After all, there was a point the the second period when the Habs were up 4-1 against the President’s Trophy winners.

I suppose that losing 6-5 in overtime was a tough pill to swallow, but, in the “glass is half full” vein of thought, the Montreal Canadiens are very much in the series–if not in control of it.

Habs need to stay loose (Jason Hitelman)

In a previous article, I mentioned that the professional analysts should wait to watch the games before deeming that the Canadiens would be slaughtered. I hope that they learned something.

The Bleu, Blanc, Rouge was ever so close to taking both games in the Verizon Center, but, alas, they fell just short.

But we learned that Andrei Kostitsyn enjoys scoring in the playoffs and I’d even go out on a limb and say that he is not done yet.

We also learned why Jose Theodore was pulled from the Capitals in last year’s playoffs–he is certainly not Miller or Brodeur.

While Jaro Halak all but stole the game for the Habs in Game 1, he was less than stellar (understatement of the century?) in the second game.

We need to look no farther back than the last game of the regular season and the first game of the playoffs to see how well Jaro bounces back after bad (or very bad) games. He has an exceptional ability to put the past behind him–an attribute that both the team and its fans must develop.

If I had written an article before this series had begun in which I stated that the Montreal Canadiens were going to go to Washington and win both games on the Caps’ ice, what would you have said?

I’m assuming it would have been something insulting, perhaps questioning my sanity.

And you would be justified in doing so: Nobody in their right mind would think that the Canadiens could come home with a 2-0 lead.

They did not–but they almost did.

Now they have the home-ice advantage in the series and I truly believe, if they continue playing as they have been–barring late-game collapses–they will capitalize on it.

The trick is to play the full sixty minutes at full clip. The big guns have to keep on scoring, Jaro Spacek has to continue containing  Alex Ovechkin masterfully, and Jaro Halak must make important saves.

The complete team must play a complete game.

If they do, it should be a cakewalk!

That may be an exaggeration…

Do you know what Show Dough is? A terrific hockey blog that I read often is Justin Bourne’s Bourne’s Blog. Here he talks candidly (and from experience) about the money the Pro’s make from an AHL perspective. A great read!

Hockey Blog in Canada gives us a little teaser/update on the possible move of the Thrashers to Winnipeg.

Canucks fans may want to take a peak at Canucks Hockey Blog – they do a nice job of staying on  top of all the happenings on the left coast and remind us that Vancouver has a lot more going on that just the Sedins.

And a little link love to ourselves. A while back we shared the Origins of the Detroit Octopus Toss, enjoy.

To wrap up a nice concise listing by our friends at Open Ice Hockey on who moved where Trade Deadline Day.

I thought I’d take a second and take a look at some of the other leagues. Lots of great hockey is being played every night and some of the better games aren’t always happening in the big barns.

American Pro Hockey covers the ECHL, IHL, SPHL, CHL, and AHL. I hear they may be looking for some guest bloggers soon.

Into The Boards also covers all the minor leagues

Special shout out to The Moose!!!

Hockey’s Future is always covering the best and brightest (or best and fastest) from all over the place

The home of Atlantic Hockey

And finally a site that really deserves some attention The Bush League Factor. They have terrific little histories of just about all of the minor league teams. Logos, how they got their names and much more. Here’s a little sample..

But the face isn’t the truly disturbing part of this logo. The truly disturbing part is the fact that this creature has apparently just fallen into the ice, or worse yet, he’s just broken out of it. Ladies and gentlemen, I know for a fact that the ice on a hockey rink is less than an inch thick.

Love those top ten lists.  David at InGoalMagazine shares a video of the best shootout goals.

Abe Hefter suggests that times are tough for the Habs right now, who am I to argue.

Michael Langlois from Vintage Leaf Memories tells us about they day he asked King Clancy for a job (and a cold-call no less!).

Hockey Insight has a good piece on Headshots, the ongoing question on why the league is not taking a pro-active position on a very serious issue.

And In Goal Magazine is trying to have a great questioned answered – What has been the biggest change in goaltending over the past ten years?

I’ve sent David my answer to his question, though I don’t know if he’ll publish it or not. Take a look at the two images below and tell me if you spot a difference. Feel free to leave a comment below on the images or on what you think the biggest change in Goaltending has been.

* I realize the image of Dryden is a lot older than ten years but the issue has really been pushed to the limit in the recent few years.

Ken Dryden – 6’4″  210 lbs

Jose Theodore – 5’11″  180 lbs

www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZWxErEbQkY