Link for Game 6 Loss to Philadelphia & Congratulations to Canadiens for Inspiring Run

So the dust has finally settled, and the reality has sunk in...the Montreal Canadiens have been eliminated from further contention for the Stanley Cup. That happened when the Philadelphia Flyers won Game 6 with a 4-2 final score on Tuesday, May 25 at the Wachovia Centre in Philadelphia. After removing the Washington Capitals and the Pittsburgh Penguins, Montreal just didn't have enough energy to compete with the stronger, bigger, and more physical Flyers. Here's the link for the game: Montreal: the Gig is Up  I will simply end this blog posting by congratulating the team on a superb effort in these playoffs. Considering that Montreal finished as the Eastern Conference's 8th seed and also had the WORST record of all the playoff teams, I believe that must be taken into consideration. Also too, consider that the Canadiens were shorter and younger than most of the other teams and were thus more inexperienced in the playoffs. Another thing to consider is that Jaroslav Halak, Montreal's starting goaltender for the playoffs loomed large vs the Capitals and Penguins, but ran out of gas during the East Finals as did the rest of his team. Even Montreal's two deadliest snipers, Brian Gionta and Michael Cammalleri were stone cold in the round. So, when these factors are all taken into consideration, the only right response is for Montreal to celebrate their achievements as if they've won the Cup. I suggest going all out; go for the jugular. It most likely won't happen, but it should. Let's hope the team comes back bigger and stronger next season, with more fans in tow.

And with that, I'm signing off until the Jays start playing again tomorrow. Good night!

Canadiens Lose 3rd Game in Series; Hope to Avoid Elimination in Game 5

Well, it's downright difficult for Montreal in these playoffs now after going down 3-0 on Saturday afternoon at the Bell Centre. As a result of this loss, the team is now down 3-1 in the NHL's Eastern Conference Finals to the Philadelphia Flyers, who were uplifted by the return of both star scorer Jeff Carter and solid teammate Ian Lapierre. Carter had been missing for 11 games with a broken foot and Lapierre had been missing from the team because of a brain contusion. He had to wear a full face shield because of this health condition. As a result, regulars Dan Carcillo and Andreas Nodl became healthy scratches. Montreal, however, became less healthy in the game as the Canadiens lost quick winger Tom Pyatt in the game's second period because of an alleged upper body injury. His situation will be looked at on Sunday, according to the official TSN recap of the game (which I will link to later). About the game...the Philly goals were scored by Claude Giroux (who had 2) and also by Ville Leino to complete the final score. Goaltender Michael Leighton only needed 17 saves to make as Philly's defense absolutely nullified Montreal's speedy forwards. This was especially true in the second period as Philly outshot Montreal by a count of 13-1 in terms of shots on goal. The only shot for Montreal in the period was a horrible angle shot by Maxim Lapierre that was easily stopped by Michael Leighton. In total, the shots on goal count was 25-17 in favour of Philadelphia. Some notes about the series and the playoffs...Montreal is currently 5-0 in games where they have faced the possibility of being eliminated from these playoffs. Also too, Philly has outscored Montreal in the Eastern Finals by a 13-5 count. The five Montreal goals ALL came in their Game 3 win at the Bell Centre when the team won 5-1. This means that Michael Leighton has grabbed 3 shutout victories for the Flyers in the series. (Game 1: 6-0, Game 2: 3-0, Game 4: 3-0)  It all adds up to the WORST offensive performance that I have EVER seen an NHL team put out. All in all, it will require a gutsy and never-say-die attitude from Montreal if they have to have even a sniff of a comeback chance in these playoffs. Here's to hoping that it will be accomplished tonight at the Wachovia Centre in Philadelphia in Game 5. The game starts at 7 PM on CBC. Enjoy the game, and I will be back later. Here's the recap of Game 4: Habs in a Deep Rabbit-Hole   

Links for Recent Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Blue Jays games

Here are just some links for Montreal's incredible game 3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers, and the two Jays games in Seattle vs the Mariners. Enjoy!

Canadiens vs Flyers: Game 3
Jays vs Mariners: Game 1, Game 2 (About this 2nd game at Seattle...why manager Cito Gaston allowed closer Kevin Gregg to give up a bottom-of-the-9th 3-1 Jays lead in order to give Seattle the victory is beyond me. NOT ONCE when watching it did I ever see Cito even make a move to the bullpen for any different relief pitcher. He didn't even look concerned, for crying out loud! Let's hope the Jays can do better in Arizona against the Diamondbacks!)
Jays vs Diamondbacks: Game 1 (About this game...the Jays scored 6 runs and STILL lost! That's what happens when your pitcher goes south and you give up 8 to Arizona. Hope they do better tonight. You can see that game on Sportsnet at 8 PM.)

After a great game 3 vs the Flyers, Montreal hopes to get back into it again in Game 4 which is TODAY at 3 PM. You can see the game on CBC. That's all for now. Good day!

Jays Pound out Runs vs Twins, Canadiens Stumble Again

Here are just some brief notes from the sports world...

After Monday's humiliating 8-3 loss at the hands of the Minnesota Twins at their home ballpark the Rogers Centre, the Blue Jays decided to give Minnesota a strong taste of their own medicine via an 11-2 victory last night. Shaun Marcum was steady and dominant in the win, only allowing 1 run, 2 walks, and 5 hits. Along the way, Marcum struck out 3 batters. Marcum didn't need much run support, but he got a treasure trove of them: 11, in fact. Vernon Wells, Edwin Encarnacion, Lyle Overbay and Aaron Hill pounded out 4 home runs to give the Jays the vast majority of their runs. Aaron Hill's homer was a 3-run boost in the sixth inning. Encarnacion's home run was a 2-run blast that gave the Jays a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the 2nd inning. In the 3rd inning, Vernon Wells hit a solo home run in the bottom of the 3rd inning and tied Joe Carter for 2nd on the Blue Jays' all-time home run list: 203. Finally, Lyle Overbay's homer was a 2-run shot in the 6th inning. That accounts for 8 of the Jays 11 runs. This should all give the Jays a reason to smile as they managed to split the two games vs Minnesota as they are preparing to play against the Seattle Mariners in Seattle tonight. The game is at 10 PM on Rogers Sportsnet and it is the first of a 2-game miniseries. Here is the recap of the slugfest win vs the Twins: Jays Boom out an 11-2 Victory vs the Minnesota Twins

About that Montreal Canadiens vs Philadelphia Flyers series...you may just wish to forget about this one. The Flyers are now up on Montreal 2-0 after winning game 2 with a 3-0 victory at Wachovia Centre in Philadelphia last night. Flyers backup goaltender Michael Leighton has morphed into an astounding star force since regular Brian Boucher became injured in Game 7 vs the Boston Bruins in the East Semi-Finals. He saved all 28 shots in game 1's 6-0 smacking and saved all 30 shots in last night's 3-0 victory. He got goal support from Daniel Briere, Simon Gagne, and Ville Leino in the game. 2 of those goals were scored on the power play, which saw the Flyers go 2-4 on the man advantage opportunities. All of that was due to extremely undisciplined play from Montreal's skaters who repeatedly found out that foolish penalties = death. This led to an uninspiring performance from Montreal goaltender Jaroslav Halak and a mindlessly disgusting game from the Canadiens. While Montreal outshot Philadelphia 30-23 and controlled the puck for most of the game, most of their shots were harmless and didn't get anywhere near Leighton. Other than a 7-shot 1st period power play, Montreal appeared to lack any toothy fangs in their "bite". Montreal must now fight, claw, and scratch as desperate men in order to get back into this series. Game 3 is set to play in Montreal's Bell Centre on Thursday May 20 at 7 PM. The game can be seen on CBC. Here is the recap for the game: Montreal Canadiens vs Philadelphia Flyers: Game 2

That is all for now. I will be back to recap the Jays game in Seattle tonight and to prepare for Montreal's critical Game 3 as well. God bless, and goodbye.

Links for Montreal's Ugly Game 1 Loss and Recent Jays Games

Well, it's time for another blog entry, but I'm not going to recap the games because I am extremely disappointed with the way the Montreal Canadiens played yesterday in Game 1 vs the Flyers in Philadelphia in the NHL Eastern Conference Final. As a result, I will only link to recaps from that game and from recent Jays games. Enjoy, and I will be back later.

Montreal's ugly loss: Montreal Canadiens vs Philadelphia Flyers: Game 1
Jays vs Texas Rangers: Game 1, Game 2, Game 3

Montreal's second game vs the Flyers will be played on Tuesday at the Wachovia Centre in Philadelphia and it will be at 7 PM. You can view it on the CBC television channel.
Toronto's game against the Minnesota Twins will be played today at the Rogers Centre in Toronto and it can be seen at 7 PM on Sportsnet.

Enjoy that info, and have a nice day!

On Wednesday's Game 7 vs Pittsburgh Penguins, The Winner was...

THE MONTREAL CANADIENS! Against all of the odds, the Habs took out Sidney Crosby and the Pens in Game 7, which was played at the Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Montreal built an early 4-0 lead through nearly 1 1/2 periods with key goals by Brian Gionta and Mike Cammalleri, among others. Dominic Moore and Travis Moen were the other two goal scorers in that dominating stretch of hockey. Pittsburgh did attempt to get back into the game afterwards however, with goals by Chris Kunitz and Jordan Staal. All of that happened after Pittsburgh star goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury was pulled and backup Brent Johnson replaced him. As for Montreal goaltender Jaroslav Halak, he was great for the Habs when they needed him most. 25 seconds into the 3rd period, he denied Sidney Crosby of an unbelievable scoring chance from in close. This set the tone for Montreal's triumphal entry to the Eastern Conference Finals to begin, along with the many bad penalties the Penguins took early on in the game. Crosby, for example, took a horrible one 10 seconds into the game when he smashed the Canadiens Josh Gorges right into the boards. This resulted in a great power-play for Montreal and an early 1-0 Habs lead. Sid of course, as most star athletes do, was stunned that it was a penalty and whined to the referees, but after watching the replay on television, I can confidently declare that a penalty. Other notes about the game...it was the last game that will ever be played at the Mellon Arena as Pittsburgh is moving into the new Consol Energy Center this fall. Also too, the Bell Centre in Montreal was packed with a standing-room only crowd as they watched their team defeat the Penguins on the big screen: they bowed for Cammalleri and Halak, booed at Sidney Crosby, and were whipped up in a frenzy when Montreal scored or had a superb scoring chance in Pittsburgh's end of the ice. Yes sir, it was a delight to the soul and a treasure for the eyes. About the pre-game interview the CBC media had with Sidney Crosby...he seemed to be much more excited, nervous, and jumpy than the Montreal Canadiens were. Montreal's response was simply a calm and cool: "We're just excited to even BE here!" type of reply whereas Sidney Crosby was anything BUT calm, cool, and collected. So, there's only one more thing to be said: bring on the Eastern Conference Finals! Boston and Philly, hurry up; Montreal's waiting. I'd write more, but I'm still happy about the win so much that I can't. I'll be back with more later.

Here is the recap for the game: HABS WIN GAME 7! Bring on the East Finals!

Canadiens Send Series to Deciding 7th Game, Jays Lose Close, Wasted Outing

Well, it's official...the Montreal Canadiens have pushed their Eastern Conference Semi-Final series vs the Pittsburgh Penguins to the limit: a deciding Game 7. Game 6 was played last night at the Bell Centre in Montreal and the home team came out on top winning 4-3. This team is on the verge of performing an incredible feat: upsetting BOTH the Alexander Ovechkin-led Washington Capitals and the Sidney Crosby-led Pittsburgh Penguins out of the playoffs (all this despite the fact that Montreal finished 8th in the East and holder of the conference's last playoff seeding). The atmosphere last night was sublime and perfect: loud, enthusiastic, wildly supportive of the home team, and faithful. The fans did everything from chanting soccer noises and basketball "defense" calls (the defense calls coming in the 3rd period), booing Sidney Crosby every time he possessed the puck, encouraging their team with chants of "Go, Habs, Go!", etc. All in all, the Habs fans provided an excellent atmosphere for the game and must be congratulated for their effort just as much as the players and coaches. They have been the perfect "sixth man" for the Montreal Canadiens in these Stanley Cup Playoffs. We must not, however, forget about the players themselves. The stars of the game were goaltender Jaroslav Halak and Michael Cammalleri. Halak made 34 saves and Cammalleri scored his 10th and 11th goals of the playoffs. His first goal came early on in the first period, with 1:13 gone. Chris Letang of the Penguins turned the puck over and Cammalleri converted a give-and-go attempt with teammate Plekanac. The fans as per the usual fare mockingly praised Pittsburgh goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury by chanting his last name, but "Sid the Kid", as Crosby is nicknamed, tied it up with 7:22 gone in the first period. That goal is the FIRST even-strength (non-powerplay) goal scored in this series by either Crosby or his teammate Evgeni Malkin. That was all for the 1st period. Halak meanwhile, despite performing wonderfully, had some help in the 2nd from two key Penguins shot attempts that "hit the post", so to speak. They came by Pittsburgh forwards Malkin and teammate Sergei Gonchar. After that, however, Chris Letang scored with 5:21 gone in the period to put the Penguins ahead 2-1. With these goals, it seemed as though Montreal was fueled by this adversity and hemmed Pittsburgh in its own end of the ice in some stretches in the 2nd period. This led to superb scoring chances for the Canadiens and their fans got their money's worth. For the most part, however, Pittsburgh remained dominant for most of the action, outshooting Montreal by a 3-1 type of margin. This continued into the 3rd period, with Halak performing some of his magic from the 1st round vs Washington in Game 6 and leading Montreal in their charge for playoff supremacy. It also led to two 2nd-period ending goals: first, by Mike Cammalleri with 10:45 gone (his second of the night) that tied it 2-2. The assist was given to Andrei Kostistsyn. The good times continued for the Habs in that period despite adversity and Jaroslav Spacek scored with 13:15 gone to make it 3-2 Montreal. With 11:03 gone in the 3rd period, Maxim Lapierre scored and it was 4-2 for the Canadiens. Pittsburgh did take Fleury out of the Penguins net for an extra 6th attacker with 1:30 left in the game, and they did make it 4-3 with a tip-in goal by Bill Guerin off a shot attempt by Sergei Gonchar with 18:36 gone in the 3rd period, but Montreal retained the lead and came out victorious. Now, all that's left is to see if Montreal will upset Pittsburgh in Game 7 on Wednesday. That would be the perfect ending to the unbelievable Cinderella-type story that the Habs have proven themselves to be thus far. One more note must be made about the series...GO HABS GO!
You can see the recap here: Montreal vs Pittsburgh: Game 6

In other news, the Toronto Blue Jays lost their game last night vs the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. Much of the blame can be laid at the feet of starting pitcher Brendan Morrow, who allowed 6 walks, 5 of which came in the bottom half of the 2nd inning. The Jays entered that frame up 4-2, but the 5 walks hurt Morrow and his team as Boston scored 4 to make it 6-4 Red Sox. It was a horrible night all around for the Jays, who lost the game 7-6. Here is the recap for the game: Brendan Morrow's walk-athon vs the Boston Red Sox  The Jays play Boston again tonight at 7 PM on Rogers Sportsnet.

Another post full of happenings...I'll catch you all later! Have a good day!
 

A Free Agent Storm Brewing in T.O., Discussion on Vince Carter and Toronto, Wins by Jays and Canadiens

Many of my readers will know by now that Toronto Raptors star forward Chris Bosh is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer and that his contract with the team will expire. They may also know that Chris has been busy with his Twitter account lately: first Bosh asked his Twitter followers this question at 3:28 PM on April 30, "Been wanting to ask: Where should I go next season and why?" Then he tweeted again at 4:06 PM on the same day and said, "OK...Let me rephrase the question: Should I stay or should I go?" This has led to a number of responses from fans, bloggers and anyone else who is interested in this man's career: everything from "Stay in T.O. You look like a Raptor" and "It's great that he's asking US where to go next season" to "This man thinks too highly of himself" and "If he really wants to win as much as he says he does, then he should be willing to take less money than the 'max' amount." There have even been comments of the likes of "Maybe McGrady (Tracy McGrady, Vince Carter's cousin by marriage) and Bosh should join traitor Vince in Orlando. They'd be a good company together." You can see many of these comments on this link: Chris Bosh's Twitter Controversy  After the main story that appears on the page, you will see a section entitled "It's Your Call." In that section are many, if not all, of the comments I have selected and put onto this blog post. The comments come as a reaction to the new story that is developing: CB4 has removed ALL references to Toronto from his Twitter account. The fans took that as a sign of him wanting to leave the team and that he didn't really love Toronto as much as he has repeatedly stated to the contrary. Of course, Bosh DID tweet the following about 20 hours ago, according to his Twitter page: "Just to be clear: I never said that I'm not considering staying in Toronto." However, I fear that it is too late for Bosh to attempt to reconnect with Raptor fans; they have already given their verdict on him: Chris is another traitor of the likes of Vince Carter, who demanded a trade at the beginning of the Raptors 2004-2005 season before their home opener against the Houston Rockets (who, at the time, had Tracy McGrady on their team). Things went from bad to worse for the Raptors last star and he was eventually traded to the New Jersey Nets in December of 2004 after scoring only 5 points against the Detroit Pistons and allegedly suffering an injury in that game's 3rd quarter. Here is some of the video evidence that depicts what I am describing: Vince's Last Raptors Game and The Fans and Wince Carter: Top 10  That should get you started on why the fans boo Vince Carter every time the man plays against the Raptors in Toronto. MY biggest reasons against Vince are: he didn't always give a 100% effort (unlike Chris Bosh), his "injuries" appeared to be faked as the first Youtube video I linked shows (this happened almost EVERY time he went down), he told the media "I don't want to dunk no more" and then he promptly completes TWO dunks the very next night vs the Washington Wizards. In the game he also dunked in an alley-oop attempt that didn't count as he did it after the buzzer. He dunked again later at a Raptors home game vs the New York Knicks in the same 2004-2005 season that prompted some Knicks commentators to recall his "no more dunking" comments anew to their viewers. Here is the smoking gun proof of this: Vince Dunks in Washington the Night IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING the Famous Comments and Windmill Dunks vs the Knicks and the Commentator's Comments about "No Dunking"  Anyways, there's the scoop about Vince Carter...now back to Bosh: even if this man leaves Toronto (and it looks more and more likely that he will), I will STILL cheer for this man every time he comes back to the city. He deserves nothing less than that type of reception. Sure, he became injured at a critical point in this season and he is disturbing the fans with his Twitter activities, but overall he was consistent in his actions, attitude, and game-play. Chris hustled out there after every rebound and lose ball and never failed to impress us with his creativity: he made a Youtube video asking fans to vote for him to be a starter on the Eastern Conference All-Star team back in 2008. Here's the video: The Famous Vote for CB4 Video  So Raptors fans, do the right thing and support Chris no matter what he decides to do; everything else is nonsensical.

Lastly, the Montreal Canadiens won the critical Game 4 last night vs the Pittsburgh Penguins. Final Score: Montreal 3, Pittsburgh 2. Here's the recap: Game 4: Canadiens vs Penguins Also too, the Jays won their 5th straight game after defeating the Chicago White Sox 2-0 last night at U.S. Cellular Field. Fred Lewis got the only run-scoring hit of the game: a clutch double to put the Jays ahead in the fifth inning. This was after Chicago starter John Danks allowed 1-out hits to both John Buck and Travis Snider to set up Lewis' heroic hit. This win comes on the heels of a impressive 3-game sweep of the Cleveland Indians, including a final-game 5-4 comeback win on Wednesday. Here's the recap: Lewis and Eveland the Heroes in Chicago for Game 1   Well, that wraps it up for another long and busy blog session. Join me later on as I blog about the Jays and other sports happenings. Until I blog next time, be loyal to each other and DON'T pull a Wince Carter!

Lebron James Shows his Selfish, Egomaniacal Colours; Jays and Canadiens Win

For those of you who followed the Toronto Raptors this season, you will know something of the team's late slide out of playoff contention to finish at 9th place in the Eastern Conference. You will also have known that the Chicago Bulls got to play against Lebron's Cleveland Cavailers team in the 1st round of this year's NBA playoffs. Well, the 1st round has come and gone with Chicago being ousted by Cleveland and the Cavs now playing against Paul Pierce and his Boston Celtics (who finished 4th in the East). Now, NOW...after that 1st round, Lebron opens up about the team's true intentions concerning the end of the regular season. He admitted recently to actually CHOOSING their 1st round opponent! Can you believe it? Here's the stinking proof: Lebron's Childish Confession

Here's what the article specifically quoted Lebron as saying: "'We knew this team would push us,' James said. 'That's not taking anything away from Toronto, but with Bosh being out the rest of the season and all those injuries, it just didn't seem like they even wanted to make the playoffs at the end of the season. So it probably would've ended up in that same way if we had played Toronto like it was last year.'" Another thing the article states is this: "What hurts Raptors fans all the more was Bosh was knocked out for the season during that game in Cleveland and later it was the Cavailers who put all their starters back into that meaningless game during the fourth quarter as the Raptors closed the gap to ensure a Toronto loss." What makes it even dumber is that Lebron chooses NOW (after they defeat the Bulls and now that the 2nd round has already begun) to open up about this juvenile stupidity. If he truly feels awful about it, he should have confessed immediately after the fact (or he could have even told his team not to do this, which would have been wiser). The fact that he didn't and that he even APPROVED of these actions shows that he is just like the vast majority of athletes and celebrity figures: an egomanical, egotistical, selfish, hypocritical, hot-headed, and whiny jerk (not to mention bully). Contrast that with the humble attitude of Jon Foreman (the leader and founder of the popular modern rock band Switchfoot.) This man has repeatedly showed true humility and grace in his character throughout his storied career. Check out these song lyrics as proof from the band's 2000 album, Learning to Breathe. The song is titled: "Erosion":


Oh, Erosion, would You wash away my sins?
Oh, Erosion, I need a second shot again
Oh, Erosion, would You break my heart again?
Oh, Erosion, I am a broken-hearted man


The link for this song is here: The "Erosion" song These old song lyrics show that Jon and the members of the band realize their true place in life and that they are NOT the most important figures out there. There are still sins and imperfections that must be worked on and eradicated. There are still people to cherish and care for and hope to give. This video further evidences this as fact: Jon Takes the Time to Care for Fan  Now, maybe Lebron would have done this, or maybe he wouldn't have but to do so would establish him as a hypocrite whereas Jon Foreman seems genuine in his life. Lebron also is much younger in age than Jon is (Jon is 33 while Lebron is approximately 24), but that still doesn't excuse Lebron's behaviour. You don't use the troubles of another team to decide who you want to face in the playoffs, Lebron! Don't blame it on them; blame it on yourself. Let the teams fight it out and rightly deserve their standings. You just act like a gentleman and do your job. So folks, in short, stick to the genuine people in life such as Jon Foreman and his band; you won't go wrong. The band's current album is entitled Hello Hurricane, and I recommend it for any fan of rock music. You'll never regret picking it up! Here is where you can view Switchfoot's website: Switchfoot's Band Page 


Finally, I will link to the recaps of the latest sports action. First, the latest Blue Jays games, and then the latest game from the Montreal Canadiens. 


Jays vs Athletics: Game 2 
Jays vs Athletics: Game 3
Jays vs Athletics: Game 4
Halak Does it Again for Montreal & Stones Pittsburgh in Game 2

Whew, what a lot of linking and typing! I'll be back with more later on. You folks enjoy reading this post, especially the rant against Lebron James. Be back later!