Destiny, Les Habs - C'est Incroyable!

Vol. I, No. 60

Montreal magic was preserved in Pittsburgh tonight, as the Habs defeated the defending Stanley Cup champions 5 - 2.  It was not an even game.  The Canadiens were on top from the get go.

There is a rich history with the Penguins and Canada. From a hockey standpoint, the first game ever played by the 1967 expansion Penguins was against the Montreal Canadiens.  On October 11, 1967 league President Clarence Campbell dropped the opening puck in the first home opener at the Igloo. To build the franchise, Pittsburgh drafted French Canadian players from the minor leagues.  From Michel Briere, through Jean Pronovost, to Mario Lemieux, the Penguins have always had a strong French connection. That may not be a coincidence.

The Pittsburgh Penguins play at the forks of the Ohio. Two rivers come together, the Allegheny and Monongahela, from the north and southeast. They form the first gateway to the west, after crossing the Appalachian Mountains (also known locally as the Alleghenies). From Pittsburgh, a raft can take you to New Orleans, and a canoe can reach Minneapolis (with some hard paddling upstream).

French explorers preceded the English colonists by about 70 years - Mont Real (Royal Mountain) was named in 1535 by Samuel de Champlain on the land of the local Huron Indians. French fur traders, known as Voyageurs, penetrated the hinterlands and claimed much of North America west of the English coastal settlements. From Montreal and the St. Lawrence on down, the French extended their influence all the way to Louisiana.

Of course, English settlers claimed all lands to the west, and both powers started to build forts in the outback, eventually leading to the Seven Years' War (as it was known in Europe) from 1756 to 1763.  Here, it was known as the French and Indian War. One of the most strategic points was Fort Du Quense, located at the headwaters of the Ohio.  It was established in 1754, and contested by English settlers moving west from the state of Pennsylvania.  

About that time, a young Virginian lieutenant, working with English General Edward Braddock, was able to convince the British to change tactics in the woods, to defeat the French and their Indian allies.  His name was George Washington. By 1758, the British controlled the area and built a new bigger fort, naming it Fort Pitt in honor of William Pitt the Elder, Great Britain's leader during the Seven Years War. 

So why the history lesson? Because the French have again invaded Fort Pitt, known these days as Pittsburgh. The Montreal Canadiens faced the defending Stanley Cup champions in a decisive game seven, at the Mellon Arena just uphill from the old fort.  It's really only short walk to the point of the triangle where the rivers all meet. It's the same triangle that appears as part of the Penguins' logo.  This time, the French won.

With the Penguins' elimination, tonight's game was the last sporting event ever to be held at Mellon Arena, which started out in life as Pittsburgh's Civic Arena. Its renaming was appropriate, as one of the original franchise investors was Richard Mellon Scaife. Tonight's game was the 166th straight sellout. The place has also been known as the Igloo, or the house that Mario built. Suffice to say that it has a long and proud history, as a symbol of Pittsburgh's Golden Gateway revival of the 1960s. A chapter of Pittsburgh history is now done.  It is curtains on the old Civic Arena.  

Next year, the Pens take the ice at the new Consol Energy Center, named for the coal company of the same name. Con Coal would not exist if it were not for the mountains that have the coal, and the rivers on which it was barged, along with iron ore from ranges to the north and west. Thank Andrew Carnegie, Edgar Thompson and other industrial robber barons for building the infrastructure that enabled development of the coal and steel industries. But I digress.

In May 2010, an odd constellation of events has happened in the hockey world.  The best in the west have made it to their conference finals. In the east, it is exactly the opposite. The French invaders from Montreal entered the Stanley Cup playoffs as the bottom seed. They took down the #1 seed, and tonight defeated the #4 seed, defending SC champs. They have emerged from the Pittsburgh series on top. 

Tonight's game opened with ex-NJ Devil Brian Gionta on the scoreboard with a PP goal at 0:32 of the first period (with Sid Crosby sitting in the penalty box). Then, Marc-Andre Fleury allowed three more goals, finally being pulled in the second. Pittsburgh battled back, but could not overcome a two goal deficit. Gionta scored another power play goal, his second of the game, to put the icing on the cake.

The real Canadien hero has got to be Jaroslav Halak. Montreal's netminder was dominant, stopping 37 of 39 shots. Facing the most effective power play in the league, he stonewalled Pittsburgh three times in the third period. The Habs, meanwhile, scored a PP goal on Pittsburgh replacement goaltender Brent Johnson.

Montreal was loose, and had nothing to lose. Pittsburgh looked stiff throughout the series. In short, there was no doubt at the end. The better team won.

Montreal's win makes the Eastern Conference "topless". The #1, #2 and #3 seeds are already gone. With Pittsburgh out, the #4 seed is also done. That leaves the Eastern Conference final to the #6, #7 and #8 seeds. The Flyers forced a game seven tonight, defeating Boston 2-0. In fact, the Flyers are only the sixth team in history to come back from a 0-3 series deficit.

Where did the Bruins go?  Where did these Canadiens come from? The Penguins now join Detroit, Washington, Buffalo and New Jersey, 21 other NHL teams and the rest of the college hockey world.  Hockey is over except for five remaining NHL teams and the IIHF World Championships in Germany (which end on May 23rd). The last weeks of ice hockey are drawing to a close.

Meanwhile, out in the NHL west, the #1 team (San Jose) and #2 seed (Chicago) are waiting for the Conference finals to begin. The only semi-final left is Boston-Philly.  Game seven of that series happens on Friday night (for the first time in months, there will be no NHL game on Thursday). For hockey fans, it is a harbinger of the end of the season, although we can all pay attention to the IIHF games which run for the next 11 days.

A Stanley Cup final is shaping up, with the best of the west facing the least of the east. Don't pay attention to the seedings. A Cup outcome is anybody's guess.  Could it be destiny for the Habs to again rise to the top?  Nous verrons (we shall see).

Hockey Rules.