01:25 We meet Lee Katchur and his son Brady, who became friends with Tomas Plekanec years ago when Tomas billeted with them in Camrose, Alberta when he played in the Viking Cup as a teenager. Since then, Tomas has stayed in touch and provides them with tickets to games when he plays in Edmonton. We can see how much Brady admires his big brother/hero.
A similar story came out during the many eulogies for Pat Quinn after his passing. Darcy Rota explained that he was an Edmonton Oil King years after Pat played there, but he billeted with the same family, so they had that bond on top of Pat being Darcy's coach with the Canucks. Years later, when the mother of their billet family passed away, both traveled together to attend her funeral, and Pat spoke at the ceremony.
02:28 Brandon Prust and Dale Weise on the bench communicating with their teammates on the ice, yelling "Time!" to indicate they don't need to rush a play. We also see Tomas and Max Pacioretty going over their strategy for killing penalties. It's cool that these two are used as a unit more often now, kind of a lethal shorthanded combo.
02:50 Michel Therrien talking to Tomas after he return to the bench following a missed opportunity on a shortanded break. "You're a shooter Pleky. When you're on your off-wing you gotta shoot it there." Which is exactly what every viewer has yelled at his TV screen, except not in such polite terms.
03:20 Between periods, Dale Weise takes care of the pep talk, while we see Manny Malhotra one-on-one with Nathan Beaulieu.
05:15 Strength and conditioning coach Pierre Allard walking to the pool to swim laps very, very early in the morning. He's training for an Ironman, he's been competing for a few years now, that's where he gets his mojo now that he's retired from hockey. He played pro in Europe for quite a few seasons. Didn't know that.
He went back to school and was interested in the training side as a player, so he studied kinesiology. We can see when he leads a workout with the boys that he's cutting edge, all new-school thinking, lots of compound movements and full-body lifts, footwork and ladder drills, with dynamic stretching that incorporates some yoga among other influences.
When doing pre-game warmups, we see René get a warm bro hug from a Flames staffer, even years removed from having played there. So again, we know that there were issues with René during his time with the Habs, but we can rule out any problems 'in the room'. René doesn't seem to have any problems getting along with everyone, or being popular.
10:20 Cool shot of Michel Therrien pointing to P.A. Parenteau on the bench during the shootout, telling him he's next up, P.A. has a chance to win the game, and he doesn't disappoint.
I kind of lost track of when or how or why the change came that coaches don't have to fill out a lineup card anymore with their first three shooters, like they used to. I couldn't really see the point of that, what advantage it conferred, how it made games better or fair or whatever. I like this better, the coach decides as the shootout progresses.
11:00 Brandon passes on the cape to Carey, who kept the game at one goal against to allow the Canadiens to eke out a shootout win. As the players leave the arena by the service entrance to get on the bus, they are cheered on by a receiving line of Habs fans who've waited to send them off.
11:40 We get to meet P.A. Parenteau's family, as well as friends and former coaches, including Mario Durocher. His story is similar to David Desharnais', a skilled player who had to play his way up from the minors before getting his chance in the NHL. P.A. played more than six seasons in the AHL.
16:15 Pre-game before the Canucks tilt. We meet legions of Habs fans in bleu-blanc-rouge at the New Pacific Coliseum.
18:15 After the Alex Burrows hit on Alexei Emelin that will eventually see the Canucks forward get suspended three games, but which goes unpenalized and results in an odd-man rush and a goal by the Canucks, Michel Therrien asks the referee to come over and have a talk. The ref ignores him. We see Manny Malhotra, who doesn't have an 'A' on his jersey, discuss the matter with the official, asking him "When can he talk to you?" The exchange is calm and polite, and is another indication of the respect Manny has throughout the league.
20:15 We get to spend a few minutes with the Malhotra family on Hallowe'en night, when Manny returns after a long road trip. He's not done though, he has to take the kids out for another round of trick or treating.
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