H I/O PuckCast

Puckcast Special: Draft and Free-Agency

Montreal Gazette — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 20:05:26 -0400

So here we are, the NHL entry draft behind us and the period of free-agency directly ahead.

How did the Canadiens fare in the weekend draft, held at the Bell Centre? And how will general manager Bob Gainey do with all that money to spend and all those bodies to sign?

Moderator Kevin Mio tries to keep Gazette sportswriters Pat Hickey and Dave Stubbs and Habs Inside/Out blogger Mike Boone on the rails, with some success, in a discussion of these matters, and more, in Puckcast Vol. 3, No. 10.

Special PuckCast, Vol. 3, No. 9 [Podcast]

Montreal Gazette — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 11:20:55 -0400

To the surprise of many, Canadiens general manager Bob Gainey named Jacques Martin as the team’s 29th head coach yesterday. Martin comes to the Habs with over 1,000 games of NHL coaching experience, something the team has not seen since the days of Jacques Demers. Now Martin must assemble his staff and Gainey must go about filling holes on the team with free agency only a month away.

Mike Boone, Pat Hickey and Kevin Mio examine the Martin hiring and what lies ahead for the new coach and the Canadiens.

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PuckCast, Vol. 3, No. 8 [Podcast]

Montreal Gazette — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 11:55:41 -0400

The Habs Centennial season ended with a thud almost a week ago and the rumblings from media and fans has yet to subside as the team was eliminated by the Bruins in the first round of the playoffs after barely qualifying for postseason play. It was hardly the way everything was supposed to go as the team marked its 100 years. What happens next is anyone’s guess, with 10 UFA’s, the team could be drastically different next season.

Mike Boone, Pat Hickey and Kevin Mio look back at the season that was and look ahead to what the team could look like next season.

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PuckCast, Vol. 3, No. 7 [Podcast]

Montreal Gazette — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 13:20:03 -0500

It's the All-Star break and the Canadiens have played more than half of their regular-season games, and there are some positive and negatie points for the team after 46 games. They are well positioned in the Eastern Conference, but some weaknesses are obvious - they seem incapable of beating teams they could face in the playoffs (think Boston, New Jersey, Carolina and Washington). On the positive side, the Canadiens have welcomed back some key injured players and will see more return to action soon, which gives coach Guy Carbonneau plenty of options to try and correct the problems.

In this week's PuckCast, Pat Hickey, Mike Boone and Kevin Mio discuss
the team's first half and look at what can be done to improve the team. They also look at the All-Star events in Montreal and what they all mean.

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Vinny, ain't it time you came back home?

Montreal Gazette — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 15:20:14 -0500

Montreal singer, songwriter, entertainer, Habs fan and Inside/Out regular Dan Iorio offers this minute-long musical tribute to Vinny Lecavalier, sung to the tune of the Rolling Stones' Angie. As always, brilliant stuff. Thanks for sending it along, Dan.

PuckCast, Vol. 3, No. 6 [Podcast]

Montreal Gazette — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 19:09:50 -0500

After a promising start to a franchise-record seven-game homestand, the Canadiens sputtered to the finish line with losses to the Tampa Bay Lightning and Washington Capitals. What's of greater concern is that the team also lost the services of several players, including Mathieu Dandenault and Christopher Higgins for extended periods of time, while captain Saku Koivu and goaltended Carey Price also suffered injuries, although they should be on the IR for shorter periods of time. With or without those players in the lineup, the Canadiens have been a disaster on the power play this season, a prime source of concern for head coach Guy Carbonneau and his staff.

In this week's PuckCast, Pat Hickey, Dave Stubbs and Kevin Mio discuss the team's injury situation and their lack of power on what used to be the best man advantage in the NHL.

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PuckCast, Vol. 3, No. 5 [Podcast]

Montreal Gazette — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 11:50:57 -0500

After struggling through most of November, the Canadiens have rattled off three straight wins, all at home, including Thursday night’s 6-2 win over the New York Rangers. The day was also highlighted by the inauguration of Centennial Plaza, where the team has honours its legends and given fans a chance to be a part of it through the purchase of bricks that make up the plaza. The Habs play four more games at home on their current homestand and will look to keep on rolling against the Devils, Flames, Lightning and the Capitals.

PuckCasters Pat Hickey, Mike Boone and Kevin Mio look at the start of the team's homestand and review the play of Matt D'Agostin, give their thoughs on Centennial Plaza, the rumours that the team is for sale and Guy Carbonneau's frustrations with the media.

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PuckCast, Vol. 3, No. 4 [Podcast]

Montreal Gazette — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 12:30:36 -0500

We’re a quarter way through the 2008-09 season and the Canadiens have had their share of highs and lows through 21 games. But the team turned in one of its best performances of the season Wednesday night during a 3-1 win over the reigning Stanley Cup champions, the Detroit Red Wings.

Most people had expected the Canadiens to struggles against the Wings, but a solid performance should serve to boost the team’s confidence as they move on to play the Washington Capitals on Friday before starting a seven-game homestand on Saturday.

PuckCasters Dave Stubbs, Mike Boone and Kevin Mio review the first quarter of the team's season and examine some of the surprises - both positive and negative - of the 2008-09 season so far. Mr. Hickey went to Washington – for Friday's game vs. the Capitals.

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PuckCast, Vol. 3, No. 3 [Podcast]

Montreal Gazette — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 14:35:08 -0400

For the first time this season, Canadiens head coach Guy Carbonneau was able to ice his complete lineup against the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night as the Canadiens wrapped up a five-game homestand with a 3-2 shootout win. But that healthy lineup might not last as Roman Hamrlik left the game with a leg injury. The win over the Hurricanes gave Montreal a 4-1 record on the homestand and they are 6-1-1 on the season despite not playing their best hockey, especially on the power play, which is struggling after being the best in the NHL during the past two seasons. The Habs play their next four games on the road starting in Minnesota on Thursday night.

PuckCasters Pat Hickey, Dave Stubbs, Mike Boone and Kevin Mio review the just-completed homestand and look at the play of certain players including Alex Tanguay and Tomas Plekanec.

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PuckCast, Vol. 3, No. 2 [Podcast]

Montreal Gazette — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 12:39:17 -0400

The Canadiens have won three of their first four games to start the 2008-09 season and the newest members of the team, Alex Tanguay, Robert Lang and Georges Laraque have all made an easy transition into the bleu, blanc, rouge, with Tanguay and Lang contributing offensively and Laraque making his presence felt during his debut against the Boston Bruins on Wednesday night. The Canadiens will be at the Bell Centre for their next four games, where they play host to the Phoenix Coyotes, Florida Panthers, Anaheim Ducks and Carolina Hurricanes.

PuckCasters Pat Hickey, Dave Stubbs, Mike Boone and Kevin Mio are back for the second puckcast of the season. This week, we review the first four games of the season, discuss the Denis Savard firing, the return of the Canadiens' injured players and several other topics.

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Captain Koivu on his past, present and future

Montreal Gazette — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 08:01:01 -0400

This could be an historic season for the Canadiens and their captain Saku Koivu.

Expectations are high for the club in their centennial season, having won the Eastern Conference championship last season and gone two rounds deep in the playoffs.

This is the ninth season (10th, including the lockout of 2004-05) that Koivu has worn the captain's C, second in service only to the great Jean Béliveau. And it's a contract year for Koivu, with no guarantee that he'll be back with the club next year.

The 33-year-old native of Turku, Finland sat alone with The Gazette's Dave Stubbs at the Bell Centre on the eve of the Habs' breaking training camp for a 45-minute talk about his past, present and future with the Canadiens.

Here is roughly 30 minutes of their conversation.

PuckCast, Vol. 3, No. 1 [Podcast]

Montreal Gazette — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 12:46:15 -0400

As the Canadiens prepare to start the 2008-09 season, the Habs Inside/Out crew got back to business for the first Puckcast of the season.

PuckCasters Pat Hickey, Dave Stubbs, Mike Boone and Kevin Mio have clipped on the microphones this week to preview the coming season, the 100th for the Canadiens. Among other things, we examine the long preseason schedule, the impressive showing of the team's prospects and how the Canadiens will manage the increased expecations after last season's performance.

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Sweet Dreams of Sundin

Montreal Gazette — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 12:39:13 -0400

Montreal singer and songwriter Daniel Iorio sends us this timely tune...

Playoff PuckCast, Vol. 2, No. 25 [Podcast]

Montreal Gazette — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 17:34:31 -0400

After a hard-fought victory over the Boston Bruins, the Canadiens will now take on the Philadelphia Flyers in the Eastern Conference semifinals starting Thursday at the Bell Centre.

The series against the Bruins was not as easy as many expected, going the full seven games before Montreal was finally able to send the Bruins packing for the summer.

PuckCasters Pat Hickey, Dave Stubbs, Mike Boone and Kevin Mio have clipped on the microphones this week to discuss that and much more, including Carey Price, the return of Saku Koivu and the emergence of the Kostitsyn brothers on a line with Tomas Plekanec.

NOTE: Due to some technical problems, today's PuckCast might not sound as good as usual. We apologize for that.

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PuckCast [Extra] from Boston

Montreal Gazette — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 15:37:58 -0400

From Boston, The Gazette and Habs Inside/Out's Pat Hickey and Dave Stubbs, along with Jim Murphy of NHL.com and the Fast Hockey Radio Show, share their round-table thoughts on what has now become a whale of a quarterfinal playoff series between the Canadiens and the Boston Bruins.

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