Reaping Rewards in Rivalry

When I answered the call to enter Eric Engels's blog-writing contest ("what does the Habs/Bruins rivalry mean to you?"), I enjoyed writing the piece I did. I always love writing, and the excuse to do so. It was easy to access the content of that blog; it was in my heart, and in very recent memory of Habs/Bruins incidents from last season.

When I won, it was an amazing feeling - I love writing, and writing about hockey isn't something I can do like Eric, or any of the other bloggers I love to read; I can't do stats, I can't do history, I can't even talk about play or action, at least not with the expertise that comes from longevity as a fan and keen knowledge of the game and the culture. But I CAN write about the human factor, I can access that which we all share and I can write about hockey in that vein, no problem. Having my blog published as Eric's gameday blog, as well as many of my Twitter friends taking the time to read, retweet, and comment on my blog and my win, was heady! To be rewarded (and so complimented!) on my writing sweetens the satisfaction of writing, and I believe I will be starting a new blog shortly. Details to follow.

But tonight, the rivalry between the Habs and Bruins rewarded me, and my sons. See, Eric had gotten 2 tickets to the game, and the winner of his blog contest was to accompany him to see the Habs and Bruins in preseason action tonight. Long story short, he gave me both tickets, I bought a third, and I was able - thanks to HockeyTickets.ca and Eric Engels - to take my two sons to this game. The third ticket was in the greys (affordable and let's face it, anywhere you sit in the Bell Centre is an optimum seat), so the three of us agreed that each boy would sit with me for a period and a half. And tonight I would premiere my new P.K. Subban jersey, finally to be part of the Habs-jersey-wearing crowd at a hockey game!! (Sometimes, it's good to not stand out but to blend in!)

We began with dinner at a Montreal landmark restaurant - Mr. Steer. Delicious burgers, great place pre-game, and just up the street from the Bell Centre. We arrived shortly after Eric, and when we got to the table, the two tickets were just sitting in front of him. Talk about effective! I introduced him to the boys, we all sat down, and the conversation never stopped. My kids were a little starstruck (Eric reports for Hockeybuzz.com as well as CTV Montreal Sports "Habs Hub") but more, they were in their element, talking hockey with a guy who could talk it right back. It looked like Eric was enjoying the kids too. And that makes me even more proud of my boys than ever!

We walked down to the Bell Centre, but before parting (Eric went to the Loft a.k.a. Press Box and we went to our seats), I asked him to pose for a pic with my boys. After all, he IS a local celebrity! (It was a blast to get an "I can see you guys!" text from him after the game began, and we texted back and forth a few times throughout the evening)

Inside, the boys decided that Sam would sit in the reds with me for the first 30 minutes, and Josh for the last. We parted, with instructions to keep in touch via text. When Sam and I walked into Section 118, I think both our jaws needed picking up. What incredible seats!! So close to the action and so bright and big and exciting!

The game began after our very own Michael Cammalleri received the Jean Béliveau Trophy (for community involvement), presented to him by the Gentleman himself. Jean Béliveau, for those who aren't familiar with him, is hockey royalty. Not just Habs royalty, though he is a Canadien through and through (having played for Montreal his entire career, from 1950-1971!), but he is truly one of the most respected men in the hockey world. Eric told us that Mr. Béliveau, if he should make eye contact with someone who is an obvious fan but too shy to say hello, will introduce himself and say hi to the fan. The man just exudes class. When he was introduced and came out on the ice, there was a spontaneous standing ovation by the 21K in attendance. He was visibly moved and it was truly a Moment for me and my kids too.

And then...the Game. Last night, the Bruins slaughtered my poor Habs, 7-3, in Halifax. Would we see a different outcome tonight? Well, we lost but it was a 2-1 loss, our guys played really well, and the refs blew a few non-calls (goalie interference, holding, tripping...blatant stuff the seeing-eye dogs must have missed). Can't blame the refs, I know. But it would have been awesome to see the guys win what would have been their 2nd of the preseason. Not to be. But super exciting because of our location.

When it was time for Sam to go to the other seat, I felt awful - just as awful as I'd felt to send Josh up at the beginning of the game. But my kids are good sports...I am - again - very proud of them. And Josh's ear-to-ear grin when he took his new seat was worth it. Sam and I enjoyed the first 30 minutes, Josh arrived almost minutes before the Canadiens opened the scoring, and I enjoyed the company of each boy for 30 minutes of play. What could have been better? Oh, right. A win!

However, it's preseason. We didn't play the full team, despite the big guns like Plek, Cammy, Gionta, Gorges in the lineup, and Carey Price in nets for the full 60 minutes. We saw Brendan Gallagher work very hard to impress, and do an outstanding job of it. We saw Carey's acrobatics in nets, and Pleky's super-beautiful stride as he hustled down the ice to try to put the puck in goal or steal it from the opponent. We saw Cammy put one in, and best of all, we were back at the Bell Centre, losing our voices in cheers of "Go Habs Go!!!" for another year's fun. I have a good feeling about the regular season. That's just the optimist in me. Every game is a blank slate.

Tonight isn't about the season. It isn't about the players or the strategies. It wasn't even about the scoreboard. It was about the big heart Eric Engels showed me and my kids (yes, I won the blog contest - that was also a thrill but he didn't have to give us both tix), and a new friendship with a super guy; it was about the pure joy I saw on my boys' faces when I first broke the news to them, watched them immediately text and tweet their friends to share it, and their excitement all through today and this evening. That is the huge pile of rewards this rivalry has resulted in, and will continue to live on in the boys' memories, and mine. The lasting aura is enough to make this night a victory.

Rivalry is a Beautiful Thing: Habs v Bruins

I became a rabid hockey fan in the past year or so. This means, in a nutshell, understanding the game and all its nuances - instead of the previous me, the Scoreboard Celebrant. So of course, it stands to reason that - between the newscasters and social media - I developed a keen understanding of the rivalry between the Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins. Little did I know, at the outset, that this is a long-standing feud, more intense than the Hatfields and the McCoys. But I did find out rather quickly how deep those waters run.

I suppose it began with the January victory, last season, where Max Pacioretty scored the winning OT goal and started what would define the rest of the season for every Habs fan, and the NHL itself. It was the human factor I embraced and blogged and hockey was merely the umbrella under which the emotions resided.

On Twitter, where Bruins bashing was more rampant, I refrained; I could recognize the difference between rivalry and attack, and didn't like the attacks on people, no matter their team. Instead, I enjoyed the company of some classy Bruins fans who chose to celebrate the game, not defame its patrons.

The Cup was different - I couldn't watch the celebrations of the team that had beaten us out of a long playoff run. I’d seen the underhandedness of many Boston players and the newbie justice-seeker in me cried out, "where are the refs? Why aren't the rules being followed?" So it hurt to see them go all the way and hoist the Cup that has our name on it more often than any other team.

Flash forward to Season '11-'12: I’m optimistic that the bad feelings have run their course. I can now recognize the rivalry between our two teams, and anticipate thoroughly trouncing them on the scoreboard, with perhaps-naive hopes that dirty plays won't be accepted and good, intense hockey will be the order of any given day. I can now boo the Bruins with the intensity of having earned my Rival Badge. Go Habs GO!

(NB: this was an entry to a blog contest run by Eric Engels - to my utter delighted shock, I won the entry - the story is my next entry)

Panic, Negativity, and Bandwagon Jumpers

We lost in a 7-0 blowout to Boston, last night, of all teams. The head-hanging, the hair-pulling, the band-wagon jumping, the embarrassment, the shame...all of it by Habs fans. Imagine how the team is feeling?! Imagine how they'd feel if they saw the negativity by their own fans bombarding Twitter feeds and Facebook groups everywhere!

So my friend Mike posted to a Facebook group and I was just about ready to leave that group because more negativity is not what this 100-percent-forever-Habs-fan will abide right now.

But he has a point...and so I had to listen and decide whether I would stay in the group...

Mike wrote:

You can tell we’re totally screwed for the playoffs and won't do anything… This season, think of all the blowouts we’ve suffered! We lost to the Sabres 8-2! We lost to the Rangers 10-5! Double digits! Not only that, we lose 6-2 to the Islanders and 8-3 to the Sabres AGAIN!!!??? There’s no way we’re doing anything in the playoffs, NO WAY!


(If these games don't sound immediately familiar, these results are all from the 1992-93 NHL season in which the Canadiens completely sucked in the playoffs, right?)

So chill, people. If you want to come back to the fold after the next win, we'll probably welcome you back - but know that your band-wagoneering days are numbered if you keep hopping on and off at warp speeds. One of these days, the bandwagon might just leave without you.

And then which team will you support?

When it hits out of the blue...

© Original painting by Juan Bielsa



There are times I miss my mother more than others. I miss her presence in my life, I miss her phone calls, I miss having a mom. But there are times the realization (yes, even after almost 9 years) hits hard, that she's gone, and those times are days like today.

News of the legendary Elizabeth Taylor's death hit the news channels first, and then Twitter, where we carry out conversations in 140 characters (or fewer). And I found myself just thinking to myself, today would have been a day I'd have called my mother to tell her and share this news and memories of Elizabeth Taylor. We'd have talked about all Ms. Taylor's movies, many of them watched together; all Ms. Taylor's husbands (besides my grandmother, my mom knew this stuff cold - usually because of my grandmother); all Ms. Taylor's troubles. She'd have sighed, "Poor lady, she had one of those charmed troubled lives."

It's interesting how someone else's news becomes bigger for me than the news; it becomes a sad reminder of the absences in my life.

Opposite Side of the Emotional Coin

(photo created by me - to express the City's heart this week)

There have been a lot of emotions running rampant in my city this week. Since The Hit on Canadiens' forward Max Pacioretty by Boston Bruins' Zdeno Chara, hockey fans - and many non-hockey fans - have gone from shock, to fear, anger to outrage, confusion to utter mystification. Yesterday's news that Patch was home brought hope and relief. Letters from Air Canada to the NHL, and Geoff Molson to the home base brought a renewed sense of empowerment. The news that the Montreal police were investigating the Hit brought everything from amusement to derision. And bloggers streamed into my Twitter timeline from Habs Inside/Out's Dave Stubbs after The Hit and after The Decision, to Kyle Roussel, Sports Illustrated's (and Montreal's own) Michael Farber and Montreal Gazette's Red Fisher. The emotions ranged from low to high on every front, and as each blogger weighed in, emotions were renewed.

But what struck me most profoundly of all was the solidarity we were all experiencing. Montreal is a hockey city, and I've never been more aware of that since my hockey awakening began with last season's playoff run. But this week, as we all tweeted (2 days where hundreds upon hundreds of tweets updated by the second and I made many new Twitter friends), posted on Facebook, called into radio shows, emailed one another, and kept abreast of the story online, I felt a pride that was only strengthened by our togetherness.

We were banding together in positive energy sent to MaxPacs. We bonded over the anger that his assailant got off scot-free. We agreed on analogies comparing street thugs and hockey bullies, criminal behavior vs "part of the game", and we shared our resolve to have our voices heard as fans, fanatics and humans.

I found myself reflecting on my city. My City. Montreal's been home to me all my life, but I've seen it in a new light being a new fanatic of the game of hockey. I watch American broadcasts of our games and swell with pride when they show pictures of downtown, the Bell Centre, and talk about our history - hockey and non-hockey related. I travel the subway with my kids, on the way to a Habs game, and feel At One with every other attendee going my way, wearing the bleu-blanc-rouge. I talk to people from other cities who, even if they root for another team, laud the electricity felt at the Bell Centre. I go to games and feel a new awareness of how lucky I am to live in a city which has a European flavor, a metropolitan buzz, and yet sometimes - like this week - boils down to a village mentality where we are all one with each other.

So instead of blogging anger (which I still feel) or loathing (which is now stronger than I thought I'd feel toward another team and its fans) or disgust (if I even qualify that I WILL blog about it), I would like to share my profound love of being a Montrealer, my extraordinary pride in my city and its citizens, and my continued support for my team, its players, and the fans who help make Loving My Habs that much more of a global experience.

Go Habs Go!!!

Writing the NHL Corporate Sponsors

Will you help? Inspired by Air Canada's letter to the NHL, in which the company threatens to withdraw its significant corporate sponsorship if the NHL does not reconsider its lukewarm stance on dangerous hits and headshots (a HUGE impact should it happen), I have drafted the letter below to appeal to other corporate sponsors of the NHL. Besides Air Canada, there is a long list, including McDonald's, Pepsi, Bell, Scotiabank, Canadian Tire, etc. I would like to know if you're on board - if you'd like to sign it. If so, I will arrange for that to happen in an electronic manner, and let's take some action.

Max Pacioretty deserves our support, and if this is something I can help to make happen, to vindicate the non-action taken on Zdeno Chara for his ugly hit on our player, it will be an honor.

The Letter:

Dear ____________________________

As you are no doubt aware, in a game vs. Boston at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec on Tuesday night (March 8^th, 2011), Canadiens forward, Max Pacioretty, took a hard hit from Bruins captain, Zdeno Chara, who rode him along the boards to the turnbuckle (post holding the Plexiglass that separates the two benches). Pacioretty’s head and neck took the brunt of the hit, he slumped to the ice where his head hit the surface, and was knocked unconscious. He was transported to hospital where he has been diagnosed with a severe concussion and a non-displaced fractured fourth cervical vertebra in his neck.

This is a very serious injury. Not only did those watching – in person and on television throughout the nation and beyond – not know whether Pacioretty was breathing, not only did those watching not know whether he would ever walk again, not only is his prognosis unknown at this time…but at the very least, his season is over. This is a player who began with the Canadiens December 12, 2010, and has played with his full heart and soul, winning games and scoring goals and assists (17 points in total until the injury that hospitalized him). Max Pacioretty has become a central part of the line-up, someone the Habs have counted on to go to the net and play the game in the very best way he can, while maintaining the team spirit and integrity of the game of hockey. He has been sidelined for an indefinite amount of time by a player 6’9, who should have known better.

As you are also aware, the National Hockey League has not taken a very firm position against headshots and dangerous hits (both of which describe the one on Pacioretty). There have been a few perfunctory suspensions, but nothing that resonates with players who return to the ice only to execute the same types of hits again. As well, the inconsistent NHL has sanctioned players for merely talking (case in point, Sean Avery’s 6-game suspension resulting from some derogatory remarks he made in December 2008, about his ex-girlfriend who was now dating another hockey player) or mere gestures (case in point, James Wisniewski’s October 2010 2-game suspension for making a lewd gesture to another player). However, the day after what could have been a crippling hit to Max Pacioretty, Zdeno Chara was in a phone meeting with Mike Murphy for a review of his actions. (It should be noted that Murphy stood in for Colin Campbell who could not associate himself with this case as his son plays for Boston – a problematic situation in and of itself, in the NHL) Chara was not penalized in any supplemental fashion (other than the game misconduct and 5-minute penalty on Tuesday night) for what happened, not even a perfunctory suspension or fine, and that has reverberate through the hockey world, polarizing fans, players, writers and coaches for and against such measures.

Pacioretty, speaking out today after having seen the video for the first time, said the following:

“I am upset and disgusted that the league didn’t think enough of (the hit) to suspend him. I’m not mad for myself, I’m mad because if other players see a hit like that and think it’s okay, they won’t be suspended, then other players will get hurt like I got hurt. I thought the league would do something, a little something. I’m not talking a big number, I don’t know, one game, two games, three games…whatever, but something to show that it’s not right.”

I am writing today, with a list of supporting signatures, to draw your attention to the words of Denis Vandal, director of marketing/communications at Air Canada, who – in a letter to the NHL Wednesday March 9^th – expressed concern over recent incidents of headshots and concussions. Mr. Vandal wrote,

“From a corporate social responsibility standpoint, it is becoming increasingly difficult to associate our brand with sports events which could lead to serious and irresponsible accidents; action must be taken by the NHL before we are encountered with a fatality.

"Unless the NHL takes immediate action with serious suspension to the players in question to curtail these life-threatening injuries, Air Canada will withdraw its sponsorship of hockey."

I would like to appeal to your sense of integrity, moral decency, ethical considerations, and your own concern for lending your corporate sponsorship to an organization that seems to feel nothing short of death will change its attitude on dangerous hits. Will you, too, stand up for players who deserve to be part of a league that stands for safety and justice in the case of borderline criminal behavior? Will you, too, contact the NHL and voice your own intentions to reconsider your corporate sponsorship of its organization? Leaders like your company can set the tone for our current players, those who will follow, and youngsters who aspire to the NHL, all of whom are questioning the lack of action against a player whose flagrant disregard for the life of another almost resulted in the ultimate tragedy. Your leadership will be lauded by those of us who stand for justice. For players like the Montreal Canadiens’ #67, Max Pacioretty, the Pittsburgh Penguins’ #87 Sidney Crosby, Boston Bruins’ #91, Marc Savard, and others who have had career- or season-ending injuries, you must represent them with your voices raised for justice.

Thanking you for your attention, we remain,

Hopefully yours,

(signatures)

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If you're on board - comment on this post. If we get enough people willing to sign this (and feel free to pass along this blog entry), I'll take care of the rest.

Let's do it for Patches!!