By Stevo, AllHabs.net
MONTREAL, QC. — There’s a buzz in the Montreal air these days, and it’s not only coming from the numerous construction sites in and around the city. The sound I’m referring to is that hockey buzz, the one you feel when hockey is right around the corner, and it finally is.
The Montreal Canadiens are set to begin their rookie training camp this upcoming Monday, September 12th, with 31 players set to attend. Nathan Beaulieu, Jarred Tinordi and Louis Leblanc, the Canadiens’ last three first round picks will all be in attendance.
The main training camp will begin on Friday September 16, and will run until October 5th, with the season set to begin on October 6th against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
So how have the Montreal Canadiens’ players and prospects been preparing for their respective upcoming seasons? Let’s see what they’ve all been tweeting this past week on Twitter.
We can start with Morgan Ellis, who just began his fourth season with the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). The 6’2″, 200 lbs, 19 year old defenceman was drafted by the Canadiens in the 4th round (117th overall) of the 2010 NHL entry draft. He picked up an impressive 65 points in his last two seasons, although he was minus-27 last season in the +/- category.
Of all players who belong to the Montreal Canadiens’ organization, he is probably the most active on Twitter, although many of his tweets are simply about his going to bed early or taking a nap in preparation for a game. I must say though, he is all class and respect, but I thought the following tweet was particularly hilarious:
[blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/MorganEllis4/status/111967528921735168″]
This was tweeted while he was watching the NFL season opener between the Green Bay Packers and New Orleans Saints. If you’ve seen the movie “Dodgeball,” you would know where this quote originated from but Ellis got it a bit wrong.
He intentionally changed “dodgeball” to “tackle” which is fine, and although I still think the tweet was very funny, it wasn’t Peter Lafleur who said this in the movie, but Patches O’Houlihan, just before throwing an actual wrench into Justin’s face. I digress.
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Let’s move on to Michael Cammalleri, one of the first Habs players on Twitter. Cammalleri, who had a career high 39 goals and 43 assists for 82 points in 2008-09 with the Calgary Flames prior to signing with the Canadiens, has shown a decline in goals since being acquired by Montreal, obtaining 26 and 19 goals his past two seasons. Injuries haven’t helped but he hopes to rebound with a solid production this season.
He recently had the following spazz on twitter:
[blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/MCammalleri13/status/108971796891566080″]
Add to this the fact he made a typo in this previous tweet, and it’s all that more funny. It seems he can’t catch a break though because today, he had the following to say:
[blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/MCammalleri13/status/112563985601150976″]
I quickly headed to my dictionary and searched for the word “gilded” and found the following:
gild·ed
[gil-did] adjective
1. covered or highlighted with gold or something of a golden color.
2. having a pleasing or showy appearance that conceals something of little worth.
Before I could make sense of this tweet, Cammalleri tweeted the following:
[blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/MCammalleri13/status/112566891251376129″]
Don’t worry Mike, just score goals and don’t worry about your spelling and grammar.
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P.K. Subban is coming off of his rookie season and has generated high expectations. Subban, who had a rookie season filled with highs and lows, managed to finish the season with 14 goals, just one shy of the Montreal Canadiens all-time record for rookie defencemen, held by Guy Lapointe (1970-71).
So who is P.K. Subban hanging around with these days? Lance Armstrong is the answer. Well, not really, but Lance Armstrong was in town hosting a conference of some sort and Subban was in attendance. Both exchanged, and a bromance emerged on twitter.
[blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/lancearmstrong/status/112297849340960768″]
[blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/PKSubban1/status/112303069802401793″]
P.K. has Lance tweeting “#AlwaysOn”, now isn’t that something.
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Mathieu Darche will forever have people question his value and worth to the team, but the fact remains, he is coming off of a career high season in goals and points, obtaining 12 goals and 14 assists, for 26 points last season, playing all over the lineup and in all kinds of situations. His point production last season is a definite indication of the offensive production that was lacking from others last season.
Mathieu Darche is hard at work already, the man never takes a break. While others are playing golf, he’s already practicing his penalty killing. He does it at home in an interesting fashion:
[blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/matdarche52/status/110767866369933312″]
That’s a total of seven opponents, seven loud opponents. What a warrior.
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And finally, we have Nathan Beaulieu. This year’s first found pick (17th overall) has a style which some compare to P.K. Subban. Beaulieu is an offensive minded defenceman with speed, agility, and the ability to pull of spectacular plays. He’s into his fourth season with the Saint John Sea Dogs, obtaining 12 goals and 33 assists, for 45 points in both of his last two seasons.
I had to stick this one in somehow. This year’s first round pick, Nathan “Nate the Great” Beaulieu, had the following tweet to entertain his followers:
[blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/n8THEggr8/status/111055102634233856″]
Don’t quit hockey Nathan, don’t quit hockey…
Nathan Beaulieu’s handle looks too easily offensable. He should think about taking a ‘g’ out of there… am I alone on this?
I see what you mean but I think he can get away with that. I do find it’s a little arrogant however.
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