Headlines: Training Camp, IceCaps, Lafleur, Molson Canadian, Provigo, more

All Habs Headlines: Saturday October 3, 2015
	On this day in hockey history… 1934 — Montreal Canadiens traded Howie Morenz, Marty Burke and Lorne Chabot to Chicago in exchange for Lionel Conacher, Roger Jenkins and Leroy Goldsworthy.  1953 — Jean Beliveau signed his first contract with the Montreal Canadiens, and was assigned uniform No. 4 for the first time in his NHL career (after wearing number’s 17, 20 and 12 during previous brief stays with the Canadiens).  1959 — Jean Beliveau scored two goals, and teammate Doug Harvey added three assists, as the Canadiens beat the All Stars 6-1, at the 13th NHL All Star game, in Montreal.
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► Habs training camp

• The Montreal Canadiens are ready for their final exhibition game against the Ottawa Senators at the Canadian Tire Centre on Saturday night.
• It will be the last look for the coaching staff before making decisions on the final cuts of training camp.
• Dustin Tokarski will play the full game with Mike Condon serving as the backup.
• The Canadiens lost to the Senators on Thursday night by a score of 5-2. You can read our game report here: Recap – Senators vs Canadiens: The Captain Arrives

Forward lines, defense pairings and goaltenders

Pacioretty – Plekanec – Gallagher
Eller – Galchenyuk – Semin
Fleischmann – Desharnais – Weise
De la Rose – Mitchell – Smith-Pelly

Emelin – Petry
Beaulieu – Gilbert
Tinordi – Pateryn

Tokarski
Condon

► IceCaps take the ice

• The St. John’s IceCaps began their training camp this week in Cornerbrook, Newfoundland with a series of games against the Toronto marlies.
• Players recently sent down from the Canadiens training camp were in the lineup for Game 2 of the series on Friday night.

See more

Here is your lineup for tonight's Game 2 of the #ColemansCup in Corner Brook.#GoIceCapsGo pic.twitter.com/KgShz18X8G

— St. John's IceCaps (@IceCapsAHL) October 2, 2015

► Cup finalists

• The Montreal Canadiens will make it to the Stanley Cup finals only to lose to the Anaheim Ducks. At least that is the prediction from EA Sports NHL 16.
• After finishing the regular season standings in fifth place in the Eastern Conference, the Canadiens dispatch of the Red Wings, Islanders and Penguins to reach the final according to the simulation.

► Lafleur loses lawsuit

• Canadiens legend Guy Lafleur felt that police went too far in arresting him in 2008 so he filed a suit seeking $2 million. Unfortunately for the “Flower”, he lost his case.
• Lafleur was originally arrested in 2008 when he was testifying in one of his son’s many court cases. He failed to mention that Mark, his son, broke his bail and spent a weekend with his girlfriend in a hotel.
• Mark Lafleur was eventually acquitted which triggered this response from Guy. The judge ruled that just because the defendant was acquitted “doesn’t mean the police and prosecutors did it in bad faith.”
• According to the CBC, the judge also found that some of Lafleur’s arguments conspiratorial adding that his reputation and income didn’t suffer due to this arrest.

► Juulsen sent down

• Following his one and only game of this preseason the Canadiens have sent down first round pick Noah Juulsen to Everett of the WHL.
• Juulsen faired well in his first professional game, initiating contact and moving the puck well. He had no points in the Canadiens’ 5-2 loss at the hands of the Ottawa Senators.
  This move was expected as the former 26th overall pick had missed the majority of camp with a concussion and wasn’t going to make the team.
• Last year was the Abbotsford, B.C. native’s breakout season in junior hockey with a goal shy of ten and 43 assists in 68 games. He also had a plus-22 rating.
• Prior to last season, Juulsen had a good rookie season in 2013-14 when he had a pair of goals and 10 points accompanied by a plus-12 rating in 52 games with the ‘Tips.

► The official beer of your Montreal Canadiens

• Big news came out earlier this week when the Montreal Canadiens and Molson Canadian announced a five-year deal that will make the brew the official beer at all Habs games.
• 473 ml cans of Molson Canadian with Canadiens logos will be on sale at select bars, restaurants and retail stores.
• Molson Canadian senior marketing advisor, Andy Gervais pointed out how this is a perfect match saying, “Molson Canadian is a brand synonymous with passionate hockey fans and this partnership with one of the sport’s finest, most passionate fan bases, solidifies that. We look forward to raising a glass alongside the nearly 22,000 dedicated fans who attend each game.”
• There is also a contest going on right now where you can win tickets to the Habs’ home opener against the Rangers on October 15th; all the details are here.

► Provigo renews it’s sponsorship

• Provigo has been an official sponsor of the Montreal Canadiens for the last couple seasons an the two companies agreed to renew their partnership. The Canadiens and their official grocery store will be together for the next three years.
• Provigo Vice-President Charles Valois voiced his pleasure with the deal saying, “We are very proud to have renewed and, in particular, expanded our partnership with this organization which, in addition to generating a lot of pride in Quebecers, shares our values of social and community engagement.”
• At Habs games, all of the condiments that you put on your hot dogs or whatever you eat will be courtesy of Provigo.
• Provigo marketing director Nathalie Langlois identifies the relation between Provigo and the Canadiens saying “Our customers are huge Canadiens fans and share our passion for hockey. Last January, 14,000 customers attended the Canadiens’ Provigo Practice, a family event that invites fans to attend an official hockey practise and interact with players. Many such fans expressed their thanks in person or through social media. More than 1,275 tweets with the hashtag #ProvigoHabsGo were posted.”

► Ranking the top five defenses

• Michel Therrien is often characterized as a defensive-minded coach. Rather than being effective on defense, the Habs simply have the best goaltender in the world.
• USA Today has ranked the teams with the best defense in the NHL. The Canadiens are no where to be found.
• The two columnists who prepared the report differ on some of their selections including teams like the New York Rangers, San Jose Sharks, Chicago Blackhawks, St. Louis Blues, Calgary Flames and Minnesota Wild but they agree on the clear No. 1: the Nashville Predators.
• Read the full article here.

► Chabot signs his ELC

• The Ottawa Senators signed one of their two first round picks Thomas Chabot to his entry level contract. The financial terms of the contract were not disclosed.
• The 18th overall pick in this year’s draft had an incredible season with the Saint John’s Sea Dogs with 12 goals and 62 points with a plus-6 rating in 66 games. Before the Sea Dogs were eliminated in 5 games he managed to get an assist and 3 minor penalties.
• The previous season he only had one goal and had 22 points and had a minus-29 rating in 55 games.
• The Sainte-Marie-de-Beauce native was sent back down to Saint John’s almost immediately after signing his contract. In the three games he played with the Sens this preseason he had two assists and was plus-three.
• He will most likely be a part of this year’s Canadian World Junior Hockey Championship team.

► Not an expansion fan

• Dobey from the Harry Potter movies, oh no sorry, Boston Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs gave his opinions this week on expansion to ESPN.
• “There’s a lot of content there. There’s a lot of capability there, but I don’t know if there’s a desire or will within the board of the existing franchises for expansion yet. They both made pretty interesting proposals. Both have very legitimate arenas in place and organizations in place. There’s a capacity out there, but I don’t know if there’s a will from a league standpoint.”
• He believes that the best thing for the league would be to stay in its current 30-team system rather than expanding to 31 or possibly 32 “I think it’s more important — what is the best thing for the league as a whole, and what’s the best thing for Boston. Right now, the 30 teams are pretty good for all of us; talking where we stand today, I feel good about where we are.”
• He also noted one of the facts about the difference between Las Vegas and Quebec’s situations saying, “Take a look at what’s gone up in Nevada — it’s scary. I mean, it really is. It’s a heck of an arena built there, and there’s a strong interest there. Balance the fact, Quebec has a great hockey interest, [but] it’s an extraordinarily small market.”

► Without their top centreman

• Washington Capitals star centre Nicklas Backstrom underwent arthroscopic hip surgery in May and at the time was reported to come back near the beginning of the season and head coach Barry Trotz confirmed that original report.
• In a post-game press conference Trotz said his super Swede “Won’t start the season.” He also gave a time period in which he will return saying “I wouldn’t think that he’d play through those first four games.”
• The player himself gave the normal, monotonous answer saying “We’ll see and take it day by day. You never know, it’s just about how you feel.”
• Backstrom has yet to be cleared for contact and there is no timetable for his return to practice or to his return back on skates.

 

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