All Habs GameDay: Tuesday October 18, 2011

Happy Birthday to… Hamilton Bulldogs player Alex Henry (32)

BUFFALO SABRES vs MONTREAL CANADIENS

Bell Centre  7:30 pm.  TV: RDS, TSN

►Canadiens hockey tonight!

Projected line combinations:

MONTREAL CANADIENS

Forwards
Erik Cole – Tomas Plekanec – Lars Eller
Travis Moen – Scott Gomez – Brian Gionta
Max Pacioretty – David Desharnais – Andrei Kostitsyn
Mathieu Darche – Andreas Engqvist – Aaron Palushaj

Defenseman
Josh Gorges – P.K. Subban
Hal Gill – Raphael Diaz
Alexei Emelin – Yannick Weber

Goaltenders
Carey Price
Peter Budaj

BUFFALO SABRES

Forwards
Tomas Vanek – Luke Adam – Jason Pominville
Nathan Gerbe – Derek Roy – Drew Stafford
Tyler Ennis – Ville Leino – Brad Boyes
Cody McCormick – Paul Gaustad – Patrick Kaleta

Defensemen
Tyler Myers – Christian Ehrhoff
Robin Regehr – Jordan Leopold
Andrej Sekera – Marc-Andre Gragnani

Goaltenders
Ryan Miller
Jhonas Enroth

►Injury update:  Mike Cammalleri will not play on Tuesday but coach Jacques Martin hopes to have him back in the line-up on Thursday or Saturday.  Andrei Markov is in Florida to receive clearance to begin practising with his teammates.  Ryan White‘s rehab period following his sports hernia surgery should be 4-6 weeks.  Jaroslav Spacek is still about two weeks away from a return.

Mike Cammalleri – leg laceration
Chris Campoli – hamstring tear
Jaroslav Spacek – ribs
Andrei Markov –  knee
Ryan White – sports hernia

►First 10-games predict playoffs: Elliotte Friedman of CBC Sports takes an interesting look at first-month starts as a predictor of securing a playoff spot.  The vast majority of teams who trailed by four points after 10 games were unlikely to make up the deficit required to earn a playoff spot.

“So, that’s something to keep an eye on. If your team is two wins out of the playoffs at the beginning of November, the three-point games give it a seven per cent chance of recovery.” — Elliotte Friedman

Read more: The 10-game rule and 30 thoughts

(Stick tap to Kyle Roussel)

►Sounds of the Bell: On Saturday, a new feature was added to the in-house entertainment at the Bell Centre — as they say, what is old is new again! It was the return of Diane Bibaud, the Canadiens official organist from 1987-1992 and 1997-2002. Bibaud and the relocated Montreal Forum organ will be a regular Saturday night fixture this season.

The Canadiens also unveiled a new goal song: it’s “The Age of Pamparius” by Turbonegro. If you would like a listen, please visit the All Habs tunes section of the Multimedia tab. Choose the selection from the playlist and advance it to about 1:52 — that’s the new goal song!

While you are there, check out the selection of songs that have been played at the Bell Centre.  Do you know any that we missed?  Please add the title and artist in the comment section below.