All Habs GameDay: Friday February 17, 2012
On this day in hockey history… 1910 – Playing for a local senior team in Chicoutimi, Quebec, Georges Vezina made more than 60 saves to help his team to a 1-0 win over the Montreal Canadiens. A short time later, Vezina became the Canadiens’ goalie for the next 15 years.
GAMEDAY: Habs hockey tonight!
MONTREAL CANADIENS (23-25-10) vs. BUFFALO SABRES (24-27-6)
Last 10: Buffalo 5-4-1; Montreal 5-4-1
First Niagara Center, 7:30 p.m. EST
TV: RDS, TSN-HABS, MSG-Buffalo
Projected line combinations (updated following morning skate)
MONTREAL CANADIENS
Forwards
Max Pacioretty – David Desharnais – Erik Cole
Rene Bourque – Tomas Plekanec – Mathieu Darche
Yannick Weber – Lars Eller – Louis Leblanc
Ryan White – Scott Gomez – Andrei Kostitsyn
Defenseman
Josh Gorges – P.K. Subban
Chris Campoli – Raphael Diaz
Tomas Kaberle – Alexei Emelin
Goaltenders
Carey Price (confirmed) – Peter Budaj
Scratches
Injuries
Mike Blunden (knee) – Andrei Markov (ACL) – Brian Gionta (biceps) – Petteri Nokelainen (upper body) – Travis Moen (upper body)
Power-play
Pacioretty – Desharnais – Cole – Kaberle – Subban
Kostitsyn – Plekanec – Gomez – Weber – Diaz
BUFFALO SABRES
Forwards
Ville Leino – Derek Roy – Jason Pominville
Nathan Gerbe – Tyler Ennis – Tomas Vanek
Drew Stafford – Paul Gaustad – Patrick Kaleta
Matt Ellis – Brad Boyes – Zach Kassian
Defensemen
Tyler Myers – Christian Ehrhoff
Robyn Regehr – Jordan Leopold
Andrej Sekera – Mike Weber
Goaltenders
Ryan Miller (confirmed) – Jhonas Enroth
Scratches
Injuries
T.J. Brennan – Jochen Hecht – Cody McCormick
GAMEDAY: All Habs Headlines
► On cheering injuries and broken necks: There was a lot of noise after Zdeno Chara was inadvertently struck in the face with the puck on a clearing attempt in the game on Wednesday night. The least of the noise was the cheering by some fans at the Bell Centre after the injury. The chatter came from everywhere with players, coaches, media and fans all wanting to voice their opinion.
Here’s what I said on Twitter after TSN’s Ray Ferraro dived in to call fans in the building “classless.”
https://twitter.com/#!/All_Habs/status/169954082486890496
In case it isn’t clear, I wasn’t saying that I was applauding the cheering but simply that it was an understandable immediate reaction based on the full context of the teams and players involved.
Zdeno Chara saw it differently saying “It’s nothing to do with sport and even what happened previously with our two teams but that’s something I can’t control and that’s all I have to say.” Chara has said some silly things before, including that Pacioretty jumped into the stanchion to cause his own injury. But to say that the fans reaction to his facial nick had nothing to do with anything in the past is just idiotic.
And watching Brad Marchand trying to scale moral high ground, his Everest, is just laughable. Enough said.
“Had I watched Zdeno Chara pummel my team into oblivion for years; had I watched his superhuman efforts in the postseason eliminate my team on the regular; had I seen him put one of my favorite young players on a stretcher last season and skate by without punishment from the NHL… I would have cheered his injury. In the moment. Without consideration that a player might have lost an eye or been concussed. In that moment, in that rivalry game, with that player having been felled, my reaction would have been to cheer.” — Greg Wyshynski
Read more: Zdeno Chara bleeds, Canadiens fans cheer, everyone lectures on ‘staying classy.’
► Hal Gill is traded: Canadiens acquired forwards Blake Geoffrion and Robert Slaney, as well as a second round draft pick in 2012 from the Nashville Predators, in return for defenseman Hall Gill and a conditional fifth round draft pick in 2013.
If Geoffrion does not play 40 games for the Canadiens in 2013, Nashville does not get the fifth round pick.
In recognition of his leadership on and off the ice, the Canadiens have confirmed that Erik Cole will wear an “A” on his jersey tonight.
All Habs coverage:
Hal Gill Traded to Nashville for Geoffrion, Slaney, 2nd Round Pick
Video: Blake Geoffrion Scores First NHL Hat Trick
Blake Geoffrion to Report to Hamilton Bulldogs on Saturday
Video: Legends of Hockey – Boom Boom Geoffrion
Who’s This Guy? — Blake Geoffrion
► New at All Habs Hockey Magazine:
Crease to Crease: Canadiens vs Sabres
Habs True Grit Trumps Playoff Math
Plus de rumeurs il y a, plus on se perd
Allure of Draft-eligible Prospects Eases Habs Fans’ Pain: Part II
Catching the Torch: Bournival Leads the Way
► Puck’s take: The bunny’s record is an impressive 17-7-4. Unfortunately there won’t be a prediction tonight as Puck nurses his human back to health. Get well soon Louise!
(Photo by REUTERS/Christinne Muschi)