All Habs GameDay: Saturday February 11, 2012
GAMEDAY: Habs hockey tonight!
Last 10: Toronto 6-3-1; Montreal 5-4-1
Air Canada Center, 7:00 p.m. EST
TV: RDS, CBC, NHLN-US
Projected line combinations (updated following morning skate)
MONTREAL CANADIENS
Forwards
Max Pacioretty – David Desharnais – Erik Cole
Travis Moen – Tomas Plekanec – Mathieu Darche
Rene Bourque – Lars Eller – Louis Leblanc
Aaron Palushaj – Scott Gomez – Andrei Kostitsyn
Defenseman
Josh Gorges – P.K. Subban
Hal Gill – Chris Campoli
Tomas Kaberle – Alexei Emelin
Goaltenders
Carey Price (confirmed) – Peter Budaj
Scratches
Raphael Diaz
Injuries
Mike Blunden – Andrei Markov – Brian Gionta – Petteri Nokelainen – Yannick Weber
Power-play
Pacioretty – Desharnais – Cole – Kaberle – Subban
Bourque – Plekanec – Gomez – Diaz – Weber
TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS
Forwards
Joffrey Lupul – Tyler Bozak – Phil Kessel
Clarke MacArthur – Mikhail Grabovski – Colby Armstrong
Matthew Lombardi – Tim Connolly – Joey Crabb
Darryl Boyce – David Steckel – Mike Brown
Defensemen
Dion Phaneuf – Carl Gunnarsson
John-Michael Liles – Cody Franson
Jake Gardiner – Luke Schenn
Goaltenders
James Reimer (confirmed) – Jonas Gustavsson
Scratches
Mike Komisarek
Injuries
Nikolai Kulemin
GAMEDAY: All Habs Headlines
► Where’s Cammy?: At this minute, we don’t know precisely where he is, but Mike Cammalleri certainly isn’t in the All Habs banner any longer. Our iconic towel-waving Canadiens fan remains, as does franchise player Carey Price. With a freshly-minted six-year contract extension, we’ve added Habs warrior Josh Gorges to take his proper place beside Price.
As far as Cammalleri, the Canadiens will see him on March 6 in Calgary as part of a three-game Western tour.
Thanks for all of your compliments on our updated look!
► Gallagher ties record! With a goal on Friday night Canadiens prospect Brendan Gallagher helped his Vancouver Giants skate to a 3-2 win over the Everett Silvertips. Gallagher’s goal, his 31st of the season, was his 126th in a Giants uniform which tied a franchise record. Gallagher is also closing in on records for assists and points with 17 games remaining in the Giants’ regular season.
► Dream come true for Pribyl: Canadiens prospect Daniel Pribyl has dreamed about coming to Canada to play. At the 2012 World Junior Championship he got his wish playing for the Czech Republic. Pribyl was limited to just three games after suffering an injury in a tune-up match against the Russians.
But Pribyl was back in the line-up against the Americans with his Czech team winning to advance to the quarter-finals. “The match with the Americans was fantastic. We enjoyed it all, it was a bomb,” he said. “We were able to raise up at this important moment and I think we deserved to win.” (translated)
Read more: V Kanadě jsem si splnil sen, přiznal Přibyl (Czech)
► Coach compliments squad: After the Canadiens win in Long Island head coach Randy Cunneyworth was full of praise for his players including Carey Price who he said “deserved a better fate.” The bench boss appreciate the effort of Max Pacioretty to win battles as much as his hat-trick saying, “An excellent game on his part. The support he gave & work along the boards to recover pucks.”
On Scott Gomez‘s drought-busting goal, Cunneyworth said, “Obviously it was a big goal for him personally but for our team tonight, it was an important one. I think the elation of the players was evident and that’s the kind of support [Gomez] has.”
►It’s Hockey Day in Canada: Drop by McLean’s Pub in Montreal and St. Louis Bar and Grill in Toronto to meet members of the All Habs crew and to watch the Canadiens – Leafs game!
You can get more details here for the Montreal event and here for the Toronto event!
► Where’s the mute button? Don’t worry if you’re not too prompt for the start of the Canadiens – Leafs game on Saturday night — puck drop will be delayed as Mats Sundin is honoured by his former club. Fans in Quebec will remember that Sundin was originally drafted by the Nordiques in 1989 and was traded to Toronto for Wendell Clark in 1994.
Sundin holds the Leafs franchise record for goals and points playing 981 games for the blue and white. Toronto media are lining up to advocate for Sundin’s entry into the Hockey Hall of fame but some are trumpeting the Swede as the greatest Toronto Maple Leaf ever.
For Habs fans we will remember dodging a bullet in the winter of 2008 when it looked as if Sundin would end up with the Canadiens. A tune called “Sweet Dreams of Sundin” was released by Daniel Iorio.
► New at All Habs Hockey Magazine:
Max Pacioretty Celebrates First Career Hat-trick
Allure of Draft-Eligible Prospects Eases Habs Fans’ Pain
When NHL Fans (and Media) Cross the Line
Habs’ Heart and Soul — Is It Enough?
► Puck’s take: Need to know who will win tonight? You can find his prediction here. His record is an impressive 16-7-3.
(Photo by REUTERS/Fred Thornhill)
► No thanks, we’ll stick to hockey:
