Gauthier Makes His First Move: Acquires Moore from Panthers

It took just three days since taking over as GM of the Montreal Canadiens for Pierre Gauthier to make a trade move.

The Canadiens acquired forward Dominic Moore on Thursday, from the Florida Panthers, in exchange for a second-round pick in the 2011 entry draft. The team press release can be found here.

Moore has eight goals and nine assists in 48 games for Florida this season, averaging just under 15 minutes of ice time per game.

One of his best attributes is his faceoff play, where he has a win/loss record of 55.8% this season (54.1 % last season).

By comparison, the top four Canadiens centres, Scott Gomez, Glen Metropolit, Tomas Plekanec and Maxim Lapierre, have win loss percentages of 50.6, 50.4, 48.0 and 47.2 respectively.

A third-round pick of the New York Rangers in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft, Moore is making $1.1 million this season and becomes an unrestricted free agent on July 1.

Maxwell demoted: The Canadiens, in the same press release, returned Ben Maxwell back the Hamilton Bulldogs on Thursday.

Frolov deal in the works?: There is also a rumour abuzz that the Canadiens could be looking to acquire Alexander Frolov from the Los Angeles Kings. Names floating to go the other way are Matt D’Agostini, Yannick Weber and Glen Metropolit.

P.K Subban called up from the Bulldogs: The Canadiens have announced the call up of prospect P.K Subban from Hamilton (AHL).

The charismatic Subban was a third round pick of the Canadiens in the 2007 draft.

With defenceman Josh Gorges and Andrei Markov having therapy days on Thursday, Subban’s call up is a likely precaution in case the two veterans are unable to play Friday and Saturday against Philadelphia. Expect the Bulldogs star to be returned to Hamilton once the Olympic break kicks in on Sunday.

Canadiens and Senators set to go at it again

Max Pacioretty and Tomas Plekanec celebrate Brian Gionta’s goal Friday night - Photo:Sun Media

The Montreal Canadiens travelled to Kanata today for the second of their back-to back pre-season meetings with the Ottawa Senators.

“It’s definitely exciting",” said former Habs winger Alex Kovalev on facing his former team.

Kovalev did not play in Montreal Friday night, but if he had is way would have preferred to play in all six Senators pre-season games.

“We have many young guys trying to make the team,” he said. “..so it’s not my decision to make.”

Kovalev has been playing with fellow newcomer Jonathan Cheechoo, who was picked up in the Dany Heatley deal.

The Senators will be looking for their first pre-season win, after having three straight losses.

Ottawa coach Cory Clouston will be looking at tonight’s game very intently as the team begins trimming it’s roster.

"There's an opportunity for guys that play well tonight or might get another look," Clouston said “There's also a chance that somebody could play themself off this team.”

“Whether you are a vet or a young guy trying to make this team, these games mean something. We are looking at how hard they compete.”

The Senators coach also talked about the team’s lack of goal production.

“We’re getting chances, we’re just not scoring,” he said.

“We’ve hit eight posts in three games. It’s hard to explain. The positive is the chances are there. We’re just not scoring.”

Clouston also expects to let Pascal LeClaire play the full 60 minutes tonight in goal.

For the Canadiens, two hopefuls, who impressed coach Jacques Martin Friday, will start again tonight.

Ben Maxwell, who scored Montreal’s first goal Friday night will look to impress his coach further.

“You really get the sense of his nice progression,” said Martin.

“This is a solid two-way player with deceptive speed that he’s shown all through training camp. He worked really hard this summer and we’re seeing the results of that now.”

Eric Neilson, who logged 37 penalty minutes will also be out to terrorize the Senators for another night.

In the event Georges Laraque goes down to injury, it’s nice to see the Canadiens have another tough guy down the pipe.

Dave Stubbs of the Montreal Gazette had a great post-game chat with Neilson Friday, and I came across a quote from Sidney Crosby, his former teammate in Rimouski, on the Habs hopeful.

“He’s very tough. He and another guy shared the heavyweight crown in our league.

He’s not only tough but very fast. He’s not there just to fight, he can skate and he’s a good checker as well.

There are a lot of guys who are tough but have trouble playing hockey, he’s not one of those guys. He can play too.”

- Sidney Crosby 2005 interview with HFBoards

Sergei Kostitsyn has also been cleared by Canadiens’ team doctors for game play and is scheduled to play tonight

Game time is 7:00pm at Scotiabank Place.

Canadiens Lineup:

Goal: Price, Desjardins

Defence: O'Byrne, Spacek, Belle, Benoit, Anderson, Markov

Forwards: Cammalleri, D'Agostini, Lapierre, A. Kostitsyn, White, Maxwell, Johansson, Pacioretty, Stewart, S. Kostitsyn, Neilson, Gomez.

Gomez on playing in Montreal: Rocky Bonanno of NHL.com talks to the Canadiens center on looking forward to playing in Montreal.

The smell of hockey is in the air!

Ahhh September. It’s almost time to embarrass myself on the ice for another season, and I have my hockey pools already registered.

And oh yeah, the new NHL season is slowly moving upon us as rookie camps open across the league.

Twenty-nine rookies reported in for the Montreal Canadiens camp Monday in Brossard.

A few of them (Max Pacioretty, Yannick Weber, etc.) saw some time with the big club last season and will be working hard to earn a full time spot.

Pacioretty told RDS that he has been having problems getting sleep the last few weeks. Can you blame him?

P.K. Subban was a standout with the main camp last season and will be out to prove he is ready for the pros.

Barring injury, it’s safe to say that the star defenseman, in the OHL with Belleville last year, will start the season in Hamilton.

Subban is ever the optimist and will be ready to show Canadiens coach Jacques Martin that he will be ready if called upon.

Oh Canadiens weighs in on the key rookies to watch.

By Tuesday afternoon, eighteen veteran players, both new faces and old ones, had arrived and were participating in on ice workouts.

Carey Price, Andrei Kostitsyn and Ryan O’Byrne have yet to appear.

Twittering their lives away: Two notable Canadiens media members will be covering the Canadiens camps this season.

The Montreal Gazette/HabsInsideOut’s Dave Stubbs will be Twittering from the team’s golf tournament later this week as well as next week’s main camp.

CJAD’s Abe Hefter has already begun reporting in on the blue-bird site from rookie camp.

Mr. Hefter also gives his first impressions on his blog.

So which one is Hoss?: After this season’s training camp winds down, the Canadiens will spend three days at Teen Ranch, located about 45 minutes northwest of Toronto.  The Habs begin their season October 1, in Toronto.

The facility does boat an Olympic size rink so chances are it will be a working holiday.

CJAD’s Rick Moffatt put it this way in his column in Friday’s West Island Chronicle.

“Carey Price may be lovin it, but if one player gets bucked or "lower body injury" has to cover up a saddle sore, we'll have to put a black hat on Jacques Martin.

Happy trails, Habs fans! Martin's done it before with his Senators squad...and the Ice Corral at "Teen Ranch" in Caledon Ontario has also welcomed the Leafs and Panthers. We won't hold that against them.”

I may have to book a day or two off to hang out in the area. ;)

Blow out your candles, and wish for a deserved induction to the Hall of Fame: A happy 64th to one-time Canadiens and Los Angeles Kings star goalie Rogie Vachon.

A collection of articles compiled by HabsInsideOut’s Dave Stubbs can be found here.

King of the Cobb:  A quick shout out to Ian Cobb, a regular poster over on HabsInsideOut, who invited us to his home, this past weekend, for his annual corn boil.

It was great to meet up with a gracious host, enjoy some good food and beverages, and talk hockey with Ian and some of the other HIO regulars. Thanks again my friend!

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!

Habs Prospects gather next week for Development Camp

The Montreal Canadiens will hold their annual development camp from July 6 to 12.

Forty prospects will ascend on the Bell Sports Complex in Brossard made up of 25 forwards, 10 defensemen and five goalies.

Twenty-four of the prospects invited were selected by the Canadiens in the NHL Entry Draft, including the team’s 2009 first-round pick Louis Leblanc.

Twenty-four participants are returning from last year’s camp.

Max Pacioretty at the 2008 Development Camp 

Three invitees (Max Pacioretty, Ben Maxwell and Yannick Weber) all saw time with the Canadiens in the 2008-09 season.

The 40 Prospects attending the ‘09 development camp (click for a larger image) – habsinsideout.com

The event is open to the public with the first of the daily on-ice sessions starting Monday at 1:30pm.

The participants will also have daily off-ice conditioning sessions.

A detailed schedule of events will be posted at the complex.

An inter-squad game wraps up the event on Saturday.

Carey Price, Guillaume Latendresse, Kyle Chipchura, Matt D’Agostini, Sergei Kostitsyn and Ryan O’Byrne are some of the 2008-09 Canadiens who have taken part in past camps over the years.