Thunderous NHL arrival for Komisarek

[Habsfan84]

You could almost feel this city holding its breath Tuesday night as Mike Komisarek sped off on a breakaway in Toronto.
The fact that the Montreal defenceman had just hauled in a beautiful pass from Toronto's error-prone Bryan McCabe made it even sweeter. But when Komisarek looked back over his shoulder, you know he was thinking that teammate and good buddy Christopher Higgins should be there for the pass.
Higgins was too far up the ice, however, and Komisarek had to do it himself. To the joy of Canadiens fans heartily sick of losing to the Maple Leafs, Komisarek beat Andrew Raycroft to set off a raucous celebration.

The big guy showed surprising speed, stickhandling ability and finesse, not to mention finish. Perhaps Michael Ryder and Guillaume Latendresse should take the video home and study it to learn how to score goals.
As a fan and journalist, I've seen thousands of Canadiens goals and forgotten most. This was one that will stick in the memory for all kinds of reasons. First, of course, it was an overtime goal against the hated Maple Leafs. In that sense, it could only have been bigger if it came in the playoffs.
Unlikely? Well, you run down the list of Canadiens players who are likely to score goals and Komisarek is likely to be, uh, somewhere below the top. But it was fitting that he would pot the biggest one of the season so far because this is the year Komisarek has arrived, big-time.
In the joyous aftermath of that one, with Higgins and the rest of the Habs leaping all over him, it occurred to me that if you had to name a most valuable player for the Canadiens at this point in the season, Komisarek would be at the top of the shortlist with defence partner Andrei Markov, Tomas Plekanec, Alex Kovalev and either of the goalies,
Cristobal Huet and Carey Price, who was outstanding again Tuesday.
Komisarek's name doesn't appear on the scoresheet that often, but the way he's hitting, blocking shots and exercising his physical command all over the ice, he's as valuable as Markov. Besides, he clocked Darcy Tucker again, which earns him additional brownie points.
Komisarek has been through a lot since he joined the Canadiens, beginning with the death of his mother. What made this one even more special is that he scored that overtime goal in the wake of Scott Stevens's induction into the Hall of Fame. More and more, night after night, Komisarek is looking like the Montreal
version of the great former
New Jersey defenceman. Except for Tuesday in Toronto, when he looked more like Pavel Bure.
sss
It took a quick thumb to watch the Canadiens-Leafs game with the Joe Calzaghe-Mikkel Kessler fight airing simultaneously on TSN, but the fight came as advertised: a doozy. Two of the best fighters in any weight class going toe-to-toe for 12 sometimes brutal, sometimes elegant rounds.
I had seen Calzaghe against Sakio Bika (when he didn't look that impressive) and Kessler
destroy Éric Lucas during a fight in which Lucas landed perhaps five punches and left the ring in tears. On balance, I thought Calzaghe didn't have a chance
But the Welshman, who hasn't lost a fight in 17 years, showed why he's one of the great ones. After the two battled on equal terms for the first six rounds, Calzaghe took over and emerged the clear winner.
One complaint: Calzaghe and the ridiculous Jim Lampley were wrong when they said there is no one else out there for Calzaghe to fight at 168 pounds. Calzaghe is having trouble making the weight, so it makes sense for him to move up to light-heavyweight, especially if that means a multimillion-dollar date with Bernard Hopkins.
But having watched Calzaghe-Kessler, it's possible to say that Montreal-based Lucian Bute would give Calzaghe a tougher fight than Kessler did. Styles make fights, and Bute - like Calzaghe a tricky southpaw - has the style to give Kessler fits.

With Calzaghe moving up, Kessler and Bute are the two best super-middleweights in the world. Their collision might be two years away - but it's coming.
Ironically, Kessler's loss dropped him to fifth in the WBC rankings, one notch below another Montreal fighter, the dazzling Jean Pascal. Pascal (19-0 with 14 KOs) is ranked fourth by the WBC and will appear on the undercard when Joachim Alcine makes the first defence of his IBF super-welterweight title Dec. 7 at the Bell Centre against Alfonso (the Hurricane) Mosquera.
Pascal's opponent was to be unveiled during a Laval news conference yesterday, but the announcement was delayed
because the opponent hasn't signed a contract. The presence of Pascal and fellow super-middleweight Adonis Stevenson helps to account for the early demand for the fight, with GYM saying 9,300 tickets have been sold.
Pascal's hand speed would make him a dangerous opponent for Kessler as well, although
Pascal probably needs a few more fights before taking a shot at one of the world titles. He'll get two in a hurry, because he's also scheduled to fight in Miami Jan. 11.