Blogging About The Montreal Canadiens and Canadiens Hockey

The Cincinnati Cyclones announced today that Olivier Latendresse would be a start in the 2009 ECHL All-Star game. Latendresse, older brother of Canadiens’ Guillaume Latendresse, was traded by Phoenix to Montreal last season and Montreal assigned him to the Cyclones at that time. This season Latendresse has notched 18 goals and 15 assists in 23 games for the Cyclones, as also played a stint with the Hamilton Bulldogs where he had 5 assists in 8 games.

Latendresse is one of those guys I would consider a career AHL’er, at 22 years old he lacks upside at this time but with some seasoning he may, one day, play in the NHL with his younger brother.

Player Links:
Hockey’s Future Profile
HockeyDB Stats

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A great article about the Habs 3 prospects playing in tonights Canada/USA World Jr. Championship game, P.K. Subban, Ryan McDonagh and Danny Kristo.

 Rivals On The Ice, Buddies Off.  Hab Draft Picks Fuel The Canada/US Rivalry

Steve Milton, The Hamilton Spectator

They’ve been teammates before, and they’ll be teammates again — perhaps next year in Hamilton — but tonight, they’re under warring flags.

Two of the most important defencemen in tonight’s long-anticipated showdown at the world junior hockey championships are Montreal Canadiens’ property, born exactly one month apart, and separated by only 31 players in the 2007 National Hockey League draft.
 

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Bob Gainey has reassigned Ben Maxwell and Ryan O’Byrne to the Hamilton Bulldogs. Maxwell played seven games with the Canadiens and didn’t register a single point and was a -1, while O’Byrne has just three assists in the 22 games he has played with the team this year.

Ben Maxwell has some work to do before he’s ready for a fulltime job in the NHL, but I’m glad he was able to get a taste of it so he now knows what’s expected of him when playing at this level.

Ryan O’Byrne hasn’t played his best hockey this year. He’s made some bad plays and even scored on his own net during a delayed penalty which cost the Canadiens the game. This should give him an opportunity to get his confidence back.

The real question is? Who will replace them. We really don’t need to replace O’Byrne because we have enough defense anyway, but I can almost guarantee that Kyle Chipchura will be recalled to the NHL before the end of the week.

Player Links:
Ryan O’Byrne: HockeyDB Stats
Ryan O’Byrne: NHL Profile

Ben Maxwell: HockeyDB Stats
Ben Maxwell: NHL Profile

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The Current Canadiens Goaltending Prospects – 2008 – Robert L, Habs Eyes On The Prize

Cool, Calm, Carey – Sean Gordon, The Globe And Mail

Cretins Wreck Habs’ Karma - Mike Boone, The Gazette

They Are Who We Thought They Were - Eric Engels, Hockeybuzz

Montreal Canadiens: When Superstitions Get in – Miah D., The Bleacher Report

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Well, Alex Tanguay had a shott game last night with only 1:43 of ice time before getting run hard into the boards by Evgeny Artyukhin. The hit was so hard it knocked the plexi-glass loose flinging it onto the ice, stopping play for a few minutes.

While the trainer was investigating the seriousness of the injury you could see Alex Tanguay cringe every time he moved his left arm. He left the bench and went right to the dressing room. Reports have Tanguay out with a separated shoulder, no time frame has been given.

Tanguay has had 26 points in 34 games with the Montreal Canadiens including 10 goals and 16 assists.

Updated: I initially wrote a dislocated shoulder when in fact it is a separated shoulder.

Updated(12/31/2008 @ 3:02PM EST): Tanguay will be out for the next month and will undergo further medical tests today.

Player Links:
HockeyDB Stats
NHL Profile

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It was a close one that had to be decided in a Shootout but the Canadiens pulled a miracle shootout victory with goals from Alex Kovalev and Maxim Lapierre. Jussi Jokinen scored on Carey Price, but Lecavalier and Prospal were denied. Afterwards we saw a bit of superman posing from Price. [video below]

Regulation goals for the Canadiens came from Guillaume Latendresse and Vinny Prospal for the Lightning which saw regulation time and OT finish in a 1-1 tie before Montreal took it in the shootout.

Andrei Kostitsyn just about won the game in regulation when he took a wrist shot from the left circle beating Mike Smith but rang off the iron with 6 seconds left in the period. Posts seemed to be the name of the game tonight as Alex Kovalev and Matt D’Agostini also hit the iron.

I have said this a million times, but it just feels right; Maxim Lapierre is such a hard worker and the last two games have been absolutely phenomenal for him; Three goals in last nights game against Florida, assists on Latendresse’s goal, and finally the shootout winner.

Note: If anyone has a picture of Price’s pose, send it to me: justin@yourhabs.com

Is it just me or did Vinny Prospal win the Stanley Cup out there? I mean, who gets down on their knees and practically cries after scoring just his seventh goal of the season. I was shocked. I bet he went to the dressing room and cried after Price stoned him in the shootout, and I can only imagine what he would have done if he had scored.

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Related Links:
Lapierre wins shootout for Montreal over Lightning – Yahoo!
Maxim Lapierre scores shootout winner for Montreal over Lightning – The Hockey News
Lapierre scores shootout winnder as Habs edge Lightning – TSN.ca
Lapierre wins shootout for Montreal over Lightning – Associated Press
Canadiens get past Bolts in shootout – Herald Tribune
Maxim Lapierre scores shootout winner for Montreal over Lightning – NHL.com
Canadiens 2, Lightning 1, SO – Canadiens.NHL.com
Max Does It Again! This Time In The Shootout – Dennis-Kane
Price Stops Bolts to Give Habs Shootout Win – AllHabs
Lapierre scores shootout winner as Habs take another – CBC.ca
Habs down Lightning in shootout – Canoe.ca
Montreal completes Sunshine sweep – Globe and Mail
Game 36: Lapierre lifts Habs to shootout win – Habs Inside/Out

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A great article about the World Juniors Canada/Germany game and P.K. Subban’s end to end rush which lead to Evander Kane’s goal.

Damien Cox, TheStar.com

As one among an array of talented teens, P.K. Subban knows he doesn’t have to perform with eye-catching flair, doesn’t have to deliver a spin-a-rama or two per game and doesn’t have to be the riverboat gambler on defence some accuse him of being.

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December 30th @ 7:30pm EST

RDS(HD), SUN

vs

Injuries: Mathieu Dandenault (Broken Arm), Chris Higgins (Injured Arm), Saku Koivu (Ankle/Foot), George Laraque (Groin/DTD)

NHL Preview: NHL.com
HFBoards GDT: HFBoards.com
Watch it online: FREE

No idea who will start tonight. Price has excellent stats going 2-0-1 since his last outing, but two nights in two games means that Halak might be the starter.

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Tonight’s win over the Florida Panthers was the Montreal Canadiens 3,000th regulation win in the 100 years of glory. Second in this list is the Boston Bruins with just over 200 less wins at 2,694 in regulation.

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It just goes to show that it doesn’t matter what line you’re on, if you work hard and go after the puck you will do well, as Maxim Lapierre netted the first Hat Trick of his career including the game winning third Montreal Canadiens goal. This, just two nights after Andrei Kostitsyn had his first Hat Trick of his career.

This game was crap shoot from the beginning, and by that, I mean that we really didn’t start it off very well, and had some high and low points, but we eventually got some lucky bounces and strong play from key players in Tomas Plekanec, Alex Kovalev, and Maxim Lapierre giving us a 5-2 win over the Florida Panthers. Besides Lapierre’s goal Plekanec had a break away short-handed goal, and Kovalev scored on the first Powerplay of the game.

Carey Price has gone 11 straight games without a regulation loss putting him on what we in the biz like to call, a hot streak. He finished the game stopping 21-23 shots while on the other end Anderson was pulled after letting in 4 goals on 20 shots.

The two goals tonight could have easily been avoided and were the result of two bad turnovers by the Habs. All in all, we’re on the right track and need to continue.

Three Stars: 3. David Booth 2. Tomas Plekanec 1. Maxim Lapierre

Related Links:
Habs grab NHL-best 3,000th regular-season win at Panthers’ expense – ESPN
Lapierre leads Canadiens past Panthers – Canoe.ca
Patient Lapierre’s hat trick leads Habs over Panthers – CBC.ca
All Habs… All smiles – AllHabs
Win #3000 – AllHabs
Another Night, Another Hero. This Time – Maxim Lapierre – Dennis-Kane
Canadiens 5, Panthers 2 – Canadiens.nhl.com
Lapierre scores three goals to lead Canadiens to 5-2 win over Panthers – NHL.com
Canadiens post 3,000th ice hockey victory in club’s storied history – AFP
‘Home’ crowd turns on Florida Panthers in loss to Canadiens – Miami Herald
Canadiens-Panthers: Maxim Lapierre Does the Trick as Habs Win 5-2 – BleacherReport
Lapierre Scores Three; Leads Canadiens to Win Over Panthers – TSN
Lapierre scores three goals to lead Canadiens – Yahoo!
Lapierre scores three goals to lead Canadiens to 5-2 win over Panthers – The Hockey News

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