HALAK TO THE RESCUE

It’s not hard to see why, with five minutes to play in last night’s game against the Vancouver Canucks, Habs’ netminder Jaroslav Halak decided to take advantage of a stoppage in play to skate the bench for a swig of water.
At the time, the Canadiens were clinging to a 2-0 lead, with Halak and the [...]

A CRY FOR HELP

Though out his team’s slide to oblivion, Montreal Canadiens head coach Guy Carbonneau has maintained that the answer to what ails his team lies with the 23 players in the dressing room.
Nobody is going to do it for them, said the coach, prior to leaving for this current six-game road trip.
That was before the Canadiens fell [...]

LOSING SKID SNAPPED AT FOUR

This one didn’t score any points for artistic merit.  But it did score two points where it counted the most, for the Montreal Canadiens: in the “win” column, as the Habs snapped a four-game losing streak with a 4-3 victory over the Los Angeles Kings yesterday afternoon at the Bell Centre.  
This one got real ugly [...]

HABS PICK UP WHERE THEY LEFT OFF

With the glow of a magnificent All-Star weekend long faded, the Montreal Canadiens kicked off the unofficial second-half start to the season with a 5-3 loss to the Lightning in Tampa, with the Habs showing the same tendencies they exhibited during back-to-back losses heading into the All-Star break:
Shoddy goaltending, sloppy play in front of their [...]

EARLY EXIT FOR HALAK IN ATLANTA

It wasn’t supposed to end this way for Jaroslav Halak.
After taking the team through a very respectable 6-2 run while Carey Price was out nursing an ankle injury, Halak made his 9th consecutive start last night in Atlanta against the Thrashers.
By the time the game was 30:58 seconds old, Halak was on his way to [...]

AND THE WINNER IS…

At precisely the mid-way point of the 2008-2009 NHL season, it’s time to announce the first-half winners of the first-annual “Hefties’, the awards that go to the Montreal Canadiens’ Most Valuable Player, and the teams’ Unsung Hero.
Those w0rthy of consideration for the team’s MVP award include goalie Carey Price, who, despite the occasional soft goal [...]

PACIORETTY PRODUCES IN 1ST NHL GAME

It didn’t take long for Max Pacioretty to make an impact at the NHL level.
Pacioretty, one of four members of the Hamilton Bulldogs called up by the Canadiens this week as a result a growing list of injured players, scored in his very first NHL game, on his very first shot, against the New Jersey [...]

MASS CALL-UP FROM HAMILTON

Upper body, lower body.
Upper body, lower body.
Unfortunately, it’s been an all-too-familiar refrain for the Montreal Canadiens of late. And the latest member of the Habs to be singing that painful tune is Alex Tanguay who is out with an upper body injury after going down early in Tuesday’s win over Tampa: specifically, a dislocated left [...]

HAPPY NEW YEAR? MAYBE NOT FOR TANGUAY

It’s not every day that your number one line is sitting in the press box.
But that could indeed be the case when the Canadiens return to action Friday in New Jersey after closing out the 2008 calendar year with three victories in four nights; win number three coming last night in Tampa thanks to a [...]

THE NATURAL

This was a hockey game that was decided in 6:39 seconds of hockey. And it was decided by Maxim Lapierre’s hustle, desire and second-effort, which led to a three-goal performance by number 40.
Let’s take you back to the second period of last night’s game at Bank Atlantic Centre: the Habs vs. the Panthers. [...]