All Habs News: 2nd Round ‘Q’, Stejskal, Brossard Notes

All Habs News: Saturday, April 2nd, 2011

►Make room for Round 2: The Shawinigan Cataractes, leading their series 3-1 coming into tonight’s contest, posted a 4-1 victory in Game 5 against the PEI Rocket, as there are no longer any Round 1 games left to play in the QMJHL.  Canadiens’ prospect Michaël Bournival posted a goal and an assist in the win, leading him to second-star honours.  Round 2 gets underway next Friday, April 8th.  Shawinigan will play against the Quebec Remparts next round while the Montreal Juniors, led by Louis Leblanc and Philippe Lefebvre, will take on the Lewiston MAINEiacs.

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►Habs lack offensive punch: The gent behind HabsWatch is a good friend to All Habs — his in-depth studies have appeared on these pages in the past. This time you’ll find an excellent breakdown of the Canadiens scoring woes on his own blog.

As we have been explaining to you, injuries are not the factor that some would have you believe. The make up of the team is incompatible with the system they are coached to play which limits the number of scoring chances.

Why the Habs offense is struggling

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►Going pro: Canadiens prospect Joe Stejskal has made the jump from college hockey to his first professional team. Stejskal joined the Hamilton Bulldogs just a few days after his NCAA season with the Dartmouth Big Green came to a close.  The defenseman was selected in the sixth round of the 2007 NHL entry draft.

Men’s hockey players go pro

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►Notes from Brossard: Before the Canadiens chartered to New Jersey for their Saturday match with the Devils, they held a 55-minute practise at the Bell Sports Complex.

In advance of his teammates hitting the ice Max Pacioretty donned his gear for a 20-minute light skate.

When the full team emerged, coach Jacques Martin spent the first 20-minutes on breakout and transition drills. That was followed by a focus on odd-man rushes.

Tom Pyatt was upended and hit the boards heavily. He was slow to get up but finished the full practise.

Jeff Halpern is nursing a lower-body injury and took a therapy day.

Jaroslav Spacek practised with his teammates for the first time since his arthroscopic knee surgery on March 4. Spacek hasn’t been in the Canadiens lineup since February 12, having injured his knee on February 2.

Spacek wore a white non-contact jersey and was paired with Yannick Weber. Afterward Spacek stayed on the ice to work out with strength and conditioning coach Pierre Allard.

Forward lines:
Plekanec – Kostitsyn – Cammalleri
Gomez – Gionta – Darche
Eller – White – Pyatt
Desharnais – Pouliot – Moen

Defense pairings:
Gill – Subban
Hamrlik – Wisniewski
Sopel – Mara
Weber – Spacek