With GM Bob Gainey trading away Cristobal Huet to the Capitals for a second-round draft pick at the trade deadline, it seems the team has confidence in rookie net minder Cary Price. But does the management of the Canadians really think Price is the resurrection of Patrick Roy? Albeit, Price is proving with each game he has the stuff NHL goaltenders are made of (13-9, 2.76, .911), it seems a bit strange that Gainey, while fighting with the Senators for top spot in the North East Division, would put all his eggs in one basket when the team is positioning themselves for a playoff run in just over a month. It would be quite devastating for Canadians fans, who have been waiting for years for the team to have a chance to do well in the playoffs, to watch Price tank under the pressure. With the Senators floundering (head coach John Paddock was just fired), going 11-12-2 over the last 25 games, the Canadians are set to do well. Let’s hope Gainey is as wise a GM as he was a player and the Canadians come out of the division in good standing come April.

It was red and weird, and a delight to see. It was visible after 8:43 pm EST in Montreal and it won’t happen again for another couple of years. The lunar eclipse was a great distraction from the television and computer Wednesday night for anyone who decided to bundle up and find a place free from the obstructions of tall buildings and street lights. The cold chill in the air matched the ones traveling up the backs of everyone who finds heavenly events awe-inspiring. It makes one feel attuned to places beyond the soil under one’s feet, yet in a sense, points out the insignificance of one’s own life in the grand movements of the universe. The ten minutes spent looking skyward was worth the brief interlude into questioning one’s existence, now back to the episodes of CSI recorded on the PVR and those unread emails.

Sitting in a cell with nothing to do except talk to a bunkmate or twiddle you thumbs for hours at a time is not a conducive atmosphere for a no smoking campaign.  With the ban on smoking in jails across the province in effect presently, do we really need to ban it in the yard too?  I wonder how the guards would feel about hundreds of criminals in small spaces all having a nic-fit?  It was prudent that Public Security Minister Jacques Dupuis decided to relax the ban.  All the prison guards must be breathing easier when they show up for there shifts this week. 

As of January 22nd, Affiliation Quebec has received its “official party” status in the province of Quebec by the DEGQ (Director General of Elections Quebec).  The party, who’s raison d’etre include the defense and expansion of minority rights in Quebec, is led by Allen Nutik, former founder of the Equality Party.  Nutik, a Westmount resident and alarm systems entrepreneur, wants the minority vote in Montreal to come to his party as he believes the Liberal Party is no longer a viable option for these residents.  It will be interesting to see if the twelfth party of Quebec will gain footing on the province’s political scene.  Is the party a viable option for Montrealers or a flash in the pan?  Time will tell.