You'll have to forgive our Kostitsyn-like work habits of the last few days, all that Thanksgiving weekend gorging has made the normally diligent staffers here at French Immersion unusually logey.
In fact, it may be time to strategically misplace Turkey's cell number so we make sure never to call Turkey again.
So it was we travelled this morning, with a song in our heart, to lovely Brossard, official slogan: "ma ville, mon jardin" (as an aside, what is it with suburbs and towns branding themselves with ridiculous greeting-card slogans, i.e. Longueuil, Ville de ma vie? Is this just a Quebec phenomenon? You just know some cheap-suited consultant has gone from town hall to town hall selling the idea of a unique brand. Ridiculous.)
You can imagine our considerable surprise and consternation when we saw actual news reporters huddling around the normally cozy, sports reportery confines of the Habs dressing room.
Seems our friend Georges Laraque, administrator of two-fisted justice and arch-defender of the working class, is in a spot of bother with feminist groups over a racy Internet ad he did last summer for a new alcohol-spiked energy drink.
Must be a slow news day.
In the ad, Laraque is seen playing road hockey with assorted scantily-clad women.
It's best described as intensely sophomoric, and features lots of cleavage shots and suggestive licking of lips (sorry, we're not in the business of promoting the company in question, but a quick Google or YouTube search should turn up the video if you're really that curious). Ah, what the hay, here you go.
Suffice it to say Georges of the Comintern immediately delivered a politician's apology to anyone who may have been offended by the ad.
"I didn't know anything about the script when I came to the set. I did what they asked me to do, I did it to raise funds (for charity), I'm sorry if it upset some people," he said.
Turns out Laraque even gave his fee for the shoot to an animal rights outfit, which hasn't done anything to mollify groups like Concertation des luttes contre l'exploitation sexuelle, which roasted the enforcer for reinforcing negative female stereotypes.
Much as we dislike non-apology apologies, it seems to us the main thing everyone's favourite shop steward is guilty of is poor taste. Although pro athletes advertising alcoholic beverages is also generally considered a no-no.
In any case, Laraque is now offering to do a public-service spot for any women's rights group that asks him.
On the ice, the Habs had a spirited practice - where Andrei Kostitsyn got in trouble with the teacher again for not properly executing a drill - and generally skated very quickly in circles.
Jacques Martin said he and GM Bob Gainey will make a decision on who to call up from Hamilton to shore up the Habs' defence - Yannick Weber was sent down on Monday to save a few cap pennies - and suggested it will either be the Swiss Misser (please refer to his highlight-reel "check" on Mason Raymond), the newly-signed Marc-André Bergeron or, gulp, the large-and-in-charge Shawn Belle.
Not that we want to continute flogging a dead horse, which Laraque has succeeded in convincing us is a terrible thing to do, but didn't P.K. Subban sign a pro contract this summer?