Blogging About The Montreal Canadiens and Canadiens Hockey

Well folks, it’s that time of the year again. The time where the best under-20 hockey players in the world in the top division come together and battle it out for a week and a half to find out which hockey nation has the best young talent. Canada is going for their sixth straight championship but it won’t be easy.

Last year it was P.K. Subban who represented the Canadiens on Team Canada but this year there are no Canadiens on Team Canada. We do have some prospects on other teams however, so let’s take a look at them. First off let’s look at what teams are in which group.

Group A: Canada, Slovakia, USA, Latvia, and Switzerland*
Group B: Sweden, Russia, Czech Republic, Finland, and Austria*

* Switzerland and Austria are the teams promoted after winning Division A last year.

In total, the Montreal Canadiens have four prospects representing three different countries in the top division with Finland containing the biggest representation so let’s start with them!

As I said above, Finland is playing two Montreal Canadiens in Petteri Simila, a goaltender for Niagara IceDogs in the Ontario Hockey League, and Joonas Nattinen, the 6′2″ center from the Espoo Blues of SM-liiga.

Petteri Simila hasn’t exactly had his best season, but considering it’s his first season playing in North America, a slow start is acceptable. He’s played 11 games with Niagara recording 1 win , 4 losses and 3 ties with an .891 save percentage and a 4.14 goals against average. Simila will be wearing jersey #28.

Joonas Nattinen is a big two-way center with very good vision and sees the game very well. Hockey’s Future has his ranked 9th among all Montreal Canadiens prospects. Nattinen is a guy you’ll see on an energy line in the NHL but I’m not sure where we’ll see in in the WJHC. He’ll be sporting jersey #29.

Moving onto Russia we have Maxim Trunev. Trunev has been an elusive prospect for the Habs as it’s unsure if he’ll ever come over the North America but his talent is unquestioned. Trunev is currently playing for the Cherepovets Severstal of the KHL and has recording 2 goals and 1 assist in 21 games. Just remember when those numbers don’t seem high, he’s only 19! This right-handed right winger will be in the #11 jersey.

Our last representative, playing for Team USA, is Danny Kristo. Kristo was drafted in the second round, 56th overall by the Canadiens and currently plays for the University of North Dakota. In 18 games this season Kristo has 6 goals and 10 assists along with 6 penalty minutes. This will be Kristo’s second straight WJHC. Last year he recorded 1 goal in 6 games with a +2 defensive rating and was mainly used as a third-liner but expect a bigger role from the tiny winger this year. Kristo will be dawning the #8 jersey this year.

Well, that’s it! WJCH action begins today, don’t miss any of it!

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TSN’s sister station in Quebec RDS reports that Montreal Canadiens first-round pick Louis Leblanc will be on the 36-player selection roster for the World Junior Hockey Championship.

Leblanc was taken with the 18th overall pick in the NHL draft in June.

In nine games with Harvard this season, the Montreal native has three goals and 12 points in eight games. Leblanc opted to skip major junior hockey and played last season in the U.S. Hockey League with Omaha, where he had 28 goals and 39 assists.

The six-foot, 178-pound forward, who grew up in the Montreal suburb of Kirkland, helped Canada’s under-18 team win gold at last summer’s Ivan Hlinka Memorial tournament in the Czech Republic.

Canada’s selection camp for the World Juniors begins on Dec. 12.

Source: TSN

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Let’s take a look at the Montreal Canadien golden-boy draft pick and how he’s currently performing in his rookie season with the Harvard Crimson of ECAC Hockey.

After 8 of the 30 games that the Crimson will play this season, Leblanc has managed 4 goals and 5 assists for a total of 9 points, and is also sporting a +6 defensive rating which gives him the highest on the team. Actually, Leblanc has yet to have a minus defensive rating game on a team that has a current record of 1-4-2 on the season. Having only one game where he’s been held pointless, this kid is on the right track.

Leblanc is actually tied with Michael Biega for the team lead in points with 9 each, tied with Alex Biega for most goals on the team with 4 and tied for second on the team with Marshall Everson for most assists on the team just behind Michael Biega. Not bad for a freshman if you ask me.

I just hope he doesn’t hit a plateau in the NCAA after being so good for so many years that it’s hard for him to transition into the AHL and possibly the NHL. That would be a shame and a sad loss to this team.

Here is a great article from the Boston Globe about Harvard Hockey and Louis Leblanc posted in early October. It’s a good read.

I leave you with a video of the draft selection in the Bell Centre, this past summer.

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So I probably should have done some more research before making this post because it turns out that the only actual player you’ll be able to see is Alexei Yemelin on the AK Bars. I got a bit confused while figuring out some of the team names but below is the schedule for games you can watch.

The NHL may be a little less then a month away from starting pre-season action but the KHL has already started, and this is your chance to two Montreal Canadiens prospects in Maxim Trunev and Alexei Yemelin fight for spots on their respective teams.

Here is a list of each player and what team they play for and a list of links to where you’ll be able to watch the games, and if you’re not up early/late enough to watch them first-hand they’re recorded and can be accessed from the same link.

Alexei Yemelin – Ak-Bars

August 31st
@ 4:55am EST
AK Bars – Traktor

September 1st
@ 8:55am EST
Metallurg – AK Bars

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It almost seems like a surprise to me to see Alexander Avtsin on the radar of some individuals just two months after he was drafted 109th overall by the Montreal Canadiens, but I guess it just goes to show you the talent that this young forward possesses.

Ryan Kennedy of The Hockey News published his Mid-Summer Hot List of prospects that they are excited to see in the NHL someday, and you should be to. I was more than a little surprised to see Alexander Avtsin at #6 on that list. I know that he dominated in junior but I didn’t realize he’d be acknowledged for doing so because it was in Russia.

6. Alexander Avtsin, RW – Moscow Dynamo (Rus. Jr.): In a recent Puck Daddy interview, Alex Ovechkin called Avtsin the face of Dynamo in junior hockey and with 56 goals and 110 points in 76 games last season, it’s easy to see why. Avtsin will likely stay in Russia for at least one more year. Drafted 109th overall by Montreal in 2009.

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Hockey’s Future has released it’s Top 20 Montreal Canadiens prospects for Fall 2009 and it’s looking pretty freakin’ good. The full list along with a review of each player can be found by checking the link above but here is the Top 20 as posted by them.

1. Max Pacioretty
2. Ben Maxwell
3. P.K. Subban
4. Yannick Weber
5. Louis Leblanc
6. Matt D’Agostini
7. Mathieu Carle
8. David Fischer
9. Kyle Chipchura
10. Danny Kristo
11. Joonas Nattinen
12. Alexei Yemelin
13. Steve Quailer
14. Mac Bennett
15. Alexander Avtsin
16. Ryan White
17. Brock Trotter
18. Olivier Fortier
19. Maxim Trunev
20. Robert Mayer

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It’s nice to see that Leblanc is already getting some more recognition at the collegiate ranks and he hasn’t even played with the Harvard Crimson yet. The full article can be found here, but I’ve posted the entire thing below for your reading pleasure.

When the games aren’t being played on the ice, speculation becomes the favored pastime. With that in mind, I’m starting to get excited about the 2009-10 NCAA season. Yes, part of the fun is the number of big names who will be suiting up for college squads this season, but also because some different schools have a chance to make a splash.

Unfortunately for Colorado College, potential star defenseman and Columbus Blue Jackets first-rounder John Moore signed a pro contract with the NHL squad, meaning he’ll be playing for the Ontario League’s Kitchener Rangers instead. But barring any other changes of heart, here are some freshman classes – from both traditional and non-traditional powers – that have me intrigued this season.

St. Cloud State (WCHA): A smaller school in a power conference, the newest edition of the Huskies will at least have some serious horses to ride against traditional elite teams such as Wisconsin and Minnesota. The incoming class is headlined by two home-staters in goalie Mike Lee and high-scoring right winger Ben Hanowski. Lee (drafted 91st overall by Phoenix this summer) led the United States League’s Fargo Force to the league final, while Hanowski (Pittsburgh, 63rd overall) pumped in 110 points in 25 Minnesota high school games on the small-school circuit.

Harvard (ECAC): How about a hurrah for the smart kids? It’s hard enough to convince non-Americans to skip major junior, but the Crimson managed to woo two solid NHL draft picks to Boston even though their schoolwork will be, well, intimidating. Canadian Louis Leblanc (18th, Montreal) and Swede Alexander Fallstrom (116th, Minnesota) immediately give Harvard name recognition and scoring punch, which the Crimson lacked last season. Harvard had just one top-20 scorer in the conference – and that was 21-year-old junior Doug Rogers, who finished 19th. Former NTDP hands David Valek and Brendan Rempel are also intriguing prospects.

Boston College (Hockey East): It couldn’t have been fun for the Eagles to watch their archrivals from B.U. clinch the national championship last year, but with the Terriers losing Colin Wilson, Matt Gilroy and Brandon Yip among others, B.C. has a chance to make amends. Defensemen Brian Dumoulin (51st overall, Carolina) and Patrick Wey (115th, Washington), and right winger Kenny Ryan (50th overall, Toronto) bolster the next generation at Chestnut Hill and steady the squad for a shot at the Beanpot, among other accolades.

Michigan (CCHA): The Wolverines don’t really rebuild; they reload. As such, nearly every summer brings new prizes to Ann Arbor. But lately, the outbox has been fuller than the inbox – Jack Johnson, Andrew Cogliano, Max Pacioretty and Aaron Palushaj have all left school early in recent years, so bringing in new elite talent was crucial. Chris Brown (36th overall, Phoenix) and Kevin Lynch (56th overall, Columbus) bring NTDP experience and will be two of the key incoming talents for the Maize and Blue. Both are forwards who will take some scoring pressure off leading returning scorer Louie Caporusso, an Ottawa Senators pick. Ironically, I like what Michigan has lined up in 2010 as well, with athletic puck-moving defenseman Mac Bennett (79th overall, Montreal), Jon Merill and forward Luke Moffatt. That’s quite the pipeline coach Red Berenson has going.

Ryan Kennedy is a writer and copy editor for The Hockey News magazine, the co-author of the book Hockey’s Young Guns and a regular contributor to THN.com. His blog will appear regularly throughout the off-season, his column – The Straight Edge – on Fridays, and his prospect feature – The Hot List – on Tuesdays.

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Louis Leblanc is the lone Canadiens prospect to make the elite list of junior players and judging by the rest of the names on the list it’s not going to be an easy trek for the young forward.

Leblanc’s international experience includes being a member of Team Quebec in the Under-17 Hockey Challenge and the 2007 Canada Winter Games, as well as helping Canada win gold in 2008 at the Under-18 Ivan Hlinka Memorial tournament.

Leblanc is one of 37 newcomers to the WJC selection process out of 45 invites so you can expect to see a brand new team. Returning invitees include John Tavares, Cody Hodgson, Ryan Ellis, Patrice Cormier, and Evander Kane among others.

One player that I think many individuals will look out for is Taylor Hall as his draft year is coming up and is expected to go early in the first round.

Baring that Leblanc does not make the team, this would be great experience for him and would be a good gauge of his talent compared to players coming in from Europe and Russia.

For a complete list of invitees you can visit the TSN.ca website.

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Well, the one thing that you can’t say about Gainey this off-season is that he’s not trying, because for a third consecutive week the Canadiens announce that they have signed Andreas Engqvist from the Swedish Elite League to a 3-year-deal. Financial details are not yet known.

Engqvist was on of the young rookies who participated in the Canadiens Development camp that ended yesterday so it looks like he made a big impact to get a three year contract. Engqvist plays for Djurgardens IF Stockholm and finished with 9 goals and 7 assists in 31 games last season.

Engqvist is 6′3″, 296lb Centerman with a right hand shot. He was rated in the top 15 for top Swedish prospects in the 2006 entry draft.

A big and strong two-way center. Engqvist has good hockey sense and a fine passing game. Reads the game very well and his defensive game is quite good. His skating is fairly good, although he could improve both his acceleration and top speed. Considering Engqvist has such a large frame, he does not really play physical and should improve that aspect of his game.

Source: EliteProspects.com

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As the Canadiens development comes to a close the Gazette gives us some great insight on how Timmins is looking to the future and some key players he thinks did exceptionally well.

As another edition of the week-long Canadiens’ development camp draws to a close, Trevor Timmins has only one regret – Collective Bargaining Agreement rules stipulate it can’t last longer.

“We only have seven days to try and educate them and work on developing them so they have a better chance of becoming pros,” the Canadiens’ director of player development and recruitment said yesterday, after about 40 players participated in a scrimmage at the Bell Sports Complex.

“We get a lot out of it,” added Timmins of the camp process that took full flight after André Savard became the team’s general manager in 2001. “You learn about their ability to learn, their commitment and work ethic on and off the ice. Their leadership and social ability.” The prospects will convene this morning – without the media snooping – for the final time this summer for skating and individual meetings. Each will receive specialized programs and instructions catered to their strengths and weaknesses. Some will be monitored more closely than others, while anyone remaining in Montreal, such as Kirkland’s Louis Leblanc, this year’s first-round draft choice, will have access to the South Shore facility and team personnel.

Timmins said about 20 players, give or take a few, will be invited to rookie camp this September. Those playing in the U.S. collegiate ranks are prohibited from attending.

Read the full story…

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