Brendan Gallagher, Marc Bergevin, and the Hall of Fame

Random, informal and honest. This is and will be 500 words.

-"The NHL VS. Brendan Gallagher" takes the honour of being Habs fans' gripe du jour. Habs fans think that Gallagher is being mistreated due to the seemingly undeserved penalties that have been called on him this season. It's a natural reaction to come to the defense of a good player playing on your favourite team but even I think that this outcry is pretty ridiculous. Gallagher has played this style of hockey since he started skating and he's not going to change his game for anyone. What makes Gallagher such an effective hockey player is his tenacity and that quality has earned him a reputation around the league as being a pest and that's OK because he is one.

Even if the refs do have it out for Gallagher the only thing that would alter their opinion would be Gallagher changing his game to appease them. If he drops an ounce of his ferociousness then he loses the edge that makes him the great NHLer that he is. I'm sure that Gallagher and his coaching staff could live without the penalties but I don't think anyone is going to make Gallagher change anything about his game. On Monday morning Bob McKenzie said that people should get over it and I completely agree. Time to find a new gripe.

-  Marc Bergevin doesn't tolerate BS and Therrien keeping Jiri Sekac out of the lineup was exactly that. You all know what happened and have seen the results but the thing that I can't stop thinking about is Therrien's lack of credibility. Therrien can coach but his warped meritocracy and heavy reliance on veterans over skilled youth is puzzling to say the least. Bergevin couldn't just watch his team drown when talent was right there to be used. By trading Moen and waving Bourque, Bergevin reminded Therrien that the team belongs to him and that he isn't going to tolerate nonsense lineup decisions. The Habs are 11-1 with Sekac in the lineup. 6-0 without Bourque. 4-0 without Travis Moen.

-I need to take a moment to appreciate the Habs' tic-tac-goal against Philly. Galchenyuk's ability to fire a one-time pass that accurately was brilliance and the no hesitation finish from Subban was the icing on the cake. Every Flyer turning in futility at the exact same time was perfection.

-I'm getting to the stage in my life where players getting inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame are players that I actually remember watching. This year's lass brings back some memories.I'll never forget Peter Forsberg completely botching a shootout attempt to give the Habs a win over the predators. It's the special moments that make up a Hall of Fame career.

It's about damn time that Pat Burns got the recognition he deserves. He should have been inducted years ago. We shouldn't have been in the position to say "Finally, Burns has been inducted." Congratulations, Pat.

That was 500 words

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