All Habs Headlines: Sunday September 13, 2015 |
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On this day in hockey history… 1978 — Jacques Plante and Sam Pollock were inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. 1992 — The Chicago Blackhawks won two game exhibition series in a shootout at London’s Wembly Stadium against the Habs. |
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► Habs add Fleischmann
- When Marc Bergevin announced that Alex Galchenyuk would be playing centre this season much of the talk surrounding the Habs was about their gaping hole on the left wing. The Habs’ GM has now brought in a player to compete with his prospects.
- The Canadiens have signed free agent forward Tomas Fleischmann to a professional tryout to compete with the likes of Nikita Scherbak and Sven Andrighetto.
- Last season Fleischmann had eight goals and 27 points with Florida and Anaheim and recorded a lone assist in the six playoff games he played.
- He’s played 581 NHL games and has 123 goals and 310 points. In 35 career playoff games he has four goals and nine points. Over those games he has spent time with the Capitals, Avalanche, Panthers and Ducks.
- When the 31-year-old arrived in Anaheim last year he was in a rotation on their fourth line with Rickard Rakell, Emerson Etem and former Hab Jiri Sekac which inevitably lead to less playing time.
- Fleischmann was a part of one of the best offensive teams in the modern era with the Capitals and had his best seasons in Washington. Fleischmann’s skills are depreciating which doesn’t bode well for the five time 10-goal scorer as he is an average skater and is classified as a skill player. He played alongside Habs forward Alex Semin in Washington.
- He will a be a decent stop gap until Max Pacioretty returns from injury a couple games into the season and should Fleischmann struggle, he can be waived with ease.
► Gionta impressed with Pacioretty
- With a couple weeks until the Canadiens announce the 29th captain in franchise history former Canadiens captain Brian Gionta weighed in with his opinion in an interview with TVA Sports.
- “I’m not sure, I don’t know what direction being out of it for a year, it’s a different room, it’s a different dynamic than when I was there but seeing [Pacioretty’s] growth over the years I’m sure whatever choice they make they’ll make a good one,” said the Canadiens former captain.
- The 28th captain in Canadiens history said this on how it happens when he was approached about being named captain, “[Jacques Martin] approached me. It was after my first year in Montreal and said they would like me to be captain and whether or not I would like to take on that responsibility and obviously it’s been a great honour, especially with the greats that have come through there and been a part of that.”
- “It’s a great organization and I enjoyed my time there and I’m very appreciative of the support I got from the fans and the organization,” he said of his time in Montreal.
► Price’s trophies broken
- Carey Price swept away all the possible trophies at the NHL awards but he was greeted by an unfortunate surprise while relaxing during the summer.
- “The Lindsay trophy was perfect. It arrived in a bulletproof box. But the three others came in a cardboard box with (packing) peanuts, and two of them were broken,” Price told media at the the Canadiens annual golf tournament. “Only the Jennings survived, maybe because it’s just a bowl.”
- Arguably the most prestigious and meaningful trophy of all, the Hart, was completely destroyed upon arrival at the MVP’s summer home in Kelowna, B.C. “It was just squashed,” Price said, laughing again. “I texted my agent, Gerry (Johannson) and sent him a picture with a note, ‘This can’t be right.’ It looked like somebody had dropped it on its head and flattened what look like flames at the top — kind of like somebody had stomped out the campfire. Gerry and I decided I had to return it. So I did. I still don’t have it back yet.”
► A valuable piece
- Canadiens sniper Max Pacioretty was asked by Arpon Basu of LNH.com about the value that Tomas Plekanec provides down the middle. Pacioretty said, “He’s one of those guys that doesn’t get the praise that a lot of other players would get but he’s fine with that and that’s what makes him such an important player.”
- “He does the hard things, eats up the hard minutes, plays top match ups, guys like that are very hard to replace. He doesn’t get the praise he deserves but we respect him for not wanting that praise,” said Pacioretty. “As a teammate and as a player he’s more valuable to this team than a lot of people think.”
- These comments came in the midst of widespread debate of who would be moved out of the middle of the ice with Alex Galchenyuk playing centre.
- Plekanec, who had his best statistical season since 2009-10 this season, had 26 goals and 60 points in all 82 games and had one goal and four points in 12 playoff games. Although he didn’t put up huge stats in the playoffs, much of his time was spent covering the other team’s top point producers which subsequently decreased his point production.
► Kostitsyn back in the NHL
- Despite all of the negativity surrounding his name generated by Montreal media, another team has given former 7th round pick Sergei Kostitsyn a chance.
- The Calgary Flames invited him to training camp on a professional tryout despite the fact he’d already played four games in the KHL this season in which he had two goals and three points.
- There were also rumours surrounding the elder Kostitsyn, Andrei and whether he’d attend Flames training camp but the 30-year old is staying in Russia as he already has a deal to play there.
- In 353 NHL games the Belarusian has recorded 67 goals and 176 points and in 40 playoff game he has 4 goals and 15 points. By far the most impressive season in the 28-year old’s career came in 2006-07 when he had 40 goals and 131 points in 59 games playing on a line with Patrick Kane and Sam Gagner in the OHL. This line is regarded by many busy one of the best in junior hockey history.
- Since he left for the KHL in 2013-14, he’s scored 28 goals and recorded 64 points in 107 games.
► Joey under the weather
- Joey MacDonald started 26 games in goal for the Hamilton Bulldogs, the Canadiens former AHL affiliate. With Hamilton he has a record of 10-9-6 with a 2.77 goals against average and a .910 save percentage.
- This season MacDonald is backstopping Schwenninger Wild Wings of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. In his first start in the German Hockey League, MacDonald was having a stellar game with his team being outshot 53-21 by Adler Mannheim. Despite the lopsided shot count, Adler Mannheim led only by a 1-0 score.
- With the opponents pressing again, MacDonald dropped to his knee despite shots flying around him. And then it became obvious why MacDonald was seemingly disinterested.
► Dealt again
- The Chicago Blackhawks have dealt two-time Stanley Cup champion Kris Versteeg and fringe prospect Joakim Nordstrom and a third round pick in 2017 to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for prospects Dennis Robertson and Jake Massie along with a fifth round pick in 2017.
- This is the second time Versteeg has been dealt by the ‘Hawks following a Cup championship, he was dealt to the Leafs following the 2010 conquest in which he had six goals and 14 points in 22 games.
- In 473 career NHL games the veteran has 116 goals and 275 points in eight seasons. Over those eight seasons he has played for the Hawks, Leafs, Flyers and Panthers.
- Dealing Nordstrom and Versteeg opens up $2.2 million in cap space. The Panthers ate half of Versteeg’s contract so the ‘Caines will be getting him on a reduced salary.
- Hurricanes GM Ron Francis spoke about the acquisition of a 3 time 20 goal scorer “For a team like ours that struggled to score goals last year, hopefully he can help us.”
- To this point the ‘Hawks have lost seven members of their cup winning team from last season.
► Kruger back in the Windy City
- Following months of waiting for the Blackhawks to move enough salary to sign him, Marcus Kruger has finally been signed to a one-year $1.5 million contract.
- Kruger, who was a key cog in the team’s last two championships, has played 287 games in the NHL and has recorded 28 goals and 84 points. In 76 playoff games he has 6 goals and 14 points but played in a shutdown role in the bottom six.
- The Stockholm, Sweden native was drafted 149th overall in 2009 and will have his role increase this season especially with the losses of Brad Richards and Antoine Vermette to free agency.
According to the Blackhawks website, Kruger lead the team with 180:01 minutes of shorthanded time on the ice last season and was second on the team with a 53.3 face off percentage.
► Carey on covers everywhere
Look what's coming… another great yearbook by @mckeenshockey. Check it out. pic.twitter.com/9YycHT8r3s
— James Mirtle (@mirtle) September 11, 2015
► Kessel shedding pounds
- Phil Kessel is commonly known as the poster boy for out of shape athletes but he arrived to the Pens practice facility lighter.
- TSN reported that following a summer of working out with workout guru Gary Roberts that the 26-year old sniper had dropped 13 pounds, to which Kessel somewhat denies, “I didn’t lose any weight, guys. Same as I’ve always been. Maybe a little bit.”
- The man who trains Kessel, and many other NHLers, had the sniper change up his eating habits. To that Kessel said, “I think I ate a little healthier this summer. Training-wise, I don’t think I did anything crazy different or anything like that. Gary’s a great guy, and I had a lot of fun there.”
- Kessel told the local media, “Just ate kind of different meals. Nothing really changed that much to be honest.”
- Kessel has scored 30 or more goals 5 out of the 8 seasons he’s been in the NHL and for the most part he hasn’t had the most gifted of centreman.
► When Connor met Jakey
- The Canucks and Oilers played each other in their first game of the rookie tournament and Canucks forward Jake Virtanen destroyed Connor McDavid along the half wall.
Connor McDavid, meet Jake Virtanen. pic.twitter.com/PHJcZLYOkm
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) September 12, 2015
► Canadiens Rookie Tournament
- Christopher Hatzitolios is in London covering the rookie tournament live and has written recaps of the first two games.
Rookie Tournament Recap – Canadiens vs Maple Leafs: Resilient Habs [AUDIO]
Rookie Tournament Recap – Canadiens vs Penguins: OT Thriller [AUDIO]
► Habs Depth
- J. D. Lagrange writes about the Canadiens depth and players playing to stay in Montreal.
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