Hi everyone! I know, I know, I know, I know… my Montreal Canadiens have crapped the bed once again. It’s getting to the point where they are practically running out of sheets in the closet. You know what I mean. It’s like when your kid has one of those awful once-in-a-decade stomach flus and over the course of a single night has so many barfing and pooping accidents that they are eventually left to using beach towels and bath mats to keep warm. That’s where the Habs are right now.

If you’ve watched any Habs games this year, you may have noticed their propensity for giving up goals in small (and sometimes large) bunches. Just about every game there is one moment when everything goes wrong, and it is usually the result of two or three quick goals in the span of a couple minutes. It is very frustrating to watch this every night. It is, in my opinion, the result of having a very young, very fragile defense. One goal easily leads to two, and before long, two goals leads to three.

So when I (seriously) stumbled upon this week’s article about the Seals-Canadiens game from February 4, 1970, I was quite surprised by the comparisons to the 2024 Habs. For one thing, the low-scoring Seals blitzed the Jean Beliveau-Yvan Cournoyer-Rogie Vachon-and-about-ten-other-Hall-of-Famers-led Habs for five third period goals on their way to a 5-2 win. The Habs of 1970, much like the Habs of 2022-2024 (and likely 2025), did not make the playoffs, and this game played a big part in the debacle. After all, the Seals were easy pickings and the Habs held a 1-0 lead into the third period before the Seals went ballistic scoring four times in 13 minutes (including a shorthanded goal from Ted Hampson). In the end, the Habs missed the playoffs after losing a tie-breaker after the final regular-season game; the Habs and Rangers both finished tied for fourth with 92 points, but the Rangers got in because they had scored two more goals. If you’d like to read about one of the most rousing victories in Seals history, head on over to the Articles section and check out this piece from the San Francisco Examiner‘s Jim Bainbridge.

Have a great weekend, folks! Until next time, stay gold!