Back on Nov 1, the Islanders gift-wrapped a win for the Canadiens, a nice early Christmas present. They put a pretty bow on it and placed it under the tree with a note reading "Do not open until 3rd period". For most of last night's rematch in Montreal, it appeared as if our hosts were going to be ungracious and not return the gesture.
Thankfully, there is at least one man in Montreal with good manners. There'll be an extra slice of yule log on the table this year for Ryan O'Byrne, who with just under 5 minutes to play scored an own goal on a delayed Isles penalty. You can watch the glorious replay here!
Now, I do feel bad for the kid. Those 2 seconds of watching the puck slide towards the net must have felt like an eternity. And no doubt the fans in Montreal will be tough on him. But I'll make no apologies for the win. It's nice to finally be on the receiving end of some good karma.
Lost in the mix of the craziness from the game are a few great stories. The continued resurgence of Doug Weight, Josh Bailey playing like he belongs, Mark Streit proving he's more than just a PP quarterback, and the makings of a goaltending controversy. But we'll save those for another day.
Tomorrow the Isles look to overspeed their way to the .500 mark. Less than 2 weeks ago, that seemed unfathomable. It's a testament to the quality of hockey we've been witnessing of late. I'll be the first to admit, I became disgruntled too early in the season. Now, I'm starting to believe.
MC
Problems Not Going Away For New York
1 day ago
2 comments:
Where are the references to the great company in seat 5 (or is it 6) who must surely provide some sort of valuable input/data/references which can transform itself into a blog subject? Plethora of useful, as well as useless, information here waiting to be referenced? But to comment on the present blog subject, I too was disgruntled at the beginning of the season. But the inconsistencies keep crawling back. They can't beat top teams in the league like Vancouver, and then not build on that. Barely edging out Montreal, and then the debacle in Boston, are not gonna get them into the playoffs. I have told you in person, and now will put it here on the web to stay forever so that the masses may read it... some team out there must think they have a need for Comrie. I have not seen such a lackadaisical player since Kvasha was loafing around the coliseum ice. Look at the roster of players on the team who are listed under 6 feet, and tell me 1, who is the slowest, and 2, how he fits into Coach Gordon's system. He should be on the trading block, and perhaps I would be a bit less disgruntled.
interview after the game:
chris simpson: simon gagne,how were you guys able to get things turned around after the islanders started out with 2 goals.
simon gagne: well chris, i don't know eh, we are playing the islanders and it is the month of december. we had to spot them 2 goals just to make things interesting. they're like the dallas cowchicks, they like to take december off. we know that this team has ADHD and can only focus for the first 2 periods. our scouting report tells us that they don't know there is a third period and besides,we own them.
chris simpson: thanks simon. their you have it, the islanders do suck.
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