These are busy days for Habs Gauthier

There’s still 78 days until the puck is dropped on the 2010-11 NHL season, and the Montreal Canadiens have continued to fine tune their roster and staff in preparation.

I’m still catching up from vacation time, but over the past few days, there has been a whirlwind of activity surrounding the Bleu Blanc et Rouge.

Just before last weekend, the Canadiens resigned forward David Desharnais and also signed Alexander Avstin to an entry-level deal.

Desharnais brings consistent scoring to the Hamilton Bulldogs and the signing of Avstin is KHL fallout from the folding of legendary Russian club team Dynamo Moscow. In essence, the Bulldogs gained strength in the forward position real fast.

The next day, Habs VP of hockey operations Julien Brisebois jumped to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Canadiens GM Pierre Gauthier quickly wasted no time, and replaced him with Larry Carrière.

Carrière might turn out to be a very nice steal, as he has spent the last six years as a scout for the Washington Capitals and has close to 20 years of management experience.

Plus, you gotta love a guy who wasn’t afraid to take on the Broad Steet Bullies, or battle Terry O’Reilly, as seen in these videos.

 

As HockeyBuzz.com’s Steven Hindle pointed out in his recent article, “A key element to Carrière being brought in is that he brings an immense wealth of scouting and management knowledge, something that neither Guy Boucher or Julien Brisebois ever possessed.”

Hindle goes on to add, “As this is a situation whereby the Habs have benefitted, they shouldn't be so disappointed about the departure of Julien Brisebois.”

In the meantime, Brisebois will be joining former Bulldogs assistant coaches Daniel Lacroix and Martin Raymond, who were announced as assistants, alongside head coach Guy Boucher, in Tampa on Tuesday. The hiring of Raymond and Lacroix comes as no surprise, as Boucher’s coaching decision back in June centered on him bringing his own staff to wherever he signed on with.

To fill the coaching void in Hamilton, the Canadiens announced the hiring of Randy Cunneyworth as Bulldogs head coach, and Randy Ladoceur as an assistant on Tuesday. We can now officially quell any rumours of Kirk Muller leaving Montreal, for now.

Cunneyworth brings a great background of AHL coaching experience, having served the Rochester Americans for seven seasons (a franchise record) and is second on the Rochester win list. The last two years, he served as an assistant of the Atlanta Thrashers under John Anderson.

For those keeping track, here’s the connection; Cunneyworth played two seasons under Canadiens coach Jacques Martin and Habs assistant coach Perry Pearn with the Ottawa Senators.

The Canadiens have also brought on Pierre Allard as the team’s strength and conditioning coach, replacing the fired Lorne Goldenberg.

Obviously it’s still too early to tell without a crystal ball, but so far the managerial moves by Gauthier seem to be in the right direction for the team.

At the player level, Cedrick Desjardins is signed on to a two-way deal for the 2010-11 season. No financials were given by the team, but Capgeek.com puts the deal at $550,000 if he plays in Montreal and $65,000 in Hamilton.

This gives Montreal solid depth, at a great deal, between the pipes in the event that Carey Price and/or Alex Auld should falter or run into injury problems. Don’t be surprised to see Desjardins put up a battle to stay with the big club during training camp.

Speaking of Carey Price, the Tri-City Herald caught up with him at Olaf Kolzig’s golf tournament. Price acknowledged that negotiations are still ongoing for a new contract, and that he is looking forward to meeting with his new counterpart in the pads.

Price also garnered support from teammate Michael Cammalleri on TSN’s “Off the Record.”

Gauthier continued to keep busy on Tuesday, also signing Ryan Russell to a one-year, two-way deal.

Russell came to the Canadiens in a trade with the New York Rangers for Montreal’s 7th pick in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft. The Rangers pick, David Skokan, has yet to play in the NHL outside of three pre-season games, and is currently playing in Slovakia.

Russell comes off a pair of seasons in Hamilton, scoring 20 and 19 goals in each respectively.

His analysis from Hockey’s Future cites, “Russell, much like his brother in Medicine Hat, provides an excellent offensive game on the ice. With strong vision and passing, Russell is also an excellent skater and isn’t afraid to shoot the puck, which he does with great accuracy.”

His downfall is his size where is is listed as 5’10” and 180lbs and will likely stay in Hamilton as the Canadiens have lots of skilled, small forwards.

Mike Keane’s career over?: On another front, it was sad to hear that the AHL’s Manitoba Moose will not bring their captain, Mike Keane, back for another season.

I did a piece on Keane last August, and there are few players as passionate for the game as he is.

Although the Winnipeg Free Press, mentions no official statement has come from the Moose or Keane, it is expected shortly. It wouldn’t be surprising to remain with the Moose in a management  or coaching position.

Keane played for eight seasons with the Canadiens and was on their last Stanley Cup winning team in 1993. He was named Habs captain in 1995, after Kirk Muller was traded to the New York Islanders. His tenure as captain was brief. After criticism form the press for his refusal to learn French (sound recently familiar??), he would be eventually be part of the Patrick Roy trade.

Two more Stanley Cups (Colorado in ‘96, Dallas in ‘99) and close to 2300 pro games later it seems that Keane’s playing career has wound down. Not a bad hockey resume for a guy who was not even drafted, though.

On the topic of Habs captains, Karmal Panesar offers his Top Ten list.

The question of who will be the next captain of the Canadiens was also brought to light in the past few days, around the same time defenseman Andrei Markov became a Canadian citizen.

Speculation is that coach Martin will name a new captain before the start of the season. Keep in mind though that a story broke before training camp even began last year, in which Markov was going to be named captain then.

Just a theory, but maybe the Canadiens organization just didn’t want a Russian wearing the “C”, and wanted to wait for his citizenship to be completed.

Markov skating lightly, Sergei K off to the Worlds?

News via CKAC that defenseman Andrei Markov was skating Sunday afternoon at the Montreal Canadiens training facility in Brossard.

Markov apprently skated lightly in a track suit along with Paul Mara, who continues to recover from shoulder surgery. The session consisted primarily of light acceleration drills and a few shots on goal.

According to CKAC's Martin McGuire, Markov was "going to do anything" to get back into the playoffs.

There had been specualtion that Markov might have played on Saturday night, after making the trip to Pittsburgh. It was later clarified that the Canadiens' medical staff was also travelling. It was easier for Markov to continue treatment and be evaluated ove the weekend.

According to head coach Jacques Martin, Markov will be re-evaluated by doctors from the skate.

The club held a team metting this morning, and only a handful of skaters (Ben Maxwell. Jaroslav Spacek, Carey Price, Maxim Lapierre and Sergei Kostitsyn) took to the ice.

Spacek has reportedley been given the green-light by team doctors to resume playing, but the decision will ultimately fall on the defenseman and coach Martin.

Meanwhile defenseman Hal Gill says his leg, that was accidentally stepped on by Chris Kunitz in Game Five, suffered "just a cut." The veteran defenseman says he hopes to be ready for Game Six.

There is also a report that benched forward Sergei Kostitsyn has requested to be allowed to play for Belarus at the World Hockey Championships, currently under way in Germany.

In a tweet by Sov Sport's Genadi Boguslavski, Belarus head coach Eduard Zenkevich stated that Kostitsyn made the request several days ago.

No confirmation from the Canadiens has been made, so for now the report will have to lie along the lines of the first five letters in the initiating tweeter's last name.

Some Quick Notes on Habs Pens Game 1, Markov & more…

I have run into at least a half dozen Habs fans, as I run the family errands in my little corner of the world today, and they all said the same thing to me, “They were too tired.” The same thing shows up on my Facebook account, where everyone was on the same page, after the Montreal Canadiens 6-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

No blaming the refs (even with Chris Lee officiating), the coaches or the goaltending. They were just too tired after a grueling seven game series against the Washington Capitals and one day to get ready for the next series.

Being tired leads to mental errors, hence four power play opportunities that turned into Penguins goals. It could have been worse. Dominic Moore avoided a four-minute high sticking minor when his stick errantly cut Sidney Crosby.

Maxim Lapierre managed to draw a slashing call, that led to Brian Gionta’s power play marker, that could easily have been negated for diving. If you look at the replay, Chris Kunitz’s stick gets him the ribs, but Lap embellishes it my covering up his head.

The worst mental error, or just plain stupid award, goes to Andre Kostitsyn. With the Canadiens down a goal, and attempting a line  change, Kostitisyn made a weak dump in that barely penetrates the Penguins blue line and skates across ice to the bench.

With the play cross-ice, no Habs in sight and five Penguins at the ready, it was an easy stretch pass for Sergei Gonchar. What makes it worse is the Canadiens coverage overloads to one side and totally miss Craig Adams skating in for the rebound.

Fatigue also showed on goaltender Jaroslav Halak. The hero of the first round just looked confused and out of position during most of his time on the ice. Midway through the second period, I noted a save he made of his right pad. The puck was no more that four feet from in on open ice, and he seemed to have no idea where it was.

I was curious as to why Jacques Martin did not pull Halak at the end of the second period. Didn’t make sense in my opinion to play him any longer. In any event, I’d like to see him back for Game Two.

As for Matt Cooke’s hit on Andrei Markov. Cooke has a reputation as a dirty hitter, as the Boston Bruins can attest, but it was a clean hit. Cooke’s arms being up in the vicinity of Markov’s face made it look worse. That with Markov’s positioning away from the boards, and how he landed, did not help his situation.

The end result, as per Martin on Saturday afternoon, is that Markov is out indefinitely. In all likelihood, his season is over. Montreal went 14-20-3 after Markov's injury, in the first game of the season on October 1, and went 24-13-7 with him back in the lineup.

A bit of a trade-off with the Penguins Jordan Staal cited as day-to-day with a severed tendon? For this series maybe, but in losing Markov the Canadiens will need to fight and be in every game for any further playoff success.

A few bright spots did emerge though. The first was the Canadiens great play in five-on-five situations, something they lacked in the regular season.

The other of course, was P.K. Subban. The youngster potted his first NHL goal, in  which Tomas Plekanec promptly retrieved the puck, and gave nearly a full twenty minutes. Yes he made a few mistakes, but against the defending Stanley Cup champions and in just his fifth NHL game, it can be expected. Subban will clearly get more ice time with the injury to Markov. If anything else in this series, watching him learn the NHL game will be a pleasure to watch.

Game Two roster update: In his afternoon press briefing on Saturday, Martin also stated that playing Mathieu Darche or Sergei Kostitsyn will be a game time decision. There was no decision yet on the availability of Jaroslav Spacek (virus), or who the starting goaltender will be.

One thing Martin did do was call upon Roman Hamrlik to step up and fill the void left by Markov’s injury. “In Markov's absence a guy like Roman Hamrlik raised his game,” he said. “We expect the same thing now”

Game time on Sunday is 2pm. to accommodate NBC, that thinks to believe that a game on Sunday afternoon is the norm.

The pain that is watching HNIC: Don’t get me wrong, but Hockey Night in Canada has a great lot of talent on their roster. Jim Hughson, Jeff Marek, Scott Morrison, Pierre LeBrun and Elliotte Friedman are some of the best they have on the screen, not to mention some great, and often unnamed, writers in the background and online.

But why are they using the combination of Bob Cole, Glenn Healy and Gary Galley to call the Cinderella Habs against the defending champions? At some points in the game, I almost wanted to fall asleep. Maybe it was the play in general, but Gord Miller and Pierre McGuire did a much better job on TSN. Galley as a third wheel just doesn’t help the HNIC situation.

There were also major communication problems throughout the broadcast, from video miscues, missed plays (Cole was a little delayed on Mike Cammalleri’s goal) and announcers interrupting each other.

The factual errors were the worst. One that caught my ear was during the Canadiens goaltending change. The trio agreed Halak would be back for Game Two. Unfortunately Healy worded it along the lines of “just like was pulled (in game three of the first round) he came back to start the next game, and we saw how that turned out.” Actually Mr. Healy, Carey Price started that next game, but yes I know how that turned out.

I’ll leave it with this. Is Jaro’s last named misspelled everywhere, or does Donald S. know something we don’t? Mr. Cherry is always going on about respect for the other players. Well doesn’t that start by pronouncing their names right?

Five Keys to Game Two from canadiens.com

 

The latest from Annakin Slayd “Feel’s like ‘93- 2010 edition”

Annakin has been out doing his thing through Europe and catching Habs playoff games wherever he can.  At the same time he’s remixed his popular music video, excluding the likes of Kovalev and Komisarek. It’s been up for a few days, but the team surely needs some motivation in light of the Markov injury.

 

These never get dull..

Capitals/Canadiens Game Two: Backstrom and Ovechkin escape potential Habs strangle hold

Mike Knuble (l) celebrates with Nicklas Backstrom (r) after Backstrom scores the overtime winner in Game Two – Photo: Chuck Myers (MCT)

The Montreal Canadiens were looking to extend on their stunning Game One victory and continue to contain Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals. It looked like they might for the first 28 minutes. It wouldn’t be the case as the Capitals came back from a three-goal deficit to win 6-5 in overtime.

Washington came out early, with Ovechkin dishing out some early hits, but the Canadiens needed just one shot from Brian Gionta to take a 1-0 at the 1:00 mark.

Montreal got their second goal on their second shot of the night, when Andrei Kostitsyn was left wide open in front of the net at 7:58. Capitals goalie Jose Theodore was immediately pulled for Semeon Varlamov.

Simoen Varlamov relieves Jose Theodore in the first period of Game Two – Photo :Bruce Bennett (Getty Images)

Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau hoped the goaltending change would wake his troops up and give them some momentum. He certainly got their attention when Tomas Fleischmann broke up a Montreal offensive sending Eric Fehr in on a breakaway, going high blocker on Jaroslav Halak.

It was a first period dominated on the stat sheet, with Washington leading in shots (13-8), total chances (31-14), hits (18-4) and faceoffs (12-5). Ovechkin managed to get on the shot count with two and had seven hits.

Nonetheless, the Canadiens led 2-1 after 20 minutes.

“We knew that it was coming (the Capitals offense),” said Gionta between periods. “We had to get behind them and exploit their D.”

Montreal began mounting an impressive defense in the second period, keeping the majority of Washington’s shots to the perimeter.

Kostitsyn scored his second on the night at 11:06, again left open for a Mike Cammalleri pass, to give the Canadiens a two-goal lead.

This play was reviewed after Andrei Kostitsyn’s third goal, during the second period. It was questioned if the puck had crossed the line earlier in the play. Photo: Chuck Myers (MCT)

The sold-out Verizon Center crowd soon began showing their displeasure as a chorus of boos echoed from the seats.

It didn’t get better for the home crowd as the Canadiens went on the power play and Kostitsyn got his first career playoff hat trick, at 17:44, by deflecting in a Jaroslav Spacek point shot.

Kostitsyn’s three-goal night was the first for a Canadiens player in the post-season since Eric Desjardins turned the trick in Game 2 of the 1993 Stanley Cup Finals.

“He played great. He went to the net and did what he was supposed to do every night,” said Kostitsyn’s linemate Tomas Plekanec. “Hopefully he can keep that up and keep scoring to help us to win.”

Andrei Kostitsyn scores the first of his three goals on the night in the first period of Game Two – Photo: Bruce Bennett (Getty Images)

The Capitals kept it within two when Nicklas Backstrom blew a shot past a screened Halak 37 seconds later.

“He’s a guy you’ve definitely have to key on,” said Canadiens defenceman Hall Gill. “But he’s not the only guy. They have a lot of good players that can make plays and score goals.”

One thing the Canadiens need to know is that any lead against the Washington Capitals is not safe. Washington was second overall in the league when trailing after the first period (8-7-2), and first overall when trailing after two (8-10-4). They were also an impressive 16-8-6 when their opponents scored the first goal in a game.

Montreal fought off a Cammalleri slashing call early in the third period, but Ovechkin finally got in the goal column when he came off the bench to shovel a rebound between Halak’s pads at 2:56.

With Mike Knuble crashing the net, Backstrom one-timed an Ovechkin pass for his second goal at 9:47 to tie it up.

The Canadiens regained their lead five minutes later ,when Roman Hamrlik battled the puck from Knuble and got it to Plekanec. The centre played give and go with Cammalleri, around defenceman Mike Green, before putting the puck past Varlamov.

The Capitals, sporting the top power play in the regular season, had two more opportunities late in the period but Halak and the Canadiens held them back.

With just over a minute to play, and a possible delayed penalty coming to Montreal, Capitals rookie John Carlson fired a shot from  just outside the faceoff circle to take the game into overtime.

of the 37 shots he would face on the night, the Carlson one would be the one that Halak would want back.

It didn’t take long (31 seconds) for Backstrom to complete his hat trick with a wrist shot between the hash marks that tied the series at a game apiece.

“The second period was kind of embarrassing," Backstrom said, talking on the Capitals’ second period collapse that led to a three-goal deficit. "We stepped it up at the end of the second and the third. We never gave up, and that's a good sign, I think.”

Alexander Ovechkin lays out one of his eight hit in Game Two on Scott Gomez –Photo: Bruce Bennett (Getty Images)

Ovechkin, who had no shots in Game One, had a four point night (1G, 3A) in just over 20 minutes of ice time.

“I played my game. Some days you’re in a good mood, some days a bad mood,” he said. “Today we were in a good mood.”

“You could see his energy, his desire and his leadership,” coach Boudreau said of Ovechkin, a change from calling him out two nights earlier. “The difference (from Game 1) was like night and day.”

“He's a big part of this team, a big key,” Backstrom added. “It was good to see him get going again and hopefully we can keep going on the road.”

The Canadiens managed a split in the first two games as it now becomes a best-of-five series heading in to Montreal.

“We went on the road and we got one against the best team in the league,” Gill later said. “We can’t match them individually and have to play them as a team. We’re going to go home to a great crowd and feed off that.”

Games three and four go Monday and Wednesday at the Bell Centre.

Having played a seven game series in every NHL playoff round he’s been in, Ovechkin is well aware that it is far from over.

“It’s mentality important for us to win tonight, but it’s not done yet.”

Three Stars: 1. Nicklas Backstrom 2. Andrei Kostitsyn 3. Alex Ovechkin

Now That the Latest Habs Off-Ice Mess is Over, What Happens Next?

Carey Price and Andrei Markov will look to put whatever it was behind them and get back on the winning track Saturday vs. Ottawa – AP Photo

So glad to hear Carey Price and Andrei Markov have made nice after their alleged spat in the Canadiens dressing room last week, cause the thing was tearing me up inside. Well, not really.

The whole situation was a fabricated story out of the gate, and a quick exchange of emails, with a verifiable media source who covers every single game, quickly confirmed my suspicions.

Arguments between players in the dressing room happen all the time, at any level of the game. It’s a common occurrence, but unfortunately some media yahoo decided to stir the pot. Was the 2008-09 season not enough for him, or is it ratings time?

Andrei Markov spoke to the media Thursday on the situation, addressing how some journalists make a living from bad stories.

All Habs has a great write-up on the off-ice events, from Wednesday and Thursday, but whether it happened or not, it should be really something of little concern to the rest of us.

For all we know, Price and Markov could have been fighting because one of the two forgot to flush the toilet.

We weren’t there, the reporters weren’t there, the players were…case closed.

The real concern should be the fact that the Canadiens came out of Florida with zero points and scored just a single goal in two games.

Montreal now sits ninth in a conference where sixth place and thirteenth place are separated by one point. Just one!

The two teams the Canadiens faced Tuesday and Wednesday are amongst that pack of teams. That’s two four-point games out the window, just like that.

The Canadiens will need to get it together, and fast, for any chance at a post season.

Leading up to the Olympic break, Montreal faces Boston and Philadelphia twice. Both of those teams are in that 6 to 13 grouping, and both have four games at hand on the Canadiens as of Thursday afternoon.

Games against Pittsburgh, Vancouver and Washington are also in those first two weeks of February, but who are we kidding?

Add a hot Ottawa squad (5th place by five points) in the mix on Saturday, and you get the idea of what could happen.

Call me a “Debbie Downer”, but if Montreal goes below .500 against  these three teams, you can call it a season before the torch is even lit in Vancouver.

In the meantime, what needs to be done? Arpon Basu at The Daily Hab-It looks at what little options the Canadiens have at the trade deadline, which falls three days after the Olympics.

Patience Please: Nice article by Mathias Brunet of La Presse on giving Price time to mature. On a similar note, this is something I put together for Bleacher Report last May.

Halak-a-mania Storms Into Ottawa

Well OK, we won’t likely see many Habs fans in muscle-cut Halak jerseys or headbands, but the fans of the Bleu-blanc-rouge will be a plenty in Scotiabank Place Monday night.

The Senators home rink essentially becomes a Bell-Centre east when the Montreal Canadiens roll into town. Tickets are still available as this is put together.

Robert Lefebvre, at Habs Eyes on The Prize, had his first insight into a Canadiens road game in the nation’s capital earlier this month and posted it on his blog.

Anyways back to the man of the hour, the man with the power, to sweet to be sour, Jaroslav Halak.

A few weeks back, after it was learned that Halak and his agent had requested a trade, I expected to see some good performances out of the young goaltender to increase his value and/or establish more playing time in Montreal.

But did anyone expect what we have seen in the last four games?

The Slovak-born netminder has been stellar in all four games of this seven-game road swing in which he has faced Halak has faced an average of 46.5 shots on goal, making 180 saves on a total of 186 for a .968 save percentage. His goals-against average during that stretch is 1.48.

Halak was named the NHL’s First Star of the week, after posting three wins and stopping 140 of 146 shots he faced. His GAA now sits at 2.53 and has a save percentage of .926

"It just shows the focus he's had," centre Scott Gomez said of Halak. "What can you say? He's in a zone. It's almost like you're scared not to give him that many shots because we don't know what will happen."

Halak gets the start (his fifth straight) Monday against the Senators.

Three questions come to mind:

1. Can the Canadiens get the shot total against reduced to a more reasonable number for Halak to face?

Chances are unlikely given the Canadiens tight schedule in December that has limited their practice time.

2. How much longer can Halak, and the Canadiens for this matter, continue this pace?

Halak is clearly an NHL level goalie, but how much longer can he face a multi-shot barrage day in and day out. Also consider the teams he has faced are not the Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals, San Jose Sharks, or Vancouver Canucks.

3. What to do with Carey Price?

Even though Price had some soft goals in his last few starts, the losses were clearly not his fault. Jacques Martin will eventually have to give Price a chance to prove himself again, likely in one of the two games in Florida.

So far, when Halak runs the table for four or five starts, Price has remained in support of his fellow goalie and team. How long can that last though?

 Power surge: The second big story as the Habs continue their road swing, has been the meteoric surge in the Canadiens power play, thanks to the return of Andrei Markov.

In four games, since his return from a season opening injury, Markov has eight points and the Canadiens top the NHL in the man-advantage category, with a mark of 25 percent.

Gionta set to return?: Scott Gomez is picking up the pace he’s paid the big bucks for with five points in his last two games.

Gomez could get a boost to his numbers as he could be re-united with the injured Brian Gionta as soon as Monday night. The pair practiced Sunday on a line with Benoit Pouliot.

Gionta has not seen action since breaking his foot, on November 17, and will be a game time decision.

But as the Canadiens medical ward is finding some empty cots, Roman Hamrlik still remains out with a lower-body injury.

The Bad Guys: The Senators sport one of the best home records in the NHL, but are missing some key components to their offence.

Captain Daniel Alfredsson is expected to be out four to six weeks, with a shoulder injury, and Jason Spezza is not expected back until after the Olympics with a torn MCL.

Nick Foligno is also on IR until late January after having arthroscopic knee surgery and was expected to resume skating this week.

This is the third meeting of the season between Montreal and Ottawa. The Senators won the first match-up, 3-1, on Oct. 17, and the Canadiens earned with a 4-1 victory, with Halak, on Dec. 8 in Ottawa.

 Kov-a-nyet!: Over the summer Alex Kovalev reportedly blew off the Canadiens’ contract offer in search of something else, didn’t get it, settled on a deal from the Senators and still claims he pines for his second home in Montreal.

Earlier in the month, the Russian Ice Hockey Federations’ GM, Vladislav Tretiak, bypassed Ottawa on a tour of NHL cities, and made it clear he wanted the best players at that moment.

With 20 points this season, at the time the selections were announced, the 36-year-old was not one of them.

Kovalev responded that he could use the time off, to go with the two and a half months he’s already had off this season, I guess.

Guess the 20,000 goal scorer and win tix!: Just less than a century after Jack Laviolette potted the first goal in Canadiens history, the team’s 20,000 could come tonight, barring a Senators shutout.

Dave Stubbs of HabsInsideOut is offering up a pair of VIP tickets to the Canadiens Jan. 3 game vs. Buffalo for the HIO member that picks the winning goal scorer.

Habs Need Shots on Goal and Commitment Markov Back Saturday?

“How can you score, if you don’t shoot?” – Bernie “Boom-Boom” Geoffrion

Thursday night’s loss by the Montreal Canadiens, to the Minnesota Wild, is clearly a disappointment as their losing streak mounts to five games.

It was another one of those games when the team showed up for two periods.

While first period was a mess for the Habs, the final forty minutes was a much better story.

The Canadiens managed to get a dozen shots, in each of the final periods, at Niklas Backstrom and 31 on the night along with 18 blocked shots, and 15 that missed the net.

Unfortunately a hot Backstrom, combined with a defense that can clear rebounds, spelled a loss.

For the first time in ten games, Montreal actually outshot their opponent.

Outside of the injury factor, the lack of shots on goal has been one of Montreal’s biggest problems in 2009-10.

Canadiens coach Jacques Martin addressed the situation last week after his team’s loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Martin noted that the Penguins find ways to get the puck to the net and that “If it’s good enough for the Stanley Cup Champions, then it’s good enough for the Montreal Canadiens.”

Montreal currently ranks 29th in the league in shots-per-game with 26.8. Conversely the injury depleted team is 9th in shots against at 31.1.

That’s just under a five shot differential. Five more opportunities for the opponent to score, not including misses or blocks.

Once you realize that 22 of the Canadiens’ 36 games this season have been one-goal games, that differential could make the difference to a team that is 9-9-2 in those situations.

The Canadiens, notably the second and third lines, need to try not to use set plays as often as they appear to be doing and just get pucks on the net.

Do that, and the probability of a goal, and a win, is clearly much better.

Another factor, which demonstrates a team’s commitment to playing a full game, is their record when scoring first.

Montreal is 4-15-2 when their opponent scores first. That’s fourth worst in the league.

Add to that their record when trailing after 40 minutes is 2-14-1, and 8-0-0 when leading, and you get the picture.

Get the shot totals up, keep a full pace, and the remaining 46 games should be much better.

The Canadiens now embark on a seven-game road trip to close out 2009. All seven are against Eastern Conference teams.

Markov and Gionta Updates: Andrei Markov has been cleared for contact play by team doctors. It will be Jacques Martin’s decision whether to start him on Saturday against the Islanders.

Brain Gionta continues his rehab on his broken foot. The left winger skated in Brossard Friday, for about 30 minutes, with the Canadiens head athletic therapist.

There is still no updates on defenceman Roman Hamrlik’s injury.

Back to the Hammer: Forward Tom Pyatt and defenseman Yannick Weber were returned to the Hamilton Bulldogs Friday morning. This is Weber’s second call-up and return, without playing a game, in two weeks.

With Markov’s potential return, and Pyatt’s demotion, Marc-Andre Bergeron could be moved to forward during the road trip.

Habs Mixed Bag: Markov Skating, Gionta’s Hospital Visit, and Chris Nilan’s Demons

Some more positive news, on the Habs injury report Friday, with Andrei Markov on the ice for almost an hour of intense workouts.

The All-Star rearguard is yet to be cleared by team doctors for contact practices, but is travelling to Atlanta as the Canadiens prepare to meet the Thrashers.

Markov is expected to be re-evaluated by team doctors on Monday and appears to be making good on his anticipated early return.

Another injured Hab who scheduled to meet the doctor’s office Monday is Brian Gionta.

The left winger has been on IR since November 18 and could be permitted to take to the ice in non-contact workouts by the end of next week.

#21 pays a fan a visit: Gionta did have time, on Thursday, to pay a visit to a 15-year-old midget player at Montreal’s Children’s hospital. Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette has the story.

Habs tough-guy finds a vicious foe: Another touching story from The Gazette’s Red Fisher has a moving piece on former Habs enforcer Chris Nilan’s battle with addictions.

In the days before testing for PEDs: Canadiens.com has a feature on Ken Dryden’s secret elixir to help his indigestion problems during the ‘73 playoffs.

On this day in 1973: Guy Lafleur scored his first career hat-trick during the Canadiens 4-3 win over the Minnesota North Stars.

Lafleur would have two more hat tricks, during the 1971-72 season, becoming the first rookie to record three in a season.

Markov skates, Desharnais returned and words from Tretiak

A glimmer of hope shone at the Montreal Canadiens training facility in Brossard on Thursday morning.

Defenseman Andrei Markov, injured with a sliced tendon since game one, skated briefly today in his first public appearance since the injury. Markov did mention to reporters that he had been on the ice earlier in the week at an undisclosed location.

The ten-minute light skate was the highlight of an optional team skate and workout in Brossard in which only five other players skated: Scott Gomez, Matt D'Agostini, Benoît Pouliot, Georges Laraque and Jaroslav Spacek.

Markov feels he could return to game action by early January, well ahead of schedule, and definitely before the Olympics.

The Russian blueliner stated that it will be “my secret” when it comes to deciding on playing for his country in 2010.

Dave Stubbs of HabsInsideOut provides us with fourteen minutes of audio from #79.

After the Canadiens close out November against the Capitals on Saturday night, they will play 17 games in December.

At that point, the team will be at the mid-point of the regular season.

Eric Engels pointed this out on Twitter Thursday morning;

“If they're .500 by then with all the other injuries it'll be a miracle.”

Tis the season!

Desharnais back down to the Bulldogs: Talk about a hockey story! David Desharnais is called up by the Canadiens, on Wednesday morning, and whisked to Pittsburgh via limo.

With no time for a pre-game skate, and barely making it for the warm-up, the rookie logs just under eight minutes against the defending Stanley Cup champs in his first ever NHL game.

He’s then sent back down to Hamilton Thursday afternoon.

Russian goalie legend in Toronto: Vladislav Tretiak, the greatest goalie to never play in the NHL, stopped by The FAN590 to sit down with Bob McCowan on Thursday afternoon. The interview is available here.

Vladislav Treitak  with Peter Mahovlich and Yvan Cournoyer, Dec 31, 1975.

Tretiak is the GM of Russia’s 2010 Olympic team and says he will wait until closer to the Games to decide on the team they will field.

He will also pick the best players at the moment over prior historical impact.

Mr. Tretiak is also in Toronto as a special guest for the Canada-Eurasia Business Association’s charity fundraiser, Thursday night, at the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Markov out up to four months: This can’t be good

RDS is reporting that Montreal Canadiens defenceman Andrei Markov could be out up to four months.

Markov needed surgery to repair tendon damage suffered when his ankle was cut by the skate blade of goalie Carey Price in Thursday’s season opener against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Reports earlier in the morning thought that the Habs blueliner would be out for two to three months.

Markov suffered a knee injury in Toronto last season as well and missed the remaining regular season games and the playoffs.

More details are to come as the team arrives in Buffalo for a Saturday game against the Sabres.

The Canadiens are 6-19-2 without Markov in the lineup since the lockout.

With their all-star defender out, it can be expected that Yannick Weber will likely be called up from Hamilton.

A BC connection sparks Habs to victory

Carey Price (43 saves) to led the Canadiens to victory over the Leafs -Reuters

The Montreal Canadiens “British Columbia Connection” took it to the rival Toronto Maple Leafs Thursday night, getting a 4-3 overtime victory to kick off the 2009-10 NHL Season.

Goaltender Carey Price stopped 43 pucks and had close to 92 in his direction through the night.

“They’re a team that throws a lot of pucks on net,” Price said. “It was good to feel the puck early on.”

Josh Gorges scores the overtime winner -Reuters

His roommate, defenceman Josh Gorges, came in big in the clutch.

First, the Kelowna native filled in for an injured Andrei Markov on the power-play, firing a shot from the point that would be cashed in by Glen Metropolit.

Then, he instinctively followed Mike Cammalleri’s one on three rush and fired in the rebound past Vesa Toskala in overtime.

“It’s about time,” joked Price on Gorges’ first ever game-winning goal. “I’m happy for him. He deserves it.”

Price also made a humorous comment that he and Gorges didn’t do their traditional post-game celebration, in part to Gorges being mobbed by the rest of his team.

“He’s too cool to talk to me now,” he said.

“I didn’t get the puck,” Gorges said on his game-winning goal. “I’m gonna have to go find it now.”

Gorges also helped his goalie, blocking five shots.

 

Travis Moen mixes it up with Jay Rosehill - Reuters

Travis Moen, though a native of Saskatchewan, played his Junior hockey in Kelowna alongside Gorges and is also married to a cousin of one of their former Jr. teammates.

Moen, went to the net and scored the Canadiens’ second goal of the night. He also showed his physical side, mixing it up with Jay Rosehill and former Hab Mike Komisarek.

Next stop, less a Russian: The Canadiens will head off to Buffalo for game two against the Sabres. They will travel without defenceman Andrei Markov, who suffered a cut foot and will be treated and evaluated first.

Montreal Canadiens Training Camp: Day Three

It was not to be a carbon copy of the last two mornings at the Canadiens Brossard practice facility.

While fans packed the stands, for a third day, to catch a glimpse of the team’s practice and inter-squad scrimmage, the media were eager to talk to Andrei Markov.

A story Tuesday morning, by the Montreal Gazette, reported that Markov had turned down the offer of captain for the storied franchise.

Eager journalists would have to wait until after the session to get some answers.

Today’s workouts would feature the final, two-period, scrimmage between Teams B and C.

Wearing the white practice jerseys, Team C opened the scoring in the first period when Brian Gionta made a flashy move, on a penalty shot, to get the puck past  Robert Mayer.

Mike Cammalleri would tie it at one after taking a cross crease pass from Scott Gomez.

It was Cammalleri’s second pairing with Gomez, in the scrimmages, and the winger is liking what he sees.

“We're starting to get more familiar with each other's game, he said.

“The key is to learn each other's strengths and each other’s game. Then you start making decisions based on instinct, instead of thinking about it, and at that point you become more effective.”

“They’ve got good speed. One’s a playmaker and ones a shooter,” said head coach Jacques Martin on the Gomez-Cammalleri combo. The coach expects that the two will start the pre-season with Andrei Kostitysn on the left wing.

It was all team C, the rest of the way, with goals from Andrew Conboy and Max Pacioretty for a 3-1 win.

“I’m happy with how I played both days,” said Pacioretty, who was impressed by the intensity of the first three days of camp.

“It’s great to see the guys, even the veterans, want to play that hard, even at camp.”

Team B claimed the “tournament title” based on goals four and against as all three teams had won a game apiece.

Gionta and Brock Trotter shared the “scoring title”, while Jaroslav Halak earned “top goalie” after playing shutout hockey during his two appearances.

Attention after focused on Markov, who stated that he had never been offered the captaincy.

“I was surprised cause nobody talked about that and nobody told me about that,” he said.

“It’s not my decision, it’s the coach’s decision. Nobody asked me that.”

Markov also talked about the importance of being the Canadiens captain, especially after the departure of Saku Koivu.

“I just know it’s a big responsibility, and I think it’s not easy to be a captain in front of you guys(media),” he said. “It’s something special to be a captain in Montreal.”

“The organization hasn’t offered Andrei the captaincy," said Jacques Martin, who then put an end to any speculation by announcing that he and GM Bob Gainey will make the decision on captain at the end of training camp.

Martin also defended his reasoning for selecting a captain over a team vote.

“It’s important that we have an individual that shares the same values, the same views, concerns and principles as the organization,” he said.

Mike Cammalleri also added that the position of captain is not currently an issue with the players.

“It hasn’t been such a big issue for us,” he said. “I’d be ok with it. We have enough leaders in this room that will step up and lead by example.”

Like Markov, Cammalleri acknowledged that captain of the Canadiens is a unique position in the NHL.

“It’s the Montreal Canadiens. There is a different level of responsibility that maybe comes with being captain of this organization as far as things outside of the room, such as media attention and things like that, that maybe aren’t present in other markets.”

Training camp resumes Wednesday (11am- 1:30pm), but will be four empty stalls in the dressing room areas tomorrow morning.

Goaltender Jason Missiaen, and blueliners Mac Bennett and Joe Stejskal were returned to their respective, OHL, college and USHL teams.

Philippe Lefebvre, invited for a tryout at camp, will return to Drummondville, but not before signing a three-year-deal with the Canadiens.

“It’s a big event for me,” Lefebvre said. “It means I showed some good things and I worked hard.”

In Case You Missed It: Habs news and Blogger Views for September 2

 Ken Danby’s painting “Facing Off”

The countdown is on to the start of the NHL season and bloggers are quickly getting more active as the season approaches.

Here’s some of the highlights from the last 48 hours:

Habs Eyes on the Prize talked to Todd Denault, author of “Jacques Plante: The Man Who Changed the Face of Hockey”.

Dave Stubbs (HabsInsideOut.com) also gave a brief review of the book.

Oh Canadiens has an exclusive interview with the boys from The Score’s “Cabbie on the Street”.

Jason at Flying Frenchmen has his take on recent comments from Bertrand Raymond.

The Daily Hab-it has Lots of Q’s and an attempt at some A’s on the upcoming season.

Yves on Habs has compiled some individual statistical milestones being closed in on.

Puck Daddy (Yahoo! Sports) lists the Top 100 Fantasy Players for 2009-10. Mike Cammalleri at #34 and Andrei Markov at a highly debatable #96.

Got a Habs blog of your own or one that you like?: Fire me an email and I’ll add it to my blogroll. I am also adding other hockey sites as well!

Former Canadiens winger and coach, and current Devils assistant coach, Mario Tremblay turned 53 today. Wonder if Patrick Roy sent him a card?

In Case you missed it. Habs news and blogger views from Monday Aug 10

OK let’s what the rest of my fellow bloggers had time to write about on Monday.

I was tied up with the day job and my blood donation took a bit out of me.

Off the bat, the Canadiens signed Gregory Stewart to a one-year deal at a reported $500K.

That only leaves Matt D’Agostini as the remaining unsigned RFA.

An interesting read on Andrei Markov at Bleacher Report. My friend Yves Arsenault seems to be taking a liking to him too.

Dennis Kane looks back at Boom-Boom Geoffrion.

Topham’s take on Jacques Martin.

The Hockey News ranks the NHL jerseys. They are running a jersey tournament in conjunction with this, so vote often Habs fans!

Canadiens.com helps us get to know Mike Cammalleri.

Eric Meliton of Oh Canadiens weighs in on all the Marleau-Heatley-Habs talk.

Eric Engels now has an email to fire your questions to him about the Canadiens.

Habs Blogger Digest : July 29 2009

Thought I’d post another look at the latest Canadiens posts/blogs around the web.

YourHabs.com asks what Bob Gainey may have left to do before the start of the season.

HFBoards has the same question in the form of a poll.

Yves On Habs does a great statistical analysis of the “Old Habs” and the “New Habs”

Eric Engels sees a tough battle this season in the Northeast division.

Lions in Winter does a great job looking at GM’s that are ahead of the curve.

The Flying Frenchmen looks at the signing of Travis Moen as well as the team’s next captain and dealing with the French media.

As always, Habs Eyes on the Prize with a couple gems. First up, Robert looks at Andrei Markov as the Canadiens’ next captain.

Robert then digs up a great read on a truly colorful Canadiens’ prospect from the 1930’s.

TSN looks back at the closing ceremony of the Montreal Forum and someplace else.

Canadiens.com has an August 2009 Calendar featuring new Hab Hal Gill available for download. Check out the Fan Artwork while you’re there too!

Which reminds me, 3-10 game pack ticket sales for the 2009-10 season go on sale September 5th at noon, as do pre-season tickets.

Regular season single-game ticket sales will go on sale September 12 at noon.

The Canadiens ticket link will have further purchasing details to come and tickets for the December 4 Centennial game will be made available for purchase later. Ticket prices are available here.

And finally….Dennis Kane looks at an…ahem…. lesser known member of the Canadiens ‘70s dynasty.

A great chat on the course with Captain Kirk

I had a great opportunity to talk with Montreal Canadiens’ assistant coach this week after he finished his second round at the Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic in Thornbury, Ontario.

The complete interview, that runs 10 minutes, can be found here.

Though he doesn’t play in as many tournaments as he used to and tries to keep his travelling close to home, the Kingston native tries to play once at week at home but still enjoys the opportunity to play with the pros on occasion.

Unfortunately for Kirk, his team missed the cut to continue into the third round.

I asked him about the Montreal Canadiens on a variety of subjects from the development camp, the hiring of Jacques Martin , Saku Koivu’s departure and the look of the team this upcoming season.

Muller had a chance to check out the development camp on Monday.

The camp was something that Muller thinks is great for the up and coming players, but was glad he didn’t have it when he was a draft pick.

“I was watching some of the drills they’ve been doing and was like thank God I didn’t have to do it. I probably wouldn’t have been drafted as high as I did,” he said.

On new coach Jacques Martin, Muller feels he is a good choice and that he’ll be able to stay level headed and stick to his guns in the tough Montreal hockey market.

He feels this will be a strong puck possession team under Martin this year and hopes the team can bounce back from a disappointing 100th season hampered by injuries and a group of pending free agents.

“We’re looking forward to bouncing back", he said after.

Muller also feels Guy Carbonneau will be back as a head coach in the NHL.

On Saku Koivu’s departure, Muller feels the move will be a good change for him.

“Sometimes in a career like that it’s nice to do a change and rejuvenate you a little bit,” he said. “I think he’ll do well out there.”

Muller felt that Koivu did a great job handling the pressure of being captain of the Canadiens. He should know being a former captain in New Jersey and Montreal.

He feels early captaincy candidates could be defenceman Andrei Markov and possibly newcomer Scott Gomez.

Despite what is generally thought, the decision on who becomes the new captain isn’t always voted on. Muller said that Jacques Martin could decide for himself or allow the players to vote.

Recently signed prospect P.K. Subban can really benefit with time in Hamilton, according to Muller, and that Ben Maxwell could be one of the next big players in the system within a year or two.

He also thinks this could be a pivotal year for Kyle Chipchura, who just signed a one year deal as I typed this.

On any holes in the team, Muller said that GM Bob Gainey has done a good job so far, but felt that additional help on defence might be looked at.

As we spoke on Friday, the Canadiens had just signed defenceman Paul Mara as well as forward Travis Moen.

With the departure of Mike Komisarek and Alex Kovalev to division rival Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators respectively, Muller thinks that it definitely creates a stir with the rivalry.

I asked him about the retirement of Joe Sakic, who he described as one of the best players in the league in the last few years.

“He’s a really good quiet leader that went out, did his job went out and played his job consistently,” he said.

On any rule changes that he could make, he feels the no touch icing should be looked at, but that there should be more freedom in front of the net for defencemen.

His choice for the Hall of Fame: Doug Gilmour

I'll have talks with Brett Hull, Nick Kypreos, Darren Pang and Cassie Campbell up soon!

Who will lead them?

Well the Montreal Canadiens roster officially got trimmed by one more player.

Despite a “rally of the masses” on Sunday afternoon at the Bell Centre, Habs GM Bob Gainey told CJAD radio on Monday that Alex Kovalev would not be returning.

 Fans rallied Sunday to keep Alex Kovalev in Montreal

Hours later, Kovalev took the money ($10 million over two years) and ran up the highway to Ottawa Senators.

The Northeast Division will be fun to watch this season without a doubt.

With Kovalev’s departure and the likely signing of Saku Koivu to either Buffalo, Atlanta, Anaheim or whatever square Eklund’s rumor dart hit this afternoon, this leaves the captain and all assistant captains off to greener pastures.

Mike Komisarek defected to the Toronto Maple Leafs on July 1 and Christopher Higgins was traded to the New York Rangers on June 30.

The question now has to be asked, who will be the next captain?

Andrei Markov has been an assistant captain in the past but is unlikely as a captain.

You have to remember that Koivu was criticized for not speaking French. Markov can barely speak English so it’s safe to rule him out.

The Kostitsyn brothers??? Georges Laraque ??? Forget it!

Scott Gomez seems to be an early popular choice, despite not playing one game for the Canadiens.

Sorry Mr. Gomez, but there’s too much tradition to just walk in and take the “C”.

Ditto for Mike Cammalleri and Brian Gionta.

All likelihood two of these three will be alternate captains.

Young bucks Josh Gorges, Maxim Lapierre and maybe Guillaume Latendresse would be a good choices as an alternate captains in my opinion, but I feel none of this trio is at a full leadership level.

Roman Hamrlik is the long-time veteran on the team, but could be moved before the start of the season.

In any event, the Canadiens have never gone without a captain in their history.

Jean Beliveau is the Canadiens’ longest serving captain

Guy Carbonneau and Chris Chelios alternated months in the 1989-90 season when the team vote was as close as the Quebec Referendum vote.

The captaincy of the Montreal Canadiens has always been voted on by the players, so ultimately it will be up to the final roster when it is set sometime in late September.

The players may elect to go a shared route in the 2009-10 season.

Either way, that individual is the go-to man by the fans and media of a team with 100 years of history, and 16 years and counting without a Stanley Cup.

Preferably I want a long standing captain like Koivu (win or lose), and not a revolving door that we saw in the mid-90’s.

But let’s not rule out the current captain just yet, shall we?

List of Montreal Canadiens Captains

Jack Laviolette           1909-10	Emile Bouchard                    1948-56
Newsy Lalonde            1910-11	Maurice Richard                   1956-60
Jack Laviolette           1911-12	Doug Harvey                        1960-61
Newsy Lalonde            1912-13	Jean Beliveau                       1961-71
Jimmy Gardner           1913-15	Henri Richard                       1971-75
Howard McNamara      1915-16	Yvan Cournoyer                    1975-79
Newsy Lalonde            1916-22	Serge Savard                       1979-81
Sprague Cleghorn        1922-25	Bob Gainey                          1981-89
Billy Coutu                  1925-26	G. Carbonneau/C. Chelios    1989-90
Sylvio Mantha             1926-32	Guy Carbonneau                   1990-94
George Hainsworth     1932-33	Kirk Muller                           1994-95
Sylvio Mantha             1933-36	Mike Keane          Apr – Dec       1995
Albert “Babe” Seibert  1936-39	Pierre Turgeon                     1995-96
Walter Buswell            1939-40	Vincent Damphousse             1996-99
Hector “Toe” Blake     1940-48	Saku Koivu                           1999-??
Bill Durnan    Jan – Apr      1948