Only caught the third period...............

Nil d · Guru

Only caught the third period...............

NOHF · Member

I thought the Habs were outplayed in the 1st period, controlled the 2nd, and really played good in the 3rd. Something nobody seems to have mentionned is Raycroft. I thought he played great! He is a premier goalie. The habs were peppering him with quality chances and he gave the Bruins a chance to stay in this game

Special Agent Utah · Member

I would agree with NOHF. Raycroft was (almost) the difference maker in this one. I did like the way Montreal flew in period 2, except, ahem, Ribiero taking a somewhat foolish penalty to allow Boston to re-take the lead after The Habs stormed back from down 0-2.

The third period was classic, at least in a OLN sense of the word. How, pray tell, does a team with a 5 on 3 man advantage, clinging to a 1 goal lead, with whatever seconds left, allow the visiting team to waltz into the offensive end of the ice in a 2 on 1? I was like Paul Giamatti's character at the end of "Sideways", right after his best friend purposely crashed his car. "What the BLEEP? WHAT THE BLEEP?!"

Oh well, all's well that end's well right? Riiiiigggghhhhttt.

barry33 · Guru

Having been invlolved in a few of those situations in my day both as a coach and a player I can relate to you exactly what happened. Time is winding down...you are up to men and you have a mentality that you are invincible because of it. You adapt the attitude that either a) time will run out or b) "I need not make an effort because we outnumber them and the other guys will look after it" or , c) All of the above. You would be surpised how many goals are scored in situations like that..you just tend to over relax. I can guarantee the first words out of CJ's mouth when they got to the dressing room after was "What the ^*%>: were you stupid #$%*&^L's thinking?!?????

Special Agent Utah · Member

I'm glad we didn't have to witness it, but could you imagine the scene had Boston scored in that situation?

IMHO, in that type of scenario it's all the guys on the ice. At this level especially, it shouldn't take the coach, or an assistant, or the guy holding the towels, to tell them "Watch for this". The men on the ice should be ready for anything, and not take a darn thing for granted.

Look what happened 25 years ago at Lake Placid. The Russians decide that the period is over, when at the same time Mark Johnson is making a go of it. It doesn't happen often, but last night had me clutching my chest like Red Foxx. "It's the big one!"

Jedah · Guru

Well, since Claude spoke to the team about that, I feel pretty confident that it won't happen again. Otherwise anyone who isn't pulling his weight, I see him benched. One of the many reasons I love our coach!

barry33 · Guru

So much of this game is mental preparation and readiness. case in point. How many times do you see a team score after just having been scored on? The reason is, mental letdown. Sometimes guys get caught up in enjoying what just happened and not frocusing on the task at hand. Know what I REALLY HATE? When you see guys on the bench looking up at the Video Replay on the score clock after they have scored. Do they really need to see what it looked like right away? Can't they wait til they are home watching sportsdesk like the rest of us?

If I had my way I would take those videos out of the scoreclock.

Special Agent Utah · Member

That's just another example of the ESPN'ization of big time sports. Watch an NBA game sometime (if you have nothing better to do, like performing Tommy John surgery on yourself using a rusty fishing knife). Nobody in that league can shoot anymore, because shots don't get you on SportsDesk. What does? Dunks. Big deal. A guy 6 feet 10 inches tall can jump high enough to put a ball into a hole 10 feet tall. It's all been done before, but ESPN still finds it necessary to jam these "highlights" down our throats each night.

I'd love to see a SportsDesk highlight showing a guy making a tough 17 footer with a hand in his face. Or even a guy doing somehting fundamental, like hitting a free throw. How many times can a 360 dunk be done before it gets redundant?

Same thing in all sports though. "Hey, look at me. I just made a tackle after a guy picked up 12 yards on 3rd and 8. Now I'm going to jump around and pound my fist like I just discovered the cure for male pattern baldness."

Like the goalie dude from Slapshot said, "Make me want to puke. Blah!"