All Habs Headlines: Friday February 20, 2015 |
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On this day in hockey history… 1924 – Canadiens’ fans waited two hours in the Mount Royal Arena for the Senators to arrive for their game. But they never showed! The team was stranded on a snowbound train 50 miles from Ottawa. The game was played the next night (a 3-0 Habs’ win). |
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► Montreal Canadiens: Febuary 20
- The Canadiens had the day off on Friday.
- Missed Thursday night’s game? Check out our game report which includes the game summary, video highlights, 3-stars and post-game quotes: Recap – Panthers vs Canadiens: Sacrificing a Win For a Lesson
► McCarron making an impact
- Canadiens prospect Mike McCarron has had a breakout year first with the London Knights and now, since a recent trade, to the potentially Memorial Cup bound Oshawa Generals.
- McCarron is contributing in points, faceoffs and is not shy to drop the gloves. For the second season in a row he is above 100 penalty minutes at the OHL level.
- McCarron told Today’s Slapshot, “I want to be like Milan Lucic. He’s a tough guy and guys are scared of him, but everybody respects him. He’s been in the league quite a long time, he came into the league as a fourth line grinder and worked his way up and I feel if I am going to make the NHL that’s what I am going to have to do.”
- Looking ahead to next season, McCarron said, “Montreal like to send their guys to Hamilton for a little bit to get better and a feel for the pro game. If I’m fortunate enough to make the NHL right out of training camp I’m not going to complain. I see myself playing maybe a couple of games in the NHL, if I have a good camp and a really good summer I can see myself playing in the NHL next year.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQrEfm5VB0Y
► Desjardins honoured
- Defenceman Eric Desjardins won a Stanley Cup with the Montreal Canadiens in 1993 before being shipped to Philadelphia to spend 11 years as a Flyer. Desjardins was part of the February 9, 1995 trade that also sent John LeClair and Gilbert Dionne to Philly for Mark Recchi and a 3rd round draft choice.
- On Thursday night, Desjardins was inducted into the Flyers Hall of Fame.
- Desjardins had a chance to return to the Canadiens near the end of his career but declined saying that he identified himself more as a Flyer, “I played for the Flyers for 11 years and I experienced so many great things here. Had so many good years. We had great teams, we had the chance to go in the playoffs every year. Had my kids here. For me, I wanted to keep playing but in the end, with the Flyers, I didn’t want to go anywhere else..”
► Faux pas
- Many Habs fans were left shaking their heads this week as they received their print and digital copies of the Canadiens magazine. The March – April 2015 edition had Max Pacioretty on the cover with the caption “American Sniper.” Some found it offensive.
- The oversaturated photo of Pacioretty, his pose, the phrase and the style of the cover were intentionally meant to capitalize on the success of the movie “American Sniper” which chronicles the story of murdered American hero Chris Kyle. Many saw this as the organization being either woefully ignorant or blatantly disrespectful.
- While some wrote it off as a simple play on words, it was hard to ignore that the full concept was lifted from the movie poster. It is particularly insensitive as the emotional murder trial for Kyle’s killer wraps up.
- Canadiens fans will recall the ‘play on words’ splashed on the cover of the Ottawa Sun “First Blood Sens” after a vicious head shot to Lars Eller by Ottawa defenceman Eric Gryba left him in a pool of blood on the ice.
► First goal
- During Wednesday night’s tilt against the Ottawa Senators, 22-year old, Nathan Beaulieu, scored his first NHL goal. The Strathroy native was drafted 17th overall in the 2011 entry draft by the Montreal Canadiens.
- With recent injuries to the defensive core Beaulieu’s ice-time and responsibility has been increasing. Check out Shannon Penfound’s article titled Making a Statement: Nathan Beaulieu
Mon premier but / My first goal @natebeaulieu #gohabsgo https://t.co/K3Do7CtWyw
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) February 19, 2015
► Stepping up
- With Sergei Gonchar out with an upper-body injury and Alexei Emelin with a shoulder injury, it’s been an opportunity for Jarred Tinordi, Greg Pateryn and Nathan Beaulieu to contribute.
- Canadiens’ head coach, Michel Therrien said, “It’s always tough when you lose a defenceman, a veteran defenceman. In our top five, we ended up having two rookies out there. We had five or six rookies in the lineup, but you have to give the youngsters a chance…”
- Alexei Emelin, left the game in the first period Wednesday night after colliding with Senators’ winger, Mark Stone. Emelin will not require surgery on his shoulder, but he could be out for up to six weeks. He will be re-evaluated next week.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9U4aJ2boMk
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