Je suis….découragé. Avs bounce past Habs 3-2

Tomas Plekanec beats Craig Anderson Thursday night – Montreal Gazette photo

In a game that saw some bad bounces for both teams, the Colorado Avalanche came out with a 3-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens Thursday night, to crash their home-opener.

Instead of a more traditional introduction by Bell Centre announcer Michel LaCroix, the Canadiens players introduced themselves, in French, to the applause of the crowd. Injured Andrei Markov received the warmest reception.

Montreal played a strong first period, outshooting Colorado 11-6, and scored first,on the power play,when Roman Hamrlik moved in off the point and fired a Tomas Plekanec pass into the low corner past Craig Anderson.

The second period was not as effective for Montreal and goaltender Carey Price.

Playing four-on four, Milan Hejduk took a shot that bounced off of two Canadiens players and slipped through the five-hole on Price.

As the period wound down the Avalanche caught the Canadiens off guard. Kyle Cumiskey made a centering pass off the left boards that managed to hit the skate of Canadiens defender Shawn Belle and bounce up and over Price’s shoulder.

The Canadiens tied it up, in the third, when Andrei Kostitsyn fed a one-timer to Plekanec.

Anderson and the Avalanche protested, to no avail ,that an earlier pass behind the net went into the protective netting above the glass and should have been whistled down. The TV replays showed the Avalanche were right, but the goal counted.

Minutes later, a questionable missed penalty call, on a hit to Scott Gomez, and ensuing weak defensive coverage by the Canadiens enabled Ryan O’Reilly to find his own rebound and score his first career NHL goal.

Despite pulling their goaltender, and some good opportunities in the dying seconds by Montreal, Anderson shut the door to preserve the Avalanche win.

Craig Anderson stood tall vs. Canadiens. - Montreal Gazette photo

The Canadiens have now lost their last four straight games, since winning their first two of the season.

Anderson’s 29-save performance moved the Avalanche to a 5-1-1 record to start the season.

If anything positive came out of the loss, it was the play of Canadiens’ winger Andrei Kostitsyn.

After being benched for the third period of Saturday’s loss to Edmonton and messing up the “Je suis” in his intro on Thursday, Kostitsyn played a solid game with two assists two hits, two shots and three missed shots.

In light of his misleading minus two showing, Shaun Belle also played a solid defensive game, his first as a Montreal Canadien.

The Canadiens next game is Saturday against the Ottawa Senators. It will mark the return of former Canadiens All-Star Alex Kovalev to the Bell Centre.

The Senators are coming off a 7-1 pasting of the Tampa Bay Lightning and would like noting more than to make their new teammate’s first visit to his former club a memorable one.

Happy Birthday St. Patrick!

 “I can't really hear what Jeremy (Roenick) says, because I've got my two Stanley Cup rings plugged my ears.” – Patrick Roy

A Happy 44th Birthday to arguably one of the greatest goaltenders in NHL history.

Patrick Roy was born on this day in 1965.

A fan of the rival Quebec Nordiques, Roy was drafted in the 3rd round (51st overall) by the rival Montreal Canadiens.

On February 23, 1985, he made his NHL debut when he replaced the Canadiens starting goaltender Doug Soetaert in the third period, and getting his first of 551 career NHL wins.

After two Conn Smythe winning campaigns leading the Canadiens to Stanley Cup victories in 1986 and 1993.

Roy was an icon in Montreal, winning three Vezina Trophies and four Jennings Trophies in le bleu-blanc et rouge. He was named to three First All-Star and two Second All-Star Teams with the Canadiens.

After the infamous “Le Trade” of 1995, Roy won two more Stanley Cups with his new team, the Colorado Avalanche in 1996 and 2001 taking another Smythe trophy that year.

Patrick Roy retired in 2003, and  was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2006.

Patrick “came home” when the  Montreal Canadiens retired his #33 on November 22, 2008.

At the news conference announcing Roy's jersey retirement, Roy stated that it was time for him to move on in regards to what happened in 1995, and that he hoped the Canadiens would do the same.

Obviously, they have.

More on Patrick Roy’s career can be found on the Legends of Hockey and on the Canadiens “Our History” site.

Keane on hockey: Former Canadiens captain is still playing in the pros at 42

Last Wednesday, the Manitoba Moose (AHL) announced the re-signing of their captain, Mike Keane, to a one-year contract.

Yes, the same Mike Keane who briefly held the captaincy of the Montreal Canadiens from April of 1995 (after Kirk Muller was traded) to December 1995 when he was traded, along with a guy named Patrick Roy, to the Colorado Avalanche.

Keane will be in his fifth season with the Moose. He signed with his hometown team, as a free agent, after the NHL lockout.

At the age of 42, Keane shows no signs of quitting the game of hockey.

In fact, Keane had his best offensive season with Manitoba in 2008-09 (28 points in 74 games, along with 11 points in 22 playoff games).

The Moose came up two games shy of winning a Calder Cup last season.

A veteran of just under 1400 NHL games (regular and post season), he is one of just five players in NHL history (nine in total) to win a Stanley Cup with three different teams (Montreal, Colorado and Dallas).

He talked to the Winnipeg Sun last week about the signing, the Calder Cup and the fact that retirement never crossed his mind.

"It would be crazy not to take advantage of this opportunity. A lot of players don't get a chance to play in front of their family and friends.

Hopefully, we can go as far as we can and continue on from the great run we had last year.

As soon as we lost last year, I took a week off and (retiring) didn't cross my mind.

Sometimes you have to lose to learn how to win.

We have a lot of guys coming back. We've got a real good foundation and we'll make sure we do everything we can to get back there.”

"We're going to have to throw his equipment in the river to get him to quit," Moose coach Scott Arniel joked in a telephone interview with the Sun.

"He came in handy when times were tough. We have him for that reason. He wants to come back and battle again and prove that he has lots left in the tank."

Despite only recording 470 points (160 goals) in the NHL, Keane is known for his aggressive play and his defensive, and penalty killing, abilities as a right winger.

Keane in a scrap with Vancouver’s Scott Walker

His “no quit” attitude feeds his longevity.

ESPN’s Lindsay Berra had a great article, from three years back, entitled “The Man who Can’t Stop Skating” on his passion for the game.

Keane began his NHL career, with the Canadiens, after signing as an undrafted free agent in 1985.

In the 1988-89 season played in 69 games as a rookie and came close to winning a Stanley Cup. The Calgary Flames defeated Montreal in six games in the Final that season.

The 1992-93 season was Keane’s most productive offensively (60 points in 70 games, plus 29) in his NHL career.

In the same year, he also attained a career high in playoff points (15 in 19 games) and won his first Stanley Cup.

Mike Keane on the Patrick Roy trade (from the Winnipeg Sun)

Keane said no one around the club was surprised when the trade went down.

“It just escalated so fast, there wasn’t much anyone could do,” he recalled.

“During the game, we (players) were on the bench wondering what was going on, why is Patrick still in there, but there was nothing said. It just took a life of its own and everyone knew it was big.

“As for me, I wasn’t really shocked (about being a part of the deal). You could kind of see it coming. There were rumours and rumblings about me for a while.”

Keane laughed when asked if Roy apologized to him for the collateral damage inflicted from his last days in Montreal.

“No, but it’s funny, ” the 41-year-old began. “We were teammates in Montreal but we never became friends until we got traded. We bought houses beside each other in Denver.”

And won a Stanley Cup, too.

Other Mike Keane notes:

• Was a member of the Canadian Junior team in 1987 which is infamous for the “Punchout at Piestany” during the gold medal game.
• MileHighHockey ranks him as the 16th greatest Avs player of all time
• Played with five NHL teams (Montreal, Colorado, New York, Dallas, St. Louis and Vancouver)
• Played 506 regular season games for the Canadiens
• Despite being an aggressive player (and not afraid to drop the gloves), he only logged 881 penalty minutes in his career.
• Flew to Montreal, after a Moose game, to attend Patrick Roy’s jersey retirement at the Bell Centre.