Boston Bruins defenseman Andrew Ference temporarily became my hero during last night’s Game 4 against the Canadiens by scoring, then giving Montreal’s inhabitants the finger. He brought the Bruins to within a goal, and they came back to win the game, 5-4, in overtime. Remember what the Habs did to the Caps last year? No, I don’t either. Oh look, here’s my middle finger!

Here’s a video of the incident. Hopefully it’ll still be up when you get around to clicking it.

Sure, it was uncalled for and unprofessional, but middle fingers in big gloves always look hilarious.

Read the rest of this entry »

Back in December, I hit a point that I was spending more time on sports rumor web sites than I was on Facebook or Twitter, which is a considerable concern mind you, and it was all due to the Albert Pujols contract talks. And my obsessive behavior hit a low point when I actually shelled out American currency to pay for ESPN Insider. Of course I know that all of ESPN’s “rumors” are available everywhere else – and rarely correct – but I still needed to hear from Buster Olney that Albert’s best landing place was St. Louis, even if it meant reading Michael Wilbon’s latest efforts like, “I’m from Chicago, did you know this?” and “Every team should let the Cubs win”.

With that Insider subscription, of course, came ESPN the Magazine, or as I like to call it – Highlights for sports fans. Although the latest issue didn’t feature Goofus and Gallant teaching us about the NFL lockout, it was the “Style Report”, for which I went out and bought a Burberry scarf just to flip it in contempt. Actually, the issue has been on my bathroom floor for a week.

I won’t go into too much detail about my lack of desire to read about how I can spend $8,000 to dress like Steve Johnson and CJ Wilson, but I was rather tickled by a short feature about Tommy Hilfiger’s thoughts on how he would change the uniforms of pro sports’ most iconic teams – namely the L.A. Lakers, New York Yankees, Dallas Cowboys and Montreal Canadiens. Meanwhile, I still can’t convince Saran Wrap to redesign the Miami Dolphins cheerleaders’ uniforms.

If you haven’t already scoffed at the notion, take a look for yourself.

Read the rest of this entry »

This is the goalie mask of Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price, and I’m saddened that it’s not the tribute to The Texas Chainsaw Masscre for which we were all hoping. It’s actually a tribute to Jacques Plante, the inventor of the goalie mask and the first one to wear it in regulation play. Yes, there were days when goalies didn’t wear masks or helmets. And you thought hockey players were ugly now.

More looks at Arrigo’s functional art here, via Deadspin. This could only be topped by Jessica Biel running away from Price, screaming. Read the rest of this entry »

This was on TSN, so it’s either really happening or all of Canada has lost their minds. I honestly am not sure which outcome is more probable. UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre and NHL tough guy Georges Laraque, who played in 25 games for the Montreal Canadiens before being cut last month.

“On the ice I would never go against him, he’s going to beat me and I agree with that 100 percent, but on the floor I have no problem,” GSP added.

St-Pierre currently weighs 190 pounds, while Laraque tips the scales at 270 pounds, something the former NHL tough guy thinks will work in his favour.

“I think because of the weight difference he’s going to have a hard time,” said Laraque. “I want to pick him up and body slam him.” –TSN [Canada]

Good luck with that, Georgie. I’d rather wrestle an alligator. At least that way, if things get out of hand, you can always get somebody to shoot the gator. The “match” is happening at St-Pierre’s Tristar gym in Montreal, and then after that, they should go to the Bell Centre and fight on ice skates, just to be fair. They’re all about fairness and sharing in Canada. I was in Windsor last month and I saw two homeless guys with half a beard each. What a country.

In one of the less shocking stories in sports history, Philadelphia Flyers fans trashed a car after Philly’s Sunday night thrashing of the Montreal Canadiens, presumably because it had Montreal plates. On any given gameday, it’s just another case of empty beer cans littered on the opposing team’s car. But since it’s Philadelphia, throw in a slashed tire, broken hubcap, stolen bug guard, vanished license plates, and the fact that it belongs to Montreal Gazette hockey writer Pat Hickey. Sacre bleu!

Hickey apparently missed the opportunity to park in the designated media lot, thus having to park in general population. His Quebecois license plates then became chum to a sea of sharks. The vandalism to Hickey’s 1999 Honda Accord (line forms to the left, ladies) has drawn a great deal of media attention in the wake of a post-game riot in Montreal when the Habs beat the Penguins. Hickey is using the vandalism to his car as a battle cry to sports fans: “GET OFF MY LAWN, YOU PUNKS!”

Whip some batteries of justice at me, Pat:

There were several incidents at Game 1 of the Flyers-Canadiens series here Sunday night. I saw fans in Canadiens jerseys heckled, which is fair game. I also saw several of them being bumped around, which isn’t acceptable.

Some vandals pulled the plug on a pregame telecast by Radio-Canada and another Canadian TV crew was harassed. (Montreal Gazette)

Hickey’s biggest problem with the vandalism to his car was the theft of his license plates, because that means he’d have to deal with people at customs when crossing the border back to Canadia. He even had a good sense of humor about it when Canadiens coach Jacques “Strap” Martin asked him, “Hey Pat, you got a car I can borrow?” Added Martin, “Aw haw haw, zee comedee!”

Citing Philadelphia’s most popular moment of fan discretion, Hickey likens the vandalism to Eagles fans hurling snowballs at Santa Claus. That’s really unfair to Philadelphia fans, seeing as that happened in 1968. Most of Philly’s violent fans weren’t even born yet. Give them time to blossom, Pat.

The Montreal Canadiens snuck into the Stanley Cup Playoffs as an 8-seed in the East, edging out the New York Rangers by a single point in the standings. They pulled off a sizable upset in the first round as they knocked out the 1-seed Washington Capitals in seven games. They drew the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second round and managed to force that series to a seventh game as well. The Canadiens won again, 5-2.

“They did a lot of good things that good teams need to do to win,” Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby said. “Unfortunately for us, we didn’t do that.”

Pittsburgh did little right on Wednesday night — and the Canadiens played perhaps their best game of the playoffs.

Montreal took a 4-0 lead in the game’s first 26 minutes, chasing goalie Marc-Andre Fleury by scoring on four of just 13 shots. After that, the visiting team did what it has all series, limiting Pittsburgh’s high-powered offense with a suffocating plan in the defensive zone and relying on the brilliance of goalie Jaroslav Halak. –NHL.com

Oh, and we had some riots–in Montreal (did we mention this game was in Pittsburgh?) Read the rest of this entry »