All Habs GameDay: Thursday October 13, 2011
On this day in hockey history… 1970 – Roger Doucet sang “O Canada” for the first time at the Montreal Forum, before a 4-3 Canadiens’ win over the Red Wings. He remained the Forum’s national anthem singer for the next 10 years..
►Canadiens home opener tonight!
Projected line combinations:
MONTREAL CANADIENS
Forwards
Erik Cole – Tomas Plekanec – Travis Moen
Max Pacioretty – Scott Gomez – Brian Gionta
Andrei Kostitsyn – David Desharnais – Mathieu Darche
Lars Eller – Andreas Engqvist – Aaron Palushaj
Defenseman
Hal Gill – P.K. Subban
Josh Gorges – Raphael Diaz
Alexei Emelin – Yannick Weber
Goaltenders
Carey Price
Peter Budaj
CALGARY FLAMES
Forwards
Alex Tanguay – David Moss – Jerome Iginla
Curtis Glencross – Olli Jokinen – Lee Stempniak
Rene Bourque – Roman Horak – Niklas Hagman
Tom Kostopolous – Matt Stajan – Tim Jackman
Defensemen
Chris Butler – Jay Bouwmeester
Scott Hannan – Mark Giordano
Derek Smith – Cory Sarich
Goaltenders
Mikka Kiprusoff
Henrik Karlsson
►From Brossard:
Alignments from Wednesday morning practise
Power-play first wave
Kostitsyn – Desharnais – Cole
Plekanec – Subban
Power-play second wave
Pacioretty – Gomez – Gionta
Weber – Diaz
Hal Gill was absent from practise for family reasons. Coach Jacques Martin confirmed speculation that injured defenseman Andrei Markov is in Florida to be examined by orthopaedic surgeon, Dr. James Andrews, who performed his recent knee surgery.
►Bournival out: Canadiens prospect Michael Bournival could be on the sidelines for up to a month after sustaining what’s described as an “upper-body injury” in practise. Bournival is 32nd in QMJHL scoring with 10 goals and 3 assists in seven games for the Shawinigan Cataractes.
Read more: Michaël Bournival à l’infirmerie pour un mois
►Nattinen gets chance: Aaron Palushaj‘s call-up to the Montreal Canadiens has created an opportunity on the Hamilton Bulldogs top line. 20-year-old Finnish rookie Joonas Nattinen will be on the right side of Brian Willsie and Brock Trotter when the Bulldogs face the St. John’s IceCaps for two games this weekend.
Nattinen is a smooth-skating playmaker with good size. Our most recent look at him was at the Canadiens development camp in June. Nattinen will bring defensive responsibility to a line with the offensive-minded Willsie and Trotter.
“I’m going to give [Nattinen] a chance to be involved with two veterans.” — Bulldog coach Clement Jodoin
Read more: Whose line is it anyway?
►Next win for Price is No. 100: Carey Price is on the verge of adding his name to a list which includes Terry Sawchuk, Patrick Roy and Martin Brodeur. With his next victory, the 24-year-old Canadiens franchise player will become the seventh-youngest goaltender to get 100-wins in the NHL.
“So far it’s been a lot of fun. Hopefully I can get a couple of hundred more.” — Carey Price
Read more: Habs MVP set to join century club
