Posted by On Tuesday, Dec. 1, I went to the Bell Centre to watch the Montreal Canadiens host the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The next morning, I cried in my cereal.
It’s no secret that I’m a Canadiens fan. To those of you who don’t already know, I was born, raised, and currently reside in Montreal—the Habs are my lifeblood.
It’s quite ironic that I am the Leafs’ correspondent here at The Hockey Writers: It was a challenge I decided to undertake a few months ago.
I think up to now, I’ve done a fair job in assessing the Leafs. I’ve been as objective as possible, only taking a limited number of pop-shots at my team’s hated rival.
But watching the Blue and White completely dismantle the Canadiens, quite frankly, made me a little nauseous.
I’m not trying to take anything away from the road team—they looked like Stanley Cup contenders.
But should they have?
On a night when Jonas Gustavsson had to leave for the hospital after the first period as a precautionary measure, would you expect third-stringer Joey MacDonald to complete a shut-out?
Joey MacDonald looked like an All-Star (Photo Courtesy of wikipedia.org)
After gaining valuable points against teams that they should not necessarily have, the Canadiens did not show up against your Leafs—a team that most (including myself, if not already evident) would say they should have beaten.
They capitalized on turnovers, made smart, crisp, if not perfect, passes, and skated circles around a sluggish looking Canadiens squad. All that after playing and being shut-out by the Buffalo Sabres the night before.
Wild.
Your team is now clawing its way up the standings while mine is stagnant near the bottom with their toughest month ahead of them.
If the Canadiens don’t revert to their heroic, over-achieving play, I would not be shocked if I got the worst Christmas present ever: the Leafs with a better record.
Bob Gainey was probably just as unhappy as I was
The only positive note that I can take out of this is the fact that the Leafs are nearly full-staffed and the Habs are very short-handed without Andrei Markov, Andrei Kostitsyn, and Brian Gionta.
But I hate making excuses and I shouldn’t have to.
The Toronto Maple Leafs did a great job that was enough to impress (and depress) me while hopefully instilling some confidence in Leafs Nation.
I had the “pleasure” of sitting next to a couple of Leafs fans and you couldn’t wipe the smile off of their faces—even by spilling beer all over them.
They endured all the “Leafs Suck” and “Sixty-Seven” chants through the game and laughed their way through the last seconds of the third period. They revelled in the 3-0 posted on the scoreboard in favour of their team.
And I was propelled into a deep depression.
Some Other Articles That You May Enjoy:
Montreal Canadiens Push To The Playoffs Comes Down To a Few Precious Games
Toronto Maple Leafs
Habs Fans vs Leafs Fans
Toronto Maple Leafs Fans Should Ask Santa for Some Consistency
Kostitsyn And Grabovski Renew Rivalry As Leafs Battle Habs Saturday Night
The Leafs Start Over Again
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