All Habs GameDay: Sunday February 5, 2012
On this day in hockey history… 1950 – Montreal’s Dick Irvin became the first coach in NHL history to win 500 games, when the Canadiens beat the Bruins 5-3 at the Forum in Montreal.
GAMEDAY: Habs hockey tonight!
WINNIPEG JETS (24-23-6) vs. 
MONTREAL CANADIENS (19-24-9)
Last 10: Winnipeg 4-5-1; Montreal 3-5-2
Bell Centre, 2:00 p.m. EST
TV: RDS, CBC
Projected line combinations (updated following morning skate)
MONTREAL CANADIENS
Forwards
Max Pacioretty – David Desharnais – Erik Cole
Rene Bourque – Tomas Plekanec – Andrei Kostitsyn
Mathieu Darche – Lars Eller – Scott Gomez
Yannick Weber – Louis Leblanc – Aaron Palushaj
Defenseman
Josh Gorges – P.K. Subban
Hal Gill – Raphael Diaz
Tomas Kaberle – Alexei Emelin
Goaltenders
Carey Price (confirmed) – Peter Budaj
Scratches
Chris Campoli
Injuries
Mike Blunden – Andrei Markov – Brian Gionta – Travis Moen – Petteri Nokelainen – Ryan White
Power-play
Pacioretty – Desharnais – Cole – Kaberle – Subban
Bourque – Plekanec – Gomez – Diaz – Weber
WINNIPEG JETS
Forwards
Andrew Ladd – Bryan Little – Blake Wheeler
Eric Fehr – Nik Antropov – Kyle Wellwood
Tanner Glass – Jim Slater – Chris Thorburn
Alex Burmistrov – Aaron Gagnon – Antti Miettinen
Defensemen
Tobias Enstrom – Dustin Byfuglien
Ron Hainsey – Zach Bogosian
Mark Stuart – Johnny Oduya
Goaltenders
Ondrej Pavelec (confirmed) – Chris Mason
Scratches
Injuries
Evander Kane – Tim Stapleton
GAMEDAY: All Habs Headlines
► Carter to Habs?: HNIC’s Ron MacLean and company created a stir in Planet Habs on Saturday when he mentioned the name of Columbus’ Jeff Carter and the Montreal Canadiens in the same sentence. MacLean was quoting Brad May as saying that he sees the Habs going after Carter. P.J. Stock, hater of all things Habs, chimed in with his usual nonsense in support of landing the Blue Jackets disgruntled forward.
Kelly Hrudey closed the discussion saying, “Every city seems to think they are in the running for Carter.”
Carter was activated by Columbus this week after missing 10 games with a separated shoulder — he has 10 goals and seven assists in 30 games this season. Carter is in the first year of an 11-year $58-million contract originally signed with Philadelphia. The Flyers were thrilled to divest themselves of a locker room problem while acquiring Jakub Voracek, Sean Couturier and Nick Cousins.
► Trade talk: Lyle Richardson at Spectors Hockey updates NHL trade rumours in Edmonton, Chicago, Winnipeg, New York and Dallas. Most interesting for Habs fans is Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman looking to shore up his defense in advance of a playoff run. Some have speculated that Chris Campoli would be a natural fit. Bowman is obviously quite familiar with Campoli which could work in favour or against a trade.
Read more: NHL Trade Rumors
► Gorges opens up: Josh Gorges is known as a warrior — he proved that again on Saturday helping to shut down Alex Ovechkin. Following the game he spoke about the Canadiens working hard yet not getting the results. Gorges said, “We didn’t stop playing. We kept at it.. We just didn’t do enough in front of their net to reward ourselves.”
“You fight yourself mentally. You’re telling yourself to do so much that you accomplish nothing. It looks like we’re not doing anything. We’re very tense, we’re very tight. We’re not just playing hockey. We’re trying to do too much. It’s mentally exhausting when you play like that.” — Josh Gorges
► Cunneyworth praises effort: In his post-game presser, Canadiens coach Randy Cunneyworth claimed that he was mostly satisfied with his team’s effort against the Capitals.
“Our intent is in the right place. Tonight you have to give them credit. We have to stay with the program and keep on working hard. A lot of guys worked awfully hard tonight.” — Randy Cunneyworth
► Budaj gives nod to shooter: Canadiens goaltender Peter Budaj had to face not one, but two penalty shots in Saturday’s game against Washington. He easily made the save on Troy Brouwer but was not so fortunate when facing sniper Alexander Semin.
“That’s a good shot. I tried to challenge, tried to stay up there. He made a good shot. Sometimes I have to say, nice shot.” — Peter Budaj
► Celebrate Hockey Day in Canada with All Habs: All Habs Hockey Magazine has scheduled two parties on February 11th to bring together hockey fans in Toronto and Montreal.
In Montreal, hockey fans who RSVP via the All Habs link will be given VIP access — prime seating and a reduced-price menu — to McLean’s Pub on Peel Street. Join the All Habs crew to watch the Canadiens take on the Maple Leafs. For the same game, Habs fans in Toronto (and some Leafs fans too) will be joining All Habs hosts Michael and Dayes at St Louis Bar and Grill on Bay St. RSVP here for the Toronto event!
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!
► Puck’s take: Need to know who will win tonight? His record is an impressive 15-6-3.
This is normally where you find the game prediction link from @PucktheBunny. But it seems that the little bunny is angry today, and isn’t interested in progniscating about the Habs vs the Jets. Perhaps he didn’t want to predict another Canadiens loss — who knows what’s going on in his furry head?
We expect Puck to be back to his usual self for Tuesday’s game prediction with the Canadiens facing the Penguins.
► New at All Habs Hockey Magazine:
Habs Season: Beginning of the End
Her First Habs Game: It’s All About Subban
(Photo by REUTERS/Christinne Muschi)