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Post by MPLABBE on Jan 1, 2003 23:02:57 GMT -5
Wow this is a great read folks! enjoy! I worked hard on it. Expect some mistakes in there!
2002: A Habs year in review
After a few boring years, 2002 was certainly an unbelievable change for Habs fans. The highs, the lows, the combacks’s, the excitement,etc…………..
January 6th: In the middle of a dreadful holidays road trip, the Habs blow a 6-3 late 2nd period lead on their way to a 7-6 loss in Edmonton. The habit of sitting on leads and then blowing them came back to haunt them many times.
January 23rd: In what was, at the time, the ‘’biggest win of the season’’, the Habs marched into the MCI center and battled hard to win 5-3 against the Caps. Joe Juneau scored the game winning goal with 3 miutes to go on a backhander with a nice feed from Bulis. Kilger added an empty-netter. The Habs finished a 4 game Southeast road trip with 2 wins, 1 loss and 1 tie.
January 25th: With a near flawless trade record at that point, Andre Savard decided it was time to deal with the remaining UFA at season’s end on the team. Brian Savage was traded to Phoenix, along with a 3rd round pick, for the underachieving Sergei Berezin. The move was made in order to jump-start the slumping Yanic Perreault who had played with Berezin in Toronto. The results were a disaster. The Berezin/Perreault combo was mediocre offensively and horrible defensively and the trade forced Mike Ribeiro to play RW, a position he had never played before. Ribeiro slumped, lost his confidence and was sent down weeks after. Berezin was a healthy scratch once the Habs started getting some bodies back. But the trade did force the Habs to put together the Zednik-Gilmour-Petrov line which carried the Habs into the post-season.
February 5th: After his first all-star game appearance, Jose Theodore(who was already enjoying an outstanding season) decided to take his game to an extra level. The Habs, who hadn’t won in New Jersey since 1993, won 1-0 on a first period goal by Jan Bulis. Theodore was outstanding in goal and the win was another huge one for team confidence
February 7th: With Mario Lemieux in town, a few days before the Olympics, the Habs, or should I say, Jose Theodore once again put up a wall in front of his own goal as the Habs won once again 1-0. On this night, the Habs announced that Bell had bought the naming rights for the Molson Centre and the building would be called ‘’Le Centre Bell’’ starting in October 2002.
February 11th: With the powerful Red Wings in town, the game would be a good measuring stick for where the Habs were. The Wings took a 2-0 lead after 2 periods and looked in total control. But the Habs came back with 2 late 3rd period goals. But with under a minute to go, disaster struck. Michel Therrien, for reasons still not known today, decided to go with Stephane Quintal and Patrick Traverse on the ice with a draw deep in the Habs end and the big Red Wings guns (Fedorov, Shanahan, Draper, Lidstrom and Chelios) out there. Keep in mind Traverse was nowhere near the player he is now. Traverse ended up making a costly mistake which led to Shanahan’s game winning goal
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Post by MPLABBE on Jan 1, 2003 23:03:14 GMT -5
with 14 seconds left on the clock. A bitter pill to swallow with 2 weeks off just around the corner
March 2nd: Entering a crucial month of March for their playoff hopes, the Habs knew they needed to get as many points as possible. We talked about blowing leads before, well it came back to haunt this team in this contest. Leading 3-1 with 17 minutes to go in the 3rd against the Hurricanes, the Habs gave up 3 unanswered goals and lost 4-3. Terrible.
March 4th: With lowly Atlanta in town, the opportunity to put 2 easy points into the bank was great. It didn’t go that way, the Habs took a 3-0 lead, blew it, but Oleg Petrov scored late in the 3rd to give the Habs a victory. Still nothing convincing at all.
March 6th: A slumping B’s team without Joe Thornton in town took on the Habs. The Habs took a quick 2-0 lead and blew it (again!!!). They took a 4-2 lead, gave up a goal to make it 4-3 and then Jeff Hackett once again hurt his shoulder in a goal mouth scramble in the 3rd. Hackett had to leave the game(he played an outstanding one) and Theodore took over. Richad Zednik’s late power play goal sealed the victory for the Habs. Big 2 points, but the team once again showed ‘’blowing leadisitis’’.
March 11th: Some people believe the NHL will do anything to get the Rangers into the playoffs. We saw proof of this on this night. In a huge pivotal contest, the Habs went to MSG and took on the Rangers. With the game tied at 1, late in the 3rd, it appeared Doug Gilmour scored a goal but it was waved off as Richard Zednik(who was behind the net) seemed to push the net up as the puck went in. With under 1 minute to go and a draw deep in the Rangers end, Michel Therrien, for reasons no one knows yet, put out a trio of Berezin-Van Allen-Odjick. The Rangers won the draw, got the puck out and then the Habs got shafted. First, the Rangers WERE CLEARLY off-side entering the Habs zone but the play went on. Second, Theo Fleury cross-checked Berezin to the face and no penalty was called. Third, Mick McGoo, couldn’t move his big fat body around fast enough as the puck bounced off him and right to a Ranger play who scored to make it 2-1 and the Rangers won by that score. The Habs were robbed on this night
March 14th: Habs with a 3-1 lead after 2 against Dallas. 3-3 tie the final. See a pattern?
March 16th: For one of the first times in awhile, the Habs took a lead and held on to it. A big 3-2 win against the Carolina Hurricanes. Richard Zednik really started his dominant play in this stretch of games
March 23rd: Habs lose 5-1 in Nashville. Horrible effort by the team.
March 26th: The lowest point of the season. The Habs came back home and took on a depleted and young Panthers team that started career backup/minor leaguer Wade Flaherty in goal. The Panthers played the night before in New Jersey so they were a tired team. But that meant nothing. The Habs came out with a lethargic effort at best and Michel Therrien screwed his lineup card and wrote Asham in instead of Dackell. But Dackell was dressed and Asham wasn’t. A very confusing turn of events. The Panthers scored on a Power Play with about 5 minutes to go and won the game 2-1. Thankfully…this was rock bottom…….
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Post by MPLABBE on Jan 1, 2003 23:04:18 GMT -5
March 28th: Habs win 2-1 over the Bolts
March 30th: Donald Audette returns to the lineup after his sliced hand injury. Pens are in town. Habs win 2-1 in OT on an Oleg Petrov goal.
April 1st: Jose Theodore record his 7th shutout of the season and for the first time of his career, Richard Zednik scores 20 goals as the Habs win 3-0 in Pittsburgh.
April 4th: With their moddest 3 game winning streak on the line, the Habs faced off against a struggling Flyers team at the First Union Center. And the results were excellent. Andrei Markov, Richard Zednik on a spectacular breakaway goal and Bill Lindsay thanks to Roman Checmanek’s soft goaltending scored to give the Habs a 3-0 lead after 2. They would win 3-1.
April 6th: Rumors were flying that captain Saku Koivu could make his return on this night but he didn’t. Didn’t matter. The Habs won easily, 4-1, against the Jackets
April 7th: Having won 5 in arrow, the Habs knew they needed at least 1 win against the Sens in this back to back. They won the first game in Ottawa, 3-1. Theodore, once again, stole the game.
April 9th: There is nothing more you can say about this game. The Canadiens needed a win to clinch their playoff spot but that was not even important. Saku Koivu, made his return to the game of hockey after a battle with cancer. A jacked up Molson Centre crowd gave him a thunderous ovation for almost 10 minutes as emotion poured from the stands. SAKU SAKU SAKU SAKU they chanted.A magical night indeed. The Canadiens won 4-3 to clinch their first playoff spot since 1998 but Saku was the story. Stories like Saku’s only seem to happen with this franchise.
April 13th: The Habs learned, on the second to last day of the season, they would play the best team in the east, the Boston Bruins. The matchup was an intriguing one. The rivalry had sort of calmed down in recent years and this was the perfect way to bring it back. The big bad Bruins loaded with offensive firepower against the small, fast and courageous Canadiens with great goaltending. What a series it was!
April 18th: In game 1, the Bruins came out hitting everything with the CH on it. But the Habs stayed focused and the game was 2-2 after 2. And then, the Habs offence exploded. Donald Audette scored thanks to a lovely feed from Markov to make it 3-2 Habs. At the midway point of the period, Audette added another one to make it 4-2 Habs. And with under 5 minutes to go, Gino Odjick sealed the win with a 5th goal. The Habs came into Boston and totally shocked the Bruins taking a 1-0 lead with a 5-2 win.
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Post by MPLABBE on Jan 1, 2003 23:04:37 GMT -5
April 21st: Before game 2, The Bruins knew they had to win this game and they came out like a house on fire. They took an early 4-0 lead and almost blew it as Richard Zednik score 2 late in the 1st and Brisebois added another in the 2nd. The Bruins scored in the 3rd to make it 5-3 but Doug Gilmour gave the Habs new life with 5 minutes to go to make it 5-4 Boston. Joe Thornton put it away in an empty net but the damage to the Bruins confidence was done. Almost blowing a 4-0 lead on home ice was a huge blow to their confidence and sent the team in a state of panic every time they had a lead. Meanwhile, for the Habs it was mission accomplished. They won at least 1 game in Boston, Saku Koivu showed he could compete in the playoffs and Richard Zednik was becoming a force right before our own eyes. Now, all they needed was for Jose Theodore to steal a game or two and things would be looking pretty nice
April 23rd: Back home in Montreal, the Habs looked to take control of the series with games 3 and 4 on home ice. With a sold out crowd they hoped the term ‘’home ice advantage’’ would become reality. It did. The Habs took an early 1-0 lead on a Yanic Perreault power play goal. PJ Axelsson tied it a few moments later on a breakaway. In the 2nd, Bill Guerin scored on a powerful one timer to make it 2-1 Boston. Seconds later, Nick Boynton shot one that deflected off Markov’s skate to make it 3-1. Score after 2 was 3-1. But this is where game 2 helped the Habs. Almost blowing such a huge lead in game 2 really hurt the Bruins confidence and we saw it on this night. With 13 minutes to go in the 3rd, Donald Audette scored off the faceoff to make it a 1 goal game. The Bruins started panicking. A few short seconds later, Doug Gilmour put home a rebound with a sweet backhand and all of a sudden the game was tied. The crowd was rocking but we hadn’t seen anything yet. Isn’t it funny how superstars always seem to seize the moment and score a big goal or make a big play when it matters? At about the halway mark of the 3rd period and with Boston on their heels, Montreal Canadiens kind of magic happened. The kind of thing that only seems to happen to the HABS in the playoffs. The play started with Andrei Markov fighting hard with Martin Lapointe to keep the puck in the Boston zone…he did…Donald Audette then found Saku Koivu who made an unreal move and put home a back-hander against Byron Dafoe. The comeback was complete. The Habs had took the lead and Koivu had scored his first goal since coming back. The Molson Centre was rocking, chanting SAKU SAKU SAKU and the Habs were a few minutes away from taking a 2-1 series lead. Jose Theodore shut the door, Sergei Samsonov hit a post with under 60 seconds to go and the Habs added an empty netter to win 5-3. An unbelievable turn of events.
April 25th: Boston knew they had to win this one and they played a strong game. They took an early lead and never gave it up. With Boston leading 5-2 late in the 3rd, blood started to boil and the game became chippy. Gino Odjick and P.J. Stock fought. But that was nothing. In the last minutes of the period, Richard Zednik came down the right side with his head looking down on the puck. Kyle McLaren saw this and ‘’clotheslined’’ Richard Zednik with a vicious elbow to the face. Zednik suffered a serious concussion, a broken nose and a few other injuries. Zednik, who was the best Hab on the ice and was giving the Bruins fits with his speed, goal scoring ability and toughness was taken off the ice on a stretcher. Michel Therrien went bezerk and did his now famous ‘’hand to the troath’’ gesture towards the Bruins bench right after. In a post-game news conference, Therrien vowed revenge. 2 teams that didn’t like each other to begin with, now hated each other. The series became a war. The rivalry was truly back. But the question that everyone was starting to ask….what’s wrong with Jose Theodore?
April 27th: Theodore had yet to steal a game and with his good friend Zednik out, he decided it was time to dish out some revenge, revenge in the form of spectacular goaltending. With a performance that will be remembered for a long time, Theodore single-handedly won game 5, 2-1. He made well over 40 saves and the Habs had about 12 shots on goal. The Canadiens, on first period goals by Oleg Petrov and Bil Lindsay took a 2-0 lead. Samsonov got the Bruins on the scoreboard in the 2nd but it wasn’t enough. Theodore was beyond belief as he stole it on this Saturday afternoon. He robbed Bill Guerin on a breakaway early in the 3rd and he got luck late in the 3rd went Stumpel hit the post. Regardless, somehow the Habs had a 3-2 series lead and had the chance to win it on home ice.
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Post by MPLABBE on Jan 1, 2003 23:04:59 GMT -5
April 29th: In front of an extremely loud Molson Centre crowd, the Habs and Bruins went to battle in game 6. Brian Rolston opened the scoring after a Patrice Brisebois giveaway. Donald Audette tied it on a power play. 1-1 after 2. The 3rd period was amazing. In the opening moments, Yanic Perreault scored an amazing goal with one hand on his stick to give the Habs a 2-1 lead. And then Theodore shut the door. His unbelievable spinorama save on Bill Guerin will be remembered for years to come. The Bruins could not beat Theodore and the Habs somehow won the game 2-1 and the series 4-2. The big, bad, strong, fast Bruins with all kinds of offensive talent were beaten by the small, speedy and talented Canadiens. Instead of taking out Bruins and injuring them for revenge, the Habs dished out the best revenge possible: beating them. A great series of hockey that continued the great Habs tradition in the playoffs and the typical Bruins tradition of choking in the playoffs.
May 3rd: New opponent and they are called the Carolina Hurricanes. Game 1 in Raleigh, both teams played cautious defence but the Canes won 2-0. Eric Cole’s goal in the last minutes of the 3rd effectively ended this one and gave us a preview of what Mr Cole was to offer
May 5th: In a must win game for the Habs, they came out strong. Koivu opened the scoring, Andrei Markov scored an unbelievable Bobby Orr like goal assisted by Koivu and Gilmour added another one in the 2nd. 3-0 Habs. Brind’Amour scored one and that was all for Carolina. 3-1 the final. Theodore and the Habs shut the door in the 3rd and took a tie back home to Montreal.
May 7th: Saku Koivu opened the scoring on a lovely feed by Andreas Dackell. Carolina tied it. The defensive battle headed to overtime. Early in OT, Donald Audette scored to give the Habs a 2-1 wins and series lead. Habs could take control of the series with another home ice win 2 days later…….
May 9th: Remember all those blown leads we talked about? Hab fans knew this habit would come back to bite the team in the behind eventually. It hadn’t happened in playoffs so far. The Habs took a 3-0 lead and chased a shaky Kevin Weekes out of the Carolina net. After 2, everything looked fine and dandy as the Habs were 20 minutes away from taking a 3-1 series lead. Then an unbelievable choke happened. Early in the 3rd, Stephane Quintal took a penalty and Michel Therrien, with his yellow mustard suit, immediately began swearing at Kerry Fraser. Fraser gave Therrien a 2 minute minor so it was a 5 on 3 for Carolina for 2 minutes. Sean Hill scored to get the Canes back into the game. The Habs stopped skating, stopped attacking and simply sat back trying to defend a 3-1 lead. Things were looking good until Carolina made it 3-2 with about 6 minutes to go. The Canes did everything possible to tie it and with only 10 seconds to go in the 3rd period, Hab Killer Erik Cole put a puck in as he was left uncovered in front of the net. Shock, frustration, stunning, unbelievable, choke…all words you can use to describe the 3rd period. Oh wait…there was an OT!!! With a draw deep in the Habs zone, Michel Therrien did the unthinkable. He sent out his 4th line and had Bill Lindsay, a natural center, take a draw against Jeff O’Neill and the top line of the Hurricanes. The Canes won the draw, the puck went back to Nik Wallin who fired a wrist shot on goal. Somehow the puck went it. Somehow the Canes had just won 4-3 with 4 goals in arrow. The Habs collapsed like a house of cards in the next 2 games
May 12th: Sunday afternoon in Raleigh. Canes demolish the Habs 5-1. Nothing more to say other than all signs pointed to the end of the Habs unreal season…<br> May 13th: a little over 24 hours after the Sunday debacle, game 6 was played at the Molson Centre. It was ugly early and it was even uglier late. The Habs played like a team that was already on vacation or like a team that had nothing left in the tank. Jose Theodore’s unbelievable season came to a crashing end and the Habs were thumped 8-2. Rumors were flying that Michel Therrien had lost control of this team and his players. Many were just trying to EXPLAIN what happened ever since the 2nd intermission of game 4. These stories are truly depressing.
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Post by MPLABBE on Jan 1, 2003 23:05:16 GMT -5
June 20th: Jose Theodore was rewarded for his incredible season by picking up BOTH the Hart and Vezina trophy. All of a sudden Theo was part of the elite and he was going to have to be paid in consequence. June 22nd: The Canadiens trade Arron Asham and a 5th round pick for Mariusz Czerkawski. A move that has been a complete disaster so far. Czerkawski has not fit in with the team, has been a healthy scratch a few times, has played on the 4th line and is now in Hamilton on a conditioning stint. This is the kind of trade you make talent for talent but not when you are building a team. The Habs had enough offense, especially softish offensive players. There was no need for Czerkawski. Oh well, let’s just hope Savard fixes this mistake soon! Meanwhile at the draft table, in the first round, the Canadiens made a trade with the Oilers so they can pick 14th instead of 15th. The Canadiens selected Yale U center Chris Higgins. The pick is looking like a great one so far. And Higgins is a Hab fan as well! June 30th: Habs trade Sergei Berezin to Chicago for a draft pick. Good riddance. 18 points in 37 games this year for Sergei while playing a lot with Zhamnov shows the Habs did not make a mistake! July 4th: Habs sign Randy McKay. A solid move. McKay should be a key member for the Habs in our playoff run this coming spring. He is what this team needed. The only need another McKay type or two! July 24th: Habs sign University of Michigan phenom Mike Komisarek to a contract. The hulking d-man is now in Hamilton and should be a huge part of the next Habs dynasty September 5th: After a summer of negotiations, Jose Theodore and the Habs finally sign a deal. The biggest contract in franchise history, the 3 year/16.5 million$ deal all of a sudden put a lot more pressure on Theodore. Theodore had a terrible start to the season, but in the last 7 games of 2002, he showed the game he showed in early 2002. Only good news for Habs fans everywhere. September 18th: Richard Zednik, who almost signed a deal with an European based team, signs with the Habs. The negotiations between Zednik’s agent and Andre Savard became a public affair and both sides were arguing over 100K. Zednik’s agent came up with a creative tax break that would allow Zednik to save 100K while helping out local charities. The contract also included bonuses based on how many points and goals Zednik collects. Looks like he may reach them! September 28th: The Habs and Avalanche meet up in a historic pre-season game…in Quebec City! The Habs beat the Avs 4-1 and the Quebec City fans got one more opportunity to watch NHL hockey October 11th: After much hype, the season got under way. The Habs went into MSG to face the high priced Rangers and dominated them in a 4-1 win. Zednik, Juneau, Perreault and Czerkawski into an empty net scored October 12th: Home openers should never be this ugly. But this was UGLY. Buffalo wins 6-1. Habs totally dominated by a rested Sabres team. October 15th: The Big bad Flyers come to town and win 6-2. Theodore looking shaky. Habs looking bad October 17th: Jeff Hackett comes in and confirms he is back with an unbelievable 3-2 win against the cup champs in Detroit. Andrei Markov scores the winner October 24th:Habs in Philly and another 6-2 loss. Theodore chased after giving up 4 goals in barely 25 minutes of play. The questions were…what is wrong with Theo? Is he a bust? A one year wonder? Is it the money? Thankfully Jeff Hackett was around to save the Habs season
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Post by MPLABBE on Jan 1, 2003 23:06:16 GMT -5
October 31st: Habs trade a 7th rounder for Sylvain Blouin.
November 1st: Theodore’s best game of the season. 2-2 tie in Carolina. Makes unreal behind the back save in OT to preserve the tie
November 2nd:Habs win for the first time ever at the ACC. 5-2 with 2 goals for Petrov and Zednik. Markov adds an empty netter. Nothing better than beating the Leafs in Toronto for a change
November 15th: A stinker. The Habs don’t show up and get pasted 5-1 by a Devils team that can’t score. Hackett did everything he could but the effort was horrible
November 16th: Andre Savard has a meeting with his players in the morning. Habs come out with a great effort in a 3-1 win against the same Devils
November 20th: Habs win 3-2 in OT on a spectacular goal by Andrei Markov in Pittsburgh. 3 wins in arrow
November 23rd: Habs take a 2-0 lead against Carolina but like game 4, the Canes come all the way back and win it 7-3. A rusty Theodore gets shelled in a game he should have never played in after an injury.
December 6th: Team holds a meeting. Leaders show why they are leades. Later that night, the Habs lose 7-6 in OT to the Avalanche in Colorado. Habs blew a 1 goal lead with a minute to go and lose on a Radium Vrbata OT goal. But for once the Habs played with emotion and that was a good sign
December 14th: With a red hot Jeff Hackett doing so well, few expected Jose Theodore to get a start against the first place Bruins but he did. And the decision has been a great one as Theodore won this game 4-2 and has played 6 good games in arrow since this game. Turning point of his season no doubt. Habs win an emotional game thanks to goals by Zednik, Kilger, Rivet and Perreault.
December 21st: Habs blowout Sabres 6-2. Revenge for opening night!
December 23rd: Habs implode in the 3rd against the Islanders. A 1-0 lead turns into a 3-1 loss. Team hasn’t been the same since
All in all, an unbelievable year in HabsLand. The playoff race, Theo's season, Saku's comeback, the Bruins series, the McLaren/Zednik incident, the Canes series, Theo winning the 2 awards, the off-season, the start of this season, Markov and Zednik becoming star players, the promise of our prospects,etc
We can only hope 2003 is a little less emotional and more successful on the ice!
GO HABS GO!!
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Post by habernac on Jan 2, 2003 15:37:17 GMT -5
Great write up, Marc! I don't know what else to add except....WOW!
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Post by saku on Jan 3, 2003 0:20:10 GMT -5
Great write up, Marc! I don't know what else to add except....WOW! I have to agree....very nicely done. ;D
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Post by UberCranky on Jan 7, 2003 19:58:14 GMT -5
bump
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