never say die, motherfucker
april 8th, 2025 | DET @ MTL: 1-4
i was at work for both games tonight and i was busy busy busy. so this nemspaper is probably gonna have less nem insight, mostly because i didn't really get to watch very closely. but rest assured—i do still have some things to say! okay! let's go!
this game started so slow and bad for us oh my god. like, yes.... you saw the shot counter. not very soggy, huh. we were in fact Very dry. and all the while, monty got shot at TWENTY THREE TIMES. so like. Yeah. obviously we got scored on by larkin. monty's amazing but he can't reasonably be Expected to be as perfect as he is without having some slack from our skaters putting more offensive pressure. i noticed it in this game and the last—when faced against teams that are very hectic, who like to move a lot, we tend to slip. lose possession of the puck, and then get hemmed in to our own zone. it's not a good look!
but if there's one thing you know you can trust the 24-25 montreal canadiens to do... it's to never give up, never lose hope! the 1st goes by, and kappy gets a close attempt in the 2nd. newy Also gets a good shot, but he just can't bury it! agh! newy, you've been working so hard but the puck luck has not gone your way. you'll get it buddy, you will!!
and eventually, even as powerplays come and go, even as detroit keeps putting up shots—cole caufield ties it! again! just like last game! the bell centre goes crazy, because there's just no quit with this team!
unfortunately, i was with a customer when it happened, so i had to temper my reaction, haha. but thankfully, i was free to watch the 3rd period where the habs put just a bit more pressure, just enough to put the red wings on the backfoot at times. laner adds to his highlight reel with some crazy quick moves that unfortunately doesn't end up in the net for andy. HOWEVER...
andy DOES get a goal! and it's that line of our older forwards again, gally to dvo to andy, and we finally get the lead! oh that has got to feel good for andy. DAD POWER!
and when detroit pulls their goalie, we get not one, but TWO empty netters. gally, of course, but nick too!
so yeah. we add to our playoff push, getting that margin more and more comfortable, and beat back the red wings. i call that a big success.
before i move to the next game though, i just wanna say. monty has been un-fucking-real. he got first star tonight and oh my god was it deserved. stopped 35 (!!!) of 36 shots. looked gorgeous and cherubic in the interview. literally glowing. i love him.
april 8th, 2025 | VAN @ DAL: 6-5
this did not feel real. and i say that partially because the timeslots overlapped today, and i was at work, so i had to listen to the canucks game on sn650 in my ear while watching the habs game in front of me (and also doing my job LMAO). so a lot of it felt like just. a stream of words entering my brain and turning into a smoothie. maybe you should play both videos at the same time to experience the same thing.
this is a rough rough rough game... for the first two periods. i will admit, i have felt like i was about to give up so many times in this game. but look. i can't just Leave batch and randip. and i had to commit. it's the canucks—you always have to commit. and dallas is playing fuckin casey deshit against us. we can't just let him have a shutout!! so yeah, the canucks trail most of this game 0-3, it sucks, of course it sucks, and if we lose we get eliminated. but you have to believe. you have to be. A Believer.
jake debrusk is a believer. and you know what he did? he scored a powerplay goal, baby. banked!! off of deshit's left pad!!! SUCK IT! and y'know what's even better? VICTOR MANCINI FIRST GOAL AS A CANUCK!!!
admittedly i had some doubts. don't you remember how our milestone goals would always come at the cost of a horrific blowout game? it felt terribly real, and for a moment i felt like i had to pre-emptively mourn them just to spare my heart. especially when mavrik bourque scores to extend their lead and ESPECIALLY especially when duchene scores the empty netter 3 minutes before the end of the game. it felt over, so so over. goalie pull = empty net = loss. that's how it always works, right?
well, aatu räty has something to say about that. he's been playing so well lately, really earning his spot on the team, and he shows it when he smoothly scores off of MP3's pass (he casually stole the puck! do that more please marcus!)
i still felt defeated. i still didn't think there was hope. i thought, when jake scored—at least it's not a shutout. and when aatu scored—at least we tried our best. but remember. to. BELIEVE.
it's not over until it's over. pius suter, not the step-centre but the centre who stepped up, our PK1 PP1 1C who is also an extra assistant coach, PIUS "SWISS ARMY KNIFE" SUTER scores to bring the score up to 4-5,AND THEN AGAIN! AGAIN!!! TO TIE THE GAME!!!!!
WITH LESS THAN 10 SECONDS LEFT IN THE GAME!!!!!!!
WE ARE OFFICIALLY...................STILL ALIVE!!!! PAY THIS MAN HOWEVER MANY DOLLARS HE WANTS, PLEASE!
with that, we also broke another obscure record. classic! anyway. that's pius' 24th goal this season. Yeah. 24. 24.............. god. he makes me so emotional. i love him, i love him endlessly. please stay with me, my angel.
anyway no time to wax poetic, cause we're going into overtime. AND YKNOW WHAT. at this point, i wanted to believe. BELIEVE!! because if we got allllll this way, only to get another OTL, well. sigh. at least i have a reaction image ready? but no. fil hronek of all people wins the OT faceoff and we get a freaking powerplay that we DON'T capitalise on (classic) but then KIEFER SHERWOOD SCORES.
............ WE WON!!!!!!!!!!!
um. nem was fully freaking out on the commute home by this point. fuck not looking weird in public. i was biting my phone case, i was pacing, i was kicking my feet, i was spinning in circles. but oh my god. the euphoria. raised from the dead. i felt... Beyond.
and so now here i am writing this blog post. and watching the highlight video. and y'know. life's good.
EDIT:
OH MY GOD I FORGOT TO TALK ABOUT DEMIDOV. uhhh yeah, ivan demidov is coming to montreal! he signed his ELC and everything!! ummmm honestly i dont even really know what to say, i was freaking out abt it with my manager before the games but it left my mind after all that stress. not that i rly have much to talk about honestly, i just wanna say i'm really excited to have him here! especially for the... you know. if we get there anyway. psshh, whaaat. what am i talking about. you'll see!
