Montreal Canadiens Don't Rate with CBC

A lot of fair weathered fans are jumping on the Canadiens bandwagon, but that's alright, better late than never.
Too bad the CBC isn't one of them.
It's hard to believe but the CBC has designated the Habs/Penguins series as the number two attraction behind the Canucks/Blackhawks.

For Anglo Quebec fans it's unfortunate that the CBC has rights to the series instead of TSN who did a magnificent job on the Habs/Capitals series.

The talented Jim Hughson and his number one crew, are doing the Vancouver series and it's hard to understand the mindset of the CBC brass.

The Canadiens/ Pens series has to be more compelling and promises the drama of a David versus Goliath battle.
As for star appeal, two Sedins don't add up to half a Sydney Crosby. The series is also based in the Eastern time zone compared to the mid and late night game starts especially on the west coast that promises diminished ratings.

It wouldn't be so sad if the CBC's "B" team, wasn't so pitiful. Come to think of it, they're not really bad, in order to be be bad, they'd have to improve a lot.

Bob Cole is so over the hill and unaware of what's happening on the ice that he reminds me of Dick Clark's last New Year's Eve appearance....not pretty.

"And something has happened out there, Ladies and Gentleman! Errr. Let's see, uhmm...is it a penalty?"

Shades of Bill and Foster Hewitt.

His most recent sidekick Greg Millen is horribly shrill and crosses the neutrality code of colour commentators by injecting too much of his opinion. He recently teed off on Maxime Lapierre, calling him a goon (which he is not.) Even ex-Canadiens coach Guy Carbonneau is pretty dull, so let's hope he finds another coaching job soon. But at least he isn't as hard to listen to as Millen, who needs to be shown the door. How about trying P.J Stock in the broadcast booth?

It's hard to believe that the CBC can do no better than these broadcasting clowns.
Oh... for the days of Danny Gallivan. - "Savardian Spinorama"- "Scintillating!" - "Spine-Tingling!!"
Dick Irvin was a thousand times better than Cole and even at a zillion years old the CBC should have brought him in to do the series.

Thank God the Sunday game was on NBC. As for Tuesday, it back to RDS and Pierre Houde.
 Wait for it.......C'EST LA BUT!!!!!!!!


MEANWHILE>>>>>

Even though our minds are highly concentrated on the currently tied series with the Penguins, we can still take a few moment to  enjoy what the Germans have so cleverly coined as  schadenfeude,  at the expense of course, of the Washington Capitals.

Whatever happens with Pittsburgh, nobody in Montreal can complain about the season. Knocking off the Number One team is something we''ll all remember for years, especially since Cap's coach Bruce Boudreau was a bit arrogant and over-confident in his pronouncements. Ovechkin's diss on Halak saying that the Canadian net minder was so scared that his hands were shaking as he reached for a water bottle, was also quite infuriating.

You won't hear Crosby and his team mates make fun of anybody.You won't hear the coach belittle the competition and you won't hear a word of disrespect. No, the Penguins understand what it takes to win a Stanley Cup  and have no intention of inspiring the opposition with insulting rants.

Reading of the Capitals Fans bulletin  boards was a delicious experience. I have been a Montreal fan for close to fifty years and can say that the last time I saw the Canadians bow out after being a heavy favourite was in 1966 against a weaker Toronto Maple Leafs team (Alas it was the Stanley Cup finals.) I'm sure I'd be as infuriated as these fans who ranted all over the various Washington Caps fan bulletin boards.

Forget what the sportswriters have to say, here is a recap from fan boards that accurately portray the utter pain that the Cap fans suffered in the humiliating loss.

Emotions ran so high that the Capital's management closed the boards for a while, that is until they were outed by USA Today.

"Last night we became aware of a serious issue concerning specific discussion board users and felt it best to temporarily disable the boards and deal with the situation offline. This decision had nothing to do with negative comments stemming from the game - as you can see, all criticisms of the team, front office and ownership that do not contain profane or abusive language remain in place.  As always, our discussion boards encourage the exchange of ideas and opinions. We also ask that these discussions do not take the form of threats against the team, front office, ownership or fellow fans. Thanks for your patience while we dealt with this issue. Sean Parker, Director of new media, Washington Capitals "

All these comments below  come from Capitals boards. I haven't edited or fixed up spelling in order that you may enjoy the original experience.
ENJOY!!!!!

• (Before the game) If we don't win, I feel sorry for my French speaking neighbor. The fact that he does not follow hockey at all is completely irrelevant at this point.

• Y'know, in my house we all crack up when we see Boudreau because he looks so much like a cute little baby

• ...personally.. I blame Canada

• ...you cant spell Ovechkin without C-H-O-K-E! 

• ...Crosby/Ochokin is no longer debatable

• I don't want to go into finger pointing or calling out individuals because the team as a whole contributed to this, the biggest choke job I've ever seen from any team in any sport.

• Where are all the CAPS fans? Are your hands still shaking? Halak's seemed just fine last night

• Halak sure was shaking last night. Shaking hands and moving onto the next round. 

• Ovie is the tony romo of the nhl

• (a Sharks fan) HAHA! We're free!  No longer the choke artist of the NHL! Thanks Caps!

• this was the Curse of the President's Trophy.

• last night shows why NHL playoffs are hands down the most entertaining playoffs to watch of the 4 major sports. Go B's

• Most of the time HEART trumps skill in hockey

• the NHL and the Illuminati didn't want the Caps to win the Cup...

• Ovvie needs to give up the vodka and strippers he's reknowned for so he has enough energy to actually play hockey when it counts.  

• The word around the NHL is out on Ovechkin: stripper-addicted pisstank. He probably was sent a case of the finest vodka and three Asian strippers by one "Jacques Martin" the night before game 7.

• One can only imagine Ovechkin in Montreal, a city with the world's sexiest strippers.

• Ovechkin - Will win the Hart Trophy but not the Heart Trophy.  

• Look at the way the Habs play.... totally committed, laying it all on the line, clearly understanding that the "you score 4, we'll score 5" style of play from the regular season is OVER in the playoffs. 

How do yo like my new avatar???

• they could lose to the pens in four games straight but that'll never change the miracle they pulled off in the first round...  dude, even if it was a team I didn't like that pulled that off i'd nod my head in respect. it was unbelievable to witness it, and a joy to be part of it. GOTTA HAB FAITH!

• Mike Green, you're ****ing fired as my Avatar.

• The Caps board is gonna be like an AA meeting for a while methinks.

• Its gonna be a long off season. were now the laughing stocks of the NHL great Hold me, Sharks fans. Hold me.

• At least I can shave off my beard

• The hockey gods HATE the Caps. I realized the sooner I understand that the better it would be for my sanity. 

• ..when they raise the banner on opening night it should say "We Suck. We are sorry"
  
  ....Sigh...