Friday Night Vids: Sidney Crosby Tribute and Habs Romance

Rogers Sportsnet gets video of the day with this playoff tribute to Sidney Crosby. I hear it’s the in-flight film on the Habs charter to Pittsburgh.

A couple variations on the popular Lady Gaga song “Bad Romance” as heard on Montreal’s Virgin 96 Radio.

The first one was the teaser for the opening round.

The second was made for the second round vs. Pittsburgh.

Audio game highlights come from Virgin 96’s sister station CJAD.

The “voice of the Habs” Rick Moffat is currently working on a new version of Bobby McFerrin’s “Don’t worry, be happy!”

Habs vs Penguins: A look back at the regular season

The Pittsburgh Penguins won the regular season matchup by a 3-1 margin. One of the problems looking at that statistic is that not one of those games came with a solid lineup that Montreal managed to field (save Jaro Spacek) in round one of the playoffs.

Three games game prior to Christmas, when the Canadiens were at the peak of their injury problems. Back then there were names like D’Agostini, Chipchura, Leach and White on the roster.

The Canadiens did manage their single win without the likes of Mike Cammalleri, but it was also the fist game that they faced the Penguins with a near-completely healthy defensive corps.

Here’s a look back a the four games, with a brief video recap included for each. You can hit the Boxscores/Stats links for more info via canadiens.com, including more detailed video links.

October 28 at Pittsburgh: The Penguins put out a Stanley Cup peformance with a 6-1 win.

Jaroslav Halak, who had a four-game winning streak entering the ame,  was chased after allowing four goals on 23 shots in two period. Many felt the team fell flat in front of their goaltender.

Notable injuries: Ryan O’Byrne and Andrei Markov

Game Boxscore and Stats from Canadiens.com

November 25 at Pittsburgh: The Canadiens only managed 17 shots and fell 3-1 to the Penguins. Carey Price made 27 saves.

Notable Habs injuries: Andre markov, Hal Gill, Scott Gomez, Jaroslav Spacek, Benoit Pouliot, Brian Gionta. Andrei Kostitsyn did not play, but may have been a healthy scratch.

Boxscore and Stats

 

December 10 at Montreal: Pittsburgh wins 3-2 on a goal from Pascal Dupuis at 13:21 of the third period. The Penguins fired 41 shots at Carey Price.

Notable Habs injuries: Andrei Markov and Brian Gionta.

Boxscore and Stats

 

February 5 at Montreal: Montreal wins 5-3 thanks to a pair of goals from Brian Gionta. The Canadiens chased Marc-Andre Fleury from the Penguins goal early in the third period, after their fourth goal.

Jaroslav Halak got the win, making 18 saves on 21 shots faced. Not one Penguins shot came off the stick of Sidney Corsby.

Notable Habs injuries included Mike Cammalleri, Andrei Kostitsyn and Benoit Pouliot.

Boxscore and Stats

 

The Crosby Factor

A look at Sidney Crosby’s stats in the four games against the Canadiens.

	Goals	Assists	Points	+/-	Shots	TOI
Oct 28	3	0	3	3	9	19:55
Nov 25	1	1	2	2	2	18:48
Dec 10	0	0	0	1	2	24:07
Feb 5	0	1	1	-2	0	20:51

 

Habs/Pens Playoff Schedule

Canadiens Gave It the Old College Try Against Penguins

In this corner, the defending Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins. In the visiting corner…well pretty much a Montreal Canadiens team made up of Bulldogs call ups.

Nonetheless, a Canadiens team battered and bruised squared off against Sidney Crosby and company and gave it their all.

Montreal kept pace in the shot count with the Penguins through the first twenty minutes with eight a piece.

The Penguins physical game would be the factor however as they out hit their opponents 19-11 in the period.

Crosby put Pittsburgh on the board at the midway point of the period when his shot tipped off Paul Mara’s stick and past Carey Price.

Bill Guerin made it 2-0, for the Penguins, at 6:41 of the second period. The goal was questionable as it appeared the referee had lost sight of the puck after it was in Price’s pads and trickled loose.

Crosby celebrates with Maxime Talbot -AP Photo

Ten minutes later, Crosby then set up a wide open Sergei Gonchar, who put the puck five-hole on Price, to give Pittsburgh a three goal lead.

Crosby’s assist was the 279th of his career, and moved him into the top ten all-time with the Penguins.

The Penguins held a 16-7 shot advantage over Montreal in the second period.

Max Pacioretty foiled Marc-Andre Fleury’s shutout bid, taking a perfect pass from Sergei Kostitsyn, seven minutes into the third period. It was Pacioretty’s third goal of the season.

Kostitsyn has an assist in each of the two games since his call up earlier this week.

Fleury stopped anything else that was directed at him, making 18 saves on the night.

Price, starting his seventh straight game, had 27 saves in a losing effort.

Pacioretty took a big hit later in the period from Mike Rupp and did not return to the ice.

“I got my bell rung a bit there,” Pacioretty said afterwards.

The Canadiens slip back to .500 hockey (12-12-1) and return home to face the Washington Capitals on Saturday night.

Three Stars: 1. Sidney Crosby 2. Bill Guerin 3. Jordan Staal

Farewell to the Igloo: Barring any playoff encounters, it was Montreal’s last visit to the Mellon Arena,(oriinally called he Civic Arena).

The Canadiens finished with 44 wins, 33 losses and 14 ties at the igloo.

Game Photos (except where noted) from Getty Images.

Crosby’s Hat Trick leads Penguins over Canadiens

Sidney Crosby recorded his third career hat-trick Wednesday night. – AP Photo

They’re the defending champs. Wednesday night, the Montreal Canadiens learned that.

Behind Sidney Crosby’s three-goal night Penguins snapped the Canadiens four-game winning streak with a 6-1 victory.

Jaroslav Halak was seeking his fifth straight win between the pipes, looking to gain a decisive edge for a number one position over Carey Price.

He wouldn’t get it.

The Penguins opened the scoring, at 8:33 of first period, when Bill Guerin capitalized on a Montreal turnover making a slick pass to Crosby, who was sitting wide open at the side of the net.

“He can score,” said Guerin, who’s three helpers on the night brought his career point total to 820. “He usually has a pass-first mentality, but with the positions that he put himself in during the game, he can score a lot of goals.”

The Canadiens remained strong in the period, but Marc-Andre Fleury turned away all nine shots he faced.

Marc-Andre Fleury makes one of his 23 saves Wednesday night. – AP Photo

The Penguins unloaded in the second with a three-goal barrage. Just over five minutes in, Crosby scored his second of the night off a backhand that got over Halak.

Mike Rupp added to the lead, at 12:58, taking advantage of a delayed penalty against Montreal.

The dejected Canadiens wait for the hats to be swept away. – AP Photo

Less than three minutes later, Crosby picked up the hat-trick. Halak’s initial save off the Penguins Captain bounced off his skate and into the net. The goal was reviewed and it was determined that Crosby made no kicking motion.

It was Crosby’s third career hat-trick and ninth goal of the season.He only had three goals in October of 2008.

“I was in the right place at the right time," Crosby said. "I was standing all by myself a couple of times. (My line mates) did all the work, and I just tried to finish it off.

“When you get three goals in a game, that kind of changes the look of your (season) numbers early on. I'm trying to shoot the puck when I get chances and trying to not pass up good shots, but it's just been a matter of the puck going in early on.”

Jaroslav Halak lifts his mask after allowing Sidney Crosby’s third goal Wednesday night. “If you give him a chance, he's going to score,” Halak said . - AP Photo

Halak would not start the third period and could not be blamed for the team’s performance in the first 40 minutes.

Fleury’s shutout opportunity was busted by Tomas Plekanec just over five minutes into the final 20 minutes.

Alex Goligoski and Chris Kunitz each scored on the power play to end the onslaught.

For Goligoski, it extends his point-scoring streak to six games. Crosby now has a five-game streak.

The Canadiens were outclassed by Pittsburgh in the final twenty minutes, outshot 14-5. Every player on the Canadiens lineup registered in the minus column.

“We made mistakes," said Montreal defenceman Hal Gill.” We had some turnovers and (Crosby) feeds off that. He waits for it and that's when he capitalizes.”

Before the game, Gill received his Stanley Cup ring from the team he played for the season before. He was in the penalty box for the Goligoski goal.

If there was a positive for the Canadiens, it could have been that the Penguins only capitalized on two of eight power play opportunities.

The Penguins record improved to 10-2, while the Canadiens slipped to 6-6.

Fleury made 23 saves for the Penguins and has won nine of his ten starts this season.

The Canadiens next game is Friday night, against the Blackhawks, in Chicago.

Three Stars: 1. Sidney Crosby 2. Chris Kunitz 3. Bill Guerin

How do NHL players fair on the golf course amongst other athletes?

I know, I know. The last thing hockey fans want to see in October is an article about golf, but the sport is pretty much played all over the world year-round these days.

This month, Golf Digest released it’s list of top 150 athlete-golfers for 2009.

The magazine took a sampling from several sports, including the big four (NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL), to come up with their list.

The complete list can be found here.

The Top Five Overall

Rank	Name	Sport	Handicap
1	Tony Romo	NFL	+ 3.3
2	Craig Hentrick	NFL	+ 2.8
3	Mark McGwire	MLB	+ 2.2
4	Mike Schmidt	MLB	+ 1.1
5	Jerry Rice	NFL	+ 0.7

Sixteen present and former NHL players made the list of 150, and are shown below.

1980 Team USA captain Mike Eruzione is also included.

Rank	Name	Handicap
T-6	Brett Hull	0.0
11	Marc Savard	0.6
T-12	Jamie Langenbrunner	0.8
T-12	John-Michael Liles	0.8
16	Mario Lemieux	1.1
17	Mike Modano	1.3
26	Joe Sakic	2.3
44	Brenden Morrow	3.5
T-45	Mike Cammalleri	3.6
47	Cam Neely	3.7
T-50	Daniel Alfredsson	4
T-50	Alex Kovalev	4
65	Mike Eruzione	5.6
66	Bobby Orr	5.8
T-91	Mike Richards	9
105	Wayne Gretzky	10.6
T-125	Sidney Crosby	15

Handicap Indexes are from August and were determined from the USGA's Golf Handicap and Information Network, state associations, the athletes, PR directors, friends and playing partners. Handicaps without decimal points are unofficial estimates.

Former MLB pitcher Rick Rhoden was left off this year’s list as he is now considered a senior pro. Hall of Famer Grant Fuhr was not listed as he is going for his pro certification.

What really makes the list of NHL Players really interesting though, no Toronto Maple Leafs. You would think…

Notes on some of the Players:

Brett Hull was featured in Golf Digest’s “My Game” series for October 2009. He has won several tournaments including the Tillinghast Cup at Baltusrol in 2003 and the celebrity portion of the 2008 Wayne Gretzky Classic.

Marc Savard missed qualifying for 2008 Canadian Open by one stroke.

John-Michael Liles lettered in golf in high school.

Wayne Gretzky had a recent “My Game” article in Golf Digest and hosts an annual pro-celebrity golf tournament in Collingwood, Ontario. My coverage of the 2009 edition can be found here.

Canadiens and Senators set to go at it again

Max Pacioretty and Tomas Plekanec celebrate Brian Gionta’s goal Friday night - Photo:Sun Media

The Montreal Canadiens travelled to Kanata today for the second of their back-to back pre-season meetings with the Ottawa Senators.

“It’s definitely exciting",” said former Habs winger Alex Kovalev on facing his former team.

Kovalev did not play in Montreal Friday night, but if he had is way would have preferred to play in all six Senators pre-season games.

“We have many young guys trying to make the team,” he said. “..so it’s not my decision to make.”

Kovalev has been playing with fellow newcomer Jonathan Cheechoo, who was picked up in the Dany Heatley deal.

The Senators will be looking for their first pre-season win, after having three straight losses.

Ottawa coach Cory Clouston will be looking at tonight’s game very intently as the team begins trimming it’s roster.

"There's an opportunity for guys that play well tonight or might get another look," Clouston said “There's also a chance that somebody could play themself off this team.”

“Whether you are a vet or a young guy trying to make this team, these games mean something. We are looking at how hard they compete.”

The Senators coach also talked about the team’s lack of goal production.

“We’re getting chances, we’re just not scoring,” he said.

“We’ve hit eight posts in three games. It’s hard to explain. The positive is the chances are there. We’re just not scoring.”

Clouston also expects to let Pascal LeClaire play the full 60 minutes tonight in goal.

For the Canadiens, two hopefuls, who impressed coach Jacques Martin Friday, will start again tonight.

Ben Maxwell, who scored Montreal’s first goal Friday night will look to impress his coach further.

“You really get the sense of his nice progression,” said Martin.

“This is a solid two-way player with deceptive speed that he’s shown all through training camp. He worked really hard this summer and we’re seeing the results of that now.”

Eric Neilson, who logged 37 penalty minutes will also be out to terrorize the Senators for another night.

In the event Georges Laraque goes down to injury, it’s nice to see the Canadiens have another tough guy down the pipe.

Dave Stubbs of the Montreal Gazette had a great post-game chat with Neilson Friday, and I came across a quote from Sidney Crosby, his former teammate in Rimouski, on the Habs hopeful.

“He’s very tough. He and another guy shared the heavyweight crown in our league.

He’s not only tough but very fast. He’s not there just to fight, he can skate and he’s a good checker as well.

There are a lot of guys who are tough but have trouble playing hockey, he’s not one of those guys. He can play too.”

- Sidney Crosby 2005 interview with HFBoards

Sergei Kostitsyn has also been cleared by Canadiens’ team doctors for game play and is scheduled to play tonight

Game time is 7:00pm at Scotiabank Place.

Canadiens Lineup:

Goal: Price, Desjardins

Defence: O'Byrne, Spacek, Belle, Benoit, Anderson, Markov

Forwards: Cammalleri, D'Agostini, Lapierre, A. Kostitsyn, White, Maxwell, Johansson, Pacioretty, Stewart, S. Kostitsyn, Neilson, Gomez.

Gomez on playing in Montreal: Rocky Bonanno of NHL.com talks to the Canadiens center on looking forward to playing in Montreal.