At least his family showed up: Canucks 7 Canadiens 1

Henrik Sedin scores his first of two goals on Wed night. AP photo

Carey Price’s mother and father, Jerry and Linda, and numerous family and friends were in the seats of General Motors place to see the B.C native get his first NHL start in Vancouver.

Unfortunately, the rest of the Montreal Canadiens never showed up to support him.

The Vancouver Canucks walked through Montreal’s defense all night in a 7-1 pounding of the Canadiens.

The Canucks had six odd-man rushes in the first period alone, outshooting Montreal 14-4.

Ryan Kessler opened the scoring, for Vancouver at 13:50, splitting the Canadiens defense and beating Price, who made a valiant effort to attempt to make the save.

Mason Raymond then scored three minutes later, with a great up-ice rush off the boards and going five-hole on Price.

A wide open Steve Bernier closed out the scoring in the first with a power-play goal on a seeing-eye pass from Daniel Sedin.

Despite, outshooting the Canucks 13-0 to start the second period and an Andrei Kostitsyn power-play goal.

Henrik Sedin responded for Vancouver with two goals. The first one came on the power-play and the second coming on a highlight reel two-on-one break.

Michael Samuelsson added to the Vancouver lead at 11:39 of the third period, followed by Alex Burrows scored fourteen seconds later.

Montreal coach Jacques Martin had no choice but to pull the 22-year-old in favor of Jaroslav Halak.

It was a discouraging night for Price, who was 2-0 with a .951 SvPct going into the game.

“It’s right up there with the last road trip we came out here.” Price said noting his and the Canadiens’ struggles during last season’s western Canada road trip, where he only played part of third period in Vancouver.

“I battled as hard as I could. It’s pretty disappointing not being able to play, but this is even more disappointing.”

Price pointed no fingers at his teammates citing no excuses, however coach Martin felt otherwise.

“Carey kept us in,” he said. “I know that he’s disappointed he didn’t have better support from his teammates.”

The Canucks’ Roberto Luongo recovered from Monday’s humiliating 5-3 loss to Columbus on Monday and made 27 saves for the Canucks.

Montreal goes to 2-2 to start the season, while Vancouver racked up their first win in four tries.

The Canadiens will have an early morning practice in Vancouver before heading to Edmonton to prepare for a Saturday night game with the Oilers.

Three Stars: 1. Henrik Sedin  2. Daniel Sedin  3. Roberto Luongo

Mats Sundin: Why so quiet this summer?

Remember the summer of 2008?

All the hockey world was hearing was Mats Sundin this, Mats Sundin that.

Well after the Montreal Canadiens gained the rights to talk to Sundin before the July 1 free agent deadline (in an unofficial exchange for Mikhail Grabovski), rumors flew out of the woodwork.

First Montreal, then the New York Rangers, and then the Vancouver Canucks (who reportedly offered a two-year $20 million deal ) were front runners for the then 37-year old center.

The only Sundin signing news that arrived, over the summer, was the fact that he had signed on with PokerStars.

There was talk that Sundin would make his decision by August 1, which turned out to be a “soft deadline” according to agent J.P. Barry.

In a few weeks, later this summer, in a few weeks, later this summer as all that was heard from that point on.

Habs GM Bob Gainey clearly dropped out of any further talks and picked up Robert Lang to fill the void.

Sundin did sign with the Canucks, joining them for the second half of the season at $5.36 million.

I questioned whether or not he was worth it to the Canucks in a prior piece I wrote.

Clearly Canucks GM Mike Gillis felt he wasn’t.

After seeing Sundin battle injuries through the playoffs, he made his focus on successfully signing the Sedin twins to new contracts.

In a story on the Swedish newspaper Expressen’s website, back in June, Sundin did clarify that he would not participate in the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.

Sundin won an Olympic Gold medal with Sweden at the 2006 Games

“There will be no Olympics in Vancouver for me next year,” Sundin said.

“I will not change my mind, I think it’s time that the next generation takes over. We have many good players.”

When asked by Expressen on the possibility of returning to the NHL:

“Absolutely,” he said 

“I will think about my future over the next couple of weeks. I will make a decision in the summer.”

Sundin reportedly has stated that he would make a decision on returning at the end of July as he will be getting married in August and would prefer not to have that distraction waning during that special moment in his life.

Many analysts and media types, clearly did not want to chase the bone that Sundin and Barry fed them all last summer.

Many of them feel that Sundin will retire.

I had the chance to catch, and interview, Rogers Sportsnet’s  Nick Kypreos earlier this month at the Gretzky Golf Classic.

Kypreos flew to Sweden last summer for an exclusive one-on-one interview with Sundin. 

I asked Kypreos if Mats Sundin would return to which he emphatically answered with one word, “No.”

In the event that Sundin does call it quits, he clearly has the offensive numbers to join the Avalanches’ Joe Sakic as a member of the 2012 class of the Hockey Hall of Fame.

That or he may opt for one last kick of the can for a shot to win the one trophy that has eluded him since joining the NHL with the Quebec Nordiques, the Stanley Cup.

Time will tell.

Canadiens add goaltending depth by signing Curtis Sanford

Ok, cue the music and get all the Fred Sanford jokes out.

The Montreal Canadiens picked up free-agent goaltender Curtis Sanford today, signing him to a one-year, two-way contract.

The Canadiens press release does not disclose the financial terms of the deal ,but nhlnumbers.com has him pegged at $600K.

Sanford is a career 37-37-11 with a 2.76 GAA and a .901 SvPct.

He saw more action in St. Louis before serving as a backup, in 35 games for Roberto Luongo, the last two seasons in Vancouver.

With the arrival of Andrew Raycroft in Vancouver, Sanford’s services were no longer needed by the Canucks.

The 29-year-old will find himself in Hamilton as a back-up to Cedric Desjardins and likely be called up if injuries occur to Carey Price or Jaroslav Halak.

Such was the case last season with Marc Denis last season.

The Canadiens’ website also offers an interesting “by the numbers” look at the Habs’ newest goaltender.

Other tidbit: He was a team mate of Sean Avery when they played Jr. hockey with the Owen Sound Platers.

The Habs 2009-10 Schedule is out!!! Bulldogs and Cyclones sked news also released

 

The NHL officially released the Montreal Canadiens 2009-10 Regular Season Schedule this afternoon. The official press release can be found here.

The Canadiens will kick off Season 101 on Thursday October 1 against the Toronto Maple Leafs at the ACC.

It will be the first game of a five-game road trip to start off the season.

Maybe a good thing to get it over with early:

The Canadiens head west to play back-to-back games in Calgary and Vancouver on Oct 6-7, wrapping up the trip on Oct. 10 in Edmonton.

We all remember the disastrous western trip from last year, and so far coach Jacques Martin has not planned a team bowling night.

The Canadiens’ home opener is against the Colorado Avalanche on Oct 15 where they will have a six game home stand.

We’ll get a possible look at John Tavares twice in Montreal in four days (Oct  22 and 26)

Montreal then faces the Stanley Cup Champion Penguins in Pittsburgh on Oct 28.

The First Must-See home game: Saturday Oct 17th,when Alex Kovalev returns with his Ottawa Senators.

Christopher Higgins returns Oct 24 with the New York Rangers

Komisarek returns Oct 31, where it will be brick night: First 5000 fans get unused off-cut bricks from the Centennial Plaza to do…

Alexander Ovechkin and the Capitals roll into the Bell Centre on Nov 28. The game will be at the Bell Centre and not at Olympic Stadium as rumored.

Dec 4 against Boston will mark the 100th Anniversary of the Canadiens’ formation. Note the starting time of 8pm as there will be a ceremony beforehand.

Montreal looks to have a tough schedule in December, playing 11 of 17 games on the road and ends the month with seven in a row during the holidays.

Montreal has 15 back-to back games with just one of these at home, so Jaroslav Halak could see lots of work this season.

The NHL shuts down for two weeks, after Feb 13, for the Olympics.

Even with 21st Century technology, the NHL’s logistics team still cannot find a system to make it work evenly:

After the Olympics, the Habs are in Boston on Mar 2, then off to California (if it’s not in receivership) to play San Jose, L.A. and Anaheim and back across the country to face Tampa on Mar 9. That’s a lot of travel.

March closes out in the Canadiens’ favor for the playoff run however , with five of their last eight at home.

The season concludes on Apr 10 at the Bell Centre against the Maple Leafs.

The Canadiens will have seven pre-season games from September 17-26. Five games will be at home, while the other two will be in Ottawa (Sep 19) and Quebec City (Sep 20 vs. Boston)

 

First six Hamilton Bulldogs home games announced!

 The Hamilton Bulldogs have announced yesterday that Oct 9 will be their first home game of the 2009-10 AHL season.

Five other confirmed dates are also set with a Nov 6 game played in Montreal at the Bell Centre. Opponents are to be determined when the AHL releases the official schedule later this summer.

ECHL Cincinnati Cyclones Schedule released!

The Canadiens’ ECHL affiliate Cincinnati Cyclones (shared with the Nashville Predators) also announced their pre-season schedule today. Their regular season schedule is also posted.

It could be handy for our Ohio area Habs fans or those travelling south of the border on the way to Florida this winter! Catch a game on the way down I-75 !!!

Remembering Rangers and Blackhawks HOFer Clint Smith

This past Tuesday, the hockey community lost another of it’s legends.

Clint Smith was a Hall of Fame center with both the New York Rangers and the Chicago Blackhawks, as well as an icon in the Vancouver area hockey scene.

He was the last surviving member of the 1940 New York Rangers Stanley Cup team, and passed away at age 95.

Born in Saskatchewan, Smith’s hockey career began with Springfield of the CAHL and Saskatoon of the WCHL.

He then moved on to the NWHL where he became a star for the Vancouver Lions. Smith would lead the league in goals, as a rookie, with 25 then lead in points the following two seasons.

In 1936, Smith played with the Philadelphia Ramblers in the I-AHL (now known as the AHL).

That season, he would see two games with the New York Rangers, scoring his first career NHL goal.

In his second full season with New York (1938-39), Smith led his team in scoring and was the recipient of the Lady Byng Trophy having just two penalty minutes all season.

When asked decades later how he managed to go 48 games with just two minutes in penalties Smith replied with a wink, "Ah, it was nuthin’. I knew the referees."

In 1939-40, Smith would help bring a Stanley Cup to New York by defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs in six games.

“I can't explain the feeling of winning the Stanley Cup. It's the ultimate,” Smith said.

“It's something you always strive for—just to get into the Stanley Cup Final. And then when you win, it's something you always remember.”

The Rangers would not bring another Cup to the Big Apple for another 54 years.

In September of 1943, Smith found himself as a member of the Chicago Blackhawks.

On a line with Hall of Famers Bill Mosienko and Doug Bentley, he tallied 23 goals and set an NHL record with 49 assists.

It would also see a second Lady Byng Trophy for the star center.

He would lay claim on another NHL record the following season, scoring four goals in one period against Montreal on March 4, 1945.

Smith would leave the NHL after the 1946-47 season with 161 goals and 236 assists in 483 regular season games.

More astounding is his miniscule 24 minutes in penalties accumulated in that span, which included a four year span without even a minor call.

He joined the Tulsa Oilers of the USHL the next year, leading the league in scoring and winning the league’s MVP.

For the next three season’s as a player coach for the St. Paul Saints.

He would play two games for the Cincinnati Mohawks of the AHL in 1951-52, becoming a full time bench boss.

Smith then returned to his adopted home, playing old timers games in the NWHL.

Building support for the game of hockey in the British Columbia area, Smith founded the British Columbia Hockey Benevolent Association and held several positions in the organization, including president.

His dedication helped build a solid hockey market in Vancouver and led to the formation of the Vancouver Canucks.

The association that he founded is now commonly known as the Canucks’ Alumni.

Smith was finally elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1991 and was the oldest living, Honored Member at the time of his death.

Ever lyal to his NHL beginnings, Smith participated in the Rangers' 75th Anniversary celebrations at Madison Square Garden in 2001.

During the 2004-05 NHL Lockout, the league made a practice of sending the Stanley Cup to past members of winning teams.

Unlike the present day, players on a Cup winner did not get to take the Cup home for a day.

That opportunity came for Smith on July 26, 2005. Fans, friends and family (his daughter was flown in from Florida) made the visit to North Vancouver to honor him. "

Smith was as proud then as he was 65 years before when his team claimed the Cup.

“Howie Meeker brought the Cup out to Vancouver Island, and while it was out here, they phoned and asked me if I would like it for a day,” Smith said. “And of course, I said I'd be glad to take it for a day.”

“We had a pretty good display. It was nice. But I had to laugh -- the Cup was so small, you could carry it around. You couldn't carry the Cup that we won around. I think we had 13 rings on that Cup -- I think they have five now.”

Funeral arrangements were still pending as of Thursday.

The family has requested in lieu of flowers that donations be made in Clint Smith’s name to:

The British Columbia Hockey Benevolent Foundation
Registered Charity: #0738021-23-27
#104 – 2433 Bellevue Ave.
West Vancouver
V7V 1E1

Photos: Hockey Hall of Fame