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Thankfully, the Game Wasn't the Main Event

December 12, 2018, 2:20 PM ET [276 Comments]
Karine Hains
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
For 4 years now, the Canadiens have been running their Club 1909 membership program and once or twice a season, they organize an even at the Montreal Casino were some members are invited to watch the game on a giant screen while answering questions to win prizes. Everyone has 2 free drinks and complimentary finger food is served all night. Last night was one of those event and while the prizes to be won were amazing, the game that was showed was almost unbearable.





Unsurprisingly, after a bad game from Mike Reilly in Chicago, he was the healthy scratch on defence and Noah Juulsen made his comeback after suffering a facial injury on November 19. Reilly may be a Minnesota native but Julien has proven this year that he doesn't care about those things (he ended Karl Alzner's iron man sequence at the start of the season and didn't play Antti Niemi against his former team in Chicago). Speaking of Niemi, after 7 straight starts by Carey Price, he was the chosen starter last night and his 17 days without game action showed. Before last night, Niemi had an impressive 11-4-2 record against the Minnesota outfit a 2.11 GAA and a .922 save percentage, suffice to say those numbers will have taken a hit last night.

It was obvious from the start of the game yesterday that the Canadiens were in for rough night. From the initial puck drop, the Wild players were everywhere and the Habs were nowhere to be seen, well aside from in the penalty box. For a second game in a row, they received a lot of penalty minutes (33) and the penalty kill was purely atrocious, the Wild scoring 4 times in as many occasion with the extra man. Even worst, when the Canadiens did receive a power play, the Wild scored a shorthanded goal. There really isn't much positive to be taken from that game... I guess it can be mentioned that Deslauriers fought for the first time since being injured in the preseason and looked pretty good doing it.

I'm not sure that most fans stuck with this game until the end, to be frank, I might not have done so if I hadn't been the the Casino for the special event. Even when your team gives such an awful performance, it's hard not to appreciate an event like this, mini-burgers, chicken wings, ribs, grilled cheese...the food kept on coming as fast as the Wild was scoring. The numerous quiz questions took our mind off of the massacre that was happening on screen and there were some awesome prizes to be won. The evening's grand prize was a pair of game used and autographed Carey Price pads and through the evening, signed pucks by Beliveau and Robinson were won, a signed Patrick Roy stick, a Gallagher autographed 8x10 frame, a signed Gainey jersey and a signed Price jersey to name a few. It was the 4th time I attended one of these events and I'm happy to report that I did not leave empty handed since I added a Larry Robinson autographed puck to the collection. This latest addition keeps my perfect 4/4 record prizes wise at the Casino. In the past, I scored an autographed PK Subban signed jersey, a frame and signed Boom Boom Geoffrion jersey and a Dickie Moore autographed puck.





The Canadiens will be back in action on Thursday in Montreal against the Hurricanes and we can only hope that they will have turned the page on this sorry display and perform much better. Today, the players will be visiting the kids at the Ste-Justine hospital, the Montreal Children's hospital and the Shriners hospital for children. Perhaps this good deed is what they need to get some perspective and get over that loss quickly...
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