I'm Back: The Favourite, part 1

My life has been a bit upside down for the past month-ish, and I haven't been posting as I should. I apologize and am now looking to get back in the swing of things.

We'll get started with what is going to be an eleven part feature The Favourite
Since we lost most of the familiar faces of the franchise this off-season, many people are clamoring to find a player to identify with, to like. Even halfway through the season, the amount of people on Twitter asking what jersey to buy supports this. I'm going to profile eleven players, and advocate all of them as potential 'favourites'. They may not all be the best, but they may have some aspects that just jump out and say "Yes, I'm proud to have his number. I'm proud to cheer for him. He's a favourite".



Favourite Hab: #46 - Andrei Kostitsyn

The Basics:
Andrei will always have a bit of a dark mark on him that's not his fault. We selected him over a few players who've gotten some press time, guys with the last names like Carter and Getslaf. He had an immensly rocky start to this season, and was viewed as nothing special last season (despite a respectable 23 goals), but most remember two seasons ago when he had 26 goals in 78 games. He's spent much of his time with the Habs as being touted as having immense talent we're waiting to have show up. He's got one of the best shots on the team (Cammalleri's is better, and while Bergeron's is certainly harder, Kostitsyn's is more accurate), and it's become clear he's moved out of Kovalev's shadow and works very well with Thomas Plekanec.

The Stats:
AK46 is a proven 20 goal scorer, which is naturally useful on a team with issues with secondary scoring, though since Gionta has gone down there's been nothing secondary about Andrei's role with the team. Andrei Kostitsyn, a six-foot tall winger has 10 goals and 12 assists this season (sitting at +2), putting him on pace for another 20+ goal season on paper, but its important to note he was held to only two goals in the first quarter of the season. He's producing at a much faster rate now and it will be interesting to see where he ends up this season.

Intangibles:
Despite what people may say about his occasional moments of under-performing, he's dealt with immense pressure surrounding him, be it unfair comparisons to Alexei Kovalev, controversy concerning shady Belorussian mobsters, or the drama surrounding his brother early this season. One of his biggest issues had been communications issues with the rest of the team, but since becoming closer talking with Plekanec, his production has ramped up this season. As he becomes more open with the team, we can expect the best out of him. He's also finally discovered exactly what he can do when he puts the puck on the net. Often ignored, while not a heavy hitter by any means, he isn't afraid to take the body at all.

Highlights:
All highlight videos are not my own creation.

Little brother returns, The golden boy is shipped out of town

Montreal Canadiens call up RW S. Kostitsyn, trade RW G. Latendresse for Centre B. Pouliot.

I assume I'm not the only one who didn't see this coming, despite the fact that I've been dead to the world for the past week. Poulot was selected fourth overall in the 2005 NHL entry draft, which makes me wonder if he'll poke some fun at the fifth overall pick from the same round. Though you could just look at this as Montreal trading up 41 spots four years after the fact, while laughing about how people said "Montreal is dumb taking a goalie, Theodore and Huet will always be rock solid for them"

Latender was really getting lashings for underperforming, though his real issue was trying to be a finesse player when every aspect of his build and skillset says "Crash the net you're a power forward". That said, best of luck to him in Minnesota. Good to see members of the Habs playing with a guy named Koivu.

Speaking of which, we really need to get on signing Plekanec. I don't know what the cap implications of this deal were, but we aquired an underperforming centre for an underperforming winger and somehow I doubt this was meant as just a screw you to Kyle Chipchura.

Maybe the real thing here is either our maligned winger (who has 13 points in 16 games in the AHL) is either going to move up to the NHL on a more regular basis or is going to move out of town in the very immediate future. I'm not sure which I prefer so much as I hope we just get solid play. I;d like to see both Kostitsyn's succeed, but I want what's best for the team first. I'm not worried about this callup, I'm just curious about it's implications.

In other news Greg Stewart is finally back in the AHL. Finally.

Ten reasons to stay optimistic

Andrei Markov looks to be out somewhere between two and four months with a tendon problem having introduced his leg to Carey Price's skate.

This is, naturally, one of the worst things that can happen to us, but it's important to stay optimistic so here's ten reasons to stay optimistic following last night's game and Markov's injury:


10: Basically impossible for Markov to hurt himself in our next match against the Leafs on Oct 31.

9: Markov will be able to gain stellar insight hanging out with Rick Dipietro, Pascal Leclaire, Tim Connolly and Marian Gaborik. He may also play mentor to Mike Van Ryn.

8: Yannick Weber is actually pretty okay at moving the puck around

7: So offensively deep our fourth line centre can get a powerplay goal

6: We aren't the Atlanta Thrashers

5: Our winger demanding a trade is not actually playing for us anyway

4: Huge advantage over last season, not getting tired out having to stand for so many Centennial celebrations

3: Those new guys are actually pretty good

2: That Price guy seems pretty good

1: At least we can beat the Leafs

Better late than never.

Some news that's causing so much buzz that I'd lose cred for not commenting

1: Sergei Kostitsyn has DEMANDED A TRADE! Considering he has no ability to jump ship to the KHL. I really can't see any team picking up an uppity Belorussian with severe entitlement issues. I wonder if we do trade Sergei, if he'll take it out on an linesman.

The real threat here though, is it effecting his brother any more than the Montreal fanbase attacking him. Andrei is actually a good player, despite what others would have you believe, and it would suck to see him paralyzed by his brother.

2: We won't have the captain named in the immediate future. I've used this as an opportunity to buy a Cammelleri jersey with an A on it. Now that this information is public I'm sure Gainey will be rushing to sew a C onto Camm's jersey.

Wake me up when September ends

A few thoughts as Theo Fleury entertains multiple job offers from teams less likely to respect him than his Calgary fanbase, and I drown myself for using a Green Day song as a blog title.


Oft-injured and now vegan Gorges Laraque is now the Habs rep in the NHLPA, succeeding Mike "I Got the Brains of a Dinosaur Too" Komisarek. He plans to defend the wages of his coworkers, and tearing the face off of anyone who offers him a cheeseburger. This is great news for anyone scared of any NHLPA meetings passing motions like this


I think a good question to raise before the season starts is who's the winner in the Kessel sweeps, Toronto or... Montreal.
Simply put, Toronto's need for Kessel is predicated entirely on Toronto being unable to sign a 35+ goal scorer in the free agency period. As much as Burke's trip to Sweden was almost certainly not just to rouse the Monster, Cammelleri was likely a second pick behind the untampered twins still playing for the Canucks. Because of this there's a little bit of subtext between the two teams that isn't really apparent. Did we beat Toronto concisely, stealing one of their home-town boys, or did we save them from some short dude, allowing them to bid their future on Phil "Totally not the next Dany Heatley in terms of Attitude Problems" Kessel. Because of this, and because I pretend to occasionally have journalistic integrity, I'll be comparing the two often this season; both every few weeks to see how their doing, and more specifically I'll be comparing the two when they face each other to see how confrontation goes.
... I have a sinking feeling Cammelleri is going to perform better than Kessel will on Oct 1.


The pre-season is over for Montreal, which means we can get back to figuring out who our captain will be; I'm waiting intently as I don't want to get the letter wrong when I buy a jersey this season. Despite my scared reaction to one of our losses, we played pretty good, though special teams need some work. Training camp won't feature Sergei Kostitsyn, but that's okay as last season he proved all he was good for was irritating Mikhail Grabovski, which while admirable, I'd rather it be done by someone who can actually inflict pain upon him.