All Habs Headlines: Tuesday January 17, 2017
	On this day in hockey history… 1959 — Gordie Howe played defence for the Detroit Red Wings in a 2-1 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs.  1962 — Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Glenn Hall is honored prior to a game against the Montreal Canadiens at Chicago Stadium prior to making his 500th consecutive start (regular season and playoffs).  1973 — At age 23, Bobby Clarke becomes the youngest captain in NHL history when he succeeds Ed Van Impe with the Philadelphia Flyers.  1996 — Steve Yzerman becomes the 22nd player in NHL history to score 500 goals.
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► Notes from Canadiens Practice

• The Canadiens had the day off on Tuesday after their matinee game on Monday in Detroit.
• Jacob De La Rose played his first game for the Canadiens on Monday after his call-up from St. John’s. De La Rose played on the fourth line with Torrey Mitchell and Brian Flynn.
• Following Monday’s game, forward Mike McCarron was reassigned to the St. John’s IceCaps.

► IceCaps Game Day

• The St. John’s IceCaps host the Utica Comets and the Albany Devils this week, each playing two games at Mile One Centre. For a preview of all four games, read IceCaps Weekly Forecast | ‘Caps Host Comets, Devils for Four Games
• The IceCaps welcome the return of Mike McCarron and Chris Terry. Charles Hudon is also ready to return from an ankle injury suffered before Christmas after a collision with Terry.

► Bergevin with Nilan

• Radio host and former Canadiens tough guy Chris Nilan interviewed Marc Bergevin. The Canadiens general manager spoke on many subjects ranging from Tomas Plekanec, the expansion draft, and his shopping list ahead of the trade deadline.
• Bergevin said that he is looking for a second line centre and a puck-moving defenceman. On the later, he said, “I talk to other general managers on a daily basis. I would say again 90 per cent of teams are looking for young, puck-moving defencemen. So, those guys are hard to get. Most of the time you have to finish in the basement and draft them. If you’re lucky, you can get one in the free agent market but they’re seldom available.”
• On analytics, Bergevin said, “It’s not the mother of all. We pay attention to it, we look at it.” Bergevin went on to say that he places a higher value on information from his scouts, who he calls “boots on the ground.”

► Petry Habs Best Defenceman?

• It seems crazy but an article posted to Sportsnet floats the notion that Jeff Petry is the Canadiens best defenceman this season. If that wasn’t enough, the article also suggests that Petry should be a candidate for the Norris Trophy.
• Some context might be illuminating here: the author is a well-known hater of Shea Weber and is blindly led by the nose to conclusions by a select set of analytics.
• Even Dan Petry (Jeff’s dad) scoffed at the report saying, “Well I was pretty taken aback by what they were saying. Jeff’s in a position where he is playing in front of a wonderful goalie in Carey Price plus he’s had the opportunity to play with Shea Weber, P.K. Subban last year, and Andrei Markov, so he’s had a lot of guys to help him out and guys that have mentored him and got him into the position where he is now.”
• Dan Petry went on to say, “[Weber] has come in, he and (Andrew) Shaw, has solidified the locker room and really has them all playing together as a team.”

► New Dress Code for Goalies

• The NHL’s almost singular focus on increasing scoring is in paring down goalie equipment. In the delicate balance between ‘slimming’ goalies and not exposing them to injury, some of their solutions were not ready to go at the beginning of the 2016-17 season.
• Not wanting to wait until next season, the NHL has issued a directive to all teams that as of February 4th, goalies must be wearing pants that meet their new standards.
• It will be interesting to see the effect that this rare mid-season rule change will have on scoring and on goaltenders for the rest of the year.

NHL has issued memo to all clubs/goalies saying all netminders must be wearing the "new" re-designed/size appropriate pants by Feb 4.

— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) January 17, 2017

► Injury Report

• Alex Galchenyuk and Andrew Shaw returned for Saturday’s game in Montreal against the New York Rangers.
• Galchenyuk missed 18 games with a knee injury. The Canadiens earned a record of 9-5-4 in his absence. 
• Shaw’s game on Saturday was his first since December 12th after suffering a concussion against the Bruins.
• Andrei Markov seems to have hit a snag in his recovery. The Habs defenceman has missed 14 games with a groin injury.
• Despite being out of the lineup for a significant amount of time, Markov is third among Canadiens defencemen with 21 points, just one back of Jeff Petry.
• Greg Pateryn was on the ice for a skate on Tuesday in Brossard. Pateryn is recovering from an ankle injury suffered on December 6th.
• David Desharnais was also on the ice on Tuesday for the optional skate. Desharnais was sidelined with a knee injury on December 6th.

► Roster Report

• Michael McCarron was assigned to the St. John’s IceCaps on Monday. This season, McCarron has played 15 games with the Canadiens recorded one goal and three assists for four points.
• On Sunday, Jacob De La Rose was recalled from St. John’s while Chris Terry was reassigned to the IceCaps after clearing waivers. Terry played 14 games with the Canadiens notching two goals and two assists.

► Saku Koivu Inductee to IIHF Hall

• Former Canadiens captain Saku Koivu will be inducted into the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame. The IIHF announced Tuesday that Koivu along with Teemu Selanne and Joe Sakic will be inducted in a ceremony on May 21st in Cologne, Germany.
• Koivu is the second longest serving captain in Canadiens history recording 832 points in 1,124 NHL games.

► Capuano is Out

• The New York Islanders have fired head coach Jack Capuano ending speculation that has gone on for weeks. Doug Weight, the Islanders’ assistant general manager, has been named interim coach.
• The Islanders have a record this season of 17-17-8 which places them last in the Eastern Conference.
• In a statement general manager Garth Snow said, “The New York Islanders would like to thank Jack for his tireless work throughout his seven seasons with the organization as Head Coach.
• The news release also included a statement from Capuano, “It’s an honor to have served this historic franchise and its passionate fans. I’d like to thank Garth and our ownership group for the opportunity to be the Head Coach of the Islanders. I’d also like to recognize our coaching staff, training staff and players for all of their hard work.”

#Isles News: Jack Capuano has been relieved of his duties as Head Coach. Assistant GM Doug Weight will serve as interim Head Coach.

— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) January 17, 2017

With a contribution from Chris Cordella

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