CANADIENS HOST THE LEAFS TONIGHT ON HALLOWEEN

Tonight in Montreal, it's Halloween and the Montreal Canadiens will be taking on the Toronto Maple Leafs. This season the Leafs have the worst record in the NHL (1-7-3).But with the Leafs coming off back to back overtime losses this could be a sign of things to come."We played a solid game but sometimes it's not enough," said Tomas Kaberle (who had two assists in Friday's loss)."We did a good job going to the net in the third. The first few games in the season we were just standing around and waiting for good plays and empty nets that weren't there."

"We're doing a lot of things well," said Leafs head coach Ron Wilson. "If we keep doing stuff like this, the results are going to be there. We have to keep persevering." As for The Canadiens, they are looking to get back on track after 2 straight regulation losses to Pittsburgh and Chicago."We started doing some things right and it paid off for a short period of time, but not the whole game" Cammalleri said about the 3-2 lose to the Blackhawks. "With as many good saves as he (Price) had, we should have won.But I thought we were too easy to play against and I don't think we made it difficult enough on them to make them do what they wanted."

The puck drop for tonight's game will be at 7:08pm E.t on CBC and or RDS (Both channels are available in HD).

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

CROSBY GETS A HAT-TRICK TO LEAD TO A 6-1 WIN OVER THE CANADIENS

Last night in Pittsburgh, it was a bad night for the Canadiens and a good night for Sidney Crosby who got a hat-trick which lead to a 6-1 victory to snap the Canadiens 4 game win streak. "I felt good. I felt like I was getting chances, but I try to not to think about (hat tricks) too much," Crosby said. "You don't want to jinx it or think about it. I just wanted to make sure I kept generating chances. When Billy and Kuny are fore-checking like they were, creating loose pucks and stealing pucks, I just try to get ready for those opportunities."Rup, Kunitz and Goligoski also scored for the Penguins.

Tomas Plekanec had the lone-goal in the game for the Canadiens in the loss."We made mistakes," said Montreal defenseman Hal Gill, who won the Cup with the Penguins in June. "We had some turnovers and (Crosby) feeds off that. He waits for it and that's when he capitalizes." The Canadiens next game will be on Friday against the Blackhawks.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

CANADIENS CONTINUE WIN-STREAK WITH A WIN IN OVERTIME AGAINST THE ISLANDERS

Last night in Montreal, the Habs continued there win streak (4-in-a-row) with a 3-2 overtime victory over the Islanders with help from Roman Hamrlik and Jaroslav Spacek (who both had goals in the game). "They gave us offensive production as well as playing most of the time against the top line," said Martin. "That was Spacek's first goal and we expected more offence from him this year, but when Markov and O'Byrne went down, they're been given the mandate of playing against the other teams' top lines."In the win Hamrlik had the game winning goal.

"There was an opportunity to jump into the play and it just happened," said Hamrlik, who led the team with 25:34 of ice time to 24:44 for Spacek. "Overtime is going our way, but you don't want to go to OT, you want to win in 60 minutes."Travis Moen also scored for the Montreal Canadiens. The Canadiens next game will be on Wednesday against the Penguins.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

CAMMALLERI 3 GOAL HAT-TRICK LEAD TO THE HABS THIRD STRAIGHT WIN

Tonight in Montreal, Cammalleri's hat-trick leads to the Canadiens to a 5-4 overtime win over the New-York Rangers.(Which was there third straight victory and the Rangers third straight loss).It all started 5 minutes to the first periode when Cammalleri put home a one time past from Brian Gionta. Just a little while later the Rangers scored 3 unanswered goals to take a 3-1 lead over the Canadiens. Just a little while later the Canadiens scored 3 unanswered goals with one from Bergeron (on the powerplay) and 2 by Cammalleri ( one in overtime for the hat-trick). The canadiens next game is monday night at 7:30pm E.t on RDS.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo and Co-written by Jordano Mascaro

CANADIENS WIN THERE 2ND STRAIGHT GAME WITH A 5-1 WIN OVER THE ISLANDERS

Last night in Montreal, the Canadiens outplayed, outshot and outscored the Islanders as the Canadiens scored 5 goals for the first time this season in a 5-1 win. "We were a pretty easy team to play against," Islanders coach Scott Gordon said. "Defensively we were on our heels because of all our turnovers and it wasn't just in one area, it was coming out of our zone, it was situations where we had full control of the puck and we're not making plays. It's probably the worst that I've ever seen it tonight and it's something that we've got to get better at."

Scott Gomez and Marc-Andre Bergeron (on the powerplay) scored the first 2 goals for Montreal in the first period. Max Pacioretty scored in the second period. Mike Cammalleri (on the powerplay) and Maxim Lapierre scored in the third period.Jaroslav Halak made 21 saves in the game for Montreal.This wasn't only a victory for Montreal, it was the first time they scored more than 3 goals and the first time they won in regulation.

"We're making it hard on ourselves," Cammalleri said about the Canadiens five goal outburst. "That's something I didn't realize that until right now but that makes sense. Every game's been so tight, and it's important to try and win in tight games and find ways to win those games but at the same time you can't do that 82 times a year and then however many games in the playoffs, so it was important to get out to a little bit of a lead and hang on to one tonight." The Canadiens next game will be on Saturday against the Rangers.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

CANADIENS SNAP LOSSING STREAK WITH A SHOOTOUT WIN OVER THE TRASHERS

Last night in Montreal, the Canadiens looked to snap a losing streak with a win over the Atlantic Thrashers. The Canadiens opened the scoring with a goal by Brian Gionta in the first. The Thrashers scored early in the third period to tie it up at 1-1. The Canadiens would go on to win 2-1 in the shootout. If it wasn't for rookie goaltender O. Pavelec the Thrashers would not have even went to a shootout. As Pavelec made 34 saves on 35 shots. But the Canadiens didn't let that bring them down." We didn't let him bring us down we just stuck with our game and came out on the winning side," Gionta Said.

The Shootout
Mike Cammalleri	MTL	Save
Ilya Kovalchuk	ATL	Save
Scott Gomez	MTL	Goal
Rich Peverley	ATL	Save
Brian Gionta	MTL	Goal

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

SENATORS HAND CANADIENS 5TH STRAIGHT LOSS, WITH HELP FROM KOVALEV

Yesterday night in Montreal, Kovalev was making his return to Montreal for the first time. He played a big part in the game for the Senators as he had a goal and an assist to lead his team to a 3-1 victory over Montreal."I didn't know what to expect, but it doesn't matter if it was booing or cheering, it was all about recognition," Kovalev said. "I got that tonight, and I really appreciate the fans that gave me that support all those years." As for the Canadiens, in the loss they were booed for the most part of the third period after Alexi Kovalev had scored.

"The fans expect us to win games so in that sense their reaction is not unexpected," Mike Cammalleri (who scored the loan goal for Montreal) said. "If I was a fan I wouldn't be happy either."In the loss, Canadiens goaltender Carey Price made 19 saves. As for the Sens, in the win Leclaire made 27 saves."Early in the game I might have made one or two nice saves, but the more the game went on we raised our game," Leclaire said. "I didn't have to do a whole lot in the second half of the game."

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

CANADIENS LOSE HOME-OPENER

Last night in Montreal, the Canadiens played there 100th season opener. But they came out on the losing end. As the Colorado Avalanche won by the score of 3-2. Ryan O'Reilly scored the game winner which was his first NHL goal. "I had a great opportunity there," said O'Reilly, the youngest player in Avalanche history. "Both linemates battled so hard for about 30 seconds there. I was just sitting in the weeds, the puck came to me, I had a chance to win the game and it worked out good." Roman Hamrlik and Tomas Plekanec scored for Montreal in the lose.

In the Avs victory, Craig Anderson made 29 saves. As for Montreal, Carey Price made 20 saves in the lose."I don't think we're doing enough to win games," said Cammalleri, who is still without a goal as a Canadien. "I don't think we should leave things to chance.You don't want to win because you could have won, you want to win because you definitely should have won." The Canadiens next game will be on Saturday against the Senators.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

CANADIENS END ROAD TRIP ON A LOSING NOTE

Last night in Edmonton, the Canadiens took on the Oilers. But sadly, the Canadiens came out on the losing side. Late in the second the Canadiens were down by 3 goals. But they never gave up. Brian Gionta scored with seconds to go. Then with about 4 minutes to go in the final frame, Roman Hamrlik would score to get within 1. That's as close as they would get as they would lose 3-2 even thought they out-shot the Oilers 35-19."It's extremely disappointing," Canadiens defenseman Paul Mara said. "I thought we played pretty well. We outshot them 35-19. It's tough to lose these last three games after having a great 2-0 start. Hopefully, we can make that ground back up at home and work on all of the things we need to."

"Where we lost the game was mistakes," Martin said. "Two mistakes cost us two goals. It's disappointing because a win here tonight would have made the trip a lot better. We just have to regroup at home now." In the lose Carey Price made 16 saves. As for the Oilers, Nikolai Khabibulin made 33 to grab his team the win."I'm feeling more comfortable," said Khabibulin."I'm feeling a little better. There are still a few things I need to clear up. The last couple of days I'm seeing the puck better." The Canadiens will play there home opener on Thursday against the Avalanche.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

NEW STREET IN MONTREAL NAMED AFTER THE CANADIENS

The city of Montreal renames street in front of the Bell Centre after the Canadiens today. They named it "Avenue des Canadiens-de-Montreal." This street was renamed after the Canadiens for the success that they had in the last 100 years of the Habs history.

Written by Andrew Di Pardo

CANUCKS GET THERE FIRST WIN OF THE SEASON

Last night in Vancouver, the Canucks won there first game of the season by the score of 7-1 over the Canadiens by taking advantage of some sloppy defence by Montreal. "It's terrible. Carey Price gave up 7 goals on 32 shots before being replaced by Jaroslav Halak.We didn't do a good job for him the first two games and he stood on his head, he was Superman," said Mike Cammalleri. "We've all been on road trips before. We're pro athletes. We've got to come with better than that."

Luongo who was booed by Canuck fans in his last game was great making 27 saves on 28 shot's."It's nice to get a win finally," said Luongo.We just spoke about relaxing before the game and just going out there and having fun, play our game and not worry about our record right now." The Canadiens will try to close this road trip on a winning note when they travel to Edmonton on Saturday. The game will start at 10:00pm E.t and 7:00pm P.c on CBC and or RDS.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

HABS BATTLE HARD BUT FALL TO THE FLAMES BY THE SCORE OF 4-3

Last night in Calgary, the Canadiens continued there road trip wth a stop in Calgary. But unfortunately for Montreal they didn't come out on the winning side as they lost 4-3. In the lose, Scott Gomez, Guillaume Latendresse and Tomas Plekanec all scored for Montreal. As for the Flames,Eric Nystrom (2 goals),Jarome Iginla and Staffan Kronwall all scored in the victory.In this game the goaltenders played a big part for both the teams. As Halak made 24 saves for Montreal (in the lose) and Miikka Kiprusoff made 27 saves for Calgary (in the win).

"We lost a big game tonight but we're still 2-1 and we'll get back at it tomorrow night in Vancouver," said Latendresse. The Canadiens next game will be against the Canucks in Vancouver."Vancouver is going to be hungry after an 0-3 start, they're going to be waiting for us," said Martin. "We just have to come out and play three periods like we did in the first and the third. We had some good intensity and we have to be prepared to battle for 60 minutes."

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

CANADIENS SIGN BERGERON TO A 1 YEAR CONTRACT

In the picture above: Bergeron was trying to hold off a check from Saku Koivu.

Today in Calgary, Canadiens G.M Bob Gainey announced that he has Marc-André Bergeron to a 1 year $750,000 contract. Bergeron played 72 games for the Minnesota Wild and had 14 goals and 18 assists for a total of 32 points. But sadly, he will not play tonight because he has to report to the Hamilton Bulldogs (AHL) to get into shape for the NHL.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

CANADIENS CALL UP WEBER

Today the Canadiens announced that they have called up Yannick Weber from the AHL. With Andrei Markov being out with a torn tendon in his ankle, the Canadiens will put Weber in the lineup to help the defense of the Canadiens. Weber played 3 regular season games with Montreal last season and had 1 assist. He also played 3 playoff games and had 1 goal and an assist in that streak.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

HABS WIN IN OVERTIME WITH HELP FROM CAREY PRICE

Last night in Buffalo, the Canadiens were once again being out shot by a wide margin (35-17). But in the end what count's is who win's. In this case it was Montreal in overtime with the game-winning goal scored on a play where Scott Gomez shot and it took a bounce off the boards right to Brian Gionta who badded the puck out of mid-air for the winner."We'll take it," said Gionta, who scored the game winner. "I was going to the net trying to find it and it bounced real nice for me. Any time a wrist shot goes off the back boards, there's a little bit of luck." Travis Moen also scored for Montreal in the 2-1 victory over the Sabers.

Throught the game Carey Price was keeping Montreal with save after save. As in total Price made 34 and just gave up one goal ( which was scored by Tim Connolly of the Sabers)."The chances aren't as bad as the shots, but we have a lot of work to do," said Martin."We'll take the two points, but at the same time we know we have to improve in certain areas." The Canadiens next game will be on Tuesday in Calgary at 9:00 pm E.t and 5:00pm P.t on RDS.

CANADIENS A.t SABERS 3 STARS OF THE GAME:

1. Brian Gionta
2.Carey Price
3.Ryan Miller

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

MARKOV WILL BE OUT FOR 4 MONTHS

Today in Montreal, the Canadiens announced that all-star defenceman Andrei Markov will be out for 4 months with a torn tendon in his ankle. Markov torn his tendon in his ankle in last night's game against the Leafs when Carey Price got his skate caught in Markov's leg. "It's not a very nice feeling knowing that it was your skate that did it," Price said. "But then again, you know there's nothing you can really do about it." Habs coach Jacques Martin said Markov will be a big loss to his team. "No doubt Andrei was our top defenceman but we've added some experience back there, we've added some size and now we feel that our three pairs are going to be asked to do a job," said head coach Jacques Martin.

"It's definitely an emotional shock to our players. At the same time, I think they realize that it's an opportunity for somebody else and it may be a situation now where we have to rely on three pairs to do the job," Martin added. Roman Hamrlik was out with the flu last night but will be back in the lineup in Saturday's game against the Sabers and is expected to play a big part in the Habs lineup to help replace Markov.

"It's too bad we lost one of our best defencemen on our team. He's one of the best in the league and there's no way somebody can replace him," Hamrlik said. "But I'm going to do my job and try to help the team win more hockey games."

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

P.S: Makov had surgery on his torn tendon in his ankle last night in Toronto.

CANADIENS WIN SEASON OPENER IN OVERTIME

Last night in Toronto, the Montreal Canadiens opened the season against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Leafs were leading in shots thought the game but it wasn't enough to beat Montreal. As the Canadiens went on to win in overtime by the score of 3-2. Brian Gionta opened the scoring on the Powerplay to put Montreal up by one. Then the Leafs tied it up with a goal by Alexei Ponikarovsky. Then with 15 minutes to go in the second, Travis Moen put Montreal back in front. Matt Stajan would score 2 straight goals to put the Leafs up 3-2. Then with 4:50 to go in the third, Glen Metropolit would get the the tieing goal on the powerplay. In overtime, Mike Cammalleri deked out 4 Leafs defenseman and took a shot witch was stopped by Toskala, but Josh Gorges would put home the game winning goal on the rebound with 12.8 second`s to go.

In the Victory Carey Price made 43 saves."He was unbelievable," said defenseman Josh Gorges, who scored the game winning goal. "He held us in there when the game could have got out of hand." Cammalleri also talked about the great play by Price. "Carey stood on his head," forward Mike Cammalleri said. "I just talked to him and said, 'We've got to be better for you and we will.' The truth is that we expect him to do that from time to time because that's how good he is.He won us the game." The Canadiens next game will be in Buffalo on Saturday on CBC-M and RDS at 7:00 pm E.t.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

HABS OPEN SEASON TONIGHT IN TORONTO AGAINST THE LEAFS

Tonight in Toronto, the Montreal Canadiens will open the season against the Leafs. Habs goaltender Carey Price will get the start tonight in goal. As for the Leafs, Vesa Toskala will get the start for Toronto. The Canadiens will try to erase memories of the 8th place finish in the 2008-2009 season, with a fresh start. Which Habs G.M Bob Gainey has tried to do in the summer by getting so many new faces. Paul Mara said he is impressed with the chemistry that they have built in the dressing room."I've been in a lot of locker rooms and the way this group came together, it's been extremely easy," said Mara. "The personalities in here have meshed and clicked extremely well and there shouldn't be any problems."

"We have lots of new faces but the chemistry is good," said Hamrlik. "I think it's a good thing to go to Toronto for some team bonding and spend some time with the new guys. We're like a big family and we have to stick together." Scott Gomez is going to be placed on the top line with Brian Gionta and Mike Cammalleri and Gomez said he has alot to prove this season. "We both know that me and Gionta have something to prove this season," Gomez Said." There's no better place to prove yourself but in Montreal." The puck drop for tonight's game will be at 7:08pm E.t on CBC and or RDS.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo