Rhymes with Duck! Plus other sports updates, and some Canada good news

Damn!

Of all the posts I saw about the Monday night game, this says it best: 

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Hey, Habs - please do that voodoo that you do so well! Plus its Sunday Funday: Riders win, Knicks win, good posts, funny posts, Getting Old(er), Carney hat-trick, TrumpWatch, Animal Crackers

But damn! 

The Habs voodoo wasn't quite strong enough on Saturday night.

#Habs 2 - 3 #Hurricanes (F/OT) MTL stats 🚨Goals: Anderson (4,5) 🏒PP: 0-for-2 🏒Guhle: 3-game point streak (3A) 🏒Danault: 3-game point streak (2G 3A) 🏒Carrier: 3-game point streak (3A) Shots MTL: 12 CAR: 26 Series tied 1-1 Game 3: CAR vs MTL on Monday @ 8pm ET #GoHabsGo youtu.be/g9wHq0uFxS0

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— ChrisHabs360 (@chrishabs360.bsky.social) May 23, 2026 at 9:14 PM

#Habs Martin St. Louis following 3-2 OT loss "I thought they had really good sticks. I thought our execution was not as good, but it wasn't terrible. Overall, I thought it was a battle out there, and I thought we competed. It's a close game—it's a fine line between winning and losing." #GoHabsGo

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— ChrisHabs360 (@chrishabs360.bsky.social) May 23, 2026 at 9:38 PM

Referendum Lite Roundup: The more we see it, the more we hate it

The more Canada is learning today about Danielle Smith's Alberta Referendum Lite, the more we hate it. 

Not only will it screw up the international and national investments Canada needs to maintain Elbows Up, it also makes us a target for American interference in our democracy and economy. Canada doesn't need this investment-killing selfishness, and particularly we don't need it right now.

Carney's response was politic, but unfortunately it wasn't very fired-up patriotic

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A great beginning for the Habs! Plus Smith's goofy Referendum Lite - does Alberta actually WANT to delay new resource investments until 2027? And a farewell to Stephen Colbert

Habs win!

At least there was one good news story today -- after the Canes scored at 30 seconds, Montreal came back and scored at a minute. 

Then they put the pedal to the metal for the rest of the game.

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Waiting for the game: Watching "The Sweater" and gathering a batch of news updates

While we wait for the game on Thursday night, enjoy my favourite NFB video in all time,

 The Sweater, plus a batch of news updates.

The maybe pipeline

PM Carney: "The pipeline will only be advanced with the following prerequisites being met. The first is the building of pathways ... Secondly it requires that British Columbians should share substantial economic and financial benefits. And thirdly requires fully respecting Canada's duty to consult."

- Scott Robertson

Read on Substack

Following up on yesterday's post about whether British Columbia deserves to feel aggrieved over Carney's dealings with Alberta, I decided to compare what was being reported in the BC newspapers on Wednesday, with the reporting in the Globe and Mail and in Alberta papers: 

Wars and rumours of war, plus some Canada news, and predictions of a sad World Cup

It seems like its been a while since I've updated on today's wars, so here are a few recent posts and comments that I found illuminating: 

Iran War update 

Tonight the New York Times is reporting that the US and Israel thought back in February that they could end the war in a few days by replacing Iran's leadership with a cooperative stooge, easy peasy.
What were they smoking?

...It turns out that the United States and Israel [gift link] went into the conflict with a particular and very surprising someone in mind: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the former Iranian president known for his hard-line, anti-Israel and anti-American views.
But the audacious plan, developed by the Israelis and which Mr. Ahmadinejad had been consulted about, quickly went awry, according to the U.S. officials who were briefed on it.
Mr. Ahmadinejad was injured on the war’s first day by an Israeli strike at his home in Tehran that had been designed to free him from house arrest, the American officials and an associate of Mr. Ahmadinejad said. He survived the strike, they said, but after the near miss he became disillusioned with the regime change plan.
He has not been seen publicly since then and his current whereabouts and condition are unknown....
... Israel envisioned the war unfolding in several phases, starting with air assaults by the United States and Israel plus the killing of Iran’s supreme leaders and the mobilization of Kurds to fight Iranian forces, according to two Israeli defense officials familiar with the operational planning.
Then, the Israeli plan foresaw a combination of influence campaigns carried out by Israel and the Kurdish invasion creating political instability in Iran and a sense that the regime was losing control. In a third stage, the regime, under intense political pressure and the weight of damage to key infrastructure like electricity, would collapse, allowing for what the Israelis referred to as an “alternative government” to be established.
Other than the air campaign and the killing of the supreme leader, little of the plan played out as the Israelis had hoped, and much of it appears in retrospect to have profoundly misjudged Iran’s resilience and the capacity of the United States and Israel to exert their will...

The Iran War "strategy" looks even crazier: The @nytimes reports that the US plan was to put Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in as leader -- yes, the same Ahmadinejad who was both extremist and a bit crazy. I interviewed Ahmadinejad when he was Iran's president and can't imagine the why the…

— Nicholas Kristof (@NickKristof) May 19, 2026

Olé Olé Olé! Habs win it in overtime. Plus, more about the Alberta voter ID app scandal

What an outstanding win

Carrier’s side switch grants Newhook a cushion on entry, and the forward makes no mistake to send the Habs to the ECF. The second replay gives us a closer look at the game-winning knuckler:

- Vinh Cao

Read on Substack

Alex Newhook is from St. John's, NFLD, by the way, and he scored the game-winner against Tampa in Game 7 of that series too.

Tabarnak!!! Plus, Sunday Funday with funny-odd and funny-haha posts, Hating AI, Carney Hat Trick, TrumpWatch, and Animal Crackers

Oh, tabarnak! The Habs lose tonight - On to Monday!
The video low-lights of Saturday's game are here. I'm not posting the clip because I don't really want to watch it again.
This is a pretty good game review on the Raw NHL website, from Sabres writer Matthew Fairburn

Canadiens fans were ready to party on Saturday night. The holiday weekend brought even more people into the city. Thousands of fans were outside the Bell Centre watching the game, and the 20,962 fans filled the arena with ear-splitting noise before puck drop. Montreal police warned fans outside the building not to bring any pyrotechnics or fireworks, concerned about the kind of scene a Game 6 win would create in the city’s streets.
But the Sabres, who came into this game 4-1 on the road in the playoffs, scored seven unanswered goals to thwart that party and keep their season alive with another road win to bring the series back home for Game 7.
“Well we’re in the process of seeing if we can play here on Monday,” Ruff quipped.
...“It’s probably the worst game we’ve played, so we’re only going up,” Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki said. “It’s going to be important for guys to look themselves in the mirror and say that we’ve got an opportunity to win one game and move on to the third round. So we’ll take that any time.”...

The Carney and Smith announcement, plus a note on Trump's crazy language

It was a big announcement today in Alberta:

Canada and Alberta Strike Landmark Implementation Agreement on Energy, Emissions, and Export Diversification By Annie Koshy Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announced a landmark Implementation Agreement in Calgary today, delivering on the core commitments of the Canada-Alberta Memorandum of Understanding signed last November. The agreement moves on three fronts simultaneously: strengthening carbon markets, building clean electricity infrastructure, and opening a new pipeline corridor to Asian markets. The carbon market framework carries the broadest national implications. Canada and Alberta have agreed to an effective carbon price of $115 per tonne by 2030, $130 by 2035, and $140 by 2040. Alberta commits to a minimum floor price for carbon credits beginning in 2030, preventing market collapse and providing investment certainty. Canada and Alberta will jointly issue 75 million tonnes of Carbon Contracts for Difference to support emissions reduction projects, with costs shared equally. The ambition extends beyond Alberta: a credible, high-price carbon market in Canada’s largest emitting province creates the foundation for a scalable national carbon credit market across provinces. On electricity, both governments have committed to doubling Alberta’s grid by 2050 across nuclear, wind, solar, geothermal, and lower-carbon generation. A joint Electricity Working Group will identify the investments required to achieve net-zero emissions in Alberta’s electricity sector by 2050. The federal government will add major high-voltage intra-provincial transmission to the Clean Electricity Investment Tax Credit, directly addressing one of the most persistent bottlenecks in Alberta’s renewable buildout. The pipeline commitment is the most politically consequential element. Alberta will submit a comprehensive proposal for a bitumen pipeline to Asian markets to the Major Projects Office by July 1. Canada will pursue its designation as a project of national interest by October 1, fully consistent with the duty to consult Indigenous peoples. The pipeline would transport at least one million barrels of low-emission Alberta bitumen per day and is contingent on the Pathways Project, the world’s largest carbon capture and storage initiative, targeting 16 million tonnes of annual emissions reductions and up to 43,000 jobs annually. Both governments have concluded that the cost of continued regulatory conflict is higher than the cost of compromise. Alberta gets pipeline access, investment certainty, and jurisdictional control. Canada gets a credible carbon market foundation and a nation-building project that advances its export diversification agenda. Whether the pipeline can be approved by October 1 while fully meeting Indigenous consultation requirements will be the first real test of the timelines committed to today. https://www.pm.gc.ca/en/news/news-releases/2026/05/15/canada-and-alberta-strike-agreement-diversify-our-exports-reduce

- Annie Koshy

Read on Substack

Here is an excerpt from PM Carney's press conference following the announcement:
shorts

Today's News: Habs Rule (almost)! Plus a round-up of comments on the Alberta separatist referendum, and a smattering of Trump/China

Habs Rule (almost)!

Montreal wins 6-3 over Buffalo, and will be going home with hopes to take it all on Saturday night's game 6
 

Montreal will be rocking!
They stick together don't they

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Some additional detail about that crucial decision to leave Dobeš in after the Sabres scored three on him, and about the goal coach who made it, is in this NHL article here.

Some good Venn diagrams, plus some good news updates

Starting with a few Venn diagrams:

Today's News: We just need the next 2 out of 3. Plus Trump leaves for China, and some "Strait of Hormuz Blues"

Next two out of three
A crazy game and unfortunate loss, Sabres 3 to Canadiens 2:

At Sportsnet, Eric Engels writes:

In a game the Montreal Canadiens lost by one goal, it would be easy to suggest the puck bouncing off the stanchion by the Bell Centre’s Zamboni door before caroming off Jakub Dobes’ pad was the difference.
But there was more to why the Canadiens finished Tuesday night down 3-2 in the game and tied 2-2 in their series with the Buffalo Sabres, and they’ll have to properly evaluate that before the action resumes at KeyBank Center on Thursday.
For a team that prides itself on honest self-assessment, a reality check awaits in the video room.
The Canadiens had seven power plays but scored on only one. And even if Cole Caufield, who scored that goal and said afterward that he and his teammates broke down the Sabres “a bunch” and were only thwarted by great saves Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, they mismanaged the puck enough to squander those other six opportunities....

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times - from Habs Rule to America Chaos

For some reason I am seeing a lot of just two kinds of posts. 

Positive ones about the Habs victory on Sunday, and negative ones about Trump's America causing chaos in the world. 

So they seem to fall into a sort of oddball "two cities" theme, really. Here they are

Habs Rule!
The playoff standings as of Monday night are here
Canadiens-Sabres Game 3 recap

Some good posts about this game:
Classic sports photo here

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Sunday Funday: Funny posts about Canada, ETTD, sports, academics, and more, plus Carney hat-trick TrumpWatch, Animal Crackers

First, good items about Canada 

Todd Maffin does a "heritage minute" about Heritage Minutes


All of the Minutes are saved here: https://www.historicacanada.ca/productions/minutes 

This is my favourite:

Good for the Habs! Plus today's Canada news - from Obama to a pink Barbie Jeep

Habs win!

So the series is tied as they head to Montreal for the next two games.


When it got to 4-1, that was really the end for Buffalo

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