Archive for December, 2008

Cool, Calm, Carey Price

December 31, 2008
Carey Price has thrived in the Montreal spotlight.

Carey Price has thrived in the Montreal spotlight.

Great article on Carey Price by Sean Gordon of The Globe and Mail.  I’ve pasted the entire article below and added some photos of Price or you can get it directly from The Globe here.  What’s most interesting about Price is how cool and calm he is about his success (hence the title of the article!).  He clearly is an example of someone for whom losing is just part of his mindset but when it happens he accepts it as part of his profession and looks for a way to avoid having it happen again.  It’s a long article but is a reminder of the type of coverage that sets newspaper reporting apart from blogging.

Will Price and Sydney Crosby end up Olympic teammates?

Will Price and Sydney Crosby end up Olympic teammates?

MONTREAL — It’s said Ron Hextall used to lock himself in a room before big games to shriek at the top of his lungs.

Jeff Hackett would darkly warn teammates of the bloody consequences of fiddling with his goaltending gear.

To say nothing of the deeply bizarre Gilles Gratton, who claimed to be the reincarnation of a Spanish conquistador and once pulled himself from a game because the stars were improperly aligned.

Let’s face it: Those who don the tools of ignorance and willingly stand in the way of large men with sticks and airborne bits of vulcanized rubber are necessarily a little odd.

But in the case of Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price, he of the Zen-like placidity and heavy-lidded languor, the weirdest thing is he’s not very weird at all.

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Cujo Gets his Chance

December 30, 2008

If 2008 has been the Year of the Backup then Curtis Joseph is probably looking forward to 2009!  It’s been a rough go this season for Cujo, his second stint as a Leaf, as he has put up some very un-Cujo like statistics (4.12 GAA, .843 SV% and .000 winning % vs. career numbers of 2.79 GAA, .906 SV% and .559 winning %)

Cujo is getting a chance to show he's not done yet.

Cujo is getting a chance to show he's not done yet.

Leaf coach Ron Wilson is giving Joseph back-to-back starts in an opportunity for Cujo to gain some confidence by getting some real playing time.  These games will be his first consecutive starts since backstopping Canada to the Spengler Cup last December.

Cujo makes a save in the first of consecutive starts.

Cujo makes a save in the first of consecutive starts.

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Canucks Feed Schneider to the Sharks

December 24, 2008

I was at the Sharks – Canucks game last night and two things really stood out to me:

1)  Cory Schneider’s teammates owe him a HUGE Christmas present tomorrow.  Like maybe a new car.  If your only insight into this game came from checking the box score today you’d see that Schneider gave up 5 goals on 15 shots in less than 21 minutes of play and you’d think to yourself “wow, Canucks will be glad when Luongo returns”.

Yes, the Canucks were tired after grinding out a win over the Ducks the night before and immediately afterwards flying down to San Jose.  Yes, they spent most of the first period short-handed.  But they should have saved the cost of a charter flight and just sent Schneider to deliver the two points on a platter to the Sharks.  The Canucks defense looked like Top Gun pilots on their first day at Miramar, twisting their necks to see which Shark player just flew by him.  And the the replays of the third goal (btw, beautiful scoreboard in HP Pavillion) sure looked like the point shot was deflected in by Schneider’s own D-man.

The visiting backup goalie in San Jose is separated from his team's bench

The visiting backup goalie in San Jose sits alone and feels shame.

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Save of the Year?

December 24, 2008

Or is it this:

I think you have to give it to Tim Thomas since A) his came in the regular season and B) it undoubtedly preserved a shutout for him.  You could even add bonus points for doing it on the road and causing so much grief to the Devils fans who were out of their seats celebrating what they thought was the go-ahead goal.

Justin Pogge to Make Leaf Debut Tonight

December 22, 2008

It’s not like the Toronto hockey press corps needed anything more to write about this season (new coach, new GM, Sundin-gate, another season of missing the playoffs) but now they finally get to cover Justin Pogge’s debut in the Leaft net tonight in Atlanta.

Pogge inherits 29 from Mike Palmateer and Felix Potvin

Pogge inherits 29 from Mike Palmateer and Felix Potvin

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