Habs Press Release - Carey Price Earns Molson Cup For February

CAREY PRICE EARNS MOLSON CUP HONOUR FOR FEBRUARY

MONTREAL (March 1, 2012) – Netminder Carey Price is the Molson Cup recipient for the month of February.

Price, who was the overall Molson Cup award winner in 2010-11, is the recipient of the award for the fourth month of the 2011-12 season, after taking the honours in October, November and once again in December. Max Pacioretty earned the award in January.

Price was twice selected first star of the game (on February 5 against Winnipeg and February 11 versus Toronto), twice second star (on February 9 against the New York Islanders and February 17 at Buffalo) and a third star (on February 7 against Pittsburgh). He finished ahead of teammates Max Pacioretty and Tomas Plekanec.

Price had a 5-6-1 record playing 12 of the Canadiens’ 14 games in February, with two shutouts (on February 5 and 11) and a 2.40 goals against average. He stopped 318 of the 347 shots he faced for a .916 save percentage.

Carey Price will be presented with the Molson Cup during a short ceremony prior to tonight’s game against the Minnesota Wild at the Bell Centre.

Fans can vote for the Molson Export three stars of the game for every game this season, by logging on to canadiens.com/3stars, on the Canadiens official iPhone mobile application or by smartphone at bell.ca/canadiens.

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Price Gets Molson Cup, Pearn firing, Calder Watch, Eller, Markov, Isles, Oilers, Sens and more...

Habs News

HabsAddict.com - Habs Roundup: Markov, Gomez, Spacek, Sunday Shinny and a Hockey Party
http://www.habsaddict.com/2011/11/habs-roundup-markov-gomez-spacek-sunday.html

Habs Press Release - Carey Price Earns Molson Cup For October
http://www.habsaddict.com/2011/11/habs-press-release-carey-price-earns.html

Habs Firing of Perry Pearn: In Retrospect It Actually Makes Sense
http://www.habsaddict.com/2011/11/in-retrospect-perry-pearns-firing.html

Cowhide and Rubber - Round ten billion – What to do with Scott Gomez
http://www.cowhideandrubber.com/what-to-do-with-scott-gomez

Hockey Inside/Out - Canadiens hold blood donor clinic
http://www.hockeyinsideout.com/news/canadiens-hold-blood-donor-clinic

Multimedia from Tuesday practice
http://www.hockeyinsideout.com/news/multimedia-from-tuesday-practice

Markov sighting, Price is October Molson man
http://www.hockeyinsideout.com/news/markov-sighting

RDS - Le Canadien met les bouchées doubles
http://www.rds.ca/canadien/chroniques/329312.html

Eller peut-il devenir un Jordan Staal ?
http://www.rds.ca/canadien/chroniques/329320.html

TSN - SOPHOMORE ELLER SETTLING IN AS TWO-WAY CENTRE FOR CANADIENS
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=379425

HABS REPORT: CANADIENS RETURN TO ICE AFTER TWO-DAY BREAK
http://www.tsn.ca/montreal/blogs/habs_report/?id=379420


NHL News
HabsAddict.com - NHL Projections: Calder Trophy Watch
http://www.habsaddict.com/2011/11/calder-trophy-watch.html

TSN - FRASER: A TOUGH CALL AGAINST ISLANDERS ON SATURDAY
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=379410

THN.com - Boylen: Early treats of the NHL season
http://www.thehockeynews.com/articles/42692-Boylen-Early-treats-of-the-NHL-season.html

VIDEO: THN Puck Panel – Oilers and Senators exceeding expectations
http://www.thehockeynews.com/articles/42695-VIDEO-THN-Puck-Panel-Oilers-and-Senators-exceeding-expectations.html

Spector's Hockey - NHL Trade Rumors – November 2, 2011
http://spectorshockey.net/wordpress/2011/11/02/nhl-trade-rumors-november-2-2011/

(Photo by Elsa/Getty Images North America)

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Habs Press Release - Carey Price Earns Molson Cup For October

CAREY PRICE EARNS MOLSON CUP HONOUR FOR OCTOBER

MONTREAL (November 1, 2011) – Netminder Carey Price is the Molson Cup recipient for the month of February. Price was the overall Molson Cup award winner for the 2010-11 season.

Price was selected three times as the first star of the game (October 9 at Winnipeg, October 27 at Boston and October 29 against Boston), and once as the second star (October 26 against Philadelphia). Price finished ahead of teammates Max Pacioretty and Erik Cole.

The 24-year old goaltender had a 4-4-2 record in 10 games in October, with a 2.59 goals against average. He stopped 235 of the 261 shots he faced for a .900 save percentage. Price earned his 100th NHL career win on October 26 against the Flyers.
Carey Price will be presented with the Molson Cup during a ceremony prior to the November 8 game against the Edmonton Oilers at the Bell Centre.

Fans can vote for the Molson Export three stars of the game for every game this season, by logging on to canadiens.com/3stars, on the Canadiens official iPhone mobile application or by smartphone at bell.ca/canadiens.

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Canadiens Game Day: Habs Look To Clinch Playoff Spot Against Blackhawks

by Kamal Panesar

The Montreal Canadiens and Chicago Blackhawks clash tonight at the Bell Centre in a pivotal "Original Six" match.

With the playoffs just over a week away, both teams want this victory badly.

The Canadiens will be trying to punch their playoff ticket, while the Blackhawks are trying not to slip out of the top eight in the West.

Tonight's game will be the sole meeting between these two teams this season.

Chicago hasn't fared well in Montreal recently, losing the last four games they've played at the Bell Centre. In addition, they have only won three of the last 10 between the two teams.


Standings

With 91 points in the standings, the Canadiens are in a sixth place tie for points in the East with the Rangers. However, Montreal is ahead of New York in the standings in virtue of their game in hand.

Tonight will be the Canadiens' final home game of the season.

As such, Montreal will be desperate to clinch their playoffs spot tonight at home, If not the Habs could be leaving it to chance over their final two games in Ottawa (Thursday) and Toronto (Saturday).

A Canadiens victory would give them 93 points, ensuring the ninth-place Canes could only catch, but not pass, them in the standings.

For the Blackhawks, they will be looking to make things easier on themselves and harder on the Flames.

With 92 points in the standings, Chicago has a tenuous hold on the eighth and final playoff spot in the West. A win tonight would increase their buffer over the ninth place Flames to three points, while still holding a game in hand.


Goaltending

Montreal native, Cory Crawford, will be facing his hometown team for the first time. Crawford will be getting his 52nd start of the season and will be looking for his 32nd win.

This will be Crawford's 24th straight start, a span in which the Hawks have gone 14-6-4 and clawed their way back into the playoffs contention.

Carey Price, who is fresh off winning the Molson Cup for the 2010-2011 season, will be making his 71st start for the Habs.

A victory by Price would push his total to 37 this season, tying him for first overall with Roberto Luongo.


Scoring and Special Teams

The loss of Patrick Sharp from the Blackhawks lineup has been a major blow to the team. That being said, they still possess a much more potent offense than the Canadiens.

Chicago has the fourth best goals-for at 3.1 per game (246 total goals) and the second overall power play at 23.9 percent. On the defensive side of the puck things are a little more arduous for the Hawks.

They have the 12th best goals-against at 2.7 per game (214 total goals) and a weak 25th overall penalty kill at 79.4 percent.

Montreal, on the other hand, continues to have problems scoring goals with a 22nd overall 2.6 goals per game (208 total goals). Their power play, however, while relatively ineffective in recent weeks is seventh overall at 19.3 percent.

Defensively the Canadiens are in good position with the 10th goals-against at 2.5 per game (204 total goals). In addition their penalty kill is ninth overall at 83.8 percent efficiency.

With Montreal having the last change tonight, Jacques Martin will do his best line matching to try keeping the puck in the Blackhawks end. With sharp-shooters like Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, among others, Montreal definitely wants to limit their scoring chances.


Roster Changes and Injuries

Jeff Halpern, who looks like he came back to the lineup too early, is listed as day-to-day with a lower body injury. Aside from Halpern, it is same old, same old for the Canadiens with Andrei Markov, Josh Gorges, Alex Picard, Max Pacioretty and Jaroslav Spacek on the sidelines.

Both Spacek and Pacioretty have been skating in the past week but neither is ready to return to the lineup. Spacek could make a return as soon as Thursday in Ottawa, while Pacioretty is still a few weeks away at best.

Injuries aside, the Canadiens will go with the same lineup that defeated the Devils on Saturday meaning the Tom Pyatt and Yannick Weber will still be on the sidelines.

The Blackhawks continue to be without the services of Patrick Sharp, Jordan Hendry and David Bolland all out indefinitely—Hendry is out for the season.


Key to Victory

As is always the case when playing against high-powered opposition, Montreal has to keep the elite Chicago scorers in check tonight.

Watch for Hal Gill and P.K. Subban to be tasked with shutting down Patrick Kane and/or Jonathan Toews. In addition, Carey Price will have to be at his best against a hungry Chicago team that has been playing playoff-like hockey for over a month.

If the Habs dynamic shutdown duo of Gill and Subban can get the job done, Montreal should be able to pull out the victory.

If not, this could end up being a nerve-racking game to watch for Habs fans.

Game time is 7:30 PM.

---
Kamal is a freelance Habs writer, Senior Writer/Editor-in-Chief of HabsAddict.com, Montreal Canadiens Blogger on Hockeybuzz.com and Habs writer on TheFranchise.ca. Kamal is also a weekly contributor to the Sunday Shinny on The Team 990 (AM 990) every Sunday from 8 - 9 AM. Listen live at http://www.team990.com/

(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images North America)

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PRESS RELEASE: Carey Price named Molson Cup Player of the year

Monday, 04.04.2011 / 10:10 AM

MONTREAL -- Goaltender Carey Price is the Montreal Canadiens Molson Cup Player of the Year for the 2010-11 season.

Born in Anahim Lake, British-Columbia, Price received 27,630 fan votes in the Molson Cup standings during the regular season. Price finished ahead of teammates Tomas Plekanec (11,893 votes) and Brian Gionta (8,862 votes).

Price, the Canadiens’ Player-of-the-Month in October, November, December, and February, also ranked first for the March-April segment with a monthly harvest of 7,434 votes, ahead of teammates Lars Eller (2,389 votes) and Max Pacioretty (2,320 votes).

Thus far, Price has played 70 games during the regular season (tied for 2nd in the NHL), tying a club record for most games played in a season by a goaltender. He has posted a record of 36 wins (tied for 2nd in the NHL), 28 losses and 6 overtime/shootout losses with a 2.39 goals-against-average (10th in the NHL) and a .921 save percentage (tied for 9th in the NHL). Price has recorded eight shutouts in 2010-11, third most among NHL goaltenders. He ranks second in the NHL with 1,913 saves and third with 4,085 minutes of time on ice.

The 23-year old goaltender was named the NHL First Star for the week ending on November 14 (3-0-0 record, 1.00 GAA and a .970 save percentage) and the NHL Second Star for the week ending on March 6 (3-0-0 record, 1.00 GAA and a .974 save percentage). Price was named the NHL Second Star for the Month in November with an 8-4-0 record, a 1.59 goals against average and a .952 save percentage.

2010-11 Molson Cup Standings
	#Star Selections	1*	2*	3*	Votes
Carey Price	38	14	19	5	27,630
Tomas Plekanec	17	4	6	7	11,893
Brian Gionta	12	2	3	7	8,862

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Canadiens Game Day: Carey Price, Habs Take on Upstart Oilers

by Kamal Panesar

The Montreal Canadiens, fresh off of a three-day hiatus, awake this morning rested and ready to take on the upstart Edmonton Oilers at the Bell Centre.

As we have transitioned form November to December, Carey Price is the player whose name is on everyone's lips. Not only for his spectacular play so far this season—1.95 GAA, .935 save percentage and 14 wins in 22 games—but also for capturing the Molson Cup as the Habs player with the best three stars standing, for the November segment of the season.

As if that wasn't enough, Price has 145,726 votes on the All-Star ballot as of this morning, second only to Sidney Crosby's 218,791. Keep in mind, however, that all of Price's votes are write-ins since his name isn't even on the All-Star ballot!

No more Mr. Nice Guy indeed. Or perhaps I should say no more Mr. Dirt-Stache, since the end of November also brings the end of Movember, which in turn brings an end to all of the scraggly facial hair around the league.

Price will make his 23rd start of the season tonight against the Oilers, but the big question is whether Scott Gomez will finally decide to join the party.

The Habs' $7.3 million center has been blasted by fans and media alike for his lack of production and, more importantly, his lack of focus on the ice. With only seven points over 25 games, Gomez is on pace to put up only 24 this season—a low water mark for his career.

Despite some obvious holes in the team, look for Jacques Martin to keep the same lineup together that defeated the Sabres 3-1 on Saturday.

On the back end, there is still no official prognosis on Andrei Markov's injured knee. Suffice it to say, however, that it is looking more and more like he will be gone long term and potentially for the entire season.

The word is that further assessment needs to be done in order to properly determine the extent of his injury and the duration of his absence. But, with his contract expiring at the end of the season I think it is more likely that Markov is look for a doctor, any doctor, who will tell him that he is alright to play.

It's an unfortunate situation for one of the truly good people in the NHL.

The Oilers, in contrast to the Canadiens, are a team that is near the bottom of the league and look like they are a few years away from being able to contend for a playoff spot.

But with a young, skilled nucleus of Jordan Eberle, Gilbert Brule, Taylor Hall, Magnus Paajarvi, Sam Gagner and Dustin Penner, this is a team who can do damage to you on any given night. As such, the Habs would be wise not to take this game lightly and, given the character of the club, I would be surprised if they did.

The Oilers are coming off a 4-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators and will be eager to keep the party going. The Habs are not in a dissimilar boat, having a win-one-lose-one record over the last six games. That being said, their 31 points in the standings have them in the first place in the Northeast division, despite their struggle to find consistency of late.

Martin Gerber is likely to get his second consecutive start for the Oilers unless Nikolai Khabibulin is ready to return from a groin injury.

The puck drops at around 7:05 pm.

(Photo by Richard Wolowicz/Getty Images North America)

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Habs/Oilers preview, Price wins Molson Cup, Spacek, rumours and more...

Pre-game: Habs v Oilers

HabsAddict.com - Canadiens Game Day: Carey Price, Habs Take on Upstart Oilers
http://www.habsaddict.com/2010/12/canadiens-game-day-carey-price-habs.html

Habs Inside/Out - Quiet practice: Price shaves tonight!
http://www.habsinsideout.com/main/40568

Spacek set to play 800th NHL game
http://www.habsinsideout.com/main/40570

The week finally starts
http://www.habsinsideout.com/main/40571

RDS - Carey Price sent l'appui des partisans
http://www.rds.ca/canadien/chroniques/310776.html

CH : Jaroslav Spacek a fait du chemin
http://www.rds.ca/canadien/chroniques/310776.html

TSN - Gameday
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/scores/gameday/?hubname=nhl-canadiens

ESPN.com - Oilers-Canadiens Preview
http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/preview?gameId=301201010


News
Habs Inside/Out - Scum of the earth strike
http://www.habsinsideout.com/main/40569

Spector's Hockey - NHL Rumors – December 1, 2010
http://spectorshockey.net/2010/12/nhl-rumors-december-1-2010/

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Official Habs Press Release - Jaroslav Halak Named Molson Cup Player of the Year

JAROSLAV HALAK NAMED THE CANADIENS 2009-10 MOLSON CUP PLAYER OF THE YEAR

MONTREAL (April 9, 2010) – Goaltender Jaroslav Halak is the Montreal Canadiens Molson Cup Player of the Year for the 2009-10 season. Halak succeeds goaltender Carey Price who was the recipient in 2008-09.

Born in Bratislava, Slovakia, Halak completed the season with 63 points in the Molson Cup standings. He had 10 first-star selections, four (4) second-star selections and one (1) third star selection ending the season on top of the standings ahead of teammates Carey Price (48 points) and Tomas Plekanec (43 points). Halak was named the Canadiens’ Player-of-the-Month in December (20 points), and for the January and February segment (25 points).

Halak who played in 44 games during the regular season, posted a record of 26 wins, 13 losses and 4 overtime/shootout losses with a 2.36 goals-against-average (8th in the NHL) and a .926 save percentage (3rd in the NHL). Halak recorded five shutouts in 2009-10, while setting a new personal high with a 157:45 minutes shutout streak from January 22 to 26. He also went 156:30 minutes without allowing a goal from March 27 to April 6, recording back-to-back shutouts on April 2 and 3. Halak was twice named the NHL First Star for the Week this season, for the week ending on December 27 (3-0-0, 1.97 GAA, .959 save percentage – 140 saves on 146 shots) and for the week ending on April 4 (2-0-0, 0.00 GAA, 1.000 save percentage – 64 saves on 64 shots).

Earlier this week, Halak was voted by the Montreal chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association(PHWA) as the team’s candidate for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy for the 2009-10 season. The Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy is awarded to the NHL player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.

2009-10 Molson Cup Standings
# Star Selection 1*,2*,3*,Points
Jaroslav Halak 15,10,4,1,63
Carey Price 14,6,5,3,48
Tomas Plekanec 13,4,7,2,43
Brian Gionta 13,3,3,7,31
Michael Cammalleri 7,3,2,2,23
Andrei Kostitsyn 8,1,4,3,20
Scott Gomez 7,3,0,4,19
Sergei Kostitsyn 5,3,1,1,19
Andrei Markov 5,2,2,1,17
Glen Metropolit 6,2,0,4,14
Mathieu Darche 4,1,3,0,14
Benoit Pouliot 6,0,3,3,12
Travis Moen 3,1,2,0,11
Roman Hamrlik 3,1,1,1,9
M.-A. Bergeron 4,0,1,3,6
Dominic Moore 3,0,1,2,5
Max Pacioretty 2,0,1,1,4
Jaroslav Spacek 2,0,0,2,2
Josh Gorges 1,0,0,1,1
David Desharnais 1,0,0,1,1
Tom Pyatt 1,0,0,1,1
PK Subban 1,0,0,1,1
Maxim Lapierre 1,0,0,1,1

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