Roping in some Habs reflections and predictions

Just tightening up the noose on a few links and stories that I’ve come across on the Habs over the past few days.

Carey Price: He’s on a horse. No, not like the Old Spice guy! Price took part in a rodeo event over the weekend. The following is the excerpt on his performance from the Chilliwack Times.

“Team roping, in which one rider attempts to lasso a calf's horns and another goes for a hind leg, doesn't normally get as much attention as the wild-animal riding contests. But Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price's attempt to snare a couple of calves shone a light on the sport.

Price learned the ropes, so to speak, on Friday and Saturday, before giving the event a go for real on Sunday. He should stick to hockey; he recorded two no-time scores as he was unable to snare the calf's hind leg with his lasso. But despite his lack of team-roping talent, Price was a hit with locals, according to organizer Helen Larson.

"The kids loved it; he posed for lots of pictures . . . and answered all the kids' questions," said Larson, who had Price sign her own Canadiens jersey, bought specially for the rodeo.

For those wondering, team roping was the only event the NHL would let Price participate in.”

It was the third event for Price in the B.C. Rodeo Association. He ranks 6th in the BCRA rookie of the year standings, earning $934.52 in prize money.

Clearly the Montreal Canadiens would rather that Price stick to his day job, once he signs a contract with them that is..Don’t worry kids, it will happen shortly.

Washington Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau: “The horror! The horror!”

Boudreau was recently at an autograph signing in Toronto. I really should have gone and got him to sign a pic of that dumbfounded look he had after Game Seven. My first idea was to wear my Habs jersey under my jacket and go, “BOO!” would have been much more fun though.

A look at “old-time hockey: Dennis Kane profiles Habs Hall of Famer Sprague Cleghorn, arguably one of the baddest and dirtiest players in the game during his era.

All eyes on the blueline: The Checking Line’s George Prax looks at the Montreal Canadiens rear guards as training camp looms closer.

The Subban Network: P.K. Subban talked to TSN about his high expectations for the upcoming season.

Subban has been spending this past week, along with Scott Gomez, Mike Cammalleri and other NHL stars at the BioSteel Sports Pro Hockey Week in Toronto. The Fourth Period brings exclusive photos, as well as video interviews with the participating players on their main page.

Gomez and Cammalleri on Price: While at the training session, Scott Gomez and Mike Cammaleri talked to Rogers Sportsnet on Carey Price.

Fantasy Forecasts: Crash the Crease looks at the Canadiens Tomas Plekanec, Mike Cammalleri and former Habs goalie Jaroslav Halak as fans start putting their fantasy rosters together.

Moving on to more predictions and prognostications: Alexandre Harvey, from the Canadiens’ website, looks at predictions on the team’s upcoming season and individual performances from Pro Pool, the Hockey News and Hockey le Magazine.

NHL.com looks at the Habs upcoming season in their “30-in-30” series.

The things Stevie-Y should really take from Montreal: A nice list, put together by The Active Stick, on some items that the Tampa Bay Lightning can just plain have, without argument.

Habs chat from Lapierre, Subban, Cammalleri and more!

Maxim Lapierre hosted his charity golf tournament on Thursday, with proceeds going towards the Montreal Canadiens Children’s Foundation.

Celebrities appearing at the tournament included teammates Scott Gomez and P.K. Subban.

RDS’ Pierre Houde and Chantal Machabee, Minnesota Wild Winger Guillaume Latendresse, former Habs player and coach Mario Tremblay, and the St. Louis Blues David Perron were other notables in attendance.

Perron is bragging on Twitter that he won the chipping contest, but the big winner was the Children’s Foundation, which received over $50,000.

While golf and charity were obviously the important topics of the event, the host spoke to CKAC on Carey Price and the Jaroslav Halak trade.

Loosely translated to English, Lapierre was not surprised to see the trade happen.

"I would have done the same thing,” he said “I expected that one of the two would leave, and I expected they would keep Carey Price.”

Lapierre went on to emphasize the support of him and his teammates in Price. “The organization and us, his teammates have tremendous confidence in him,” he said. “It had perhaps not been his best season, but he grew up there and now he has the net. He’ll show us what kind of stuff he has.”

“Last year, the games where Carey was there for us, we were not there for him and when things went badly, we were not better,” he added. “There were games where he made many saves and we only scored one goal and nothing changed.”

Lapierre is also not in panic mode, as many fans are, that Price has yet to come to a contact agreement with the Canadiens, “Am surprised that Carey is not yet under contract?  Yes and no. But I'm not worried. I'm pretty sure they are getting a deal before training camp.”

Lapierre’s off-season activities were also featured today on Canadiens.com

Catching up with P.K. on the course: CKAC also got a hold of P.K. Subban at the Lapierre tournament. Here’s the link to the interview.

Subban notes that the Canadiens have not told him to look for an apartment just yet, and he has no intention to until training camp is underway.

More Cammi Radio!!: Lapierre’s teammate Mike Cammalleri chatted with Calgary’s The Team960 on Thursday afternoon.

Most of the chat is similar to his other recent radio appearances (the team’s recent success, Carey Price, etc.), but the Canadiens winger was rather open on him not re-signing last summer with the Calgary Flames.

“They made some moves at the Draft (the Olli Jokinen trade) which put them into a situation where they didn’t have much money to spend, but it made me think of where I might fit in.” he said. “They (Flames management) always treated me with respect. There was never any harsh negotiation of any kind, and it never worked out.”

Cammalleri also talked about the change in playing markets, going from Los Angeles to Calgary and then to Montreal, where the Canadiens are basically a religion.

“I’ve got a lot of respect for the history of the organization, and the level of excellence they’re used to,” he said. “I try and use it as a motivator to do the best you can. It’s been fun so far.”

The interview closes on the Habs captaincy, his leadership roll with the team and the upcoming Heritage Classic game in February.

What the other bloggers are saying in the past couple days:

Julie Veilleux aka MetricJulie (The Team990) looks at the teams off season moves and exclusions as the new Canadiens correspondent for The Fourth Period.

Habs Watch breaks down the NHL’s move away from picking Europeans, with the exception of Swedish players, in the NHL Entry Draft.

The Active Stick gets this week’s award for humour, when looking at what would happen If Pierre McGuire ran the Habs.

With all the attention focused on the recent train wreck of a UFA signing by one Russian player this summer, Kyle Roussel looks at the future of Andrei Markov in Montreal.

The Checking Line offers a look at Habs prospect Gabriel Dumont.

TCL’s George Prax also looks at the top-six forwards in Montreal, as well as the rest of them.

More Cammalleri!: Likes the idea of a 2nd Toronto team

Just last week, Canadiens forward Michael Cammalleri got some up front media exposure in Toronto. This week, he hit not one, but two Toronto-based radio stations. I know he’s a local boy, but are the Leafs really that non-newsworthy these days?

First up, his chat with TheFan590’s Eric Smith. Cammalleri, in a phone interview from his Montreal condo, discusses the Canadiens playoff run, the Halak deal, his training regimen and the BioSteel Pro Hockey Week, and the Kovalchuk situation.

For more info on the BioSteel contest mentioned, you can click this link at The Fourth Period for a chance to train for a day with Cammalleri and over another dozen NHL stars.

“We might even get Scott Gomez to come in on a flight from Alaska,” Cammalleri said. “But you didn’t hear it from me.”

Actually, the main site for the event does confirm Gomez as an attendee. P.K. Subban is also slotted to attend.

The Richmond Hill native then moved up the dial to AM640 with Bill Hayes to talk more on the BioSteel event as well as growing up as a fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

“I had a close buddy that was a huge Habs fan,” Cammalleri said. “He was always Patrick Roy, and I was (Doug) Gilmour or Gary Leeman when we played on the streets.”

Eventually, both players he emulated went on to wear a Habs sweater, so we can’t be too hard on him now, can we?

Cammalleri also talked about the current Habs roster and going into training camp with great optimism.

It’s not a concern in the coming year(s) but he also acknowledged that he does have a limited no-trade clause in his contract. You’ll also notice his openness on what goes on in contract negotiations in theFan’s interview.

He also spoke openly on having another NHL team, or perhaps two in Canada.

“I think that would be tremendous. If we can get a couple more markets in Canada, I can’t see a downside to that,” he said. “I think we should have one (a second Toronto team) undoubtedly. I think that market could easily handle another team and it would be good for everybody.”

If that’s not enough of No. 13 for you: A quick write up on Cammalleri’s busy summer from canadiens.com

A push for the Habs captaincy: Hockey54’s Launy “The” Schwartz gives his reasoning to give the “C” to the Habs winger.

Lions in Winter also has a poll on the subject.

Radio chat and a day on the course for Habs Cammalleri

Michael Cammalleri tees off at a Pro-Am in Blaineville, QC ealier this month. photo: Vincent Graton/Journal Le Courrier

Montreal Canadiens forward Michael Cammalleri talked to The Fan 590’s Jeff Lumby, Wednesday morning, on the Habs playoff run and the upcoming season.

The full interview can be found with this link.

Lumby (an admitted Habs fan stuck in Toronto) seemed emphatic on the Canadiens lack of size, notably up front.

Cammalleri’s response, and something he echoed all season was, “If Brian Gionta goes in the corner, and he’s stronger than the guy who’s taller than him, who’s bigger when he comes out with the puck?”

The Canadiens sniper also went on to reinforce his support of Carey Price, something he referred to earlier in the week on TSN.

Cammalleri was then off for a 7:50 tee time Wednesday morning, playing in the Canadian Open Pro-Am at St. George’s Golf Club.

An avid golfer, he commented to CityTV on his recent play, “My handicap is six. I used to be a better player, but I’ve been busy playing playoff hockey these days.”

Habs fans can only hope that his handicap is higher next summer.

Canadiens/Penguins Game 6: No Markov, No Gill, No Problem!

Mike Cammalleri potted two goals and Jaroslav Halak made 34 saves to lead the Montreal Canadiens to a 4-3 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins.

With the rash of injuries plaguing the Canadiens, things did not look promising heading into Game Six. Andrei Markov was cited as out with a leg injury and Hall Gill was a game-time decision with a cut to his leg and did not play. The good news was that Jaroslav Spacek was good to go, and played a key role in Monday’s victory.

If front of a pumped Bell Centre crowd, Montreal jumped out early Cammalleri blew a one-timer past Marc-Andre Fleury at 1:13.

The Penguins got it back, shortly after a failed power play, when Sidney Crosby batted a deflected puck in mid air at 7:22.

The first twenty minutes was controlled by Pittsburgh, with the Penguins mounting a 13-6 shot advantage.

The defending Stanley Cup Champions had a pair of early power play chances in the second period, and connected on the second one when Kris Letang fired a shot that trickled under Halak’s arm at 5:21.

Montreal tied it up when Cammalleri fired a backhander past Fleury’s blocker, for his 11th goal of the playoffs, at 10:45. The last Canadiens player to score 11 or more goals in the post-season was Vincent Damphousse in 1993.

The Bell Centre crowd was behind it’s team for the full 60 minutes. After the second Montreal goal, PA announcer Michel LaCroix had to wait through the entire TV timeout for the crowd’s cheering to subside, before he could announce the goal.

“We’re really appreciative for their support,” Cammalleri said. “It’s the most amazing environment you can imagine.”

Spacek put the Canadiens in front with a low point shot that went through Fleury’s legs at 13:15. It was the first goal of the playoffs for Spacek, who had missed the last nine games with a viral infection.

“I was surprised that the puck went through,” he said. “I was just trying to get the shot on goal.”

Spacek played a flawless defensive game, making several defensive plays to spoil the Penguins scoring chances.

“The first period was tough on me,” the rearguard added. “Overall I felt pretty good and as the game went on I felt better.”

Backing the veteran were youngsters P.K. Subban and Josh Gorges, who logged 29:11 and 25:51 of ice time respectively. Gorges stepped in for Gill in shot blocking department with six to lead the team.

From there, the period’s momentum strongly swung in Montreal’s favor as the Canadiens took over the remaining minutes, drawing a late Pittsburgh penalty.

The third period saw offensive exchanges at both ends with Fleury and Halak both turning away scoring opportunities from both teams.

Montreal continued to put the pressure on as Maxim Lapierre made great one-man effort to give the Canadiens a two-goal lead at 11:30.

The Penguins refused to give up, pulling Fleury for the extra attacker. With 1:24 to go, Bill Guerin tipped a Sergei Gonchar point shot past but it would be as close as they would get.

“We liked the way we stayed with it, instead of sitting back,” Cammalleri added. “We’re trying to get better, we’re trying to improve. Tonight’s game was a big step.”

The Canadiens win forces a deciding seventh game back in Pittsburgh on Wednesday. Fans in Montreal will be able to catch the game on the giant screen at the Bell Centre. Tickets go on sale Tuesday at noon for $7.50 (includes in-bowl animation, a DJ, games door prizes) at www.canadiens.com, the Bell Centre Ticket Office or by phone at (514) 790-2525 / 1-877-688-8269.

Three Stars: 1. Michael Cammalleri 2. Jaroslav Spacek 3. Jaroslav Halak

game photo: Montreal Gazette (Dave Sidaway)

A Statistical Look: Montreal Canadiens Sans Michael Cammalleri Equals..

When Michael Cammalleri arrived on the scene, spirits were high in Montreal as the Canadiens had acquired a top-level sniper long term.

He got off to a slow start, but quickly found his mark and went into Saturday’s game with a team leading 26 goals in 55 games.

We all saw what happened Saturday afternoon, after Cammalleri took a hit into the boards from Anton Volchenkov, but in case you missed it, here it is.

The collision sent chills through viewers of the game, whether they were Canadiens fans or not.

Cammalleri was expected to have an MRI either later Saturday or sometime on Sunday and results are expected to be announced on Monday.

But it doesn’t take a medical degree to know that this is not a short term injury.

Late January seems to be  bad time to get injured as a Canadiens player. Just short of a year ago, on Feb 1, Robert Lang sliced his Achilles tendon, ending his short period with the Canadiens.

The most tragic of all fell on January 28, 1937, when Howie Morenz’s career, and ultimately his life, was over after getting his skate caught in a rut after receiving a body check against the Chicago Blackhawks.

Fortunately for Lang and Cammalleri, today’s  modern medicine is far more advanced that that of 1937. Lang is back playing with the Phoenix Coyotes, and Cammalleri will return the the ice. But will it be this season?

Michael Cammalleri is helped off the ice after receiving a body check from the Ottawa Senators’ Anton Volchenkov 01/30/2010 – Ottawa Citizen Photo

Through 56 games in the 2009-10 NHL season, the Canadiens have managed to stay at .500 amidst all their other injuries past and  current.

The team is still holding on to seventh position in the Eastern Conference, amongst a pack of eight teams battling for the last four playoff spots.

While the earlier loss of Andrei Markov crippled the Montreal power play, Cammalleri’s injury is different in a very big way.

The Canadiens have a combined 139 goals, and rank 29th in the league as of the time this is published.

Cammalleri has 26 of those goals (eighth best in the league), or 18.7 per cent of them, and has been in on the scoring for 48 goals in total (34.5 %).

Further breaking down the goal scoring, he has scored four of the Canadiens 43 power play goals, and has eleven power play assists (34.8 %). He has also logged the most power play time on ice of all Montreal forwards.

The key abilities of Cammalleri, that have truly benefited the Canadiens’ offense, are his numbers playing even strength.

Montreal ranks dead last in five-one five-goals (81), despite being tied for first with ten four-on-four tallies.

Cammalleri’s numbers, playing even strength, are  22 goals and 11 assists. Otherwise said, he’s on for 36.3 percent of the team’s even strength goals, not to mention his plus-10 rating that leads the team.

If the team is already last in five-on-five with him in the lineup,imagine how bad it will be without him.

Another key area where the Canadiens will be hurt is in the shot department, where the Canadiens again sit neat the bottom of the barrel.

Cammalleri’s 191 shots on goal are just in the top-ten league wide and makes up for over twelve percent of the pucks that reach the Canadiens’ opposing goals. His 13.6 shooting percentage is comparable to that of Alexander Ovechin’s.

The bottom line in any game though is the end result, so here they are.

When Cammalleri scores a goal for the Canadiens, the team is 12-6-2, and is 3-0-1 in his four multi-goal games.

When he doesn’t score a goal, they are 13-19-4.

What happens when he’s not on the ice at all???

Malone’s Seven-Goal Night: The Hockey News looks back at Joe Malone’s seven-goal game on this day in 1920. The record to this day remains unbroken.

Habs Win 5-3 over Stars with Laraque’s “Miracle” Goal

 

The rust may have shown, but the Montreal Canadiens pulled out a 5- victory over the Dallas Stars Thursday night.

Montreal’s defense looked sleepy on several occasions and allowed the Stars to have several odd-man rushes, much to the disconcert of coach Jacques Martin.

Capitalizing one of the Canadiens’ defensive lapses, Toby Peterson moved in on a 2-on-1, beating Carey Price five-hole at 8:52 of the first period.

Brian Gionta, playing in his 500th career NHL game, got the Canadiens on the board with a power play goal four minutes later.

The Stars regained the lead, on their own power play, when Steve Ott tipped in a point shot with just under five minutes left in the period.

At the 2:51 mark of the second period, Laraque earned his first goal with the bleu-blanc-rouge on his first shot on goal of the season.

CJAD’s Murray Wilson, doing his Amazing Kreskin routine, actually called the goal just moments before it happened.

 

Georges Laraque scores his first goal as a Hab, and his first since March 2008.

Laraque’s goal could not have come at a better moment, on a personal level, as his thoughts had to be with the people of his family’s native Haiti.

“It’s hard to think about hockey when the place where your parents came from is totally destroyed,” he said.

Laraque was uncertain whether or not he would play Thursday and has been debating travelling to the devastated nation to help.

“With all that happened in Haiti, it (goal) couldn't happen at a better time. It  was really a miracle.”

Laraque dedicated his goal to the people of Haiti.

Prior to the game, there was a minute of silence in memory of the victims of the Haiti earthquake, and fans brought donations to support UNICEF.

“Tonight was so special. The support from the fans and the team meant a lot to me,” Laraque added. “That’s why it’s the best thing in the world to wear the Montreal Canadiens jersey.”

Fortunately, Laraque as made contact with family members in Haiti and is happy to report that they are safe.

The goal also seemed to get the Canadiens’ momentum going.

Benoit Pouliot matched his career high mark with his seventh goal of the season at 6:44. It was Pouliot’s fifth goal in eight games since being acquired from the Minnesota Wild.

“Georges was working hard, and it finally popped through for him,” Pouliot said. “It got the crowd into it and got us going.”

Veteran Mike Modano managed to tie it up for Dallas with 5:05 to play in the second.

The Canadiens took control in the third period, with a second goal from Gionta, set up by Glen Metropolit. It was Metropolit’s 100th career assist.

Mike Cammalleri put in the insurance goal, at 16:41, with his 21st of the season, taking a stretch pass from Roman Hamrlik, and making a move that will make many a highlight reel.

Despite a slow start, Carey Price picked up the pace in the final 40 minutes, making 33 saves for the win.

The Canadiens slide up into eight place in the Eastern Conference standings and willl face their division rival Ottawa Senators on Saturday.

Three Stars: 1. Brian Gionta 2. Benoit Pouliot 3. Stephane Robidas

Photos: Montreal Gazette

The Rocket’s Eight Point Night, Vezina’s Assist and the Habs 20,000th Goal

On this day in 1944, Maurice Rocket Richard scored eight points, then an NHL record, in the Canadiens thumped the Detroit Red Wings 9-1.

Richard scored five goals and three assists in the game.

There is a couple variations to the legend behind this historic moment.

Both are correct that Richard was given the morning off to help move. After spending a day of moving furniture, one would suspect that he would be rather tired from the busy day.

This is where the story splits into fact and fiction;

In a fictional variation, was made famous on the Histori Canada commercial below, which has it that Richard was going to be given the night off to move, but then called in to play.

The real story was that Richard was given permission to have the morning off, but would play that night, despite being tired.

Richard got onto the scoreboard with a goal early in the first period, and added an assist before the first 20 minutes had ended.

He added two more goals, in an eight second span, early in the second period and added another goal and assist before the end of the period.

Richard’s fifth goal came in the final period, and his third assist found the stick of Elmer Lach, who redirected the pass beyond the reach of Harry Lumley.

The moment was again captured in the 2007 feature film “The Rocket”. A humorous clip from the film is when his brother-in-law was betting against him and the Canadiens, then sits stunned in the back seat of the car on the ride home.

The record would be tied, by teammate Bert Olmstead in 1953, and is still a Canadiens scoring record.

It would not be broken until Darryl Sittler’s ten point night on February 10, 1976.

First assist by a goalie: Georges Vezina became the first goalie credited with an assist on this day in 1918 against Toronto.

Vezina had stopped a Toronto shot and Newsy Lalonde picked up the puck,rushed back to the other end and scored.

Goal 20,000: Scored by Mike Cammalleri just this evening against the Ottawa Senators. Assists went to Andrei Kostitsyn and Andrei Markov.

Called out Sens Clearly Didn’t Listen to Their Boss

Hal Gill takes out Alex Kovalev during Montreal’s 4-1 win over Ottawa - Reuters

The Ottawa Senators fired 46 shots at Jaroslav Halak on Tuesday night, one went in during the Canadiens 4-1 victory.

On Sunday, Senators owner Eugene Melnyk called out his superstars, though not naming names.

"It's obvious what we need," Melnyk said Sunday. "The elite players have to start to play their best. Once they do that, I think we can be as competitive as ever. Hopefully that happens fairly quickly and we're back to where we were at the start of the season."

Jason Spezza and Alex Kovalev are clearly two of the elite players that he is referring to.

It's the whole group," Melnyk continued. "Some show up some nights and some don't. It's the elite players, that's basically it, but I'm really pleased to see guys like [Mike] Fisher step up to the plate as well as he has."

Well Mike Fisher continued to impress, scoring the Senators lone goal Tuesday and registering seven shots to earn second star honours.

Kovalev and Spezza on the other hand managed just two shots each in the game.

Mike Boone of HabsInsideOut.com made this notable comparison, “Marc André Bergeron will earn $750,000 this season. He has seven goals. Alex Kovalev makes $5 million. He has four.”

And Kovalev wonders why Russian Olympic GM Vladislav Tretiak didn’t pay him a visit two weeks ago. Sorry Alex, it wasn’t the travel schedule. Mr. Tretiak wants the best Russian players now, not from two or more years ago. Enjoy your two-week break in February.

As for Spezza, this quote after Tuesday’s loss makes you wonder if he even read Melnyk’s comments, “We got a lot of pucks at the net, but just didn't do a good enough job of getting pucks in the net.” We?

Cammalleri, Plekanec, Bergeron and Hamrlik celebrate Kostitsyn’s goal - Reuters

Meanwhile, Kovalev’s former line mates in Montreal, Tomas Plekanec and Andrei Kostitsyn, have certainly found a groove with their new winger Mike Cammalleri.

Plekanec had three assists on Tuesday, while Kostitsyn scored on the power play and set up another. Cammalleri had his fifth goal in three games.

The trio combined for six points and now has seven goals and eight assists in wins over the Boston Bruins, Philadelphia Flyers and the Senators.

"Plecks is playing really well. He's creating a lot and we're getting a lot of production as a result," Cammalleri said.

Kiprusoff Blanks the Canadiens 1-0

It’s bad enough that the Montreal Canadiens offence is struggling, but when a former all-star goalie brings his  A-game, you know it could be a long night.

Miikka Kiprusoff had a 25-save effort, earning his 200th career win, to lead his Calgary Flames to a 1-0 at the Bell Centre.

The Flames essentially dominated Montreal in the first twenty minutes, with a 13-9 shot advantage.

Calgary scored the only game of the game, at 14:55 of the first period, when captain Jarome Iginla put a screen shot past Jaroslav Halak.

Late in the period the Flames remained in control when they had a full power play in the Canadiens end.

The Habs came out in the second period, challenging the Flames physical play, and were outhitting them 19-16 after two periods.

Montreal’s offense had it’s chances, including a breakaway opportunity by Scott Gomez, but Kiprusoff continued to shut the door.

The Canadiens had an excellent opportunity to tie it up, with a late power play in the third period, but could not solve the Finnish netminder, who earned his 31st career shutout.

“It’s frustrating when we can’t put a goal on the board,” said Canadiens forward Mike Cammalerri. “We gotta create more chances offensively.”

The former Flame acknowledged the team’s successful penalty killing unit (0 goals allowed in 6 chances), but noted the importance to stay out of the box in a one-goal game.

“In a game like tonight, it kills a lot of momentum,” he said. “It’s hard to get puck time when we’re sitting in the box.”

Canadiens coach Jacques Martin echoed his winger’s concern. “Once or twice we took penalties after some good shifts,” he said.

“Sometimes even if the opposition doesn’t score, you lose your momentum.”

Martin also commented on his teams struggling power play that went 0 for 3 Tuesday night. “It’s a concern. Most games are determined by two factors, special teams and goaltending,” he said.

“We need to have better execution and traffic in front of the net.”

Goaltending clearly was not the problem for the Canadiens, on Tuesday night, thanks to Jaroslav Halak’s 30-save performance.

“It’s tough (to lose a one-goal game) but it happens,” Halak said. “You need to find a way to score a goal.”

Halak also commented on the tweet left by his agent on Saturday.

“Obviously he wrote something he shouldn’t,” he said. “I found out on Sunday. It’s got nothing to do with me. I try to control what I say, and that’s the bottom line”

Halak also said he has not talked to Carey Price about the incident, “I think he knows that I’ve got nothing to do with it.”

Montreal has lost three straight at home, while Calgary (11-4-1) now rides a four-game winning streak.

The Canadiens record falls to 8-10-2 and is a disappointing  0-5 against Western Conference teams this season.

Montreal will head off to to Phoenix, for a game against the Coyotes, on Thursday, and to Nashville,Saturday, to face the Predators.

Three Stars:  1. Miikka Kiprusoff 2. Jaroslav Halak 3. Jarome Iginla

Photos: Montreal Gazette

November will set the tone for the Canadiens

Mike Cammalleri is featured on the Canadiens’ online calendar, available here.

The Montreal Canadiens managed to squeak out of October with a 7-7 record.

Granted the team was without Andrei Markov for the month less a portion of their first game, but let’s look at a few individuals and some statistical tidbits.

First some positives:

The home ice of the Bell Centre appears to have been the comfort zone for the les bleu-blanc et rouge, going 5-2.

They were 3-1 against division opponents, though two wins against the Leafs went into overtime/shootout and shouldn’t have.

In one-goal games, they went 6-4 and 6-0 past regulation.

Newcomers Scott Gomez, Mike Cammalleri and Brian Gionta are, thus far, a big improvement over the departed Saku Koivu, Alex Tanguay and Alex Kovalev.

Travis Moen and Paul Mara are playing much better than expected.

Jaroslav Spacek and Roman Hamrlik have banked the big minutes on the blue line in the absence of Markov. Shots-per-game against are slowly getting more respectable, but still just under 30-per-game.

Now the not so good:

When their opponents scored four goals or more, Montreal was 2-3. Two of those games were severe beatings by serious playoff contenders (Vancouver and Pittsburgh).

In goals decided by one goal or more, the Habs sported a 1-3 record with only win coming from a 5-1 drubbing of the lowly Islanders

The Canadiens have 36 goals in their 14 games, 20th in the league, averaging 2.57 per game. 21 goals came in seven home games and 15 in the seven road games.

Factor out the 5 goal night against the Islanders, and the home-game average is more realistic.

The power play ranks 25th in the league at a disappointing 15.1%.

The Canadiens are tied for second in the league with 75 minutes in minor penalties, and their penalty kill ranks 24th,at 75.8%, with one shorthanded goal.

Their ability to comeback when trailing a game is just 2-4 when trailing after 20 minutes and 0-5 when behind after two periods.

Do I need to even talk about the brothers Kostitsyn? The younger ones actions speak words for him and as for the older one, just listen to the audio from Monday’s practice via HabsInsideOut.com

Guillaume Latendresse cannot find his opportunity to be the power forward that he is expected to be, and Hal Gill is quickly becoming the weak link on the blue line in the fans eyes.

The real concern seemed to be commitment to 60 minutes of play. Several games were the result of the team losing focus for a period, and the opposition took advantage of it.

Coach Jacques Martin has been emphatic through the season the the team is still looking for an identity and that has to be expected with the roster moves made in the off-season.

November should give us that identity with a dozen games (seven at home) as to whether the Canadiens can be a real playoff team or squeeze into a final spot in the last game, or two.

The Canadiens will face their rival Boston, for the first time this season, and a rematch against Calgary in the first four games of the month.

The last two weeks could be of real interest when the Canadiens have a pair of games against the Washington (Ovechkin injury pending) and games against the Detroit,  Columbus and Pittsburgh sandwiched in between.

Today in Habs History: Howie Morenz’s No. 7 was retired, posthumously, on this day in 1937. He was the first Canadiens player to have his jersey number retired.

An image from the Howie Morenz benefit game, 11/02/1937

On the same night, members of the Canadiens teamed up with the Montreal Maroons in a benefit game against all-stars from the rest of the NHL.

 Subban comfortable in the AHL: Canadiens prospect P.K. Subban tells NHL.com that he is comfortable in the AHL

Canadiens 43 shots dominate Islanders 5-1

Glen Metropolit and Tomas Plekanec each had two assists, and Jarolav Halak made 21 saves as the Montreal Canadiens defeated the New York Islanders 5-1.

It was the Canadiens first regulation win this season , and first in 17 games dating to last season, as they improved their record to 4-5.

Montreal opened the scoring when Jaroslav Spacek foiled the Islanders attempt to clear their zone, feeding Scott Gomez at 7:55 of the first period.

Marc-Andre Bergeron scored his first goal, on the power play, in his second game with the Canadiens with a monstrous blast from the point past Martin Biron to close out the period.

“It felt great,” Bergeron said. “I had my family and friends (here). To get that goal for the Canadiens, with the reaction of the crowd, let's just say it was a little louder than I'm used to. I’m very proud to be with the Montreal Canadiens.”

Max Pacioretty scored his first goal since January 2009 at 3:34 of the second period, to give the Canadiens a 3-0 lead.

“I feel like I got the monkey off my back,” Pacioretty said. “Metro told me (in practice) that you got to want the puck. Hopefully I can build off that and I feel like I’m ready to go now.”

Montreal outshot the Islanders 30-12 in the first two periods and New York had 23 giveaways in the game.

Halak, perfect through two periods,  made his sole mistake, early in the third, when he misplayed the puck behind his net, allowing Josh Bailey to score into the empty net.

“I don’t like shutouts,” Halak joked. “Every time you lose a shutout it’s not easy, but the point is to win the game.

“It was a mistake that he (Halak) made,” said Canadiens coach Jacques Martin. “The key is he recovered and we won the game.”

Martin would not tip his hat as to whether Halak would get a third straight start on Saturday night.

Mike Cammalleri replied with a second power play goal and Maxime Lapierre later added a fifth goal for the Canadiens.

“We had to really get on them and make them work.” said Cammalleri. “It was nice to get five goals in instead of two goals.”

The Canadiens finished with 43 shots on the night.

“The effort has been there the last two games,” Scott Gomez said. “it’s good to get it at home.”

Metropolit had missed the last six games with a rib injury with the Canadiens. In that span, Montreal went 1-5.

He was a dominant factor in he faceoff circle going 5 for 7, and showed no signs of wear in eighteen minutes of ice time earning the games first star.

“I don't know if I've ever had that before, maybe once when I was with Washington,” said Metropolit who also saw time on the second power play wave.

“It was good to be back there. I'm just trying to make room on the ice in front of the net.”

For Islanders center John Tavares, his second visit to the Bell Centre was not as pleasant as his first when he was the first overall pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.

New York’s star prospect went minus 2, and had no shots on goal.

“It was probably my worst game of the year,” he said after the Islanders got their first win of the season the night before.

“It’s tough after getting over the hump last night.”

The two teams will meet again, in Montreal, on Monday.

Three Stars: 1. Metropolit 2. Pacioretty 3. Bergeron

Official Game Summary and Recap from NHL.com

Game Photos: Montreal Gazette/HabsInsideOut

2009-10 Montreal Canadiens assembled!

 

Jacques Martin made his final cuts at the Montreal Canadiens training camp Tuesday afternoon.

Making there way out of Caledon, forwards Ben Maxwell and Tom Pyatt, defencemen Yannick Weber and Mathieu Carle, and goalie Curtis Sanford will not be riding the bus that takes the off ramp from the 410 to the 401 East tomorrow morning.

Instead they will continue south on the bus that takes them on the 403 to Hamilton. The Canadiens press release can be found here.

That leaves 23 players, including the injured Kyle Chipchura, on the Habs roster to begin the season.

Ladies and Gentlemen, in your best  Michel Lacroix voice…

Accueillons nos Canadiens!

Forwards:

# 13 Mike Cammalleri 
# 28 Kyle Chipchura
#36 Matt D'Agostini
#21 Brian Gionta
#91 Scott Gomez
#46 Andrei Kostitsyn
#40 Maxim Lapierre
#17 Georges Laraque
#84 Guillaume Latendresse
#15 Glen Metropolit
#32 Travis Moen
#67 Max Pacioretty
#14 Tomas Plekanec
#70 Gregory Stewart

Defencemen

#75 Hal Gill
#26 Josh Gorges
#44 Roman Hamrlik
#22 Paul Mara
#79 Andrei Markov
#3 Ryan O'Byrne
#6 Jaroslav Spacek

Goalies

#41Jaroslav Halak

#31Carey Price

Now if we only knew who the captain will be…..

Kovalev ne joue pas ce soir

Alex Kovalev  Photo: canoe.ca

Ottawa Senators GM Brian Murray has asked Alex Kovalev to take a night off tonight to think about his game.

Nah, just kidding.

But, the Senator’s prize free-agent signing will not be on the squad that faces his old team, the Montreal Canadiens, tonight at the Bell Centre.

We’ll see “L’Artiste” in action Saturday, when the teams meet at Scotiabank Place, saving the dramatic return to Montreal for the regular season.

The Sens have struggled in the pre-season, losing their first two games, to the Florida Panthers, and accumulated just two goals in those contests.

“It’s not “a worry, but it is an issue,” said Sens coach Cory Clouston.

Well he can’t blame it on any lack of effort from Dany Heatley now, can he?

Habs injuries: Laraque (lower body) ,Hamrlik (flu), Sergei  Kostitsyn and Kyle Chipchura still are awaiting doctors clearance for game play.

From the Sens Camp: A nice article on Senators goalie Pascal Leclaire, who looks forward to playing at least two periods in his home town.

Other Habs tidbits:

Dave Stubbs (habsinsideout.com) asks “What is wrong with this picture?”

Canadiens.com looks at Mike Cammalleri after his first pre-season game in a Habs jersey.

Jason at Flying Frenchmen is not big on a rotating captaincy.

Four Habs Fans get some input on coach Jacques Martin from bloggers for his former teams (Sens, Florida Panthers)

Lions in Winter has been looking, in depth, at the projected lines this season.

Montreal Canadiens Training Camp: Day Four

The stands at the Brossard training complex were not as crowded today as the Habs took to the ice for a fourth day of practice.

Tomorrow, the Canadiens will play their first pre-season game against the Florida Panthers at the Bell Centre.

“It’s a good opportunity,” said forward Scott Gomez, who was amazed to hear that the Bell Centre will be a sell-out for a pre-season game.

“Whether it’s pre-season or not, once you step on that ice, in that atmosphere you realize how special it is that you’re in the NHL.”

Gomez will play on a line Thursday with Mike Cammalleri and Andrei Kostitsyn.

“I didn’t realize how good a player he is,” he said of Kostitisyn.

“He’s a complete player, a guy we’re definitely gonna need him this year whether we play together or not.”

“I feel good with these two guys,” said Kostitsyn. “We’ll see what happens tomorrow.”

Like Gomez, Cammalleri was equally surprised that the Bell Centre is a sell out for a pre-season game.

“Is that what is, twenty-one and change?” he asked. “Wow, here we go!”

Carey Price had his first session today with new goaltending coach Pierre Groulx.

“It was tough,” he said on the outing. “It was a pretty good little skate this morning.”

Price figures his style of play shouldn’t change that much under his new coach.

“I think there’s going to be a few minor adjustments, but I think it’s going to stay the same technically,” he said.

“Mentally I think I might be a little bit more prepared this year to deal with everything that goes on.”

The 22-year-old said likes the mentality of the Canadiens dressing room this season over last year.

“I think our guys are bonding better this year,” he said.

“Over the next couple weeks we’re going to have to keep that up and keep working as a team.”

Price will also sport a new mask, for the Canadiens Centennial, that features goaltenders Ken Dryden and Gump Worsley.

He’s also going to the red goal pads, which will raise the eyebrows of many fans.

"I’m the same size in this, as I am in white,” he said and doesn’t feel the red pads were a part of his failure last year.

“It’s all up here. I don’t beleive in curses. I’m not a very superstitious person.”

The Montreal Canadiens site offers more comments on Price from his new teammates.

Game time Thursday is at 7:30pm (EST).

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 Peeps Tweets for Friday Aug 7

Well let’s see what’s out there for a Canadiens fan’s Friday evening read.

Topham at Lions in Winter does a nice job analyzing the Alex Tanguay situation.

YourHabs picked up on Canadiens prospect Louis Leblanc’s inclusion in THN’s look at the upcoming 2009-10 NCAA Season.

Flying Frenchmen has an interesting look at the post-Habs success of three former coaches.

The Canadiens/Predators ECHL affiliate Cincinnati Cyclones signed two forwards, one that came under the recommendation of Hamilton Bulldogs coach Guy Boucher

Eric Engels looks at former Canadiens forward Steve Begin, a player that “fans should miss.”

Happy Birthday to Yve’s daughter, celebrating number six! Yves also reports that Mike Cammalleri jerseys are the hot ticket item in Montreal.

Habs Fans are truly worldwide: Check out Canadiens Brasil! They even have podcasts!

Dennis Kane unveils a royal secret! I passed this royal fact onto him shortly after.

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.