Montreal Canadiens In A Triple Tie.

Before today's games, the Eastern conference standings shows a triple tie for the last three playoff spots. The Philadelphia Flyers, the Montreal Canadiens and the Boston Bruins occupy the sixth, seventh and eight place at 82 points each after 76 games played.

The Atlanta Trashers at 80 points and the New York Rangers at 78 are the only outsiders with a shot at a playoff berth in the East.

The Canadiens will play the Carolina Hurricanes tonight and the two points at stake are far more important for Montreal. There should be no reason for anyone to experience a lack of motivation on Montreal's side.

The return of Michael Cammalleri and Marc-Andre Bergeron in the lineup did not show on the score sheet yet and a goal from those two in tonight's game would be welcomed by the fans.

I will watch this game at home on TV tonight, hoping for a victory.

(Picture: Cam Ward.)

Can LASIK Enhance Your Vision?

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of usaeyes.org . All opinions are 100% mine.

The state of my own eyes and general vision would be much better after a surgery. I have been looking forward for a LASIK surgery for quite some time and I will give it a try as soon as I have enough funds to clear the costs of the intervention.

LASIK has proven it's effectiveness over the last decade. The surgery is now virtually painless and the recovery is quite fast. The costs have also decreased significally.

If you are looking for more information, I invite you to visit www.usaeyes.org right away. There is a ton of data and articles on the subject. I also invite you to visit Dr. Thierry Hufnagel, MD from the Stahl Eye Center located in the New York area.

Once again, there is a ton of information about LASIK surgery and about the Stahl Eye Centers doctors over there.

Montreal-Quebec Series: Quebec Wins The Decisive Match.

The series opposing Montreal and Quebec City came to a close yesterday with the presentation of the 8th and final match of the series. A match that was won by Quebec city by the score of 7-4.

As the series went along, the focus shifted towards goaltending. Quebec's netminder, Julien Walsh, kept his team in the hunt with some fantastic performances early on. Walsh ended up being named Quebec's star player of the series and only needs the public vote to earn the grand prize.

But at the other side of the rink, things went wrong for Montreal. Goaltending problems sank the team as they lost the last three games of the series. The worse came during game six as Montreal was ahead by a couple of goals with under eight minutes to play. The weakest link of the team allowed Quebec to turn back the series to their advantage.

All in all, the series was interesting to watch. There was plenty of genuine emotion for both the spectators and the participants. But my only bad mark that will be sticking to this series will go towards the caliber of both teams. With over 10 000 registrations at the beginning of the adventure, it was deceiving to see such thin lineups on both sides.

There was of course some good hockey players in there, but unfortunatly that was not the case for everyone when we looked more closely.

Final score: Quebec 7 - Montreal 4 (Quebec City wins the series by 5-3.)

Gold: There Is No Substitute.

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Goldline International. All opinions are 100% mine.

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Green Light For The Head Hunters.

We can almost smell the playoffs. And what does this time of the year means? In the NHL, it usually means less penalties from the officials and tiyn suspensions from the league for dangerous -and life threatning- assaults.

The course of the events in the NHL since the end of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics are just a sample of what's brewing for the next few weeks.

As if it wasn't enough, simply during the last few hours, we saw a very dangerous check in the back at full speed from Washington Capitals' Alexander Ovechkin delivered to Brian Campbell of the Chicago Blackhawks. That potential serious injury was sanctionned for only two games by the league, mainly because Ovechkin did not decapitate his target in the process.

And because Ovechkin is a fifty goal scorer, the NHL chooses the tickets and ratings to their product's own life and well being.

During those same last few hours, we also saw a MMA-type leg hold on Pittsburgh Penguins' Sidney Crosby. There should be a minor suspension awarded by the league -of course- in this case.

With the type of hits, and with the amount of games of penalty awarded by the NHL to the aggressors, the temptation is huge for the head hunters. There is no serious sanction until next season.

The green light is on.

(Picture: Marc Savard.)

Ice Hockey's Newest Black Eye.

During a game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Boston Bruins, Matt Cooke blindsided Marc Savard and sneaked a violent shoulder check directly to the side of his head. Savard went to the ground, seriously hurt.

Marc Savard suffers from a ''grade two'' concussion and could miss the remainder of the regular season. All eyes were on Colin Campbell in hope of an exemplary suspension for Matt Cooke. Many fans want those type of hits banned or seriously punished.

After a couple of days, the league took a decision. The NHL will not suspend Matt Cooke for his disgusting hit to Marc Savard's head. And the worse came in the explanation of the decision. Cooke wasn't suspended because another player committed a similar infraction earlier this season and wasn't punished either. The kind of illogical thinking that kept the NHL where it is right now: in the gutter.

The decision took many by surprise and angered Montreal Canadiens' Maxim Lapierre. Lapierre was suspended 4 games a few days ago by the league for a minor push in the back without serious consequences. Once again, where is the logic?

In the past, the consequences and the type of player committing the infraction influenced the board's decisions. In the past, we often saw an average player receive a more severe suspension than a star player did for similar actions.

Today we roll the dices and add a new twist. It's not who hits, but who's hitted.

Matt Cooke is known for being capable of the worse but at the same time we know that Marc Savard has some temper and likes to trash talk with his opponents.

Did Savard's reputation caught up with him in this incident? If it did, it is a shame.

(Picture: Marc Savard.)

Important Weekend For The Montreal Canadiens.

The Montreal Canadiens will play two games in two nights this weekend as the hunt for a playoff spot resumes in the NHL.

Montreal needs points to stay in the hunt and that is why this weekend is important. The team cannot afford to lose both games this weekend. The Los Angeles Kings will be Montreal's first opponent this Saturday followed by the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday.

The Canadiens will miss their best goal scorer this season, Michael Cammalleri, who is still recovering from his left knee injury. Maxim Lapierre will also miss the weekend as he was suspended for four games by the league for his hit from behind on Scott Nichol of the San Jose Sharks earlier this week.

Head coach Jacques Martin will have to pick a goaltender between Carey Price and Jaroslav Halak for the final stretch of the season. While Price looked to be shaky lately, Halak was fantastic in net for Team Slovakia during the Vancouver Olympics.

If I had the task to choose between those two goalies, I would pick Halak because of his recent successes with Team Slovakia and for his contribution with the Canadiens this season.

(Picture: Maxim Lapierre, Getty Images.)

Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games: A Great Success For Canada.

The 2010 Olympic Winter Games held in Vancouver are now part of the history books and Canadians all over the country can feel the sense of pride and accomplishment.

The Canadian athletes won a total of 26 medals, 14 of them in Gold, a new record for the Winter Games. The quality and the depth of the Canadian team was so impressive.

In a perfect scenario, the Canadian athletes would have brought home at least another 3 or 4 Gold Medals. For example, the Canadian womens' curling team dropped their Gold Medal to Sweden's profit while acrobatic skier Jennifer Heil was edged by the very last competitor and settled for Silver.

But I am not saying this to undermine Canada's performance in any way. To the opposite, I am very proud of what our team accomplished. Joannie Rochette's Bronze Medal in the women's figure skating competition was inspiring and was quite a story. To perform at this level after the tragic death of her mother only a few days before the competition is a great example of courage and inner strenght.

I also have to mention Canada's victory in the ice hockey tournament. Both the mens and womens conquered the Gold Medal in classic fashion. While the womens cruised towards victory without losing a single game, the mens had to face adversity.

After losing a game in the prelims, the Canadians pulled off a glorious 7-3 victory over Russia in the quarterfinals to then defeat Slovakia by the score of 3-2 in the semis and to finally edge Team USA by the score of 3-2 on an overtime goal by Sidney Crosby.

Yes, Canada fulfilled their promise of performance at these Games but more importantly, no major incident and no major controversy was reported. The focus was on the competitions and on the athletes' performances, as it should be.

Thank you Vancouver 2010 for the great memories.

(Picture: Closing ceremonies.)