All Habs GameDay: Saturday March 17, 2012
On this day in hockey history… 1955 – A riot erupted in the streets of Montreal as fans protested NHL President Clarence Campell’s suspension of Maurice Richard the day before. The Canadiens forfeited the game to the Red Wings after a smoke bomb went off.
GAMEDAY: Habs hockey tonight!
NEW YORK ISLANDERS (28-32-11)
MONTREAL CANADIENS (28-32-12)
Last 10: New York 2-5-3 ; Montreal 4-4-2
Bell Centre, 7:00 p.m. EST
TV: RDS, CBC, MSG PLUS
Projected line combinations (updated following morning skate)
MONTREAL CANADIENS
Forwards
Max Pacioretty – David Desharnais – Erik Cole
Rene Bourque – Tomas Plekanec – Ryan White
Mike Blunden – Lars Eller – Louis Leblanc
Brad Staubitz – Petteri Nokelainen – Blake Geoffrion
Defenseman
Josh Gorges – P.K. Subban
Alexei Emelin – Yannick Weber
Frederick St-Denis – Chris Campoli
Goaltenders
Carey Price – Peter Budaj (confirmed)
Scratches
Aaron Palushaj
Injuries
Brian Gionta (biceps) – Travis Moen (upper body) – Mathieu Darche (dizziness/upper body) – Raphael Diaz (lower body) – Scott Gomez (concussion) – Andrei Markov (upper body) – Tomas Kaberle (upper body)
Power-play
Pacioretty – Desharnais – Cole – Weber – Subban
Bourque – Eller – Plekanec – Gorges – Campoli
NEW YORK ISLANDERS
Forwards
Matt Moulson – John Tavares – Kyle Okposo
Josh Bailey – Frans Nielsen – P.A. Parenteau
David Ullstrom – Casey Cizikas – Michael Grabner
Matt Martin – Marty Reasoner – Nino Niederreiter
Defensemen
Mark Streit – Dylan Reese
Travis Harmonic – Andrew MacDonald
Mark Eaton – Milan Jurcina
Goaltenders
Evgeni Nabokov – Al Montoya (confirmed)
Scratches
Injuries
Rick DiPietro (sports hernia) – Steve Staios
GAMEDAY: All Habs Headlines
► Hrudey right about Bourque: It’s no secret that the once venerable Hockey Night in Canada has taken a huge nosedive in the quality of their coverage in recent years. Hiring buffoons like Mike Milbury and P.J.Stock who may be high on entertainment value but completely devoid of hockey knowledge have only exacerbated the problem. Two of the best remaining on the crew are Kelly Hrudey and Elliotte Friedman.
In November, it was Hrudey who uncharacteristically ripped then Calgary Flame Rene Bourque.
“Who in the world would trade for this guy? Come on, that’s a joke they’re saying teams are calling for him and everything. It’s a great start for Calgary right, 3-0? Have you noticed him? You know, this guy — and I’m going to say this politely — but this guy’s passion meter isn’t low on a scale of one to 10…it’s turned off. This guy has to learn that you actually have to have passion in a game, that you can play with hatred. … There are a lot of guys that have talent and this guy…I don’t even think he cares about the game. He should apologize to his teammates and start playing. He’s got 66 games to go to actually care.” — Kelly Hrudey
As we said at the time of the Bourque – Cammalleri trade, Hrudey was dead-on in his analysis yielding yet another black stain on Pierre Gauthier’s resume.
Now, even Canadiens coach Randy Cunneyworth has had enough of Bourque’s lack of compete level and caring.
“I am definitely unsatisfied. [Bourque] has the potential do to much more and we’ve got to push him to get better results. He knows and is working harder, but he’ll have to get it into a higher gear. He seems like a tough player who is not playing tough. With his style and reputation he should be making the space near the net but he’s got to play his game.” — Randy Cunneyworth
Bourque has four goals and three assists in 28 games with the Canadiens and is a whopping minus-16 in those games.
► RSVP for Habs – Flyers! Be sure to reserve your seat for the next All Habs Night at McLean’s Pub — it’s only one week away on March 24th! Hockey fans who RSVP via the All Habs link will be given VIP access: prime seating and a reduced-price menu. Join the All Habs crew to watch the Canadiens take on the Flyers.
You’ll have great food and drink, a lot of laughs, and a whole lot of fun as you meet new friends and cheer your team to victory. Test your team knowledge during the All Habs Trivia Challenge for a chance to win prizes, too!
► New at All Habs Hockey Magazine:
Christmas is June: Sebastian Collberg
Grigorenko et Roy : Deux choix logiques?
NHL Rulebook, Discipline Creates Headaches for All
Koivu: Et si on reparlait dans 10 ans
Pride and Jubliation: A Story of Habs Heart
► Puck’s take: Need to know who will win tonight? You can find Puck the Bunny’s prediction here. (check back later) His record is an impressive 20-10-6.
(Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)