'MELO OUT...

So the big trade that New Yorkers had been waiting for finally went down last night. Unless you've been living under a rock the past few months, you obviously know what I'm talking about:  The Denver Nuggets sent their disgruntled marquee player CARMELO ANTHONY to the NY Knicks for practically their whole starting lineup, some draft picks, a bag of cash and free cable TV for life.

Now I will be the first to say that what the Knicks are getting in return is a legit pick-up.  Anthony is no doubt one of the better players in the league.  Would I call him "Elite"?   I'll make a scrunchy face while saying yes.  I feel like he's on the cusp of being truly "Elite", Top twenty, no question;  I'll even let him break top-ten, depending on if he shows up to play.  Is he good enough to basically gut your starting lineup for?  That remains to be seen.

For years the Knicks had been laughingstocks of the Eastern Conference, both for what they did on the court and upstairs in the front office.  They finally began to show signs of stability by bringing in Donnie Walsh to clean up the mess made by the previous regime (Isaiah Thomas);  Walsh began shedding dead weight/contracts, bringing in younger, fresher talent, and finally, signing a young marquee player to build around (Stoudemire).   With this, the Knicks finally began to show signs of life.  The chemistry was good, the team began to win, and slowly but surely, the fans began to come back to the Garden.  It was finally fun to watch the Knicks again.

HOWEVER, now that the trade is complete, come Wednesday night at MSG, you are going to be looking at virtually a brand new lineup.  While there is no question in what you're getting in Anthony (and Chauncey Billups for that matter), the question is how will this new team gel as a unit?  What about the chemistry?  Will Anthony be a positive influence on the team?  All questions that will need to be answered quickly as the playoff season is quickly approaching.  As it stands now, the Knicks are on the verge of making the playoffs for the first time since god-knows-when.  Will this trade help the team, both in the short-term as well as in the long run?  Stay tuned....

HERITAGE CLASSIC PARTY WRAP-UP

The bar hosted it's very first "Tweet-up" party on Sunday to coincide with the NHL's Heritage Classic, an outdoor game pitting two Canadian teams, Montreal and Calgary.  As a Habs fan, this was an event that I was really looking forward to, both as a hockey fan and as a fan of the Montreal Canadiens. It was an opportunity to meet fellow hockey fans and to catch a great game during what was otherwise a long, quiet holiday weekend.

 We got a great turnout for the event, which was awesome to see.  Many people in attendance were followers of the bar and of ALLHABS.net, HabsTweetup.com, Twitter fans, Facebook fans, Meetup.com fans just to name a few.  We raffled off great prizes donated by the National Hockey League, offered up beer specials including Molson Canadian, Labatt Blue and specialty brew Dieu Du Ciel (which we practically sold out of) and everyone had a great time!  The only downside to the night's events was that my Habs got shut out 4-0!

 If you haven't done so yet, check out other photos from the event on our FACEBOOK page!

TONIGHT: Speaking of hockey (shocker), there are ten (10) games on tap in the NHL, including NYI vs TOR, NYR vs CAR, NJ vs DAL, PHIL vs PHO,  and a bunch of west coast games including MTL vs VAN, BOS vs CAL, DET vs SJ!  Add to the mix, NCAA hoops and of course, DOLLAR DRAFT MADNESS ($1 Bud/Bud Light mugs, all night long), and you have the makings of a pretty damn good night!

Cheers!