Well, it's mid-season gut check time and the fur has flown on more than a few threads (actually, it's been flying for a while). Personally, I come to this thread for information, and, (because I live in Edmonton), a little Habs-style comradeship. I want to know the condition of Sheldon's knee. Speaking of knees, I'm also curious if someone can illuminate about Plekanec's knee.

I'm not as big on the name calling and the aspersions about BG's, or CJ's, or _____ player's intelligence/cojones/attitude/abilities/etc. -- although I was pretty pissed off at Radek Bonk last night.

Therefore, in the interest of Board harmony, if someone is going to rant, could they somehow indicate that their post is a rant -- based on emotional venting, as opposed to a rational discussion. I'm not saying don't rant/vent, but just let us know before we click on the thread. Some of the ranter/venters have good information and perspectives in their other posts, but I'm simply not interested in rolling the words around in my head "CJ is an idiot", or "BG doesn't deserve to be in the NHL".

So, if you want to get excited, how about adding a little "rant" tag to the subject topic, or an emoticon. Otherwise, I tend to blip over those posts.

While I'm pontificating -- I'll also offer up a little bit of the old gut check for us fans. Last night was a disappointment. BUT, here we are on the road, which the team has said in the past is a good place to come together as a team. And, we're already facing adversity, as witnessed last night. But before we set up road blocks on the bridges back into Montreal and deny access to Bonk, I thought the guy looked pretty shook after the goal -- several shots of him sitting with his head down on the bench. Down, down, down. Players don't often get the chance to lose a game for the team, but he knew he lost it for us. His bad. I LIKED the way Julien put him back out. I think Bonk demonstrated contrition and Julien gave him the opportunity to make reparation (as opposed to Bertuzzi's 'I'm sorry it happened' type of 'apology' -- BTW, would you want to see Bertuzzi play alongside Beliveau, or Lafleur, or Robinson, or the Rocket? Bertuzzi would look good with Bobby Clark -- oops, bit of a rant there, sorry).

Anyway, what happens next is that the team has two more games to come together and start in on the second half of the season. They'll be out West and spending lots of time together. Hopefully, Bonk, for one will come back with more vigour and commitment.

And back to us fans. You may notice that once I get going, I can type a lot -- well, that's how I make a good part of my living. So, I like writers and at trying times like these (as a fan), I think of an Al Purdy poem, by a venerable man of Canadian letters who was a literary kin to the Rocket. Purdy's 1977 poem, 'A Handful of Earth -- to Rene Levesque', closes with a line that captures what I feel about Les Canadiens. The poem begins by offering a proposal for Canada to join Quebec, if that's what it will take to keep our country together. Purdy then describes places such as Vancouver Island, Yonge Street, Chicoutimi and Cote des Neiges, and how important they are to him as part of our country. They're part of his admonition to keep Canada together, because, as he closes the poem "I have no other place to go".

So, if you're still with me -- that last line says everything to me about being a Habs fan. And as we start the second half, I guess I'll forgive Radek Bonk -- as long as he learns from his mistake. All we need to do is get into the playoffs and Dryden or Roy knows what can happen. But I'd also like to see us be a little gentler with our fellow fans along the way. Because, I have no other team.