Ponds and Pucks

I’m not one to mix hockey and politics — especially Quebec politics — but I gotta sound off on this whole crazy French language saga going on in the eastern side of the country.

In case you’re not up to speed, the leader of the Parti Quebecois, Pauline Marois, has stirred up language debate in Quebec by saying reasonable accommodation for non-French speakers (notably religious and ethnic minorities) has gone too far, and to “protect” francophone culture, Quebec must restrict the rights for people who haven’t demonstrated an “appropriate knowledge” of the French language.

This has little to do with hockey of course, until the debate brought a high-profile Quebec lawyer to comment that Montreal Canadiens captain Saku Koivu doesn’t speak workable french after living in the province for over 10 years. Marois agreed and took it even further by saying the Habs should force their players to learn French if they want to play for the Bleu Blanc et Rouge. And the debate exploded in the media.

Not even getting into the political details of sovereignty and culture and French vs English in Canada — such as pointing out that Marois has not yet managed to acquire an “appropriate knowledge” of the English language — the hockey angle alone is stunning.

Could you imagine GM Bob Gainey trying to solidify deals while having to ensure the new players would take the time to learn French? Can players specify certain teams in a no-trade clause, because I’m guessing they might start.

Due to the international nature of hockey, many players are already struggling with having to learn English once they’re drafted. Try telling a player from Russia or Sweden that he’s got to make sure to have French under his belt as well.

Do the CFL Montreal Alouettes need to sign their players up for French lessons too? Could you imagine American college football players trying to reconcile the nuances of the CFL game and learn French on top of that?

Koivu has handled this with a lot of class, first by admitting that in a perfect world his French would be better, and then last night by recording a message for Canadiens fans that was broadcast before the game. In French. The fans went wild.

The recording was actually made over a week ago — long before he was brought into this debate.

A comment from a fan on one of the news stories absolutely nails why this is only an issue for those who are more interested in making headlines and causing trouble than any real concern for Quebec culture. He mentions that when he goes to a hockey game, everyone there — Francophone, Anglophone, immigrant, black, white, whatever — is there to cheer on the Habs, and there are no differences between them.

That says more about Quebec culture than any French lesson could.

Pauline Marois, Montreal Canadiens, Saku Koivu, Bob Gainey, Montreal Alouettes

San Jose 4 - Calgary 1 — so much for the battle of the goalies. Nabokov nearly posted his second shutout in as many games, and Kiprusoff experienced his first yanking at the hands of Mike Keenan this season. Kipper was far from the problem, however. The rest of the Flames didn’t seem ready for the game, with [tag]Eric Goddard/[tag] having the best night of them all. Goddard got into two fights and had a goal called back. Battle of Alberta has more.

Vancouver 1 - Carolina 3 — Vancouver saw their road unbeaten string end and Carolina just keeps rolling. The win brings Carolina to 5-1-3, enough to be one of the better teams in the league without bringing attention to how good they are. Well, Vancouver knows now. More Canucks analysis at Canucks Hockey Blog.

Boston 1 - Montreal 6 — Ouch. I really thought the Bruins were going to do it this time. It looked like all the stars were aligning for them. But instead Montreal had 6 different goal scorers and broke the Bruins four-game winning streak, and kept the strange curse the Habs hold over the Bruins intact. A Theory Of Ice.

So it looks like all the games last night that were supposed to be interesting matchups turned out to be one-sided blow outs. I actually was relieved to turn the TV over to CSI: Miami, where the episode suspiciously featured the death of a Florida athlete named “Doug McClain.” I know the Tampa Bay Lightning’s new owner is Doug MacLean and is best known for his (lack of) coaching abilities, but….

San Jose, Calgary, Nabokov, Kiprusoff, Mike Keenan, Vancouver, Carolina, Boston, Montreal, Bruins

FanNation has posted a “shortlist” for the next Atlanta Thrashers head coach.

It looks like pretty much every other list floating around the hockey rumor-sphere — it begins with and highlights Pat Quinn and the works its way to the oft-discussed choice of Brad McCrimmon. But there’s a couple of other names in there too.

My money’s on Quinn, not because he’s the best choice, but because he’s a name, and one players respect. I’d still love to see McCrimmon get it though.

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While the rest of the city of Boston is celebrating the Red Sox and their trip to the World Series, some die-hard hockey fans are still rubbing their hands in glee at the Bruins/Habs game tonight.

The Bruins are going into the legendary match-up with the upper hand for the first time in….. well, a really long time. To Bruins fans a chance to beat their Montreal nemesis is the ultimate bonus to Boston’s strongest start in years.

Finally acquiring a number one goaltender in Manny Fernandez has likely been a huge reason for such a great start. Oh wait, Tim Thomas has been the one manning the pipes? Go figure…

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Games tonight:

Vancouver at Carolina - Vancouver is 4-4-0, Carolina is 4-1-3. Ryan Kesler broke out against the Blue Jackets with 2 goals the other night, while Justin Williams is leading the ‘Canes with 11 points.

Boston at Montreal - Boston is on a 4 game winning streak, Montreal broke a 3 game losing streak on Saturday when they beat Buffalo. Boston’s D has been particularly strong, allowing only an average of 2.14 goals a game. Montreal’s defense got a boost from free agent signing Roman Hamrlik as he potted a goal and two assists on Saturday.

San Jose at Calgary - San Jose is 4-3-1 (4-1-1 when Roenick plays, 0-2-0 when he doesn’t), Calgary is 4-2-2. Nabokov is coming off a shutout Saturday and has two career shutouts against the Flames. Flames beat their provincial rivals the Oilers on Saturday and are riding Jarome Iginla’s 5 game point streak.

Atlanta Thrashers, Pat Quinn, Brad McCrimmon, Red Sox, World Series, Manny Fernandez, Tim Thomas, Ryan Kesler, Justin Williams, Roman Hamrlik, Nabokov, Jarome Iginla

Dave Keon top Toronto Maple Leaf of all time? Seems like a strange choice, but who am I to argue with the likes of Harry Neale, Frank Selke and Bill Watters?

Leafs fans will be curious about which player was ranked where (and likely debate it for the remainder of the season, since it’s not like the Leafs are going to be doing much worth talking about), but to me the most fascinating part of the article is that 102 year old sports writer Milt Dunnell was part of the voting panel.

102 years! Just imagine the hockey he’s seen.

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Old news, but thought I’d throw it out there: Rumor has it Mike Keenan is looking to swap Alex Tanguay for Alexei Kovalev. Putting aside the fact Keenan is the head coach and not the GM (Darryl Sutter must be thrilled to have this all over Sportsnet.ca), that just seems crazy. Granted, the jury is still out on Tanguay, but Kovalev? When Montreal fans jumped at the idea and Calgary fans stayed very quiet, that was enough to see who was getting the better player (or getting rid of the worst one).

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An aside…. Sutter used to keep the Flames rumor mill locked tight. There was rarely a leak or rumor from the Calgary team. As soon as Keenan joined, Sportsnet.ca suddenly had scoop after scoop and rumor after rumor. Now they’re even getting trade rumors, even though Keenan has nothing to do with trades (officially anyway). Wonder where they’re suddenly getting all this info from….?

Dave Keon, Harry Neale, Frank Selke, Bill Watters, Milt Dunnell, Mike Keenan, Alex Tanguay, Alexei Kovalev, Darryl Sutter

The Canadiens allow a goal with 11 seconds remaining and go on to lose in a shoot-out to the Panthers.

The Flames rise to a 4-0 lead early in the second period and go on to lose in a shoot-out to the Avalanche.

Which team deserves the dunce cap more?

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ESPN’s second power rankings of the season are up. No surprises here, though I think the Penguins-love is a little heavy. 5th overall for a .500 team? Ranked ahead of 3-1-0 teams like the Flyers and Lightning? I know all it takes is Sid the Kid to kick start his game and the Penguins are right back in the top 5, but it hasn’t happened yet.

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A quick look at the NHL standings shows some interesting things:

• Minnesota remains the only team unbeaten in regulation.
• At the other end of the spectrum, at 0-6-0 Atlanta has yet to register a single point in the standings. Those of you with bets over the first coach fired should start looking at who has poor Bob Hartley.
• Philadelphia is the only Atlantic Division team over .500. Both the Northeast and Southeast divisions have 3 teams over .500.
• Los Angeles has allowed the most goals in the league (30). Toronto is a close second at 29.
• Toronto also has scored the most goals in the league (26)
• Anaheim has played twice as many games (8) as Pittsburgh, Tampa, St. Louis and Columbus.
• New Jersey and Boston have yet to play a home game. Every team in the league has played a road game.

Montreal Canadiens

Notable moves and changes:Traded F Sergei Samsonov to the Chicago Blackhawks for D Jassen Cullimore and F Tony Salmelainen. Signed C Bryan Smolinksi (had been with Vancouver and Chicago), signed D Roman Hamrlik (had been with Calgary). Signed D Patrice Brisebois (had been with Colorado).
Starting goalie: Cristobal Huet
Summary of last year: Not much you can say when a team’s season comes down to the final game of the year against a divisional rival (Toronto). The Habs regular season points haven’t varied much over the past five years, from a high of 93 to a low of 77 — just enough to keep fans hoping and the playoff race interesting.
Prediction for this year: With the disappointing Samsonov out the door and Hamrlik installed on the blue line, the Habs haven’t made any jarring moves, but nicely got one of one problem and solved another. If Huet stays healthy and Saku Koivu continues to play like he did last season (sometimes it seems the Habs almost take Koivu for granted), the Habs stand a decent chance of actually not needing to beat the Leafs the final game of the regular season just to make the post-season.

Montreal Canadiens, Sergei Samsonov, Jassen Cullimore, Tony Salmelainen, Bryan Smolinksi, Roman Hamrlik, Patrice Brisebois, Cristobal Huet, Saku Koivu