Not the leaders, the Canadiens. And they’re already down 1-0. Mike Boone has details.
Meanwhile, Quebec’s political party leaders are having their makeup done while they practice memorizing which members of opposing parties’ teams have put their foot in it since the campaign began.
Live blog of the debate after the jump.
Adrian muses about the scheduling of tomorrow’s debate between Charest, Boisclair and Dumont, coinciding with a Canadiens game and American Idol.
But is that really a problem? The debate is in French, so anglophones aren’t likely to tune in anyway. As for the Habs, who are desperately playing musical chairs with a half dozen other teams for two remaining playoff spots, are their fans likely to watch a political debate? Or are political junkies going to be seduced by hockey?
The only person I know who’s going to be flicking back and forth between hockey and the debate is me.
Besides, the debate starts a half hour after the hockey game does. That’s plenty of time for the Habs to flush the rest of their season down the crapper.
Apparently the media firestorm that pounds at our beloved Canadiens day after day has brought out the veterans (Yvan Cournoyer, Henri Richard) who say they need to calm down.
But really, are there that many media outlets covering the Canadiens’ every move? Let’s see:
Some of the above don’t cover every game, and others probably rely on wire services a lot, but it’s still a lot of coverage. The Gazette, for example, will have the following on a Habs home game:
That’s a lot of people doing a lot of work just for one news outlet, and this crew is small compared to the number of people required for adequate television coverage.
So maybe they’re on to something. The question is: what do we do about it?
Canadiens General Manager Bob Gainey showed he has the poker face of a champion by trading longtime (and hard-working) Hab defenceman Craig Rivet.
Hopefully Bob still has something in his cards that will give us a forward who can score goals.
Meanwhile, the blogosphere is starting to react.
Some are doing it philosophically:
We who follow the Habs have known for a while that Craig Rivet might be traded, and there had already been considerable debate amongst fans about the value of that decision. It was a difficult, wrenching discussion, since it almost completely centered on the concept of ‘intangibles’.
Others not so much:
LATENDRESS RYDER AND HIGGINS SUCK. HEATLEY IS THE MAN. […] GO SENS GO
Meanwhile, the media in California seem to think this is a good deal for them too.
Fanatique.ca has a roundup of how former Habs are doing in their post-Montreal hockey careers.