On the 22nd anniversary of the Patrick Roy meltdown at the Forum against the Wings, the one that precipitated a seething feud between goalie and head coach Mario Tremblay into an outright divorce, the Canadiens shellacked Detroit 10-1, a bit of karma that salved the wound not at all.
(Reading: Michael Farber of Sports Illustrated on the fallout of that December 6 1995 game.)
1) The boys on Sportsnet kept referring to what a difference a week makes, how everyone was calling for heads to roll at le Nouveau Forum, but four wins had made all that die down. I want to introduce the Sportsnet talking heads to my confrères at ex-HIO/RATW.
2) I'm not the only one who keeps it front of mind that the Canadiens have feasted on the Sabres, Senators and Red Wings on this streak, right?
How bad is the new Adams Division? The Lightning are the best team in hockey, the Leafs are good and on the rise, and then it's a mishmash of mediocrity.
3) I'm a Posi-Troll, but I do not take heart from this mini resurgence. If anything, I think this is when we strike, while the iron is hot. Let's unload Jordie Benn and Andrew Shaw for draft picks while they're playing well and we're dealing from a position of relative strength, rather than one of Houleian crisis.
4) "Ken, that kid Byron who just lit your boys up last night, I hear you're interested? You can have him for the Mantha kid, if Blashill doesn't like him. Throw in Ouellet and his -2 from last night, and you can have Benn or Davidson, either or. Hell take both, and give me a second-rounder, and we're square."
5) Since when do the Canadiens' blue helmets come with a black chinstrap instead of white? I'm always the last to notice these things, I admit. A couple seasons back, there was a picture of Chris Chelios, just a head shot with him wearing a red helmet, and I was arguing that it was of him with the Wings or Blackhawks, not the Canadiens, since the red tint was wrong. Someone pointed out patiently that yes, it must not be from his Canadiens days, since our boys don't have red helmets, just white ones and blue ones. Until that moment, I would have sworn and put my hand in the fire that the Canadiens wore red helmets. They must, right?
6) Is Nicolas Deslauriers the player we thought Devante Smith-Pelly/Stefan Matteau would be? I've been uncharitable towards Mr. Deslauriers, I must admit, when he was a Sabre.
7) Charles Hudon is going to be a useful forward. And it's nice that Jacob de la Rose got on the scoreboard finally. I don't have high expectations, just want him to be what Lars Eller was, a big body third-line centre who can skate all day, chip in 12 goals a season, and back down from Nazem Kadri when the going gets rough.
8) David Schlemko and Jakub Jerabek are an uptick on Brendan Davidson and Joe Morrow, and relieve the pressure on a fading Victor Mete, but I'd still take Andrei Markov on my team. Even if he deserted us. Until Rasmus Dahlin gets here.
9) An off-night for Max Pacioretty, the only forward to not garner a point for the Canadiens. Meanwhile, Alex Galchenyuk bags four assists. François Gagnon on L'Antichambre pointed out how he was quietly effective, didn't try anything overly spectacular, just got the puck to the open man and did his job.
10) Carey almost got the shutout, stopped 22 of 23 shots. All these scrimmages against the weak sisters of our division are hopefully doing wonders for his confidence, and rounding him into form, working out the kinks and the ouchies.
