Math god Tom Rokicki recently proved that all possible Rubik’s Cube configurations can be solved in 23 turns or fewer. In order to arrive at this conclusion he needed massive computing power — the research was done on supercomputers at Sony Pictures Imageworks (in the idle time between rendering special effects for Hollywood movies). Rokicki’s conclusion states that for any legal Rubik’s Cube configuration, a solution exists in 21, 22, or 23 moves. (And a few special-case cube configurations may be solvable in 20 or fewer.) Now the trick is…what are those moves?

Rokicki’s research is interesting in that it doesn’t actually tell you specifically how to solve a given cube (contrary to my catchy blog title above) — it just proves that a solution exists for all possible legal cube configurations, and that solution is guaranteed to be achievable in 23 moves or fewer.

This research is one step in a process that may arrive at “God’s algorithm,” a theoretically ideal solution to a puzzle. From Wikipedia’s page on the algorithm to end all algorithms:

"God's algorithm is a notion originating in discussions of ways to solve the Rubik's Cube puzzle, but which can also be applied to other combinatorial puzzles and mathematical games. It stands for any practical algorithm that produces a solution having the least possible number of moves, the idea being that an omniscient being would know an optimal step from any given configuration.

…It is unknown whether a practical God’s algorithm exists for Rubik’s Cube."

Further reading: Rokicki’s paper on 25-move solutions, a nice Slashdot explanation of the implications of the research, more on God’s algorithm, and a highly math-intensive page on Optimal solutions for Rubik’s Cube.

I've been saying it all year. I hate that song. I despise it. I cringe when I hear it. I think it pumps the other team up.

If you know anyone who goes to games at the Bell Centre and sings this, please take them out to the country and throw them off a bridge. Or at the very least, rip their vocal cords out with a pair of pliers.

So what went wrong?

Although there's lots of good about the Montreal Canadiens, why did Philadelphia win?  And why did Montreal almost blow the Boston series?

Why aren't they ready yet?

Did Bob Gainey get rid of Cristobal Huet a little premature?

Was Carey Price exhausted?

Did the Habs burn out in the regular season going for the coveted first place overall?

Did they go into the playoffs a little too cocky?

Why did the defence disappear during the playoffs? Hamrlik, Komisarek Gorges, Bouillon, all solid as a rock beforehand, and too soft in the post season. And Andrei Markov, a premier defenceman in the league, didn't play at all like a premier defenceman.

What about Michael Ryder? Will he stay or will he go? He's going to have to go. They didn't want him in uniform in the playoffs, so why would they want him in uniform next year?

Why did the big guns become quiet? Alex Kovalev played quite well, and so did Saku Koivu when he came back from injury.  But what happened to the Kostitsyn's, and Mark Streit, and Tomas Plekanec? Or Higgins and Latendresse? These were guys who turned it down a notch in the playoffs, and hopefully it was such an experience this year, that next year, they'll turn it up a notch.

Will I be chosen as flag guy at the Bell Centre next year?

Will Danielleia stay a Habs fan?

Will der Habinator buy a new computer?

Will Mike continue to experience ups and downs as an elevator mechanic?

Dear Rodney, please help.

"Don't worry, Dennis. They come from a bad neighbourhood. I put my hand in some cement there and felt another hand."

Flyers fans drink too much. When they give a urine sample, there's olives in it.

Flyers fans take viagra and prune juice. They don't know whether they're coming or going.

They asked Flyers fans to be poster boys - for birth control.

Martin Biron's mother had morning sickness after he was born.

The Flyers complained to their psychiatrist that everyone hates them. He said they were being ridiculous - everyone hasn't met them yet.

When Daniel Briere was a kid his parents moved a lot. But he always found them.

When Derian Hatcher was born, the doctor slapped his mother.

STOP THAT, RODNEY.

Sorry, Flyers fans.

In all seriousness, what I've garnered from the comments this past week from Flyers fans is this:

They don't feel their team is getting enough respect. They're complaining that when I write about Montreal losing, it's not because the Flyers played well, it's because the Habs played poorly.

And they don't think I'm giving enough credit to Martin Biron.

So I've been thinking about this. And really, the big reason Philly is doing so well is because of Martin Biron. It's not because the Flyers are on fire. Daniel Biron's been good but not great, and also RJ Umberger. But Mike Richards hasn't, or most of the Flyers forwards, for that matter. And whatever John Stevens did to make his defence so tight around their net, it's really working.

The reason I say Montreal is not playing up to their standards is because they're not. They won the eastern division, they scored more goals during the regular season than any other team in the league. And their power play was the best in the league. They played fire wagon hockey all year, they were dynamic, fast, and were a handful for others teams on most nights.

But not now.

During these playoffs, their power play has fizzled and their scoring in general is way off, and that includes the Boston series also. The guys who lit it up during the season, the Kostitsyn's, Higgins, Kovalev, Plekanec, are quiet now.

So Montreal isn't playing up to scratch, and Philadelphia is riding with a red-hot goaltender. (And don't forget, Flyers fans, there's been a lot of goal posts hit.)

I don't know why these fans have a problem with this thinking.

And one last little thing. After Philadelphia scored late a couple of games ago, Flyers defenceman Kimmo Timonen turned around and laughed in Tom Kostopoulos' face. This is the kind of thing that turns off most hockey fans. It lacked class, you don't see this type of mocking often, and when Kostopoulos smacked him in the mouth for this, I'm sure hockey fans, even Habs haters, nodded their heads approvingly.

=_=

Dsl, fallait que je fasse part de ma frustration.

--PL--

But Blog Plan B won't be coming anytime soon, because Montreal will win this series. Carey Price will rebound, and this year's playoffs will make an incredibly interesting chapter in the book that will some day be written about young Mr. Price. He's cool as a cucumber, he'll be back, and that's bad news for the Flyers and their fans.

Montreal needs all hands on deck. That means Mike Komisarek, Guillaume Latendresse, Mark Streit, the Kostitsyn's, Chris Higgins, Roman Hamrlik, me, Mike, der Habinator, Rick the Trucker, Brian, Robert, Danny, the hockey gods, and the amazing bandwagon punkette, Danielleia.

And I have complete faith that Alex Kovalev and Saku Koivu will take the bull by the horns and lead this team to the promised land.

Montreal just needs to continue what they're doing, which is outshoot the Flyers, storm the net, and make some of the lunkheads on the Flyers like Derian Hatcher and Steve Downey continue to take unnecessary and poorly-timed penalties which will seal their team's doom once the Habs power play is back on track completely.

Mike Richards, who was a class act with Canada in the World Juniors a couple of years ago, still needs maturing, and Montreal can get him off his game without much problem. He gets upset too easily, will take bad penalties because he's upset, and we need to take advantage of his habit of losing it.

And maybe Mike Komisarek could punch him in the mouth from time to time for good measure.

And about blog plan B, coming this summer. Of course it'll stay Habs talk, but because no games will be on, it'll be more pictures, more old stories, and maybe even a photo tour of Powell River, a place you'd all like to live whether you know it or not.

Until then, though, it's get rid of the greasy Flyers, roll over the Penguins or Rangers, and take on, with huge confidence, whoever comes out of the west.

But first things first, and that means Wednesday night. Come on, boys, have a couple of good practices, eat your broccoli, go to bed early, focus, meditate, and concentrate on shooting pucks under, over, and through Mr. Biron.

Habs Universe, and Danielleia, are behind you.

 It wasn't their best game of the season, but it was certainly their best game of the playoffs. By far their best game. A beautiful 5-0 shutout. It's like getting rid of a big boil on your nose.

Monday night, game seven, we saw the Montreal Canadiens we had become used to throughout the regular season. They attacked. They skated. They played with poise. And that's the way they should have being playing all along in this opening round. 

Maybe they've learned something from this stressful seven game experience with the Bruins. From now on, we do the attacking, not the other guys. 

So what happened for the Montreal Canadiens, down and out after blowing a three games to one lead, with the Bruins carrying all the confidence and momentum going into this deciding game? How could they come out in game seven, find the game they were desperately looking for, and skate away with a mouth-watering 5-0 shutout to eliminate the pesky Bruins?

Carey Price kept them in it early in the game, and then it was like a lightswitch went on. The Canadiens suddenly remembered how they won the eastern conference. Everyone stepped it up, they attacked, and the Bruins became no match.

Alex Kovalev was flying, so were the guys who had been in a funk - the Kostitsyn's, Tomas Plekanec, Chris Higgins, Mark Streit, and about ten others.  Carey Price, who went from giving up ten goals in two games to none when it counted the most, in game seven, was fabulous, and showed he doesn't rattle in a pressure cooker.

Guy Carbonneau was no longer outcoached by Claude Julien, and whatever he did to get the team to open it up like they did, he's got to bottle it and feed it to his players in the second round.

And what a difference Saku Koivu makes when he's in the lineup.

The Bruins were good, fought hard, they stressed out me and most Habs fans, and I'm glad they're out of there. I've had enough of Zdeno Chara and his shorter teammates. They were good, but Montreal showed that when they're firing on all cylinders, they're better. 

So it becomes this - If Philadelphia eliminates Washington, then Montreal plays Philadelphia in the next round. But if Washington wins, Montreal takes on Sean Avery and the New York Rangers.

I don't care who it is. Bring em on!

Just play every game like Monday's game, boys, and you'll take out either one of them.

The picture is now crystal clear. Boston has figured Montreal out, and Montreal doesn't know how to figure Boston out. Claude Julien understands how playoff hockey works, adjusted nicely, and his team has delivered.

Tonight, it became a 5-4 Bruins win, and it was a game that surely has left all Habs fans grumbling and more than slightly pissed off.

Montreal coach Guy Carbonneau has not been able to light a fire under his boys, and so again, in this game six, it meant four Boston goals in the third period, the same as in game five. It meant five goals scored again by Boston, the same as in game five. It meant that again, Montreal was flat, their power play was flat, and although Chris Higgins and Tomas Plekanec finally broke out of their scoreless draught, it was a non-effort by almost everyone on the Montreal team.

Or maybe it wasn't so much a non-effort by Montreal, but a better effort by Boston.

So I don't want to but I have to ask this one question, a question which makes me uneasy, but I feel must be addressed. Are there too many Europeans on the Montreal Canadiens to understand what it takes to win in playoff hockey?

The playoffs aren't the regular season. And for a couple of decades now, we've seen many examples of players from across the pond not understanding the importance of the Stanley Cup, unlike North Americans, especially Canadians, who have this emotion implanted in their hearts and souls.

I hear from Canucks fans all the time how the Sedin twins, from Sweden, are the furthest things from playoff performers. 

If you say this is bullshit and I'm out of line, then where have the European Habs gone?

Russian-born Alex Kovalev, mentioned as a possible league MVP, has brought his game down a couple of serious notches and is no more the straw that stirs the drink during Montreal's once daunting power play. The Kostitsyn's, from Belarus, can't crack Boston's playoff checking. Tomas Plekanec, from the Czech Republic, was an offensive marvel during the regular season, and now is playing like he'd rather be some place else. Switzerland's Mark Streit is playing like he belongs in the American Hockey League.

Even Russian Andrei Markov, frequently called one of the top defensemen in the entire league, has posed no threat whatsoever.

This is a very disappointing turn of events. It was such a short time ago that talk of a Stanley Cup was rampant throughout Hab universe, but now this is a team hanging by a thread, playing scared, playing tight and nervous, while Boston is a team of happy campers, feeling good about themselves, and can't wait for game seven Monday night.

Of course Montreal can redeem themselves in one game and make everyone forget they haven't deserved this series. They can win still, make no mistake about that. They've been a team of surprises all year, and now it's time to pull one last trick out of their bag.

But so far, and it pains me to say this, I haven't seen a Stanley Cup contender from my Montreal Canadiens.

Montreal has given us a lot of great and exciting moments this year. Tonight wasn't one of them.

In a game where the Canadiens could have eliminated Boston and had a nice rest in preparation for the next series, they came out and smelled up the joint. Now they'd better look themselves in the mirror, and take a good, long, hard look.

If they can't adjust in a close checking series, how do they expect to be successful if they can actually get by Boston and meet other close checking teams?

However, will they actually get by Boston?

Is their game only one-dimensional, a game that is free-wheeling and one which allows Kovalev, the Kostitsyns, Higgins etc. to play only pond hockey and nothing else?

Did they make the mistake of believing their own press clippings that said how great they are?

Will Tomas Plekanec, Chris Higgins, Michael Ryder, the Kostitsyns, Latendresse, and most of the team decide to actually play some playoff hockey before it's too late? Especially Higgins. Hello 911. I'd like to report a missing person.

Although Carey Price has been so good in this series, it was his gift of dropping the puck in front of his goal, right on the stick of a Bruin, who then scored, which began, and probably caused, the complete collapse.

This team can seriously infuriate me.

I also see that Saku Koivu is the true leader of this team, and if he can skate, which he can, he needs to be in the lineup two days from now.

And now that the Bruins know they can win this series, what's going to happen Saturday in Boston? Which Montreal team will show up, the great regular season one, or the lousy playoff one? 

Game note:

Montreal stunk 

The Montreal-Buffalo game is on and it's the end of the first period. Nothing really has happened so there's nothing to report. So while I'm waiting for something to happen, I might as well say what I'm gonna say, and that is, "Mike's an elevator mechanic. There's a job that has it's ups and downs." BADDA BIN, BADDA BOOM!

Sorry. (This marks the eight thousandth time Mike has heard this.)

Montreal needs this game so I hope they're regrouping in the dressing room. They need first overall for that prime spot in the playoffs, where they'd play in the first round, hopefully, Boston.

Buffalo is scratching and clawing for the final playoff spot, and if they reach it, they could play Montreal in the first round. So this is a team that's desperate and hungry.

It'll be interesting how this all plays out. Right now though, I'm tired.

A couple of small observations. I like the original Buffalo Sabres' uniforms better than the ones they wear now. The ones now look like a cross between the Pittsburgh Penguins, Boston Bruins, George Jetson, and the Los Angeles Rams football team.

But I really like how low the cameras are placed at the HSBC Arena. It's just like the old days in Montreal and Toronto. And these cameras are about a mile closer than the ones in Tampa Bay.
Second period's over. Kovalev just tied it up 1-1, finishing a nice Grabovsky play. I'm also thinking about what der Habinator said about Pete Rose should be in Cooperstown and I think so too. I also found it interesting what Mike said about how it would take an elevator mechanic 48 years to make the same money as what Patrick Roy turned down. Kinda makes you think.

Holy smokin arseholes! Tomas Plekanec scored two goals in the last two and a half minutes of the game to tie it, then Chris Higgins wins it in overtime.  They won it even though Habs fans in Buffalo sang the olay song. Maybe the song works after all.

Tomorrow night, it's up the Queen E to Toronto. And I was thinking. If the team wants to make a side trip to Orillia before they need to play Ottawa on Tuesday, several of them could probably stay at my dad's house on Elmer Ave. They'll have to be quiet though. He's 87 and goes to bed at seven. And they could go out for drinks at the Atherley Arms. I'm sure the peelers would get a charge out of it.

Montreal's back on top in the east with 98 points. They finished with 90 points last year.

So as shitty as my life has been, I'd actually been feeling a little better over the last few days. I've actually been getting some hits on the blog site and feeling pretty good about that. (Although I suspect that most of those page views were accidental. Probably just people looking for stuff about the Raptors. As a result I will tagging every post the word "Raptors").

Things were proceeding mostly according to plan with Fracturegirl and Cuckold girl. I had managed to do some actual studying instead of just pretending to study.

Then this morning everything went to shit again. Fantasy girl MSN'ed me out of the fucking blue. I've been deftly avoiding (aka hiding like a little girl) her since I found out she was fucking someone...that isn't me.

She invites me over to her parent's place for dinner next month. I politely decline, and then she starts talking about how she hasn't seen me in such a long time and how we should go get sushi, and study together.

Yeah, let me tell how much that appeals to me. Listen I appreciate that she's just trying to be nice, but she's painfully oblivious to how infatuated I am with her and crushed I was when I found out she was seeing someone else. I've got the dent marks in my door to prove it.

Why the fuck would I want to spend an entire night with her and her perfect family, listening to them talk about fucking awesome her new boyfriend is? Honestly, can someone explain to me what the fuck she's thinking? She's not the type of person to throw shit like this in someone's face. Can she honestly be this clueless? I mean she was clueless (or at least claims she was) about the fact that I was crushing on her. She was seemingly clueless about how devastated I was when she rejected me. Maybe she's still clueless about how fucked I've been over the last few months because of her boyfriend.

This is a person that I would literally speak to everyday, hang out with several times a week, and that all has changed to the point where I have not spoken to her face to face in about 2 months, and while I don't ignore I've limited my sentences to about 4 words each. How can she not tell that things are not healthy between us and that I have no interest in trying to be friends with her? Are women really that fucking stupid?

Here's a list of things I would rather do than have to be subjected to sitting down to dinner with her family and her boyfriend and having to listen about how awesome their lives are for the entire night.

1. Pass a porcupine through my dick hole
2. Perform Neurosurgery...on myself
3. Root for the Leafs to win the cup
4. Admit the Tom Cruise is not gay
5. Be gangraped by the Cincinatti Bengals
6. Watch my parents having sex
7. Watch your parents having sex
8. Pour boiling hot honey all over my body, and then walk into beehive
9. Have one of my testicles put into a vice-grip, clamp the fucker and then have it served back to me as a delicious soup
10. You gethe point

I'd actually managed to stay weed-free for a couple of days, which considering how I've degenerated into a high-functioning drug addict over the last year is quite the accomplishment. The second she sent me those MSN messages, I felt like I had regressed to where I was a month ago. I'm right back to having obsessive thoughts, and not being able to concentrate, being unable to study, having to masturbate non-stop, and overall just feeling really shitty.

I really want to go smoke some weed, but I think that would just end up putting me back into that vicious cycle. So tomorrow when I get home, I'm going to take off for the library and try my best not to get high. Otherwise this shit is just going to keep repeating itself, I'll end up as a drug-adled retard, and she'll still be fucking someone...that isn't me.

The Habs

The habs didn't look very interested in the game saturday night. They were sloppy with the puck, and not making smart plays. In fairness they were playing an AHL team, so I can't really blame them for coasting. The problem is if they try that type of shit against an NHL team, they are fucked. Fucked in the ass like Tom Cruise at a Scientology meeting. The playoff race is so tight right now , that the Habs could easily fall to 5th place. So taking a night off at this point in the season could cost them the home ice advantage, and with grand total of 7 months experience between the pipes leading them into the playoffs, the Habs are going to need all the help they can get.

Meanwhile multiple blogs are reporting that the Leafs and Habs had a tentative deal to send Sundin to Montreal for Chris Higgins, and the Habs first, second AND third round picks. That's even more insane than the deal they were talking about TV this weekend!!!! There's no way in fucking hell that Bob Gainey would give up Higgins and THREE draft picks for a month a half of Sundin. Never mind the fact that you'd potentially be setting up a Leafs dynasty for the next decade, who the fuck would even trade Higgins for Sundin - at this point in their careers - straight up?

That's just beyond crazy. If that had happened I would have personally run Gainey's traitorous ass down the 401 while screaming like John Goodman in the Big Lebowski "Do you see what happened to Pat Burns? Do you? Do you see what happens when you fuck the Montreal Canadiens in the ass?! Motherfucker!"

I'm choosing to believe that these retarded rumours are being started by the Leafs blowjob giving media horde, and that Monsieur Gainey is far too sharp to have ever made that trade.

I'm still upset about this. Godamnit that's stupid.

The Next Great Depression

Oh yeah baby. I'm poor again. The depression is coming. Can u smeeeeeeeeell what the Bush is cooking?~

          

When You Wish Upon A StarNaturally, trade rumours are only just that, rumours, but we can dream, can't we?

We can dream that the talk in the air about who might be going to Montreal is quite true, thank you very much, and that boss Bob Gainey has pulled the switch that makes Montreal the big-time favourite to go all the way.

This is the latest scuttlebutt in the air about just who might be going to Montreal, although in reality, it's far-fetched and over the top. But anyway, I'm just the messenger.

Here's the three names tossed about who could soon wear a Habs jersey. Just keep in mind that the media types who throw these names around are the same ones who predicted Montreal to finish in 14th place this year, well out of the playoffs. So it's usually just dead air that comes out of their mouths. This time, though, I hope they're right

Marian Hossa

A real proven sharp-shooter. Holy Smokes, he'd look great in the red, white, and blue. It'd be like having another Kovalev on the team.

Alex Tanguay

A real good French-Canadian guy who wants out of Calgary. (Apparently he's asked twice this year to be traded).

Brad Richards

This is the one I like best of all. A Canadian boy from PEI who knows how to fill the net and play fire wagon hockey. And who knows, being from PEI, it's possible he grew up cheering for the Habs. It just seems too good to be true, so I guess I'd better calm down about this one.

But these are just crazy rumours, and who know's what will happen. There's a lot of players who don't want the pressure of playing in Montreal (like Daniel Briere), and so, if they have a no-trade contract, want no part of playing for the best organization in hockey. (I don't understand it but that's just me.) 

But just who would Montreal keep as untouchables, and who wouldn't they mind letting go?

I don't know. But I can guess.

Michael Ryder is the one most say is gone. But he's been playing well of late, except for the Columbus game, when he and the rest of the team kept looking at Bob Gainey's number up in the rafters and forgot about the game down below.

Ryan O'Byrne still has charges pending against him after his big night out in Tampa Bay. I can see him being moved. If there'd be any takers.

Saku Koivu, as great a leader as he is, is now more uneffective than he is effective. His wonderful puck-handling days are a thing of the past.

Patrice Brisebois is probably finished, and would only be a throw-in as part of a large deal.

There's others of course: Dandenault, Latendresse, Lapierre, Begin, and probably anybody else on the team if the deal suited. But if Montreal let go too many Quebecer's, the French media would have a field day.

But most intriguing is this: What if a team is willing to part with a Sundin or a Hossa, or even a Brad Richards, but wants either Christobal Huet or Carey Price. What would you do?

Oh yeah, and about Habs untouchables. Kovalev and Markov, with honourable mention going to Mark Streit, Tomas Plekanec, the Kostitsyns, Mike Komisarek, and Chris Higgins. And very likely, Carey Price.

Finalement, on a décidé de ne pas attendre les séries. C’est hier soir qu’a eu lieu mon baptême de hockey.  Ça tombait mal hein? Quand j’vous dis que j’suis pas une fille chanceuse. Sauf peut-être pour les billets.  Super bien placés, section 112 vis-à-vis la ligne bleue, du côté du but du CH en 1ere et en 3e, alors c’est dire si j’avais une belle vue à chaque fois qu’ils se sont fait scorés. Y’avait pas tellement d’ambiance dans la place, sauf quand on tournait la tête tout en haut, dans le fin fond du poulailler, au dessus du but. La gang qui avait les billets les plus poches était sur le gros party, j’pense qu’ils regardaient pas la même game que nous (et puis qu'eux autres, ils leur restait du cash pour la bière).

À défaut de vivre la bonding expérience avec la foule lors d’une victoire (ou même d’un simple but compté par la bonne équipe), j’ai pu observer celles des fanatiques entre eux. Mon père, cet homme d’un naturel timide et réservé qui sous l’influence de sa grande passion pour ce sport, se transforme en un être capable de lier des conversations avec des inconnus portant le chandail du CH dans le métro, alors qu’on se dirige vers le Centre Bell. Puis, pendant le match, jetant ici et là ses commentaires de connaisseur éclairé, alors que les autres se retournent vers lui et approuvent d’un signe de tête. Plus tard liant conversation avec son autre voisin de siège, au sujet de Smolinski, joueur le plus inutile de l’équipe. Un gars payé pas cher de la ligue américaine aurait pu faire la même job (enfin, paraît).

Au retour, métro Lucien L’Allier, un charmant jeune homme entame la discussion avec… mon père! Cette fois-ci c’est Price qui a perdu sa confiance du début de saison, suivi de diverses spéculations sur un possible échange d’ici mardi. "Toi, est-ce que tu serais prêt à laisser aller Higgins pour aller chercher [insérer ce joueur d’Anaheim dont j’ai oublié le nom] ?" J’y connais rien, mais ma réponse concernant Higgins, c’est non. Bon je pense que si j’avais pas fait signe à mon père qu’il fallait descendre à Rosemont, ces deux là auraient pu se ramasser à Laval. De mon côté, pas le choix, si je veux les voir gagner, faudra y retourner…

 All the signs are there. Less than stellar goalkeeping. Only one line, Kovalev, Plekanec, and Andrei Kostitsyn, is producing, with players who should be key players, like Higgins, Latendresse, and Koivu, accomplishing nothing. And the defence rests.

Michael Ryder has been in a 56 game slump. Kovalev's line is the only unit kept together, while Carbonneau refuses to go with set lines for the others, mixing and trying new combinations pretty well every game.

Why was Carey Price brought up from the minors when the team will definitely go with Huet for most of the remainder of the season. Is keeping Price on the bench better for his development than having him be a workhorse in Hamilton?

A few more stinkers like tonight and will Jacques Demers still feel that Guy Carbonneau is coach of the year?

Ottawa's Spezza, Alfredsson, and Heatley were absolutely too much for Montreal, garnering 15 points among them tonight. Montreal won't be a contender as long as they let other teams' big lines have their way with them like these three did. I'm embarrassed about all of this. It's like the Alfredsson line was playing Powell River's Gentlemen Oldtimers.

Huet, starting in nets for the Habs, let in three goals in the first four minutes of the game. Carey Price gave up the next three over two periods.

I'm not a happy camper. Neither are the other several million Habs fans out there.

This game stank worse than the pig farms near Chilliwack

Retailer Stuart Rose and Scientist Ian Wilmut are rewarded with knighthoods in the Queen’s New Year honours list. They seem to have identikit records of significant leadership contributions to their fields. But another influential and distinguished scientist Colin Blakemore, is deemed too controversial a figure to be recognised publically for his services to the public

Stuart Rose was arguably a knight-in-waiting. It is a tradition within the British establishment to recognise our high profile business leaders, even when there is no cash for honours involved. We have tracked the high-profile Rose elsewhere, including his titanic battles with the doughty warrior Sir Philip Green.

Ian Wilmut, who led the team which created Dolly the sheep, is among a handful of scientific names whose achievements pioneered cloning research, and turned him into a public figure. Perhaps less known is his more recent work into stem-cell research. Ian Wilmut was again a near identikit national figure, whose knighthood could be explained as a process which had followed a time-honoured path.

Then there’s Professor Blakemore

Oh, yes. Then there’s Professor Blakemore. Among his fellow scientists there is a resigned acceptance that once again he has been passed over for recognition of his services to science.

On several counts he has been considered for ennoblement over the years. But for quite some time, Professor Blakemore’s advancement has been blocked. According to The Independent he is:

A leading British scientist who led the Medical Research Council for five years before stepping down earlier this year has been refused a knighthood in the New Year Honours List because of his outspoken support for animal research.

Tam Dalyell, the former Labour MP and veteran parliamentarian, deplored the decision, saying that the snub could only be attributed to cowardice on the part of government ministers worried about a possible public backlash…

Other scientists also criticized the decision on the grounds that Professor Blakemore has done more than anyone to explain to the public why many medical breakthroughs would have been impossible without animal experiments. "Irrespective of his role as head of the MRC, I'd have expected him to be honoured for his really critical role in promoting the need for animal research in bio-medicine," said Professor Chris Higgins, vice-chancellor of Durham University

The Blakemore file

Journalists have now returned to an earlier story about the scientist. The affair reached which reached a House of Commons select committee in 2004, after a leaked memo which suggested Blakemore had in fact been blackballed.

Chairman: May I welcome our witness this morning, Professor Sir David King. It is very good of you to come and talk to us. We are not a committee concerned with science but with the administration of public affairs. We are looking, as you know, at the honours system amongst our different inquiries at the moment. You have probably worked out for yourself the line of connection which brings you before us. We had an interesting session a week or so ago with Professor Blakemore, who of course figured in the leak of the honours committee's work

Sir David then offered some remarks intended to clarify the affair but explained that he was not able to divulge names of members serving on certain official committees [don’t ask me why. Or rather, ask why, although that is another story altogether].

The chairman tried his best to make progress with Sir David.:

Chairman: We are talking [speculatively] but, if I may read the offending leak quotation so that we can get our minds around it, "The (science and technology expert) committee were unlike to recommend [Blakemore] for his scientific work, particularly in view of his controversial work on vivisection. He has now moved to the [Medical Research Council], however, and it was possible his reputation would be improved. We should look at him again when he has had a little longer at the MRC."

Professor Sir David King: I admire Colin Blakemore unreservedly, not only for his outstanding scientific work on the functioning of the brain but also for his courage in standing up to this very small bunch of extremists ..acting against the democratic interests of the country… I believe that Colin was courageous to stand up and speak on that issue … I would be very surprised if anyone on that …[mysterious Science and Technology] committee expressed a view differently from what I have said to you.

Chairman: That is what we are interested in. That makes it even more perplexing, does it not, because if we have had you the Chief Scientific Adviser heaping this paean of praise on Colin Blakemore, and if we have had the science minister Lord Sainsbury doing something likewise, why on earth do we get this statement that they are "unlikely to recommend him for his scientific work"—so they are saying that his scientific work is not good enough—and then they add "particularly in view of his controversial work on vivisection". That word "particularly" is a bit of a giveaway there, is it not? It is not just the controversy about vivisection; it is that he is not up to it anyway and particularly because of his work on vivisection.

Professor Sir David King: That phrase is a complete nonsense…

Chairman: Where did the phrase come from?

Professor Sir David King: I believe the secretary wrote it down. I cannot believe that the committee expressed that view.

Chairman: He just made it up?

Professor Sir David King: He or she.

Clearly ..

There’s not much clarity about the process through which honours are dished out, or not, in this instance. Just about the clearest thing is the lack of clarity. [Rumsfeld, this is one for you]. Small wonder that the prolonged investigation into cash for honours never got anywhere, at considerable public expense.

Does it matter?

A messy question for a messy story. Professor Blakemore has demonstrated that his motivation is relatively immune to public acclaim as it has been immune to quite outrageous personal attacks by animal rights activists.

Nevertheless, the issue raises questions about how a culture rewards or withholds rewards for service to the public. It adds support to the idea over time a culture arrives at the leaders it deserves.

Mais le plafond salarial et les restrictions amènent les directeurs-généraux à de nouvelles stratégies ; on a déjà senti la diminution des transactions depuis quelques temps. Les échanges de joueurs importants se font très rares.

Du côté des contrats, aussi, il y a eu du changement ; pas tant dans les salaires eux-mêmes, mais surtout dans les durées. Après le spectaculaire contrat de 15 ans à Rick DiPietro l'an dernier, cet été, lors de la période d'agents libres, on a encore eu droit à des signatures à (très) long terme : Jason Spezza, Dany Heatley, Daniel Brière, Tomas Vanek, Pavel Datsyuk et Scott Gomez, pour ne nommer qu'eux, ont tous signé des contrat de six saisons ou plus.

Le dernier exemple en lice : aujourd'hui, les Flyers ont offert à Mike Richards un contrat de 12 ans pour près de 70 millions de dollars. 12 ans ! Il sera lié à cette équipe jusqu'à 2020, à moins d'un échange.

Je ne dis pas ici que c'est une bonne chose. À la place de dégénérer sur le prix des joueurs, comme avant le lock-out, on dégénère sur la durée. Pas vraiment mieux, et dans quelques années, certaines équipes vont peut-être avoir de mauvaises surprises. Mais le fait est que je ne peux rien y changer, et que cette nouvelle mode semble prendre son envol...

Les Flyers sont probablement l'une des équipes qui s'est le plus tourné vers cette nouvelle génération de contrats ; leurs adversaires ce soir, le Canadien, sont à l'opposé.

Cette saison, Bob Gainey aura donc des décisions importantes à prendre dans le cas de deux de ses joueurs les plus prometteurs, Chris Higgins et Mike Komisarek. Gainey, plutôt conservateur, osera-t-il briser la barrière et suivre la nouvelle vague ? Dossier à suivre...

Je ne veux rien enlever à Dandenault ; il connait un bon début et ajoute de la profondeur. Mais là, on ne peut pas le mettre sur un premier trio ! Ce n'est tout simplement pas sa place. Ce n'est pas lui la solution. Higgins et Koivu ne font presque rien depuis deux-trois semaines et le temps est venu de faire un peu plus que de simples changements de trios.

Gainey doit faire quelque chose, c'est son travail et c'est son devoir. Il a tout fait cet été pour nous amener un joueur de talent mais il est maintenant temps qu'il fasse son deuil de ses échecs et qu'il se tourne vers les solutions radicales, dans ce cas-ci, une transaction. Pas un petit échange pour amener de la profondeur, mais bien quelque chose pour secouer ses gars.

On attend depuis des années le fameux temps où le Canadien sera capable enfin de gagner et d'être dominant grâce à ses jeunes. Mais même avec une foule de nouveaux visages, le Tricolore n'arrive pas à rivaliser avec grand monde. Il manque un élément, une touche offensive à cette équipe et on s'en rend vite compte en analysant l'équipe un peu : Koivu est un bon centre, mais il ne connaît vraiment pas un bon début ; Higgins a vraiment besoin d'aide en ce moment ; Ryder ne fout rien, et je ne veux pas entendre parler de lui.

C'est sûr qu'il est difficile de transiger avec toutes les restrictions du plafond salarial. Les échanges majeures sont rares voire presqu'inexistants. Mais il est temps de prendre un grand risque dans le camp du Canadien. Le calme placide de notre d.g. a assez duré, il faut du changement.

En attendant, Carbonneau devrait essayer de réfléchir un peu avant d'envoyer n'impore quel joueur avec n'importe quels autres. C'est bien beau de vouloir secouer les troupes, mais pourquoi ne pas tenter pour une fois de mettre nos meilleurs éléments ensemble ? Koivu, Kovalev, Higgins, c'est une combinaison à essayer. Et si ça ne marche pas, ça aura au moins valu le coup d'essayer.

Et demain, Carbo se DOIT d'offrir une chance à Jaroslav Halak, comme je l'ai dit plus tôt cette semaine.