Will the real Alexander Ovechkin show in Game Two?

The Canadiens will be looking to contain Alexander Ovechkin in Game Two   Photo: Molly Riley (Reuters)

Having had the night’s sleep to reflect on their stunning Game One victory, over the Washing Capitals, the Montreal Canadiens were back on the Verizon Center ice for Friday morning practice.

After being outplayed in the first twenty minutes, the Canadiens came out strong in the next forty minutes and overtime to pull out the 3-2 win.

Despite shutting down the two-time defending Hart Trophy winner Alexander Ovechkin, the Canadiens still allowed 47 shots at Jaroslav Halak. They know there is still work to be done going into Saturday’s Game Two.

“We were very fortunate to be in the game,” said Canadiens coach Jacques Martin. “Our goalie kept us in it early  and that’s what we have to remember.

“It took us a while to find our game and that’s one thing we need to correct moving forward. You can’t play a first period like the one we did last night”

After leading the league in shots in 2009-10, some have speculated that the Capitals sniper may be injured based on his performance Thursday night. If so, the Capitals aren’t talking, and neither is Ovechkin.

“It was my fault. I didn’t play my game and maybe I was too excited,” the Capitals captain said. “Our line didn’t play well and we’ll make some changes.

“Tomorrow is going to to be a  different game for us.”

It would be highly doubtful of any injury to Ovechkin, given the fact Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau called him out after Game One and reiterated after Friday’s practice.

“He’s 100 percent healthy. We’re not making excuses for him,” Boudreau said. “He just had a bad game, and they played very well against him.

“I wasn’t trying to light any fire, but when he’s playing on top of his game, it doesn’t matter how (or who) they’re playing against him.”

Boudreau also acknowledged that the Canadiens cannot be underestimated in light of coming into the series as the overwhelming underdog.

“If it wasn’t for the fact that it’s the number one versus an eighth seed, and it was an eight seed vs an eight seed, everyone would say, ‘What a great game from two evenly matched teams.’

“We’re not going to change our game, but they’re a lot better than what their regular season indicated. they went through stretches where they beat everybody.”

Players playing injured wouldn’t be something new in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Whether a player is injured or not, they know the importance of the post-season. Bob Baun, Dickie Moore, Maurice or Bernie Geoffrion are prime examples of that.

“That’s the playoffs. Guys are hurt and some guys show it, some guys don’t,” said Canadiens veteran defenceman Hal Gill. “But It comes down to what happens on the ice and getting wins.”

Gill, who earned a Stanley Cup ring with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2009, knows what it takes in the playoffs and what to expect from an opponents top players from one game to the next.

“I’m sure he’s gonna come back and play a lot better than he did, That’s the exciting part of the challenge",” he said. “He’s a dynamic player that can change your game and we have to be just as hard on him as we can.”

Fellow veteran rearguard Jaroslav Spacek noted that shutting down Ovechkin’s linemates Nicklas Backstrom and Mike Knuble, is also a factor.

“We all played good against that line,” Spacek said. “If you make it hard on him (Backstrom) and that makes it tougher for Ovechkin because he wouldn’t get as many pucks fed to him.”

Game Two goes Saturday night at 7pm.

A Text Book Hit by Habs Spacek on David Booth

The Florida Panthers David Booth can’t catch a break. First it was a solid, and controversial hit by the Flyers Mike Richards that put him out with a concussion.

Now having recovered, he again gets caught Thursday night with his head down and takes a thunderous hit from the Canadiens Jaroslav Spacek.

There is question that contact is made to Booth’s jaw, but it only seems to appear that way from one angle.

The hit appears square to the chest and I suspect that his head snapping back, or Booth trying to pull back last second, gives that impression. Panthers fans say it was on the jaw and even the Canadian Press issued it as a shoulder-to-head hit.

You decide:

After the game, Panthers coach Peter DeBoer, GM Randy Sexton and Panthers teammates all felt that it was a clean hit.

Ironic though that it happens on the night that the NHL’s new hit-to-head ruling goes into effect.

According to Sexton, Booth was examined by Canadiens doctors and was deemed alert, attentive and moving around. He was checked out at a loal hospital and is expected to travel with the team to Ottawa on Friday morning.

Hopefully he just got the wind knocked out of him. If any concussion-like symptoms occur however, it would not be surprising that his season is done.

After tonight, the rest count for the Montreal Canadiens

Jaroslav Spacek faces his former team, the Buffalo Sabres tonight in pre-season action  - Photo: Getty Images

The Montreal Canadiens pre-season wraps up tonight against the Buffalo Sabres (3-1).

The Canadiens will look to end their pre-season on a winning note after going 3-2-1 thus far.

It will be former Sabre Jaroslav Spacek’s first game against his former team.

Spacek has played well, since joining the Canadiens defensive corps, with a goal and two assists in four pre-season games and is plus-four.

The Sabres penalty killing unit has been impressive this pre-season, having killed ten of ten on the road and fourteen of fifteen overall.

STARTING LINEUPS

Montreal:

Forward lines: Pacioretty-Gomez-Gionta, A. Kostitsyn-Plekanec-D'Agostini, Latendresse-Lapierre-Moen, Pyatt-Metropolit-Stewart

Defense pairings: Gill-O'Byrne, Hamrlik-Mara, Spacek-Carle

Goal:Price

Injuries: Chipchura (shoulder), Cammalleri (upper body) Markov (flu)

Buffalo:

Forwards: Roy, Connolly, Paille, Stafford, Grier, Vanek, Gaustad, Pominville, Kaleta, MacArthur, Gerbe, Hecht, Kennedy

Defencemen: Montador, Butler, Paetsch, Sekera, Rivet, Myers

Goalies: Miller, Lalime

Injuries: Mair (hip)

Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff will give each goalie full 60 minutes in their final two games, but has yet to announce his starter tonight.

Game time is 7pm at the Bell Centre.

Montreal Canadiens Training Camp: Day One

The stands were filled at the Montreal Canadiens training facility on Sunday. Close to 1200 fans came out to watch the team’s first day of training camp, a surprise to many newcomers to the team this year.

“That’s pretty unique,” said forward Scott Gomez. “It just shows what a great place this is.”

Gomez was paired with fellow off-season acquisition Mike Cammalleri and Andre Kostitsyn in the first day of practice, and scored during the team scrimmage.

“It’s only the first day,” he said when asked if this could be a potential starting line. “So let’s not get crazy.”

“We made some great plays out there,” said Paul Mara, another newcomer who was paired on the point with Andrei Markov for day one. “We’ll see what happens.”

Mara too was overwhelmed by the fan turnout and cheering on the first day, “It’s unbelievable,” he said. “It really welcomes you and makes you want to play in Montreal.”

“It was real fun,” added Jaroslav Spacek. “I’ve never seen something like that.”

Habs hopeful P.K. Subban laid out a couple hits, including an open ice one on Max Pacioretty, during the scrimmage.

“He’s OK.,” he said after talking to Pacioretty after practice. “I wasn’t trying to hit him. He must not have seen me coming.”

Head coach Jacques Martin wants his defenseman to join in the offensive rush whenever possible, something that would suit the young blueliner just right.

“You have to pick the right times to jump up, and when to stay back,” Subban said. “I wanna prove that I’m reliable also, and that I know that I can play and be a sound defenseman back there.”

Coach Martin seemed generally impressed with what he saw from the first day of camp, noting the physical work of Guillaume Latendresse as well as the performance of the four goalies during scrimmage.

The coach stressed, as the players had, that immediate decisions can’t be made from one practice alone.

“My approach, to our team, is we have to find two lines that are gonna give us some good production",he said.

“I’m not sure who’s going to be our first left winger or who’s going to be our fourth left winger. I think we’ve got some battles. It’s going to be up to the players to determine that.”

Martin then gave some insight into how he formulates his lines and that he will take the pre-season to work on that.

“When I look at line combinations, a lot of times I look at a duo, a center and a winger,” he said. “If we have good a combination, for instance, center and right wing, we may see a rotation on the left side, or vice-versa.”

The coach then discussed the necessities of taking the roster GM Bob Gainey put together, and getting the players all on the same page.

“It’s going to be important for us to develop our own identity,” Martin said. “..where we all have the same goal, the same objective. That’s what we’re going to develop in the next twenty days.”

Martin later emphasized puck possession, work ethic and commitment at both ends of the ice.

“We have to work at developing that mentality and identity,” he said. “It has to come from them (the players).”

“I like the enthusiasm that’s been around the team. I like our skill level.” he added. “We just gotta keep progressing.”

Training camp resumes Monday at 10am to 1pm, with a scrimmage between practice groups A and C at 11am.

Carey Price: Looking forward to the new season

Carey Price appeared in before the Montreal media today at the Montreal Canadiens’ annual golf tournament at the Laval-sur-la-lac Golf Club.

“It’s just like old times,” the 22-year-old opened with, referring to the swarm of microphones that surrounded him this morning.

“It’s something I’m getting used to.”

Price said the he was refreshed and took time to reflect on things and prepare mentally for the upcoming season.

He then commented on the off-season house cleaning of the Canadiens at a player an coaching level.

“It’s always hard to see guys leave,” he said. “It’s never easy to see a teammate leave or a bunch of teammates leave.”

“I’ve met all the guys that we’ve acquired and I really  like them. I think we’re going to have a real good chemistry this year.”

Over the summer, new head coach Jacques Martin paid Price a visit during his off-season workouts. The visit left a real positive mark on the young goaltender.

“That was pretty important,” Price said. It gives the players a lot of confidence, especially for myself knowing that he cares about me enough to come all the way to Calgary to see me skate.”

The pair discussed Price’s off-season, what the plans for the upcoming season would be and what Martin expects from his players.

“He understands the position of goaltending,” Price said, noting Martin was a former goalie. “I think having a coach who understands that is going to help me a lot.”

Although goaltending coach Rollie Melanson was dismissed by the Habs, Price had nothing but good thoughts on his former instructor.

“Rollie kinda made me the goalie who I am today,” he said. “He really rounded my game off since I was drafted.”

Price said the moves made on defense (Hal Gill, Paul Mara, Jaroslav Spacek) will help him to deal with the bodies in front of the net, something that led to the destruction of his confidence last year.

“I’ve always loved big defensemen,” he said. “I think the acquisitions we made are going to be really good.”

He will be coming into the summer at the same size as last season and feels that his 2008 summer workouts to get his weight down may have added to wearing him down last season.

Price’s key focus this season will be his better preparation for a game, something he admits he didn’t do as strongly in his career.

It will be a challenging season for the young goalie, factoring in a tightened schedule this year, due to the Olympics, a RFA season as well as a very capable Jaroslav Halak looking over his shoulder in the event he should falter.

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.