Beating Them at Their Own Game

Three goals had been scored in tonight's game at the Tank between the Sharks and the Eastern Conference-leading Montreal Canadiens before I even took the first sip of my beer. The early flurry set the tone for the game, which was an absolute fire drill by San Jose standards, and therefore played precisely into the hands of the high-scoring Habs. Add in the fact that the generally ragged play induced a number of lapses in discipline by the Sharks, resulting in penalties that put the fearsome Canadiens power play on the ice far too often, and it seems a small miracle that the Sharks came out with a 6-4 win.

It was certainly great to see fantastic goals by Cheechoo and Marleau tonight, Big Joe was his usual self, and even Jody Shelley got a goal (just reward for all the hard work he's put in wearing a Sharks sweater), but certainly the most electrifying moment of the night was Brian Campbell's clincher with just under two minutes left in the game, providing the final margin. Campbell displayed his skating and stickhandling skills, beating former Shark Josh Gorges (EDIT: My mistake. Looking at the replay, Campbell actually beat Mike Komisarek on that goal. I don't know how I got it in my head that it was Gorges. Sorry, Josh. Okay, I think I know why...it's because Cheechoo beat Gorges on his goal.) with the characteristic spin move we have seen from him several times since his arrival with the team, then sliding the puck under Habs goalie Carey Price's pad. The crowd at the Tank went nuts--hopefully the fan response will help Campbell become favorably disposed to the idea of sticking around San Jose for a while. (Memo to Brian Campbell: We like you! We really like you! Memo to Doug Wilson: Sign Brian Campbell long-term. Do it now.)

Unlike almost all their other games this season, tonight the Sharks were explosive in the offensive end but ragged in their own zone. That's probably not the recipe for consistent success in the Pacific Division over the rest of the season, but it provided one hell of an entertaining hockey game.


Price

The Canadiens are a very legitimate contender for the Stanley Cup, and therefore many hockey observers were surprised to see Bob Gainey trade goaltender Cristobal Huet to Washington at the trade deadline, thus placing the Habs' hopes squarely and unambiguously on the shoulders of twenty-year-old Carey Price.

American sports fans are probably going to have trouble conceiving that the following could be true, but I really think it is: there is no more pressure-filled role in all of North American sports than the goaltender for the Montreal Canadiens. It seem to me an extraordinary decision to place such a young player in that position. (Yes, Patrick Roy was able to handle it in 1986, but...well, he's Patrick Roy.) But seriously, who am I to question Bob Gainey (one of my favorite hockey people, by the way)? The kid obviously has rare talent.

But he looked like he got a bit flustered tonight. He was victimized by some bad luck and probably let in a couple that he should have had, and at moments he was clearly rattled. I guess my point is that inevitably he's going to have legions of critics in Montreal without being tough on himself. As the playoffs heat up, he could definitely take some tips from the guy who was in the other crease tonight...Nabokov is one of he calmest goalies I've ever watched. He usually looks as if he barely has a pulse.

For those counting, that's six wins in a row for the Sharks. Ottawa Wednesday.

Sweet Hockey Card of the Week (February 29th)

A resounding Welcome! to all hockey fans, and card fans, and hockey-card fans who have tuned in for this week's edition of the Team Teal in the Twin Towns Sweet Hockey Card of the Week.




The 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens

Gaze, o hockey fan, upon possibly the greatest team ever to lace 'em up. The 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens compiled an amazing record of 60-8-12, and won the Stanley Cup in a four-game sweep of the Boston Bruins. They lost only once at home all year. In the sport of ice hockey, in which games are so often decided by the thinnest of margins, that level of success is truly extraordinary.

This team is only the shiniest of a series of gleaming Habs squads that reclaimed dominance of the National Hockey League from the upstart Philadelphia Flyers in the mid-to-late seventies, winning the Stanley Cup in 1976, 1977, 1978, and 1979. I recall my uncle, who saw these teams play the North Stars, telling me once that Montreal's control of play would be so comprehensive that Habs' goalie Ken Dryden would occasionally leave his crease and skate around his own zone just to stay loose.

The back of this card is a list of other Montreal Canadiens who were featured on Topps cards this year. Steve Shutt. Serge Savard. Jacques Lemaire. Bob Gainey, the current GM of the Habs for whom the Selke Trophy (best defensive forward) was essentially invented. Dryden. Guy LaFleur. Yvan Cournoyer. The peerless Larry Robinson. It almost makes you dizzy. (Check out the team's stats here.)

I hope you enjoyed this week's sweeeet hockey card. By now you are certainly wondering about next week's selection. I'll give you some hints. He played for the Rangers. The back of his hockey card says (correctly) that he is "Known for clutch plays, especially in the playoffs". And he has a connection to my very own San Jose Sharks. Intrigued? Watch this space next Friday, when all will be revealed!

Holy Toledo!

Check out this boxscore...

You wouldn't think a team as venerable as the Montreal Canadiens would have any history left to make, but you'd be wrong...

Is anyone else getting the feeling that maybe the Habs are the one team this season that seems to have a little penumbra of destiny about them?

Caps-Habs Observations

Washington and Montreal played an early matinee today at Le Centre Bell, with the Capitals winning 5-4 in OT. I have warm feelings towards both of those organizations, so I tuned in.

Alexander Ovechkin had a couple goals today. I love watching him play...his enthusiasm for the game is extraordinary, and he always looks like he's having fun. He has a bit of Martin Grammatica in him, seeming to celebrate every goal as if it were an overtime game-winner.

Oh, and let's not forget that he's capable of feats like this. Still one of the standout individual efforts of all time, I would say...


Goalies

Highly-regarded Canadiens rookie Carey Price had a bad game today. He looked shaky all day and gave up one really awful goal. It happens to every goalie, of course (except maybe Marty Brodeur), so we'll have to see how the kid bounces back.

Speaking of goalies, Olaf Kolzig seems like he's been in the league so long that you'd bet his first game in Montreal was against the Maroons. Curious, I looked it up...his first year in the league was the '89-90 season. That's before the Sharks even existed, folks. And all of it with the Capitals.


Logos

Speaking of the Caps, it's nice to see that they're back to what I consider their "classic" logo, having moved away from that lame, tepid eagle-thing they had for a while.


TV

The feed for this game was the one from Washington, and the broadcast periodically visited the set of Redskins Live! during intermissions, et cetera, for a few words about the upcoming Redskins-Seahawks playoff game. After the third period, we stopped by again, and the Redskins Live! studio crew could not hide their irritation that a hockey game had had the cheek to go into overtime, thus curtailing their scheduled ninety minutes of pregame show by five, or possibly as many as ten minutes.

I understand that ice hockey is a niche sport. I understand that the eyes of the DC sporting world are firmly fixed on the NFL playoffs, and that's cool. (I'll probably watch some of that game myself). But I think that those in the American sport media for whom nothing matters but NFL football could ease back on the arrogance juuuuuust a little bit, and probably be none the worse for wear.

(For the record, the hockey game ended at 3:02 PM Eastern, delaying the scheduled start of Redskins Live! by 120 seconds...)