On Blogging

I would just like to point out that in the last week, I've had 2 spikes in traffic to the blog.

The first was when my comment about NISTAR was picked up by a community blog.
The second was when I linked to my blog in comments on HabsInsideOut.com.

For me, an average traffic day is somewhere around 9 to 12 people. A good day, ie, when I update my blog, hovers around the high teens.

When my ISTAR blog got picked up, I had nearly 30 unique visits for 2 days straight.

When I posted on HIO, my traffic spiked to over 350 unique visits, approximately, for a few days, with a high of 696 loads on Sunday.

WOW.

I had no idea the sheer amount of people that read HIO, including the comments, and actually post comments, follow links, and interact with the website in other ways. Incredible. The people who actually clicked on my link represent only a small fraction of HIO's daily traffic, of that I am sure.

So on one hand, I wonder why HIO doesn't get more interactive - a facebook group, automatic twitter feed, etc - and also why it doesn't have more fan-generated content on the site. Also, I'd like to point out that the picture gallery is really tough to navigate fluidly.

On the other hand, I really have to thank everyone who visited my blog, especially those who commented on my posts, whether here, on facebook, or through other means. It really means a lot to me. In fact, it's given me the drive to post more... Even if I don't have much to say.

Once again, thank you!!!

And stay tuned...

Something new...

Lets try something new! When I can, I usually live blog the post-game comments off RIS Info's live locker room and press conference coverage. This usually gets posted for a few friends, sometimes on Mike Boone's blog on HabsInsideOut.com, and I figured, why not share it with the rest of the world!

So here are tonight's clip from the locker room and the press conference. Ignore the typos and quick formatting... Live typing is kinda tough. I now understand the closed captioners.

Lats on his winning goal: "I actually thought Max was going to dump it so I was going behind the net."
Carbo'd planned gui and max in OT before, it just never happened
on the second: we were missing a lot of chances, breakaways, but we're happy about the victory

Koivu:
"You learn from the guys and you're gonna get better.We have a quite young centerman and he's a really good faceoff man. It's one of the things we're practicing and wanna improve but we're not as bad as people think."

"You try to make them comfy and push at the same time, teach them to do the little things right"
Saku thinks his wingers are comfortable, but says they all need to pay attention defensively.
on home: "3 out of 4 is not bad," but not satisfied with the way they played.

Huey: "We would have liked to have a better second but after we reacted well, esp in the third, we deserved the win. It was a sign of maturity to be able to come back, earlier in the season, we weren't able to come back from our mistakes."

Locke: "It's a great feeling, I've wanted to play in the NHL and with the habs since I was a kid. It was an honour. It was great, a great experience, I'm glad I got in the game, and I'm glad we won in OT, it's nice to get the win."
Surprised: How quick it is and you have to pay attention all the time no standing around

Max: on the winning goal
"When I saw him (Gui) at the center and saw he was giving me space, so I just tried to give him the puck and he scored.
He says he was trying to dump it behind, like Gui thought, but it turned into a pass and Gui scored. plus they have fun off the ice, so it's always fun to win, but because it's Gui it's even better.

Carbo:
3/4 is good. We would have liked 6/6 but after the Washington game, we talked about it, and I'm happy. It was a weird game, but a good one. It's always been a good rivalry, so it was fun to prepare this game, esp. against a team we don't always face.

We liked the way we were playing before Xmas, and we still have a bit of a letdown in the second, but I think it went really well.

Sometimes, you make decisions and it works. It had been a couple of games I hadn't used them (Max and Gui), but I had a feeling, and so I put them on the ice. Max had already been there for 20 seconds, and it turned out well!

More in English: I thought they had a good game. Max has been really good for us since he'd been called up, and Gui had a really good game with a lot of chances around the net. Last game in overtime, I didn't use them, but like I said, sometimes, you just have a feeling.

We've been working with him since he's been up last year. Especially in the power play when we need him in front. He has 12 goals, and last year he scored a few, and they're not 10 feet away, they're from in front of the net.

Laughs and complains at the Price and Chip question.

It was about the time we were thinking about it. If you look at Carey, we knew January would be an easier schedule, and that we wanted to give Price more ice time. Finally, the schedule was favourable to make a change, and we talked about it even before the Washington game.
Kyle had a very good beginning of the season, he was excited and was playing hard. But then I think he stabilized and the league kept getting better. It's something that always happens, and it's tougher when you're young. Kyle is an instinct player, and when you don't have confidence, it's harder to play. So he can go to Hamilton for the next four games... Hamilton's playing 4 games in 7 nights.

... Yeah, maybe, it's supposed to be temporary. They told us they'd be there for the next four games.

Yeah, I've been watching Corey for a while, and he's always been the best wherever he played. He's always found the way to score, in all his leagues, so it was important for me to give him a chance.

We want Kyle to come back strong. It's not just for the guys who are here. I think we're gonna have some players coming back in the next couple games, and I can't dress 20 players, so some of them are going to have to sit down, and they have to prove they want to be in the lineup.

Stay tuned...

On Price

As posted on HabsInsideOut.com midway through the 3rd period of the Montreal @ Pittsburgh hockey game on October 11, 2007:

Do you see the circle of protection around Price? The Habs are playing better because they want to support their goalie, who is young and new to the game. They don't want to make him look bad. They don't want to look bad and as if they're depending on him. They probably don't want to depend on him because they don't totally trust him yet.
Unfortunately, this lack of trust makes them a better team. When Ds (and forwards) play in front of a seasoned goalie, they tend to abandon him more often. They think he can handle it.

After Price has proven his worth in a few games, the D is not going to be as tight. There will be more mistakes, that's for sure. But it'll also give Price some room to breathe and do his thing. Less screens, less activity in front of the net, less "not his fault" goals.

Just my 2(or 3 or 4 or 5) cents.

Random thought: if they eliminate the penny, will our opinions be worth 5 cents instead of 2?

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Just thought you'd like to know.