Seasons changed, both on the calendar and the NHL schedule. I | Forum
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Jan 25 '18
LONDON, Ont. Ramon Humber Jersey . -- Antoine Bibeau bought the Val-dOr Foreurs valuable time at the Memorial Cup with his 51-save shutout Friday. Val-dOr didnt have a full tank mentally or physically in a 1-0 win over the host London Knights to kick off the tournament. Theyd won the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League title in a Game 7 on Tuesday in Baie-Comeau, Que. But Bibeaus heroics allow the Foreurs to rest on that important first win of the tournament for two days before facing the Ontario Hockey Leagues Guelph Storm on Monday. "It really was Bibeau who made the difference tonight," Foreurs forward Anthony Mantha said. "Winning this game gives us a little break, gives us two days off and we come back strong on Monday. Its just a confidence-builder for our team in general." Mantha, a first-round draft pick of the Detroit Red Wings, scored in the first period for his 82nd goal in as many games for the Foreurs this season. Among Bibeaus pivotal saves was getting his blocker on a penalty-shot attempt by London forward Bo Horvat early in the third period and stopping Knights captain Chris Tierney on a breakaway in the first. The Toronto Maple Leafs prospect faced an average of 40 shots a game in the final four games of the QMJHL final series against the Drakkar, which set him up for Fridays performance. "In the last couple of weeks I was used to receiving lots of shots, so I think I was just ready and I was just trying to give the team a chance to win tonight," Bibeau said. "We wanted to get the first win as quick as possible." The Memorial Cup has been awarded to Canadian junior hockey champions since 1919 in memory of those who died in the First World War. The tournament includes the Ontario, Western and Quebec champions as well as the host team. The Western Hockey League champion Edmonton Oil Kings face the OHLs Storm on Saturday. The team with the best record after the preliminary round earns a bye to the final May 25. The second- and third-place teams meet in the semifinal May 23. If two teams are tied for third, a tiebreaker game is played. The Foreurs guaranteed themselves at least a tiebreaker game with their win Friday. This years tournament opener featured the least-rested team against a hockey club playing its first game in five weeks. The Knights were eliminated in the second round of playoffs by Guelph on April 11. The hosts Knights held the Foreurs scoreless on a pair of two-man advantages in the first two periods and outshot them 51-28. London goaltender Anthony Stolarz played his first game in over seven weeks because of an eight-game suspension in the post-season. Stolarz played well in stopping all but one shot in front of a capacity crowd at Budweiser Gardens. The weary Foreurs sometimes reached for a pass instead of skating for the puck. "We need to play a little bit better defensively," head coach Mario Durocher said. "I think at one point we were mentally tired and we started to run all over in our defensive zone." London was one of three teams who scored over 300 goals in the OHL this season. But the Knights didnt recover their scoring touch despite three power-play chances, the penalty-shot opportunity and pulling Stolarz for an extra attacker with almost two minutes to go. London also shot the puck wide of the net several times when they had a shooting lane. "Its definitely a critical moment and Im definitely kicking myself for not scoring on that," Horvat said of his penalty-shot attempt. "Theres not much you can do about it now. Learn from it and not dwell on the past. "Yeah, missed nets. We probably had 10 missed nets. I think we could have had 60 shots. Maybe thats something we have to start thinking about and starting burying out chances." The Knights face the Oil Kings in their next game Sunday. This is Londons third straight trip to the Memorial Cup after winning the OHL championship the previous two years. The Knights lost to Shawinigan in overtime in the 2012 final and were eliminated in last years semifinal by the Portland Winterhawks in Saskatoon. Bibeau, a 20-year-old from Victoriaville, almost had a goaltenders worst nightmare in the first period. While waiting for the puck to drop for a faceoff at the far end of Budweiser Gardens, he looked up at the scoreboard a little too long and looked down just in time to close his legs on the puck. "The 200-foot (save) was easy. It was just me. I wasnt ready," Bibeau said. "I saw the puck at the last second. It was an easy save, but a key save I think." Mantha, six foot five and 204 pounds, swooped from Stolarzs left and tucked the puck under the Knights goaltender on his stick side at 16:20 of the first period. The game was scheduled for 7 p.m., but the puck dropped 34 minutes later because of pre-game ceremonies that included the song "Highway of Heroes" by The Trews.Richie Incognito Jersey . The 36-year-old Colts receiver is going back to the playoffs as a division champion. Micah Hyde Jersey . The result means Atletico Madrid now tops the table, with Madrid level on points in second and Barcelona a point behind in third with nine games remaining as the title race shapes up to be the closest in years.When you grew up in Ottawa, back in the days before the Sens, you really had just two choices when it came to NHL teams to cheer for: the Habs and the Leafs. If I could afford a therapist, I imagine the good doctor would tell be that my affection for the Leafs was part of an ongoing and pathological need to be alone and unhappy. Though, quite simply, its more likely that its because thats what was on local TV in Ottawa. I admit I could be wrong. I dont have a PhD. Thats right. I was a Leafs fan. I had a Leafs sweater that I slept in, that my dad bought me after some endless whining in the aisles of a Canadian Tire. An Allan Bester poster hung above my bed. I wore number 9 in Little League because of Russ Courtnall, and I may have cried when he was traded to the dreaded Habs for John Kordic. My parents werent sports fans, but they let me bring an old black and white TV into my room to watch Hockey Night in Canada, to fall asleep to the third period charms of Bob Cole and Harry Neale. I cant often remember my postal code, or where I lived in 2009, or the name of that girl, but I easily recall the names of Dale Degray, Peter Ing, Brad Smith, Ken Yaremchuk, and Dan Daoust, forgettable Leafs from a forgettable era.The arrival of the Ottawa Senators coincided with the arrival of my first love. Well, the first reciprocated love. Fittingly I used this sea change to shift my affections to the Sens, whose losing was familiar but who provided a new hope, a virginal slate upon which to build a new love. The Sens got better, but love did not. Like it tends to, it left, mostly my doing, as I had found affections for all sorts of other things one does as they enter their 20s.The Sens and I remained true to each other, even though I carried the relationship. I lived in Vancouver for a few years, but never felt any connection to the Canucks, nor for any West coast girl. Well, there was one girl, but she left me for my best friend. In that manner, she was not unlike the Sens. All kinds of promise, ending in sure disappointment; the better looking, more mature Leafs beating the Sens in the playoffs year after year.With both the Sens and the Leafs the pain was the same: expectations were crushed by reality. No matter what I did, season after season they hurt me. They left me alone in June, as other teams and their fans moved on to full playoff beards, Cup parades, and what I can only assume is happiness.Years passed. I moved back to Ottawa. I watched hockey less. I dated seldom. I grew a playoff beard in January. My mother worried. She had nightmares that I was floating through life without RRSPs, without a mortgage, without a wife, and without kids. My dad seemed to understand, even though he wasnt much for hockey. I moved to Costa Rica. My beard got longer. My tan was superb. Televised hockey was difficult to find. Beer was cheap. There was no fear of commitment, because everyone was transient, moving on, moving forward, or at least sideways.But the rains came and I returned to Canada, but this time to Montreal, a city that truly appreciates the lovelesss. Adolphus Washington Jersey. A city where the bars are open late, and life exists only in the present. And I found myself watching hockey again, with people who didnt know about my past, about the Leafs and the Sens, who didnt know of my failings in my mothers eyes. And I found myself cheering for the Montreal Canadiens, the longtime enemy of both the Leafs and the Sens. Outwardly I was a fan, but inside I was in turmoil. I felt like I was cheating on myself, as if I was committing hockey adultery, even though I was single and every team I ever loved sucked.And then came 2010. And a magical run through to the Conference Finals. And Halak signs. And PK Subban. And overtime wins. And there was a girl. A girl I loved. And for a brief moment I thought about breeding, about ceremony, pageantry, making my mum happy, a parade down Ste. Catherine, about my dad in a tuxedo, about rings.But, as hockey and love have taught me, all good things end in horrible, crushing, debilitating disappointment sometime in June. The Habs lost to the Flyers, and someone else won the Cup, and Halak was traded, and the girl left because I was afraid she might not, and summer arrived with condolence beers and late nights on terrasses and waiting for next year. Always next year. My mum didnt say anything, but I could see her deleting imaginary grandchildren in her mind, and transferring familial hope to my sister and her young family.And life went on. Seasons changed, both on the calendar and the NHL schedule. I still rocked a playoff beard, out of both laziness and hope, so Id be prepared in case of victory. The Habs sunk back to middle-of-the-pack mediocrity. The Leafs and the Sens lived in that same ether. My mum would send me promotional materials for post-graduate programs and ask how my married friends were doing. My dads tuxedo remained in the back of his closet, dry-cleaned and at the ready. I still watched Habs games, but my interest has waned, my commitment faltered.Then, two weekends ago, I was having a few adult beverages and watching the Sens and Habs battling each other in an important late-season game. It was like watching the past fight for your affections. With just under four minutes left, it looked like the Sens had the game won. But the Habs scored once, twice, and a third time with only .3 seconds left to tie it, before winning it in overtime.So buoyed by the victory, and spirited by the spirits, I headed out to the local to meet a friend and celebrate the victory. And in the back of the bar, a bar cheered by the win and the hour, was the girl from 2010. And we talked for a bit. And she asked about my folks. And we smiled when youre supposed to smile. And we spoke longingly about spring coming. And after a silence, and a pause, she had to leave, and as she did she looked back and said, "Maybe Ill see you soon." Maybe. And maybe the Habs will make a run, and my mum will stop worrying about matrimony, and my dads tuxedo will be content in its stasis, and maybe I will see her soon. That wouldnt be so bad. Better than being a Leafs fan. Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys China NFL Cheap Jerseys ' ' '
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