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I’ll Tell Ya Another Thing About Canada, The Beer Sucks: Hawks at Canadiens Preview/Glass Blowing

By 1749

 vs. 

RECORDS: Hawks 43-20-5   Canadiens 39-22-8

PUCK DROP: 6:30 Central

TV: CSN, NBCSN

JEAN-JACQUES SMYTHES: Habs Eyes On The Prize

PROJECTED LINEUPS

ADJUSTED TEAM CORSI %: Hawks – 50.9 (11th)  Habs – 52.4 (4th)

ADJUSTED TEAM xGF%: Hawks – 48.7 (19th)  Habs – 52.8 (5th)

POWER PLAY %: Hawks – 18.8 (17th)  Habs – 20.3 (12th)

PENALTY KILL %: Hawks – 77.7 (27th)  Habs – 80.5 (17th)

The Hawks begin an Eastern Canadian road trip, touring the northern members of the Atlantic division all in a row. It starts with invading the constant carnival that is the Montreal Canadiens. And now this carnival comes with a full compliment of carny folk and a freak show. Because that’s how they want it up there.

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Habs Q&A With Mega-Nerd Andrew Berkshire

By 1577

You can catch Andrew’s work just about everywhere, but mostly at Sportsnet.ca and RDS.ca. Follow him on Twitter @AndrewBerkshire.

Ok, explain why the Habs think they need every asshat they can find and why it will or won’t work when things matter?

Bergevin has it in his mind that the number one reason why the Habs collapsed last season was that they were “easy to play against”. That was probably because they let in a goal every 5 shots scored on one of every 20 for like 3 months, then everyone got injured, but the team took it to mean GRIT and other crap. This same thing happened after the 2013 playoffs when the Habs throttled the Senators by every metric but Anderson stood on his head and Price was playing with a torn groin, so they lost in 5 and Bergevin brought in Douglas Murray and George Parros in the offseason. He’s a conservative GM for the most part, but he’s also extremely reactionary and seemingly mediocre at diagnosing weaknesses. 

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Poodle Bites! C’mon Frenchie!: Habs Q&A With Laura The Active Stick

By 1294

Sadly the Canadiens only visit once a season, so we don’t get to talk to our good friend Laura The Active Stick as much as we’d like (@TheActiveStick). But hey, she’s been out drinking with me and lived to tell the tale. More than Fifth Feather and his wrist can say. Let’s see what she has to tell us about the Bleu, Blanc, et Rouge.

Here we go again. The Habs are on top of the East to start, their underlying numbers are just north of ok, and everyone’s losing their mud. Other than Price staying healthy, why is this team different from last year’s?

I’m cautiously optimistic. The Canadiens are giving up a lot of shots and struggling with getting out of their own zone. The good news is that I think it’s a strategy issue more than a personnel issue. They need to work on that. The other good news is that Carey Price is their goaltender. Nobody wins a Stanley Cup by themselves, but if one player can, it’s Carey Price. 

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Keep The Car Running – Canadiens vs Hawks Preview, Ski Binding Tune Up

By 1311

expos vs evil empire

Game Time: 6:00PM Central
TV/Radio: WGN Ch. 9, SportsNet, WGN-AM 720
I Get It, French Class: Habs Eyes On The Prize

Once again in the NHL’s infinite brilliance, with the unbalanced divisional schedule in place, they are wiping out an interconference rivalry within the span of 72 hours. And even this time, two teams with ACTUAL history in the Hawks and Habs (apologies to any of the olds now having ’65, ’71, or ’73 flashbacks) as well as some of the most telegenic threads in the sport not getting a national American audience. Better to keep everyone talking about this John Scott waste-of-breath-from-every-conceivable-angle than to actually promote the product using two heritage franchises with history who both have Championship aspirations.

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Habs Q&A With Andrew Berkshire And Laura The Active Stick

By 1787

Andrew Berkshire is on Twitter @AndrewBerkshire. Laura is @TheActiveStick.

So the Habs, at the time of writing, have won 5 of 20. People are panicking. Has fans think the team is falling apart. We can’t help but see the best goalie in the world hurt, a terrible shooting percentage and other bad luck. Which is true or is it a blending of the two?

Berkshire: What’s going on right now with the Habs is very weird. Montreal has been one of the best possession teams in the NHL this year, the whole season. The shooting percentage is obviously not reflective of their play, and eventually they will bust out of this slump, but the longer it goes the harder it is to believe it’s just luck.

There are little things about the Canadiens’ system that you can identify fairly easily as problem areas that hurt them. Their breakout is terrible, the worst in the league in terms of keeping possession while exiting their own zone. Their tendency to dump the puck off the wall to clear the zone leads to a ton of turnovers and scoring chances against. Combine that with very little east-west movement in the offensive zone and you have a team that plays well in terms of shots for and against, but give up more goals and score less than league average.

Laura: From my perspective, it’s a blending of the two. Initially, the team was playing well and was getting burned by the goaltending. The Habs didn’t abandon the process at that point, but were hit by some really bad luck, so it turned into what I call “not winning” as opposed to losing (sometimes badly). Then they started playing badly. In the last two games (vs Chicago and St.Louis) they seem to have been playing well and running into bad luck again, but the coach is unfortunately showing signs of his patented inexplicable line-blending. We shall see.

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Fortune Teller

By 1649 0

Editor’s Note: This ran in last night’s print edition.

Now in year seven of the Joel Quenneville era of Blackhawks Renaissance, the Hawks actually find themselves in slightly uncharted territory. Not only is this the first time that they have been past the first round for three straight years in the post-expansion era, but the Hawks are trying to eliminate the same team three straight years for the first time ever, with their most recent opportunity having been thwarted by  Alex Burrows and Chris Campoli.

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I Don't Know, Lloyd – Canadiens vs Hawks Preview, Pregame Thread, Poutine Eating Contest

By 1319 0

Monty-Python-and-The-Holy-Grail-monty-python-16581100-845-468 vs oldschool

Game Time: 7:30PM Central
TV/Radio: CSN, WGN-AM 720
Les Incompétents: Habs EOTP

As the Hawks continue through this meat grinder stretch of the schedule where they are consistently taking on the upper-echelon teams of the league, they will complete their season series with the Montreal Canadiens tonight on home ice. The first meeting up at the Molson Centre didn’t go quite so well for the Habs, and it’s still close enough in the rear-view mirror for them to remember it well.

Everything Else

I Don’t Know, Lloyd – Canadiens vs Hawks Preview, Pregame Thread, Poutine Eating Contest

By 1188 0

Monty-Python-and-The-Holy-Grail-monty-python-16581100-845-468 vs oldschool

Game Time: 7:30PM Central
TV/Radio: CSN, WGN-AM 720
Les Incompétents: Habs EOTP

As the Hawks continue through this meat grinder stretch of the schedule where they are consistently taking on the upper-echelon teams of the league, they will complete their season series with the Montreal Canadiens tonight on home ice. The first meeting up at the Molson Centre didn’t go quite so well for the Habs, and it’s still close enough in the rear-view mirror for them to remember it well.

Everything Else

D's Equal Degrees – Canadiens vs Hawks Preview, Pregame Thread, Juice Cleanse

By 1458 0

simpsons french waiter canadiens vs oldschool

Game Time: 6:30PM Central
TV/Radio: CSN, TSN (Anglophone), RDS (Francophone), 87.7FM The Game
Les Incompétents: Habs EOTP

Tonight the home schedule for the Hawks’ regular season comes to its thrilling conclusion with an Original Six Matchup (TM) against their perpetually entitled ancient nemesis Montreal Canadiens. And neither really have much to play for at this stage heading into the final weekend of the season.

Everything Else

D’s Equal Degrees – Canadiens vs Hawks Preview, Pregame Thread, Juice Cleanse

By 1257 0

simpsons french waiter canadiens vs oldschool

Game Time: 6:30PM Central
TV/Radio: CSN, TSN (Anglophone), RDS (Francophone), 87.7FM The Game
Les Incompétents: Habs EOTP

Tonight the home schedule for the Hawks’ regular season comes to its thrilling conclusion with an Original Six Matchup (TM) against their perpetually entitled ancient nemesis Montreal Canadiens. And neither really have much to play for at this stage heading into the final weekend of the season.