Much appreciated! Thanks for popping by.
- Michael_Stuart

Seasons over so I am expecting more optimism from you Michael going into the offseason and next year...

Well that was fun. Good blog.. I got pissed with you after game one because of the "Playoff Price" comments but thats what makes the playoffs so fun. Great blogging, I enjoyed reading everything you had to say. We may have won the series but Im still a little jealous because you guys have the BEST player in the game. Yes I said it, the best. Crosby hasnt scored a goal in his last 8 playoff games and was nearly non-exsistent in the Olympics. If you kept St.Louis then this series would have been different. Lots of young talent, and Drouin is on the way.

and guys take it easy on Cooper. Hes an amazing coach that just got his first taste of the playoffs. Therrien melted down last year as well, and recovered this year.
- HabsRUs

I love Stamkos as a player, but I don't know how someone can say (as of now) that he is better than Crosby ... anyway that's beside the point, Mike, I enjoyed your blogs during this series, hopefully we meet again next year!

I love Stamkos as a player, but I don't know how someone can say (as of now) that he is better than Crosby ... anyway that's beside the point, Mike, I enjoyed your blogs during this series, hopefully we meet again next year!
- Traceur

Cheers!

Seasons over so I am expecting more optimism from you Michael going into the offseason and next year...

- stammerman

More negativity is on the docket

I think Boucher's reputation as a trap guy was him adjusting to what he had (poor goaltending, lack of puck-moving defensemen). When he was running our AHL team they played a very different aggressive style, at times using a 3 man forecheck.

It probably seems strange to you guys that we're so interested in Boucher, let me explain. Montreal has an absurd mandate about only hiring a head coach who can speak french. This severely limits the talent pool so we like to keep tabs on available coaches.

It's especially true this season, since Therrien was coaching like dog poop for most of it. He seems to have suddenly remembered how to coach in time for the playoffs though, I feel like he was trolling us all year.
- BeanCountingHab

Berkshire or Rice?

It's been a pleasure fellas. If you're looking for someone to cheer on the rest of the way, feel free to hop aboard the Habs train! After all, I'm sure there are many Canadian snowbird Habs fans who cheer on the Bolts when we're not in town, it's almost like we're related!

It's been a pleasure fellas. If you're looking for someone to cheer on the rest of the way, feel free to hop aboard the Habs train! After all, I'm sure there are many Canadian snowbird Habs fans who cheer on the Bolts when we're not in town, it's almost like we're related!
- BeanCountingHab

We're almost contractually obligated to cheer for the Rangers! We want that 2014 second round draft pick from the Callahan deal to turn into a first. But Montreal/Boston could be a hell of a lot of fun.

if lindback gets resigned I know where stevie yzerman lives in tampa! I'm going to knock on his door and demand why ???

Gudlevskis should be are back up next season! put the russian in for the crunch get him some playing time!

We're almost contractually obligated to cheer for the Rangers! We want that 2014 second round draft pick from the Callahan deal to turn into a first. But Montreal/Boston could be a hell of a lot of fun.
- Michael_Stuart

Ah of course, the conditional pick. Curious if you want to see St. Louis do well too or are you bitter at the way he left?

Ah of course, the conditional pick. Curious if you want to see St. Louis do well too or are you bitter at the way he left?
- BeanCountingHab

I think he's a bit of a whiner, but I'm cheering for him to power that team straight through to the conference finals!

Gudlevskis should be are back up next season! put the russian in for the crunch get him some playing time!
- todd1a

"I’m not one of the people who believes that it was a bad call; the replay clearly shows that it was a trip. The beef I have with the call is that the officials didn’t whistle a thing through the third, and then decided to call a measly, inconsequential trip with only moments remaining in a tie game. "

Bang on.

It was the right call, but it sucks to see the whole period with sooo many infractions uncalled (on both sides) and all of a sudden see them call a penalty. I know I would have been out of my mind pissed off if Chris Lee had done it to the Habs.

This being said, goaltending tells a huge story of why this was only a 4 game series as Price was his regular self after a difficult first game while Lindback never managed to give his team any confidence. You could tell the HUGE difference it made when Gudlevskis made some very good saves for the Bolts, they started to play knowing their goaltender would be there to back them up and they manage to tie it up.

Anyways, thank you Michael for playing along with us Habs fans during this series, it was fun to have conversations with you and I hope we weren't too much of a bother.

Cheers!

I think he's a bit of a whiner, but I'm cheering for him to power that team straight through to the conference finals!
- Michael_Stuart

What do you need to get the first round pick? For them to win the conference finals or just make it there?

There's a lot of talk about how the refs blew the game for the Lightning in the last 2 minutes... But there doesn't seem to be anyone mentioning how Stamkos throws a temper tantrum, punches Emelin in the face for no reason and gets away with it.

Berkshire or Rice?
- Jean_Perron

Haha, neither but I am a frequent reader/occasional commenter on EOTP.

"I’m not one of the people who believes that it was a bad call; the replay clearly shows that it was a trip. The beef I have with the call is that the officials didn’t whistle a thing through the third, and then decided to call a measly, inconsequential trip with only moments remaining in a tie game. "

Bang on.

It was the right call, but it sucks to see the whole period with sooo many infractions uncalled (on both sides) and all of a sudden see them call a penalty. I know I would have been out of my mind pissed off if Chris Lee had done it to the Habs.

This being said, goaltending tells a huge story of why this was only a 4 game series as Price was his regular self after a difficult first game while Lindback never managed to give his team any confidence. You could tell the HUGE difference it made when Gudlevskis made some very good saves for the Bolts, they started to play knowing their goaltender would be there to back them up and they manage to tie it up.

Anyways, thank you Michael for playing along with us Habs fans during this series, it was fun to have conversations with you and I hope we weren't too much of a bother.

Cheers!
- Scabeh

I enjoyed every minute of it.

What do you need to get the first round pick? For them to win the conference finals or just make it there?
- BeanCountingHab

Just make it to the conference final. You guys can beat them there

There's a lot of talk about how the refs blew the game for the Lightning in the last 2 minutes... But there doesn't seem to be anyone mentioning how Stamkos throws a temper tantrum, punches Emelin in the face for no reason and gets away with it.
- Distrad

Take your victory and move on. Should that have been a call? Probably. Lots of things could have/should have been called on both sides.

Just make it to the conference final. You guys can beat them there
- Michael_Stuart

Sounds good! I have the Rangers making it out of their division, I think it's looking pretty good for you guys.

Just make it to the conference final. You guys can beat them there
- Michael_Stuart

doubt we get that pick anyway I think callahan is staying in tampa

Take your victory and move on. Should that have been a call? Probably. Lots of things could have/should have been called on both sides.
- Michael_Stuart

Someone should honestly make a compilation of all the blatantly obvious missed calls during the playoffs and send them straight to Daly.

I know it's like this every single year but it never ceases to amaze me how ridiculous it is that no penalty (well... considering tonight ALMOST no penalty) is called during the last moments of games. I'm all for letting the players decide the outcome of the game but for (frank) sake rules are rules.

Take your victory and move on. Should that have been a call? Probably. Lots of things could have/should have been called on both sides.
- Michael_Stuart

And that's the problem way to inconsistent is the refereeing in general in the NHL. In that third period they put the whistles away and then call that... that was my beef with the call. We could argue that Kristers was ran by Bourque with nine minutes to go, we could argue so many thing on both teams. Be consistent and call the game the same way be it penalties galore or none and that did not happen.

Take your victory and move on. Should that have been a call? Probably. Lots of things could have/should have been called on both sides.
- Michael_Stuart

I absolutely agree. I just hate the argument that "Oh well if this call hadn't happened and this person wasn't injured and if he had made this save this would have been a completly different series".

Everyone seems to look at every game through their own teams eyes and not see the big picture.

The refs (like injuries) are a neutral component of the game that will sometimes screw your team over. Your team's chance of success shouldn't be by such a slim margin that one bad call can be the back breaker.

Milbury is a dumbass.