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.

Gionta adds to Canadiens injury problems

Brian Gionta (seen here Oct 1) could be out up to five weeks – Reuters photo

If it wasn’t bad enough that the Montreal Canadiens (10-11-0) continue their season without all-star defenceman Andrei Markov, Wednesday’s news got no better.

It was announced by the team that forward Brian Gionta has a broken foot and is out indefinitely. Speculation is that it could be up to five weeks.

Gionta suffered the injury during a Nov 3 game against the Atlanta Thrashers. He managed to appear in the next four games, but was a last-minute scratch in  Saturday’s game against Nashville and sat out on Tuesday against Carolina.

“It’s frustrating,” Gionta said. “We’re trying to get things back on track but at this point, I can’t help the guys out.”

The 30-year-old winger has 13 points in 19 games this season and is arguably one of the Canadiens’ best two-way forwards.

"The players will have to raise their game to try to make up for it," coach Jacques Martin said. "It opens a door for someone. We've been waiting for that since the start of the season."

Martin also stated that he will use the forwards he has on the current roster to fill the void, and not make any call ups from Hamilton for the time being.

There was some good news on the injury front however as defenseman Ryan O’Byrne and forward Georges Laraque were cleared for game play.

O’Byrne will most likely dress Friday, against the Washington Capitals, while Laraque could be a game-time decision.

Niittymaki and Tanguay lead Lightning to 3-1 Win Over Habs

 

Antero Niitymaki made 36 saves, against a team he had struggled with is his career, leading the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Montreal Canadiens (8-9-0).

Ryan Malone, Vincent Lecavalier and former Canadien Alex Tanguay each had two-point night for the Lightning.

Malone put Tampa Bay on the board in the first period, with a power play marker, at 10:09 and Tanguay made it a two-goal lead when he scooped up a fat Carey Price rebound, with 46 seconds remaining in the period.

“It’s always interesting to play here (in Montreal),” said Tanguay who received a warm reaction from the Bell Centre crowd. “The fans were very respectful tonight. It’s a great city to play in.”

With his goal Saturday night, Tanguay has scored against every team in the NHL.

Brian Gionta responded for Montreal,  scoring on the power play, after he demonstrated his hand-eye coordination by batting the puck out of the air past Niittymaki at 9:44 of the second period.

The Canadiens put the pressure on the Lightning throughout the second period looking for a tying goal, but James Wright put an insurance goal in late in the period after he found a loose puck in front of Price.

“It hurt us, but we came out in the third,” said Canadiens winger Mike Cammalleri. “It didn’t break us emotionally".

“It was an inconsistent effort in the first half of the game,” Gionta added. “It hurts your momentum. It’s a tough one.”

The Canadiens fired 15 shots at Niittymaki in the each of the final two periods, but could not solve the Finnish goalie.

Coming into Saturday’s game, Niittymaki had a 1-8-1 record against the Canadiens.

"I saw that stat this morning and I said 'Wow, I've had some good games here,"' Niittymaki said. "The stats don't show that, but I hope they're a little better after tonight."

Most of Montreal’s shots easily found the Tampa netminder and the tough ones were quickly protected, denying the home team few rebound opportunities.

“We need to to a better job and stay in the goalie’s face,” said Canadiens center Tomas Plekanec. “It’s something we have to work on.”

Two players expected to be in front of opposing goalies for the Canadiens are Maxim Lapierre and Guillaume Latendresse. Both forwards were benched by coach Jacques Martin in the third period.

“We needed  people that were ready to go to war,” Martin said on shortening his bench. “I felt that we had to win some battles and get some production.”

Ryan White (four hits) and Andrei Kostitsyn had started the night on the fourth line and soon found themselves on the first line with Plekanec.

The Canadiens will have a public practice on Sunday morning and return to game play on Tuesday against the Calgary Flames.

Three Stars: 1. Antero Niittymaki 2. Ryan Malone 3. Scott Gomez

Game photos: Montreal Gazette

In Case You Missed It: Habs news and Blogger Views for Oct. 23

It’s been a while since I’ve had a chance to highlight some of the daily best from my fellow bloggers, journalists, etc. so here goes.

The Fan590 (Toronto) talked to Habs forward Brian Gionta on Friday afternoon.

Free AHL streaming tonight: Thanks to On Frozen Blog for picking up on this. The AHL will offer free online steaming of all thirteen of tonight’s games, including Hamilton at San Antonio. Click here for details.

Canadiens president Pierre Boivin spoke Thursday on looking into improving the development of hockey players in Quebec.

Carey Price has updated his website, with an offer to attend a function to meet him and Alexander Ovechkin. Price will reportedly be adding a video blog to his site shortly.

A trio of pieces related to this week’s Sergei Kostitsyn saga:

• Scott Gomez speaks on the alleged confrontation between him and Sergei Kostitsyn.
• On the topic, The H Does Not Stand for Habs got the exclusive on the Wednesday meeting between Bob Gainey and Sergei.
• The Kostitsyn debacle was misinterpreted on several fronts. The Daily Hab-It has this article on Journalism in the Internet Age.

Chelios turned down Rangers AHL offer: ESPN reports that former Hab Chris Chelios turned down an offer to join the Rangers AHL affiliate Hartford Wolfpack, choosing to play in Chicago to be closer to his parents.

An interesting article on MSN on ownership in pro sports in today’s economy.

Puck Daddy reports that Sean Avery will be joining the blogging world through his website.

Canadiens beat Thrashers 2-1 in a shootout to end losing streak

The Montreal Canadiens snap their five-game losing streak Tuesday night.

The Montreal Canadiens averted their worst start since the 1941-42 season with a 2-1 shootout win over the Atlanta Thrashers Tuesday.

The game began with the Canadiens nursing a five-game losing streak and Atlanta having their best start (4-1) since 1999.

Montreal came out strong, in the first forty minutes, outshooting the Thrashers 21-13.

Ondrej Pavelec was rock solid in goal for the Thrashers, stopping 34 of 35 shots in a losing cause.

“Pavelec was great and I thought the guy at the other end was pretty good as well," Thrashers coach John Anderson said. "You don't see goaltending battles like this very often. I just wish we could have won it for Pavelec.”

Pavelec said he wasn’t overly disappointed to leave the Bell Centre with a single point.

“Every time you step on the ice, you're looking for a win. We got one point tonight,” Pavelec said. “It was up and down. They could have won and we could have as well.”

The “other guy” as referred to by Anderson, was Jaroslav Halak.

The Slovak netminder was in just his second start this season, for the Canadiens, but made 22 saves. Most of his stops came a well-timed moments.

Brain Gionta opened the scoring with the the lone Canadiens goal, with 2:16 remaining the first period, on a pass from Mike Cammalleri.

The Canadiens penalty killers were exceptional, shutting down the league’s top power play unit on all four opportunities.

Montreal’s power play units continued to struggle however, going 0 for 5. The Canadiens are 2 for 27 since the losing Andrei Markov to injury in their first game of the season.

Colby Armstrong scored his first goal of the season in reply for Atlanta at 6:06 of the third period.

Earlier, Armstrong showed his physical strengths with a thunderous hit, in the second period, on Canadiens newcomer Marc-Andre Bergeron.

The Canadiens defender got up, on his own power, but appeared a bit woozy. He remained in the game, but appeared to have concussion-like symptoms the rest of the way.

Many, including TSN’s studio panel, felt that Bergeron should have got out of the game as a precaution.

“I’m ok. I was hesitant at first,” Bergeron said afterwards. “Actually, I was hesitant pretty much the whole game. I kept my shifts short and focused on my defensive part of the game,” he added. “As more games are coming, my confidence and my offensive skills are gonna show.”

In overtime, Atlanta forward Victor Kozlov leveled a from-behind hit , on Scott Gomez, and received a five-minute boarding major, and a ten-minute misconduct. Kozlov will undoubtedly receive further disciplinary action from the NHL for the incident.

Unable to capitalize on the man-advantage for the remaining 2:45 of overtime, the Canadiens went into the shootout with Atlanta.

Gionta and Gomez each scored in the shootout, and Halak stopped Ilya Kovalchuk and Rich Peverley to preserve the win.

Kovalchuk has just three goals in his last fourteen games against the Canadiens. With an assist on the Armstrong goal, Peverley has registered a point in each Thrashers game this season. He received a two-year contract extension earlier in the day.

The win was Montreal’s first at the Bell Centre this season, and the first since March 31, 2009.

“We had a lot of great chances, and I think that's a good measure of how you're playing,” Gionta said. “If you're getting those chances then you're doing something right, so it's a matter of sticking with it and trying to be patient. Any two points is big because they have a good team there. They're 4-and-1 and rolling. so it's nice to get a win against an offensive-minded team”

“It was a game where we dominated, but didn’t show up on the scoreboard,” said Canadiens coach Jacques Martin. “We kept coming, we didn’t panic, we showed some poise and in the end, we won it in the shootout.”

The Canadiens continue their home stand on Thursday when the welcome the New York Islanders, the New York Rangers on Saturday and the Islanders again Monday.

Three Stars: 1. Scott Gomez 2. Ondrej Pavelec 3. Brian Gionta

 

All photos courtesy: HabsInsideOut/Montreal Gazette

Canadiens beat Senators 2-1

 Ben Maxwell battles Pascal LeClaire Friday night – Montreal Gazette photo

It certainly wasn’t a playoff game, and you didn’t miss much if you missed the first two periods, unless you like a good fight or tow, otr three.

Nonetheless, the Montreal Canadiens came alive, in the third period of this pre-season tilt, to beat their division rival Ottawa Senators tonight at the Bell Centre 2-1.

Montreal only mustered four shots in the  first period, and the Senators scored the lone goal of the period, when Milan Michalek fired a Jason Spezza pass by goaltender Jaroslav Halak.

Michalek was making his first appearance for Ottawa since being traded from San Jose in the Dany Heatley deal.

The Canadiens showed signs of life in the second, inspired by hopeful Ben Maxwell who tied the game at one on the powerplay at 5:15.

Another hopeful, Eric Neilson, showed the Bell Centre crowd his pugilist skills.

After laying out the Senators’ Jeremy Yablonski with a solid hook early in the period, he later took on Ottawa tough guy Chris Neil to a draw.

Eric Neilson goes at it with Chris Neil – Montreal Gazette photo

The New Brunswick native wasn’t finished as he and teammate Andrew Conboy would have a mini scrap with Ottawa’s Matt Carkner and Cody Bass respectively halfway into the third period.

“Neilson did an outstanding job,” said Canadiens head coach Jacques Martin. “He’s a smart individual who doesn’t put his team in trouble.”

Neilson’s 37 penalty minutes on the night is not surprising. 

He racked up 207 PIM in 53 games with the Peoria Rivermen (AHL) last year and used to be Sidney Crosby’s body guard when the two played Junior in Rimouski.

Brian Gionta, one of the  newcomers with high expectations this season, took a Tomas Plekanec pass to beat Robin Lehner with the game-winning goal at 15:56.

Plekanec and Gionta showed improvement, with linemate Max Pacioretty, as the game progressed, despite Pacioretty leaving the game briefly midway into the game.

The two teams meet again tomorrow, in Kanata, where former Hab Alex Kovalev is expected to play.

Montreal Canadiens Training Camp: Day Two

Fans crowd the Brossard training centre for the second day of training camp Photo: Montreal Gazette

The Montreal area set a record for sick days from work, and truant officers were seeking out absent students as the Canadiens’ Brossard practice facility was filled again with fans for day two of training camp.

The fans were treated to a second two-period scrimmage in as many days, with today’s game featuring camp Teams A and C.

Habs hopeful Brock Trotter got Team A in an early lead with two goals on Curtis Sandford, and nearly had a hat-trick had it not been for a big stop by Sandford.

“I made good on the opportunity,” the 22-year-old forward said. “I took advantage of it last year, all the same I’m gonna try to keep rolling with that into  this season as well.”

“It's nice to see the progression from him,” noted head coach Jacques Martin on how the youngsters improvement during the second half of last season, in the AHL, is still carrying forward.

Team C would rally back in the second period. Josh Gorges would blast one from the point past Jason Missiaen, and was followed quickly by Tomas Plekanec.

“I liked it,” Gorges said, after the scrimmage, on playing on the point with Hal Gill. “He keeps the game real simple, but he communicates really well.”

Mathieu Darche would beat Missiaen. on a penalty shot, to put the C squad in the lead.

 Darche beats Missiaen  - Photo: Montreal Gazette

Glen Metropolit squared it up at three apiece, with a shot past Cedrick Desjardins, but Brian Gionta won it for Team C with 17 seconds left to play.

“It feels good to get out there and be a little competitive,” Gionta said.

Gionta played with Plekanec and Travis Moen, for the second consecutive day, and is not disappointed at not being reunited, straight away, with former teammate Scott Gomez.

“That never played into my decision for coming here,” he said. “I wanted to come here to be part of a wining team, and such a storied franchise.”

Ryan O’Byrne, who will have to fight for the final defenceman slot with the Canadiens, played an aggressive game. The 6’3” blueliner laid out some big hits on Matt D’Agostini and Gregory Stewart.

“Stewie’s one of by best friends,” O’Byrne said. “That’s the way it goes. There’s no friends out here anymore. That happened a little too much last year. There was too much hesitation and that’s no longer the case.”

O’Byrne is also aware of the prospect defensemen (Yannick Weber and P.K. Subban) that are looking to make a splash, at the camp, and that his roll is a physical one over flash. “My job is to make it hard for the opposing forwards,” he said. “This year I’m fighting for a spot.”

O’Byrne spent a lot of time focusing on his game, studied game tape, added muscle mass (eight lbs) and took boxing lessons in the off-season.

He knows to put last season’s upsets behind him and look forward.

“I lost confidence at times last year, I got it back and I lost it,” he said.

“Last year is behind me. It is what it is and that’s why I had a great summer. (I) just focused on being positive and keeping that confidence at all times.”

Two players, that are practicing with the team at camp, have yet to see scrimmage action. Both Kyle Chipchura and Sergei Kostitsyn had off-season shoulder surgery and are awaiting doctor’s clearance to play in the inter-squad scrimmages.

 Travis Moen and Paul Mara battle in out in Monday’s scrimmage – Photo: Montreal Gazette

Off to a confident start? : Goaltender Carey Price is off to a good start in the first two sessions of inter-squad scrimmages, allowing just 1 goal in 40 minutes.

Camp resumes again Tuesday from 10am to 1pm, with another intersquad game (B vs. C) at 11am.

Checking Around the Habs Universe

It’s a quiet Monday on the hockey front, so I decided to see what my fellow Habs bloggers are up to today.

HabsInsideOut.com has some interesting YouTube video compilation’s, made up by regular posters, of the new Canadiens Moen, Gionta, Cammalleri, Spacek and Gomez

Robert Lefebvre of HabsEyesOnThePrize.com has dug up some vintage magazine photos from the late ‘40s and early ‘50s.

Robert is also working on ranking the NHL’s 30 coaches, based on experience. Numbers 21-30 are already up.

The “Pocket Rocket” Henri Richard shares his music playlist on canadiens.com

A few days old, but a good read as J.T from “The H does not stand for Habs” dwells on the myths of the “veteran mentor” goaltender.

Eric Engels debates the expectations of the 2009-10 edition of the Montreal Canadiens.

Yawn….Eklund won’t let the Patrick Marleau to Montreal rumor die, citing that deal may be needed to trigger a Sens/Sharks deal for Dany Heatley.

Andy Bensch of BleacherReport questions Carey Price as a No. 1 goalie. Keep in mind he is a west coast hockey fan and admits he only sees a handful of Canadiens’ games.

YourHabs.com sees Max Pacioretty as the Canadiens' big impact player for 2009-10.

Free agency will be less of an issue in 2010

Criticized by many for not making the big off-season signing for the past several off-seasons, Bob Gainey may have silenced his critics this summer.

Going into the July 1 free agent deadline, Canadiens’ GM Bob Gainey had ten unrestricted free agents to deal with.

What did he do?

He blew up the team, essentially cleaning house of the supposed “cliques” and locker room problems that burdened the 2008-09 edition of the Canadiens.

Although he did offer contracts to notables such as Saku Koivu, Alex Kovalev and Mike Komisarek, those players elected to seek other pastures.

Gainey had been scrutinized in the past for allowing key free agents to walk away (Sheldon Souray in 2007 and Mark Streit in 2008), but this off season he made sure the gaps were filled.

And what a job he did, landing Mike Cammalleri, Brian Gionta and Scott Gomez with contracts that will keep them, barring trades, in  the bleu-blanc et rouge until the 2013-14 season is over.

Jaroslav Spacek, Travis Moen, Hal Gill and Paul Mara were then picked up on the cheap for three,three, two and one-year deals respectively.

He then re-signed restricted free agents Kyle Chipchura, Tomas Plekanec and Guillaume Latendresse for one-year terms.

Curtis Sanford was grabbed to be the bridge goaltender between Hamilton and Montreal.

Based on data from  nhlnumbers.com that leaves $3.2 million and change left over that will likely go to resigning Matt D’Agostini and Gregory Stewart.

Prospect P.K. Subban is signed to a 3-year entry level deal, but it has yet to reflect on the cap.

So what was a panic situation by many, on June 30 at 11:59 pm, now appears to be a well balanced group of players with a new head coach in Jacques Martin and a revamped coaching staff (with the exception of assistant coach Kirk Muller) at both the NHL and AHL level.

What’s good for Gainey is that at the end of the 2009-10 season, he will have 16 signed players in the organization, seven restricted free agents (all of whom are making less that $1 million this season) and five unrestricted free agents.

The principle free agent next season will be goaltender Carey Price.

Pending his performance, we can expect “The Franchise” to sign to a long term extension sometime this season.

In all likelihood, Jaroslav Halak could be moved at the trade deadline. The kid is too talented to remain a backup, unless he and Price go the Hayward/Roy route for another two or three seasons.

With long term signings in place, and a good crop of young players signed and in place, it’s safe to say that come June 30 2010, Canadiens fans will be chewing their nails a lot less than this year .

Not to mention that we won’t be worrying about a #1 or #2 d-man walking away next summer.

Mike Cammalleri chats with The Hockey News

The Montreal Canadiens’ Mike Cammalleri stopped by the Hockey Hall of Fame last week for a photo shoot for a story that appears in the latest issue.

He also had a chat with THN’s Ken Campbell. The full interview is available here.

Cammalleri talks on his decision to sign with the Habs saying that the opportunity to play for the most recognized of the Original Six teams di influence his decision.

He also thinks the pressure of the media scrutiny in Montreal will push him in a positive way

“You can use that to take your game to a level that’s going to be your best and the going to be the best for your team and your teammates,” he said.

“I don’t think you can be more engaged than playing for the Montreal Canadiens.”

He looks forward to the prospect of playing with the other new offensive acquisitions, Brian Gionta and Scott Gomez.

“Both guys are real exciting. It would be a great dynamic line in my eyes,” he said.

When asked on the new identity of the Canadiens, he felt that it looks like GM Bob Gainey has assembled a team that is going to compete.

“We’ll be there every night to grind it out,” he added

“Any time you have success, it’s going to be the direct result of the guys you play with.”

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