Montreal Canadiens: When Superstitions Get in

The Montreal Canadiens came back to work after a very much appreciated Christmas break for nine games on the road and four at home before the All-Star break. 

Superstition: belief, half-belief for which there appears to be no rational substance.  (Encyclopedia Britannica)

George Laraque admitted last week during an interview that he was superstitious.

The 6’3” player, known as Big George, thinks his perhaps, too frequent injuries have something to do with the number 17. We should stop having 17 floors in buildings too, then! 

“I start to think I should change my number. Benoit Brunet told me the number 17 is an unlucky number.” (La Presse)   

Yes, Benoit Brunet, the man with the microphone during the RDS games—the one that Pierre Houde once accidentally called “Yvon”! 

Laraque warned that at the next misfortune, he will switch to another identity. Being sent home by the Montreal Canadiens from Pittsburgh, with his name put on injury reserve once again, now might be the time! 

“Leadership: The art of getting someone else to do something you want done because they want to do it” – Dwight D. Eisenhower

Alexei Kovalev still currently wears the ‘C’, as Saku Koivu’s injury keeps him on the sideline. 

Although Guy Carbonneau maintains that the Russian player does not need a letter to get motivated, it is one huge coincidence that one game after being named interim captain, he started to score again. 

And by scoring, he was going at the pace of one goal per game and now holds a plus-five rating through that sequence, with intensity and hard work that at least everybody noticed. For once! 

La Presse columnist, Rejean Tremblay, had an interesting story to tell a few days ago, a Christmas gift for the hearts of the unconditional Alexei Kovalev fans. 

Tremblay wrote that a few former players told him the locker room actually belongs to Kovalev, and not Saku Koivu. 

“He is the one who has the influence on Markov, the Kostitsyns, players like Lang and Plekanec. And since Kovalev got more involved into social matters and spend his summers in Quebec, he grew closer to the French Canadians of the team as well.” (Translated) 

Uh oh! 

What about another debate?

“My parents didn’t want to move to Florida. But they are 60 and that’s the law!” – Jerry Seinfeld 

The Montreal Canadiens will face the Florida Panthers tonight.

The last time the two teams met, the Panthers kept Jaroslav Halak busy with 36 shots, but finally let go a 3-1 loss. 

The Panthers are currently ranked 10th in the Eastern Conference, with two points behind but a game in hand compared to the eighth-ranked Buffalo Sabres. 

They just dropped two in a row to Tampa Bay. 

Stephen Weiss (Center, 6-14) and Jay Bouwmeester (Defence / Potential candidate in the dream trades of some Montreal Canadiens fans, 6-13) currently hold the leading spots in points for Florida. 

The Panthers are ranked 28th overall on the man advantage at home, as opposed to the 17th place for Montreal on the road. 

However, Florida is quite impressive on the home penalty killing, allowing only ten goals for a success rating of 83.6 percent. 

The team will then face Tampa Bay tomorrow, Tom Kostopoulos and Ryan O’Byrne’s favourite city to visit! Despite the three days off before facing Martin Brodeur’s guys without Martin Brodeur, the bars in Tampa might be on the not-to-do list this year. We’ll write that below the “do not wear 17” one!   

Vincent Lecavalier and his crew are battling hard through the standings, currently 13th. They lost nine games in a row before facing the Canadiens in a 3-1 win on December 11. 

But we all know the standing theory does not work much with the Montreal Canadiens. A team can fight for the one-before-last spot in the league, and Montreal will always find a way to skate less, shoot less, and take penalties.

In the Wow-!-did-you-see-that-? feature: 

What about Guillaume Latendresse’s hit on Sidney Crosby?