All Habs GameDay: Saturday November 19, 2011
On this day in hockey history… 1997 – Pittsburgh Penguins retired jersey #66 in honor of Mario Lemieux, in a pre-game ceremony before a 3-3 tie against the Boston Bruins.
GAMEDAY: Habs hockey tonight!
Bell Centre, 7:00 p.m. EST TV: RDS, CBC
Projected line combinations (check back – will be updated following morning skate)
MONTREAL CANADIENS
Forwards
Mike Cammalleri – Tomas Plekanec – Brian Gionta
Max Pacioretty – David Desharnais – Erik Cole
Travis Moen – Scott Gomez – Lars Eller
Mathieu Darche – Petteri Nokelainen – Aaron Palushaj
Defenseman
Josh Gorges – P.K. Subban
Frederic St. Denis – Yannick Weber
Alexei Emelin – Raphael Diaz
Goaltenders
Carey Price (will start) – Peter Budaj
Day-to-day
Hal Gill (infection) – Andrei Kostitsyn (groin) – Jaroslav Spacek (upper-body) – Andreas Engqvist (lower-body)
Injuries
Chris Campoli – Andrei Markov – Ryan White
Power-play
Pacioretty – Desharnais – Cole – Weber – Plekanec
Cammalleri – Gomez – Gionta – Subban – Diaz
NEW YORK RANGERS
Forwards
Artem Anisimov – Derek Stepan – Marian Gaborik
Brandon Dubinsky – Brad Richards – Ryan Callahan
Sean Avery – Brian Boyle – Ruslan Fedotenko
Brandon Prust – Erik Christensen – Andre Deveaux
Defensemen
Ryan McDonagh – Dan Girardi
Michael Del Zotto – Michael Sauer
Jeff Woywitka – Steve Eminger
Goaltenders
Henrik Lundqvist – Martin Biron (will start)
Scratches
Injuries
Marc Staal – Michael Rupp – Wojtek Wolski
GAMEDAY: All Habs Headlines
► ‘Dogs downed at Bell: The Hamilton Bulldogs made one of their twice annual visits to Montreal on Friday night, but even with the support of 8,472 at the Bell Centre they fell to the Binghamton Senators 4-2. Nikita Filatov had two goals and an assist while Mark Parrish added three assists for the Senators.
Alexander Avtsin was the best on the ice for the Bulldogs scoring a power-play goal in the first period. Avtsin and his linemates Louis Leblanc and Phil DeSimone were the most dangerous trio for Hamilton.
“They’ve been very impressive. I was talking with some of the members of our organization right after the game and I mentioned that these three kids are enjoyable to watch. They’re lively, they have energy and we see them on the ice. They’re generating, they’re competing, finishing their checks and in their opponent’s face. They’re doing some good, good things. They have a nice future ahead of them.” — Bulldogs head coach Clement Jodoin on Avtsin, Leblanc and DeSimone
Members of the Montreal Canadiens (and graduates from the Bulldogs) David Desharnais, Max Pacioretty, Aaron Palushaj, Andreas Engqvist, Ryan White, and P.K. Subban watched the game from the press box.
Read more: Filatov has two goals to lead Binghamton over Hamilton
► All Canadian Division? Nay! The NHL board of governors will meet on December 4 to discuss among other items, realignment. Most executives favour a four division system, but those hoping for an all-Canadian grouping will likely be disappointed. The overhaul is required to correctly align the Winnipeg Jets into the West conference, and will also address the long-standing gripe from the Detroit Red Wings to move back to the East.
“[An all-Canadian division is a] nice idea from a romantic standpoint but from a practical standpoint, an all-Canadian division is not very practical.” — Ken King CEO, Calgary Flames
Read more: Don’t expect an NHL all-Canadian division
►Habs Movember update: From Habs TV with Evelyn Audet