a broken lull.

OMG. did you see Ryan Smyth's conference?? he wants to win the cup with the Islanders so he can bring it back to(/for) Edmonton!! wow. i got chills. that was an emotional conference. (i wish Gainey could've gotten him.)

Posted by Anonymous | 2:17 PM |

NHL
Toronto 4 Montreal 5

:D
nothing more to add than to say Kovalev was back (as was Bégin!) and he was, as i'd expected, a fucking hungry presence out there :) (we managed to sit back and lose our three-goal lead by allowing two goals to be scored, though. the guys played well -and hit everything they could get their hands on- but we need to stop slacking off after a lead; especially against the might Leafs who always find ways to score against us.)
another game tonight, this one against NYR.

here's something nifty. you can follow TSN's Tradecentre 07 live. so far, nothing too big today. but hopefully Gainey makes some moves.
here's the NHL's Trade Deadline page.

Posted by Anonymous | 10:31 AM |

uh, yeah...so, anybody believe Oscar didn't set-up Marty Scorsese for that Directing oscar? Spielberg, Coppola, and Lucas presenting?? how fucking awkward would it have been had Alejandro had (rightfully) won the damn thing? i love me some Marty, and i'm sure The Departed is an awesomely-directed film, but the obvious bias was just a bit much. i'm just saying they knew and were (shamelessly) throwing Scorsese a bit of a party.

outstanding speech by Forest. (and how amazing did you all feel when they cut back to both Leonardo and Ryan Gosling standing up in fucking approval as he was on-stage??! my boys made me proud. Forest made everyone his bitches with that fucking speech :) go Forest go! oh, a small btw -- James McAvoy should've been nominated for his performance in the flick.)

Posted by Anonymous | 10:30 AM |

the Oscars are tonight. as has been the case with the last few years, i'll be skipping the 'party' once again (i usually dip back in a couple of times to catch the host). i grew disillusioned with these awards shows years ago so i don't have the energy or the will to explain why but most people get it. anyway. as with every year, there's bound to be a few disappointments for those who view these seriously. i am not one of them. but here are my favorites for the night, so if they happen to win, i'll be happy for them, for the recognition. other than that, i don't give a rat's ass.

FOREST WHITAKER - i haven't seen any of the other performances but this one was huge on its own (btw, i hate the fact that these are supposed to weed out the BEST performance/film/etc; it's supposed to be ART, period).

PENÉLOPE CRUZ - for the body of work outside the fricking US. North Americans needs to see what this girl can do, and how lame their paper-thin female 'characters' are.

KIKUCHI RINKO - her story was my favorite from Babel, and her performance was funny, charming, heart-wrenching, and courageous as all hell.

ALEJANDRO GONZÁLEZ IÑÁRRITU / GUILLERMO DEL TORO / ALFONSO CUARÓN - Scorsese's gonna get the belated Oscar but these three (two of which weren't even nominated!!), in my opinion, are the ones deserving of the honor for their respective cinematic achievements this year.

CHILDREN OF MEN - hands down. btw, they should let foreign films into the Best Motion Picture category. it's kinda dated how they can't be better than american, or english-language, films.

so these are the folks i'll be (foolishly) pulling for tonight. the rest, i couldn't care less because these shouldn't be about who or what is better than the next, but a celebration of FILM.

i'll try to watch as many good films today instead :)

4:25PM

with the March 6th date looming, Merge has Arcade Fire's Neon Bible available for pre-order. i just put my order in for the Deluxe CD. $18.25US shipped to Canada. not bad considering it'll be a couple of bucks more with taxes once you buy it in stores over here (currently $19.99CDN at Future Shop). plus, Merge promises a few free goodies with the pre-order :) i'd say go for it if you're a fan.

7:38PM

OMG! the Habs traded Craig Rivet!!!!! (he was sent to the Sharks.) i never thought i'd see the day. alright. (btw, love the title of this article.) this is cool. and they got a 1st Round Pick out of it, too!! we love Gainey. hopefully this'll help trade Souray off too before the tuesday deadline. btw, check out NHL.com's Trade Deadline center. tomorrow and tuesday are sure to be exceptional (let's hope so) days. just noticed the deadline is 3PM tuesday...i'm not gonna be missing much of it as i leave for work at 2:20PM each day :) yay!

here's a great 15-minute conference call Rivet took with a few journalist following the news of the trade. he's a great guy. and it's sweet to see him being sincerely okay with the whole thing. wish him the best of luck.

OH... and Kovalev might be making a comeback as soon as tomorrow night against the Leafs... :D
and we can expect Bégin later in the week. damn. this week is shaping up to be a great one for us Habs fans.

Posted by Anonymous | 2:19 PM |

NHL
Washington 3 Montreal 5

Montreal gets a second straight win. nice to see it happening. but word of caution to Habs Fans -- 3 of the 5 goals were scored on PP, 1 was short-handed (Ryder's beauty), and the last one an empty netter. we still can't do shit on 5-on-5. we're back to the start of the season where we thought we were the shit because we were winning games (mostly squeaking by with one goal). but those were won on PP goals. but, the coaching staff never addressed the issue of 5-on-5 since we were winning all those games. then reality set in, and we went on an almost-two-month slump because teams figured out our (simple) game plan and effectively shut us down night after night. last night's game was good. but we were lucky Washington took all those penalties. it was a definite, and much-needed, confidence-booster. and i'm grateful for that because the Habs have been running low for ages now, unable to shake that funk. but, even through the current wins, i would really like them to address the serious problems that are still plaguing us. grateful for the wins/goals. i'll take them. but please don't be assholes about it, is what i'm saying.

Posted by Anonymous | 12:24 PM |

we have no idea if this means anything. but. Sheldon Souray was asked to leave practice this morning :) might be an injury (although i doubt he'd have to asked to leave), maybe a shouting match, or, and this is what i'm hoping with the trade deadline coming fast at the end of the week), maybe Gainey finally pulled the trigger for the highest bidder in the West. but once again--developing (but it's certainly, definitely exciting!!).

tonight, the Habs are facing the Washington Capitals at 7:30.

update: apparently, Souray left because of... "bumps and bruises"? alright. we'll see.

in the meantime, we do have something to be happy for -- Jaroslav Halak gets his second NHL start tonight :)

Posted by Anonymous | 11:44 AM |

mark this date on your calendars!! the Habs have won a game! :D and it's no small feat. considering they lost their last 6 starts, and have been in a slump since the holidays, a win wouldn't come easy. but after scoring three goals in the second period, they almost lost the game with two goals from Columbus. but they held tight and squeezed a win out of it. i was disheartened by Columbus' first goal, though, because they'd taken away Halak's shutout in his very first NHL game. the thought hadn't occurred to me until that goal. he was solid all game long and surprisingly under control. can't wait for the next game. every game until the end will be like this, i expect. there won't be an easy one until it ends. the guys will just have to want to grind and do the work if they wanna make the playoffs. E from A Theory of Ice effectively blogs the experience of watching such a game by our little Habs.

wow. i go over to the IMDb and am welcomed by a slightly tweaked-yet-definitely-cooler design. like whores, sites usually go for flashier looks when getting face-lifts but these guys went for something way subtler. congrats, IMDb. i love it.

Posted by Anonymous | 8:38 PM |

weirder things have happened before, and it looks the Montreal Canadiens are about to get a much-needed shot in the proverbial ass this weekend. two games in two nights. goaltender Cristobal Huet is out indefinitely and the Habs have called up superstar-goalie-in-the-making Jaroslav Halak. here are some pics of the Canadiens' practice today (complete with still-funny Alex Kovalev). ...well, we might get a great look at the kid tomorrow night against Carolina. also--Mike Johnson might make a comeback :) i'm happy. i'm only missing Kovalev but that's alright for now. he needs to heal up.

Posted by Anonymous | 11:49 PM |

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!! :)

ps. the Habs lost 1-0 against Florida last night. but i agree with Carbonneau. they're on the right path now. they gave a great effort (despite playing without Kovalev and Mike Johnson).

pps. it's snowing outside. storm of the month-type thing. not going to work. they're predicting 40cm up to tonight. playing it safe. too bad it's Valentine's Day, though. would've wanted to socialize at work. but, i have a fire going. we have a second Habs game in two nights. and i have the evening off work. gonna enjoy it.

Posted by Anonymous | 1:48 PM |

Ray Emery gets three games for swinging his stick into Maxim Lapierre's face/visor saturday night!!! way to go NHL. i didn't think you had it in you. (it was definitely an ugly incident.)

Posted by Anonymous | 1:16 PM |

24. just watched the episode. it was better than last week's but i gotta agree with Tim Goodman's article over at SFGate - it's getting to be kind of a joke of itself.

11:52 PM

tomorrow's Habs game (against the Ottawa Senators) is another must-win (they haven't won those in a while). but there is hope at the end of the tunnel the little team that, at one point, could. set to return tomorrow night are Steven Bégin (needs medical clearance), Sergei Samsonov, and, definitely not least - Andrei Markov. Rivet will sit this one out because of the flu bug that hit him this week (thank god for small miracles; now, can Souray get it, please?). i'm telling you, this is looking good. i'm actually excited for the game to begin. haven't felt like that in a few weeks with these Habs.

Saturday 1:37 AM

...and now Koivu and Kovalev are (finally!!) reunited on the first line !!! i hope these changes are not just sparks for Carbonneau. the team has been sluggish for months now. our PP, PK, and goaltending was making us appear more threatening than we really were. something's amiss on this team. we just got rid of the smoke and mirrors. hopefully Guy finds stronger options than just temporary sparks to fire up this team into consistency.

Posted by Anonymous | 2:06 PM |

here's Kevin Smith's top ten favorite films of 2006. a great list with superb commenting.

the Habs lost 4-2 in another weirdly uninspired afternoon game yestoday. (but today's game is the weekend draw. watch that one on CBC at 2PM for a rematch of thursday's intense playoff game.)

1:50 PM

Pens vs Habs. 2PM. CBC/RDS.
you can follow The Gazette's Mike Boone's live-blogging straight from the Bell Centre over at Habs Inside/Out.
have a great game. this is sure to be a spectacular one.

5:01 PM

NHL
Pittsburgh 3 Montreal 4 (OT)

wow. what a difference a third period makes :) i was expecting that effort throughout the game but if they managed to score a little and hold the Pens off for much of the first two period (and Aebischer wasn't even at his best today; there's a long stretch of the second period where he just didn't know where the puck was), then explode in the third...so be it. this wasn't a fluke win. they worked for it. they did show some heart. although, i would love it if this team didn't need a fucking spark every other game to get them going. consistency, guys. i don't know what the problem is. is it Guy? the coaching staff? something's not working. in the meantime, i'll be enjoying the win, thank you very much :) have a great end to your weekend.

Posted by Anonymous | 12:02 AM |

NHL
Montreal 4 Pittsburgh 5 (SO)

we got one point. and it was a bloodbath of a game. the guys have nothing to be ashamed of. i have a feeling a lot of people (re: RDS/Journal de Montreal) are angry and will be calling for the refs' heads today, but i'm not. short of getting that second point, i'm really satisfied with last night's game. our guys played their fucking hearts out last night. sunday afternoon's game back in Montreal will be one hell of a show! now that's gonna be one to be proud of broadcast on the CBC :) btw, for the record, i'm a Souray basher when it comes to his D play (i'll take his booming shot while we have it), but i felt proud to have him on our team last night as he went straight for Armstrong and fucking beat his ass senseless for charging Koivu. the hit looked ugly and i'm not pissed Armstrong didn't get a penalty (not even pissed about Souray getting ejected from the game - surprised, yeah, but if the refs saw it that way, then so be it; our team was fucking riled up after that), but Souray made me fucking damn proud last night. good for him. i don't regret the two(?) goals it cost us. not one fucking bit. that's fucking hockey, my friends.

Garbage did the Beat It Wally fundraiser wednesday night ...and Tim's got a couple of videos up for us already :)
the Bleed Like Me intro gave me chills.

Posted by Anonymous | 10:56 AM |