scandal! Ovie's a gentleman, family-friendly, I swear :)

Jordi said...

Ugh ugly game. And not ugly as in sucker punches and brawls. But it was really uneven and I hated it. I know we won this round but I'd rather give the Caps the win if it meant a more fun game. We weren't even that happy after the win. I mean ARGH. I was more into the Calgary/Canucks game than this one.

I'm so crushed. We play crappy games sometimes and we lose a few when we don't play crappy.

Anonymous said...

I know from experience that there are games you lose when you outplay the other team and games you win that you maybe shouldn't. Both teams really looked rough out there, but at least the Habs outplayed the Caps this time around (wouldn't have been hard).

Rematch, next Thursday - hopefully it will be a better one!