All Habs GameDay: Wednesday March 14, 2012
On this day in hockey history… 1929 – George Hainsworth recorded his 22nd shutout of the 1928-29 season to lead the Montreal Canadiens to a 1-0 win over the Montreal Maroons. Hainsworth finished the year with a league record 22 shutouts. It came in a 44 games schedule!
GAMEDAY: Habs hockey tonight!
OTTAWA SENATORS (36-25-9) vs. 
MONTREAL CANADIENS (27-32-11)
Last 10: Ottawa 6-3-1 ; Montreal 3-6-1
Bell Centre, 7:30 p.m. EST
TV: RDS, TSN
Projected line combinations (updated following morning skate)
MONTREAL CANADIENS
Forwards
Max Pacioretty – David Desharnais – Erik Cole
Rene Bourque – Tomas Plekanec – Ryan White
Blake Geoffrion – Lars Eller – Louis Leblanc
Brad Staubitz – – Aaron Palushaj
Defenseman
Josh Gorges – P.K. Subban
Alexei Emelin – Andrei Markov
Yannick Weber – Chris Campoli
Frederick St-Denis
Goaltenders
Carey Price (confirmed) – Peter Budaj
Scratches
Petteri Nokelainen – Tomas Kaberle (new baby)
Injuries
Mike Blunden (knee) – Brian Gionta (biceps) – Travis Moen (upper body) – Mathieu Darche (dizziness/upper body) – Raphael Diaz (lower body) – Scott Gomez (concussion)
Power-play
Pacioretty – Plekanec – Cole – Markov – Subban
Bourque – Eller – Gomez – Weber – Campoli
OTTAWA SENATORS
Forwards
Colin Grenning – Jason Spezza – Milan Michalek
Rob Klinkhammer – Kyle Turris – Daniel Alfredsson
Nick Foligno – Jim O’Brien – Chris Neil
Kaspars Daugavins – Zack Smith – Erik Condra
Defensemen
Filip Kuba – Erik Karlsson
Jared Cowen – Sergei Gonchar
Chris Phillips – Matt Gilroy
Goaltenders
Ben Bishop (confirmed) – Alex Auld
Scratches
Injuries
Peter Regin (shoulder surgery) – Jesse Winchester (concussion) – Craig Anderson (finger laceration)
GAMEDAY: All Habs Headlines
► Milestone for Koivu: On Monday night against the Colorado Avalanche, Saku Koivu played his 1,000th NHL regular-season game. Many Habs fans lamented the fact that he was wearing an Anaheim Ducks jersey when he achieved that milestone. Tonight in Anaheim in a game against the Detroit Red Wings, the Ducks will pay tribute to Koivu’s achievement.
Koivu was the Canadiens 27th captain and second-longest tenured. He never had the luxury of playing with the talent of Canadiens clubs of the glory years but exuded class, leadership, and perseverance like few others in the franchise’s long history — he is truly one of the greatest Canadiens of all-time.
“[Koivu’s] a battler. He’s competes. He’s not afraid to go into a corner against, let’s say (Zdeno) Chara. He’s had a phenomenal career. It’s a testament to who he is, his willingness and competitiveness to be successful.” — Jason Blake
“[Koivu’s] lived and played as captain in the hardest city in the universe to play in Montreal, so his mental strength must be incredible. His tenacity on a player when he gets him is really, really good. He’s very good with leverage, so size isn’t as big a factor as you would normally think.” — Anaheim coach Bruce Boudreau
► New at All Habs Hockey Magazine:
NHL Rulebook, Discipline Creates Headaches for All
Koivu: Et si on reparlait dans 10 ans
Pride and Jubliation: A Story of Habs Heart
NHL Entry Draft: A Game of Russian Roulette
Sneak Peek of Price’s New Mask vs Canucks
Christmas in July: Radek Faksa
► 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.
► Habs alumni: The Montreal Canadiens alumni team is currently on tour playing games all across the country. Last Saturday they were in a sold-out 400-seat Sturgeon Falls arena to play against Northern Secondary School/West Nipissing alumni and oldtimers. The game was organized with the help of the Hockey’s Greatest Stars organization to raise funds for youth groups in the area.
The Canadiens’ alumni team is coached by Guy Lafleur, and includes Stephane Richer, Chris Nilan, Patrice Brisebois, Gilbert Delorme, Dan Daoust, Alain Cote, Yves Racine, Sergio Momesso, Mathieu Dandenault, Lucien Deblois, Gilbert Dionne, Normand Dupont, Jocelyn Lemieux and goaltender Richard Sévigny. The Canadiens alumni team plays between 55-60 games per year.
Presently on a western swing they will make stops in Bonnyville and Westlock, Alberta before a game on Sunday in Nanaimo, B.C. at the Frank Crane Arena.
Watch the video below for a look at a game against the County Kings in Wellington, Prince Edward Island on March 4, 2012.
(Feature photo by Richard Wolowicz/Getty Images)