All Habs GameDay: Sunday October 9, 2011
Happy Birthday to… former Canadiens’ Wayne Thomas (64), Alexandre Picard (26) and NHL’ers Henrik Zetterberg (31) and Stephen Gionta (28).
MTS Centre 5:00 pm. EDT
TV: CBC, RDS
Expected line combinations:
MONTREAL CANADIENS
Forwards
Erik Cole – Tomas Plekanec – Mike Cammalleri
Max Pacioretty – Scott Gomez – Brian Gionta
Andrei Kostitsyn – David Desharnais – Mathieu Darche
Yannick Weber – Andreas Engqvist – Travis Moen
Defenseman
Hal Gill – P.K. Subban
Alexei Emelin – Josh Gorges
Jaroslav Spacek – Raphael Diaz
Goaltenders
Carey Price
Peter Budaj
Injured
Blair Betts
Chris Campoli
Lars Eller
Andrei Markov
Ryan White
Erik Cole was practising on the first wave of the power-play on Saturday.
►Injury update:
Blair Betts has a lower-back injury and will not play on Sunday. Chris Campoli has a hamstring tear injured when has skate caught a rut in the Air Canada Centre ice. Surgery has been ruled out meaning recovery time for Campoli will be approximately two to three months. Lars Eller has been cleared for contact and is likely to make his season debut on Thursday at the Bell Centre.
►‘Dogs win season opener: The Hamilton Bulldogs won their season opener at Copps Coliseum 5-2 over the Rochester Americans on Saturday night. Brock Trotter was the first star of the game with two goals and two assists. Defenseman Frederic St. Denis had two goals and goaltender Nathan Lawson made 30 saves.
Hamilton heads to St. John’s, Newfoundland for two games against the Ice Caps on Friday October 14 and Saturday October 15.
►Pearn recalls ties to Winnipeg: Canadiens assistant coach Perry Pearn is acutely aware of the importance of Sunday’s home opener for the Winnipeg Jets. Pearn was an assistant to head coach Terry Simpson during the Jets 1995-96 season just before they were dispatched to the desert by NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman.
“Our guys, they’re seeing it on TSN, Sportsnet. CBC was on in the training centre today. They’re watching it. I think the Canadian guys know it’s a pretty special thing and it’s such a small world, they’ve heard the players talking about it and they all have somebody they know who’s here.” — Perry Pearn
Read more : Habs coach beseiged — Pearn questioned about Winnipeg