No one can say that the Montreal Canadiens don’t have any heart or character. They have given a solid effort throughout their series with the heavily favored Washington Capitals. With the Habs trailing in the series by 3 to 1 in the best of 7, it obviously looks pretty bleak for Jacques Martin’s men, as they head back to the Verizon Centre for game five on Friday. Hopefully the Hab’s fans aren’t too down on their team, as they stand on the verge of elimination. The bottom line is that Montreal doesn’t have anywhere near the skill level of the Caps, so the fact that they haven’t been able to cash in on opportunities when they were dominating , as was the case in the second period last night, isn’t really all that surprising. Montreal outshot Washington by 21-9 during those 20 minutes, but killed their own momentum, by allowing a shorthanded goal by Mike Knuble, with 7 seconds remaining in the period, to tie the game at 2. I’m not discounting the remote possibility that the Canadiens, could pull off the comeback of the century, but if they don’t manufacture a Montreal miracle, I hope their fans will keep the disappointment in perspective. The effort has been first rate. It was most unfortunate that the they blew a 4-1 lead in game 2. Who knows what may have happened, if the Habs had gone up by 2-0 in the series ? Considering the vast difference in the skill level of the two teams, Montreal deserves a lot of credit, for being able to put a bit of a bite, into Bruce Boudreau’s boys, even if they can’t create a comeback.
Once again, we have seen solid evidence, that attendance at any National Hockey League arena, has everything to do with the competitiveness of the team, not the location of the market. Even in the flaky land of the fairytale, Los Angeles,California, you had better win, if you want the fans to spend time at the Staples Center, instead of the Santa Monica pier. The Kings are a team that have some of the most exciting young players in the game, led by defenseman Drew Doughty, and they were wisely woven together, primarily through the tried and true way, which of course is the draft. Los Angeles lost Wednesday night’s game to the Vancouver Canucks, 6-4, in a very entertaining match. The attendance was reported to be 18,322, which is 99% of capacity. Of course, the Kings were among the first expansion teams in 1967, a total of 6, who were added to the NHL that year, along with Oakland, Pittsburgh, St.Louis, Philadelphia,and Minnesota, So they are not exactly strangers to the sports fans of southern California, where Wayne Gretzky made the Kings home games, a marquee event,and where celebrities wanted to be photographed. It’s great to see the excitement back for the Kings in southern California, where the the only ice some residents have seen, is in their soda. Unlike Toronto, the lucky Los Angeles fans in the first several rows nearest to the ice,are actually sitting in their seats, eating their sushi, and watching the game at the same time. The Air Canada Centre, seems to be the only stadium in the world, where customers in some of the best sections, are rarely seen actually watching the game there.