Hockey Night in Canada Holiday Double Feature on CBC (a blog of game one)

Blessed Canadians. Their dollar is on par with the American dollar. They get regular nationally televised hockey games. AND they consider the week between Christmas and New Year's a holiday.

I suppose we continue to include these days in name as part of the holiday season. However, it doesn't feel much like a holiday when I am expected to take vacation time for the following days if I want to stay away from work: Monday, December 24; Wednesday, December 26; Thursday, December 27; Friday, December 28; and Monday, December 31. I feel cheated.

There is a commercial on CBC now asking folks to send in their home videos of them singing "The Hockey Song". Ah, how many people on the street here, just three hours south of the Canadian border know "The Hockey Song"? I have a fantasy that one day, and for one day only, the Canadians will become uber aggressive and invade and conquer the United States. On day two they will again become their regular pacifist selves and govern us with a gentle hand. The re-education centers will include ice rinks and hockey skates. To ease transition sympathetic Americans will assist in the re-education. The American band The Zambonis will teach those unfamiliar with it "The Hockey Song".

I have to admit, I haven't watched much hockey this year. Word is that the Lightning are not a very good team. In fact, word is that they are a very, very, very bad team. At the halfway mark of the first period I wouldn't have guessed this. They do not seem like a bad - WAIT, MONTREAL GOAL BY LAPIERRE - team.

Until recently Tampa Bay had been, if not controlling the tempo, equaling the effort of Montreal. The Canadiens' goal was scored off of a long pass from deep in the Montreal defensive zone to well beyond the red line. I suppose the Canadiens knew they could take chances with a winger cheating towards center ice.

When it rains, it pours.

MONTREAL GOAL BY LATENDRESSE. Tampa Bay had been applying pressure to the Canadiens by keeping the puck in the offensive zone, and then they failed to pinch the boards as the puck came back towards the blue line. It skipped over the Tampa Bay player's stick, and off to the races went the Canadiens. I think in the effort to score four of the five Montreal skaters had a fair chance of putting the puck in the net. Ultimately the Lightning defense was overwhelmed (or they were underwhelming) and Latendresse was able to poke a waiting puck past Johan Holmqvist.

Since the second goal little has happened. However, it is clear that the Lightning is ready to head into the locker room and regroup. One minute left. No minutes or seconds left. Tampa Bay had a strong final 60 seconds, and as the teams head into the locker rooms there is a little pushing and shoving. No one has been stepped on and now all is quiet.

Boy, I just checked the standings and Tampa Bay is 15-19-3 with 33 points. They are 14th out of 15 teams in the Eastern Conference. The 6 teams ranked 8th through 13th have between 38 and 36 points. Tampa Bay is 5 points out of 8th place. Heck, the Bruins who are in 4th place and the Canadiens who are in 5th place both have 40 points. The Lightning are only 7 points out of 4th place in their conference. The CBC broadcasting team is talking about them as if their season is over.

Over their last ten games, the Lightning are 3-6-1. This is clearly not the direction that a team wants to be headed. However, in the Eastern Conference you see a number of teams who have let a few too many games drop over the course of their last ten games played.

Carolina Hurricanes 4-6-0

Boston Bruins 4-5-1

Montreal Canadiens 4-4-2

New York Rangers 3-5-2

Philadelphia Flyers 2-6-2

Tampa Bay Lightning 3-6-1

Clearly the Lightning are not doing well, but have the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse stopped at their door? From listening to the broadcast, the answer would seem to be yes. Looking at the standings, I see them as alive as any of the other teams in the East.

Guillaume Latendresse and Shane O'Brien seem to have picked up penalties in the scuffle at the end of the first period. Latendresse's infraction was for Unsportsmanlike Conduct, and O'Brien will sit for two minutes for Roughing. The second period will begin with a four on four situation.

Oh, I think I hear horses approaching in the distance. Could be four of them. Well, this isn't going to help the Lightning. Ten seconds into the 2nd period, MONTREAL GOAL BY KOVALEV after Tampa Bay was unable to defend the boards and stop Alex Kovalev from pushing past the defense.

Holmqvist will visit the bench. Finland's Karri Ramo is now the goalie for Tampa Bay. Almost immediately the twenty one year old Ramo was challenged by a Kovalev breakaway. He turned it away. More than halfway through the first period now and Ramo has stopped everything that's come his way including a nasty backhand flip sent his way by one of his own defenders from about three feet in front of him.

Ramo is playing for the fourth time this week. In his first NHL start on December 20 against the 10th place Toronto Maple Leafs Ramo stopped 31 of 32 shots earning his first victory in the NHL. Two days later he stopped 33 of 35 shots put on him by the third place Carolina Hurricanes, and yesterday Ramo allowed three goals and turned aside 29 shots from last place Capitals. These aren't bad numbers at all. Clearly you'd like to beat the last place team, but I'm willing to give the youngster the benefit of the doubt and say that he let his inhibitions down and drank a little too much egg nog on Christmas day. Keeping the Hurricanes to two goals isn't bad at all.

Ramo will be tested here. The Canadiens will go on the power play with just over four minutes to go in the period as Lecavalier takes a seat in the penalty box for slashing. Ramo and the Lightning did well shutting down the power play of Montreal, of course with a three goal lead late in the second period the Canadiens weren't giving it their all.

Doh! Ramo and the Lightning will now spend the next four minutes short handed on a double minor on Kuba for high sticking. The penalty will span the second and third periods with Kuba taking his place in the penalty box at the 18:38 mark in the second period.

The young Finn has done well since taking over for Holmqvist early, early in the second. If he isn't broken by the Tampa Bay lack of offense and half-hearted defense, Ramo might be able to rally his team and help them bump up a few steps in the standings over the next week or two. I'm always, for reasons that have something to do with Aki rhyming with hockey, looking for a Finn to make an impact.

Poor kid. Well, he lasted 34 seconds deeper than Holmqvist did in the second before giving up a goal in the third period. MONTREAL POWERPLAY GOAL BY MARKOV. Egads. Twenty four seconds later - MONTREAL GOAL BY KOSTSITSYN. It's 5-0. I do not think Ramo will be earning the second win of his career tonight.

It has become time to stop defending the Lightning. A significant difference between the two teams appears to be this, Montreal shoots from about three feet away from the goal, whereas Tampa Bay's shots appear to come from about fifty feet out. Another difference is that the Canadiens have players who can skate end to end without being touched by a defender. Last week the Buffalo Sabres took advantage of this ability in their two wins over the Philadelphia Flyers. Apparently being able to skate around the opposition undefensed is a beneficial trait to possess in the NHL.

TAMPA BAY GOAL BY PROSPAL at 6:15 in the third period. What an odd move. Karri Ramo has been pulled from goal and Holmqvist is back in for the Lightning. I don't see the point of this. Holmqvist isn't Finnish.

Apparently north of the border the Best Buy Boxing Day sale is underway. To the best of my knowledge yesterday was Boxing Day. Not today. Not tomorrow. Here in the States we have "after Christmas" sales. Shouldn't the Best Buy sale in Canada be the "after Boxing Day" sale?

I am hungry. I wish that I had marinaded the boneless chicken thigh that I purchased earlier in the week so that I could make fajitas. I highly recommend this simple fajita recipe.

Marinade:

Juice of one or two limes

Some cumin

Some cinnamon

Some pepper (I like white pepper)

Some cayenne pepper

Some crushed red peppers

Marinade the chicken overnight - or for the very least a few hours

Other ingredients:

Chicken (should be marinading)

Onion

Bell pepper (colors of your choosing)

Jalapeno pepper

Oil of your choosing

Slice and dice the peppers and onion. Saute the pepper and onion in an oiled pan (I cook 98% of my meals in a heavy iron fry pan - life need not be complicated). Add the chicken and marinade. Cook until the chicken is cooked thoroughly. Serve on a soft tortilla shell.

With 15.1 seconds remaining TAMPA BAY GOAL BY HLAVIC.

Game over. Visiting Montreal wins over Tampa Bay 5-2. Nearly 5-3. Huet sat on a slow rolling puck with 1.8 seconds left.

Hmm... CBC going into the international news between the games is a bit odd. Not everyday that you hear about the latest political assassination between sporting events. I feel so well informed.