Montreal Canadiens Blogs

The Eastern Conference Finals could have been predicted at the start of the 2009-10 season.  Sidney Crosby will lead his Pittsburgh Penguins to face Alexander Ovechkin and the high-powered Washington Capitals.  Crosby, along with his star support like goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, center Evgeni Malkin and defenseman Sergei Gonchar, can only be beaten at their own game; scoring more goals than the other team and flexing their offensive muscles at every turn.  The same can be said for Ovechkin and his teammates like defenseman Mike Green and forwards Nicklas Backstrom and Alexander Semin.  No one can stop these guys; or so we thought.  Who do these Canadien guys think they are?

Continue reading "Who Are These Guys?"

I know what you're thinking:  Kind of cliché to say that checking from behind has to be stopped.  I agree.  But part of me feels that the NHL does not do enough to cast aside this dangerous act.

Continue reading "Checking from Behind Must be Stopped"

Could an exhibition game really give bad publicity to a major North-American sports league?

The NHL has constantly been trying to show that their league is the best to the public all over the world.  For the past few seasons, the league has sent four of their teams overseas to play in places such as Germany, Sweden and England.  The teams usually open the NHL regular season a week early, playing two games in the country that they were designated.  This season the league has decided to send the St. Louis Blues and Detroit Red Wings to Sweden, and the Chicago Blackhawks and Florida Panthers to Finland.  Not only are these teams playing each other, but they will see time against some of the best teams of the chosen nation in pre-season play.

Continue reading "Inter-League Game Could Spell Bad News for NHL"

Hello Readers, I'm back! Yes, after a bit of a summer hiatus where I recovered from Montreal's exit from the playoffs, their decision to not sign Saku Koivu, and then give Scott Gomez a huge contract, I'm back. I've ordered up RDS from my local cable provider so I can start getting the news directly from the sources in Montreal, and I'm ready to get back into the swing of things.

Continue reading "The Absent Blogger Returns"

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. 

Continue reading "Canadiens Sign Brian Gionta to 5-Year, ..."

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.

Continue reading "Canadiens Sign Mike Cammalleri to ..."

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.

Continue reading "The NHL Playoffs Are Finally Here"

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. 

Continue reading "Habs Can Lock Up a Playoff Spot Tonight ..."

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.

Continue reading "The Canadiens Move Up to Seventh ..."

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.

Continue reading "Price Out-Duels Huet and Helps the ..."

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.

Continue reading "Brisebois Up for an NHL Award - the ..."

Canadiens supporters must be pretty happy to have dodged the Sundin bullet.
When it first became apparent that the Swedish star was on his way out of Toronto, Montreal was one of the cities rumoured to be in the hunt for his services. Sundin would seemingly have filled a need that still plagues the Canadiens: a big, playmaking centre to spark the powerplay.

Continue reading "Montreal Better Off Without Sundin"

Last week, the GM's of all the teams around the NHL got together in Chicago for a little chit-chat to discuss the state of the game and how to increase offense. The best thing their collective minds could come up with: penalizing players for dropping to the ice to block a shot. If you don't believe me check out the story here. Apparently the security was a little loose for the boardroom and somebody spiked their Gatorade.

Continue reading "NHL GM's: Not Taking Drop In Scoring Lying Down"

A big thanks to everyone who participated in the "Inbound Link Contest".  We have a winner!  A big congratulations go out to Marija.  Thank you for all your hard work on this.  While we had a lot of people participate, Marija was able to win with only 4 links!  So it wouldn't have taken a lot to win this contest!  We'll be having another contest soon so stay tuned.

Continue reading "Inbound link contest winner announced!"

To try and motivate our bloggers to get inbound links we're going to have a contest to see which blogger can get the most inbound links to their blog. The contest begins now and ends July 31st, 2008. To be entered in to the contest all you have to do is go out and get as many websites to link to your blog as you can and at the end of the month send us an email listing all those links. All links must be active from August 1st through August 7th when we'll be judging the entries - a winner will be announced on August 7th. All entry emails must be received by Midnight on July 31st, 2008. You can email them to sportsfan@nbabasketballonline.com

Continue reading "Inbound link contest - Win $100!"

For the fourth time in 11 years, the Stanley Cup is being hoisted in Hockeytown.

After losing a grueling Game 5 to the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 in three overtimes, the Detroit Red Wings rebounded for a 3-2 Game 6 in in Pittsburgh to win the 2008 Stanley Cup.

Continue reading "Red Wings beat Penguins 3-2; Stanley ..."

 

  “Potential” has always been the buzz word swarming around the 14 year career of Alexei Kovalev.  After the New York Rangers made him the first Russian player selected in the draft’s opening round, his second season culminated with a dramatic Stanley Cup victory over fellow countryman Pavel Bure.  Kovalev’s play elevated in each successive round of the 1994 Stanley Cup run and fans could only wonder where the wunderkind’s ceiling was. 

Continue reading "Ridin' with the AK - Montreal Canadiens ..."

The fact that the Boston Bruins are about to be eliminated from the NHL postseason by the Montreal Canadiens is sickening enough.
Watching the Bruins be relegated to visitors' status in their home building, however, is just one more reminder of what a complete and utter debacle hockey has become on Causeway Street.

Continue reading "Canadiens crush Bruins' spirits"

I've said it before and I'll say it again: this team's success is directly related to their youth and how quickly they grow up. The talent is there, there can be no doubt about that. The Kostitsyn brothers are overflowing with raw skill, Carey Price is the best young goaltending prospect in a decade, and Mike Komisarek has emerged as a dominant force in his own end. The list goes on but suffice to say that the Habs have young studs peppered throughout their lineup.

Continue reading "Growing pains? No thanks"

http://wizbangsports.com/2008/02/ottawa_senators_fire_coach_joh.

This comes with less than 20 games left in the NHL season.

OTTAWA -- The Ottawa Senators, looking sluggish in a recent, lengthy slump, on Wednesday fired coach John Paddock.

Continue reading "Ottawa Senators fire coach John Paddock"

http://wizbangsports.com/2008/02/washington_capitals_get_goalie.

This trade is a real head scratcher.

WASHINGTON - The Washington Capitals have acquired goalie Cristobal Huet from the Montreal Canadiens for a 2009 second-round draft pick. The deal Tuesday comes a few hours before the deadline for making trades in the NHL.

Continue reading "Washington Capitals get goalie Huet from Montreal"

It's now been over 60 hours since the trade deadline passed and so by now I would hope the hissy fits and empty tirades have ceased. Yes, your Montreal Canadiens really did trade away their "number one" goalie, and yes, they really didn't land Marian Hossa. At the risk of launching the die hard fan right back into the fury I just said I hoped he had come out of, I say good on ya Bob!

Continue reading "Trade deadline post-mortem"

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.

Continue reading "A matter of time"

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.

Continue reading "Will Habs' buds bloom this spring?"

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.  

Continue reading "Ovechkin Answers the Bell"