The team that Cam Russell Built

Tonight the Mooseheads lost 6-4 to the Chicoutimi Sagueneens. I did not watch the game because I was out being festive with my girlfriends. Yes, that involves massive wine consumption.

Maybe the boys were hot, maybe they were not. I do not know. All I know is that my team is 1-12-0-1. Let me repeat that. Tonight they lost again. They are 1-12-0-1.

I am a fairly patient person. I fall for all that "oh they played hard and maybe they could've won" crap but (and I am drunk here) the simple fact of the matter is that THEY ARE NOT WINNING.

THE HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS ARE LOSERS. Plain and simple.

1-12-0-1

That is a 0.0714 win %. SAD!!!

Next stop. The pitiful Baie Comeau Drakkar. The second worst team in the league with 7 points and a 3-9-1-0 record. Can we defeat them? Odds say - most likely NOT.

Props to the point guys: Randell with 3 assists and a game star, Knotek (2 goals) and Grant (goal and assist) - bonus points for the point streaks that leave glittery rainbows trailing behind Grant and Knotek; Clarke is super special for getting a goal and assist thus surpassing Abeltshauser as the team's most 'pointiest' defenceman... and Amyot had an assist.

Unfortunately, Clarke was a -3 and new cat Paul Dimitruk spent 6 minutes in the box. Halifax gave Chicoutimi a whopping 10 PP opportunities. Shame!

Pre-game tweets said that Grondin would be playing but the QMJHL stat sheet says that it was Corbeil who allowed 5 goals in 26 shots. Whoever it was, statistically speaking, I am angry with you.

Cookies go to the first line of Grant, Randell and Knotek. I hope they can share amongst themselves (clearly they can).

PS . Still drunk. Drunk and belligerent.

EDIT: News links
Palov - Sagueneens hold off Moose
Cochrane - Let Russell take his best shot

You are pretty...like a princess.

Dear Moose,

Do you lack self esteem? You act like a girl who thinks she is ugly. You need a little confidence. You are not ugly. Today you played like you just got a new haircut. Did somebody tell you that you were pretty? It is true. You are pretty. Now let’s go shoe shopping. Shoes will make us happy. When you are happy you play happy and you are fun to watch, then I am happy. As I said to a friend earlier, hockey teams and their fans are a collective, like the Borg.

Once again Pender, Bernard, Stransky and Pelletier are out for the Moose. Yetman gets the start. Chicoutimi’s goalie is a new guy named John Nauta, an 18 year old American from Rancho Bernardo California, and he is a whopping 6’7” and 210 lbs.

First:

The team played with a lot of energy in the first period - which is expected from a team who gets themselves up and manages to maintain the lead. Key word = confidence.

• The First goal was by Piette with assists by Desjardins and Louis-XVI
• The Second goal was by Desjardins with an assist by Louis-XVI.
• After the second goal Nauta was pulled for Levesque *take a note, Cam. It might make one boy feel bad but there are 19 others on that bench*.
• There was a lot of end to end puck movement at the end of the first period and overall the Mooseheads outshot the Sags 11-9, won more faceoffs (12-7) and threw more hits.
• Desjardins was speedy and everywhere
• Scrums are funny and goalies look so weird just standing there being casual in the middle of it all.

Second:

Second period ‘action’ starts with a huge hit by Bona on Roussel at center ice. Saucy talk ensues and Bona gets sent to the box to give the Sags their first PP, in which Paris got a shot off the post, but otherwise the Sags were useless. This is quickly followed by O’Brien getting a penalty for kneeing. O’Brien was supposed to get a minor, but Martel fussed like a baby until he got what he wanted: a five minute misconduct and O’Brien ejected from the game.

The five minute penalty was killed effortlessly (well I assume there was some sweating and stress involved… but they made it look so easy). Yetman played wonderfully in high pressure situations, like with 9 guys seemingly piled within a two foot perimeter around his net.

Shortly thereafter the Sags got their first goal, by Jalbert, on their 16th shot at 11:10 into the second.

Side notes:

• Linden is speedy and wonderful
• Knotek had a good chance but fanned on it.
• Sags picked it up in the second, but it had very little result with ample opportunities.
• Almost fights would be better if they were real fights.

Third:

• Goal by Bahm – mmmm bahm. Long time, no goal. Assists were by Amyot and Cheremetiev.
  
• O’Connor had a nice defensive zone hit on Roussel
• Louis-XVI had a rush and a shot. Give him kisses.
• Damn - the Sags pull up to our bumper with a goal by Jalbert (his second); a short side goal that squeezed between Yetman and the post… or so I am told by Moore.
• Ooooh fuckers – sags goal by Hlinka – tied at 3, with less than four minutes remaining.

OT: I was cooking supper – bad time to leave a game, I know.

Shootout:

Tomas Knotek gets a goal on Levesque, Desjardins breaks his stick on the shot and Yuri goes wide. Please stop putting Yuri in on shootouts. No cookies for whomever makes the shootout list. Yetman stopped all three shooters and did his best imitation of a well padded human carousel in celebration. It was enjoyable.

The game stars were:

1. HAL - Amyot, Pascal
2. CHI - Jalbert, Dominic
3. HAL - Desjardins, Gabriel

Two of three in three: Wasn't that our Power Play?

The Moose took on the Chicoutimi Sagueneens in Chicoutimi tonight at the Centre Georges Vezina. Mathieu Corbeil got the start for the Mooseheads while Alex MacDonald (D), Ryan Matheson (D), Matt Boland (LW-this is his prize for getting a goal last game), and Charles Bety (C -Dear Hockey Gods, why must this kid sit so much?) sat out for the Moose. Logan is, of course, still not playing because he is at home nursing injuries.

Sean Coulton is in net for the Sags, Lévesque is backing him up.

1^st
The Sags start the scoring on a short-handed break-away. That was supposed to be OUR Power play. So not only can the Moose not get goals on their own power play, but… *time for a valium*

Moose goal by the CBK line: the goal resulted from a sharp-angle shot by Cheremetiev. Bernard and McDonald get the assists.

2^nd
Jessyko Bernard gets a goal. His 7^th of the season, tied for most goals on the team with his linemates Knotek and Cheremetiev, who each also have 7. The Moose take the lead and Corbeil is doing an excellent job keeping us in it. Through 40 minutes of play he has faced 18 shots, allowing only one goal.

Which makes me think: no, not deep thoughts about hockey and stuff, not thoughts about why Yetman keeps getting starts, or why Randell never sits out a game. What I really wonder is: WTF is a “jessyko”? I am not making fun of his name, it’s a cool name…in fact I think I may be imaginarily falling in love with this kid, but when I google search just the word “jessyko”, all I get are results about Jessyko Bernard, a bunch of dogs named Jessyko (stud Saint Bernards, ruff), some foreign language stuff and these videos. Spice up my life indeed.

3^rd
If you can’t tell by now, I am not really paying attention to the game.

When I do, I discover that somehow the Moose are down 3-2. Two goals by Painchaud, one of which was an unassisted short-handed goal. The Moose have had 4 power-plays with no power-play goals. The Sags have had 2 power-plays with no power-play goals. They seem to do better in a short-handed situation. I mean, really guys…REALLY. You are ALL sleeping on the sofa tonight…all but Bernard and Corbeil. Jessyko can wear his star- rawr sexy.

Champagne gets an empty-net goal with 21 seconds to go. Always a killer. If we can’t get a PP goal what makes us think we can get a 6 on 5 goal?

The Sags defeat the Mooseheads 4-2, after coming from behind to get three goals in the 3^rd. Coulton stops 20 of 22 shots for the win while Corbeil makes 25 saves on 28 shots (or 30 shots + 1 ENG...we are missing a shot somewhere...lost in translation, blame the Q game tracker) and gets the loss.

The game stars are:
CHI - Painchaud, Olivier
CHI - Rioux, Sébastien
HAL - Bernard, Jessyko

I have mush for brains...teehee

To make a long story short, The Mooseheads played the uber poopy Chicoutimi Sagueneens last night and lost by a score of 7-1. I hear it was bad. The team completely collapsed after a second period go-ahead goal by Gerrad Grant was disallowed because of a non-called interference penalty (ugh this has hints of an unfortunate Sea Dogs post-season game last year).

The Sags went on to score six more unanswered goals before the herd were taken out back and put out of their misery- Old Yeller style with a shot gun. What do you mean that never happened? So I still have to suffer through more of this for the rest of the season? Crap!!!

According to Willy Palov's article in the Chronicle Herald:

Unfortunately, Mark Yetman had to pay more than anybody else when things unravelled for the Mooseheads. The 20-year-old goaltender actually played a pretty good game but was only put out of his misery with 7:24 left when Russell pulled him after Chicoutimi made it 6-1.

"I left him in because I really felt we could come back in the third period and win the game. It wasn’t Yetman’s fault," Russell said. "But when they scored the sixth goal I thought it was time to get (Mathieu) Corbeil in there. It’s a shame to put a guy in with only seven minutes left but it was just not fair to Mark."

Losing like this on a promotional night, after we have not been able to pull in a decent crowd for the greater part of the season, does not bode well future attendance records.

What does make me proud is my sweet sweet Linden Bahm. I like him more every day. He is slowly spackling the empty space in my heart that was left dead-like and barren upon Andrew White's departure. He is doing it with his defensive prowess and abundant good hits. In a game with seven goals against, Linden was not a minus player, and he was only one of three players to do so (including Louis-XVI and Earle).

For more info check out:
Mooseheads trounced in pink
Game Notes : Sagueneens 7, Mooseheads 1
Lineup: Sagueneens at Mooseheads (note: no Richie Greer)
Sags Pound Pink Mooseheads
*Rik's Pink Jersey Game Pics (Epic fail on the pink jersey - hire someone with a sense of clean design next time please. I love the socks though.)

UNB vs Dalhousie:
Well, actually, I did not have to suffer through that debacle. But the thought of that game tears my heart asunder. I instead suffered through a painfully boring Dalhousie vs UNB game. UNB defeated Dalhousie 5-2. The Daily Gleaner has a review.

Ya know what though. I didn't really watch that game either because Travis Fullerton was not playing. He was sitting, yawning and doing that sexy tugging at his jersey thing he does. I was staring at him, yawning, drooling, taking a couple of totally crappy pictures, giggling with my girls and sipping from a pop bottle half-full of Vodka. What? No, I am neither a stalker nor an alcoholic. I am simply a fun-loving slut (fine I admit it: I talk the talk but cannot walk the walk, it is called mental sluttery).

The score of the game is irrelevant, who had goals and assists is irrelevant, the fact that Fullerton did not play kinda sucks for both of us (really really sucks), but all that really matters is that I once again got to share breathing space with him. I am cool with that.

rawr

What is really weird is that the AUS make the back-up goaltenders wear a skater's helmet despite the fact that they sit on an area of bench behind the glass. They were really trying to protect my Travis's sexy-pretty noggin. I guess I should thank them.

*Sigh* I just want to nibble on him (lies, my mental perversion knows no bounds), preferably after a display of mad puck-stopping skillz. Is that so wrong?

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