gotta love it...

you've got to love this hockey strike.


the flower

tsn has been showing classic hockey games that certainly exceed 99 percent of any games played today. tonight was the 7th game of the 1979 semi-finals, montreal vs. boston, better known as the don cherry meltdown bowl.

the bruins, with 4 minutes left to play in the 3rd period, scored to break a 3-3 tie. i thought it was over, done, kaput. a minute later, the bruins choked and took one of the most infamous penalties (one that would chase cherry from boston) ever: too many men on the ice. at 18:46, guy lafleur took a beautiful jacques lemaire drop pass (god, he was beautiful) and blasted, from the top of the right face off circle, the puck past bruins goalie gil gilbert to tie the game.

ivan lambert would score the winning goal in a thrilling overtime.

the canadiens would go on to beat the ny rangers in the finals, winning their 4th straight stanley cup championship.

unfortunately, 1979 proved to be the end of an era. for the canadiens, there wouldn't be a drive for five. the new york islanders would be the next dynasty. the canadiens wouldn't win the cup again till 1986, riding the coat tails of a rookie goaltender named patrick roy.

it was so nice hearing danny gallivan (god rest his soul) and dick irvin doing the play by play. no one else has come close to danny doing play by play since. the old forum looked magnificent. seeing the old scoreboard brought tears to my eyes. look mum, no jumbotron.

man, i don't think there's ever been a great a team as the 1979 canadiens. names like lafleur (god he was a beautiful hockey player - so dominant), shutt, lemaire, savard, lapointe, robinson, houle, tremblay, lambert, gainey, risebrough, dryden, and scotty on the bench. never again, my friends...

the national basketbrawl association...

well, if you don't know about the debacle that occurred in detroit yet, you probably think there are nhl games being played right now. funny thing is, during the detroit/indianapolis kerfuffle, the 9/11 operators in detroit were receiving calls from fans reporting the brawl. "there's a fight going on. send the police NOW!!!!" yep...that would be my exact response as well. let's phone 9/11... it was as if they've never seen a fight at a basketball game before.

so, therein lies the difference between basketball and hockey fans. the reaction of hockey fans? meh... relax, man. grab another brewskie.

wally buono

i love wally buono. good luck with the by-pass operation. hope you're back at it soon. (no wally, it's not a routine operation. anytime they crack open your chest and expose you like a rack o' lamb, it's serious stuff). my dad had the same operation. he was very brave...