Montreal Canadiens

Will the changes be worth waiting for?

February 29, 2012

So it's been quite a year right?

Trades, injuries, frustration.... it's had it all. This season has been up and down on several levels.

Whether you are completely disappointed with the season and/or missing the playoffs or if you count yourself among those who are happy to be in rebuilding mode (once again), the reality is here. It's time to change and the debate is over.

At trade deadline day and for the couple of weeks leading up to it, the Canadiens were in "seller" mode. The first moves towards a busy off season.

One of the "big" topics of discussion about the Habs for the last couple of years has been their size. And histo...

The End of the Andrei Kostitsyn Era In Montreal

February 27, 2012

George Prax

2 Comments

The Montreal Canadiens and General Manager Pierre Gauthier were the first to make a "splash" on Trade Deadline Day Monday, and the result was the shipping of often troubled forward Andrei Kostitsyn to another conference. Kostitsyn now finds himself a member of the new Habs-West, otherwise known as as the Nashville Predators, where he will reunite with his younger brother Sergei. The trade will give the Canadiens a second round pick in the 2013 draft. The Habs have also reacquired the conditional 5th round pick that was sent to Nashville as part of the Hal Gill trade not 10 days ago. On June 29, 2010, the Habs traded Sergei Kostitsyn out of t...

Stars Visit the Canadiens

February 21, 2012

habbykins

0 Comments

The Stars arrive in Montreal to meet the Habs in a Mardi Gras edition of Méchant Mardi; a night where the Habs have done well. Astonishingly, Mike Ribeiro will be playing his first game back in Montreal since being traded to Dallas for Janne Niinimaa and a pick (Andrew Conboy) back in September 2006. The Stars as a franchise have not played in Montreal in a long time - hint - Laraque scored in that game. I understand the reason for the schedule being non equal but seriously. It will be the first time the Bell Centre crowd gets to see the talented Jamie Benn among others.

The Stars are a young, fast team with good goaltending. Looking forward to a good goaltending battle of the Care...

Canadiens Fall to the Devils

February 19, 2012

David Collins

1 Comment

New Jersey Devils 3 - 1 Montreal Canadiens

The Montreal Canadiens played host to the New Jersey Devils on Sunday night, in a game in which the Canadiens would drop a very important two points. Despite a great effort in the third from the Canadiens, the Devils were able to hold them off and win the game by a score of 3-1. For the Devils these two points mean that much more security in their playoff spit (they currently sit 6th in the East), but for the Canadiens dropping the two points meant the difference between being just four points out of eighth, and remaining stuck in eleventh.

Montreal Acquires Fourth Generation Hab Geoffrion; Trades Gill to Nashville

February 17, 2012

George Prax

4 Comments

On Friday afternoon, as the Montreal Canadiens were preparing to face the Buffalo Sabres (when else other than game day), news broke on twitter via RDS reporter Renaud Lavoie that Hal Gill has been traded to the Nashville Predators. The trade comes mere hours after the Flyers traded for their own defenseman, Nicklas Grossman on Thursday evening.

Moments later, the trade was made extra official by the Canadiens' official twitter feed, reporting that the Habs have acquired Blake Geoffrion, Robert Slaney, and a 2nd round pick in this year's draft in exchange for the American defenseman (the Preds will get a conditional 5th rou...

Habs Shuffle off to Buffalo

February 17, 2012

habbykins

1 Comment

Ten days left to the NHL trade deadline, and the 13th place Habs are shuffling off to Buffalo to meet the 14th place Sabres. Yes, a battle of the titans. Sabres were picked by many pundits to finish high in the eastern conference standings, but they've obviously proven not to be as good as advertised.

In their last game, mere hours before tonight's tilt, the Sabres would lose a 7-2 contest to the Flyers in what can only be described as a lack-luster performance. The Habs on the other hand are coming of one of their better performances of the season in their shootout loss to the Bruins two nights ago. In their last game, the Habs showed grit and determination, albeit in ...

Has the NHL Seriously Not Yet Figured Out Brad Marchand?

February 16, 2012

George Prax

9 Comments

By now, you've probably all heard about Brad Marchand's ill-fated attempt to hip check Habs hitting machine Alexei Yemelin, in the dying seconds of the second period in last night's 4-3 shootout loss to the Boston Bruins. You've probably also heard that the hit will go unpunished by Brendan Shanahan and the NHL.

But the hit, and the lack of punishment at the NHL level raises many questions about how Shanahan and his staff judge these sorts of things, and what the criteria really is for repeat offenders and people who clearly can't get a message.

But first, the hit itself. As the second period came to a close, Marchan...

White's Return Dashed by Shootout Loss

February 16, 2012

czechtacular

2 Comments

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It was yet another intense, as-prescribed head-to-head with the Boston Bruins on Wednesday night, and for once the Habs were the ones to pull themselves back from a multi-goal deficit. Extra time, however, did not balance in the favour of Randy Cunneyworth's Canadiens as Tyler Seguin procured his team a shootout win by scoring the only goal in the one-on-one competiton.

The game began with several physical overtones, including Lars Eller and Alexei Emelin taking turns getting the better of the Bruins' Shawn Thornton. Resident badass Ryan White, back from injury and recalled from his conditioning stint i...

Bruins Visit Bell Centre

February 15, 2012

habbykins

1 Comment

One of the longest rivalries in the NHL writes a new chapter on Bell Centre ice this evening as the Boston Bruins visit the Montreal Canadiens. It was surprising to learn that this is the final encounter of the season (barring a playoff miracle) between these two forever rivals.

The Bruins are fresh off a shutout loss last night against the New York Rangers and, as a result, will probably be in a snarly mood. The Habs are coming off of a loss in what was supposed to be a must win game against Carolina, 5-3.

The Habs are in disarray in this season of out discontent, with frustration being shown at all levels of the organization. Two of the players...

Randy Cunneyworth Making a Good Case for His Job with the Habs

February 14, 2012

George Prax

2 Comments

Despite any semblance of a streak put on by the Montreal Canadiens in recent games, these days, it's pretty easy to see who's on the outside looking in with this team. We all know who the pending unrestricted free agents are, and how they might look valuable to other teams in the league. But there are dueling forces right now in this city, and it's all because of a coach that's either fighting to keep his job and shed an "interim" title, or prove to 29 general managers watching Canadiens games that he's a worthy, NHL-level head coach.

For such a seemingly nice guy, Randy Cunneyw...