Projected Standings: (Team–Projected Point Total–Point Differential From Last Season–Seed Differential From Last Season)

1) New York Rangers 115 Points –>+22 Points –> +7 Spots

2) Boston Bruins         102 Points –> -1 Point –> +1 Spot

3) Florida Panthers    93 Points –> +21 Points –> +12 Spots

4) Pittsburgh Penguins 106 Points –> EVEN –> EVEN

5) Philadelphia Flyers  102 Points –> -4 Points –> -3 Spots

6) New Jersey Devils 98 Points –> +17 Points –> +5 Spots

7) Ottawa Senators 94 Points –> +20 Points –> +6 Spots

8) Winnipeg Jets 88 Points –> +8 Points –> +4 Points

9) Washington Capitals 87 Points –> -20 Points –> -8 Spots

10) Buffalo Sabres 86 Points –> -10 Points –> -3 Spots

11) Tampa Bay Lightning 84 Points –> -19 Points –> -6 Spots

12) Toronto Maple Leafs 82 Points –> -3 Points –> -2 Spots

13) New York Islanders 81 Points –> +8 Points –> +1 Spot

14) Carolina Hurricanes 80 Points –> -11 Points –> -5 Spots

15) Montreal Canadiens 73 Points –> -23 Points –> -9 Spots

STATS:

–> Largest Points Improvement …..     New York Rangers (+22)

–> Largest Seeding Improvement …..  Florida Panthers (+12)

–> Worst Points Drop-Off           …..     Montreal Canadiens (-23)

–> Worst Seeding Drop-Off       …..      Montreal Canadiens (-9)

If Sidney Crosby (Above) makes a return to the Pittsburgh lineup, these number may change drastically.

–> Now, things can always change rapidly and a team could fall completely out of the playoff race or one could jump right into it by putting together a nice winning streak, making this system far from a perfect prediction tool.

–> Last season, it took 93 points from the New York Rangers to secure the eighth and final Eastern Conference playoff spot. This year it looks like 90 will once again be the magic number with one or two teams perhaps finishing below that mark and still sneaking into the dance.

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5.) —–> To Chicago: Hal Gill, Travis Moen, 5th Round Pick

—–> To Montreal: Kyle Beach, Brandon Saad, 2nd Round Pick

– Seemingly going nowhere this season it may be time for the Habs and GM Pierre Gauthier to start thinking about unloading some pieces in an attempt to build for the future. Both Gill and Moen are set to become unrestricted free agents this summer and could provide a Cup-hunting Blackhawks team with some added depth and grit for a playoff run this spring. Neither Moen nor Gill give you much in the way of flash or skill, but both are very durable players who have a Stanley Cup on their resume. For Montreal, both Beach and Saad fit the mold of what the Habs need the most: big, strong power forwards who can put the puck in the net. While neither will give Montreal much in the way of immediate assistance, they both have the potential to become cogs in the Canadiens’ lineup for years to come.

4.) —–> To Boston: Tuomo Ruutu, Bryan Allen

—–> To Carolina: Jordan Caron, Matt Bartkowski, 2nd Round Pick

– For a team that has simply run roughshod on the Eastern Conference since the start of November there really aren’t many glaring holes on a roster full of Stanley Cup winners. However, like we saw last February, GM Peter Chiarelli isn’t afraid to tinker with his team in order to add the necessary depth to make another run at Lord Stanley. This trade makes perfect sense for a Boston team that still relies on an inexperienced Steven Kampfer as it’s seventh defenseman. The hard-nosed Bryan Allen isn’t known much for his offense (0G/7A in 51 games this season) but can provide a solid defensive presence in his end of the ice, as well as log some valuable time on the penalty kill. Like Allen, the 28-year-old Ruutu will be a free agent on July 1. The Finland native seems to have been cut from the same mold as Boston winger Rich Peverley in the way that he can be trusted in any situation. Ruutu has posted fifteen goals and added eleven assists in 51 games this season while being shuffled up and down the Carolina lineup.

3.) —–> To Philadelphia: Ryan Suter, 3rd Round Pick

—–> To Nashville: James Van Riemsdyk, Brayden Schenn, Andrej Meszaros, Jody Shelley, 1st Round Pick

– Now, I’d put this trade as the least likely to happen, at least not until this summer. A deal like this makes perfect sense for a Flyers team that will be without captain Chris Pronger for the remainder of the season. Ryan Suter is perhaps the most underrated defenseman in the entire NHL. Often overshadowed by Shea Weber, Suter has quietly stacked together one all-star season after another and is slated to finally cash in this summer when he becomes an unrestricted free agent. The question still remains as to if the cash-strapped Predators can re-sign Suter to a long term deal to keep him in Nashville. However, if GM David Poile comes to the realization that he will not be resigning with the Preds, he would be better served to deal him now than let him walk for nothing this July. The package I’ve presented seems like quite a hefty price for one player but keep in mind, true number one defensemen simply do not grow on trees. While I really can’t see this one happening before the deadline, if Suter is adamant about not re-upping in Nashville, I can’t see any better scenario for the Predators’ franchise both now and into the future.

2.) —–> To Toronto: Jeff Carter, 3rd Round Pick

—–> To Columbus: Luke Schenn, Nikolai Kulemin, 2nd Round Pick

– There’s no question that Jeff Carter’s brief stay in Ohio’s capital is coming to an early end. Reportedly frustrated by the entire situation, the former Flyers star has put up only seventeen points (10G/7A) in 30 games this season while playing for the league-worst Columbus Blue Jackets. While many teams would be skeptical of accepting any player with ten years left on his contract, the Leafs have been on a league-wide search for a true number one center since Brian Burke took the helm in November of 2008. It’s my belief that if Carter is surrounded by a talented team (like he was in Philadelphia) he will once again be able to return to his elite form. While many could think of this as an overpayment for Carter, I would argue that while Schenn still looks like a future all-star, he seems to be the odd man out on a Leafs’ blueline already manned by Dion Phaneuf, Mike Komisarek and John-Michael Liles — all of whom are signed to lucrative contracts. Kulemin is a young player with loads of skill and potential who seems to be struggling under the hockey-crazed pressure cooker that is Toronto. Perhaps a change of scenery would do him a world of good. In Toronto, Maple Leafs’ fans may be foaming at the mouth with the thoughts of putting an elite pivot in between all-star wingers Phil Kessel and Joffrey Lupul.

1.)  —–> To Minnesota: Zach Parise

—–> To New Jersey: Devin Setoguchi, Charlie Coyle, Jonas Brodin, 2nd Round Pick

– This trade simply makes too much sense. With Parise still unsigned and the Devils’ ownership situation still uncertain, it’s easy to suggest that New Jersey will be unable to retain Parise at year’s end. Recent speculation has suggested that the 5’11″ Minneapolis would like nothing better than to return to his home state to continue his career, making him a perfect fit for the Wild. However, a former 40-goal scorer with extensive leadership qualities simply does not come cheap. With this package the Devils pick up a solid return for a guy who will likely be gone for nothing on July 1. Devin Setoguchi is a solid young winger who can play top-six minutes and provide some pop playing across from Ilya Kovalchuk. In Coyle and Brodin New Jersey receives two former first round selections who look to be sure bet NHL contributors in the near future. Parise should provide the right type of boost for a Wild team trying to work themselves off of the playoff fringe.

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5.) Jackets Fail For Nail

– Without question the worst team in hockey through the first half of the season, the Blue Jackets have been an unmitigated disaster all year long. Entering the season most hockey journalists (including myself) had Columbus pegged for their second post-season appearance in franchise history. However, the aforementioned NHL pundits could not have been more wrong. With the acquisitions of Jeff Carter and James Wisniewski not panning out, look for the Blue Jackets to deal one of the two before the deadline. Purely based on Wisniewski’s massive contract, my guess would be Carter moves on for greener pastures elsewhere. The former Flyers’ standout should bring GM Scott Howson a decent haul and will help them continue to build for the future as they trudge along on the “Fail For Nail” campaign.

4.) Kessel Posts 90 Points, Finally Quiets Critics

– Perhaps the most talked about trade in recent Boston sports history, the Bruins–Leafs swap of September 2010 sent crafty winger Phil Kessel to the epicenter of hockey in exchange for three draft selections. Bruins’ GM Peter Chiarelli then used those picks to select forwards Tyler Seguin and Jared Knight as well as defenseman Dougie Hamilton. While Seguin has exploded onto the scene in the Hub, amassing 19 goals and 24 assists through 46 games this season Kessel has truly emerged as one of the league’s most prominent scorers. With 51 points (26G/25A) in 49 games, he and linemate Joffrey Lupul (20G/32A) have completely turned the Toronto franchise around, leading them to a top-eight position in the Eastern Conference. In the second half of this season, I believe that Kessel will easily reach the 40-goal marker and surpass his career high of 64 points to finally justify this trade and quiet the throngs of critics who have harassed the Minnesota native ever since he arrived on the scene in Toronto.

3.) Hitchcock, Blues Continue Magical Run

– Without doubt the biggest positive surprise of any team in the league this season has taken place underneath the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. The Blues, who struggled mightily to begin the season under former coach Davis Payne, have been given new life since the arrival of veteran bench boss Ken Hitchcock. With no players in the NHL’s top-50 scoring leaders, the Blues’ team-first philosophy has shown through this season, leading them to the fifth seed in the Western Conference — a comfortable eleven points ahead of ninth place Colorado –. Captain David Backes seems to have his team — a seemingly perfect blend of youth and experience — poised for a deep run through the post-season. In the shocker of the season, I can see the Blues becoming this year’s NHL Cinderella story, upsetting a team or two and making it to the Conference Finals this spring.

2.) Sabres, Habs Continue Rapid Fall From Grace

– Mired in the basement of the Eastern Conference, this season simply has not gone the way fans in Buffalo and Montreal had once thought it would. Currently sitting eight and ten points out of the playoff picture, the Sabres and the Habs have been absolute train-wrecks on ice the entire season. In Montreal, things went awry immediately out of the gate and have only been trending downwards since then. In a year that’s seen the departure of both an assistant coach and a head coach, an unheard of mid-game trade and continuous public outcry for a French-speaking bench boss, the city of Montreal has been an absolute circus all year long. In Buffalo, fans and players alike had Stanley Cup aspirations after new owner Terry Pegula’s ill-advised off-season spending spree. Unfortunately for the hockey-mad folks in Western new York, it just hasn’t quite worked out this season as their beloved Sabres sit tied for dead last in the Eastern Conference. What’s worse? GM Darcy Regier is handcuffed by the insanely generous contracts of Christian Ehrhoff and Ville Leino.

1.) Bruins, Rangers Will Battle For Eastern Conference Crown

– Now I could be getting ahead of myself a bit here but right now all signs are pointing towards an Original Six showdown with a spot in the Cup Finals on the line. Without a doubt the two best teams in the East through the first half of the season, New York and Boston have put together the two best records in the Conference through the first half of the season. Armed with gritty, two-way players who aren’t afraid to put the team before themselves, the B’s and Blueshirts almost mirror one another in terms of playing style. After putting together an instant classic earlier this month at TD Garden, it’d be easy for one to expect three more beautifully played contests between these two squads this season. However, I’m going to take it a step further and say that New York and Boston will once again meet in the Eastern Conference Finals this spring for yet another chapter in the Boston  vs. New York rivalry.

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Well, what made the Montreal Canadiens’ trade of top line winger Michael Cammalleri so different was the fact that he was traded during the second intermission of a one-goal inter-division game!

It all started early in the second period on Thursday with an oddly secretive looking group of Montreal management huddled outside their suite in the TD Garden press box. At first glance, one would have thought nothing of it. In fact, it even lead me to cracking a few lighthearted jokes via Twitter.  However, it was early in the third and final frame that things began to get interesting, as the 5’9″ Ontario native was noticeably missing from the Habs’ bench, with no reports of injuries sustained. This coupled with the knowledge of Wednesday’s comments made by Cammalleri, in which he questioned the collective mindset of his Canadiens’ team, and it was enough to get some folks thinking that the proverbial shoe was about to drop.

“I can’t accept that we will display a losing attitude as we’re doing this year. We prepare for our games like losers. We play like losers. So it’s no wonder why we lose.” – Michael Cammalleri

Reports upstairs then broke the news that Cammalleri had indeed been removed from the game and had been sent to a Boston hotel to wait for further instructions. As if this wasn’t enough to tip anyone off about a potential deal, word from TSN in Canada began to emanate the fact that the undersized forward had indeed been traded. It was then that the game concluded, with the host Bruins holding on for a 2-1 victory over the Habs, and every reporter in Boston made a bee line for the Montreal dressing room.

While questions about the game were asked here and there, the elephant in the room was clearly the Habs’ missing first liner. Unfortunately for the large contingent of reporters and beat writers, Montreal players were just as confused as we were.

“Was he traded?  I really don’t know.  This is the first time this has happened to me?” – Tomas Plekanec

“I don’t really know anything so I don’t have a comment right now.” – Hal Gill

“I don’t know if it (a trade) has happened I can’t give much insight.  I can’t really give an opinion.” – Carey Price

It was then, as the media scrum descended on head coach Randy Cunneyworth’s press conference that he revealed the fact that there was in fact a trade that had sent Michael Cammalleri out of Montreal. “Well, obviously there was a trade made” said Cunneyworth when asked about the absence of his first line left winger. The much-criticized interim bench boss went on to explain how he had only learned of the deal at the start of the third period, and that his players where left in the dark completely as to the whereabouts of their teammate.

Finally, as the swarm of media members were consumed by the ever-growing TwitterSphere, trying to be the first to report the trade’s details, we learned that Cammalleri had been dealt cross country, back to Calgary — a city where he played in 2008 and 2009–.

Ending all the hype and confusion  was Habs’ General Manager Pierre Gauthier, when he stood in front of the aformentioned sea of reporters and delivered the news of the deal, first in French and then repeated himself in English. The English portion of the press conference can be viewed in it’s entirety via the video below.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Along with Cammalleri, the Canadiens forfeited the rights to European netminder Karri Ramo and a fifth round pick in the 2012 Entry Draft in exchange for currently-suspended winger Rene Bourque, prospect Patrick Holland and a second round selection in the 2012 Entry draft.

Now, I’ll leave the analysis of this deal to those folks who are closer to the situation and know more about the skills and tendencies of each of these players. However, I would just like to point out this little doozie of a quote, courtesy of the Calgary Flames official Twitter account:

“I might be in trouble… I don’t speak French, even if I have the most French name on that team.” – Rene Bouque

Well there you have it folks, a first hand account of the first ever mid-game trade in NHL history. On what was once thought of as an uneventful night and a boring game between two once-fierce rivals, history was indeed made. It just goes to show, you really never know what is going to happen next in the National Hockey League.

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Unfortunately for hockey traditionalists throughout North America, this rivalry simply isn’t the same anymore. And that’s putting it nicely. One could argue the reasons for this, whether it be Boston’s new-found hatred for the Vancouver Canucks, or simply Montreal’s irrelevance to the Eastern Conference playoff picture.

“Certainly, it doesn’t have the same flare it had maybe a year ago.” – Claude Julien

Regardless of such, it’s simply been just another game on the schedule each time Boston and Montreal have faced off this season. This was no different on Thursday evening when the two squads met for the fifth time this year.

The game began with a bang as the B’s quickly got on the board, thanks to a surprising contribution from an unlikely source. Playing in his first NHL game since a December 10 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena, rookie Bruins’ forward Jordan Caron took advantage of the opportunity given him by head coach Claude Julien as he tapped the puck into a yawning net at the 1:23 mark of the opening frame to give his team an early 1-0 lead.

“I saw Johnny (Boychuk) was going to rim it around and I wanted to get on the forecheck and it bounced in front so I was just there for an easy tap in.” – Jordan Caron

The score would remain this way throughout the balance of a first period controlled by uncharacteristically sloppy play from both sides, with Boston holding the edge as the team’s went to the rooms.

The second period mirrored much of what we saw in the first, neither team was able to muster many quality scoring chances nor come close to putting anything up on the scoreboard.

In the third period the B’s would once again strike quickly as bruising winger Milan Lucic flipped a backhand past Carey Price at the 3:43 mark of the final frame to extend the Boston lead to 2-0. Perhaps the only bit of unsettling roughness came soon after as Habs’ d-man P.K. Subban went up-high for a hit on the B’s top-line center David Krejci. This of course was met my much resistance from the Black and Gold, which resulted in a double-minor roughing call against Andrew Ference. The Habs’ were able to take advantage of the ensuing power-play as utility man Yannick Weber’s wrister found it’s way through a screen and past Thomas to cut the Montreal deficit to one. However, the Habs’ late flurries, in hopes of tying the score, were met by heavy resistance and the Bruins were able to hold on for their third straight victory over their once-hated rivals.

Being able to find a way to pull out a victory on a night when you don’t have your best game is truly an asset for the Bruins’ and is the mark of a true championship team. Forward Milan Lucic expressed his relief in being able to come away with the crucial two points on Thursday.

“It seemed like both teams weren’t really that sharp with their passing – it seemed like the puck was spinning all over the place and jumping off everyone’s sticks. I think (there were) a lot of blocked shots, a lot of shots that missed the net and [it was] just one of those games where you have to fight it through to get to the end and get to the result. For us, I don’t think it was our best effort but we found a way to win.” – Milan Lucic

KEY STATS

Goals–                       MON (1)                   BOS (2)

Shots–                       MON (34)                    BOS (30)

Power-Play–           MON (1-2)                   BOS (0-5)

Penalty-Kill–           MON (5-5)                    BOS (1-2)

• Ben’s Three Stars– ….. 3.) Jordan Caron  ….. 2.) Milan Lucic   ….. 1.) Tim Thomas

What’s Next?

From here the B’s will depart on a four-game road trip that will begin on Saturday evening in Carolina, when they face-off with Eric Staal’s ‘Canes for the final time in Raleigh this season. The trip will also see stops in Miami, Tampa Bay and New Jersey. The Habs will now return home for a Saturday contest with the red-hot Senators at the Bell Centre.

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Tonight’s Line-Up (Subject To Change):

FORWARDS

Pouliot–Bergeron–Seguin

Lucic–Krejci–Horton

Caron–Kelly–Peverley

Paille–Campbell–Thornton

DEFENSE

Chara–Boychuk

Seidenberg–Corvo

Ference–McQuaid

GOALTENDER

Thomas

Rask

Scratches– ….. Marchand (Suspended) , Kampfer (Healthy) , Hamill (Healthy)

NEWS & NOTES

– This afternoon the NHL announced the rosters for their 2012 all-star game that will emanate from Canada’s capital city of Ottawa later this month. As it turns out, the Bruins will send the same contingent to the festivities as they did one year ago; Tyler Seguin, Zdeno Chara, and Tim Thomas. The most notable of snubs was undoubtedly the B’s phenomenal two-way pivot Patrice Bergeron. Despite his 36 points and +27 rating this season, the humble alternate captain was once again overlooked by the NHL brass. Montreal’s lone representative will be goaltender Carey Price.

– As I reported on Tuesday, the Bruins have officially called up forward Jordan Caron from Providence of the AHL. Caron will likely be the 12th/13th forward for the B’s and accompany them on their upcoming four-game road trip to Raleigh, Miami, Tampa and Newark.

– Forward Brad Marchand will once again be missing from the B’s lineup as he sits out game number two of his five game suspension. Former Canadien Benoit Pouliot will continue to skate in his place with Bergeron and Tyler Seguin. In two games on that line, the Alfred, Ontario native has registered a goal and three assists. Following Tuesday’s win over the Jets, Pouliot spoke of his excitement in getting another chance against his former team.

“It’s going to be nice to see the old friends. We’re going to play hard, play well and we’ll be fine” — Benoit Pouliot

– For the second straight match-up between these two Original Six franchises, the Habs will be without their captain Brian Gionta. The Rochester, New York native is out indefinitely while nursing a bicep tear. The much-maligned Scott Gomez is expected to fill his spot in the lineup.

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However, something happened on the way to making the NHL more palatable to the masses. You might have noticed that your favorite player or players have been missing in action quite a bit this season.As of Thursday, 51 NHL players have been lost to concussions this season. On that list is the player many believe is the league’s best, Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Crosby has played in just eight NHL games since suffering a concussion on Jan. 5, 2011.

That list has become a gargantuan story this season, much to the alarm of the league and teams, who have in the past attempted to minimize what independent medical experts have been citing for years: hockey has a concussion epidemic on its hands.

< READ MORE ON CBS New York >

Other pieces on CBS by BD:

HOW PLAYERS, NOT THE ISLES COACH WILL WALK PLANK THIS SEASON

PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE? TELL THAT TO NY ISLANDERS FANS! 

Forwards ($38.05 MIL)

Line 1:

Phil Kessel (Toronto) $5.4 MIL — Jason Spezza (Ottawa) $7.0 MIL — Joffrey Lupul (Toronto) $4.25 MIL

I like the chemistry shown between Lupul and Kessel up in Toronto; throw in Jason Spezza’s world class play-making abilities, and you’ve got one of the best first lines in the league.

Line 2:

Brad Marchand (Boston) $2.5 MIL — Tyler Seguin (Boston) $3.5 MIL — Max Pacioretty (Montreal) $1.65 MIL

Boston’s duo of sensational sophomores have proven themselves as legitimate top-six forwards in this league. Their speed, coupled with the size and strength of Montreal’s budding power forward would provide a difficult match-up for any D-pairing.

Line 3:

Nick Foligno (Ottawa) $1.2 MIL — Patrice Bergeron (Boston) $5.0 MIL — Clarke MacArthur (Toronto) $3.25 MIL

You have got to love the versatility of this line. All three of these players can be counted on in any situation, including on both sides of special teams.

Line 4:

Daniel Paille (Boston) $1.1 MIL — Gregory Campbell (Boston) $1.1 MIL — Zenon Konopka (Ottawa) $0.70 MIL

Konopka and Campbell are two of the best face-off men in all of the NHL, while Daniel Paille can be a very valuable asset on the penalty-kill. All come at a very reasonable price and provide the team with the necessary grit to excel in today’s NHL.

13th Forward: Nathan Gerbe (Buffalo) $1.4 MIL

Defense ($19.85 MIL)

Pair 1:

Zdeno Chara (Boston) $6.9 MIL — Erik Karlsson (Ottawa) $1.3 MIL

Easily the two biggest no-brainers on this team, Chara and Karlsson provide the perfect balance of defense and offense on the squad’s top pair.

Pair 2:

P.K. Subban (Montreal) $0.85 MIL — Dennis Seidenberg (Boston) $3.25 MIL

Subban and Seidenberg also provide a great mix of offense and defense. Seidenberg’s veteran savvy and poise should be able to assist the young Subban’s development.

Pair 3:

Luke Schenn (Toronto) $3.6 MIL — Andrej Sekera (Buffalo) $2.75 MIL

The youngest pairing of the three, both players should be good enough to one day become top-pair defensemen. Meanwhile, both come at relatively inexpensive cap hits.

7th Defenseman:  Jake Gardiner (Toronto) $1.20 MIL

Goaltenders ($7.75 MIL)

1.) Tim Thomas (Boston) $5.0 MIL

2.) Carey Price (Montreal) $2.75 MIL

Boston’s Tim Thomas is once again putting up Vezina-worthy numbers, furthering the notion that he truly ages like a fine wine. Meanwhile, Carey Price, who comes with a manageable price tag, has also asserted himself as one of the best netminders in the game.

Recap:

Total Salary: $65.65 MIL

Cap Space: $0.00

Representation: Boston 8 , Toronto 5 , Ottawa 4 , Montreal 3 , Buffalo 2

General Manager: Peter Chiarelli (Boston)

Head Coach: Claude Julien (Boston)

– It’s hard to argue with the defending Stanley Cup champion head coach and GM combo.

Home Arena: Bell Centre (Montreal)

– One of the loudest buildings in the league, this one was an easy choice.

– NHL salary cap information courtesy of CapGeek.

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“Losing one of your top players like that, we all have to step up individually and as a team and tonight we did a good job.” – Tyler Seguin

Despite the suspension of first line winger Milan Lucic, the Boston Bruins continued their red-hot roll on Monday night against the hated Canadiens.

Playing without Lucic due to the one-game suspension handed down by the NHL’s discipline Czar Brendan Shanahan, the Bruins’ used goals from three different players on three different lines to edge out Montreal for a 3-2 victory on Monday night. The B’s victory gave new Habs’ head coach Randy Cunneyworth his second straight loss and a defeat in his first taste of the heated Boston–Montreal rivalry. Meanwhile, the Bruins improved their record to 19-2-1 over their past 22 games.

Scoring his sixth goal of the season at the 12:13 mark of the first period, former-Canadien Benoit Pouliot notched the first goal of his career against his former team.

“It always feels good (scoring against his former team). Obviously winning is a lot better, it feels great. And putting a goal out there, it feels good.” — Benoit Pouliot

Pouliot’s emergence as a truly reliable third line presence on this Bruins’ team is something his head coach has definately taken notice of.

“Improvement. I think he’s gotten better as the season’s gone on. He’s adapted well to our hockey club. We talked about being patient at the beginning of the year when a lot of people probably were writing him off, and right now he’s showing that he’s very capable of playing on our club and doing a great job. He scores big goals for us, and he’s got four game-winners so far.” – Claude Julien

Unfortunately for Boston, noted Bruins’ killer Tomas Plekanec would even the score at one only 1:13 later after converting on a pretty feed from Michael Cammalleri. The score would remain that way until the 2:42 mark of the second frame when top-line pivot David Krejci was credited with his sixth of the season after an Andrew Ference centering pass deflected off his leg and past Price to give Boston the lead. Collecting an insurance tally with less than six minutes to go in the game, courtesy of Brad Marchand’s beauty of a back-hand dangle, Boston was now ahead by two goals. “Seguy (Tyler Seguin) made a great play to Marchy (Brad Marchand) there. Great instinct by Marchy to go right behind that D to bring him back. He read that poke check real well so it was a great goal” said Patrice Bergeron.

The goal by Marchand turned out to be of utmost importance for the B’s, as they would allow the Habs a sliver of hope after Erik Cole deflected one past Tim Thomas for his 12th tally of the season.

However, Boston was able to hold off the Habs for the final 1:14 and come away with their 5th straight victory.

From The Room:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Seguin

Click here to view the embedded video.

Pouliot

Click here to view the embedded video.

Thomas

KEY STATS

Goals–                       MON (2)                BOS (3)

Shots–                       MON (35)              BOS (31)

Power-Play–           MON (0-2)           BOS (0-3)

Penalty-Kill–           MON (3-3)          BOS (2-2)

• Three Stars– ….. 3.) Brad Marchand  ….. 2.) Benoit Pouliot  ….. 1.) Tim Thomas

What’s Next?

The Bruins will have the luxury of a few days off while at home this week, as their next game isn’t until Friday evening when they will host the Southeast division leading Florida Panthers. The Cats defeated the Bruins at the Garden earlier this month by a 2-0 score, thanks to a shutout from Jose Theodore. “We just have to try to get traffic in front of him and get pucks to the net” said Brad Marchand of the opportunity to face Theodore for the second time this season.  Up next for the Habs is a set of back-to-back road games in Chicago on Wednesday and in Winnipeg on Thursday.

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Tonight’s Line-Up (Subject To Change):

FORWARDS

Marchand–Bergeron–Seguin

Caron–Krejci–Horton

Pouliot–Kelly–Peverley/Hamill

Paille–Hamill/Campbell–Thornton

DEFENSE

Chara–Boychuk

Seidenberg–Corvo

Ference–McQuaid

GOALTENDER

Thomas

Rask

Scratches– ….. Peverley (Undisclosed–GTD) , Campbell (Lower Body–GTD) , Lucic (Suspension–OUT) , Kampfer (Healthy)

– Tonight’s game can be seen on NESN (Edwards, Brickley) and heard on 98.5 The Sports Hub (Goucher, Beers), the flagship radio station of the Boston Bruins.

NEWS & NOTES

– The B’s will be without top-line left winger Milan Lucic tonight, as he was today suspended for one game following his hit from behind against the Flyers’ Zac Rinaldo. After avoiding a much-clamored for suspension for his steamrolling of Sabres’ netminder Ryan Miller, most had expected the league to finally deliver a message to Boston’s hulking left winger.

– Tonight will mark the first TD Garden appearance for former B’s blueliner Tomas Kaberle since being dealt to the Habs earlier this month. Kaberle, sporting a 0-14-14, -12 line in 33 games this season, made his first return to the Hub, while playing with the Hurricanes back in October.

– The Bruins’ are now in the midst of what is a very light stretch of the schedule from now until New Year’s. After tonight, the B’s will play host to the Panthers on Friday, prior to the league-mandated break for the Christmas holiday. The Black and will then venture out to Phoenix for a game on the 28th, and a New Year’s Eve showdown with Michael Ryder’s Dallas Stars at the American Airlines Arena.

– New Head Coach Randy Cunneyworth will get his first taste of the Boston vs. Montreal rivalry as bench boss of the Habs on Monday, two days after replacing the fired Jacques Martin. On Saturday night, the Canadiens dropped Cunneyworth’s debut by a 5-3 score to the New Jersey Devils at the Bell Centre.

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In 29 games this season, Kaberle, 33, has zero goald and nine assists and a 12 plus/minus rating. After a very rough start, he has notched four assists and a +2 rating in the last two games. As for Spacek, he has been on the injury reserve since November 16th because of an upper-body injury. Spacek has only played 12 games in an injury-filled season, recording three assists and a +2 rating.

Kaberle, who was acquired by the Boston Bruins at the trade deadline last season, won his first ever Stanley Cup before heading to free agency on July 1st. With Kaberle’s acquisition, the Habs now have six Stanley Cup champions (Gionta, Gomez, Cole, Gill, Moen and Kaberle).

After a rough start, the Hurricanes, who had recently hired Kirk Muller has their new head-coach to replace Paul Maurice, are starting to re-build around Cam Ward, Jeff Skinner and Eric Staal. Carolina’s general manager Jim Rutherford simply made this move to get rid of Kaberle’s contract, which only ends in 2013-14. Spacek will provide veteran leadership to a young defensive squad in Carolina comprising talented young players such as Jamie McBain, Justin Faulk and Derek Joslin.

Kaberle, who is known for his offensive capabilities, was mainly acquired after Andrei Markov suffered another setback during his recovery from knee surgery. Markov, who was nearing a return last week, will miss an additional 4-6 weeks after undergoing a minor surgery to drain the excess liquid in his rehabilitating knee. The Canadiens’ inefficiency was also another reason why Pierre Gauthier decided to pull the trigger on Kaberle. The Canadiens are ranked 28th in the NHL on the man-advantage with a mediocre 11.4% after finishing 7th overall in 2010-11.

Kaberle had scored 38 points in 58 games with the Toronto Maple Leafs before the Bruins acquired him at the deadline, after which, he only registered 9 points in 24 games.

After the trade, the Canadiens sent Frederic St-Denis down to their AHL affiliate, the Hamilton Bulldogs, to make room. St-Denis who scored his first NHL goal yesterday night against the Vancouver Canucks was victim of the numbers.

With Kaberle’s acquisition, the Habs’ blue line is about to get clogged as Chris Campoli is also nearing a return; add in the mix Hal Gill, Josh Gorges, PK Subban, Alexei Emelin, Raphael Diaz and Yannick Weber and you have eight healthy defenseman at your disposal. The odd man out is most likely Weber, who was made a healthy scratch against the Canucks after playing poorly in the last few games.

What do you think of this trade? Do you think Kaberle is the solution to the Habs’ woes on the power play?

—
Fred is a freelance sports write and translator, as well as a featured Montreal Canadiens blogger on http://hockeyindependent.com/blog/ and a baseball columnist on http://www.dobberbaseball.com/. Fred also joined HabsAddict.com in time for the 2011-12 season.

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Click here to view the embedded video.

As you can see on the play, Pacioretty is coming full speed to hit Letang who had just entered the zone trying the shoot the puck on goal. We can see Paxioretty lift his left elbow to hit Letang’s nose. Not even a minor penalty was assessed on the hit by referees Dan O’Rourke and Mike Hasenfratz, who were simply mediocre all night long for both teams.

“I feel terrible that he got hurt and I’m thankful that he came back,” Pacioretty said following the game. “I’m sorry for what happened and I’m glad he’s okay.” he added. Pacioretty also apologized twice to Letang during the game. Letang really appreciated the gesture.

As a result of the body-check, Letang broke his nose and the team trainers had to insert a pin in his nose so he could come back a score the game-winning goal in overtime on another controversial play. The referees should have blown dead the play since Carey Price had the puck covered, but they decided to let the game continue and Letang was able to dislodge the puck and score the game winner as seen below.

Click here to view the embedded video.

This suspension will certainly make Habs fans angry as last season, Pacioretty was the victim of a dirty hit by Zdeno Chara, who ended his season and was left unpunished by Colin Campbell who has since been replaced by Shanahan…

Pacioretty, who has ten goals and nine assists for 19 points in 24 games for the Canadiens, will miss Wednesday’s game in Anaheim as well as Thursday’s contest in San Jose.

The good news for Montreal is that all-star defenseman Andrei Markov is nearing a return to action and could well make his season debut during the three-game trip to California.

——
Fred is a freelance sports write and translator, as well as a featured Montreal Canadiens blogger on http://hockeyindependent.com/blog/ and a baseball columnist on http://www.dobberbaseball.com/. Fred also joined HabsAddict.com in time for the 2011-12 season.

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Despite playing in Russia for what seems like an eternity, Emelin is still only 25 years-old, the moment most defensemen reach their maturity and full potential. While Emelin will never be a constant point-producer in the NHL, he can certainly do better than his 0 point in 14 games so far for the Canadiens this season. Emelin has proved that he can block shots and make a good first pass. But right now, it’s clear he is focusing on the defensive aspect of his game, but he showed in the KHL that he can contribute offensively too.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Often a healthy scratch at the beginning of the season, Emelin has now played the last six games due to a rash of injuries on Montreal’s blue line and has slowly adjusted to the smaller NHL rinks and the more physical style played in North America. The 6’2” 220 lb rearguard looks a lot like Red Wings Nicklas Kronwall when he made his North America debut in 2003-04. Kronwall is a hard-hitting defenseman that developed his offensive skills over the years to become Detroit’s most important defenseman behind Nicklas Lidstrom. The former has amassed 191 points in 405 games in the NHL, or also one point every two games. Emelin is still far from producing offensively at such a good pace, but let’s not forget Kronwall only registered 14 points in 47 games over his first two NHL seasons.

Emelin is currently ranked 32nd in the NHL in total hits with 49 in only 14 games (3.5 hits per game), but is ranked 6th for hits per game behind the likes of Matt Martin, Cal Clutterbuck, Troy Brouwer, Mark Fistric and Steve Ott. Not bad for rookie defenseman used to play in the KHL, not a league that is known for its physical play.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Emelin is by far the Habs most physical defenseman as the rest of the defensive corps is composed of smaller players (Diaz, Weber, Spacek, Gorges) or softer players (Gill, Markov, Campoli) than the Togliatti, Russia, native.

Currently earning $984,200 this season with the Canadiens, Emelin will be a restricted free agent at season’s end, so the team will have to decide if they want to sign him long-term in order to prevent him from returning to Russia. The left-handed blue-liner moved to North America in part because of Andrei Markov, who has yet to play this season recuperating from a knee injury that sidelined most of last season.

One has to wonder if Jacques Martin will reunite the two Russians on a defensive pairing in order to groom the young Emelin along a proven veteran to back him up and repair his occasional blunder. Once Emelin earns the confidence of his head coach, he will most likely receive more power play time than the 2:11 minutes he received so far this season!!

Through 14 games this season, Emelin is only seeing 15:11 minutes of time per game despite all the injuries the Canadiens sustained on the blue line. However, when Emelin gets more ice-time on the special units (playing only 43 seconds per game on the penalty kill this season), his ice-time will increase exponentially. With only four penalty minutes, Emelin has been very disciplined despite his rugged style. He has also taken only one penalty while drawing seven, which ranks him 7th in the NHL with a very positive ratio.

Now the question remains: Will Emelin be dressed over smaller defensemen Raphael Diaz and Yannick Weber when the Andrei Markov and Jaroslav Spacek come back into action in early December? Or will Emelin be made a healthy scratch more often than not?

——
Fred is a freelance sports write and translator, as well as a featured Montreal Canadiens blogger on http://hockeyindependent.com/blog/ and a baseball columnist on http://www.dobberbaseball.com/. Fred also joined HabsAddict.com in time for the 2011-12 season.

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Following a successful sweep of a five-game home-stand that featured wins over the Islanders, Oilers, Sabres, Devils and Blue Jackets, the Boston Bruins departed the Hub for a three-game road swing, with stops in Long Island, Montreal and Buffalo.

Standings

The Bruins currently sit in a tie for second place in the NorthEast division with the Buffalo Sabres, as both squads have secured 24 points on the season. The B’s and Sabres are both two points behind the first-place Toronto Maple Leafs. Boston also sits in fifth place in the Eastern Conference, three points back of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Team Leaders

Despite rapidly cooling off over the past week, Bruins sophomore sensation Tyler Seguin continues to lead the team in all of the major offensive categories. The 6’1″ Brampton, Ontario native has matched his career-high of eleven goals, while adding ten assists and potting three game winners in nineteen games played. Seguin is also second in the entire NHL (Shea Weber is first (+18)) with a plus/minus rating of +17. Rugged fourth line winger Shawn Thornton has restored his place atop the stat sheet when it comes to PIMs, registering 39 of them through 19 games of action. Boston’s top two shut-down defenseman Zdeno Chara (25:16) and Dennis Seidenberg (24:35) are numbers one and two respectively when it comes to average time on ice per game.

Through 13 starts this season, B’s netminder Tim Thomas has shown no signs of slowing down. The 37-year-old Flint, Michigan native has posted a 1.77 GAA and a .938 save percentage, while winning nine games for Boston this season. Meanwhile, Finnish goaltender Tuukka Rask has been nothing short of stellar in the pipes for Boston as well. Rask has posted a 2.32 GAA and a .919 save percentage and has won his last three starts.

The Boston power-play sits at 18th in the NHL, scoring at a 16.4% clip. On the flip side of that, the B’s penalty-kill is currently 8th in the league, stopping their opponents 86.5% of the time.

Boston 6 , New York Islanders 0 (F)

This past Saturday evening, the Boston Bruins paid a visit to the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island for a date with the New York Islanders.  Sparked by a two goal performance from Chris Kelly, the B’s steamrolled the Isles to the tune of a 6-0 victory. Saturday’s game was not much of a contest, as the Bruins put three past Rick DiPietro in the first period and three behind Anders Nilsson in the third and ran away with it. The Isles never had much of an answer for the B’s throughout the night, and Boston was able to win their 8th in a row.

Boston 1 , Montreal 0 (F)

On Monday night, the B’s paid a visit to the team that last beat them, back on October 29, the Montreal Canadiens. Late in the first period it was Boston defenseman Andrew Ference who would score a goal for the second straight game. This would be the first 2-game goal streak of Ference’s 14-year NHL career. As it turns out, Ference’s goal would be all Boston needed as they skated away with a 1-0 victory thanks to a 33-save shutout from Tim Thomas.

Three Stars Of The Week

1.) Tim Thomas – Back-to-back shutouts for the defending Vezina trophy winner has lowered his GAA to 1.77. Thomas is simply not slowing down.

2.)  Chris Kelly – Two goals and two assists in the past three games for Kelly; Continues to prove his value and durability.

3.) Adam McQuaid – Scored his first  goal of the year last Thursday against the Blue Jackets, while playing top-pair minutes and shutting down Rick Nash and Jeff Carter.

What’s Next?

As mentioned above, the Bruins will be taking on the Buffalo Sabres toninght in Western New York, prior to returning home for a brief two-game home-stand. The home-stand will feature a matinee contest against the Detroit Red Wings on Black Friday followed by the first ever visit to TD Garden from the new-era Winnipeg Jets on Saturday night.

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Despite what Gorges says, the surgery was the best thing that could happen to him and the Canadiens, as Gorges has been far more efficient this season for the Canadiens on a depleted defensive corps that saw four of his key veterans miss some time with injuries (Andrei Markov (knee), Jaroslav Spacek (upper-body), Chris Campoli (hamstring) and Hal Gill (infection)). Currently paired with offensive-minded defenseman P.K. Subban, Gorges has been the calming veteran presence that Jacques Martin needs to keep his team afloat.

The Canadiens are currently using four rookies on their blue line, winning two of their last three games (two shutouts) with Frederic St-Denis (3), Yannick Weber (69), Raphael Diaz (20) and Alexei Emelin (12) combining for only 104 games in the NHL. That’s not a small feat, especially against the red-hot New York Rangers on Saturday.

With a 9-8-3 record for 21 points after 20 games, they are only one point back from the eight seed occupied by the Ottawa Senators in the Eastern Conference, and Josh Gorges has been a key cog to the Habs 6-3-1 record in the last ten games.

Through 20 games, Gorges leads the Canadiens defensemen with one goal (a game-winner in Phoenix) and seven assists for eight points. The 27-old defenseman is on pace for a career-high of 33 points, ten more than his previous record (23 points in 2008-09). Gorges is also ranked 12th in the NHL with an impressive +10 +/- differential. The second best Habs player is Travis Moen at +6. The Kelowna, B.C., native also has 24 hits and seven takeaways this season. But the most important and impressive for Gorges is that he is currently second in the whole league with 52 blocked shots, seven behind the NHL leader Ladislav Smid of the Edmonton Oilers.

Gorges is averaging 21:42 minutes of play per game this season, which is second on the team only behind P.K. Subban’s 23:47 time on the ice per game, and despite playing far less than some defensemen, Gorges is averaging 30.6 shifts per game for the Canadiens, which is good for eight in the NHL. Gorges is also ranked 13th among rearguards with 3:48 time on ice per game on the penalty kill which is eight seconds more per game than penalty-killing specialist Hal Gill. All of Gorges’ points have come at even strength as he’s barely used on the power play averaging a mere seven seconds of PP time per game!

Acquired from the San Jose Sharks along with a first round pick (Max Pacioretty) in exchange for veteran Craig Rivet, Gorges has turned into one of the most undervalued and underrated blueliner in the league thanks to a great work ethics and serious off-season training. When he arrived in Montreal, Gorges was often a healthy scratch and played only sporadically when dressed. Now, Gorges has been given the task of shutting down the top players in the league on a nightly basis with great success.

The problem is that this situation might turn out to be a major problem for GM Pierre Gauthier, as he has painted himself into a corner by giving him a one-year deal, preferring to brittle veteran Andrei Markov to an expensive three-year contract. One has to wonder if Gauthier will have enough money to retain Gorges’ services since he needs to re-sign RFAs P.K. Subban and Carey Price who will both hit the jackpot signing long-term contracts. Now, the Canadiens’ general manager needs to “think outside the box” and start negotiating with this important man right now. Every game he plays, every solid mistake free shift he takes, he gets a little more expensive. And with both veterans Hal Gill and Jaroslav Spacek slated to become unrestricted free agents at season’s end, Gorges’ experience and leadership will be even more so important for the Bleu Blanc Rouge’s long-term plans.

—————————————
Fred is a freelance sports write and translator, as well as a featured Montreal Canadiens blogger on http://hockeyindependent.com/blog/ and a baseball columnist on http://www.dobberbaseball.com/. Fred also joined HabsAddict.com in time for the 2011-12 season.

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Today we learned of the imminent return of the league’s undoubtedly most talented forward, Sidney Crosby of the Pittsbugh Penguins. Suffering a concussion on January 1, 2011 after a collision with then-Washington Capital David Steckel, Crosby has not played in an NHL game since January 5 against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Penguins PR staff announced early on Sunday afternoon that Crosby would be back in the Pittsburgh lineup on Monday night when the New York Islanders visit the Consol Energy Center.

Now, Crosby’s return is without doubt fantastic news for the Penguins, the NHL and the entire hockey community. In any situation a league playing without it’s number one superstar is sure to face it’s obstacles; just ask Roger Goodell about losing Tom Brady in 2008 and Peyton Manning in 2011. The league and the sport simply isn’t the same without that player.

However, the return of Sidney Crosby, and Versus’ (or NBC Sports, whichever they like to be called) imminent decision to preempt the scheduled game between the Boston Bruins and the Montreal Canadiens in order to broadcast said match-up between Crosby’s Pens and the New York Islanders is what has revealed a fundamental problem in the NHL’s marketing strategy.

The Boston-Montreal rivalry is ageless. A tale as old as time. For as long as there as been the NHL, there has been hatred-a-brewin’ between the B’s and the Habs. Countless classic encounters have taken place between these two storied franchises. From the days of Maurice Richard, To Bobby Orr and Patrick Roy, all the way up to today’s confrontations between Zdeno Chara and Max Pacioretty, these two cities have seen it all. This rivalry is undeniably the best the NHL has to offer and way very well be the best in all of sports.

Instead of treating the country’s viewers to another classic bout between these two original six rivals, and a chance to watch as the defending Stanley Cup Champions go for their 9th straight victory, we get to watch Sidney Crosby’s ten minutes of ice-time against the worst team in the Eastern Conference — the same team that was just on the receiving end of a 6-0 drubbing at the hands of the Bruins on Saturday night –.

The problem that the NHL has created for itself is that it is constantly limiting it’s growth potential. Through the constant pushing of guys like Crosby and Alex Ovechkin, the league is limiting it’s audience. The way the NHL and Versus are forcing the same handful of players, while great for the teams involved, is unhealthy for the league as a whole.  Now, one can argue that the use of this tactic is to draw in the casual fan who might have more interest in an individual talent, rather than a team as a whole. However, if you are able to draw in these casual fans, you are creating an audience that may only be interested in watching a game that features one of the over-marketed players.

Prior to the change of schedule for Monday’s game, the Pittsburgh Penguins already had four of their next six games slated to be on national television (NHL Network, Versus, CBC). While fans are being force-fed dose after dose of Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals and New York Rangers, the talents of players like Colorado’s Matt Duchene, Carolina’s Jeff Skinner and Tampa Bay’s Steven Stamkos aren’t being properly showcased.

If the NHL ever plans to grow to a point in which it can surpass the popularity of the NBA, MLB, or even the NFL (that’s a long-shot), the league must do a much better job in properly managing and marketing their teams, as well as their superstars.

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That new line combination, has allowed Jacques Martin to play Thomas Plekanec on a line with Brian Gionta and whichever winger was on fire lately. Travis Moen filled in admirably for a few games until Mike Cammalleri was reinserted in the line-up yesterday against the Hurricanes and took his spot on the Habs’ second line.

When Cole faced his former teammates at the Bell Centre in a 4-0 domination of the Hurricanes, he didn’t seem too disturbed as shown in the video below:

Click here to view the embedded video.

In the meantime, Cole’s former teammate, Eric Staal, seems lost on the ice and he’s having the worst season of his prolific career so far, scoring only four goals and four assists for eight points in 18 games. But what’s even more surprising is his league-leading -18 +/- differential, on pace for a mediocre -78 over 82 games. Staal, who had been playing with grinder Chad Larose and phenom Jeff Skinner for a while, was moved to the wing to play with two-way center Brandon Sutter and Larose, not the most talented players on Earth. Cole’s departure created a gaping hole on Carolina’s top two lines, as they filled the hole by signing underachiever Alexei Ponikarovsky who has only four points in 19 games.

Staal has averaged 0.90 point/game during the six-plus seasons when he and Cole have been teammates. Without him, his productions to 0.69 point/game. Quite a dip that the Hurricanes could have foreseen, but they decided to re-sign players like Chad Larose, Joni Pitkanen and Jussi Jokinen instead. They also signed as a UFA overrated defenseman Tomas Kaberle to a three-year deal that is already looking bad as Kaberle only has four assists this season with the slumping Canes.

As for Cole, he’s gaining confidence each and every game and he might be well the power forward the Canadiens have been seeking to complement youngster Max Pacioretty as the only two forwards with some grit and size in the Canadiens’ top six (Desharnais, Gionta, Cammalleri and Plekanec are all under 6’0” and 200 lb). If the Oswego-native keeps playing with determination and spite, he might well approach or surpass last year’s totals of 26 goals and 26 assists for 52 points in 82 games (he’s on pace for 41 points after his slow start).

Do you think Cole will play all season with Pacioretty and Desharnais?

———————————-
Fred is a freelance sports write and translator, as well as a featured Montreal Canadiens blogger on http://hockeyindependent.com/blog/ and a baseball columnist on http://www.dobberbaseball.com/. Fred also joined www.habsaddict.com in time for the 2011-12 season.

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GOON:

In our support of the lack of hockey movies, comes this info from the movie company to us.

“We have a great throwback hockey movie coming out and we would love to get your support. Its violent and insanely funny.”

Starring Seann William Scott, Jay Baruchel, Alison Pill and Liev Schreiber
Written by Jay Baruchel, Evan Goldberg (SUPERBAD and  PINEAPPLE EXPRESS)

Click here to view the embedded video.

Synopsis
Labelled an outcast by his brainy family, a bouncer overcomes long odds to lead a team of underperforming misfits to semi-pro hockey glory, beating the crap out of everything that stands in his way.

The film opens on VOD on 2/24 and In Theatres 3/30

Based from the book “Goon: The True Story of an Unlikely Journey into Minor League Hockey”

www.goonthemovie.com

Official Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/GoonFilm

Some more on the movie comes from Slash Film

Scott Gomez, who has missed the team’s past six games, has resumed practising with his teammate, albeit with a non-contact jersey. Upon Gomez’s return, the odd-man out will most likely be fourth line winger Mike Blunden, but that doesn’t clarify the situation. The Canadiens have four centre spots available and the return of Gomez means the Canadiens will have five centres, which means one of them will have to play wing and it won’t be the veteran Gomez.

It won’t be the team’s first line center and most important forward Tomas Plekanec (50.5%), who’s been the team leading scorer the past two seasons. I also highly doubt it will be fourth line center and newcomer Petteri Nokelainen who’s been a welcome addition on face-offs (56.7%).

That leaves Gomez (53.5%), as well as Lars Eller (40.8%) and David Desharnais (44.6%) to battle for the remaining two spots. With Gomez’s success on the dots combined with Eller and Desharnais’ inefficiency, it would be a wise to move Desharnais or Eller back to the wing. While David Desharnais has found a chemistry with veterans Erik Cole and Michael Cammalleri, Lars Eller has experienced similar success with Andrei Kostitsyn and Travis Moen.

However, after a torrid start, Moen has cooled off dramatically as it was expected, notching only one assist in the past six games. This means, that Moen is the most likely candidate to be sent down to the fourth line to play alongside Mathieu Darche and Petteri Nokelainen. Gomez played as a winger in his rookie season with the New Jersey Devils, so is somewhat familiar with the position should he be moved there by his coach.

The best move would be to insert Gomez on the Habs’ third line alongside Eller and Kostitsyn, keeping Eller as the center, but asking Gomez to take the draws because he is more efficient. This move could also be temporary as many injuries occur during the long NHL season and you never know when you are going to need your veterans to step up.

Don’t expect to see Scott Gomez traded this season as his $7.3-million cap hit will repel any general manager that might have a small interest in the veteran and this same cap hit will prevent GM Pierre Gauthier to bury him in the minors for the time being. Consequently, Gomez is here to stay, at least until the summer where his actual salary drops to $5.5 millions/year.

In the meantime, Andrei Kostitsyn left yesterday’s practice with an undisclosed injury and might miss some time in a near future.

What would do with Gomez to make it work?

Fred is a freelance sports write and translator, as well as a featured Montreal Canadiens blogger on http://hockeyindependent.com/blog/ and a baseball columnist on http://www.dobberbaseball.com/. Fred also joined www.habsaddict.com in time for the 2011-12 season.

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I feel like I’ve wrote this before. Actually a couple of times before. Right, that’s because I have wrote this before. For the third consecutive contest, the Boston Bruins lost a meaningful game. Dropping seven of their first ten games this season, the Bruins solidified their position of 15th in the Eastern Conference, as they fell 4-2 to the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday evening at the Bell Centre.  Prior to this 2-game set, the Canadiens had lost 6 out of 7 games. The Habs were reeling, and everyone knew it, as evidenced by the “panic button” type move they made on Wednesday by firing their assistant coach Perry Pearn only one hour prior to game-time. Boston had a real opportunity to bury the Canadiens. Unfortunately for the B’s, it was exactly the opposite. The Bruins would lose both games  against Montreal, sinking to dead-last in the Eastern Conference –all at the hands of the hands of their most hated rivals.

After a first period in which the Bruins dug themselves a 2-0 hole, it was clear that Boston needed a spark. B’s fourth line regular Shawn Thornton would attempt to create that spark when he dropped the gloves with Montreal’s Travis Moen at 7:45 of the second period. Unfortunately for Boston, it was the exact opposite, as a mere 4:39 later, the Canadiens extended their lead to 3-0 on a power-play goal from David Desharnais. Now down 3-0, the Bruins would finally respond with a goal of their own by capitalizing on a Montreal turnover. It was Milan Lucic who would blast home a one-timer off of a feed from Nathan Horton, who ended up with the puck after a steal by David Krejci.

For the 2nd straight period, Boston found themselves down by two goals. The Bruins play throughout most of the third period was perhaps their worst of the season. Allowing Montreal to get comfortable in their “prevent style defense”, the B’s were unable to garner much pressure on Carey Price. It wasn’t until the  19:05 mark of the third period that the Bruins would get on the board again, when Tyler Seguin notched his 4th of the season. However, it would simply be too little too late for the B’s, as Montreal would add an empty netter with 0:12 seconds remaining to seal the victory and the 2-game sweep. Things just keep getting uglier for the Black & Gold. Hopefully for Boston, they can find a way to get it together, before they dig themselves a hole that is too deep to recover from.

KEY STATS

Goals–                   BOS (2)       MTL (4)

Shots–                   BOS (28)     MTL (27)

Power-Play–       BOS (0-2)    MTL (2-6)

Penalty-Kill–        BOS (4-6)    MTL (2-2)

Three Stars– ….. 3.) Tomas Plekanec ….. 2.) Lars Eller ….. 1.) Carey Price

What’s Next?

The Bruins will look to finally end their skid when they play host to the red-hot Ottawa Senators (6-5-0) at TD Garden on Tuesday evening. Ottawa, winners of 5 straight games, are being carried by the play of all-star centerman Jason Spezza, who has recorded 7 goals and 8 assists in 11 games this season.

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Entering Thursday, the Boston Bruins were in desperate need of points. They sat at 13th in the Eastern Conference –3 points behind the 8th place Devils –.  It was supposed to be the best game they’ve had this year, in a playoff-like atmosphere against their most hated rivals (who were also struggling, at 14th in the East). Unfortunately for the Bruins, it was the same story-different chapter on Thursday evening, as they dropped their second straight home game, 2-1 to their hated rivals, the Montreal Canadiens. In a game that went much like Saturday’s loss to the San Jose Sharks, the Bruins were ultimately doomed by not being able to capitalize on numerous scoring chances, while being essentially shut-out by Carey Price and the Habs.

Boston stormed out of the gate,with countless scoring chances and pressured the Montreal net for most of the 1st frame. However, the only time they would get on the board was when Tomas Plekanec won a defensive zone face-off and pulled the puck backwards through the wickets of a sleeping Carey Price  for a 1-0 Boston lead. Other than that, the Black & Gold were shut-down by the Canadiens’ net-minder, despite countless opportunities to expand their lead. Boston players were well aware of their offensive deficiencies, when asked about them after the game:

 ”Yeah I think we passed up some shots. I think we got to shoot a little more if we want to score goals. Tonight he (Carey Price) did make some big saves. But we got to take it upon ourselves to bury our chances.” — Rich Peverley

“I think we’re getting opportunities, we’re just not burying them. We had a lot of good chances tonight, and we either missed or hit a couple posts or whatnot. So we just have to bear down.” – Brad Marchand

From the second period on, the ice began to tilt in the favor of Montreal. It was Erik Cole who would re-direct a Jaroslav Spacek slap-shot past Tim Thomas to tie the game at the 10:27 mark of the 2nd period. While the remainder of the 2nd period did not feature any action on the scoreboard, it sure had it’s fair share of physicality, courtesy of Brad Marchand and P.K. Subban. After twice being sent to the box for matching 2-minute minors, Marchand & Subban went at it in a bout for the ages. Marchand, a much smaller man than Subban managed to hold his own against 6’0″ Canadien blue-liner. Despite the animosity between the city of Boston and Montreal’s top-pair D-man, he and B’s agitator Brad Marchand don’t feel that way about each other:

“Well, I know Marshy (Brad Marchand) pretty well and it’s just a matter of us both being frustrated out there and that’s how you settle your differences. I mean, we were kind of laughing about it after, we gave each other a pat on the pads, I don’t think there’s any true animosity between us two. But like I said, we have quite the past, winning a gold medal together. But it’s a game, you know, that’s what the fans want, that’s what both teams want, it’s energy out there, it’s fun.” –P.K. Subban

In the 3rd, Montreal forward Tomas Plekanec would redeem himself as he put the Habs ahead 2-1 when he took a rebound of the leg of Adam McQuaid and quickly put it past Tim Thomas. “It was a great play by our defense back there and a nice one-touch to me and then I got a lucky break. After the first shot the puck stayed in his (Adam McQuaid) feet and I was able to grab it and put it in the net.” said the 28-year old forward from the Czech Republic.

The problems that plagued the B’s tonight are the same that have haunted them all season long: Inconsistency and complacency. Head Coach Claude Julien summed it up best during his post-game press conference.

“The inability to focus for 60 minutes is pretty obvious and apparent. When you play the way you do the first period and seem to be heading in the right direction, then come out in the second period and play that way, it certainly shows a lack of focus, and what that translated to was a lack of execution….. I’d probably get nightmares thinking about how we’re playing right now more than anything else. It’s more about our team right now. I don’t care where we are in the standings. What I care about is how we play, and right now, we’re not playing at all to the level we should be.” — Claude Julien

So here we sit, one month into the 2011-12 season, and the defending Stanley Cup Champions sit in dead last in the Eastern Conference, with only 6 points. Not to mention another game against Montreal is on tap for Saturday at the Bell Centre. If they don’t turn it around quickly, things could get ugly (as if they haven’t already) here in the Hub.

KEY STATS

Goals–                  MTL (2)           BOS (1)

Shots–                  MTL (35)        BOS (30)

Power-Play–     MTL (0-2)     BOS (1-6)

Penalty-Kill–     MTL (5-6)     BOS (2-2)

Three Stars– ….. 3.) Rich Peverley ….. 2.) Carey Price ….. 1.) Tomas Plekanec

What’s Next?

Both teams will practice tomorrow morning at the TD Garden, prior to traveling to Montreal for game number 2 of this home-and-home series. On Saturday evening, the two squads will face off once again, for their first of 3 games this season at Montreal’s Bell Centre. Following Saturday’s game, the B’s will once again return home, as they prepare to host the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday November 1st. Montreal will have the luxury of a long stretch of five off-days,  prior to making a visit to Ottawa on Friday November 3rd.

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Fresh off an abnormal stretch of four straight off-days, the Boston Bruins (3-5-0 (6 Points)) will look to get things back on track Thursday evening as they renew acquaintances with their age-old rivals, the Montreal Canadiens (2-5-2 (6 Points)). The Canadiens, who snapped their recent 6-game losing streak with a 5-1 victory against the Philadelphia Flyers last night, will be playing in their second game without the recently fired assistant coach Perry Pearn. In a shockingly  unprofessional act, Montreal GM Pierre Gauthier fired Pearn, only about an hour prior to game time. Tonight begins a 2-game home-and-home set, with the finale to come on Saturday at Montreal’s Bell Centre.

Tonight’s game, as well as Saturday’s, are of immense importance to both Boston and Montreal. Currently sitting at 4th and 5th respectively in their division with only 6 points a piece, every game is meaningful. For those unable to grasp the importance of this home and home set between these two original six rivals, take a look at these numbers:

– In the past 2 years, only 2 of the 16 teams to make the playoffs in the Eastern Conference were out of the top 8 on November 1.

– Boston sits at 13th in the East while Montreal is 14th. Both are 3 points behind the 8th place New Jersey Devils and 10 points behind the top-seed Pittsburgh Penguins.

– Last season, the only team in the top-8 ,on November 1, to miss the post-season was the Atlanta Thrashers, who were 8th on Nov. 1.

At this point, the Bruins should be focused on improving the consistency in their game and find a way to put together a winning streak. The Bruins would like nothing more than to sweep this 2-game set against their hated rivals. A sweep by Boston would also mean turmoil in Montreal and likely a shake-up of the roster or even the firing of head coach Jacques Martin.

Tonight’s Projected Line-Up (Subject To Change):

FORWARDS

Lucic–Kelly–Seguin

Marchand–Bergeron–Peverley

Pouliot–Krejci–Horton

Paille–Campbell–Thornton

DEFENSE

Chara–Boychuk

Seidenberg–Corvo

Ference–McQuaid

GOALTENDER

Rask

Thomas

Scratches….. Jordan Caron , Steven Kampfer

Note– B’s Head Coach Claude Julien said this morning that there was a “good possibility” that Adam McQuaid would return to action this evening. It is likely that he will be a game-time decision and if he is unable to start, fellow d-man Steven Kampfer will be taking his spot.

Note– Reports this morning indicated that the entire Bruins’ roster left the ice together at the morning skate. Being that Rask was the first to head to the locker room is why he’s listed as the starter. However, it is unknown at this point who Boston’s starting net-minder will be tonight.

– Tonight’s game can be seen on NESN (Edwards, Brickley) and heard on 98.5 The Sports Hub (Goucher, Beers) the official Flagship station of the Boston Bruins.

Key Stats

– Montreal forward Max Pacioretty will be playing in his first game against Boston since the infamous stanchion incident at the Bell Centre last season between he and B’s captain Zdeno Chara.

– Canadiens’ sophomore defenseman P.K. Subban has only 3 points through 9 games this season, while sporting a -4 plus/minus rating.

– The Bruins’ new first line (Lucic-Kelly-Seguin) has registered 5 goals and 8 assists for 13 points in only two games together.

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Cammalleri sustained a deep leg laceration when Yannick Weber cut his leg in the period, while Spacek sustained a probable rib injury when he was checked by Evander Kane into the boards also in the first frame.

Forward lines at practice:
Moen-Plekanec-Cole
Pacioretty-Gomez-Gionta
Darche-Desharnais-Kostitsyn
Eller-Engqvist-Palushaj

Lars Eller is slated to make a return on Thursday against the Calgary Flames at Bell Centre.

Defensive pairings:
Gill-Subban
Gorges-Diaz
Emelin-Weber

Yannick Weber was back on defense after playing part of the last two games on the blue line following injuries. The Habs have very inexperienced blue line with Spacek and Markov out of the line up for the upcoming weeks at the earliest. Newly-signed rearguard Chris Campoli will also miss an extended period of time (in terms of weeks) after suffering a hamstring injury in the season opener on Saturday. That’s three veteran defensemen that you have to replace.

The Habs also lost their insurance policy when they put Jeff Woywitka on waivers before the season and saw him claimed by the New York Rangers.

Look for GM Pierre Gauthier to get defensive help very soon as he can’t afford to go with this personnel for an extended period of time.

The Canadiens and the Maple Leafs are rumored to be talking to each other as the Habs need an NHL defenseman and the Maple Leafs have a surplus of quality rearguards at their disposal.

—
Fred is a freelance sports write and translator, as well as a featured Montreal Canadiens blogger on Hockey Independent and a baseball columnist on Dobber Baseball. Fred also joined HabsAddict.com in time for the 2011-12 season.

Assigned to the Bulldogs on October, the 22 year-old forward registered two helpers in Hamilton’s 5-2 victory in their season opener against the Rochester Americans on October 8 in Hamilton.

Palushaj had a good training camp before his demotion, registering four points (1-3-4) in five preseason games with the Canadiens.

Palushaj’s arrival gives the Habs eleven healthy forwards to work with if Yannick Weber is taking Jaroslav Spacek’s spot on defense. Spacek left yesterday’s contest with a ribs injury. We’ll know more about the extent of his injury tomorrow.

Andrei Kostitsyn will take Cammalleri’s spot alongside Erik Cole and Tomas Plekanec.

The Canadiens will host the Calgary Flames for their home opener at the Bell Centre, Thursday October 13, 2011.

Betts is a very disciplined player as he only took eight penalty minutes all season. Betts finished with a +/- ratio of -3. Betts led the NHL last season among forwards with 3:37 short-handed minutes on ice per game and playing a little over ten minutes per game overall.

The left-handed center finished the season with a 50.3% face-off rate, winning 411 draws on 817 attempts. The absence of a 4th-line center in the Habs organization after the departure of veteran Jeff Halpern was obvious in training camp as no rookie was able to impress head coach Jaques Martin. The leading candidate was Andreas Engvist, but he had a mediocre training camp and he will need more seasoning in the American Hockey League before he can make an impact in the NHL.

Overall, Betts started just 26.9 percent of his shifts in the offensive zone. That’s the second lowest number in the NHL behind the Canucks’ Manny Malhotra, known as one of the league’s best defensive forwards

In order to reach the 23-player limit mandated by the NHL before tomorrow’s opening game in Toronto against the Maple Leafs, the Canadiens have also announced that they have demoted forwards Andreas Engvist, Ian Schultz and Aaron Palushaj to the Hamilton Bulldogs of the AHL. Yesterday, they had placed forward Michael Blunden on waivers to make room; today they did the same thing with veteran rearguard Jeff Woywitka, placing him on waivers as well.

Andrei Markov and Ryan White have been placed on the injured reserve to open the season and make space on the roster to replace them until they come back.

The Canadiens’ 23-man roster as of today October 5, 2011:
Forwards
Mike Cammalleri-Thomas-Plekanec-Andrei Kostitsyn
Max Pacioretty-Scott Gomez-Brian Gionta
Erik Cole-David Desharnais-Mathieu Darche
Travis Moen-Blair Betts-Yannick Weber
Extra:
Lars Eller (still recovering from shoulder surgery)

Defensemen
Hal Gill-P.K. Subban
Chris Campoli-Josh Gorges
Jaroslav Spacek-Rafael Diaz
Extra: Alexei Yemelin

Goaltenders
Carey Price
Peter Budaj

This means the Canadiens will most likely use Yannick Weber as the team’s 13th forward/7th defenseman at the beginning of the season as rookie Rafael Diaz stole his job on the blue line with a solid training camp. The team’s other rookie defenseman, Alexei Yemelin will most likely start as a defensive spare, as he still needs to adapt to the smaller NHL rinks and improve his overall play, especially in his defensive zone.

Carey Price is expected to be the starting goalie tomorrow in Toronto, obviously.

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