Richard Wolowicz
Traditions weigh heavily when it comes to the Montreal Canadiens - as evidenced by those centennial badges everywhere - and in recent years they've instituted a neat one as part of the Bell Centre Fan Experience ™.
For those of you who haven't had the privilege of attending, the pre-anthem shtick always involves a pair of wobbly pee-wees doing a lap of the Habs' zone, dressed in full Sainte Flanelle regalia, waving flags.
They then post themselves at the player entrance as the team comes out to a thunderous roar (as everyone has doubtless seen on television).
We mention this because, amid the furor over Carey-gate (He! Shot! The! Puck! At! Opponents!), we at French Immersion would like to point out a little something we noticed last night at the Bell Centre.
Yeah, we know, our boy got two misconduct penalties in the late going and is now facing uncomfortable questions about his maturity, composure, etc. (hey, at least he seems to care, unlike, say, a couple of Belarusians we know).
There is, of course, no excuse for that kind of stuff, particularly Price's love-tap on Nicklas Backstrom as he skated by the Habs bench after Washington's second empty-netter.
But what about Alex Ovechkin's maturity level and conduct?
We know, he's one of the faces of the league, the most dominant player, can leap tall buildings in single bounds, and punch opponents in the head with impunity (see Gionta, B., in game two).
Last night, with the lights dimmed and the kids waiting under the spotlight, the rambunctious Russian hot-footed it across the ice toward his team's bench - it's probably the fastest he skated all night - and slammed on the brakes just a couple of feet from one of the flag-bearers, covering him/her with snow.
There are two ways of seeing it: it's just Ovie being Ovie, hey-wouldn't-it-be-cool-to-get-a-snow-shower-from-him. Or maybe it can be viewed the kind of classless, borderline reckless gesture that really has no place in the game.
We're just saying.