Randy Cunneyworth, the unfortunate English-speaking soul…maybe he'll have the same fate as the Canadiens last English-speaking head coach, Al McNeil, who was bucked down to the Montreal AHL-affiliate after leading them to a Stanley Cup.
We, on the other hand, have a French-speaking coach because Manitobans will accept no less. It's that desire for excellence in our coaches that could bring us victory tonight, though apparently Claude Noel doesn't feel like needling the Habs about it.
In non-lingual news, the Jets are coming off yet another Bettman-point game, losing to the Islanders in the skills competition, and have gone a respectable 6-3-1 in their last 10 games. It’s good enough to put us neck-and-neck with the Capitals for second in the division, and in other good performance news we look like we deserve to be exactly where we are (according to Fenwick data). Unfortunately, by the same data, Montreal is not where they’re supposed to be, so hopefully Cunneyworth has to communicate with his players using whistles and hand signals and they give up a million goals.
Key to the Game:
- Making sure all the signs in the MTS Centre are in French.
Jets (33 GP, 15-13-5, 35 PTS)
Forwards
#9 Evander Kane – #8 Alexander Burmistrov – #26 Blake Wheeler
#16 Andrew Ladd – #80 Nik Antropov – #13 Kyle Wellwood
#15 Tanner Glass – #19 Jim Slater – #20 Antti Miettinen
#17 Eric Fehr – #14 Tim Stapleton – #22 Chris Thorburn
Defencemen
#39 Tobias Enstrom – #33 Dustin Byfuglien
#5 Mark Stuart – #4 Zach Bogosian
#6 Ron Hainsey – #29 Johnny Oduya
Goaltender
#31 Ondrej Pavelec
I get tempted to refer to Miettinen as "Meat", not "Mittens."
Canadiens (35 GP, 13-15-7, 35 PTS)
Forwards
#13 Mike Cammalleri – #14 Tomas Plekanec – #32 Travis Moen
#67 Max Pacioretty – #51 David Desharnais – #72 Erik Cole
#46 Andrei Kostitsyn – #81 Lars Eller – #71 Louis Leblanc
#52 Mathieu Darche – #15 Petteri Nokelainen – #45 Mike Blunden
Defencemen
#26 Josh Gorges – #76 P.K. Subban
#22 Tomas Kaberle – #17 Chris Campoli
#75 Hal Gill – #61 Raphael Diaz
Goaltender
#31 Carey Price
It'd be really cool to kick these guys while they're down. They're coming off a tough loss in Chicago last night, so let's take advantage of their weary asses.
Player to boo without mercy: Carey Price. Without a doubt.
Prediction: Jets 3-1 Canadiens
Keep your eyes out for Cunneyworth's French phrasebook…maybe we can snatch it and replace it with one that makes him say inappropriate phrases, a la Monty Python.
