All Habs GameDay: Saturday January 19, 2013

On this day in hockey history… 

• 1996: NHL approves move of Winnipeg Jets to Phoenix.
• 1932: Charlie Conacher becomes 1st Toronto Maple Leaf to score 5 goals in a game, 1st coming at 7 seconds of game.

GAMEDAY: And a new (shortened) season begins!

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (0-0-0)	vs.	MONTREAL CANADIENS (0-0-0)
	Bell Centre, Montreal, QC 7:00 p.m. EST TV: RDS, CBC

Projected line combinations (updated following morning skate)

MONTREAL CANADIENS

Forwards
Erik Cole – David Desharnais – Max Pacioretty
Alex Galchenyuk – Tomas Plekanec – Brian Gionta
Travis Moen – Lars Eller –  Rene Bourque
Colby Armstrong – Ryan White – Brandon Prust
scratches: Brendan Gallagher – Michael Blunden

Defensemen

Andrei Markov – Alexei Emelin
Josh Georges – Tomas Kaberle
Francis Bouillon – Raphael Diaz

Scratches

Brendan Gallagher, Mike Blunden, Yannick Weber

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS

Forwards

Joffrey Lupul – Tyler Bozak – Phil Kessel
Clarke MacArthur – Mikhail Grabovski – Nikolai Kulemin
James Van Riemsdyk – Nazem Kadri – Leo Komarov
Colton Orr – Jay McClement – Mike Brown

Defensemen
Dion Phaneuf – Michael Kostka
Carl Gunnarsson – Mike Komisarek
John-Michael Liles – Cody Franson

Scratches

David Steckel, Mark Fraser, Korbinian Holzer.

PROJECTED GOALTENDERS

Ben Scrivens (Probable)	vs.	Carey Price (Confirmed)
		Price has 19 career GP against the Maple Leafs. He holds a 10-8-1 record with a 2.38 GAA, 926 SV% and 3 shutouts.

(updated following morning skate)

GAMEDAY: All Habs Headlines

► Michel Therrien is Ready. 

“I’m excited to get going tomorrow. We’re starting against a great rival in the Maple Leafs; You can’t ask for better than that.”
– Michel Therrien [Who will coach his 500th career game Saturday night.]

► Notable Debuts:

• Brandon Prust and Colby Armstrong could be making their debuts for the Canadiens since being signed in the offseason.
• Francis Bouillon will be making his return with the Canadiens since leaving back in 2009.
• Alex Galchenyuk will be the first 18-year old to start the regular season with the Montreal Canadiens since Olivier Michaud did more than 12 seasons ago in 2001.
• James Van Riemsdyk will make his debut for the Maple Leafs after being acquired in the offseason from the Flyers.

► Notable Absences:

• P.K. Subban won’t be in the lineup Saturday for the Canadiens, as his contract negotiations with Marc Bergevin still appear to be going nowhere.
• Jake Gardiner won’t be in the lineup for the Maple Leafs, out with concussion-like symptoms.
• Tomas Plekanec‘s availability will be determined after the morning skate. Plekanec has been nursing a rib injury during training camp. Coach Therrien said he “would be very surprised” if Plekanec missed the season opener.

► Event:

• All Habs Hockey Party for the Canadiens season opener is tonight starting at 5:30 pm at McLean’s Pub in Montreal. Raffle for signed Price and Pacioretty gear. RSVP: http://twtvite.com/HPM-JA13

► New at All Habs Hockey Magazine:

• All Habs Mailbag: Bulldogs, Lineups, Buyouts, Breakouts, Avtsin, Subban, Salary Cap
• All Habs Headlines: Scrimmage, Cuts, Galchenyuk, Plekanec, Price, Kovalev, Gomez
• Habs Prospect Brendan Gallagher Named to AHL All-Stars
• Official Release: Bulldogs Reassign Schultz, Release Armstrong, Isherwood
• All Habs Headlines: Plekanec, Kaberle, Bulldogs, Therrien, Gorges, NHL’s Broken
• All Habs Faceoff: Spoiling Fans, Gomez, Galchenyuk, Subban

► Puck’s take:

• Need to know who will win tonight? Puck the Bunny’s prediction is here. Let’s see if he can start the season on the right lucky rabbit’s foot!

(Feature Photo: John Morstad)