Loosely translated, it means: “Another ‘must-win’ for the Islanders, as they begin their road trip North of the Border.
Having a good win against the Caps on Saturday should have been the mind eraser for the team to forget what happened on Thursday and move on.
The Habs are a team in trouble, and one that a good ’spanking’ can be given to. The Bell Centre is no longer the loss palace for the team, as shown in the last win the Isles had there in January.
Although he is averaging a point a game, we need to get the Ryan Smyth ball rolling. He has handled this bi-country roller coaster ride of a trade with class and dignity, but now we need to get to the Al Davis side of the ledger (except - replace win with score). I know that effort is not a factor, but we need to see why the organization took this chance, and this road trip has games that we need to win. This is the type of game, that a Ryan Smyth should crave for. One of those games that he takes the team on his back, and makes a statement with. As much as I like Alexei, that is one thing that he has NOT done. I think Ryan can.
I am sure that MA Bergeron will be pumped as hell. His wife is due anytime, and it would be nice for him to play a do well after his child is born. It is quite fortunate that he is playing in Quebec now with the team there. His whole family is there as well, making the situation, well, perfect. Also - I think Quebec born players always want to do extra well, when they play in Montreal and Ottawa.
Montreal is having goalie issues. With Huet out, Lasak and Aebischer having a tough time of late, and the lack of scoring punch, this Canadiens team is about one punch away from being knocked out. This would be the equivalent to a long arc softball about to smacked by the King and his court.
Nolan knows this game is a litmus test, and I have no doubt that his troops will be ready to battle. This is what makes good coaches great. We all know that although he was a nice guy, Steve Stirling would not have made this happen. The best statement was the fact, that Nolan told the media, that you have had your fun, now we are not talking about the Simon incident. We have to focus on this team and what is in store NOW. Playing for right now! (C’mon - can’t you hear the Sammy Hagar Van Halen act singing the song now???)
And hopefully about an hour train ride from my home, the Sens take the Smackdown to the Rangers. The Sens are battling for the number 4 seed, which means a first round home advantage. That would be nice.
It is the goal now of this Islander team to keep winning and force the ones below to do the same and more, in order to take over. Losing now is HUGE.
Enjoy the game everyone!
Posted under Islanders 06-07
This post was written by Gary Harding on March 13, 2007
Un match de tres haute importance fait partie ce soir au Centre Bell ainsi que les Islanders de New-York commencent un voyage de 4 parties sur la route face au Canadien.
Now, THAT’s a French heading that doesn’t come from a web translator.
With that being said, the Isles are in great position to win tonight against a clueless Habs bunch, likely without Alex Kovalev tonight (flu, or “grippe” to keep with the theme here.) Human sieve David Aebischer is slated to be the man tonight, so the Isles need constant pressure on the Canadiens and get in front of the net to put away the big, juicy rebounds he’s sure to allow. The Islanders know they’ve completely owned the last four periods between these two teams and they need to assert themselves in the game’s most intimidating arena. That way, the fans, already miffed with the local side, will seriously turn on the boo-blanc-rouge.
Hey - you didnt want me to use MY FRENCH to make the headline….
I could have been saying that I want to assault you with a cheese omlette in my shoe!!!!