All Habs Headlines: Tuesday November 22, 2011
On this day in hockey history… 2003 – Montreal Canadiens beat the Oilers 4-3 at the first outdoor game in NHL history, played before a record crowd of 57,167 fans in Edmonton.
COUNTDOWN TO GAMEDAY: All Habs Headlines
► Injury update: Andrei Markov was cleared for contact — it would appear that Markov is on schedule to play at home against Columbus on December 6. Andrei Kostitsyn skated on his own and will be with the Canadiens on their two-game road trip but he is not scheduled to play against Carolina, Philadelphia or back at the Bell Centre on Saturday night against Pittsburgh. Hal Gill will be back in the line-up on Wednesday against the Hurricanes.
Hal Gill – infection
Andrei Kostitsyn – groin
Jaroslav Spacek – upper-body
Andreas Engqvist – lower-body
Chris Campoli – hamstring tear
Andrei Markov – knee
Ryan White – sports hernia
► Crosby shines in return: “He gets too much attention.” “He whines.” That is probably true but Sidney Crosby is the best player in hockey, is the face of the NHL, and the game is better for his presence.
More than 5.7 million Canadians watched part of Sidney Crosby’s return on CBC, with the network averaging 1.2 million (last Saturday’s HNIC game averaged 2.07 million.) Not bad for a Monday night game that involved the Islanders. It was a special return for a special player with Crosby tallying two goals and two assists.
“Sidney Crosby’s return gives us an opportunity for something that doesn’t happen very often in the NHL any more, a chance, or maybe the hope, for something magical to occur.” — TSN’s Bob McKenzie
Read more: Sidney soars to the occasion
► CRTC grants move: TSN Radio Montreal (CKGM) formerly the Team 990 has been given permission to relocate to 690 kHZ on the AM dial to secure a clearer signal particularly for evening broadcasts.
Read more: Two new Montreal Radio stations approved by CRTC
► Fraser says Chara can play with two: In the Boston – Montreal game Tim Thomas dropped his stick to make a save. Zdeno Chara retrieved the goalie stick for him which momentarily had him playing with two sticks. Former NHL referee, Kerry Fraser, explains why Chara was not penalized on the play.
“In the Boston-Montreal game during the second period, Zdeno Chara retrieved and transported the goal stick that Thomas had dropped behind his net completely within the rules. No penalty was warranted since Big “Z” did not become involved in the play while he was acting as a delivery boy.” — Kerry Fraser
Read more: Why Chara was not penalized for having two sticks
► Fans fight at Bell: There was a nasty skirmish at the Bell Centre during Monday night’s game between the Bruins and Canadiens that occurred off the ice. Near the end of the game during a Canadiens timeout, players watched as several fans in the Reds were involved in a brawl. Security arrived and separated the combatants.
Montreal police announced that there will be no investigation into the fight as no complaints were made to police.