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Thursday, April 28, 2011

ONTO THE NEXT CANADIAN TEAM



      


















                       With the Montreal Canadiens being knocked out of the Playoffs, I will shift my blogs focus the next Canadian team the Vancouver Canucks. I will start to write game summaries for this series from Games 4-7. But I will provide you highlights for Game 1-3 as well.This is going to be a good series between the Nashville Predators and the Vancouver Canucks. The Predators are coming off there first ever series victory and it came against the Ducks in 6 Games. The Canucks are coming off a series where they blew a 3-0 series lead but recovered for Game 7 as they beat the Blackhawks in 7 Games.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

GAME 1: Tonight
9:00
PM E.t
Series tied 0 - 0
  • GAME 1: @Vancouver, Thurs. 4/28, 9 p.m.
  • GAME 2: @Vancouver, Sat. 4/30, 9 p.m.
  • GAME 3: @Nashville, Tues. 5/3, 9 p.m.
  • GAME 4: @Nashville, Thurs. 5/5, 8:30 p.m.
  • GAME 5*: @Vancouver, Sat. 5/7, 8 p.m.
  • GAME 6*: @Nashville, Mon, 5/9, TBD
  • GAME 7*: @Vancouver, Wed. 5/11, TBD
  • * if necessary; all times Eastern

BRUINS ELIMINATE CANADIENS

Eastern Conference Quarter Finals GAME 7: Canadiens @ Bruins

BRUINS END THE HABS SEASON WITH A O.T WIN




















GOAL SCORERS

MTL:   Y. Weber (PPG, 09:49 - 1st) , T. Plekanec (SHG, 05:50 - 2nd) , P. Subban (PPG, 18:03 - 3rd)
BOS:   J. Boychuk (03:31 - 1st) , M. Recchi (05:33 - 1st) , C. Kelly (09:44 - 3rd) , N. Horton (05:43 - OT)
GOALIES

MTL: C. Price (L)
 BOS: T. Thomas (W)






                  Last night in Boston, it was Game 7 between the Canadiens and Bruins and both teams battled right to the end. Just 3:31 into the game, Boychuk's shot from the point beat Price and the Bruins took a 1-0 lead. Just 2 minutes later, Mark Recchi got the puck in the slot and he shot it past Carey Price and the Bruins went up by 2 goals. 3 minutes later with the Canadiens on the powerplay, Cammalleri played the puck cross ice to Weber and he scored to put the Habs within 1 goal. Just 1 minute into the second, Gionta's shot was stopped and Thomas slipped and stopped him again. Then with the Bruins on the powerplay just 4 minutes in, Seidenberg gave the puck away right to Plekanec who had a breakaway and he scored blocker side to tie the game.

                 Under 5 minutes to play in the second, Halpern had a breakaway but he was stopped by Thomas. 10 minutes into the third, Ference's shot was stopped by Price but Kelly put home the rebound to give the Bruins the lead. But this whole play started when Michael Ryder high sticked the puck at center ice (with no call) and it went to Hamirlik and he was speared by Kelly and stayed down and then eventually Kelly would score. The refs missed 2 calls on that play which lead to the goal. But Montreal couldn't think about that as they now had to tie the game. Just 3 minutes later, Kelly again got a breakaway and he was stopped by Price.

                2 minutes later, Recchi came in and he shot it and Price robbed him with the glove and he showed it by flashing the leather. Price was doing his job in this game. Then with under 2 minutes to play, Montreal was on the powerplay. On this man advantage, Cammalleri played the puck to Subban and he scored to tie the game at 3-3. So overtime was needed. Just 6 minutes into overtime, Horton would score with a point shot to end the Montreal Canadiens season and to extend the Boston Bruins season. The final score was 4-3.

               "We're disappointed with the end result but you have to give credit to the Bruins," Canadiens coach Jacques Martin said. "Yes, we did have some injuries. We missed some soldiers, but the ones that were dressed gave a really good effort." It was a good overall season for the Montreal Canadiens as over the course of the year, the Habs were surprising everyone. Which makes for a great team in the future. The Habs are going to win there 25th Stanley cup soon. They first have to finish this rebuilding proscess. There almost there.  Since Montreal's getting better every year you can expect another good Montreal team next season.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Western Conference Quarter Finals GAME 7: Hawks @ Canucks

Canadian Team Update: CANUCKS KNOCK OUT THE DEFENDING CHAMPS IN 7 GAMES






















GOAL SCORERS

CHI:   J. Toews (SHG, 18:04 - 3rd)
VAN:   A. Burrows (02:43 - 1st) , A. Burrows (05:22 - OT)
GOALIES

CHI: C. Crawford (L)
 VAN: R. Luongo (W)



          
           Last night in Vancouver, the Canucks were looking to finaly close out the Blackhawks after going up 3-0 in the series and then letting the Hawks rally to win 3 straight to force this game 7. Would this be the night? Just a few minutes in, Alex Burrows scored to make it 1-0. Then late in the third, the Hawks would tie it with a goal from Toews. So it went to overtime. In the extra period, Burrows would score again to lead the Canucks to knock out the defending champs."Not to take anything away from the gold medal, it's something really special," Kesler said about this series compared to Luongo's Gold medal. "But you work all year for this and I've played with most of these guys for six, seven years and we've grown together and we've become family."


Quick Update Written By Andrew Di Pardo

HABS FORCE A GAME 7

LUCIC'S GAME MISCONDUCT

Eastern Conference Quarter Finals GAME 6: Bruins @ Canadiens

CANADIENS FORCE A GAME 7 WITH A 2-1 WIN ON HOME ICE























GOAL SCORERS

BOS:   D. Seidenberg (00:48 - 2nd)
MTL:   M. Cammalleri (PPG, 10:07 - 1st) , B. Gionta (PPG, 05:48 - 2nd)
GOALIES

BOS: T. Thomas (L)
 MTL: C. Price (W)





                Last night in Montreal, the Canadiens were ready to play and were destined to force a game 7. Just under 4 minute's in, Gomez did a long dump in on Thomas and he couldn't handle it so Gionta scored. But wait a second the whistle went before Gionta scored... It's no goal because the ref on the far side lost site of the puck. Gionta wasn't happy and neither were the fans as they were throwing there towels on the ice. But nothing can change the call. Then just a couple of minutes later, Cammalleri cleared the puck it went off of Mcquids foot when he was trying to get off the ice. So that's a too many men on the ice penalty. Right off the face off Seidenberg slashed Cammalleri. That's another penalty. It was going to be a 5-on-3 for 1:57 seconds.

                On the assuming powerplay, Plekanec played the puck to Subban at the top of the left circle, then he played it cross ice to Cammalleri and he scored to make it 1-0. 0:38 seconds into the second period, Seidenberg scored a rap-around to tie the game. Then just a couple of minutes later with the Habs on another 5-on-3, Subban played the puck to Cammalleri at the top of the circle and he was stopped by Thomas, Gomez was stopped as well and the third shot goes in by Gionta to make it 2-1 Montreal. Then with the Canadiens on another powerplay, Cammalleri played the puck to Subban and he shot was stopped by Thomas with the Blocker.

                 With under 2 minutes to go in the second, Chara came in and was stopped by Price and the rebound went right to Marchand and his empty net shot was blocked by Cammalleri. That's as close as they would get as the Habs force a Game 7 with a 2-1 win."As soon as we got into the room there was zero talk about this game," said Cammalleri. "It was 'Let's get some rest and roll into the next game -- roll it over like its the same game.We'll get as much rest as we can and get our gear on again." In the win, Carey Price made 31 saves and was a key factor of why the Habs made the playoffs and why they won this game. He will hope to play the way he did last night tonight in Game 7 of this series between the Habs and Bruins on CBC and RDS.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

HABS WILL BE AT THERE BEST IN GAME 6

DESHARNAIS WILL NOT PLAY IN GAME 6
















                    This morning in Montreal, Habs head coach Jacques Martin announced that Desharnais will not play in Game 6 due to a sprained knee. So Yannik Weber will come in to replace him. Weber played in game 2 and had the game winning goal. He would like to add to that tonight in this win or die game 6 in Montreal against the Bruins. The game will start at 7:09 pm E.t on CBC and RDS.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

Sunday, April 24, 2011

NOT OVER TILL IT'S OVER

















                  Remeber the 2010 Playoff run that Montreal had? If you do, then you know that this series between the Habs and Bruins is far from over. Take a look back to the Series between the Washington Capitals and the Montreal Canadiens. Montreal won the first game of that series and went onto lose the next 3 games to go down 3-1 in the series. But Montreal rallied back with a 2-1 win in game 5. It wouldn't end there, as Halak made 50 saves to lead to a series tying 4-1 win over the Capitals to force a game 7.

             The Habs would go onto win game 7 by the final of 2-1. They completed a 3-1 series comeback. Then in round 2 against the Penguins, Montreal took a 2-2 series tie going into game 5 in Pittsburgh. The Habs lost that game 2-1. The same score off the Game 5 lose to Boston last night. So the Penguins had a 3-2 series lead going back to Montreal. Montreal won that game 4-3. The Habs would go back to Pittsburgh and win Game 7 by the score of 5-2.
            So back to the present, the Habs are by no means giving up.“We battled to the end, credit to all the players. Both sides had their chances and both teams fought all the way. We showed a lot of perseverance and determination and all the guys that dressed played hard tonight,” Martin said about the o.t loss to the Bruins."We gave all we had and now we have a few games to recoop and get ready to win one in front of our fans at home. It’s a tough situation, but last year’s experience is going to be a big help in getting us through it.” Game 6 of this series will be Tuesday night in Montreal.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

Eastern Conference Quarter Finals GAME 5: Canadiens @ Bruins

BRUINS DOWN CANADIENS IN DOUBLE O.T TO TAKE A LEAD IN THE SERIES






















GOAL SCORERS

MTL:   J. Halpern (13:56 - 3rd)
BOS:   B. Marchand (04:33 - 3rd) , N. Horton (09:03 - 2nd OT)
GOALIES

MTL: C. Price (L)
 BOS: T. Thomas (W)





                 Last night in Boston, the series was tied at 2-2, but the Bruins were looking to change that into a series lead. There was no scoring in the first and there weren't many chances for both teams. But in the second, things started to heat up. The ice conditions were getting bad due to the warm weather outside. But the Canadiens wouldn't let that stop them. Just a few minutes into the second, Plekanec came in on a 2 on 1 and he shot it five hole and he was stopped by Thomas. Early in the third now, Chara came in and took a slap shot that was stop and the rebound (shot by Peverley) was stopped as well by Carey Price. 2 minutes later, Kaberle played the puck to Thorton his shot was blocked but it went right to Marchand and he scored to make it 1-0.

                With 7 minutes to go, Darche came into the Bruins zone and took a shot and it went off the post. On the next play, Kostitsyn came in and took a shot and it went off Thomas and off the post. But the Canadiens would tie it, on a pass from Eller that went right to Halpern in front of the net and he put it in. So were off to the first overtime. Late in the overtime, Bergeron got the puck all alone in front of the net and Sopel tripped him and he was called for a penalty. But it was a good one because he may had just saved a goal. The Canadiens would kill off the penalty. Which would lead to a second overtime.

             5 Minutes into the second overtime, Moen and Gionta came in on a 2 on 1 and Moen had the puck. He played it to Gionta and Thomas came across the crease to make a highlight reel save. The Bruins came back the other way and Ference took a shot and it was stopped but Horton put home the rebound and the Bruins win Game 5 in double overtime. The final score was Montreal one and the Bruins two. "I just saw a shot," Price (who made 49 saves in the loss) said. "It hit my pad ... and they buried it." The Canadiens had a overall good game. But what killed Montreal in this game was that they couldn't clear the men in front of there own net.

              The first goal for Bruins came in front of the net and so did the second one. If the Habs are going to tie the series on Tuesday night they are going to have to find a way to get them out of the front of the net. But the Bruins know that based off the Habs history from last year that it's going to be tough to close out the series."I think we experienced that last year,"Boston Bruins coach Claude Jullien said. "You don't want to bring it up, but we know how hard it is. We've got to go to Montreal knowing we've got to be ready. Montreal will come out and play the game of their lives." Game 6 of this series will be Tuesday night at 7:00pm E.t on CBC/RDS/Versus and NESN.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

Saturday, April 23, 2011

FINGER FINE
















                     Today the NHL announced that Boston Bruins forward Andrew Ference has been fined $2,500 for his obscene gesture that he did after scoring a goal in Game 4 of the series against the Canadiens."I was pumping my fist," Ference said Friday. "I'm not giving anybody the bird or anything like that. (It was) an unintentional bird that I obviously apologized for. It wasn't meant to insult anybody, especially a whole row of cameras in the Bell Centre and the fans sitting there." Lets see how the Habs Fans react to what he did when they return to Montreal after Game 5 for Game 6.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

Friday, April 22, 2011

THE CHANCES OF WINNIPEG GETTING A TEAM HAS INCREASED!

There has been a $75 Million Dollar offer to buy the Phoenix Coyotes and move them to Winnipeg.

CAREY PRICE NOT NOMINATED FOR THE VEZINA






             










                Today the NHL announced the goalies who were nominated for the Vezina and Carey Price was not on the list.Roberto Luongo, Pekka Rinne and Tim Thomas were on the list. Price wasn't despite being second in shutouts and being tied for first in the NHL in wins. But Price says that it's the last thing on his mind with the Habs being in a 2-2 series tie with the Bruins.“It is what it is. The guys who were nominated really deserve to be there and I’m not going to take anything away from those goaltenders,” shared Price. “At the start of this series, if you would have told me it would be 2-2 after four, I think we would’ve taken that. It’s a best-of-3 and it’s a sprint to the end of this one.” The Habs next game in the series against the Bruins will be Saturday night at 7:08 pm E.t on CBC/Versus/NESN and RDS.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

Eastern Conference Quarter Finals GAME 4: Bruins@ Canadiens

HABS FALL TO BRUINS IN OVERTIME

GOAL SCORERS

BOS:   M. Ryder (02:13 - 2nd) , A. Ference (09:59 - 2nd) , P. Bergeron (17:04 - 2nd) , C. Kelly (13:42 - 3rd) , M. Ryder (01:59 - OT)
MTL:   B. Sopel (08:13 - 1st) , M. Cammalleri (06:52 - 2nd) , A. Kostitsyn (07:47 - 2nd) , P. Subban (PPG, 01:39 - 3rd)
GOALIES

BOS: T. Thomas (W)
 MTL: C. Price (L)





              Last night in Montreal, the Canadiens were looking to take a 3-1 series lead over the Boston Bruins. Just eight minutes into the game, Sopel's point shot beat Thomas to make it 1-0 Montreal. Two minutes later, Gomez played the puck to Gionta and he was stopped, but he got his rebound and Thomas dove to make the save. On that play, Thomas looked like Marc-Andre Fleury of the Penguins in the dying seconds of the 2009 Stanley cup Final, when he dove to make the save to win the Stanley cup for the Penguins. So the score was 1-0 Montreal after one period. Early in the second, Chara's shot was stopped by Price, but it went behind him and Hal Gill cleared it to the corner. On the next play, Kaberle's long pass went right to Ryder and he came in on the right side and riped it past Price to tie the game.

           Four minutes later, Gomez's shot was stopped and the rebound went to Gionta who played it across the crease right to Cammalleri and he scored to make it 2-1.  40 seconds later, Plekanec played the puck to Kostitsyn and he scored to make it 3-1.Exactly four minutes later, Marchand's shot was blocked but it went right to Ference and he salapped it past Price to cut the lead to 1 goal. After Ference scored he gave the middle finger to the fans in Montreal.  Bergeron would tie it up late in the second. Then in the third with the Habs on the powerplay, Subban had the puck at the far left and he took a shot and scored to give Montreal a 4-3 lead.


  With 13 minutes to go in the third, Boychuck had a wide open net after a scramble and he shot it and Price (who was down) saved it with the glove.That's the save of his career right there. With six minutes to go, Ryder played the puck to Kelly infront and he scored to tie the game. So were off to overtime. In overtime, Kelly played the puck to Ryder in front and he scored to win the game for the Bruins and to tie the series at 2-2."We came out hard and got the lead and then gave them a chance to come back," said defenceman Hal Gill. "It's something we have to be better at. We can't sit and pout. We have to find out what we're doing."

            There may be some signs of concern in Montreal after going up 2-0 in the series and now being tied at 2-2. But there shouldn't be, because in the 1979 Stanley cup semi-Finals against the Bruins, Montreal went up 2-0 in the series and just like this series they went into game 5 with the series tied. Montreal went onto win the series in 7 games. So can history repeat itself? Lets watch the rest of this series and see.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

Game 7 Of the 1979 Semi-Fianls Between the Habs and Bruins

Thursday, April 21, 2011

HALPERN MAY RETURN FOR GAME 4

















                             Today in Montreal, the news has started to spread about Jeff Halpern returning to the line up for tonight's game.Halpern missed the final 4 regular season games and the first 3 playoff games with a undisclosed injury."It's a call we'll make Tonight," said Martin. "He's an experienced player who played a major role in our penalty killing. He's a smart player who brings a lot of leadership to the dressing room."Halpern has been given the green light to play, but it will depend on how he feels before the game and if the coach wants to put him back in the line up.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

CAREY'S CALLOUT

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

HNIC-Coaches Corner, April 18 2011

Eastern Conference Quarter Finals GAME 3: Bruins@ Canadiens

HABS FALL TO BRUINS ON HOME ICE TO CUT THERE SERIES LEAD TO 2-1






















GOAL SCORERS

BOS:   D. Krejci (03:11 - 1st) , N. Horton (14:38 - 1st) , R. Peverley (02:02 - 2nd) , C. Kelly (EN, 19:34 - 3rd)
MTL:   A. Kostitsyn (07:03 - 2nd) , T. Plekanec (04:08 - 3rd)
GOALIES

BOS: T. Thomas (W)
 MTL: C. Price (L)





              Last night in Montreal, the Canadiens would have liked to take a 3-0 series lead against the Bruins.  But they didn't get off to the best of starts. Three minutes into the game, Bergeron centred the puck right Krejci (who was all alone in front of the net) and he scored to make it 1-0 Bruins. On the following Bruins play, Cambell had the puck in front of the net and he was stopped 2 times by Carey Price to keep the score at 1-0. With five minutes to play in the first, Chara (who was put back in the line up for the Bruins) took a shot and it missed the net, but Horton was there at the side of the net to bury it to give the Bruins a 2-0 lead.

               Early in the second, Carey Price had the puck behind the net and tried to clear it, but it went off of Recchi's skate and right to Peverly and he scored on an empty net. That made it 3-0 Bruins. With thirteen minutes to play in the second, Hamirlik gave a long stretch pass right to Cammalleri who dropped it back for Kostitsyn. Kostitsyn used his speed to get around the Bruins defense and he put a back hand shot pasted Thomas to cut the lead to 2 goals. In the third, Gionta came in over the Bruins line and he took a shot and Thomas made the save. Then just shortly after that, Gionta's shot was stopped and the rebounded shot by Darche was stopped by Thomas.

             Then with fifteen minutes to play, Cammalleri played the puck to Plekanec and he skated in the Bruins zone. He went all the way to the right side and spun around Chara with the puck and shot it and it went in the net. A great move by Plekanec on Chara and the lead is now 3-2 in favor of Boston. With four minutes to play, Cammalleri lost controll of the puck in the Bruins end, but Kostitsyn picked it up and he shot it and he was robbed by Thomas. Kelly would add an empty net goal as the Bruins win it 4-2 and now have cut the series lead to 2-1 in favor of Montreal. In the win Thomas made 34 saves (15 in the third).

             "Tim has given us a chance to win all year and he came up with another big performance tonight," said Patrice Bergeron, who had a pair of assists. "It's the playoffs and we all want to win and we know they're not going to stop. Even though they were down three goals, they kept going and we expected that, and we know Thursday is going to be a tough game again." In the loss, Price made 22 saves. He played good, but if it wasn't for that give away the game would have went to overtime. But everyone makes mistakes and I'm positive Price will bounce back with an even better game on Thursday night.

             "The victory definitely is on the other side, but at the end of the day, the difference was the first period, the first 10 minutes of the game," Montreal captain Brian Gionta said. "We got scored on early and then we got away from our game plan."Game 4 will be Thursday night at 7:00 pm E.t on CBC/NESN and RDS and the keys to that game for Montreal are: Get to Thomas early by getting the first goal, use there speed and they will need to have a steady game plan. If they can do that, they will have a 3-1 series lead going into game 5. If they don't, the series will be tied going back to Boston.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

Sunday, April 17, 2011

What a Difference a Year Makes

Eastern Conference Quarter Finals GAME 2: Canadiens @ Bruins

CANADIENS MAKE BRUINS PAY FOR MISTAKES IN A 3-1 VICTORY























GOAL SCORERS

MTL:   M. Cammalleri (00:43 - 1st) , M. Darche (PPG, 02:20 - 1st) , Y. Weber (17:21 - 2nd)
BOS:   P. Bergeron (07:38 - 2nd)
GOALIES

MTL: C. Price (W)
 BOS: T. Thomas (L)





                     Last night in Boston, the Canadiens were looking to take a 2-0 series lead back to Montreal. A defenseman on the Canadiens named James Wisinewski, painted his stick white before the game. Wisinewski did this so that when he winds up to take a shot his stick would blend in with the boards and make it really hard for Thomas to see when he's going to shoot it. How would this affect his play? Just 40 seconds into the game,  Wisinewski turned the puck over and took a slap shot and he was stopped Thomas but the rebound will go right to Cammalleri who puts it home to make it 1-0. Then just a minute later with the Habs on the powerplay, Cammalleri played the puck to Darche in the slot and he scored to make it 2-0 just 2:20 into the first period. 30 seconds after that, Thorton played the puck to Lucic and Carey Price slid across the crease to make the save with the glove hand to keep the score at 2-0.

                   7 minutes into the second, Plekanec had a breakaway but was stopped by Tim Thomas. That would prove to be costly. Marchand came into the Habs defensive zone with the puck along with Bergeron and Marchand played the puck to him and he scored to cut the lead to 2-1. Then with under 3 minutes to play in the second, Seidenberg gave the puck away right to Hamirlik and he played the puck to Eller and he took a shot and it was stopped. But Weber puck home the rebound to make it 3-1 Montreal. That was Weber's second career playoff goal. Both goals came against the Bruins. So Montreal has a 2 goal lead again.

              Then in the third, with the Bruins on the powerplay, Kaberle's point shot was stopped and cleared to the side. So the score was still 3-1 and it would stay that way as the Montreal Canadiens take a 2-0 series lead back to Montreal a place where the Bruins have not won in since Game 4 of the 2009 Stanley cup playoffs."Two wins is not four," Price said who had 34 saves in the win. "We have a lot of work left to do. We are a good team when we jump out and get the lead and we are playing them real tight and not giving them space." Before this game, it was announced that Chara wouldn't play due to dehydration, and now there's a possiblility that he won't play on Monday according to Chara's doctors. He will most likely be a game time decision.

               "He deserves so much better for what he did tonight, coming to the rink and going out there for the warmup," Julien said about Chara. "Even attempting to come, it was courageous on his part. We missed him. He did the best he could, but to be honest with you it wasn't even close." More bad news for the Bruins is that, in franchise history after trailing 2-0 in a series they have never came back to win a series as they have a record of 0-26."We've made it hard on ourselves," forward Mark Recchi said. "But we'll give Montreal some credit and go in their building and try to do what they did to us."

                In this series so far, the Canadiens have been able to use there speed to there advantage. It you look at all 5 of the Habs goal in this series, they were all created by turnovers. The Habs have even played well on defense not just the offense. If you re-watch the game you will notice that every time the Bruins entered the Montreal zone (excluding when the Bruins scored), the Habs forced the Bruins to go around the net and either shoot the puck at the shine pads or create turnovers. So Montreal has played this series perfectly. Game 3 of this series will be Monday night in Montreal on CBC/NESN/RDS and Versus.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

Your Canadiens- Mathieu Darche (Eng. vers.)

Friday, April 15, 2011

UPDATED CHANCES OF WINNIPEG GETTING A NHL TEAM

Eastern Conference Quarter Finals GAME 1: Canadiens @ Bruins

GIONTA AND PRICE LEAD THE HABS TO A GAME 1 VICTORY OVER THE BRUINS





















GOAL SCORERS

MTL:   B. Gionta (02:44 - 1st) , B. Gionta (16:42 - 3rd)
GOALIES

MTL: C. Price (W)
 BOS: T. Thomas (L)





                  Last night in Boston, it was Game 1 of the NHL Playoff Series between the Montreal Canadiens and the Boston Bruins. The Canadiens had there way with the Bruins the past two NHL regular seasons by having a record of 9-3-0 (4 of those wins are from this season). Would that continue in Game 1 of the Playoffs?" Our record speaks well for what we could do. Then again we are playing the favourite. It's three versus sixth. There at home, there supposed to win and all these things. That season series is what it is but there still the favourite. We got to upset them,"Mike Cammalleri said before the game.

                   Just 2 minutes into the game, Kaberle gave the puck away behind his own net right to Scott Gomez and he played the puck to a wide open Gionta in front of the net and he scored to make it 1-0. Just a few minutes later, Kaberble played the puck to Sidenberg and he shot it and it was tipped by Marchant and Price made the save. With 6 minutes to go, the Habs went on the powerplay. Just 30 seconds into the powerplay, Subbans one timer was stopped by Tim Thomas. So the score was still 1-0 after 1 period of play. Early in the second, the Bruins would dump the puck in right off of Price and he couldn't control the rebound so Thorton got the rebound but Price was able to make the save.

                  Shortly after that, the Habs defense was blocking several shots. But 1 shot did get through and it was Kelly's shot and it was stopped by Price. The rebound went right to Ference and his shot was blocked by Sopel and after that play Price showing his appreciation to Sopel for that block by winking at him. So the score was still 1-0 after 2. But late in the third, Gomez got the puck in the offensive zone and he dropped it back for Gionta who took a hard slap shot that beat Thomas to make it 2-0. That would be your final as Carey Price made 31 saves for his 3rd career shutout (all 3 coming against the Bruins) and his first playoff win since a 5-0 game 7 win over the Boston Bruins in 2008. This was just Price's second playoff win in six games in Boston. His last win in Boston came in a 4-0 win in Game 4 in 2008.

          After the game, Price was asked if his team has the edge in this series because of the 4-2-0 regular season record against the Bruins. He responded: "Things that happen in the regular season don't necessarily happen in the playoffs because it costs a lot more," Price said. "Teams are playing differently." Price also spoke about how his team played in game 1."If we were able to write down on paper how we would have wanted to start the series this would have been it," Price said.

         In the win, Gointa had both goals for Montreal. But both were set up by Gomez. So the question going into this  series was: "Is Gomez going to step up his game?" I think the answer is yes. If you look at what Gomez did in this game. He was creating turn overs, he was setting up plays. He was doing every thing that needed to be done to get Montreal a win.Game 2 of this series will be Saturday Night at 7:00pm E.t on CBC, RDS, NESN and Versus.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

Thursday, April 14, 2011

History will Be Made 2011- P.K Subban



The NHL Playoffs start today and this is a video to show how the Habs made the playoffs. It's a video I made based off the NHL TV Commercial called "History Will Be Made."

Enjoy,

Andrew Di Pardo

Monday, April 11, 2011

PLAYOFF PREVIEW: Who's The Favourite?






















                          Today in Montreal after the Habs practice the Canadiens players spoke about who's the favourite in this series between them and the Bruins." Our record speaks well for what we could do," Cammalleri said. "Then again we are playing the favourite. It's three versus sixth. There at home, there supposed to win and all these things. That season series is what it is but there still the favourite. We got to upset them." A reporter asked Cammalleri if the pressure was on the Bruins and he replayed: " It should be. Like I said there expected to win it. A lot of people probably think there going to win it. So yea, they should fell all the pressure."

                          "Just because you're not the favourite doesn't mean you don't have confidence," Gionta said." You have confidence in your team. But at the same time, you know how good they are. So we'll need to be prepared for that." What the Habs really need to do in this series in order to be affective is to frustrate the Boston Bruins with there speed and skill. They need to lead Boston into taking a lazy penalty's such as holding,Tripping and Roughing.

                If they could do that and get  there powerplay chances they should not have a problem in beating the Bruins. The Key players for Montreal in this series are: Mike Cammalleri, Brian Gionta, P.K Subban, Hal Gill and Tomas Plekanec. Cammalleri, Gionta and Plekanec need to provide the speed for the Habs on the break out plays and on the odd man rush. Subban needs to use his hard shot on the powerplay.Gill will need to use his size to clear the front of the net on the penalty kill for Price.

                 Another key player for Montreal is Carey Price. Price will have to be on the top of his game. Price will have to be ready to face on average 26 shots a game. This series will begin on Thursday night in Boston on CBC,NESN and RDS at 7:08pm E.t is the time of the puck drop.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

PLAYOFF PREVIEW :The Montreal Candiens Vs The Boston Bruins






















                 The Habs have made it past 82 Regular season games and now have to make it past Boston in Round 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. In 6 games against the Bruins this season, the Habs had a winning record of 4-2-0. Will that carry on into the Playoffs? " I think that Math works out to a second round playoff match up for us," Cammalleri said."So if we can do that again... But we have had some success against Boston. Not just this year but last year. We don't have a secret, we know how good they are. We know that if we do things right, we could be affective."

              This will be the Habs 33rd playoff match up against the Bruins in Franchise history. The last time these 2 teams met in the playoffs was in round 1of 2009 and the Bruins swept the Habs in 4 games. That series lose lead Montreal to bring in new players such as Mike Cammalleri, Brian Gionta, Scott Gomez and several more.It also lead Montreal to ship out players such as former Habs captain Saku Koivu, Chris Higgins,Mike Komisarek and many more. That summer shakeup is what lead Montreal to go to the Conference finals in 2010.


                   The key for Montreal in this series will be there speed. If the Habs are going to win this series that's how they will do it. Boston is a team that will try to draw you into taking penalty's with there size. The way to get around getting into a gaun show will be to keep there cool. Canadiens head coach Jaques Martin, will not want to have any part in a game like that 8-6 loss that they had a few months back against the Bruins. Another Key for Montreal will be there powerplay. In the regular season Montreal was 8 for 30 against the Bruins on the powerplay. That's a 26% average. The Bruins are not the best at killing penalty's against the Habs. So the Habs will need to take advantage of that. The last key to this series for Montreal is Carey Price. Price will have to be on the top of his game. Price will have to be ready to face on average 26 shots a game.

                The Key for the Bruins in this series if there going to beat the Speedy Canadiens is they need to use there size to there advantage. The Bruins will want nothing more to get on the Habs nerves. They want to draw them into taking penalty's. The Bruins would have no problem having another game like that 8-6 win against Montreal. That's there kind of game. But if the Habs don't buy into that the Bruins will need to rely on Tim Thomas. Thomas will have to expect Montreal to be coming hard at him every game. So thats the Key for the Bruins. This series will begin Thursday Night in Boston on CBC, NESN and RDS at 7:00pm E.t.
Written By Andrew Di Pardo

Canadiens Vs Bruins 2011 Playoff Schedule

April 2011
Date Visitor Home Time (ET) TV Network/Results
Thu, 14 Apr 2011 Canadiens Bruins 7:00 PM RDS, VERSUS, CBC(HD)  
Sat, 16 Apr 2011 Canadiens Bruins 7:00 PM RDS, VERSUS, CBC(HD)  
Mon, 18 Apr 2011 Bruins Canadiens 7:30 PM RDS, CBC(HD) Tickets
Thu, 21 Apr 2011 Bruins Canadiens 7:00 PM RDS, VERSUS, CBC(HD) Tickets
Sat, 23 Apr 2011 Canadiens Bruins 7:00 PM RDS, VERSUS, CBC(HD)  
Tue, 26 Apr 2011 Bruins Canadiens TBD RDS, CBC(HD) Tickets
Wed, 27 Apr 2011 Canadiens Bruins TBD RDS, CBC(HD)

History Will Be Made - Brian Gionta

Sunday, April 10, 2011