Ryan Remiorz
Oh boy! Ohboyohboyohboy!
Are we ever excited today gang, our guy Pernell Karl Subban has been called up for his first NHL playoff game.
Yeah, yeah, Jacques Martin said he's going to be a game-time decision. Whatever. He's playing.
And we say hurrah and huzzah; the most conservative organization in hockey is doing something that can't quite be called unpredictable (whispers began surfacing last week that they would call Subban up), but at least it's novel, and has that frisson of risk-taking behaviour.
Although, come to think of it, that might even be a stretch, considering the Habs' defence already includes the original Mr. Minus-8 himself, Marc-Andre "Puttin' out fire with gasoline" Bergeron.
Look, all that matters is there's going to be some tally-ho-and-a-cloud-of-dust going on at the Bell Centre, which considering the stakes, is a departure.
He'll also have a chance to mano-a-mano with John Carlson, the Caps wunderkind who is inarguably their best defenceman to this point in the series. We think our man-crush P.K. will squash him like a bug.
The vets in the room seem to like the move - Mike Cammalleri said "he brings energy and charisma to the team" and Metro the Moss Park Magician said "P.K. is P.K., he doesn't have any nerves."
But the real story here is the awakening of Martin, who is suddenly shortening his bench in key situations, calling guys out (after a fashion), and - gasp! - matching lines and defence pairings.
Now he's inserting an offensive-minded rookie defenceman into a must-win game? Be still our hearts.
These are not things the kindly gent from St. Pascal is typically known for, just ask the previous owners of the Ottawa Senators or a certain ruddy Irishman now coaching the Edmonton Oilers.
Interesting times, folks. Although we will continue to stick our pre-series prediction of Washington in seven.
If Subban remains the key subplot in Habsland today, we're still wondering how he will fit in, the most likely scenario is that Jaro Spacek will sit out with his mystery virus, meaning that a forward will get one in the neck so they can play with seven defencemen.
That's bad news for Sergei Kostitsyn, we reckon, and proud McGill grad Mathieu Darche.
Oh and to those two morons who turned up earlier in the year with their wigs and Subban sweaters, leave the blackface at home, you idiots.