The Sultan of Swank

Kilger to Panthers for a 3rd round pick per TSN.

Yeah. If Pitts can re-sign him, its huge, otherwise, anything other than a cup and they gave up a ton for a rental.

Hossa and Dupuis for Armstrong, Espo, Christensen and a 1st from Pitts. Nice bob...

13 minutes Bobby...

Good question Clawson. Bob, do yuo have a fucking answer!?

So what happens in Toronto now? Do they re-sign Sundin at the end of the season? Who's UFA? Who needs to go to make room if anyone wants to come to Toronto? I think the good for Toronto is that they've got a chance to finish around where they did last season, maybe even make the playoffs, which means that some bigger names might go to T.O. because when they were down at 14, 15, who really wants to go to the worst team right? Bob, you've 37 minutes, goddamnit pull the trigger already. Fuck, I'm hearing Hossa to Pittsburgh now.

Bob, you've got 48 minutes to keep your fucking job.

Bob.. what the fuck?!

Apparently Montreal is offering Ryder, Lapierre, Grabovski(who's probably the best player in the AHL right now) and a 1st for Hossa. Supposedly Ottawa is trying hard for him also offering Vermette, Schubert and Foglino.

I respect what Sundin did, but at the same time, he's putting his own comfort ahead of the good of the team. I'm not sure how I feel about it. I think this is one of those situations where someone should have told him that if he loves the Leafs, he'd let them go.

We hated the coaching and management staff for it, and we were angry at him for a time yes. But When the winningest goalie of all-time played half his career and forged his name into legendary status in your city, and is probably the modern day folk hero for les quebecoise(or at least was, when he played here), shit, I go to the rinks around here, watch any game at any level and one of the two goalies will be wearing the #33. Roy absolutely deserves to have his #33 retired in Montreal, it only makes sense and I pity the gimmick poster who clearly is basing his opinion on stupidity. Shit, Richard and the Canadiens organization had a huge falling out after his retirement, should we take down his #9 because he went and coached the Nordiques?

Habs... Please beat Columbus tonight. Really, it's all I ask. Gainey's number 23 is getting retired tonight. I believe next season it's Roy who gets the nod.

Big game tonight for the Habs. Tough game against the Penguins coming up, should be very fun to watch.

Well this is strange... http://www.cyberpresse.ca/article/20080220...88/CPACTUALITES It's in french but it's saying that the Habs have ordered equipment for Hossa. While they stress that it in no way means a deal is done, and that at any time a GM could simply say, no, I don't want this anymore. It does mean that they *might* be close on something. Apparently the Habs did this 2 years ago for Khabibulin and Aucoin which would have sent Ribeiro, Dagenais and Theo the other way, but the deal was nixed when Aucoin broke his ankle. It says that the names involved are Ryder, Streit and a Pick/Prospect. I thought it was interesting to see La Presse report it because they're not usually on the crazy train, but that deal is just far too low for Hossa, ok so Streit is probably one of the most under rated players in the league and is definately the best bargain player in the league, and we all know what Ryder is capable of, but really... is 30 goals and maybe a 60-65 point a year offensive defenseman plus a pick worth Hossa?

Well it starts with Ryder putting in 2, then scoring another 2 within 9 seconds of each other. Throw in some dominant third period play in all aspects of the game, a couple of lucky bounces, a few saves and Alex Kovalev scoring while falling down... well frankly I'm just at a loss, really. How the hell Montreal did that I'll never understand. I don't think I could ever forget that game. The crowd was insane, I mean shit, when they're going ballistic for winning a defensive zone faceoff, you know they're having an impact on the game. The atmosphere in the arena was apparently beyond words. My brother went to the game, I was invited, but instead was out for dinner with my girlfriend... As far as excitement goes, game of the year from that standpoint. That's the first time in 99 years of Habs lore that they have ever erased a 5-0 deficit.

I'm going to go ahead and go... hot damn. Wow, for a team that's come back I believe 3 times when trailing after any period, to come back from 5-0 in the middle of the game to win 6-5 in a shootout... that's impressive. First time in franchise history that Montreal has erased a 5-0 deficit. Amazing.

I'd like Montreal to stay where they're at or get as close as they can to Ottawa. I like the fact that nobody considers them to be any sort of a threat but they're the second best team in the East as though it's some blind chance and the huge collapse is still coming... and hey, maybe it will, but 60 games in and we're still going strong, its been a good year so far.

Finally fuck. Those were 3 really bad games and Vokoun was a beast last night... not that montreal played an overwhelmingly good game. Hamrlik was severely missed on the blue line, it'll be good to have him back saturday.

Shit habs really fucking blew it while I was away.

This is how I want it to go... Montreal beats Toronto silly, so badly. I mean it doesn't have to be 8-0, shit it could be 1-0 but I just want Montreal to assert themselves and dominate for 60 minutes. Florida is to beat Ottawa... but only in overtime or a shootout. Then the stage is set. Montreal and Ottawa, tied for most points in the Eastern Conference, in Ottawa. A Habs team nobody expected to make the playoffs is now challenging for the top playoff spot. They're flying high and rolling into Ottawa on the strength wins against Ottawa and bitter foe Toronto. Ottawa is down for the count, but that's what makes them dangerous in this game. Winners of only 3 in their last 12 at this point, they very suddenly have something to prove. Captail Alfredsson is back in the line-up and the Sens are ready to prove on home ice that nobody is better than them in the East. The game would no doubt be incredible. Possibly a GOTY candidate if they both play as best a game as they can. With Heatley still out, but riding high on emotion Ottawa is the still the superior club. But the Kovalev-Kostitsyn-Plekanec line has been one of the most electrifying lines in the league since Christmas. Only one player on the Habs is not pulling his weight right now as the whole team is firing on all cylenders. In an ideal world this entire situation would play out as I just described it. The game would be won in Overtime by the Habs(OT wins I find to be more meaningful). .... *sigh* A Man Can Dream... To be honest I'd love for it to happen, but I just can't see the Habs overtaking the #1 team in the East.

Big win by the Habs. Thursdays game could go either way. I thought the same thing about last night. Ottawa, who are losers of many recently had that 40 minute closed door meeting, I was expecting them to put forth much more of a show, instead of having to wait for Montreal to relax to make a game of things. Toronto who were just bitch whipped again this season, this time far worse than its ever been will no doubt be looking to prove something... anything really. So that's going to be an intense game, if Montreal can whether the first storm of the period that the Leafs are likely to put forward, and if they can either score first or have the Kovalev line(which combined for 9 points last night) going throughout the game, Toronto should go down nicely. Its a hard game really, Everyone has gotta be focused on beating the Leafs, but it sure must be hard when there's a chance to be the best team in the East on Saturday.

All I can say is that is what happens when you stop skating.

Habs and Rangers today. National coverage in the US and Canada for the game, so Montreal better play a whole world better than the last time these two met. If Montreal wins this one, I can't imagine how hungry they would be going into the game against Ottawa... one thing at a time though, beat the Rangers first which we haven't done this season. Interestingly enough the top 4 teams in the last 10 games are Detroit, Minnesota, Philly and Montreal, all with 7-2-1 records.

I know that Montreal won't catch Ottawa... or if they do it won't be for long I wanted to make that clear before I went into my homer-ism for Montreal. Don't look back now Ottawa, but Montreal is 3 points back of the conference lead and with an win tomorrow(however unlikely it may be) it would set up a Montreal/Ottawa match on Tuesday that could possibly decide the Conference lead.

Go Leafs tonight that's important for us. If we can pull the win and Toronto pulls a miracle and beats the Sens we're within 3.