The Canadiens get a hard worked victory

The Canadiens started their 7 game home stand last night(Longest home-stand in Canadiens History) with a 3-2 win over the Sabers.Thomas Vanek scored a goal in the first period to give the Sabers a 1-0 lead,until Andrei Kostisyn tied it at 1 apeace in the Second.5 minutes after Kostisyn tied the game,Thomas Vanek scored again to give the Sabers another 1 goal lead.But before the period was over Begin and Markov traded goals to give the Canadiens a 3-2 lead. "Saku made a great play to get the puck to me and I just kept my stick on the ice," said Markov. ''The win was huge for us."We've been up and down. We're still looking for our game and I think we can still play better.""Our attitude was better from the start," said Montreal coach Guy Carbonneau.

Vanek put the puck between his own legs and lifted it past Carey Price on a nifty move at 13:31 of the first period.This particular play was the Highlight of the Night on TSN's sportcenter."It was a great play by (Jaroslav) Spacek to keep the puck in," said Vanek. "I was going to go off, but when I saw that, I stayed in front and the puck came to me."I knew that if I just turned and shot, Price was pretty solid and I had to put him off because I was in so tight, so I put it between my legs and shot it and it worked out."Even Though that was a very nice goal the Canadiens picked up the 2 points and the Sabers picked up 0 points in last night's game.

The Canadiens next game will be on Tuesday at the Bell-Center against the Thrashers at 7:30 Pm E.T on TSN,and RDS



Written By Andrew Di Pardo

Game Preview: Buffalo Sabers At Montreal Canadiens

After the Buffalo Sabres were in a long 6 game slump, they responded with back to back wins.The Sabres will look to continue this winning streak tonight in Montreal.Both Buffalo (11-8-3) and Montreal (12-6-4) got off to great starts in October but have not been consistent and now are trying to end November on a wining note.The Canadiens will look to respond from last night's lose to the Capitals with a win tonight.

The Sabers also played a game last night,it was against the Penguins they won that game 4-3."They're a great team and we know they have the firepower, but we stayed within our system and it paid off for us," Gaustad said. "We didn't run around and we stayed within ourselves. When we do that we're a strong team and a hard team to play against."

Carey Price will start in goal for the Canadiens and Ryan Miller will start in goal for the Sabers in Tonights game.

The Sabers are just 3 points behind the 5th place Canadiens.The puck Drop for tonights game will be at 7:08Pm E.T on CBC-M,RDS, and MSG-B.

written By Andrew Di Pardo

Canadiens could not find the back of the net against former teammate Jose Theodore

Jose Theodore who played 10 seasons with the Canadiens made save after save to lead to a 3-0 Capitals win."I knew in the first period I was seeing the puck well," said Theodore, who has 26 career shutouts. "Even if I didn't see a lot of shots early, I knew I would need a good shot to beat me." "The saves he made over a period of five minutes in the second period were pretty dazzling," Boudreau said.Theodore's second game against Montreal was a lot better than his first game. He allowed 8 goals in a loss to the Canadiens on Oct. 21, 2006, when he played with Colorado.

"Before the game, Theodore didn't talk. He just concentrated on (the) game," Ovechkin said. "Today, he played well and deserved it. He deserved it."Alex Ovechkin, Tomas Fleischmann and David Steckel scored for the Capitals to lead to yet another win at home their 9-0-1 at home this season.

Halak played a solid game for the Canadiens but the offense wasn't converting."That's where I'm embarrassed," Montreal coach Guy Carbonneau said. "We come up with that kind of game, and that kind of effort and I'm really sad for Halak."Montreal Coach Guy Carbonneau thinks that some saves that Theodore made were flukes."He was lucky at some times," Carbonneau said. "He made the saves when he had to. We didn't really test him."


The Canadiens next game will be tonight against the Sabers at the Bell Center at 7:00Pm E.T on CBC Montreal,RDS,and MSG Buffalo.

Written By Andrew Dipardo

Canadiens outwork the Stanley Cup Champions

The Montreal Canadiens were putting pressure on Ty Conklin right from the opening faceoff and when the Wings had a chance to score Carey Price stopped them cold.Price made 32 saves, and Maxim Lapierre, Tomas Plekanec and Christopher Higgins all scored goals in the second period."We didn't forecheck,'' Plekanec said."We stayed in the neutral zone and tried to make them make turnovers and we did a great job."Montreal coach Guy Carbonneau told his team to be very patient with the puck.''Detroit's a team that likes to control the puck,'' Carbonneau said. ''Just tried to play as tough as we can in the neutral zone and make them dump it in.''Johan Franzen scored in the third for Detroit, and Ty Conklin stopped 22 shots in the lose.


''I thought they played their system real well,'' Red Wings defenceman Nicklas Lidstrom said. ''I think we saw their first play was right at the red line and they were backing off and not giving us any speed through the neutral zone. Once we got the puck in we lost a lot of 1-on-1 battles in the corners, couldn't sustain that pressure that we wanted to.''Lapierre scored the first goal of the game just 5:23 into the second period when his pass from behind the net deflected in off Lidstrom's skate.''You get the puck to the net and good things are going to happen,'' Conklin said. ''Bad things, in our case. Not a whole lot went well for us certainly at the other end.''Plekanec's power-play goal made the score become 2-0. ''It put us up 2-0 and created breathing room for us,'' Plekanec said.Higgins scored to make it be 3-0 off a weak bakehand that somehow passed Conklin.


''I'm a big believer in creating your own good bounces,'' Higgins said. ''We played our positions and were able to take advantage of them.''Later in the third period Franzen decked passed all the Canadiens defense to make it be 3-1 and break Price's shutout.''It's tough, but two points is more important,'' Price said.

The Canadiens next game will be on Friday against the Capitals.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

Game Preview:Montreal Canadiens At Detroit Red Wings

Tomorrow the Montreal Canadiens will be going to Detroit to face the Red Wings in what possibly can be the 2009 Stanley Cup Final.Both The Canadiens and the Red Wings are coming off a loses. The Canadiens Lost Last night in a Shootout against the Islanders.The Red Wings are coming off a Lose in Overtime to the Canucks. The Canadiens defenceman Ryan O'Bern put the Puck in his own net on a delayed penalty Call in last nights shootout lose against the Islanders. "I feel bad, I apologized to everyone in the room,'' said O'Byrne, who didn't play for the remainder of the game. ''The fans are eager for victories and they had a right to react the way they did."I know it's tough because they expect a lot and we expect a lot out of ourselves as well,'' Gorges said. ''I know how it feels, I've put the puck into my net before. It's never intentional, it's a bad break, and nobody feels more sick to his stomach about it than Ryan does.

Sami Salo Scored in OT on a Slap Shot to defeat the Red Wings 3-2."I basically slept the last 96 hours before today, so it's a nice feeling to get the win," said Salo, whose point shot was tipped in by Daniel Sedin to tie it."I have to thank (Demitra) for that goal," said Salo, who also hit the post in the opening minutes. "I've had a few posts here lately.""We're rallying around each other," Sanford said. "There's adversity right now and we're finding a way to deal with it. We have each other's back out there and we're going to find a way to get through all this."

"We let one slip away," Wings coach Mike Babcock said. "Full marks to them. We gave up 24 shots on the road and very few opportunities and they were able to find a way to win. We took a penalty in overtime and they made a good play."

The game between the Canaiens and the Wings puck drop will be at 7:38pm E.T on TSN,RDS and the NHL(Net).

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

O'Byrne scores but on the wrong net

The Canadiens were up 3-2 when there was a delayed penalty call and Ryan O'Byrne put the puck in his own net.Bill Guerin scored in the shootout to give New York a 4-3 victory last night over the Montreal Canadiens.''I feel bad, I apologized to everyone in the room,'' said O'Byrne, who didn't play for the remainder of the game. ''The fans are eager for victories and they had a right to react the way they did.''Guerin got the credit for the own goal.Steve Begin, Josh Gorges and Maxim Lapierre scored for the Canadiens in the shootout lose.The Canadiens lost their second straight shootout but still got points in four of their last five games.Everyone on the Canadiens was quick to come to O'Byrne's defence after the game.

'I know it's tough because they expect a lot and we expect a lot out of ourselves as well,'' Gorges said. ''I know how it feels, I've put the puck into my net before. It's never intentional, it's a bad break, and nobody feels more sick to his stomach about it than Ryan does.

''I just thought to chant his name was tough because I know how he feels and he'd give anything to take it back.''

''We're going to try a lot more experiments because since the beginning of the season we've been leaving the same 10 players who are supposed to make the power play work, but it's not working,'' Carbonneau said. ''If we have to put the fourth line on the ice to change things up, that's where we're at right now.''

The Canadiens next game will be on Wednesday against the Detroit Red Wings At 7:30pm E.T on TSN and or RDS.

Written by Andrew Di Pardo

Bruins continue there winning ways

Tim Thomas remembered what happened last time they played in a shootout in Montreal, He made sure it didn't happen again last night. Tim Thomas stopped all 3 shootout attempts.Thomas stopped Alex Kovalev, Andrei Markov and Canadiens captain Saku Koivu on the final shot of the shootout.Blake Wheeler scored the loan goal in the Shootout for the Bruins."To come in here and get a win feels really good, especially in a shootout," Thomas said. "I've seen Saku score on that last shot and him being the one walking off the ice with his arms raised and all happy. I was happy to be the one with my arms raised and all happy."

Milan Lucic who won the fight with Mike Komisarek on November 13 that left the Canadiens defenceman with a shoulder injury that will make him at a minimum sit out for 1 month was a target of Georges Laraque all night."I told him that he's 220 pounds, he's a big guy," Laraque said. "I tried everything."Instead of fighting Lucic scored the tieing goal."It's fun if they're on you like that or they're not on you like that, this is a fun building to play in," said Lucic, who didn't want to talk about Laraque. "Our mindset is that we're going to take one game at a time, not looking too far ahead and not dwelling on what we did in the past. That mindset has helped us thus far."

Andrei Kostitsyn and Tom Kostopoulos scored for the Canadiens who are 11-5-.Montreal has scored only 17 goals in the past 9 games."It's just a matter of time," Habs coach Guy Carbonneau said. "We have too much talent to just keep scoring one goal or two goals a game." Back to the shootout Wheeler the first shooter of the Shootout apeared to lose controle of the puck and it sliped right through Carey Price to his left as he went to his right."He kind of did the no-move move," Price said. "He lost the puck and psyched me out and himself out."

The Canadens next game will be on Monday against the Islanders at 7:30Pm E.T on RDS.

Written BY Andrew Di Pardo

ROY'S BACK

Last night in Montreal the Canadiens retired ST.Patricks Number 33. It was a very emotional night for both the Canadiens and Patrick Roy. In front of a sellout Montreal crowd at the Bell Centre, Roy's Banner went up into the rafters with 14 other Montreal Canadiens legends last night. Roy was just 15th Montreal player to have his number retired.

Patrick Roy's Speech:

"Thank you for demanding that we play every game as though it were the last," said Roy. "I will remember more [of] those moments where we shook the Forum, where we shook Montreal."

"Your encouragement and applause goes straight to my heart as you honour me."

Roy, who won two Stanley Cups with the Canadiens and still holds or shares six team records, then joined current Montreal players Saku Koivu and Carey Price for the ceremonial raising of the banner.

"Of course, I will remember the day when I left a little too soon without saying goodbye as I would've liked,"

The night Roy speaks of was a regular-season game between the Canadiens and Detroit Red Wings at the fabled Forum on Dec. 2, 1995. Roy allowed nine goals to the Red Wings, but coach Mario Tremblay refused to pull him from the net.

When the furious goaltender finally left the game, he stormed directly to president Ronald Corey, stating he had played his last game for Montreal.

Roy was traded days later to Colorado, where he won two more Stanley Cups and a third Conn Smythe Trophy award as playoff MVP.

But all was forgiven on Saturday night, with the Montreal faithful giving Roy several standing ovations.

"As you welcome me today as you did on the first day my friends… tonight, I'm coming home," Roy concluded.

Other jerseys hanging from the rafters at the Bell Centre are:

Jacques Plante (No. 1)
Doug Harvey (2)
Jean Beliveau (4)
Bernie Geoffrion (5)
Howie Morenz (7)
Maurice Richard (9)
Guy Lafleur (10)
Yvan Cournoyer and Dickie Moore (12)
Henri Richard (16)
Serge Savard (18)
Larry Robinson (19)
Bob Gainey (23)
Ken Dryden (29)

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

Quotes Said By Patrick Roy

(OTHER HOCKEY NEWS)Last night in Toronto Windal Clarks number 17 was retired by The Maple Leafs.

Patrick Roy number 33 retirement tonight in Montreal

Roy was drafted 51st overall in the 1984 NHL Entry Draft by the Montreal Canadiens.He was a fan of the Canadiens rivals the Quebec Nordiques.Roys Grandmother was a Canadiens Fan,She passed away before her grandson Patrick Roy got drafted. Roy was called up from the Minor team (the Bisons)to play for the Canadiens. on February 23, 1985, he made his Canadiens debut when he replaced the Canadiens starting goaltender Doug Soetaert in the third period. He did not allow a single goal in the period.Patrick Roy was sent down to the Sherbrooke Canadiens to play a game because there starting goalie had equipment problems. He won the game and became the number 1 goaltender in the Playoffs and lead them to a Calder Cup.


In the Next Season Roy started playing with the Montreal Canadiens. He Played in 47 of the 82 Montreal Canadiens games. Roy became the Habs number 1 goalie for the playoffs. Patrick Roy made the Canadiens win there 23rd stanley Cup and Roy won the Conn Smythe Trophy for the Most Valuable Player. Roy was the youngest player to ever win the Conn Smythe Trophy. After the Cup victory in 1986 Roys got a nick name it was St.Patrick.Roy continued playing for the Habs.The Canadiens won the Adams Division in 1987-88 and in 1988-89, when they lost to the Calgary Flames in the Stanley Cup final. In 1990 he appeared in his first ever All-Star Game. In the 1991-1992 NHL Season the Canadiens won another adams divison trophy.


The Following season (1992-1993)the Canadiens lost their first two games to their rivals Quebec Nordiques "The Canadiens go home empty handed and the Nordiques have a 2-0 lead in the series." The CBC Sports comentator said. Game 3 went into overtime the Canadens prevailed with a win that put them right back in the series.The Canadiens won there next 7 games playoff games majority of them in overtime. The Canadiens on the way to the finals they defeated Nordiques,The Sabers and thhe Islanders before facing the Kings. The First game of the Stanley Cup Finals the Kings won 2-0. But the rest of the series was a different story the Canadiens won the next 4 games against the kings to capture there 24th Stanley Cup. Patrick Roy won 2 Stanley Cups on the Canadiens.


In 1995, Patrick Roy was playing the worst game of his hockey career and it was against the Red Wings. He was finally pulled after allowing 9 goals. He gave Montreal head coach Mario Tremblay a bad stare before he told president Ronald Corey "It's my last game in Montreal.""Despite allowing five goals on 17 shots in the first, Tremblay kept me in the net in order to humiliate me." Roy told the media after a 11-1 lose.Roy later got traded to Colorado.

When Roy Played his first ever game against his former cub the Canadiens Roy got the win and had the game puck in his hand, He wiped the Puck at Tremblay and just missed his head.Trembly just stood there with his arms crossed. Roy Later went on to win 2 more Stanley Cups in his Career in Colorado.

No matter what good or bad things happened Roy is still the best goalie of all time and one of Montreals best goalies of all time.Patrick Roy will get his number retired tonight at 6:00Pm on RDS and or CBC Montreal.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

Senators lose 6 straight

The Montreal Canadiens had lost 5 of 7 games coming in to Scotiabank Place to take on the Senators. The Habs played a great game getting the puck on net for a total of 35 shots at Auld in the shootout victory. Following the Shootout win Montreal's head coach Guy Carbonneau picked up his 100th victory as the Canadiens head coach. In the shootout Andrei Markov and Alex Tanguay put the puck in the back of the net."It's a huge win for us, obviously," said Carbonneau, who'd called his players out after a dismal 2-1 loss Tuesday night in Carolina against the Hurricanes.He was asked if Thursday's effort was more to his liking, the coach replied: "By a mile.""Both teams were kind of struggling lately and everything was left on the ice," he said. "Both teams fought hard and played well defensively. I was just happy we were able to come back at the end."

Dany Heatley put The Senators up by a goal in the 1st period intil 2 minutes later Saku Koivu tied the game at 1-1. Nick Foligno gave the Senators a 1 goal again in the 3rd intil Andrei Markov tied the game at 2 apice.

This is the Result of the shootout:

Round 1 Alexei Kovalev misses shot.

Round 1 Jason Spezza scores on Carey Price
Ott 0-1
Round 2 Andrei Markov scores on Alex Auld

Round 2 Daniel Alfredsson misses shot.
Tied 1-1
Round 3 Saku Koivu misses shot.

Round 3 Jarkko Ruutu misses shot.
Tied 1-1
Round 4 Alex Tanguay scores on Alex Auld

Round 4 Antoine Vermette misses shot.
Mon 2-1

"Vermette missed his shot so I was going in and the goalie makes about 70 or 75 per cent of the saves, I'm not sure of the exact stats on penalty shots, so you have to sometimes take chances. On my backhand, if he opens his five-hole, I can shoot it there, and if he doesn't, I can always take it back to my forehand and try to get it over his pad. Fortunately for us, the puck found its way through his pads."Alex Auld told TSN.

The Canadiens next game will be on saturday against Boston with a specail event will take place Patrick Roy's number 33 will be retired.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

Game Preview:Montreal Canadiens A.t Ottawa Senators

The Montreal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators were the NHL's highest-scoring team last season. This seasons it's been a different story as the goals have been hard to come by for both the Canadiens and the Senators.The Canadiens shut-out the Sens in there last 2 meeting and will look for there 3rd straight shut-out tomorrow night in Ottawa. With the Panthers victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday, the Senators went down to dead last in the Eastern Conference."It's never nice seeing your team in last place or out of the playoffs even," winger Dany Heatley told TSN. "But at the same time we're not that many points out of a playoff spot and there are a lot of games left to be played."To make matters worse the Senators forwards Mike Fisher and Chris Neil are out of the line up for 2 weeks."We know that we have to get playing and get some points," Sens head coach Craig Hartsburgh said following practice Wednesday. "As much as it is about the standings, it's about playing the game and playing a good 60 minutes every night."

The puck drop for this game will be at 7:40 pm E.T on RDS and SNET-E.


Written By Andrew Di Pardo

Habs fall to Hurricanes

The Carolina Hurricanes fired enough shots at Carey Price in the game to eventually get 2 goal through the Montreal goaltender in the 3rd period.Sergei Samsonov and Ray Whitney scored one and a half minutes apart in the 3rd period to make the Canes take a 2 goal lead. Carolina put a season-high 48 shots on net in its 2-1 victory over the Canadiens last night."We came out with the attitude that we were going to shoot some pucks and crash the net a little bit more," Samsonov said. "We really made an effort to try to put the puck on net from any position, and I think that kind of created the forecheck."As for the Canadiens goalie Carey Price he played a exelent game saving 46 of 48 shots he faced.


"That's a team that shoots everything," Price said. "Whenever they get the puck in a good shooting position, they're going to be letting it go to the net."Robert Lang scored for the Canadiens, who ended a power-play drought last night.The Canadiens lost for the third time in four games last night."The whole game was about who was going to take a gamble," Montreal forward Alex Kovalev said. "I think every time we saw (the) opportunity to be on the safe side, we took a gamble, and it cost us. We really (need to) focus on and concentrate on the little details, which is not to worry about points or if you're going to score a goal. For now, we need to win a couple of games 1-0 or 2-1.

The Canadiens next game will be tomorrow night in Ottawa against the struggling Senators on RDS and or SNET-E at 7:30 PM E.T.

Written by Andrew Di Pardo

Habs snap losing drought in Shootout against the St-Louis Blues

The Montreal Canadiens avoided a 3rd straight loss tonight after being behind by a single goal with 5 minutes remaining in the 3rd period. Andrei Kostitsyn and Robert Lang scored in regulation for the Canadiens and Alex Kovalev scored in the Shootout. Carey Price made 24 saves in the shootout victory. Steve Regier scored twice for the Blues, and Legace also stopped 24 shots. The Canadiens were 0-for-10 on the power play and have scored twice on their last 36 chances. St. Louis was 1-for-9 with the man advantage.


Kostitsyn's backhand that squirted through Legace's pads tied the game at 1 with 1:55 remaining after an outlet pass from Price.He got a goal and a assist tonight to give the Canadiens a chance to win. Just 2 minutes into the 3rd Steve Regier scored his second goal of the game to give St-Louis a 2-1 lead. Robert Lang tied the game at 2 a piece with just under 5 minutes remaining in the 3rd.The Canadiens later went on to win the game 3-2 in the shootout.

This was the Result of the Shootout:

Round 1 Saku Koivu misses shot.

Round 1 Brad Boyes misses shot.
Tied 0-0
Round 2 Andrei Kostitsyn misses shot.

Round 2 David Perron misses shot.
Tied 0-0
Round 3 Alexei Kovalev scores on Manny Legace

Round 3 Keith Tkachuk misses shot.
Mon 1-0

The Canadiens next game is in Caroina on Tuesday on TSN and RDS.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

Habs extend losing streak to 2 games

Jeff Carter and Scottie Upshall scored for the Flyers and Martin Biron made 24 saves that lead to a 2-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on tonight. Alex Tanguay scored his 8th goal of the season to put the Canadiens within 1 goal that's as close as the Canadiens got. The Canadiens record went from 9-2-2 to 9-4-2.

Montreal gave goalie Carey Price the night off to rest for tomorrow's night game in St-Louis against the Blues. Jaroslav Halak got the start in goal tonight for the Canadiens and played a great game, making 29 saves in the lose.

There's no doubt that the Canadiens defense has been struggling the past 5 games giving up 20 goals in that strand. But tonight it was the offence that failed to put anything in the back of the net through 2 periods before making a charge in the 3rd that came up short.

The Canadiens will look to snap there 2 game winless streak tomorrow in St-Louis.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

The Canadiens host the Flyers Tonight At the Bell Center

The Flyers will play in Montreal tonight for the first time since defeating the Canadiens in Game 5 in may to see the Canadiens Cup Run end. The Habs fans for sure won't provide a warm welcome to the Flyers. "It's in the back of your mind that it's still the team that put us out last year and you're going to have a little bit of a grudge, but it's a new year," Montreal goalie Carey Price said after making 29 saves in October's victory in Philadelphia who are 5-6-4 this season. As it stands right now the Canadiens sit in the fourth spot in the Eastern Conference with a impressive 9-3-2 record.

Price has won all four regular-season games he played against the Flyers while having a 1.75 goals-against average, but was 1-3 with a 4.13 GAA in the playoff series.Price got his first shutout of the season against the Senators, he followed that game with a 6-1 lose to the Bruins in Boston."They had more of a fight and they put in the effort, and we didn't," said Price, who has a 3.45 GAA on the road compared to 1.69 at home.

The Flyers are coming of a 5-4 shootout lose to the Penguins in Pittsburgh. They put up a good fight down three goals to tie it but came up short in the Shootout. "The encouraging thing was we were able to come back against a good team," coach John Stevens said. Flyers coach John Stevens wants his team to play tougher. "Late in the (third) period we were doing a lot of good things, and then one mistake against a team that's very opportunistic and it's 4-4," said center Mike Richards, who has a seven-game point streak. "It's a tough way to lose a game in a Shootout."

The Puck Drop for tonight's game will be at 7:08 on CBC Montreal,and RDS.

Written BY Andrew Di Pardo

Habs get Blown Out 6-1 by the Bruins

Last night in Boston the Bruins enjoyed a 6-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens and snapped there 12 game regular Season losing drought."You lose 12 in a row in the regular season, you question yourself and take a mental beating," Bruins coach Claude Julien said. "After the playoffs last season and how we've played against them this season, I don't think there is a complex anymore."The Canadiens offense played great but Manny Fernandez wasn't letting them score in other words robing them.As for the Canadiens devence there mental focus was not there last night.

"They'd gone a lot of games against us without a win and we just weren't ready, for whatever reason," Koivu said."I think they just wanted it more," Canadiens goalie Carey Price said. "They had more of a fight and they put in the effort, and we didn't."

The Boston Bruins Goaltender Manny Fernandez made 27 saves in the victory.As for the Canadiens Goaltender Carey Price made 25 saves in the 6-1 lose.

The Habs were down 4-0 until Habs captain Saku Koivu scored his 6th goal of the Season with 6:26 left in the second. "They'd gone a lot of games against us without a win and we just weren't ready, for whatever reason," Koivu said.

The Habs next game will be against the Flyers on Saturday at the Bell Center.

Written by Andrew Di Pardo

The Montreal Canadiens Visit The Boston Bruins Tonight

The Bruins are coming of a 2-1 Shootout win in Chicago. They Will hope for the same result on home ice against the Montreal Canadiens.Tim Thomas made 32 saves in last night's win. Thomas also stopped a penalty shot in overtime on Chicago's Patrick Sharp. Boston improved to 7-1-0 record in its last eight. Blake Wheeler scored in the shootout to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead. P.J. Axelsson also scored in the shootout to give the Boston Bruins a 2-1 victory over Chicago last night.

The Canadiens will look for the exact result that they archived against the Senators. They played a hard game all the way through and Carey Price got a shutout. If the Canadiens win tonight they will go ahead of the Sabers by a single point.

Next Season the Canadiens will be losing ten players(if they don't sign then)to UFA: including forwards Saku Koivu, Alex Tanguay, Alex Kovalev, Robert Lang and defenceman Mike Komisarek.The Canadiens are at the salary cap right now so that means next summer they're going to have to make some tough decisions.

Written BY Andrew Di Pardo

Price and Higgins break Canadiens Losing streak

Last Night at the Bell Center Higgins Scored his first Career Hat-Trick."I've come close a few times," Higgins said after his 3 goal Hat-Trick which led the Canadiens to a 4-0 NHL victory over the Ottawa Senators last night. "I hit the post a few times trying to get one.For it to go in was nice, especially here in front of our fans."

Guillaume Latendresse also scored for the Canadiens in there 4-0 win.Carey Price made 28 saves for the Northeast Division leaders the Montreal Canadiens who have a 9-2-2 Record.Guy Carbonneau had a few words to say about the game."this was the best 60 minutes we've played this Season."He told the Press.

Chris Higgins dedicated his hat-trick to his mother Susan."My dad gets a lot of credit for where I am right now in hockey but my mom's the heart of the family and this is for her," he said.

Last season, Ottawa was 5-3-0 against Montreal, but lost the last two games against the Canadiens.Tom Kostopoulos served the first of his three-game suspension for a so called dirty hit from behind on Toronto's Mike Van Ryn. Steve Begin and Patrice Brisebois were scratches for Montreal in last night's game against Ottawa. Luke Richardson was scratched from Ottawa's lineup.

Ruttu laded a dirty hit on Montreal Forward Maximum Lapierre.Carbonneau said he hopes the NHL reviews the incident because "it was a shot to the head."

Rutu was sent to the dressing room with a 10-minute misconduct for talking to Lapierre on the bench, and waved to the braying crowd as he left the ice."They cheered for me, so why not thank them," said Ruttu. "I want to be black or white - love me or hate me. I don't want to be a gray area."

The Canadiens next game will be tomorrow against the Bruins.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

Ottowa Senators A.t Montreal Canadiens:Tom Kostopoulos Suspended Plus Jason Spezza Needs to Play Better Acording to Senators Coach

The NHL has suspended the Canadiens forward Tom Kostopoulos for 3 games today for a hit on the Leafs defenceman Mike Van Ryn on Saturday's 6-3 losse.Some people say it's a dirty hit because it was a hit from behind but according to Mark Messier Kostopoulos was just doing his job.

"Kostopoulos was just finishing off a body check,This would have never happened if the NHL would have never have took out the touch and grab rule."Mark Messier told the Fan 590.

Kostopoulos had a few words to say to the media.

"First and foremost, I sincerely regret the injuries suffered by Mike Van Ryn,''Kostopoulos said in a statement. ''This is an unfortunate turn of events. I was just trying to get in on the forecheck and get the puck. I didn't anticipate him turning and couldn't stop. I was trying to finish my check and obviously it did not end up well. I never intend on injuring another player. I feel bad. I hope he is going to be all right and resume playing as quickly as possible.''

Van Ryn got a concussion, a broken nose, a broken bone in his hand and a cut to his forehead from the Kostopoulos HIT. He is out for a month.

Craig Hartsburg wants Spezza to play better.

''That was yesterday, we've moved on,'' Hartsburg said following Monday's morning skate. "We've talked yesterday and he knows he has to play better, and he will play better.''

Craig Hartsburg told Jason Spezza he will not be on the same line as Danny Heatly and or Daniel Alfredsson.

"I have no problem with the way Dany Heatley's working and competing. I think Jason needs to play a better game," Hartsburg told the Ottawa Sun on Sunday. "We certainly need Jason to be our best player. That's what he's supposed to be: be one of our best players every night. He has got so much talent and his size and everything.If he shows more consistency in his work and his competing, he should be a dominant player."

Dany Heatley Will be playing on the first line, Daniel Alfredsson on the Second Line,And Jason Spezza on the third Line.

The Puck drop will be Tomorrow at 7:08 On TSN or RDS.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

Habs lose 2 straight

The Leafs scored 3 power-play goals to defeat the Canadiens 6-3 in the 2008 Hall of Fame Game.Former Canadiens forward Mikhail Grabovski scored his first career goal against the Canadiens tonight and registered 3 assist tonight at the Air Canada Center.

Grabovski blast a quick shot by former teammate Carey Price to make it 2-0 at 1:48 in the 2nd period.He was in the penalty box for goaltender interference when Lang got the Habs on the score board 3 minutes later.

About 2 minutes later Plekanec scoreda power-play goal at 9:59 in the 2nd period and tied the game.

Hagman for the leafs scored 1 minute later and then abot 2:50 minutes later Koivu scored for the Canadiens before Antropov put the Leafs up 4-3 at 16:27 in the 2nd.At 2:49 into the 3rd period Kazak put yet another shot in the net for Toronto that made the score be 5-3.They would add 1 more goal to win the game 6-3.

The Habs record is now 8-2-2 as for the Leafs they are 6-5-4.

The Habs next game will be against ottowa on Tuesday.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

The Canadiens will look to go back to there winning ways tonight against the Leafs

The Canadiens have the least amount of regulation loses in the NHL and have played very good on the road.They will look to continue their winning ways tonight in Toronto against a struggling club the Toronto Maple Leafs.They will look to get the same result they got the last time these two teams met the final score in that game was 6-1 in favor the Canadiens.

The Canadiens (8-1-2) are completing a four-game road trip. Their 4-0-2 road record matches Buffalo's for the best in the Eastern Conference.

Anyway the Canadiens needed Sergei Kostitsyn's goal with just 41 seconds left in the 3rd period to avoid its first regulation road loss of the season Friday in Columbus. The Canadiens however ended up losing 4-3 in a shootout.

"We turned the puck over a few times in the neutral zone, and they took advantage of it," Canadiens coach Guy Carbonneau said.

Jaroslav Halak started in Friday's game so Carey Price would be have the night of to be ready to playagainst Toronto.

Carey Price has won four of his last five starts against the Maple Leafs. He is 6-1-1 this season with a 2.17 goals-against average, the same career GAA he has versus Toronto.


Written By Andrew Di Pardo

Habs fall in Shootout

Kristian Huselius and Derick Brassard scored the only goals in the shootout to lead the Columbus Blue Jackets to a 4-3 win on home ice tonight night and ended Montreal's 3 game win streak.In the shootout Huselius scored on Canadiens goaltender Jaroslav Halak he decked than shot it under the right pad of Halak.

"Yeah, I knew which move I wanted to do," Brassard said. "When I got the puck, I was going to make another move, then I said, 'No, no, keep with the same move."

Mason improved to 2-0 in his NHL career since being called up November 4th as reaplacement for injured goalie Pascal Leclaire. Mason stopped 34 shots against the Canadiens tonight, who came in with one of the best offences and best records in the NHL.

Mason started in 2 games this season and he won both starts.

"It's definitely pretty exciting," he said. "Two wins in two games I can't complain about that.It's a lot of fun playing in shootouts, especially when you come out on the winning end," he said. "Fortunately for us we scored on two great shots. For a goaltender, when your team is up 2-0, it definitely gives you confidence to make that last save."

The Habs next game will be against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday November 8th 2008.

Written by Andrew Di Pardo

Habs Organization for Sale?

The rumors about the Habs being moved to another city was quickly denied by owner George Gillett.He bought the Canadiens Organization and the Bell Center for $185 million US in 2001.

"Never, ever, whether in the past or now, have we considered selling or maintained in discussions about selling the team.My office does get inquiries from time to time but since the team is not for sale, there have been no negotiations."Gillett told La Presse.


"The team is not for sale period,"Canadiens spokesperson told TSN. "End of conversation." When asked by TSN to respond to the report, Balsillie's lawyer Rich Rodier said, "absolutely not, it couldn't be farther from the truth, there is nothing to it zero."

Why would the Canadiens sell there Organization short so early if they only played 100 seasons.In my opinion I don't think George Gillett will be selling his Organization any time soon.As a fact the Canadiens have been ranked the 3rd most valuable franchise in the NHL.

Written By:Andrew Di Pardo

Habs look for 4th straight win on Friday Against the Blue Jackets

The Montreal Canadiens will look for there 4th straight win of the Season on Friday.

Carey Price will start in goal for the Habs on Friday.Carey Price is 6-1-1 in 7 games this season. The Canadiens expectations for this season is to capture there 25th Stanley Cup.


Pascal Leclaire will start in goal for the Jackets on Friday.Leclaire is 3-4-0 in 7 games this season. He will look for his 4th win of the season by winning the game against the Canadiens.


In other Habs news they have signed forward David Desharnais to a two-year contract.

The last game the Habs played against this team the Habs lost 6-4 at the Bell Center they will look for a better result on Friday.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

CANADIENS ANNOUNCED THAT THERE WILL BE AN ALL-STAR FAN BALLOTING ON NOVEMBER 12th 2008

6 Players from the All-Star host the Montreal Canadiens and the Detroit Red Wings are named on a ballot for the NHL All-Star game.

The Habs have Goaltender Carey Price, defencemen Andrei Markov and Mike Komisarek and forwards Saku Koivu, Alex Kovalev and Alex Tanguay are the Canadiens picks for the ballot.

The Red Wings have goalie Chris Osgood, defencemen Nik Lidstrom and Brian Rafalski and forwards Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg and Marian Hossa are the picks for the ballot.

Voting begins Nov. 12 for the lineups for the game between the Eastern and the Western Conferences teams. Fans can vote at Vote.NHL.com.

These Are the Players entered in the Ballot:


EASTERN CONFERENCE
Goaltenders
PLAYER TEAM
Martin Biron Philadelphia Flyers
Martin Brodeur New Jersey Devils
Rick DiPietro New York Islanders
Marc-Andre Fleury Pittsburgh Penguins
Kari Lehtonen Atlanta Thrashers
Henrik Lundqvist New York Rangers
Ryan Miller Buffalo Sabres
Carey Price Montreal Canadiens
Vesa Toskala Toronto Maple Leafs
Tomas Vokoun Florida Panthers

Defencemen
PLAYER TEAM
Jay Bouwmeester Florida Panthers
Zdeno Chara Boston Bruins
Sergei Gonchar Pittsburgh Penguins
Mike Green Washington Capitals
Tomas Kaberle Toronto Maple Leafs
Mike Komisarek Montreal Canadiens
Andrei Markov Montreal Canadiens
Teppo Numminen Buffalo Sabres
Chris Phillips Ottawa Senators
Wade Redden New York Rangers
Kimmo Timonen Philadelphia Flyers
Ryan Whitney Pittsburgh Penguins
Forwards
PLAYER TEAM
Daniel Alfredsson Ottawa Senators
Patrice Bergeron Boston Bruins
Daniel Briere Philadelphia Flyers
Rod Brind'Amour Carolina Hurricanes
Sidney Crosby Pittsburgh Penguins
Chris Drury New York Rangers
Patrik Elias New Jersey Devils
Simon Gagne Philadelphia Flyers
Scott Gomez New York Rangers
Dany Heatley Ottawa Senators
Trent Hunter New York Islanders
Saku Koivu Montreal Canadiens
Ilya Kovalchuk Atlanta Thrashers
Alex Kovalev Montreal Canadiens
Vincent Lecavalier Tampa Bay Lightning
Evgeni Malkin Pittsburgh Penguins
Markus Naslund New York Rangers
Alex Ovechkin Washington Capitals
Zach Parise New Jersey Devils
Mike Richards Philadelphia Flyers
Brian Rolston New Jersey Devils
Derek Roy Buffalo Sabres
Martin St. Louis Tampa Bay Lightning
Marc Savard Boston Bruins
Alexander Semin Washington Capitals
Jason Spezza Ottawa Senators
Eric Staal Carolina Hurricanes
Alex Tanguay Montreal Canadiens
Thomas Vanek Buffalo Sabres
Ray Whitney Carolina Hurricanes

WESTERN CONFERENCE
Goaltenders
PLAYER TEAM
Niklas Backstrom Minnesota Wild
Ilya Bryzgalov Phoenix Coyotes
J.S. Giguere Anaheim Ducks
Miikka Kiprusoff Calgary Flames
Pascal Leclaire Columbus Blue Jackets
Roberto Luongo Vancouver Canucks
Evgeni Nabokov San Jose Sharks
Chris Osgood Detroit Red Wings
Marty Turco Dallas Stars

Defencemen
PLAYER TEAM
Rob Blake San Jose Sharks
Dan Boyle San Jose Sharks
Brent Burns Minnesota Wild
Brian Campbell Chicago Blackhawks
Nicklas Lidstrom Detroit Red Wings
Scott Niedermayer Anaheim Ducks
Dion Phaneuf Calgary Flames
Chris Pronger Anaheim Ducks
Brian Rafalski Detroit Red Wings
Robyn Regehr Calgary Flames
Sheldon Souray Edmonton Oilers
Shea Weber Nashville Predatorss

Forwards
PLAYER TEAM
Jason Arnott Nashville Predators
Brad Boyes St. Louis Blues
Dustin Brown Los Angeles Kings
Pavel Datsyuk Detroit Red Wings
Shane Doan Phoenix Coyotes
Marian Gaborik Minnesota Wild
Ryan Getzlaf Anaheim Ducks
Milan Hejduk Colorado Avalanche
Ales Hemsky Edmonton Oilers
Shawn Horcoff Edmonton Oilers
Marian Hossa Detroit Red Wings
Jarome Iginla Calgary Flames
Olli Jokinen Phoenix Coyotes
Patrick Kane Chicago Blackhawks
Paul Kariya St. Louis Blues
Mikko Koivu Minnesota Wild
Anze Kopitar Los Angeles Kings
Patrick Marleau San Jose Sharks
Mike Modano Dallas Stars
Brenden Morrow Dallas Stars
Rick Nash Columbus Blue Jackets
Mike Ribeiro Dallas Stars
Brad Richards Dallas Stars
Joe Sakic Colorado Avalanche
Daniel Sedin Vancouver Canucks
Henrik Sedins Vancouver Canucks
Paul Stastny Colorado Avalanche
Joe Thornton San Jose Sharks
Keith Tkachuk St. Louis Blues
Jonathan Toews Chicago Blackhawks
Henrik Zetterberg Detroit Red Wings

Written by:Andrew Di Pardo

Habs complete yet another comeback

Montreal took a 1-0 lead 2 minutes in the first period when Kovalev scored from Plekanec's pass in the slot.

New York tied it 2 minutes later on a power play when Streit scored from the blue line slapshot that beat Price.

After playing terrible in the first 40 minutes, the Canadiens were down 4-1 but not ready to give up just yet. They rallyed for four goals in the third period to complete yet another comeback with a 5-4 win against the New York Islanders tonight at the Nassau Coliseum.

Alex Kovalev scored the game winning goal with less than five minutes remaining in the third giving the Canadiens a third straight win.Kovalev finished off a great night he scored 2 goals and had 2 assists.

Carey Price made 27 saves in the win.Tomas Plekanec got 2 goals and 2 asisst tonight.

The Islanders have not won a game in six games since a 4-3 overtime victory at Tampa Bay on Oct. 16. Danis, who played at one time with the Canadiens stopped 27 shots.

The Habs next game will be on next friday against Columbus.


Written By Andrew Di Pardo

Habs At Islanders:VAKLENTENKO HAB PLAYER NO-MORE

Montreals draft pick Pavel Valentenko has signed a three-year deal with Dynamo Moscow of the KHL league.Valentenko was not happey that the Canadiens had assigned him to the Hamilton Bulldogs of the AHL league.

"Valentenko has been supporting his family since he was 15, and took a pay cut to pursue his NHL dream when he signed with Montreal before the 2007-08 season."Hedges said.

"His goal was to play in the NHL, but financially, playing in the AHL wasn't cutting it," said Hedges. "He was very upset at doing this.

"He came over here to make the NHL. He didn't just run home. He had to do it. He knows he shouldn't have done what he did contractually, but he had to. It's not a Radulov situation."

The Islanders will look to snap a 5 game windless streak with a win tonight but really is it possible just look at who won more games from this match-up last season. The Canadiens were 4-0-0 against the Islanders last season.

The Islanders have been playing without there number 1 goalie Rick DiPietro (who has a lower-body injury), and have allowed 16 goals in their last four games. New York lost 3-2 in overtime against Philadelphia on Thursday night.

Islanders coach Scott Gordon was not upset by the loss.

"I told our guys that it was just like a tie," Gordon said. "The secondary point would have just been a bonus. It is more about the 60-minute body of work that we put together. Tonight, our guys played a good hockey game."

Gorden is yet to realize that teams miss the Playoffs by a point.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo