Author Archive for George Prax
George Prax, born and raised in Montreal, offers a unique point of view when it comes to blogging. A devout Montrealer, Quebequois and Canadian, Prax is and always be a die hard Habs fan, one who feels it necessary to offer his view on the Canadiens, the NHL, and hockey happenings in general. Expect many articles on the Canadiens, some from the point of view of a fan, some from the point of view of a blogger and some more distant, but expect them often, and expect them full of passion. Prax, who has somewhat of an infamous reputation around the online hockey community, also has interests in music, movies, television, as well as politics, and they are nearly as deeply rooted as his love for hockey. Prax is the senior content editor at The Checking Line, a website devoted to offering the best hockey discussion around the net, one that features bloggers from all over the league, and one that's constantly growing. Visit www.thecheckingline.com for more of Prax's work.
Interview With Michael McKinley, Author Of Hockey: A People’s History
When I was approached to conduct an interview with Michael McKinley about his 2006 book, Hockey: A People’s History, I was excited for the opportunity, but slightly hesitant about reading the book. Most of us, as hockey fans, think we know anything and everything there is to know about the sport we like to call our [...]
Off-Season Analysis: The Goaltending
Over the last few weeks, we’ve taken in-depth looks at the forwards (first the top six and then “the best of the rest”) and defense of the Montreal Canadiens, grading their 2009-10 season, ranking the players amongst each other and looking ahead to what their 2010-11 season might look like. While there may have been a few players [...]
Off-Season Analysis: The Defense
Breaking: According to the team, the Montreal Canadiens have traded AHL goaltender Cedrick Desjardins to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for goaltender Karri Ramo. Ramo, a 24-year-old native of Finland who has played 48 NHL games since 2007, played for the Omsk Avangard of the KHL this past season, and has one more year [...]
Tinordi Leaves Notre-Dame, Will Play for London Knights
Look who’s here? Jarred Tinordi must have had a conversation with Louis Leblanc this past week. The Canadiens’ 1st round pick in this past June’s draft will be leaving Notre-Dame of the NCAA to join the OHL team that held his rights, the London Knights. Tinordi was selected 22nd overall at the 2010 NHL Entry [...]
Analyzing the Habs Forwards: “Best of the Rest”
While the players you normally see the most of are the one who score a lot of goals, the ones who put up the most points and the ones who make the most money, they are often the ones who are overrated, over-paid and over-hyped. Every team has players in this category, and the Montreal [...]
Off-Season Analysis: The Top-Six Forwards
In anticipation of the season to start, or frankly, for anything hockey-related to happen, it’s time to slowly start to get back into the groove of things. Reading about hockey, writing about hockey, and of course, eventually, watching hockey. As the anticipation for the upcoming season looms, it’ll start to get easier. But for now, [...]
Leblanc Chooses Montreal; Habs sign Picard
Finally, some blog-worthy news to come out of the Montreal Canadiens’ camp. It was announced on Friday evening that the Montreal Canadiens have signed 1st round pick Louis Leblanc to a three-year contract. While terms of the contract were not released, you can expect it to hover around the league maximum for an entry-level contract. [...]
Canadiens Sign Maxim Lapierre to 1-Year Deal
According to various sources, Maxim Lapierre has re-signed with the Montreal Canadiens for the upcoming season. His new, 1-year deal is slated to be worth between $840,000 and $900,000, depending on the source, but which ever number ends up becoming official, it would be a great figure for the 3rd line forward and for the [...]
Blues Sign Halak; What it Means for the Habs and Price
The St. Louis Blues have ensured that they will have a starting goaltender for the foreseeable future today, inking Jaroslav Halak to a 4-year, $15 million deal, which will average out to $3.75 million per season. Halak was acquired by the Blues from the Montreal Canadiens last month in exchange for prospects Lars Eller and Ian [...]
No Moves? No Problem! (for now)
If you were a Habs fan on July 1st, then odds are you spent the day either drinking and celebrating Canada Day, or in front of your laptop, TV (tuned to TSN2) and/or cell phone, waiting for news of a big signing by Canadiens’ General Manager Pierre Gauthier. Odds are, when you put all that [...]
Canadiens Trade Sergei Kostitsyn to Predators
The Montreal Canadiens have traded problematic forward Sergei Kostitsyn to the Nashville Predators. The deal is simply an exchange of pending free agents, as Montreal received center Dustin Boyd (RFA) and goaltender Dan Ellis (UFA) in return. Future Considerations are involved for both teams, presumably if any of the players end up signing or not. [...]
With the 27th Pick, the Montreal Canadiens Are Proud to Select…
———————————- In this year’s draft, the Montreal Canadiens will be selecting 27th overall, thanks to their impressive run in the Stanley Cup playoffs. To put things into perspective, if they hadn’t amassed that single overtime point they did in the final game of the season against the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Canadiens would be drafting [...]
Analyzing the Plekanec Deal + A Second Look at the Halak Trade
For the first time in a long time, Montreal Canadiens’ fans can actually relax heading into the Free Agent Frenzy of July 1st. With a week left to go until this year’s set of NHL contracts are due to expire, the job seems to be half done for GM Pierre Gauthier and the Montreal Canadiens. [...]
BREAKING NEWS: Halak Dealt To Blues
According to various sources, the Montreal Canadiens have shipped goaltender Jaroslav Halak to the St. Louis Blues in return for Lars Eller and Ian Schultz. If you asked yourself ”who?” when looking at that trade, well, you wouldn’t be the only one. Lars Eller looks like a decent prospect. Drafted 13th overall in the 2007 [...]
It’s Your Turn, Pierre: The Great Captaincy Debate
Yesterday, the Toronto Maple Leafs ended an entire season of speculation when they announced Dion Phaneuf as their new captain, the 18th in their long storied history. The decision was generally met with approval from most Leafs fans. Phaneuf certainly represents the team that Brina Burke has built this far well, in terms of truculence, belligerence, [...]
Habs Lose Boucher to Lightning
UPDATE: According to Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal, Habs assistant coach might be the next one to leave the organization, having been offered the job to coach the WHL’s Edmonton Oil Kings. Along with Boucher and potentially Kirk Muller, this could mean some big changes in management for Montreal this summer. According to various sources, [...]
Report: Habs to Visit Flames in (2nd) 2011 Winter Classic
According to Bob McKenzie and TSN, there will be 2 (count ‘em, TWO!) NHL Winter Classics in 2011. TCL reported nearly two months ago that Pittsburgh would be hosting the traditional Winter Classic on January 1st, 2011 against their rivals, the Washington Capitals, but it seems like the NHL is going to reward hockey fans [...]
Diagnosing the Problem
Two games, two consecutive shutouts, and with their latest 3-0 lost at the Wachovia Center last night, little to no hope left for the Montreal Canadiens, in their quest to defeat the Philadelphia Flyers and make it to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in two decades. Most people will tell you that [...]
Habs – Flyers Game 2: UGLY
Ugly. Probably the word that best describes Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals. At least for the Montreal Canadiens. Words such as embarrassing, cringe-worthy, disconcerting and humiliating also come to mind, but when you really get done to the nitty-gritty of what happened Sunday night in Philadelphia, UGLY is really the most accurate term [...]
Habs – Flyers Game 1: Destinies Collide
Yeah, Yeah. By now, we’ve all heard of what the Philadelphia Flyers have accomplished. Coming back from a 3-0 series deficit, only the third team in history to accomplish such a feat. Moreover, coming back from a 3-0 deficit in game 7 to win by the score of 4-3. Kind of poetic, isn’t it? Leave [...]