I have to shake my head when people criticize P.K. Subban for making his association with the Montreal Children's Hospital so public while Wayne Gretzky, Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews are doing ads for a gambling website.
#HabsIO
#HabsIO
My column on Ricky Cobb, the 50-year-old sociology teacher from Chicago who is the man behind the Super 70s Sports Twitter account
@Super70sSports
, which is one of the best and funniest things you can find on social media. He's also an
#Expos
fan:
I’m old enough to remember when Hockey Night in Canada had Peter Puck to teach kids about hockey instead of constant ads to teach them how to become gamblers.
Just to be clear. If you’re an NHL player and you gamble (NOT on hockey) in a league that heavily promotes gambling you will be suspended for half a season. But if you slash another player in the head there is no suspension and only a $5,000 fine. Only in the NHL.
14,563 fans in Quebec City tonight for a junior hockey game. Meanwhile, the NHL's Arizona Coyotes will play in a 5,000-seat arena next season. Somehow this makes sense to Gary Bettman.
My column with the story behind the video that went viral of
#Habs
goalie Carey Price hugging a young fan who recently lost his mother to cancer
#HabsIO
:
I showed up early for news conference with Guy Lafleur at Bell Centre in 2016. He was sitting by himself (I took photo below), looking like a million bucks. When I asked if he got his tan on golf course, he replied. "I hate golf." He said he got the tan painting his house. RIP.
Watching Jake Allen sitting at end of
#Habs
bench - a forgotten man in playoffs - it's important to remember Canadiens wouldn't be here if it wasn't for how he played in regular season
#HabsIO
My column on Ricky Cobb, a 50-year-old college sociology teacher from Chicago who is the man behind the Super 70s Sports Twitter account
@Super70sSports
, which is one of the best and funniest things you can find on social media. He's also an
#Expos
fan:
My column on young Carey Price fan turning the tables and now showing his support for
#Habs
goalie who helped him emotionally deal with the death of his mother almost three years ago
#HabsIO
:
Big kudos to Jennifer Botterill
@JenBotterill
for not being intimidated by Kevin Bieksa and the NHL old-boys’ club on HNIC when it comes to speaking out against Tom Wilson and violence on ice. What a breath of fresh air and common sense.
I asked Juraj Slafkovsky to pose for a photo after his media scrum in Brossard at
#Habs
development camp. He said: “Straight face or smiling.” So I got both. Hard not to like this kid. Also hard to believe he’s only 18
#HabsIO
I feel sad every time I walk past the old Forum now and see that it has been turned into a Dollarama store. Also sad seeing all the boarded-up storefronts on Ste. Catherine St. I’m old enough to remember when downtown Montreal was booming
#Habs
#HabsIO
Chris Lee, especially, and Dan O'Rourke should not be allowed to work another playoff game after this one no matter who wins. Will be interesting to see if NHL allows them to.
#Habs
#HabsIO
P.K. Subban mentioned last year that none of his
#Habs
teammates ever went to the Montreal Children's Hospital with him. A bunch of his
#Preds
teammates went there with him today.
#HabsIO
.
As bad as referees Chris Lee and Dan O’Rourke were the last two games, Kelly Sutherland and Eric Furlatt have done a very good job tonight. Both teams have two power plays and players actually seem to know what will and won't be called.
#Habs
#HabsIO
Watching both Brett Kulak and Alexander Romanov play tonight it's really hard to understand how
#Habs
decided to stick with Jon Merrill and Erik Gustafsson for so long.
#HabsIO
Crazy to think that accidentally shooting the puck over the glass will get you a two-minute penalty in the NHL. But a vicious head shot like the one
#Habs
Jesperi Kotkaniemi took last night is considered totally legal.
#HabsIO
I took this photo of Canadiens legend Guy Lafleur before a news conference in 2016. He looked like a million bucks and when I asked if he got his tan playing golf, he said: "I hate golf." He added he got his tan painting his house. It was two years ago today that he died. RIP.
My column with the story behind video that went viral of
#Habs
goalie Carey Price hugging a sobbing young fan who recently lost his mother to cancer
#HabsIO
:
Pretty sad that the NHL has allowed its incompetent officials to become the main talking point in the Stanley Cup semifinals instead of the players on the ice.
#Habs
#HabsIO
After years of never getting any one-on-one interviews with
#Habs
, in last two weeks I've had one-on-ones with GM Kent Hughes, France Margaret Bélanger (president of sports and entertainment for Groupe CH) and coach Martin St. Louis.
@ChantalMachabee
is really changing things.
The Toronto Maple Leafs' signed 36-year-old Ryan Reaves to a three-year, $4.05-million contract this summer. After 10 games he has zero points, 12 penalty minutes and is minus-6 while averaging 7:49 of ice time per game.
When Coyotes can't fill seats in a 5,000-seat arena in Arizona with the Canadiens in town, what's the point of building a bigger arena to keep the team there?
#Habs
#HabsIO
Will never understand why some
#Habs
fans at Bell Centre boo P.K. Subban. He loved everything about playing in Montreal and played hard every night.
#HabsIO
Nos
@AnciensCHC
et quelques membres actuels de l'organisation se sont réunis lundi pour un 5 à 7 🐐
Current Habs and alumni got together for a 5 à 7 on Monday and all we see are goats
#GoHabsGo
Fantastic to see Anderson Whitehead invited to
#NHLAwards
for a surprise meeting with
#Habs
Carey Price, bringing boy to tears again. He also got invite from Price to NHL All-Star Game next season. Here's column I wrote about Anderson this season
#HabsIO
:
#Habs
head coach Dominique Ducharme says he hasn't watched the Toronto Maple Leafs Netflix documentary All Or Nothing on last season yet but he's looking forward to watching it when he has time. He does already knows how it ends.
#HabsIO
Great quote from Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis after training camp today: “I’m a big believer – especially with young guys – I look at their ceiling. I don’t care about the floor. I really don’t when they’re young. Show me your ceiling – we’ll fix the floor.”
#HabsIO
This is pathetic. Remember
#Habs
Jake Evans was the victim - not
#NHLJets
Mark Scheifele. Evans was the one taken off ice on a stretcher and is still recovering from a concussion. Scheifele is lucky his suspension was only 4 games.
#Habs
#HabsIO
"I thought I was gonna be shut down by Phillip Danault, and it was the Department of Player Safety that shut me down."
Mark Scheifele on his suspension, dealing with setbacks, and what's next for him this summer:
This is beautiful. Jake Allen is one of the classiest athletes I have ever dealt with. The positive impact he had on Canadiens' young players will be felt for a long time in locker room. Wishing him and his family all the best in New Jersey.
#Habs
#HabsIO
I covered Guy Lafleur Awards of Excellence and Merit in 2016 and he looked fantastic (photo below) in nice suit and a beautiful tan. I asked if he got the tan playing golf. "I hate golf," he responded. So how did he get the tan? "Painting my house," he said. One of a kind. RIP.
It was a very sad day for my family and I yesterday as we had to put down our beautiful Buster at age 13 after he started to have repeated seizures. He was the world's sweetest & happiest dog, even after going both blind and deaf over the final 18 months of his life. RIP, buddy.
Just a reminder that this is not considered to be goalie interference - until next time nearly the exact same play happens and it is called goalie interference on video review. That's how the NHL works - coin flip in Toronto video-review room. It's become a joke.
#Habs
#HabsIO
So the Flyers lasted one more series than the
#Habs
. Have to say I lost a lot of respect for Flyers coach Alain Vigneault after his immature and idiotic comments about Brendan Gallagher having his jaw broken by a cross-check in first round.
You know
#Habs
fever really has hit Montreal when my 22-year-old daughter, who has no interest in sports, wants to go to a sports bar to watch them play in Stanley Cup final.
#HabsIO
Happy birthday to legendary Canadiens broadcaster Dick Irvin, who turns 92 today. Here's column I wrote on him two years ago when he turned 90. Such a nice man.
#Habs
#HabsIO
:
Imagine being a
#Habs
player tonight and skating back to the bench and seeing Bob Gainey, Yvan Cournoyer, Réjean Houle, Guy Lapointe, Chris Nilan and other former players sitting directly behind the bench.
#HabsIO
Paul Byron fighting back tears answering my question about what it means to him to play for
#Habs
as one of the very few players who lives in Montreal year-round with his French-Canadian wife.
#HabsIO
Tonight's game between
#Habs
and Senators will be last one Pat Hickey
@zababes1
covers at Bell Centre before taking a voluntary layoff from
@mtlgazette
and retiring on March 3. The press box won't be the same without my good friend and colleague for more than 30 years.
#HabsIO
#Habs
Josh Anderson gets two-minute penalty for getting high-sticked in the face and cross-checked by Bruins' Brad Marchand. Off-setting penalties. NHL refereeing ... keeps getting worse.
Hopefully George Parros and NHL Department of "Player Safety" doesn't call this a "hockey play." Brutal intent-to-injure hit on
#Habs
Jake Evans by Jets' Mark Scheifele, knocking the kid out cold.
#HabsIO
The fact Canadiens sent out these two tweets yesterday but still haven't sent out a tweet welcoming Jeff Petry back to the
#Habs
- plus the fact GM Kent Hughes still hasn't spoken to media - means there's a very good chance another trade involving Petry is coming soon.
#HabsIO
It was 30 years ago tonight that I met this beautiful woman at the old Déjà-Vu bar on Bishop St. We did a couple of tequila shots together and the rest is history, including two kids, six dogs (two still living), a mortgage and lots of fun. Still best friends. Happy anniversary!