The Canadiens are coming off a win against Vancouver this past Tuesday that ought to give them a boost in confidence. While a far from perfect game, the effort was a focused one, and something the team should build on and draw from resourcefully for the final 25 games.
The Bruins, well the have hit the skids, oiled and racing to exclusion from the playoffs. With just one win in ten games, there are calls for coach Claude Julien’s scalp, or what’s left of it.
Curiously, the Bruins slide from top spot almost mimics the Canadiens drop from pedestal to trough of one year ago. Injuries have played a great part in the Bruins decline, as it had (continues to) in the Canadiens case.
All that’s missing to make both shutes eerily similar is Bruins GM Chiarelli to say that hiring Julien since taking over the Bruins has been his most adept move thus far.
Of course, the distinction might end up being that the Canadiens still made the playoffs last season, only to be dipped in the whitewash bucket by Boston. This spring, the Bruins ain’t gonna be around come mid-April for anyone to humiliate them in the post season.
Okay, so that is as far as I got……by 2:30 a.m. Thursday morning.
For those who might not have guessed it, I do not blog on the Habs full time. I wish I could dedicate myself 24/7 to entertaining EOTP readers, but the reality is I gots to work for a living. This is but one gig I juggle on a regular basis, and if you like quicksand, welcome to my world.
A main source of moolah is doing delivery runs to Ottawa and Kingston two or three times a week, dropping off invoices and picking up cheques for a variety of charities that include the Oldtimers Hockey Challenge, Firefighters Associations and Shriners clubs. It’s cool work, decent pay, and more often than not I get to choose my days.
Lots of times when you are reading stuff here, I’ve prepared the work a few days in advance. Other times, the well gets a bit dry, and I’ll repost an oldie from the site archives to fill time and space.
Do I feel a bit guilty about that?
A bit, that’s kinda why I’m rambling here.
Apart from this site and the out of town trips, I busy myself with probably more than I can take on and remain sane. Presently, I have several things on the go, such a commissioned article for one publication, translations work for an upcoming book (not by me) that I cannot tell you about, and work and research for a book that I have constantly been in the process of writing putting together for the past six months.
Because I want to further my career in the world of freelance hockey writing, I say “No” to very little. I take it all on. Juggling responsibilities can get nuts at times. I am a husband, homeowner and landlord, with two daughters aged 10 and 15, who both play hockey a few nights a week.
Last September, the Montreal Canadiens official site asked if I would translate articles for their web space, the official team magazine, and a variety of centennial related publications (books, DVD’s). The work lasted up until Christmas and paid me quite nicely. Unfortunately for me, centennials don’t come around too often!
So, perhaps the long and short of it is, I need some help here, and no, not the psychological kind!
At this site, and this is honestly my guilt talking, I truly wish and want to offer readers more content, and better content. But I can no longer do more alone.
I need contributors of a certain standard. I need contributors who can, on a regular and on an irregular basis, write of this Canadiens team, past, present or future, with a certain amount of insightful balance and perspective.
I have put out a few feelers and have had a few inquiries, but nothing has come about. I am willing to teach groom, guide and inform all I have to, to find the right people.
Candidates to help with the site’s needs should have some tech savvy, meaning that they should have knowledge in posting content online. An ideal person would be well read, able to link to articles written elsewhere, and load photo and video content. No worries, I am here to help and edit, discuss and guide your thoughts. In short, I won’t throw you in the river without a lifejacket.
At present, EOTP has three participants. Other than myself, goalie stats guru Chris Boyle came on board this past October, and his articles on the Canadiens goaltending situation have been nothing short of a phenominon. Shortly after Chris signed on, super fan Francis Bouchard, brought his amazing knowledge of Canadiens literature and video to the site. Francis is always about three projects ahead of himself, helping guarantee down the line that this site will always have interesting and surprising content offered for readers.
It would please me tremendously to see “Eyes On The Prize” continue to provide Canadiens fans with an interesting outlook on the team. As I see it, I feel this site is somewhat unique, in that it attempts to reach its readers in a different manner.
This site’s not about me and my opinions and thoughts, although posts like this one tend to personalize it, but it is about you, and your relationship with our great and glorious team. I wish and want for this site to live on and live prosperously.
In my heart, I have given all I have said above great consideration. I want this space to do right by you.
If it cannot, the end of the 2009-10 season will spell the expiration of EOTP.
Persons wishing to contact me can do so at: realitycheck-time (at) hotmail (dot) com. The address will be removed in 48 hours for spam reasons.
Humbly, I thank you for your interest in the site.
I hope that the Habs girls featured here courtesy of Habs Or Die have provided a smile. 🙂
