All Habs Headlines: Tuesday June 12, 2012

On this day in hockey history… 1979 – Hockey Hall of Fame announced it’s three newest members: Bobby Orr, Henri Richard, and Harry Howell.  

ALL HABS HEADLINES

►Hockey season isn’t over: Congratulations to the Los Angeles Kings on their first Stanley Cup and to Conn Smythe winner Jonathan Quick.  Hockey fans can now prepare themselves to be drowned with “just get into the playoffs and anything can happen” silliness.

But that’s not the end of the hockey season.  The 2012 NHL Awards will be held in Las Vegas on June 20th.  On the same night, this publication will reveal the winners of the 2012 All Habs Media Awards.  Have you voted yet? Our crew will be at McLean’s Pub in downtown Montreal.  Drop by and say hello!

But the awards are just a warm-up to the week’s main event: 2012 NHL Entry Draft.  All Habs will be hosting a Habs Draft Party at McLean’s Pub for all hockey fans.  There will be expert panelists counting down the selections, contests, prizes and more.  You don’t want to miss it.

Be sure to catch up on all the All Habs draft coverage by clicking on the “Draft” navigation link above the banner.

► Development Camp: The Canadiens announced the 32 players who will take part in the team’s first Development Camp this summer, from June 13 to 16 at the Complexe Sportif Bell.  The list includes just two players with NHL experience in Louis Leblanc and Gabriel Dumont, a majority of the team’s prospects (including Jarred Tinordi, Nathan Beaulieu, Brendan Gallagher, and Danny Kristo), and four try-out goaltenders in UND’s Aaron Dell, Mississauga’s Brandon Maxwell, Miami University’s Cody Reichard, and seemingly annual invitee Joseph Quattrocchi.

One interesting invitee is 2011 sixth rounder Daniel Pribyl, who plays for Sparta Praha in the Czech Extraliga.  Might his appearance in Montreal indicate he is keen on spending the coming season in North America?  Another name of note is Alexander Avtsin, who some had feared would bolt for the KHL after a second unproductive season with the Hamilton Bulldogs, showing little improvement.  The fact that he’s attending the camp indicates that perhaps he hasn’t given up on his stated goal of playing in the NHL after all.

A few names are also noticeable by omission.  First is defenseman Scott Kishel, who has to be signed this summer or else the Canadiens will lose his rights.  The fact that he’s not attending this camp may indicate he’ll be let go, not that this is a surprise.  Next is Mac Bennett, given that other college draftees are going to be in attendance.  Bennett was occupied by a tournament over the weekend, and when reached via Twitter, indicated he hopes to attend the second Prospect Camp, June 28-30, featuring the 2012 Canadiens draftees.  The team did not invite anyone who is beyond their entry level contract, which could be a reason names like Aaron Palushaj, Andreas Engqvist, Brendon Nash, Hunter Bishop, Olivier Fortier, Andrew Conboy, Blake Geoffrion, and Danny Masse will not be present, though their futures with the organization are in question given their lack of contracts for the coming season.

All Habs Hockey Magazine will have extensive coverage of the Canadiens development camp.  Check back for daily reports.

Read more: Official Release: 32 Players to Take Part in Habs Development Camp

► Habs Combine:  The development camp, which begins on Wednesday, is not to be confused with the Canadiens’ Combine, a one-day event for 2012 draft eligibles that takes place under a veil of secrecy today (Tuesday.)  This day, a follow-up to the NHL’s Central Scouting combine that took place at the end of May, allows the Habs’ brass to take an up-close look at a number of prospects, both the top guys and potential later round selections.  An undisclosed list of players will undergo on- and off-ice testing with Montreal’s staff today.  Through various media outlets and Tweets, we have what appears to be a complete list of 43 invitees, dominated of course by QMJHL players. Shout out to @MChabotRC and @Jerome_Berube for Tweeting photos of the list.

Beauvillier, Francis
Belzile, Alex
Brassard, Francois
Bussieres, Raphael
Culkin, Ryan
Dubeau, Alex
Dumba, Mathew
Fraser, Jeremie
Girard, Felix
Galchenyuk, Alex
Gervais-Chouinard, Jacob
Grigorenko, Mikhail
Hache, Justin
Hart, Brian
Hudon, Charles
Jankowski, Mark
Koekkoek, Slater
Lagace, Maxime
Lalancette, Christophe
Lefebvre, Martin
MacEachern, Mac
Mallet, Alexandre
Marcoux, Etienne
Matteau, Stefan
McEneny, Evan
Melindy, James
O’Brien, Andrew
O’Brien, Liam
O’Brien, Zach
Oligny, Jimmy
Paquette, Cedric
Pearson, Tanner
Poulin, Dominic
Reinhart, Griffin
Rielly, Morgan
Roy, Derick
Roy, Frederic
Roy, Kevin
Sutter, Lukas
Trainor, Peter
Tremblay, Francois
Whitney, Brandon

Reminder that just as a player being invited doesn’t mean the Canadiens willd raft him, a player who wasn’t invited could still very well be drafted by the Habs.  Filip Forsberg and Nail Yakupov did not attend because they are currently home in Europe, and Ryan Murray‘s agent indicated the Canadiens had already spent significant one-on-one time with him.  Other prospects may have had various scheduling conflicts or other issues that prevented them from attending.

►Isles to pass on P.A.:  Elliotte Friedman reports that it is unlikely that the New York Islanders will re-sign forward P.A. Parenteau.  The 29-year-old right winger is slated to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.  He had a salary of $1.25M last season and tallied 67 points while playing with John Tavares.

Parenteau is 6-foot-0, 195 pounds and was born in Hull, Quebec. Cue the boys at RDS!

► New at All Habs Hockey Magazine:

Restocking the Habs Cupboard: Drafting Beyond the First Round

Christmas in June: Griffin Reinhart

A Complete Mock Draft for the Montreal Canadiens

Get Your VIP Pass to Habs Draft Party

Impact of Local Players on the Canadiens

All Habs Mailbag: Kristo, Subban, Schultz, Forsberg, Galchenyuk

Vote Now: All Habs 2012 Media Awards

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