Blogging About The Montreal Canadiens and Canadiens Hockey

Lots of information out of Habs practice today (from Habs InsideOut):

Carey Price will not join the team on their trip to New Jersey for tomorrow night’s game against the Devils. He is listed as day-to-day with  “lower body discomfort” which he felt during warm up in Tuesday night’s game against Tampa but played anyway. Marc Denis has been recalled from Hamilton to back up Jaroslav Halak for tomorrow’s game. Price may be back as soon as Sunday against the Florida Panthers.

Along with Marc Denis, Kyle Chipchura, Max Pacioretty and Yannick Weber have also been recalled. Chipchura is likely to fill in for Ben Maxwell and Yannick Weber for Ryan O’Byrne who were both sent down to the Bulldogs. Pacioretty is likely to fill in for the injured Alex Tanguay.

Player Links:

Marc Denis’ Canadien’s Profile
Marc Denis’ Hockey DB Stats

Kyle Chipchura’s Canadien’s Profile
Kyle Chipchura’s Hockey DB Stats

Max Pacioretty’s Canadien’s Profile
Max Pacioretty’s Hockey DB Stats

Yannick Weber’s Canadien’s Profile
Yannick Weber’s Hockey DB Stats

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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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Andrei Kostitsyn recieved clearance to play in tonights game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. He left during the Habs 5-2 win against the Phillidelphia Flyers on December 18th after a knee on knee collision with Scott Hartnell. He is expected to be on his usual line with Alex Kovalev and Tomas Plekanec bumping Sergei Kostitsyn to the fourth line with Ben Maxwell and Steve Bégin.

As was suspected, Georges Laraque will not play tonight. He will be placed on Injured Reserve and won’t stay with the team on their four game road trip.

After being recalled from Hamilton both Kyle Chipchura and Max Pacioretty missed the morning skate and are not expected to play tonight.

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Three Stars: 3. Jaroslav Halak 2. Michael Nylander 1. Simeon Varlamov

I wouldn’t necessarily say this was a bad game because the Canadiens played very well and Halak put on a good performance after falling apart against Tampa Bay, it just wasn’t enough as Michael Nylander scored with 3:32 remaining the third period to give the Caps a win and 2 points.

The only goal by the Canadiens came from a surging Patrice Brisebois coming down the wing and rifling a shot passed Simeon Varlamov in his first NHL game.

Another bad night for the Power play as we went 0-8 including a 4-minute advantage in the first. It’s getting pretty bad at this point, I just don’t understand how it is that we aren’t scoring. We need a good freaking point shot is what we need, or at least have guys with a shot like Markov to start taking them when he has a chance.

Ben Maxwell stayed off the score sheet all together with no points, no penalty minutes, and no plus/minus for his first game in the NHL. I think once he gets more comfortable he’ll start challenging goalies and making those plays he otherwise wouldn’t make in case he makes a mistake. Playing in the NHL for these kids is a difficult thing because they want to try so hard to impress, but once they realize they play the same game, they start feeling more comfortable, and begin to play with some edge.

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December 13th @ 7:00pm EST

CBC(HD), RDS(HD), NHLN-US, CSN-DC+

vs

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HFBoards GDT: HFBoards.com
Watch it online: http://atdhe.net/ FREE

Injuries: Mathieu Dandenault (Broken Arm), Chris Higgins (Injured Arm), Saku Koivu (Lower-Body), Carey Price (Flu/Lower-Body), Mike Komisarek
Healthy Scratches: George Laraque

So the last time these two teams met, Washington shutout Your Habs 3-0. That’s something that really should not happen against a goaltender like Jose Theodore, and I can tell you won’t happen again. Maxwell will be playing in tonights game, and as far as I know, between Andrei Kostitsyn and Matt D’Agostini. Marc Denis will be the backup for tonights game as Carey Price is sick with the flu and has a lower-body injury from Wednesdays practice, otherwise he would be getting the start. Simeon Varlamov will start in goal for Washington tonight which will be his first NHL appearance.

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Ben Maxwell will join the Canadiens injured laiden squad as Koivu will be out for at least Saturday’s game as he is getting avaluated for an injury he suffered in last nights game against Tampa Bay Lightning.  Marc Denis was also told to be ready as he might be called up to assist with goaltending duties as Carey Price was be sicker than was originally reported. It’s official, Marc Denis has also been recalled from Hamilton.

Maxwell has been doing well with the Bulldogs this season racking up 20 points in 26 matches including 8 goals and 12 assists.  Denis has struggled a little bit after a stellar start but just like any goalie he has his moments.

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