Serge Savard Ready To Buy the Montreal Canadiens

According to La Presse, Serge Savard says that he is ready to buy the Montreal Canadiens.

"If Geoge Gillett clairly says that the Montreal Canadiens is for sale, if it is the case, I am ready to do the transaction." says Serge Savard in an interview with La Presse.

The paper says that Serge Savard can put a consortium of businessmen together which are capable of purchasing this franchise. As a reminder, at the end of 90s, Savard was able to put together a group of millionaires capable of buying the Expos, TQS and the Canadiens.

Savard concludes by saying that we will need to wait to see the final intentions of George Gillett, it is pointless to have the money to buy the house if the house isn't for sale.

Here is the original article in French
http://www.cyberpresse.ca/sports/hockey/200904/06/01-844157-serge-savard-pret-a-acheter-le-canadien.php

Without Markov and Schneider the Habs Lost

Montreal Lost 3-2 Vs. Ottawa

We could see a big difference in the Habs play last night when these two players aren't in the lineup. The passing and transition play is deficient. And obviously the powerplay is not as effective than last 6 games. Two important players that we cannot afford to lose in this time of the season.

The Habs played a good first and second period. It wasn't explosive or anything, just good enough. Koivu's line has produced a goal to tie the game 1-1. A nice little deke by Saku who passes to Alex Kovalev. He then scored on an accurate shot in the top left corner. Plekanec's line contributed to the 2nd goal of the Habs of a shot from the point by Hamrlik. By the way, I didn't like the way Ryan O'Byrne played last night and the bad 4 minutes penalty that he took for no reason.

I didn't like the 3rd period as the Canadiens seems to be sitting on their 1 goal lead and hope to win the game. You can't do that against players like Alfredsson and Heatley, they will make you pay. That is what Dany Heatley did to the Habs last night by scoring two goals at the end of the game. For his first game in the Habs jersey, Janik gave a really bad turnover in the neutral zone that have cost the Habs 1 or even 2 points to the standings.

I personally don't understand the decision to go with Ryan O'Byrne and Janik in last night's game. We could've just use Dandenault in defense. He has done well the few times that we used him there. Why put unstable defensemen on the ice in such an important game? As the team lost two offensive defensemen in the roster, why not let Andrei Kostitsyn back in the lineup? I would bring back as much offense as possible to the team. Not putting more holes in my defense.

I would not say that we won't make the playoffs because of this loss. We are still in an excellent position to make it with 3 pts ahead of the Panthers and Rangers. But we have just wasted a very good opportunity to advance in the standings. Good game tonight against the Rangers, It could be the most important game of the season!

Andrei Markov and Mathieu Schneider Out for Tonight's Game

Bad news for the Habs as Andrei Markov and Mathieu Schneider are out of the line up for tonight's game. Andrei got hit from behind by Grabovski during last game and Mathieu has a upper body injury. Two big losses for the Habs as they undergo the last week of the season without their top powerplay defensemen. They will be replaced for tonight's game by Ryan O'Byrne and Doug Janik who was just recalled from Hamilton. Really bad news at this time of the seaons as the Habs are just 3 points away from making the playoffs.

Update : According to RDS, the two injuries are more serious than we thought, Mathieu Schneider's season is apparently over and needs to undergo surgery to the upper body. As for Markov he will be out for 3 weeks because of a knee injury.

Habs Get Their Revenge Against Leafs

Canadiens Win 6-2 Versus Maple Leafs



After getting humiliated by the Leafs at the Bell Center 5-2 two weeks ago, the Habs get their revenge by crushing them back on their home ice 6-2 at the Air Canada Center. Another easy win for the Habs as they gained yet another 2 important points in the standings.

Alex Kovalev played a great game by obtaining 1 goal and 3 assists for a total of 4 pts. He scored the first goal on the Powerplay which allowed the Habs to get the momentum of the game. A very accurate shot in the top right corner. Awesome precision! Gerber didn't have the chance to see anything because of a screen from his own players.

Latendresse and Lapierre played a very excellent game, not only do they give energy to the team, but also contribute offensively by scoring 2 goals for the Habs. Guillaume with his 14th of the season off a juicy rebound in the slot and Maxim with a nice pass by Guillaume. It seems like Latendresse will ended up the season with 16 goals again like the other two seasons despite the games he has missed this year. Lapierre is also very impressive with his 15th goal of the season. Who would think he would ever score more than 10 per season?

Saku and the other Alex also did very well by showing great chemistry on the 3rd goal of the Habs. What a nice pass to the slot for an easy tip in. This was really the goal that put the game out of reach for the Leafs.

I have say though, I do believe that on the 4th goal, Plekanec should've been penalized and it shouldn't have counted. But hey, we'll take all the goals we can get right?

The 4th line has also played another solid game, and Big George even had a great chance to score his first goal in the Habs uniform, but Gerber made a great save. Oh and how about that fight Laraque got into? :D Poor kid who got his face crushed...that was really a direct blow in the face. Ouch!

The Habs will be playing tonight against the Ottawa Senators at the Bell Center. We will only need 3 points on a possibility of 8 to assure a spot to the playoffs. That is assuming that the Rangers and the Panthers wins all their three games. If they don't, well we might need less than 3 points to make the playoffs. On the other hand, I prefer looking in front of us and say that we are only 1 point away from the Pens 6th spot and 3 away from the 4th spot. The standings are so close that the 4th position is still attainable mathematically. So we never know, everything is possible! On this, good game tonight Habs fans!

Easy Win Against the Islanders

Montreal won 5-1 versus Long Island

The Habs played a really good game once again on Thursday night. I was afraid that the Islanders would surprise every one like they did against the Red Wings a few weeks back. I was afraid that the Habs would start off the game with overconfidence, that they would take them lightly. We all know that with all the injuries that they have, with Mark Streit and Kyle Okposo out of the line up...we can say that they are an AHL team. The Habs couldn't let this one slip away from them, especially in this time of the season where every point to the standings are crucial to the survival of the team. Good thing they didn't.

The powerplay has been working extremely well lately with the first line scoring all 3 goals on the PP. Plekanec's line need to find a way to start contributing offensively. I know that Plekanec has always been working hard trying to get out of this slump, but it hasn't worked so far. Maybe he needs to try things differently now. The second line needs to wake up. We can't expect Koivu's line to score 2-3 goals per game. As Bob Gainey kept saying in his press conferences, we need secondary scoring. He is right. Once we get in the playoffs, we will be playing against much better teams and they would match their defensive line against our best line. We won't be able to get more scoring chances. That's when the secondary scoring is so important in the playoffs and they are usually what makes champion teams win Stanley Cups.

Jaroslav Halak was also solid during the game. The Habs didn't give them much scoring chances throughout the game, but when they did get some, Halak was there to stop them. He let in one easy goal that made him lose his shutout, but I guess it is hard to keep your focus when you are winning by that many goals.

Everyone played well, even George Laraque and the 4th line. They even had a very good scoring chances and stayed in the offensive zone for as long as 1 minute. How about that fight Laraque had with Joel Rechlicz, and that big smile on Big George's face each time he fights a guy. It almost insulting for the other guy. Btw, here is the clip of the fight.




The Panthers lost last night against the Thrashers. The Habs are in a much better position to make the playoffs now. If we are able to win tonight against the Leafs, 5 pts ahead of the 9th spot and we would be tie with the Pens in 6th place. It looks good for us. Let's hope we keep winning. Go Habs Go!

Carey Price is Sick

It is Carey Price's turn to be sick after so many players have been sick in the past weeks. It could not have come to a worst time as Price is playing his best hockey for months. Just when the team is going through the most important stretch of the season...Carey will therefore miss the game tonight and will stay at the hotel.

The Montreal Canadiens have recalled Marc Denis from the Hamilton Bulldogs as a result. Jaroslav Halak will most likely be in net tonight.

Ben Maxwell and Yannick Weber Honored

Ben Maxwell has been named Reebok edge/AHL rookie of the month for March. Ben has collected 6 goals and 7 assists for a total of 13 pts in 15 games. The highest total for all rookies last month. Ben Maxwell who was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens in the 2nd round in 2006 and is currently ranked 3rd in the AHL rookies in points. He has obtained 21 goals and 32 assists for 53 pts in 68 games this season.

Yannick Weber was named on the 2008-09 AHL All-Rookie Team by coaches, players and media in the AHL. He has obtained 14 goals, 27 assists for a total of 41 pts in 66 games. He is 2nd in the number goals for all defensemen in the AHL. Yannick was drafted by the Habs in the 3rd round, 73rd overall in 2007.

Congrats to our prospects, it looks promising for the future. Below are the links for more information on them.

Ben Maxwell
Yannick Weber

Top 10 Russian by The Hockey News

According to an article by John Grigg from The Hockey News, the Montreal Canadiens Andrei Markov is in the 5th position of the Top 10 Russian players that are currently in the NHL.

It isn't surprising to see his best friend Alexander Ovechkin is in the first position as the best Russian NHLer, followed by Pavel Datsuk and Evgeni Malkin.

Also note that Alex Kovalev is not listed in the top 10 Russian players who is having a difficult season with only 23 goals and 33 assists for a total of 56 pts in 72 game so far.

Here is the original article from THN.com
http://www.thehockeynews.com/articles/24926-.html

Hamrlik Coming, Not Sergei

Hamrlik will be traveling with the team to Long Island and might be able to play tonight.

For Sergei Kostitsyn, it seems to be a bit more serious as he has already hurt his shoulder prior the hit and it now has worsen. He will stay in Montreal for treatment.

Also, in replacement of Sergei, it will be Christopher Higgins who will be replacing him on the 2nd line with Plekanec and Andrei Kostitsyn. Higgins has been playing really inspired hockey lately on the 4th line with Metropolit and Dandenault. It would be curious to see how he will do on an offensive line again.

Canadiens Win 4-1 Against the Blackhawks

Great game last night! The Habs played another excellent game. They were dominant for 60min. What can we say about Carey Price? Wow! Is he back or what? He was very solid and seems to have his confidence back. Now that's a relief. I was afraid that he won't be able to get his game together for the rest of the season.

Saku's line again played another good game producing two goals for the Habs last night. Kovalev has been scoring and Tanguay sees the ice very well. What a fine playmaker. Koivu has been very intense again, going in front of the net and paying the price to get a goal.

Plekanec line didn't do much in this game, but it wasn't his fault that both his wingers didn't even play the entire game. Sergei left the game with a upper body injury and Andrei got 4, 5 and 10 minutes of penalty. I am not surprised to see him defend his brother after that hit, but why did he only drop one of his gloves? He should have dropped both and throw some punches over...he needs to get some fighting lessons from Big George. I Hope this hit would wake Andrei up for the rest of the season and get ready for the playoffs.

Guillaume is getting more and more impressive. He is producing at a very good rate ever since his return from his injury, almost 1 point per game. Max and Tom are also doing very well throwing some bodies around.

Christopher Higgins is on a roll. I think he actually touched the puck on that last goal by Mathieu Schneider. He is really playing some great hockey on this defensive role that Bob Gainey has giving him. Metropolit and Dandenault also did a good job containing the opponent's best forwards. Dandenault also did pretty well in replacement to Hamrlik as a defenseman. I just hope that the injury isn't serious.

Like I said, great game by the Habs, 2 very important points that we picked up. Even more important knowing that the Panthers have also won their game. Next game the New York Islanders on Thursday.