Maguire Won't Be Able To Stand Up For A Week-Laffs 3, Habs 0

Pierre Maguire's hard on probably won't go away for a while. He got his ultimate wish, the Laffs beat the Canadiens. His "Leafs fans get excited" quote that he used in game 1 versus Montreal, only to see the team lose that game and their first 50 games (okay I'm exaggerating) was uttered many times again. Ron Wilson and Brian Burke are geniuses. Kaberle, Tlusty, Kessel, Stajan, Komisarek (who he called a steady defence partner for Kaberle....LOL) and Macdonald all should go to the hall of fame. Now that I have ranted about the pro Laffs coverage on TSN (although props to them for the 100th stuff on the Habs) I will discuss the game. The Canadiens did not play well, this I can admit. But it wasn't the domination the Maguire would have led viewers to believe, thank god he wasn't broadcasting on the radio. The difference in the game was the Leafs got a couple of bounces, the Habs didn't. The Laffs probably did have a territorial advantage, and any time you get shutout against a cellar dwellar like the Laffs it is emabarrasing but it's nothing I'm too worried about. Carey Price was decent between the pipes stopping 28 shots, while the Laffs tandem faced 26. Some other thoughts:

>Dags returned to the lineup and struggled...I hope it's just rust. Gomez also returned and had a few scoring chances but nothing to show for it. Chips continues to struggled badly and I would assume his time with the Habs is nearing the end (giveaway on goal #2, -2 in 1:59 of ice time).

>Leach was picked up on waivers by the Sharks leaving the Habs with just 6 healthy defencemen. As a whole, the group didn't play bad, but had trouble getting the puck out (blame can also be shouldered by the forwards).

>Martin tried all kinds of combinations on forward, so many I can't name them all. The PP went 0/2 and the PK killed both Laffs chances. An early PP in the 1st generated a ton of chances but no goals. The Laffs then followed that up with a pair of quick goals and the rest is history.

The Bell Centre fans were jacked up after the Als made an appearance with the Grey Cup, but by the end were booing the home side throughout much of the 3rd. Losing to the Laffs is unacceptable to most, especially on home ice, and for good reason. The Silver Wolf Whiskey Hab of the Game tonight was a tough one. Not many guys deserved the recognition, but I'll go with Travis Moen. Mentions also go out to White and Pyatt. Next up the Sabres in Buffalo on Thursday before the 100th year game against the Bruins back home Friday.