Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Hockey Night in Canada. Tonight’s match up will be between the surging Montreal Canadiens and the first place Ottawa Senators. Montreal is only three points back of first place, and Dany Heatley and Daniel Alfredsson are returning from their respective injuries. This should be a doozie.
6:11pm: With four games on CBC’s schedule today, Dean Brown and Gary Galley will be calling this one. I have never heard Dean Brown, but this should be a nice break from Bob Cole.
6:14pm: 22 seconds into the game Ottawa makes it 1-0, there is nothing wrong with shooting the puck at the net, remember that one kids. Anything can happen when you shoot the puck towards the net.
6:15pm: Ottawa makes it 2-0. Dany Heatley takes a shot from the side and Cristobal Huet misplays the puck like Bill Buckner in 86 and it goes right through him into the net. Way to show you belong in first Montreal!
6:19pm: 3-0 Ottawa!! Is this game real? Spezza, Heatley, Alfredsson and Corvo combine on a fantastic passing play to bury the third goal in 4 mins. Guy Carbonneau goes to the bullpen and brings in rookie Carey Price to replace starter Cris Huet. If you are Montreal, this must be depressing. In the words of Greg Millen, lets see how they will react to being down 3-0 to start the game.
6:27pm: Commentator Gary Galley says that Tom Kostopoulos would rather dance (fight) with Jason Spezza than Ray Emery after hacking at a lose puck in front of the net. Has there been any other team in NHL history where the goalie is the toughest player on the team? This needs to be more closely examined. He went toe to toe last year with Buffalo Sabres tough guy Andrew Peters and not one person on the team stepped in to protect their goalie. The guy had Mike Tyson painted on his mask and was told to take it off. The same Mike Tyson who: was convicted of rape, bit of Evander Holyfields ear, and is probably definitely insane. He probably should have specified that it was Mike Tyson circa 1987 in his “Mike Tyson’s Punch Out” (best. game. ever.) days as opposed to the Mike Tyson present day who is bankrupt and getting tattoos on his face. Don’t mess with Emery.
6:40pm: Flipping to CBC’s other game, Edmonton @ Calgary: while profiling Oilers rookie Sam Gagner, Greg Millen says that John Tavares once got so mad at Sam Gagner that he took of his skate and threw it at him. I didn’t know that John Tavares attended the Happy Gilmore school of hockey.
6:58pm: While today is Hockey Day in Canada on CBC, celebrating hockey around Canada. Don Cherry seems to be confused and keeps calling it Canada Day. Confusing it with Canada Day which takes place on July 1st, celebrating the establishment of Canada as a country. Get a clue, Don! (not that this is the least bit surprising)
7:12pm: While it is still 3-0 for Ottawa, Montreal has had their fair share of chances to score a few goals. Emery must be arriving at practice a few minutes early these days. He’s stopped 15 shots on 15 saves.
7:14pm: Cris Huet’s stat line of the night. 4 shots, 1 save, that is a 25% save percentage. Brutal.
7:20pm: DANY HEATLEY! Wow, all alone in front of the net, I have pulled that many times in NHL 08 for XBOX 360 (gamertag mremis ; i’ll take anyone), as he walked in alone I felt myself moving the joysticks left and right. Very nice goal, Heatley buries his chance in alone on Carey Price. Something that Montreal have not been able to do tonight (bury their chances).
7:40pm: Since it is Hockey Day in Canada, live from Winkler, MB. Instead of the CBC Hot Stove full of juicy trade rumors of where Sundin, or Forsberg will be going, we are treated to some of Manitoba’s finest junior hockey. For the record it is -26 celcius in Winkler and with the wind it feels like -42. That is one COLD Hockey Day in Canada.
7:55pm: On NESN they also play Nickelback’s cover of Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting during hockey broadcasts. I always thought that was only for CBC, NESN should find their own music.
8:51pm: Due to the lack of competitive nature in the games, I have taken the time to bring to Illegal Curve Dany Heatley’s goal in the Senators game. Enjoy, have a good night.
Previous Live Blogs:
February 2, 2008:
January 26, 2008: NHL Superskills
Enjoy Hockey Day in Canada everyone, and make sure to check out Illegal Curve’s live blog throughout the day on February 26.
Latest on the injured duo.
A look at the projected lineup with all the latest game info.
TSN play-by-play voice Dan Robertson joined Hustler for a chat.
Keeping you up-to-date with all the latest pro hockey news in Manitoba.
Good insight from number 37.