Hamilton Bulldogs - Early Surprises and Disappointments

We're nearly a quarter of the the way through the year, so it’s about that time to see who’s been an early surprise so far this season and who hasn’t performed as well as expected.  Hamilton is off to a so-so start on the year with a 5-6-3 record and have had a few pleasant surprises and unpleasant disappointments.  Let’s start off with the guys that just haven’t shown up quite yet.

First on the docket: Nathan Beaulieu, he was expected to be a key player on this years' roster but has yet to perform as such.  Sure, he’s traveled quite a bit between Montreal and Hamilton, but I don’t think that is an overall great excuse for not being able to perform.  So far this year he has played a total of eight games for the Dogs … and has three points total from his three assists.  After watching him play the end of last season and the start of this year, I’d say he’s not quite at the same level of play.  Maybe it is the fact that he spent quite a bit of time back and forth, and not actually hitting the ice.  I suspect after a few more games and a bit more ice time he will back to where he was before, and he will produce the way that was expected at the start of the season.

Jarred Tinordi was another one that was said to be a core player this year for the Bulldogs; however he didn’t come back to Hamilton until just a few weeks ago as he was in Montreal for the start of the season.  With him back on the Bulldogs he hasn’t looked overly bad, but he has still yet to catch my eye as a key player.  So far he’s played a total of nine games with the Dogs this season, and what does he have to show for it?  Well, he has two penalty minutes and a +/- rating of -5 ... so I wouldn’t say a lot.

I’m going to have to say this next player is one of the bigger let downs so far this season, as he’s been on the team now for four years. He’s got a whack of experience and should be able to perform. Gabriel Dumont has been with the Hamilton Bulldogs since 2010. He has had ice time in two playoff runs, and played well in both, with a total of eleven postseason points.  Last year although the Bulldogs didn’t do all that well through out the regular season, he put in 16 goals but this year he doesn’t seem to be on that path.  After playing 12 games this season with the Bulldogs he has yet to put in anything, and has collected a total of four points. The worst part is that he hasn’t even been getting too many shots on net, as he’s averaging just two shots on net throughout the twelve games.  A pretty rough start for this vet.

Here’s to hoping that these three will figure it out and get back on track as the season progresses. But let’s move to some positives and talk about the surprises the Bulldogs have seen so far.

Louis Leblanc is one of my first surprises after playing some phenomenal hockey in quite a few games recently.  He’s also another one that has been back and forth between Hamilton and Montreal but apparently it hasn’t been affecting him in quite the same way as the defencemen.  Although he has yet to put up any points for himself while in Montreal he has won two games for the Bulldogs with overtime goals, and has become a clutch player in Hamilton.  Currently with five goals, he’s already at the halfway mark to where he was last season.  He has also collected three assists.  In all 11 games that he’s been with Hamilton he has continued to be a key asset for Hamilton and is performing better than I expected.

Finally, one of the biggest surprises and possibly what could have been the best addition to the Bulldogs this season is Sven Andrighetto.  The rookie winger is currently leading the Bulldogs in points, with a total of 11, and is on quite the point streak. In the past few games he has been the key to keeping them from being shutout.  After scoring in the last preseason game and watching him on the ice I figured he would be someone to watch, and I wasn’t wrong.  Andrighetto has played in a total of 14 games this season and found the back of the net seven times, but he’s also been giving out a few helpers, managing to collect four assists.  He’s currently ranked 9th throughout the leagues' rookies in points and sits just outside of the top 40 throughout the entire league (in 41st).  I have no doubt in my mind that he will continue this level of play and end the season with either the most goals or most points for the Dogs.

Leblanc and Andrighetto have become core players for the Bulldogs, and if some of the others figure out what’s going and bring their play up to where it was expected, Hamilton should be able to get back on top of the North Division.

The Countdown to Puck Rant continues as the Habs end their Losing Streak

So after missing a solid portion of the game tonight, due to being at the Bulldogs game , and seeing that the Habs were up 1-0.. i decided to see if they could keep the lead if i didn't turn on the game.
They kept it .. and i didn't turn it on (surprisingly) I did however follow it on twitter, just to see if me not watching it would keep them up.. and apparently I am bad luck when i watch the games.
I have watched all of their november games up until this one , and they've only won the one i didn't watch so i'm not sure if this is a sign or not. At least one of Montreal's franchise's turned their streak around. 

I'm a little bitter that I missed Gallagher's goal, but what can I say ... he's a stud. Gallagher would store early in the second to put the Habs on the board after a scoreless first period. I guess he's making up for all of that time in the box while in Ottawa. Galchenyuk and Eller would collect the assists ... Galchenyuk would collect another apple when Eller found the back of the net for himself later in the second period. Bournivalle would end the period with a nice power play goal to give the Habs a two point edge going into the final period. 

You know it's a struggle to follow a game on twitter, when i can't read the first half of the tweets .. I need to learn french and i need to learn it asap. Everyday i regret not paying attention in grade 9 french class more and more... or at least trying to pay attention. You'd think that using google translator would have taught me something ... you know other than to copy and paste into a word doc. 

It wouldn't be until the third period when Galchenyuk would put in a goal of his own... to add to his already two point night after giving helpers on the first two Canadians goals. Ellar and Gallagher returning the favour to give him the assist on the goal. These three are just studs tonight. (but we already knew that) 

With the Habs 4-2 win over the Islanders, the Habs finally end their losing streak. Finally one of my estimates was right ! I'm not 1-2 on my estimates. Almost at the .500 mark. Looks like Gallagher will be making his first donation! Next game will be against the Lightning. 

Beauty of the night: Alex Galchenyuk --- 1G 2A , 7 Shots 

Baby Habs not looking so Hot ..

Ruh Roh , I forgot to post yesterday in my 30 days until puck rant ... so i'll just post two today? Yeah i think that makes up for it ... The first on the docket.
A bulldogs weekend recap.
They don't seem to be looking to great... seeing as after this weekend they've dropped their past four games. Including the most recent loss to the Utica Comets who have won just 2 games this season. 
So here's a weekend recap for the Hamilton Bulldogs. 

Friday vs Grand Rapids

The Hamilton Bulldogs started off their weekend at home with a heart wrenching loss to the Grand Rapids Griffins. Sven Andrighetto would score with under a minute left in the game to save the Dogs from being shut out.

The first period would start off with a goal from Cory Emmerton at 8 minutes in to put the Griffins on the board. Emmerton’s first goal of the season would be assisted by Alexey Marchenko and Jeff Hoggan  They would score once more in the period from Calle Jarnkrok. Grand Rapids led 2-0 to end the first period.

Hamilton saw things fall apart in the second period after the Griffins would put in four goals under two minutes. The first would be from Andrej Nestrasil at 10:52. Jarnkrok’s second of the game and fifth of the season would follow before Mitch Callahan would toss one in as well.

It would be after three goals in a row for the Griffins that the Bulldogs would pull goaltender Robert Mayer and put in Dustin Tokarski. With no time to warm up, Tokarski would let a single goal in, which would be the last of the period and last from the Griffins through out the night.

Into the third period the Bulldogs were down 6-0. Not only were the fans upset with the score… but the refs weren’t helping either. After the second period the frustration from the guys was spreading to the fans and coaches. At 19:05 rookie, Sven Andrighetto would toss one in to save the Dogs from shut out, but wouldn’t do much else.

As for the goaltending, Mayer would make a total of 9 saves, while Tokarski would stop 7. Grand Rapids goaltender Petr Mrazek stopped a total of 30 shots.

Hamilton would rack up a total of 28 minutes in the box compared to the Griffins 26. Both teams would only capitalize on one power play each.

At the end of three it would be 6-1 for the Grand Rapid Griffins. Hamilton would have a night off, before hosting the comets in a Sunday evening game.

Sunday vs Utica

The Hamilton Bulldogs came off of a pretty tough loss to the Griffins Friday night, while Utica was coming off of their first win of the season. After Sunday evenings match up… Utica collected their second straight win… and second of the season.

The Bulldogs came out strong in the first period and outplayed Utica immensely. With more than half way through the first the Comets had still only managed just two shots on net, compared to Hamilton’s 10. There would be no goals in the first, but the Bulldogs looking promising.

The first goal would come early in the second period, but not the way that you’d think. An ugly goal would send the crowd into Boo’s and rants as the comets too the one point edge. It wasn’t until just under a minute left in the period when Sven Andrighetto would connect with Mike Blunden and Martin St.Pierre for his sixth goal of the season. End of the second and it was all tied up at 1.

Into the third Utica would score early yet again after Alexandre Grenier would put his third of the season in past Tokarski to take the lead once again for the comets. Hamilton continued to fight in attempt to get the goal back and tie it up once again. With just over a minute left goaltender Dustin Tokarski was pulled from the net for the extra man.

With the empty net, Utica fired a few shots down.. Although the Bulldogs got lucky a few times with the comets slightly missing the net… their luck would run out as Colin Stuart fired one down the ice for an empty netter bringing Utica to a 3-1 win.

After this weekend the Bulldogs have dropped their last four games moving them to third place in the North Division under the Toronto Marlies and Rochester Americans. They will host the Americans Wednesday morning at 10am in hopes to end their streak for a sold out crowd.

Both Tokarski and Utica’s Joacim Eriksson would make 30 stops a piece through out the night. As for penalties, both teams would spend less than 10 minutes total in the box… with no power play goals.

Day 7 - Canadians in Canada's Capital

Montreal and Ottawa haven’t seen each other since the playoff run last year. They won’t meet again until later in January.  With the Canadians loss two nights ago, they dropped to a three game losing streak while the Senators are coming off of a win. Even if it was their second win of the season, maybe going back-to-back wins could turn their hopes alive?

It wasn’t long before Brendan Gallagher and Zack Smith would have a date in the penalty box, with a little bit of trash talking on the way. The first power play opportunity would go to the Sens, as Gallagher headed back to the box… this time for tripping. After half the period, the score would still be 0 across the board, but the Habs out playing the Sens, as Ottawa’s turned over several pucks. Lucky for Ottawa, the Canadians have yet to capitalize on any turnovers, and Robin Lehner has been holding his ground between the pipes.

Ottawa’s Spezza would head to the box after tripping, giving Montreal the man-up advantage. Senators PK has been incredible so far this season, and possibly one of the best in the league at home… well for now. Montreal’s Andrei Markov would shoot one right past Lehner giving them the edge… for now.

28 seconds later Bobby Ryan would put one right past Carey Price … did the announcers even get a chance to announce Markov’s goal before Ryan answered?

Ottawa would end the period on the man advantage as Gallagher headed off to the box for the third time in the first period. Was he talking to Mike Blunden earlier today and getting tips? Within the first period he saw the penalty box 3 times for a total of 6 minutes. In last nights Bulldogs game, Blunden totaled 12 minutes… including dropping the gloves twice.

Although the Senators would be on the power play three times throughout the period, they would not capitalize. At the end of one, it’s all tied up at one, with Montreal out shooting the Senators 9-7.

The second period didn’t seem to start overly different for the senators as they turned over the puck rather quickly. If it weren’t for the turnovers the Senators would be out playing the Habs as they’ve won nearly all of the face offs. Seems like getting the puck isn’t a problem, it’s once they have the puck that they can’t figure out what to do with it next.  At the end of the second period the Sens had won __ out of __ face offs.

Montreal would be on their second power play of the night, but this would not be able to capitalize and the game would stay tied at 1. Marc Methot would score off the rebound almost half way through the period to give Ottawa the edge. Ottawa would put in another one just 37 seconds after for a two point edge in the second period.  The second goal of the period would be Mark Borowiecki’s first of the season and first of his career.

After Ottawa’s back-to-back goals, Montreal would end up on the power play with just over 6 minutes left in the period… but Ottawa’s two goals give them the energy that wasn’t present in the first half of the game. Lehner with a couple of nice saves on the power play to keep the Senators up by two.

Gallagher would get his fourth penalty of the night for goaltender interference (just when I thought he was behaving himself) and the Montreal goal would be disallowed… leaving Ottawa up by two at the end of two.

PK Subban would get his eighth shot on net... and nothing would happen yet again. Subban just can't seem to find the back of the net tonight. Subban's last goal was earlier this month against Minnesota.. when he had seven shots on net. Halfway through the third Subban all over the puck but not getting anywhere. 

It's taken me the entire game to realize that the play by play is ahead of the video feed... I feel like i can tell the future.

 Kyle Turris would put in the final goal for the game with just under a minute left in the fourth to give Ottawa their second straight win and Montreal their fourth straight loss. This is just the second time this season that Ottawa has won back-to-back games... and figures I had picked the Habs to win this one ... 

my predictions so far for the month haven’t been going overly well. First last nights shoot out loss and now tonight’s game didn’t go my way either.  As for Gallagher’s movember tweet about giving money after every win... the way this month has been going so far it looks like he’ll be saving quite a bit of cash... but there is still lots of time left this month, and we can talk about how horrible of a fortune teller I am later. 

The Bulldogs play tomorrow night at home, and the Habs will play the Islanders Sunday at home. Bulldogs coming off of a loss after their 5-3 loss to the Heat Wednesday night. Montreal still struggling through out the month of November as they've dropped four straight. 

Bad Boy of the Night: Brendan Gallagher

Fact of the Day:
If you turn down cheese in the state of Wisconsin, you have to five your first born to the state.

Song of the Day:

T-25 ... Baby Habs game re-cap.

Alright so last night, I may have been a little bit on the odd side... actually that was probably about the normal side. Anyways, the Habs have a night off, before they play on the road tomorrow night. As for the Baby Habs they're on the road in Rochester... just a few hours away. Meaning i've decided to switch it up and talk some Bulldogs.

Their last match up against the Americans, they came out on top in OT after Rochester came from behind. Hamilton currently has just two losses that came in regulation time, both coming from the Toronto Marlies. Hamilton is currently tied for first in the North Division with a three point gap between the Americans.

After last night's loss the Canadians sent both Leblanc and St.Pierre back down the Bulldogs. This gives the Bulldogs one of the best rosters that they have had all season... and possibly over the past years as well. The roster may look great on paper, but they didn't do as great as it would be expected.

Mike Zigomanis would put one past Hamilton's Dustin Tokarski to put the Americans on the board first just over three minutes into the first. The goal would be his fourth of the season, with Adam Sulzer taking the assist. It wouldn't be until closer to 18 minutes before they would put another past Tokarski, when Captain of the Americans, Matt Ellis would put in his second of the season. At the end of one the Dogs would trial 2-0. 

There must have been some kind of party going on in the penalty box, as throughout the first period alone there was a total of 18 minutes served between the Dogs and Americans. Mike Blunden would win the title for most time in the box after a 5 minute fighting penalty and 2 minutes for Goaltender interference. 

Eight minutes into the second period Chad Ruthwedel would bring the Americans to a 3-0 lead with his first of the season. That is until rookie Sven Andrighetto connected with Jared Tinordi and Louis Leblanc for his fourth of the season. Andrighetto would cut Rochester's lead back to two... but not for long. Ruthwedel would put in his second of the night shortly after to put the deficit back to three. 

As for penalties, the party seems to not be cooling off. Maybe the cops showed up, but compared to the first there was just 10 minutes combined. Hamilton would serve 6 of the 10 minutes. At the end of two the Bulldogs would trial by three, with just a lone goal up on the board. 

It wasn't long into the third before Blunden would drop the gloves for the second time against Brayden McNabb. I bet he was that kid in kindergarden that made people smaller than him eat dirt, and then sat in the time out chair laughing and planning his next diabolical plan. With another 5 minute penalty, Blunden's total is at 12 for time in the box through out tonights contest. 

Hamilton's Joonas Nattien would cut the lead in half as he put one past Matt Hackett for his first goal of the season. Nathan Beaulieu and Justin Courtnall would be credited with the assists. The Bulldogs continued to fight through out the third, and with less than three left in the final period Louis Leblanc ripped one right past Hackett to make it a one goal game. The come-from behind attempt stayed in full swing, as Tokarski was pulled. With the net wide open, Rochester's Frederick Roy was able to toss one in to give them a two point lead and finish with a 5-3 win. 

Unlike the Canadians, the Bulldogs don't have an overly strong penalty kill... or maybe it's just the amount of time that is spent in the box? You would think the more practice on the man down in a game would make your PK stronger, but it seems like most goals against come on the power play. Rochester was able to capitalize twice on the man-up, while Hamilton went 0-4 on the power play. 

Bad Boy of the night goes to Mike Blunden with two fights and a two minute for goaltender interference, totalling 12 minutes in the box. (but let's be honest, who doesn't love a bad boy?) 

Hamilton's next game will be at home on Friday night when they take on the Grand Rapids Griffins for the second time this season. The last time these two met, they would both collect points. It would be Hamilton's first loss and their first of what would be several over time games, as it ended in a shoot out. The Bulldogs have yet to win a shoot out this season, but have done quite well in over-time with two game-winning goals from Louis Leblanc. Puck is scheduled to drop at 7:30, at Copps Coliseum. 

So far November isn't looking to good for either of Montreal's franchises as the Canadians have dropped their past three and the Bulldogs have gone 1-1 so far this month. 

Fact of the Night:
When Taylor swift releases a new album, 13 - 14 guys cringe in fear. 

Song of the Night: 

5 down, 26 to go… Canadians VS Blues

It’s Montreal’s third game of the month and they have yet to win one. They dropped their last two games, first to the Wild and then to the Avalanche. In their third match up of the month they’re at home against the St.Louis Blues, who dropped their past game. The Blues are currently on the end of a three game road trip where they have gone 1-1 so far. In yesterday’s month preview I gave it to the Canadians, so how right was I?

Starting between the pipes for the Canadians was the lovely Carey Price. Yes I said Lovely. From the looks of it, in his spare time he gets some pretty nice shots off as well.

Canadians had a rough start, as the Blues didn’t waste anytime coming out strong in the first. Alexander Steen shot one right past Price to start a new goal-scoring streak and give the Blues the edge. The Canadians would be the first to hang out in the bad boy box, but with a strong penalty kill would still only trail by one after two minutes on the man down.

Parros and Reaves would drop the gloves with just over 5 minutes left. I’m starting to think this whole Canadians being polite is just a myth. Parros would get Reaves bucket off, but would get dropped first. I vote this a fight a 3 star. No blood and quite possibly cost the Canadians a goal. #BrawlerProbs

Side note: I bet Parros could grow one mean and greasy Moustache by the end of the month. Looks kind of like a baby right now after getting it shaved.

Carey Price would get called on a Delay of game with just over two minutes left and the Canadians would end the Period on the man down… at the end of 1 they would trail 1-0.

To open up the second the Blues came out hard again, out shooting the Canadians. Carey Price made a beauty save to get the Canadians going, and not long after the Canadians’ Rene Bourque put one past Hulak to tie it up at 1.

After Price’s killer-save at the beginning of the second the Canadians seemed to get back on track, finally catching up on the Shots… which they didn’t seem to have through out the first.

Midway through my friend’s story of updating her life Michael Bournival had a beauty goal that made me drop my popcorn. Not sure how I feel about dropping the popcorn, but I’m loving that goal. Not to mention I still have no idea what she was talking about, maybe a text message or a phone call from a guy, she could have told me the house was on fire but 0 effs were given. The Habs lead to end the second 2-1 after two unanswered goals in the period… and suddenly my predictions seem more real.

(hopefully by the end of this season, with the help of puckrant's writers she'll be able to catch on a little bit... follow her, help her out!)

Not to mention they’ve ended both periods on the man-down. The Blues are 0-4 on the power play so far this game… proving that the Canadians have a killer penalty kill.  

The Blues fought through out the entire third period, and with several nice saves from Carey Price he managed to keep the Habs ahead for quite some time. It wasn’t until just over 10.5 minutes into the third when Chris Stewart tied it up at 2 and again another goal ruins my friend’s conversation with the air between my ears.

The third period seemed to be a lot like the first, with the Canadians being out played by the Blues.

Five minutes left and it’s all tied up at 2 … and here I am barely breathing. I feel like I always end up in this position. Some would say this is also the feeling you get when you fall in love… you know can’t eat, can’t breathe, don’t want to watch in case something bad happens. But no… this is the feeling I get when it’s too close for comfort.

Unlike the Baby Habs the Canadians and over time have yet to meet this season… but it’s no stranger to the Blues as they headed into their fourth over time game. With Louis Leblanc up from the Dogs, i’ve just been waiting for him to go and toss in the game-winner… he’s done it twice for the Dogs, why not one for the Habs?

I’ve missed the past few Habs again.. And they lost both… Now they’re suddenly headed into a shoot out. The Bulldogs have a ratchet season last year… I get season tickets and they’re leading the league and have had a redoncoulous amount of over-time games. Maybe I’m not such a good luck charm… maybe I’m just a wrecking ball of stress.

I lied maybe i'm not so good luck ... maybe my wrecking ball of stress literally came in like a wrecking ball. Grrr. Habs fall to a 3-2 loss while the Blues end their road trip on a high note. 

Stars of the Game 

1 – Jaroslav Halak (25 Saves) --- (great save in the final 30 seconds to send them into OT)
2 – Carey Price (30 Saves)
3 – Steen (1G – 5 Shots) 

**Side note: Maxim Lapierre was back home, and my guess is… the entire game he was thinking about getting some post-game poutine. **

  

The Habs next game will be Thursday when they head to Canada’s Capital to take on the Senators for the first time this season.

Fact of the Day:
If you are unable to do a back flip and land in the splits by the age of 6 then you will not get into college.

Song of the Day:

RODGERS INJURED

The Chicago Bears managed to bring home a win Monday night in Green Bay. This was their first time beating the packers in quite some time, but the best part ... it was a contest of back up quarterbacks.
Aaron Rodgers was out in the first quarter with what was first said to be a shoulder injury... after several tests were completed it was announced as a fractured clavicle and he will be week to week.

McCarthy says that he has all the faith in the world in back up Seneca Wallace, but do fans think that same? After last nights performance it might be a little difficult to feel that way. In 2010 when Rodgers left the field with a concussion, Matt Flynn had an outstanding game and broke several of his own personal bests with a total of 6 touchdowns through out the game. That year the packers went on to win the Superbowl.

Speaking of Matt Flynn.. the Bills have just recently released him. Could this be fate for the packers? Rodgers gets hurt, pick up Flynn again, have another run at a superbowl? ... Too bad for Cheesehead Nation this isn't a perfect world and the packers will more than likely have to do the best that they can under Seneca Wallace.
With Mike McCarthy and the help of injured Aaron Rodgers i'm sure Wallace will be able to hold the packers offence just as well as Flynn did back in 2010. (Besides ... Rodgers helped coach him too)

27 days of Movember

27 more days to go ... which means just 27 more days of movember! As many know the month of October is decked out in pink for Breast Cancer Awareness followed by a month of dirty stashes in order to raise money and awareness for breast cancer. Well earlier today I came across these tweets from Brendan Gallagher ... so let’s talk Habs and Movember.
 

(if this doesn't make you wanna cheer for the Habs, you're wrong ;P) 

So far this month Gallagher will have donated … 0 dollars (after their two losses)

November 1^st fell 3-4 to the wild followed by 4-1 loss to the Avalanche. But let’s see who else is on the line up coming up... and could Gallagher possibly be opening the checkbook soon?

The Blues. (home)

Canadians have dropped three of their past five games… but let’s start fresh for the month of November. They’ve dropped there past two games, to the wild and than the avalanche. They’ll be back at home to turn things around when they take on the Blues who are also coming off a loss. Then again the Blues are 50 percent this month, and have lost one of their past 5. It’s a close call, but I’m going to have to give it to the home team.

Senators.

At this current time the Sens are on a lovely 5 game losing streak and not having any luck diffing their way out. They take on the Blue Jackets on the road before the Habs come to visit the Capital city. They may have a day between games, but I’m not sure the Sens will be able to dig their way out against the Habs.

Islanders. (home)
I’m going to take a long shot here and say that they’ll be on a two game win streak (or at least coming off a win over the sens), and feeling some solid confidence going into this game. Home ice advantage and have yet to play the islanders. NY will be at the end of a long road trip, as they’ll have just left Columbus to head to MTL with no time in-between. Long road trips are tough, especially with little turn around time... so this one’s going to the Habs.

Lightning. (home)

And then Tampa Bay comes to town and the wallet gets put away. Tampa Bay is currently leading the Divison and has lose just two games so far this season. I’m going to have to say that the end of the month looks a little bit tougher for the Habs as they take on Tampa Bay, Capitals and the Penguins. Doesn’t look like Gallagher is going to be handing out as much cash as December rolls around.

Blue Jackets.
The Canadians topped them 5-3 back in October on home ice. Could this be another win for the Canadians and a donation? They play the Bruins the night before and then three nights before are in Washington to take on the capitals. As they stand right now they’re in kinda deep having dropped their last three to start off the month of November. This ones going to the Habs.

Rangers. (home)
Shut em out on the road 2-0 , and as they stand right now they’re 6-8-0 record isn’t looking so promising as they play the penguins on Wednesday. Their longest streak so far this season has lasted for three games, and ended Monday night with their loss to the Ducks. They’ve got a little break in-between playing the Devils and heading to Montreal, so it just may be a good game to watch, since the Canadians will be playing their second game in a row, following a road game.

Wild. (home)

The Wild’s got some time to relax before they’re on the road to Montreal. They opened up the month with two wins and currently have lost just one game in the past six. Their last game against the Habs was a close one, as they won 4-3 to kick off movember. This one I sense another close one, but the Canadians looking for redemption on home ice… Gallagher just may be giving his last donation of the month …

Capitals.
They opened up the month with a huge shut out over Philly… without Ovi. They’ve got two home games in a row, with two days in-between to rest up and prep. Putting all bias aside, I’m going to say that the Capitals close Brendan’s wallet and save him 250 bucks.

Penguins. (home)
The Canadians won’t host the Pens until the end of the month.. Both teams will be coming off of back-to-back games. Habs are in Washington, while the Pens are at home against the Islanders. I’m gonna go with the Penguins… Gallagher’s going to save a bit of cash after this game to end the month. 

So I’m thinking that No(mo)vember is going to be a pretty decent month for the Habs … if things go my way.

I wonder which Hab will grow the best mo … or the worst … and heck even the greasiest! 

Fact of the Day: 
If you don't break a kit-kat before eating it a leprechaun pops out of thin air and breaks your knee cap. 

Song of the Day: