Coast to Coast Habs: On Sean McCormick and Game Preview

Sean McCormick, reporter for Sportsnet, disgusts me. He has officially lost all of my respect. First of all, he works for Sportsnet, a sad excuse for a sports station. Secondly, he's married to Jennifer Hedger. Thirdly, he recently stated, "By entertaining the whimpering Habs, the league has set a dangerous precedent." Along with this moronic statement, McCormick sarcastically called Ruutu's hit on Lapierre an "elbow". There is a reason Ruutu was punished and it was not solely for his idiotic head hunting act on number 40, but because of his disgraceful attitude and improper conduct towards the integrity of the game. Jarkko Ruutu is not a Tom Kostopolous or a George Laraque. He's a Hollweg or McSorely. He's a classless pig of a hockey player. He's lucky the refs threw him out of the game, because I assure you if he returned to the ice he would have been flattened. The NHL got it RIGHT! A player was suspended for a hit that didn't result in an injury. It's about time.

BOSTON VS. MONTREAL

Original Six matchups are always entertaining. There is something special about watching two teams that have had the opportunity to develop a true rivalry. That hold a past and a history of hard fought games and all sorts of outcomes. For the last 12 games, excluding playoffs, Montreal remains undefeated against the Bruins. Can we extend this streak to 13? Yes, and we will.

Our performance against Ottawa was extraordinary. We played on both ends of the ice. Our forwards were extremely responsible defensively, being aggressive in the defensive zone, enabling for the rapid transition game that led to much of our success last year. A good defense is a good offense. All we needed was one goal to beat the Sens, because of a spectacular display of effort by our Habs. Carbonneau did it right. He called a team meeting and stopped what could have been a devastating slew of losses for our team. Hats off to Higgins for scoring his first career trick and punishing Auld with his fantastic shooting ability. I have always been frusturated by Higgins' play as he suffers from the Jason Blake syndrome (1000 shots, 1 goal). Higgins had a spark the other night and hopefully he continues to find the back of the net.

Gorges was awesome! We're lucky we have him. He's a wall defensively for a little guy and is superb at calculating when to hop up front for a pinch. Good job on your 2 assists Gorges.

I wouldn't be surprised to read the name Koivu next to leadership in the Thesaurus. Our captain showed what he's made of and how he could rally a team together after multiple embarassing games. Well done Saku. Oh and did anyone see that pass? Took a peak up the ice saw Higgins and sent a beautiful backhander right into Higgins' glove.

Price = generational talent. More valuable than Crosby?

Tonight I expect to see a physical game. The Bruins will not forget how close they came to toppling the Eastern Conference Champions in the first round of the 2008 playoffs. We have to stay out of the box and stick a man on the point. We can't let Chara move in on Carey. Let's keep the puck away from the point and keep the Bruin sweaters away from the net. If we can keep them to the outside it will be an easy win.

I expect to see that aggressive defensive game we played against the Sens and another breakout night by the KPK line. Koivu is a Bruin killer. He's notorious for making fools out of their defense and goalies, as is Kovalev. Let's have fun with this one and bring Thomas' all-star performing ego down a little.

Carey won't have an easy time, but if we stick to the gameplan Carey will stop all that comes in his way.

We will win this game. The question is by how much?

Habs fan prediction: 13-0 --> Julien gets the boot for throwing a water bottle at the refs and Chara goes through the glass on a hit from...KOVALEV.

TSN Analyst Prediction: Montreal wins 4-1 ---> Koivu scores twice, Kovalev and A. Kost and the others. Markov gets 3 helpers and Carey makes 26 saves.