posted by Mike Boone at 6h12 EST on Jun 2
• Louis Leblanc weighs his options
• Olivier Fortier talks about the Guy Boucher system – Hickey
• Who are the real Canadiens? – Arpon Basu
• A dozen questions facing the Canadiens
• Pierre Durocher on his ruefrontenac.com colleague and Hall of Fame inductee, Marc De Foy
• Réjean Tremblay on the scouting situation
• Kovalev says he'll be back with Senators
• Nick Lidstrom back for at least a year
At SI, Allan Muir on the hot coaching candidates, including Guy Boucher:
The AHL's Coach of the Year became the hot name after a record-setting
season with the Hamilton Bulldogs and clearly is one of the top coaching
prospects in the game. But is he ready for the leap after just one year
as the head man in the minors? Even with an extensive track record in
the QMJHL and with Hockey Canada, there's a sense that even Boucher
isn't certain. The Jackets secured permission to talk to him, which has
some people assuming he's their top choice. That may be, but it may also
just be due diligence on the part of GM Scott Howson (himself
the former GM of the Bulldogs). Boucher's 1-3-1 system is intriguing,
but without the talent to adequately execute it, this may not be the
ideal situation. It says here he'll wait out another year or two in the
AHL with the hope he's considered for the job he really wants: The
Canadiens.
posted by Mike Boone at 14h06 EST on Jun 1
Louis Leblanc at Canadiens development camp on Tuesday.
Pierre Obendrauf, Gazette
As befits a Harvard man, Louis Leblanc will devote some of his summer to thinking.
The Canadiens' first draft choice in 2009 has completed his freshman year at great Ivy League university. Leblanc must weigh options that include:
• Returning to the Crimson for a sophomore season
• Playing in the Q, where his rights belong to Chicoutimi
• Turning pro and likely spending a season with the Hamilton Bulldogs
Scrummed at Day 1 of the Canadiens development camp, the highest-drafted player on hand would not commit himself to one course of action or another.
Leblanc, who turned 19 in January, said he would consider pros and cons before deciding what would be best for his development.
His stall neighbour – and former USHL teammate – was more definitive.
"I'm the best right winger in Camp," Danny Kristo crowed, hastily adding "because there are six centres, five left wings and I'm the only right wing here."
Continue reading "Postcard from camp" »
posted by Mike Boone at 6h37 EST on Jun 1
In Marc Antoine Godin's La Presse story on the scout sackings, a source speculates that the Canadiens will cut costs by using video instead of human beings freezing in junior and college rinks.
The Canadiens now employ nine scouts, some of whom probably are waiting for the other show to drop.
The Leafs have 24 scouts, including four pro scouts (the Canadiens have one, Doug Gibson) and five in Europe (Canadiens have one, Hannu Laine, based in Finland).
We'll know more today if Pierre Gauthier meets the media at development camp in Brossard.
Guy Boucher is expected to be there as well.
Workouts begin this afternoon at 2 and run till 5.
Pat Hickey sets things up.
Check back later today for news from camp.
posted by Mike Boone at 12h07 EST on May 31
Tony Marinaro of the Team 990, who has good sources, is reporting the Canadiens have fired six scouts.
The victims: Amateur scouts Dave Mayville, Denis Morel (who scouts the Q), Pelle Eklund (Sweden), Nikolai Varoutov (Russia and Antonin Routa (Europe). Also pro scout Gordie Roberts.
They're all gone from the Canadiens web site.
The timing is odd: the eve of development camp and three weeks before the amateur draft.
Least surprising: Morel.
The Canadiens have missed the boat on too many Quebec prospects. On the other hand, he's probably spotted some very promising linesmen.
posted by Kevin Mio at 8h31 EST on May 31
According to RDS, the Canadiens have given permission to the Columbus Blue Jackets to speak with Hamilton Bulldogs head coach Guy Boucher about the Blue Jackets' vacant head coaching position.
The all-sports network did not say whether any talks had already taken place, however.
posted by Mike Boone at 18h52 EST on May 28
Well, how did you spend the off-season?
The team anouncement:
The Montreal Canadiens announced today that 22 prospects will participate in the first of two development camps, set to take place from June 1-5, at the Bell Sports Complex, in Brossard.
The list of participating players includes several players drafted by the organization, as well as players invited as try-outs.
A second development camp, to include players to be selected at the 2010 NHL Entry Draft held on June 25-26 in Los Angeles, will take place from July 6-9, also at the Bell Sports Complex in Brossard. The first edition of the Canadiens development camp was presented in 2001.
The Canadiens prospects will first take to the ice on Tuesday, June 1, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. The development camp consists of two on-ice sessions daily until June 5 on both ice surfaces at the Bell Sports Complex (9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 3:15 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.). Off-ice conditioning sessions are also scheduled each day.
posted by asmaa at 15h19 EST on May 28
You may have noticed that our site has been offline for the last little while. Our readers and bloggers have waited patiently on the sidelines as our web folks have been tackling a very serious hardware issue that took down Habs Inside/Out and our West Island Gazette site.
Things are pretty much back to normal here and our bloggers are eager to jump back in the game just in time for the Stanley Cup final. And we know you’re ready to get back into the action and share your thoughts on the Canadiens, the playoffs and the Cup.
Please bear with us over the next few days as you may encounter some glitches that may affect some photos and archived stories. If you would like to report any specific technical issues, please email us at web-feedback@thegazette.canwest.com.
We’re glad to be back online. Thanks for your patience and your encouraging comments via email, Facebook and Twitter.
posted by Kevin Mio at 12h48 EST on May 25
From Herb Zurkowsky:
The Canadiens were eliminated on Monday by Philadelphia, but the hockey season isn't over for two of their players.
As expected, the organization announced on Tuesday forward Ben Maxwell and
defenceman P.K. Subban have been assigned to the Hamilton Bulldogs of
the American Hockey League. Both will join the Bulldogs for Game 7 of
the AHL Western Conference final, against Texas, Wednesday night at
Hamilton.
Promoted from the farm team on April 26, Subban played
in 14 playoff games for Montreal, scoring a goal and seven assists. He
was third in Bulldogs' scoring this season, with 18 goals and 53 points
in 77 games.
Maxwell was used sparingly by the Canadiens during
their post-season run, dressing for only one game, against Pittsburgh.
He failed to register a point. He also played 13 regular-season games
for Montreal, again being held pointless.
In 57 games with Hamilton, Maxwell scored 16 goals and 28 assists.
Canadiens
players are being made available at the team's Brossard training
facility this afternoon. Head cCoach Jacques Martin meets the media at
4:30, followed by general manager Pierre Gauthier 30 minutes later.
posted by Dave Stubbs at 0h12 EST on May 25
Audio from the Canadiens dressing room after tonight's Game 5 elimination at the hands of the Philadelphia Flyers, who go on to face the Chicago Blackhawks for the Stanley Cup.
Michael Cammalleri | Scott Gomez | Jaro Halak 1 and 2 | Josh Gorges | P.K. Subban 1 and 2
The Habs will meet the media in Brossard at around noon Tuesday.
GM Pierre Gauthier is expected to provide his postmortem late afternoon, also in Brossard.
Jacques Martin's comments are below; couldn't get back to the media room to record them, so here's the transcript courtesy of the NHL:
Continue reading "Audio: Habs react after elimination" »
posted by Kevin Mio at 22h42 EST on May 24
Canadiens goalie Jaroslav Halak is consoled by teammates Carey Price and Andrei Kostitsyn after Game 5 loss on Monday night. Phil Carpenter, The Gazette
Preview | Matchups | Game at NHL.com | Boone's Game Blog and About last
night ... | Stubbs on Twitter | Hickey's game story | Philadelphia Inquirer
• At a Glance: The Canadiens finally managed to score a goal in Philadelphia Monday night, but it didn’t matter as the Flyers erased an early one-goal deficit for a 4-2 victory and win the Eastern Conference final. Brian Gionta waited only 59 seconds to open the scoring in Game 5, slipping the puck under the pads of Flyers goaltender Michael Leighton. But the lead was shortlived as the Flyers scored a shorthanded goal moments later. Mike Richards took advantage of a turnover and collission between Jaroslav Halak and Roman Hamrlik and slid the puck into a wide open net. Philadelphia added a pair in the second period when Aaron Asham and Jeff Carter scored minutes apart early in the period. Scott Gomez, who had not scored since Game 1 of the opening round of the playoffs, gave the Canadiens a glimmer of hope when he scored 6:53 into the third period. But Leighton stoned the Canadiens several times throughout the rest of the period, preserving the lead and the series win. Carter added his second of the game into an empty net with 23 seconds to play.
• What It Means: The Flyers are off to the Stanley Cup final with a 4-1 series win. They will face the Chicago Blackhawks for Lord Stanley’s mug.
• What's Next: Another offseason that could see the Canadiens undergo more personnel changed with impending free agency for Tomas Plekanec and a decision to be made about the men between the pipes.
posted by Dave Stubbs at 12h24 EST on May 24
posted by Pat Hickey at 12h10 EST on May 24
Canadiens coach Jacques Martin says Tom Pyatt is a game-time decision but the two-way forward will not be in the lineup for tonight's Game 5 against the Flyers. Pyatt, suffered an upper-body injury in Game 4 and did not skate this morning. Mathieu Darche will replace him.
posted by Mike Boone at 6h39 EST on May 24
posted by Dave Stubbs at 17h59 EST on May 23
Canadiens centre Scott Gomez heads for his Philadelphia hotel Sunday afternoon. The Habs take on the Flyers Monday night in the sixth sudden-death game Montreal has played this postseason.
Phil Carpenter, Gazette
The Canadiens have arrived in Philadelphia, where Game 5 against the Flyers awaits tomorrow night.
The club and the NHL made the head coach and a few players available to journalists – all five of us who went to their hotel for the occasion.
Here they are:
• Jacques Martin
• Scott Gomez
• Roman Hamrlik
• Jaroslav Spacek (wins bet on worlds with Andrei Markov)
posted by Dave Stubbs at 13h14 EST on May 23
From The Gazette's Herb Zurkowsky:
Not
only are the Canadiens denying any suggestions of sabotage, head coach Jacques
Martin said his players had their own skate-related issues during Saturday
afternoon's game against Philadelphia.
According to Martin, his team lost two centres - Scott Gomez and
Dominic Moore - at the same time during the second period.
"Both teams had skate
issues," Martin said Sunday, following a meeting at the team's Brossard
practice facility. "With the new sticks, because of the intensity and
battles and shots on the composite sticks, it makes more damage."
Continue reading "Skategate? Habs had blade issues too: Martin" »
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