Leafs Destroy Habs, Koivu Keepin'on, Habs Prospects And More...

Good Morning Addicts!

Well that certainly did not go well. The much hated Toronto Maple Leafs came into town last night and handed the Canadiens their worst loss of the year. Nothing went right for the Habs who - other than Brendan Gallagher - played as if they had no desire to even be on the ice.

The Canadiens were losing battles in the corners, getting bumped off the puck and while they may have directed 37 shots on Leafs goaltender James Reimer, it's safe to say at least 30 of them were directed right at the Maple Leaf on his chest.

After two straight losses to Boston and Buffalo and now a 6-0 pounding at the hands of the Leafs, some fans are starting to wonder just what team the Canadiens are this year. Are the Habs we saw through the first handful of games for real? Or will we start seeing a lot more games like the ones we've witnessed over the last week?

Habs And Hockey News

- Former Canadiens captain Saku Koivu is enjoying success at age 8 with the Anaheim Ducks. Koivu leads the team with 11 points through ten games and is second on the team with a plus/minus of +8. Dave Stubbs of the Montreal Gazette caught up with Koivu before the Ducks 3-1 loss to the Stars on Friday night.

- Andrew Berkshire is back again with his week four roundup of Montreal Canadiens prospects.

- It's no secret that the Canadiens owe a lot of their success this year to their depth.


(Photo by John Kenney, Montreal Gazette)

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Habs/Leafs, Price On Track, Markov For Norris And More...

Good Morning Addicts!



The Bourque-Plekanec-Gionta line has combined for 22 points
through the first ten games.

After two consecutive losses to the Bruins and Sabres, the Habs will look to return to their winning ways tonight against the Maple Leafs. The Leafs will be looking for their third straight win after defeating the Capitals and the Jets.

The win against the Jets on Thursday came with Phil Kessel finally netting his first goal of the season for the winner.

Although the Canadiens haven't banked two points in the win column since Sunday afternoon against the Senators, their losses didn't come without effort. There are some positives in the fact that if Tuuka Rask hadn't stood on his head in the first period of the Bruins, tilt the Habs easily could have finished the frame with a three or four goal lead rather than heading into the second period tied at zero.

The following night in Buffalo the two points were pretty much in the bank before Ryan White took yet another selfish penalty giving the Sabres the opportunity to bring them to within one goal of the Habs. Things went from bad to worse for Montreal as the game was tied with less than two seconds left and the breakdown was complete when they lost in the shoot out.

While tonight's line up has yet to be finalizes it should be safe to assume that White will sit after costing his team a point and Travis Moen will be in.

One thing for sure is that the Pacioretty-Desharnais-Cole line is going to have to start producing. If they can mirror the success of the Bourque-Plekanec-Gionta line, the Habs will have little trouble piling up w's.


Habs And Hockey News

- Arpon Basu (@ArponBasu) of lnh.com points out that Carey Price appears to be the player Bob Gainey knew he would become when he drafted him fifth overall in the 2005 draft.

- Andrew Berkshire (@AndrewBerkshire) takes a look at where the Habs rank after ten games.

- Andrei Markov makes Kevin Allen (@ByKevinAllen) of USA Today's list of early Norris Trophy candidates.


(Photo from http://thereuschblog.com/?p=16065)

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"White Out!", Lousy Week For The Habs, More...

T.G.I.F. Addicts!!!!

How dumb and selfish could a single player be? Well...let's take a hard look at Ryan White.

Against the Florida Panthers, White decided to drop the gloves against notable NHL turtle Tomas Fleishcmann, which cost him and the Canadiens 27 minutes in penalties. You'll say, "Big deal! It was the Florida Panthers." Sure, you could, but let move forward.

Less than a week later, after Michel Therrien defended White for coming to the defense of one of his teammates, White took it a step further. In a game against the Ottawa Senators on January 30th, White was assessed a roughing penalty for in front of the Senators bench, and an extra two minutes for chirping at the officials. That double-minor lead to two Ottawa power play goals, and a complete swing in the game's momentum, which ultimately led to a 5-1 win for the Senators.

Then last night, White, in his ultimate wisdom, decided that a 4-2 lead against the Buffalo was the perfect time to lose his mind, and go after Sabres' pest Steve Ott.

Ott, being the cagy veteran that he is, used his pre-game verbal taunts to his favour, turtling in front of White, leading to a double-minor for roughing. And, as luck would have it, those penalties lead to Buffalo's resurgence, and a 5-4 victory by the Sabres in a shootout.

It's time for Canadiens' head coach Michel Therrien to crack out his bottle of "White Out!", and send an extended message to the Habs' tough guy that, while he loves character and physicality, he appetite for stupidity is quite full at the moment.

Hot dogs and soft drinks will be White's diet over the next few days...with a great view from the Bell Centre press box included.

Habs and Hockey News and Notes:

In what has been the worst week of the Habs`season so far, Montreal Hockey Talk welcomed Tim Redinger, Senior Editor on Sabrenoise.com during the pre-game show to analyze last night match-up, while the post-game gang used their mics to vent their frustration towards White, Peter Budaj and a few other Habs that are dragging their feet.

- Last night's game tying goal by Sabres' forward Thomas Vanek, was his league leading tenth of the season.

- The Chicago Blackhawks continued to roll to start the NHL season. Playing 10 of 12 games on the road to start the season, the Hawks once again won versus the Phoenix Coyotes by a score of 6-2 in Glendale. Patrick Kane continued his torrid start, adding another goal a two assists to his point totals. He is currently second in points in the NHL, behind only the aforementioned Vanek, who has 21 points.

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Keeping Up With The Canadiens...

Good Morning Addicts!

In trying to keep busy before Wednesdays match up between the Eastern Conference leading Boston Bruins and the fourth place Montreal Canadiens, I've found quite a few interesting stats.

- For one thing, Habs rookie Alex Galchenyuk is the first rookie in Habs history to record at least two assists in each of three straight home games. He's the first rookie to do so since Peter Forsberg accomplished it for the Nordiques in '95.

- This shouldn't really come to a surprise to anybody who follows the team but Alexei Emelin currently leads the league in hits with 34 and Josh Gorges leading the blocked shots column with 29.

- Including P.K. Subban who has played only two games, the Canadiens have four players who are averaging at least a point per game. Subban has notched helpers in his first two appearances, Pacioretty has yet to find the back of the net but has five assists in four contests. Diaz and Markov each have eight points in as many games and Plekanec and Galchenyuk are close to adding their names to this list as they have seven points in eight tilts.

- How about Carey Price's numbers? A 6-1 record - six straight wins - with a GAA of 1.70 and a .938 sv%. With numbers like that it shouldn't be too long before he earns the two wins necessary for him to pass Jose Theodore and Michel Larocque for all time wins for the Habs.

- Without looking it up would you have guessed that the Habs have just two minus players? Aside from Travis Moen (-2) and Tomas Plekanec (-1) the rest of the team is even or better.

Habs And Hockey News

- Check out the pre-game and post-game shows from Montreal Hockey Talk from Sunday. The MHT crew were joined by the likes of Jimmy Murphy, John Bartlett, Sergio Momesso and Gilbert Dionne.

- Sure it's been a few days since his return but it's still crazy to think that Max Pacioretty returned to the line up just eight days after undergoing an appendectomy.

- Alex Galchenyuk earns second star of the week in week two of the Calder Watch over at TheHockeyGuys.net

- The Canadiens find themselves in the Top 5 of TSN's power rankings.

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Pacioretty Returns In Habs Victory Over The Sens/ Bad Officiating And More...

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I guess at this point it's not that surprising that Max Pacioretty is back in the Habs line up just one week after undergoing an emergency appendectomy. Sure it's a procedure that normally requires three to four weeks recovery time but if we've learned anything about Pacioretty over time it's that he isn't human.

In any event, Pacioretty is indeed back and helped the Canadiens win their second game in as many days as they beat the Ottawa Senators 2-1 just four days after the Senators manhandled the Habs 5-1.

Pacioretty notched an assist on his first shift of the game and didn't look out of place on the top line with David Desharnais and Erik Cole.

With the win, the Canadiens earned a perfect four points over the weekend and are back on a winning pace after briefly faltering last Wednesday against the Senators in Ottawa. Carey Price made it his sixth straight victory losing only his first start of the season against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Habs And Hockey News

- Here's more on Pacioretty returning to the ice just eight days after his appendectomy.

- Although the Habs skated away with the win yesterday afternoon, the game easily could've - and probably should've - gone into overtime. Jakob Silfverberg scored what should've been his second goal of the game early in the third only for it to be waved off. Could this be the worst call of the year?

- Along with the Islanders, the Canadiens have taken the league by surprise with their success early in the season.


(Photo by Dave Stubbs, Montreal Gazette)

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Match-Up: Sabres vs Habs - Feb. 2nd, 2013

Match-Up:
The Canadiens (4-2-0) are home at the Bell Centre to face the Sabres (3-3-1) for the first of two weekend matinees. The game is set to start at 2:00 and can be seen on CBC and RDS. This is the first of five meetings between the Habs and Sabres this season. Last year the Canadiens went 1-3-2 against Buffalo, winning their only game 4-3 in a shootout. Scott Gomez broke his yearlong goal drought in that victory.

What to Watch:

It’s not clear whether or not PK Subban will rejoin the Canadiens lineup Saturday, but if he does you can bet all eyes will be on him. One thing Canadiens won’t see if the Habs win is Subban’s and Carey Price’s patented Triple Low 5 celebration, Michel Therrien has banned the celebration opting instead for celebrations that the whole team can partake in. That said, what you will see if the Canadiens win is what we’ve seen already this year, a salute to the fans from the whole team.

The Canadiens will need to keep a watchful eye on Buffalo’s leading scorers Thomas Vanek and Jason Pominville. Vanek has 6 goals and 9 assists in just 6 games played including a hat-trick and two assists Thursday against the Bruins. Pominville isn’t doing too bad either with 5 goals and 7 assists through 7 games.

What’s at Stake:
The Habs lost just their second game of the season Wednesday night in Ottawa, but that means they still have yet to beat a division rival. A win against the Sabres on Saturday will help provide a bit of breathing room in the playoff battle, a loss could send them right to the bottom of the Northeast Division.

Who’s Out:
Still no official word yet on whether PK Subban will be in the lineup Saturday, but chances are he’ll be there which could mean Tomas Kaberle will be the odd man out on the Habs’ blue line. Max Pacioretty is recovering nicely from surgery and has already participated in a full practice, just 6 days after an appendectomy!

Cody McCormick (finger) and Ville Leino (hip) are long-term injuries for the Sabres. Patrick Kaleta (neck) will also likely miss Saturday’s game, as will Robyn Regher (lower body).

What Else:
The Canadiens are expecting big contributions from their young stars. Carey Price, PK Subban, Max Pacioretty, Ryan White, Brendan Gallagher, Lars Eller and Alex Galchenyuk are all 25 years or younger (Price is the oldest of the bunch at 25). But as young as these players only Galchenyuk has the distinction of being the only member of the Canadiens not to have been alive for any of their Stanley Cup victories since the franchise won its first Stanley Cup in 1916. Of course, Habs fans are hoping he’ll help to correct that fact in the near future.

Be sure to tune into the Montreal Hockey Talk Pregame Show an hour before the puck drop and the Post Game Show 5 minutes after the final siren.

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Patches Skates, P.K. Quick Study, More...

T.G.I.F. HabsAddicts!!!!

Isn't it incredible? Just a week after having an emergency appendectomy, Canadien's winger Max "Wolverine" Pacioretty was back on the ice skating at Complexe Bell in Brossard on Thursday. Although the team officially had a day off, both Patches and newly resigned P.K. Subban were on the ice, going through a light skate.

While Pacioretty isn't expected back for at least another two weeks, history would dictate that his incredible healing ability might say otherwise. Only time will tell, but WOW!!!

And speaking of P.K, Pat Hickey took an indepth look at Canadiens' defenseman's ability to take a crash course in Michel Therrien 101. 

Habs and Hockey News and Notes:

Bryan Murray announced yesterday that Senators' star centre Jason Spezza will miss a minimum of two months because of surgery to fix a herniated disc in his back. According to Murray, Spezza has been playing the majority of his career with back pain, and now it has gotten to a point where he cannot sleep properly, therefore hindering his ability to recover after games.

There are those of us who are part of HabsNation would love for someone to beat the pulp out of loudmouthed Bruins' tough guy Shawn Thornton. Well, last night at TD Garden in Boston, Buffalo Sabres' heavyweight John Scott layed the smackdown on Thornton, for all of us to enjoy.

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