Meh, 'sti la merde sudoku!

So we’ve had about 5 preseason games out there, and the fantasies of the Habs faithful have placed Cammalleri with Gionta and Gomez in one line as the collective ‘eggs in one basket’ line. I’ll admit, it would be nice, but reality dictates that teams will take advantage and exploit your weaknesses on other lines if you were foolish enough to do that – not to mention that these diminutive forwards are all under 6 feet and probably pretty easy to throw around.

Jacques Martin has been experimenting with line combinations and it appears that Gomez and Cammalleri will be on the top line with Andrei Kostitsyn. Brian Gionta will be on the second line with Tomas Plekanec and Travis Moen. Smart moves, provided the players on the line do their part. The first few games we’ve seen Cammalleri begin to click with Gomez and Kostitsyn. One guy draws the attention, the other cycles the puck and gets it to the sniper for the goal. Hockey fundamentals.

Nowadays, too many players try to wear too many hats. You see Power Forwards who are trying to pull off fancy dekes and footwork and snipers getting into scuffles and throwing big reckless hits. A team is comprised of 23 players. Each with an individual set of skills that plays an integral part to the teams success. When you have goons trying to score, and forwards trying to play defense, the critical balance is thrown out of whack.

Get all the skaters to hit 88mph!

I think we may be able to get back on course, provided the roles are blended correctly. With time these formulas could prove to be very successful – but we only have a few short days to put the solution into action. I’m praying there’s some Doc Brown or Doctor Horrible in Jacques Martin’s master plan. Chemistry has never really been our strong suit – in fact, I think we’ve received a failing grade every year. If Gainey is looking for a new solution, now is the time to put it to the test. To the laboratory!

Hey - at least I'm not like that dumbass Demers. I can read, tabarnak.

My fellow Habaneros I present to you, our shrimps – Mike Cammalleri, Brian Gionta and Scott Gomez.

When you have 3 guys all under 6 feet signing in a hockey hotbed like Montreal, that title is what it amounts to. Three shrimps with the potential for being really tasty (read: skilled) dangling precariously over the flames (read Montreal fans + media). With enough careful prodding and pressure, these three shrimps could turn out to be one of the best combo lines in the game, despite their stature. That’s how I’d prefer it – all under the radar, not making big waves, just being motivated and supported enough to keep clicking and producing. They go out there and give it their all every shift, and if they dog it, we let them know it. I’d like to call that the ’slow cook’, under even heat.

We all know there’s always one jackass at a barbecue gathering that insists on turning up the heat because they’re impatient and figure more heat = quicker end result. Sure the heat provides instant results, but often burns out anything placed within it in short order. You could have a prime slab of beef (Read: Kovalev) but if you turn it up to much, you end up burning it out and you have to discard it.

Ow dude. That's hot.

I think we have a lot of these jackasses in Montreal. Hopefully, the king of the grill (read: Gainey) has the patience to put up with the fans over developing his talent, because after awhile we know he’ll end up being thrown upon his own fire.

See this? - Trust me, you don't want any of this. This old dog is gonna taste like shit.

Are any of you Habaneros out there hungry? I know I am. Bring on the season!