Canadiens Sign Brian Gionta to 5-Year, $25 Million Contract posted by Jeff Ponder

The Canadiens keep making the headlines.  They have brought in yet another key forward.

Brian Gionta, one of the most valued New Jersey Devils in recent time, has decided to sign with the revamped Montreal Canadiens.  Gionta has spent all of his 7 NHL seasons with the Devils, playing right-wing on the top line for most of that time.  Gionta is coming off of a 60-point season with the Devils, which ranked him tied for third on the team.  Scoring is not his only strength though.  The 5'7” 175 lb. Rochester native has also been known to kill penalties and play in any defensive situation. 

While Gionta is not quite the gifted scorer that Jarome Iginla of Calgary is, he is a threat to score.  Mike Cammalleri was signed earlier in the day, and these two may find chemistry together.  Cammalleri just had a 39-goal season with the Flames playing on the top line with Iginla.  He operates best with a fellow goal scorer.  Gionta may be the answer in Montreal.

Montreal seems to be heading in the right direction, almost remodeling their entire offense in the off-season.  With the signing of Jaroslav Spacek today and returning defensemen Andrei Markov and Roman Hamrlik, the Montreal Canadiens are looking like they could be a top competitor in the Eastern Conference in this coming season.Continue reading "Canadiens Sign Brian Gionta to 5-Year, ..."

Canadiens Sign Mike Cammalleri to 5-Year $30 Million Contract posted by Jeff Ponder

Bob Gainey jumped right back into making big deals for his squad on Wednesday.  Gainey acquired Scott Gomez yesterday from the New York Rangers and now has added star Mike Cammalleri to his Canadiens lineup.

This 5'9” 185 lb. center had a breakout year in 2008-09, when he tallied 82 points in 81 games for the Calgary Flames.  He found himself atop the lineup, playing center with superstar Jarome Iginla on his wing.  In a three-team deal with the Canadiens and Kings, the Flames acquired Cammalleri from the Kings in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.  Before that deal, Cammalleri was known as a sneaky second line center, ensuring about 50 points every season.  But the now-27 year old exploded in Calgary, making the trade a win-win for Flames GM Darryl Sutter.

But with the Flames investing a good amount of money in recently-acquired center Oli Jokinen and newly-signed star defenseman Jay Bouwmeester, the Flames made it clear that they no longer had room for Cammalleri. 

Gainey's addition of Gomez and Cammalleri allows for both of the top lines to have great playmaking and shooting centers.  The only problem with this signing might be that Cammalleri did his best work with a sniper by his side.  With Alexei Kovalev still unsigned and free-agent Marian Hossa being snatched up by Chicago, there is not a lot of options left for Gainey.  He will have to bring back Kovalev or get involved in the Martin Havlat bidding war. Continue reading "Canadiens Sign Mike Cammalleri to ..."

The NHL Playoffs Are Finally Here posted by Julia Borgini

Playoffs start on Wednesday, April 15th, with the Montreal Canadiens playing their first game against the Boston Bruins on Thursday, April 16th in Boston. If that last game against the Bruins was any indication, it's going to be a spirited series, with lots of penalties and power plays. Let's see if the Habs can keep up their good power play of late and keep the goals coming.

Montreal's schedule for Round 1 is:

• Thursday, April 16, at Boston, 7pm
• Saturday, April 18, at Boston, 8pm
• Monday, April 20, in Montreal, 7pm
• Wednesday, April 22, in Montreal, 7pm
• * Saturday, April 25, at Boston, 7pm
• * Monday, April 27, in Montreal,TBD
• * Wednesday, April 29, at Boston, TBD

 Check your local tv listings for more details.

Habs Can Lock Up a Playoff Spot Tonight in New York posted by Julia Borgini

The Montreal Canadiens can lock up a playoff spot tonight with a win against the New York Rangers in New York. They gave away their first chance to lock up the spot last night with a 3-2 loss against the Senators, but can redeem themselves tonight. Gainey is putting in Andrei Kostitsyn and Matt D'Agostini, while sitting Georges Laraque and Gregory Stewart. 

The Habs can also make the playoffs tonight with a bit of outside help, but they would be best served by just winning the game outright and earning the berth directly. They were on a 3-game win streak up until the game against the Senators, so a win tonight would help bolster their confidence going in to the home stretch.

The Canadiens Move Up to Seventh in the Playoff Race posted by Julia Borgini

Saturday night's 6-2 convincing win over the Toronto Maple Leafs provided the Canadiens with a little breathing room in the race for the playoffs. They moved up to seventh in the Easter Conference standings, with 4 games to play.

THE GOOD: Montreal wins 6-2 against Toronto. Three goals scored on the power play. Balanced scoring as Kovalev, Latendresse, Tanguay, Higgins, Gorges, and Lapierre all score. Halak solid in net for a flu-ridden Price, who's also playing well of late.

THE BAD: Tanguay coughing up the puck to Toronto's Boyd Devereaux, who scored a short-handed goal in the third period.

THE UGLY: The blue line took a serious hit when both Schneider AND Markov left the game with 'upper-body injuries'.

THE RESULT: Montreal is in seventh, 3 points ahead of the eighth place Rangers and Panthers (who are now tied.) They still have one game in hand against both of those teams, and sit only 1 point behind the sixth place Penguins. The Canadiens finish off the season with 4 games in 6 nights, with two of those games against the Rangers and the Penguins.

Hold on to your hats everyone, it's going to be a wild finish.

Price Out-Duels Huet and Helps the Montreal Canadiens to Two Important Points posted by Julia Borgini

Christobal Huet's return to the Bell Centre last night didn't go as planned. Alex Kovalev scored 25 seconds into the game,  he let in 4 goals during the game, and his teammates couldn't score on the 6 powerplays they enjoyed during the game. Carey Price played well in this game, and helped them earn the much-needed 2 points. The Florida Panthers also won last night, keeping pace with the Canadiens. The team is going to need to play well over their last 6 games, and earn points in all of those games to ensure they hold on to a playoff spot. Montreal's only one point behind the New York Rangers, and they've got a game in hand. Florida's one point back, however has one game less to play.

The Canadien's next three games offer a good opportunity to earn some points, as they're all against teams out of the playoffs (NY Islanders, Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators.) Let's see if les boys are up to the task.Continue reading "Price Out-Duels Huet and Helps the ..."

Brisebois Up for an NHL Award - the Masteron Trophy posted by Julia Borgini

That's right, Patrice Brisebois has been nominated for the Bill Masterton Memorial trophy. The trophy is awarded annually to the player "who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey." Previous winners include Jason Blake, Phil Kessel, Cam Neely, and Doug Jarvis. Nominees are selected by the members of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association, and Brisebois was selected by the Montreal chapter.

Brisebois has been having a pretty decent year, scoring 5 goals and 12 assists, and celebrated having played in 1,000 NHL games in his 18-year career. He's getting close to a few other milestones as well, being only 2 goals away from 100 for his career.

The Masterton trophy is awarded in honour of former Minnesota North Stars forward Bill Masterton, who passed away from injuries he suffered in a game.

A matter of time posted by Charlie Blore

The Michael Ryder situation has clearly come to a head. Earlier in the week, the Newfoundland native noted that he needs more ice time to be effective and that if he's not going to get it in Montreal, maybe he'd be better off somewhere else.

It's been known for sometime now that Ryder is on the trading block and the fact that he's still sporting a habs jersey should be a clear indication that interest in the three-time 30 goal scorer is nill.

Those with a bit of foresight saw this ugly breakup coming way back in the summer of 2005, when the Canadiens took their promising young rookie to arbitration. Successful NHL teams don't make a habit of taking first year players with 25-goal, 63-point seasons to arbitration. It's a tremendously difficult and acrimoneous process which demands that the organization drag their player through the mud, pointing out every flaw in his game and character to prove he's not worth what he thinks he is.

So why was Ryder made to suffer? The answer is he caught the Montreal brass off guard. Remember that Ryder was originally drafted 216th overall in the 1998 draft. After that he spent the next five seasons bouncing around the QMJHL, ECHL and AHL ranks, without making much of an impression at each stop. Then came a strong 67-point season in his first go around with Montreal's new farm team, the Hamilton Bulldogs. Interest in Montreal was peeked, and the next thing you knew, the boy who couldn't score 15 in the ECHL, had scored 25 in the NHL.

When it came time to talk long term contract, though, this all worked against him. As good as that first season was, with no pedigree to speak of, the Canadiens management must have been concerned they had a one hit wonder on their hands. Ryder, on the other hand, had just made the impossible happen and was looking to cement his place in the NHL with a hefty deal. The clash was inevitable and costly for both sides.

Will Habs' buds bloom this spring? posted by Charlie Blore

Much has been made of the fact that the vast majority of NHL prognosticators had the Montreal Canadiens not making the playoffs in their preseason predictions. Heck, even as late as a month ago, many were still waiting for the team to fall into a tailspin at any moment. But with the all-star break behind us and the Habs just a point back of the once-thought uncatchable Senators, any lingering questions about the team's staying power have been answered.

Without a doubt, the three keys to that success have been (in no particular order): the development of the team's younger players, the lack of injuries to key players, and Alexei Kovalev having his best season in a Montreal uniform.

The one question left to answer then, is how far these keys will carry them. Of course no one can answer that now anymore than they could way back in September. What we do know for certain is that how far this team goes will depend almost entirely on how quickly they learn to win.

With tonight's win, Montreal now boasts a +20 goals for to goals allowed difference in the first period of its games. That difference drops to +6 in the second and just +2 in the third. It could be argued that its thanks to that strong first period record that the team can afford to go into a shell late in games. But what needs to be remembered in all this is how young the key pieces of the Canadiens' puzzle are. Mike Komisarek, Tomas Plekanec, the brothers Kostitsyn, Guillaume Latendresse, Christopher Higgins and Maxime Lapierre have a combined 25 games of playoff experience.

Ovechkin Answers the Bell posted by Charlie Blore

After single-handedly dominating the Caps on Tuesday night, Alexei Kovalev had insinuated that his strong performance had been fueled by all the questions from the media about how the Habs would manage to contain Alexander Ovechkin. Suffice to say #8's retort was swift and resounding.  

As a matter of fact, this was a statement game not only for Ovechkin but for Russian hockey as a whole. Anyone who thinks the Red Army is dead would be advised to go back and watch the war the Montreal Canadiens and Washington Capitals waged on each other tonight. Back and forth action, last minute heroics, and more hits than you could shake a stick at. The best of it signed CCCP.

At its best, soviet hockey was known for fearless speed and prodigious skill. Alexander Ovechkin, Andrei and Sergei Kostitsyn, Viktor Kozlov, and Andrei Markov displayed all that and then some, putting on a show few of the 14,930 in attendance will soon forget. The quintet combined for 11 points with Ovechkin's four goals and an assist leading the pack. Oh, and he was also a +4, took 6 shots, had five hits, and added a takeaway. If you need him.

It was a rough and tumble affair with a total of 49 hits being levelled by the two teams. Francis Bouillon, Matt Bradley, and someone named David Steckel did most of the heavy lifting, with 14 hits between them. But despite the physicality of this affair, there were surprisingly only six minor penalties called all game.

With their usually stellar powerplay getting only three kicks at the can, the habs were forced to look for another way to generate their offence. And it took them the better part of the game to find it.

Likely 1 last season for Bruins' Recchi (AP)

[read full article]

From Yahoo! Sports

Scuderi, Kings agree to four-year deal

The Los Angeles Kings have a four-year deal in place with free agent defenseman Rob Scuderi, who is leaving the Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins.The contract was agreed to Thursday, the second day of NHL free agency.Scuderi was part of Pittsburgh's top shutdown defensive pairing along with Hal Gill, who left the Penguins on Wednesday and signed with the Montreal Canadiens. Scuderi led the Penguins with a plus-23 rating and had a career-high 16 points in 81 regular-season games. [read full article]

From FOXSports.com News for NHL

Canadiens sign Cammalleri, Gionta (AP)

The Montreal Canadiens were busy again Wednesday with the signings of wingers Mike Cammalleri and Brian Gionta and defensemen Jaroslav Spacek and Hal Gill on the first day of free-agent shopping in the NHL. One day after acquiring center Scott Gomez from the New York Rangers in a six-player trade, the Canadiens signed Cammalleri to a five-year, $30 million contract, Gionta to a five-year, $25... [read full article]

From Yahoo! Sports

Canadiens sign Cammaleri, two others

The Montreal Canadiens were busy again Wednesday with the signings of center Mike Cammaleri and defensemen Jaroslav Spacek and Hal Gill on the first day of free-agent shopping in the NHL.One day after acquiring star center Scott Gomez from the New York Rangers in a six-player trade, the Canadiens signed Cammaleri to a five-year, $30-million contract, Spacek to a three-year deal worth $11.5-million, and Gill - fresh off a Stanley Cup title with the Pittsburgh Penguins - for two years and $4. [read full article]

From FOXSports.com News for NHL

Maple Leafs sign Komisarek from Canadiens

Mike Komisarek is about to see the other side of hockey's oldest rivalry.The free-agent defenseman signed a five-year, $22.5-million deal to join the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday.Komisarek had spent his entire NHL career with the Montreal Canadiens and drew lots of interest around the NHL after becoming an unrestricted free agent Wednesday. Eventually, the 27-year-old Komisarek decided to join the Maple Leafs. [read full article]

From FOXSports.com News for NHL