Habs Eyes On The Prize

Eyes On A Dynasty - Day 5: The Rocket's 325th Goal and the 1953 Stanley Cup

2010-09-10T08:56:49Z

Hockey itself, and the Canadiens in particular, could not have hoped for a more eventful first season on television. From Jean Beliveau's successful three game trial, to Maurice the Rocket breaking the all-time goal scoring record to an exhilerating overtime Stanley Cup win, the 1952-53 season was a most memorable one for Canadiens fans. On Day 5 of the Eyes On A Dynasty series, we look back on that fateful season, where the seeds of the coming dynasty where firmly in place.

On November 8, 1952, Maurice Rocket Richard surpassed Nels Stewart as the all time leading goal scorer in NHL history with his 325th career goal with his sixth goal of the season against the Chicago Blackhawks at the Forum.

Richard's goal was anxiously anticipated, as he had equalled Stewart's mark on October 29 with a two goal performance against Toronto, where he received a standing ovation from Maple Leafs supporters. He had gone goaless for three games until firing a shot at Hawks netminder Al Rollins, which lay just outside the goal line, and was pushed across the red line in a scramble, nudged by the but end of the goaler's stick.

The game on the 8th had several undercurrents. Goalie Gerry McNeil had been injured in Toronto, the same game in which Rocket tied Stewart, and had been replaced for the past three contests by rookie Jacques Plante, who had been called up on a three game trial from the Montreal Royals. By NHL rules, if Plante played a fourth game, he would have to be signed to a professional contract. Plante had done extremely well, with two wins and tie in that stint, and there was some question that he would be signed. GM Frank Selke's other option included calling up Plante's backup with the Royals, Hal Murphy, who had seen less action in the QMHL that Plante had with the Habs.

Ultimately, with McNeil close to a return, Selke chose to go with the 25 year old Murphy, who by circumstance would play his lone NHL contest on a very eventful night. For Murphy, it would be his third game in four nights, in three different leagues (St. Therese, QPHL, the Royals and the Canadiens), and with the win over Chicago would always joke that he left the NHL undefeated.

In addition to the Rocket targeting his landmark goal, Elmer Lach, the NHL's all-time points leader at the time was one goal shy of his 200th career marker. But for fans with tickets to that night Forum game, all that was on their minds was the suspense building Rocket goal, and when it would finally come.

Midway through the second period, with the score tied at one, Richard took a pass from Doug Harvey and battled close to the goal. Spotting Lach open at the side, he fed a perfect pass onto "Elegant" Elmer's stick, which he slid into the open side. Only 30 second's later, a hard Richard backhander found its way past Rollins and the Forum crowd erupted, holding up the game while celebrations ensued.

Televised hockey couldn't have asked for better drama and suspense. The Hollywood scripts of yesteryear were no match for this!

Translation of what is said during the clip is as follows:

Lecavalier: Bouchard shoots from the point....Richard now, he shoots again....there it is, it's in!....that's it.....and there you have it, the 325th goal of Richard's career.

Narrator: The famous 325th goal of the career of Maurice Richard was scored on November 8, 1952, exactly ten years to the day of his first NHL goal. Nels Stewart is on hand to congratulate him.

Stewart may not have been in attendance for the record breaker, as the Gazette notes: Before the game was over, The Rocket received the following wire from Nels (Big Sam) Stewart, former holder of the recod: "Congratulations on breaking the record. Hope you will hold it for many season. Best of luck to you, Frank Selke, Dick Irvin and the rest of the boys through the season."

Pretty cool that after the official hands him the puck, the Rocket expresses his emotions throwing the puck down on the ice, then picking it up, before handing it to the coach Dick Irvin.

The remainder of the clip shows Lach's overtime Cup winner against the Bruins on April 16. The translated commentary beginning at the 1:07 mark:

Eddie Mazur is playing on a line with Richard and Lach and carries the puck into Boston territory, slipping past all of Milt Schmidt (15), Bill Quackenbush (11), Woody Dumart (14) and Warren Godffrey (6). He strides right up past the faceoff circle to fire a backhander than Sugar Jim Henry handles without a trouble. The puck drops at his feet, and Dumart clears the rebound into the corner, when it takes an odd bounce back to Schmidt. Pressured by the Rocket, Schmidt feeds a clearing attempt up ice that is intercepted by Lach. Elmer, with all kinds of time, spins and fires a shot on goal. Henry, screened by Richard, barely moves as the puck flies past him.

Lecavalier: Mazur at center ice....continuing toward the goal....nice play by Mazur....Lach intercepts....he shoots, he scores! The goal we've been waiting for! Lach and Richard are on the ice...

Narrator: Delerium reigns. On this April night of 1953, Elmer Lach, assisted by Maurice Richard, scored the goal that gave the Canadiens the Stanley Cup.

Maurice's enthusiam is so great, that he breaks his teammates nose when he jumps into his arms. They were in overtime, in the last game of the playoffs against Boston.

Lecavalier: The players are raising him triumphantly, and he deserves it.....Elmer Lach! The Canadiens win the Stanley Cup for the first time since 1946, seven years. This is an unbelievable scene!

House Announcer: Canadiens goal scored by Lach....on a pass by Richard! Time of the goal, 1:22.

Lecavalier:

One minute and twenty-two, the official time of this incomparable goal.

Richard and Lach, are overjoyed....Richard isn't usually this emotional, but he's just letting himself go now.

The Stanley Cup, they're carrying it out to center ice now. Let's pass things over to Michel Normandin.

Normandin: We're trying to clear a path now and make our way to Maurice Richard. Richard, who fed the puck to Lach on the Cup winning goal. Maurice....

Richard: Merci Michel, I got to tell you that the first time in all my days playing hockey that I celebrated like that!

Normandin: Now above all else, you've won the Stanley Cup....

Richard: Yes, and it's a game I'll never forget!

Normandin:....well thanks for your effort and congratulations.

Here are the complete five game highlights from the 1953 final.

Jaroslav Halak Blues' Mask Invokes the Spirit of Jake the Snake, While Player Agent Epitomizes Snake Behind the Scenes

2010-09-10T08:47:16Z

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Last January 20th, as the Canadiens prepared to host the St. Louis Blues, I posted an article entitled "Many Years Ago, The Canadiens Helped Legitimize The Blues."

In that piece, I listed every player who ever donned both the CH and the St. Louis Blues' bluenote, going all the way back to the 1967 expansion. The point of the article at that time, was to show the Canadiens influence on a Blues team that reached the Stanley Cup Final three years in succession from 1968 to 1970.

The payback was a dilly back in the day. Their fired coach in the summer of 1971, Scotty Bowman, guided the 1970's Habs to five Stanley Cups in the next eight seasons.

Guess they're not called the Blues for nothing!

In hindsight, maybe we owed St.Louis a good shake or two!

At the time of that article, I noted that 70 players had shared both jerseys, and among them were goalies Jacques Plante, Ernie Wakely, Phil Myre, Michel Larocque, Michel Plasse, Vincent Riendeau, and Rick Wamsley.

Thus, with the trade this past summer, Jaroslav Halak will become the eighth goalie to wear the colours of both the Habs and Blues, and soon, he and Lars Eller will bring the shared jersey total count to 72.

I bring this all up thanks to a timely Fanshot from EOTP reader Paperwork Ninja, who keenly noted a posting at St. Louis Gametime, of Jaroslav Halak's new Blues' mask, which pays tribute to the lone Hall of Fame goaler to wear both the Habs and Blues colours.

Plante, oddly enough, is one of two goaltenders in Canadiens history, who were enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame, who managed to reach the Stanley Cup finals with a team other than the Habs.

Canadiens goalies in the HHOF include Georges Vezina, George Hainsworth, Bill Durnan, Plante, Gump Worsley, Ken Dryden and Patrick Roy - who equalled his Habs' success with Colorado in 1996 and 2001.

As far as I know, Jaro doesn't knit his own underwear like Plante did, he never wore a toque as a junior, and has no asthma symptoms or issues with getting hit in the face with pucks. He also didn't win six Stanley Cups before Montreal ditched him.

Call me a cynic, but after last weeks Halak autograph session in Montreal, this newest mask design seems like a final jab at the Canadiens by Halak's agent Allan Walsh.

If it is, then that arrow really stings, because Plante never won a Cup with the Blues, who have never won a Cup in 43 years. Like, fuckin' ouch!

Hurt me, hurt me!

Really, if Halak, via his agent were intent on evoking great Blues goaltenders, they had a pick between Grant Fuhr, Glenn Hall, Curtis Joseph, Mike Liut or John Davidson, the former goalie and current Blues GM who traded for him.

Slim pickings. I wanna rock - where's my one string guitar!

Nonetheless, as per the agent, I smell a rat, and that rat's ass to me looks just like Allan Walsh's face.

Put that on a mask, Jaro. Nice knowin' ya!

Canadiens goalies in recent years have paid tribute to the legendary men who have played goal for Montreal, such as Jocelyn Thibault portraying the Jacques Plante pretzel mask on his ownfacial shield, and Carey Price invoking images of greats such as Georges Vezina, George Hainsworth, Bill Durnan, Plante, Ken Dryden and Patrick Roy.

It's a great theme, isn't it?

Maybe on Alex Auld's mask we'll see the famous Dryden pose or the image of Plante slipping the mask over his bloodied face for the first time ever in 1959.

Perhaps in a year's time, Price will be dealt to Colorado, and his mask could have the image of Roy giving coach Mario Tremblay the infamous glare.

Only if he brought on Walsh as his agent.

This, could never end!

Next time you engage your children in a game of "Pin the Tail on the Donkey", place a portrait of Allan Walsh on the animals ass crack!

That's where Walsh belongs.

Fans pissed at the Halak trade, should aim their venom at this self agrandizing shithole.

The Canadiens surely would have worked a way to keep both Halak and Price for one more season, if it weren't for a player agent keen on owning the pedastal in this scenario.

Agenda by Walsh?

Does it get anymore pointed than the Jaro Blues mask as a final jab to the Habs organization, only days after an autograph session n Habs soil?

Think about this long and hard.

Fans are blaming the Habs, GM Pierre Gauthier, and former GM Bob Gainey for the Halak trade?

Get real!

If it were you as Habs GM, dealing with the renegade and maverick player agent that Walsh is, seemingly more intent on making a name for himself than with his player's actual concerns, wouldn't you off the player to an ozone franchise that's never won squat, isn't anywhere near, but were willing to part with a first round pick in exchange.

Kudos to Pierre Gauthier for having a backbone when encountering a spineless fish.

Every Habs fan couldn't help but love Jaroslav Halak for all that he did for the Canadines over the past four seasons.

I'll miss that ever-battling underdog!

His soul, before it was sold out, was true Les Canadiens!

We, as Habs supportors, team over individuals, should not miss his agent.

The Jacques Plante image on the Jaro mask is all about the agent, not the player.

Make no mistake.

Eyes On A Dynasty - Day 4: Jean Beliveau's First Games, the Big Contract and the Rocket's Fuse

2010-09-09T06:16:23Z

Every so often, the stars align and seemingly create the most perfect of scenarios. In Canadiens history, there was perhaps no more a long awaited prospect than Jean Beliveau, his scoring exploits hyped across North America while Habs fans drooled at the prospect of Le Gros Bill one day donning the CH. Day 4 of the Eyes On A Dynasty series looks at Beliveau's first games as a Canadien, the coverage garnered by his precedent setting contract. Later in the article, also from 1953, a little preview of the burning Rocket fuse.

Part of the excitement in following the game of hockey and being a fan of any particular team has often involved the anxious curiosity of witnessing a promising player's first NHL steps. Some of us may recall Ken Dryden's sparkling debut with the Canadiens, Guy Lafleur's patient blossoming into the Flower or Stephane Richer's first Habs strides.

Still today, the true fan has an eye out for glimpses of team prospects in their very first presentation to a viewing public. The prospect represents hope, tomorrow and better times ahead.

For Montreal Canadiens fans in the early 1950's, no player better elicited those hopes than Jean Beliveau. Practically already a nation wide star from his scoring exploits with the Quebec Aces, Beliveau was loyal to his counsel and hesitant to turn pro with the Canadiens. For many a Habs, he would have to seen, for the hype to be believed.

Clipping from the Montreal Gazette, Monday December 22, 1952

In a two game trial with the Habs in 1950-51, Beliveau had whet everyone's appetites. A 19 year old junior at the time, Beliveau, wearing number 17, tallied a goal and an assist in those games. He appeared ready for the big time. But outside of those having seen him play live, word of mouth, newspaper reports, and Sports Illustrated raves were all anyone had to go on.

Beliveau had been called up from the Quebec Aces on a three game trial beginning on December 18, and responded with a hat trick against the New York Rangers that night. Shutout before Forum fans against the Bruins on the 20th, - likely his first televised appearance - he would make amends one night later, scoring two goals.

Clipping from the Montreal Gazette, Friday December 19, 1952

For the game against the Rangers, Beliveau is handed Dickie Moore's number 12 to wear. Moore, injured and not yet a regular on the Canadiens is horrified. He describes what happened on the day in the short clip below.

The two minute and 45 second clip might just represent one of the earlier "Games of the Week" highlight packages. It starts with a closing snippet of the Canadiens 3-2 win over Chicago on the 11th, before the spliced newsreel account declares "Rookie Ace Trims Bruins."

Beliveau is mentioned twice in two quick sequences; a rush in which a player wearing number 20, Paul Meger, comes close to scoring, and another where he cruises into the slot and buries a loose puck for his second goal of the game.

After the second Beliveau goal, it is apparent that Jean is wearing the number 12 in this game, but in the previous sequence, he is spoken of while number 20 (Meger) skates in for a scoring chance. For the 1952-53, numerous accountings list Beliveau as having worn both numbers 12 and 20. Could it be that Beliveau wore Meger's number the night before in Montreal, thus lending to the confusion?

Before and after Beliveau mentions, scrums involving Boom Boom and the Rocket, tossing a referee to the ice, are shown.

Clipping from the Montreal Gazette, Tuesday December 23, 1952

From Beliveau's Wikipedia Biography:

A star at an early age, Jean Béliveau was spotted by Canadiens general manager Frank Selke at the age of 15. Selke tried to get him to sign a "C-form," the usual form by which NHL teams bound young players to them. Under the form's terms, Jean would have joined the Canadiens at a set date, and at an agreed-upon salary. However, Jean's father balked, and eventually Selke had to content himself with having Jean sign a "B-form," in which only stipulated that he agreed to play for Montreal should he ever decide to turn pro.

Soon, Béliveau became a huge star in Quebec City, playing for the QSHL Aces. He was called up twice for brief appearances by the Canadiens, first for a pair of games in 1950-51 and for a three game trial in December of 1952 in which he scored 5 goals. As Béliveau led the QSHL in scoring that season, pressure mounted on the Canadiens and Selke to sign the rising star. However, Beliveau was loyal to his Quebec employers and didn't appear to show much interest in playing professionally. The worst kept secret in hockey at the time was that Beliveau was earning close to $10,000 per season with the Aces, and was lavishly gifted with cars, assorted gifts and paying endorsements.

Finally, Selke got an idea—if the QSHL were somehow turned into a professional league, Béliveau would be forced to turn professional as well, and under the terms of the B-form he would have to sign with the Habs. At Selke's suggestion, the Canadiens bought the QSHL and converted it from an amateur league to a minor pro league. This forced Béliveau to the bargaining table with the Canadiens, who ostensibly opened the Forum vaults to award him a $100,000 contract, the richest in hockey, over the next five years.

The signing date, October 3, 1953, proved to be one of the happiest days in Canadiens history, ending the three year long courtship of the province's greatest prospect.

A Hockey Donnybrook in New York

With games regularly shown on television came the inevitable highlights packages of goals, great saves and fights. In this 1953 tilt, a prototypical Richard goal is featured, along with saves and pucks that eluded New York's Gump Worsley and the Habs' Gerry McNeil.

In this feature clip, a narrator with a New York accent refers to the Canadiens as the Flying Frenchmen and the cameras move inside the Montreal dressing room before the game. It's hard to say why coach Dick Irvin has a mic in his hand. Perhaps he wanted to interview Billy Reay's balding head!

Sticks are beginning to fly - this looks like war!

Keep an eye out nearing the three minute mark on the progress bar, as Richard swings his stick and cuts a two inch gash in Eddie Coleman's scalp! Eddie's okay, but he needed eight stiches!

The Rocket received a major for that one, but returned to score a second goal to make the game 4-2.

That's all the scoring, but the Rangers win a hockey donnybrook 4-3!

Eyes On A Dynasty - Day 3: Hockey's First Televised Games In Canada

2010-09-08T05:11:51Z

In Day 3 of the Eyes On A Dynasty series, we turn back time to a day likely recounted to our generation by our parents or grandparents. What a momentous occasion it must have been for hockey fans in Canada, being finally able to view games on network television starting in October 1952. Akin to a revolution of the mind, the moving pictures helped connect images for many, brought forth by years of listening to games on radio, reading accounts in newspapers and collecting hockey cards, piecing together how their heroes played the game without ever having seen them. The hockey fan, thanks to television, could now put it all together.

The CBC's first ever hockey telecast in Canada was not a Canadiens or Maple Leafs game, and it came in the spring of 1952. The occasion was the Memorial Cup final, a 10-2 win by the Guelph Biltmore Mad Hatters over the Regina Pats. Unbeknownst to many fans of the game, the very first televised hockey games began south of the border from New York's Madison Square Garden twelve years earlier. On February 25, 1940, the soon to be Cup champion Rangers hosted the Canadiens, then bottom feeders in a seven team NHL. The station broadcasting to a tiny handful of television receivers was W2XBS in New York. The Rangers won that game, 6 to 2.

Of course, hockey fans in Canada in 1940 were still dreaming of the day games would be televised. For most north of the 49th parallel, this occurred on October 11, 1952.

The first National network telecast occured on January 11, 1958, and not the January 23 date that splashed across the screen in the clip you are about to see. Montreal defeated the Rangers on that night by a 9-3 score.

In terms of Montreal Canadiens history, the beginning of the television era coincided with the club's most celebrated era. Hockey fans in Canada were being born Canadiens fan. There were a number of perfect storms.

On October 11, 1952, the first very Canadiens game was broadcast in french with René Lecavalier calling the play by play. The portions of the inaugural La Soirée du Hockey shown here is hardly Lecavalier at his best, but it offers a glimpse of what viewers who had never taken in a live game could finally see.

This season opener against Detroit was a greatly anticipated game considering that the Red Wings swept Montreal in the previous Cup finals. The Canadiens won this contest by a 2-1 score.

From text below the You Tube clip:

Television sets were prohibitively expensive for most Canadians in 1952. Only 10 per cent of households in Canada had one, so most of those watching at home were well heeled enough to have attended Canadiens games in person. The Canadiens win bolstered many fan's positive impressions of the groundbreaking experiment. English Canada got its first glimpse of televised NHL hockey three weeks later. Foster Hewitt ascended the Maple Leaf Gardens catwalk in Toronto to provide play-by-play for the final two periods of a match between the Leafs and the Boston Bruins.

Asked by interviewer Tom Foley, about the progress of televised hockey across the nation, Senator Hartland Molson, owner of the Canadiens replies:

"I think it's a very great thing to have it go right across the country, because everybody knows of the National Hockey League, everybody knows it's the best hockey in the world, and I think Canadians all over Canada should be able to see it."

An extended 14 minutes of footage from the Detroit game is available from the Radio Canada Archives site. The action begins in the third period, with strong play from the Rocket, Lach, Harvey and Floyd Curry.

In this clip, among other things, we see the great Maurice "Rocket" Richard jumping into the arms of Lach after he scores the 1953 Stanley Cup winning goal in overtime. What most viewers surely did not know at that moment, was that Richard thrust himself so excitedly into Lach, that he broke his centerman's nose.

This second clip features more footage of that first Detroit game broadcast, especially focusing on the play of Lach for the first minute. From there, the clip shows another first, according to play by play man Lecavalier, and it occurred on a Saturday November 15, 1952 telecast. At 9:03 of the third period, with the Canadiens leading Boston 2-0, a fight breaks out between Doug Harvey and Milt Schmidt that draws major penalties. Lecavalier states as it happens, that it is the first time the broadcast has had the pleasure to show fans a fight on television. As referees step in, a second tilt breaks out between the Habs' Dollard St. Laurent and Leo Labine.

The 1952-53 season culminated with a Canadiens Stanley Cup victory, the team's eighth title. In describing Elmer Lach's overtime come winning goal against the Bruins, Gallivan employed Foster Hewitt's familiar "He shoots he scores!" exclamation made popular by the Leafs broadcaster on radio.

Gallivan was known for his colourful descriptions of action on the ice. Hard shots became "cannonading drives"; saves were "scintillating" or "larcenous" rather than merely spectacular; and, after a save, pucks tended to get caught in a goalie's "paraphernalia" (goalie equipment). If the goaltender made a fantastic or impossible save, he would refer to it as a "hair raising save" or that the goalie "kicked out his pad in rapier-like fashion" to foil a "glorious scoring opportunity". He would use words such as "anemic" to describe an ineffective offense or powerplay. He also coined phrases like "nowhere near the net", when a shot would go wide, comment that "there has not been a multitudinous amount of shots" to describe a game with a "dire dearth" of shots on net, would mention that a defender was "wasting valuable seconds in the penalty" when they were ragging the puck, and would almost always announce, "and the penalty has expired!" at the end of a penalty. The ultimate Gallivanism was a word he coined: the "spinarama," which described a player evading a check or when a player would deke a defender with a sudden 180- or 360-degree turn. Its chief practitioner was Serge Savard, so the move was also known as "The Savardian Spinarama".

In Gallivan's early days on Hockey Night In Canada, he was often joined in the both by analyst Frank Selke Jr., son of the Canadiens manager who would later go on to be the GM of the California Golden Seals. Selke Jr. was also the Canadiens publicity director from 1951 to 1965 and appears in the team photos of the era. By the mid 1960's, he was replaced by Dick Irvin Jr. alongside Gallivan. The above clip shows Gallivan and Leafs from an April 9, 1960 playoff game at the Forum between the Canadiens and Maple Leafs.

From the 1952-53 season onward, Hockey Night In Canada made an imprint on every hockey fan, It was an auspicious and iconic debut that would never leave us. Things would never be the same again, and that was a great thing!

Day 1: Iced Lightning (September 6)

Day 2: Canadiens Hockey in the pre-Television Era (September 7)

Day 3: Hockey's First Televised Game in Canada (September 8)

Day 4: Jean Beliveau's First Games, the Big Contract, and the Rocket's Fuse (September 9)

Day 5: The Rocket's 325th Goal and the 1953 Stanley Cup (September 10)

Day 6: The Rocket and the Riots (September 11)

Day 7: In '54 and '55, It Was Close But No Champagne For The Habs! (September 12)

Day 8: The 1956 Stanley Cup (September 13)

Day 9: The 1957 Stanley Cup (September 14)

Day 10: The 1958 Stanley Cup (September 15)

Day 11: The Rocket's Last Hurrah (September 16)

Day 12: The 1959 Stanley Cup (September 17)

Day 13: The 1960 Stanley Cup (September 18)

Day 14: Jacques Plante's Revolutionary Invention (September 19)

Day 15: The Canadiens 1950's Dynasty Team and Player Facts and Stats (September 20)

Day 16: Celebrations and Nostalgia (September 21)

Eyes On A Dynasty - Day 2: The Canadiens in the pre-Television Era

2010-09-07T00:49:52Z

Day 2 of the Eyes On A Dynasty series showcases the earliest known footage on the Montreal Canadiens. Captured in the 1920's and 1930's are film provided by Habs' owner Leo Dandurand, bristling scenes of greats Howie Morenz and Aurele Joliat, an action sequence from a motion picture filmed at Madison Square Garden, and flashback clips on the tragic death of Morenz at age 34.

Back sometime around 1925, the Canadiens held an outdoor practice at Parc Jeanne Mance, just off Avenue de l' Esplenade and Mount Royal. The photo above was taken from that event, and you can see that it was sparsely attended. The photo is a still from a film made by someone, and the clip later came into the hands of Canadiens manager Leo Dandurand, who had it aired on television in the 1950's. Whoever filmed it for posterity did hockey history a favor, as it is surely the oldest moving pictures of the Canadiens on record.

The 1924 Leo Dandurand film

The clip, unfortunately, has no exact known date. Or I should say, we are unfortunately unable to track it. It came to me courtesy of Francis' collection, and the two of us tried desperatly when we first posted this clip to ascertain its exact time and origin to no avail. Originally, we thought that It is either from the 1924-25 season or the following campaign. Going strictly by the Habs' logo with the white "C", it can de determined that it was in fact during the 1923-24 season, as in the campaign prior the Canadiens wore sweaters with a red "C" and for 1924-25, the CH logo was replaced by a globe, signifying the team were world champions after their second Stanley Cup win.

Team photos, clockwise from top left: 1922-23, 1923-24, 1925-26, 1924-25.

As can be seen, the setting is most definitely in the mid winter, as snowbanks alongside the rink are quite high. What confuses most are the players said (and seen) to be included in the clip. One shot shows Leo Dandurand laughing it up with Sprague Cleghorn, whom he traded to Boston on November 10, 1925.

The clip mentions Georges Vezina in goal, but the goaltender wearing number 11 is Alphonse "Frenchy" Lacroix. Vezina faces the camera in the clip. Lacroix was part of the club for practice purposes during the 1924-25 campaign, but was not signed until November 8, 1925, two days prior to the trading of Cleghorn. As the clip is spliced, it is difficult to ascertain if they are all of one piece or not.

The narrator is Quebec television personality Zotique L' Esperance, and at one point he notes that one of the defenseman is Albert Leduc, who joined the team for the 1925-26 season.

The second part of the clip features Morenz and the Canadiens at the opening game at Madison Square Garden on December 15, 1925. In the clip, Howie was wearing the unfamiliar number 6 he wore for his second NHL season only.

Here is a translation of what is being said in the clip.

We would also like to salute former players, who have contributed to implanting and developing the game of hockey.

Mister Leo Dandurand, our popular sportsman, has unearthed old film clips for us, from 1925 to 1930, and we are happy to show them to you.

Let's have a look at a practice of the Canadiens hockey club at Parc Jeanne Mance in 1925.

Here is George Vezina in goal, the most famous of goaltenders who passed away only months later.

Sylvio Mantha (2) and Albert Leduc (8) hold off the thrusts of Morenz (7), Joliat (4) and Boucher (5).

Leo Dandurand chats with Sprague Cleghorn (2).

Howie Morenz (7) facing off, at the opening game in Madison Square Garden history in 1925. The Canadiens beat the New York Americans 3-1, and Albert Leduc scored the first goal. Morenz was then wearing the number 6, instead of the number 7 he would make famous in the future. There's nothing slow in this game!

The art of filming hockey games in this era, was just beginning.

And so it was!

The 1930's Morenz and Joliat clip

Francis did some great work here, splicing together scenes of Howie Morenz and Aurele Joliat playing together in the nineteen-twenties and thirties. The french voice-over narration are chopped up in the 51 second clip, and the only verifiable voice is that of Joliat.

The translation of commentary is as follows:

As we've noted before, Morenz and Joliat were such rapid skaters, that they probably caused the league to modify the rules, adding the red line.

Morenz was a player I'd only seen play, but it was as thought I knew him much better, as he was all that was talked about...

Joliat: Yes I played with Morenz, but never really with him. I was always either in front of him, skating up ice, (or trying to catch up). He was lightning on the ice. Nobody could follow him.

About Joliat: He wore a little baseball cap on his head....and I don't think you liked it when opponents tried to knock it off.

Scene from Manhattan Melodrama

All Habs' fans are well aware that Yvan "Roadrunner" Cournoyer and Guy "The Flower" Lafleur were lightning quick on skates. Fans aquainted with these and other Canadiens' greats have seen these legends fly across the ice numerous times and we all have our own favorite highlight reel goals from years gone by.

Unfortunately, video clips of the Canadiens first half century aren't aplenty, so you can imagine my delight when a reader sent in a link to a You Tube clip featuring the great Howie Morenz dashing across the frozen surface of Madison Square Garden in 1934. The You Tube clip has since been removed for copyright infringement, but fortunately I made an edited copy of the Morenz scene.

The clip is from the movie "Manhattan Melodrama" featuring Clark Cable, and in different scenes the characters in the movie are spotted in sporting settings such as a racetrack and at this game involving the Rangers and the Habs at MSG. The two quick clips come within a 20 second span and are brief, but they capture the essense of the player Morenz was 10 years or so into his Canadiens' career.

Testimony to the type of player Howie was, have a look at his speed on the back check!

The first part of the clip shows Howie carrying the puck up the ice, dashing and muscling his way past the Rangers' players, when defenseman Ching Johnson almost flattens him and he goes for a good slide.

This, evidentally, is what had to be done to stop the Stratford Streak!

In the second part of the video, you see Morenz blazing back into the Canadien's zone on the backcheck. He surpasses pretty much every player in his path to catch the puck carrier, who he then neatly pokes the puck from. The man had wheels!

I'm thankful to have been sent the clip. It's precious stuff! I've seen Guy and Yvan, and now I can say that I've also briefly caught a glimpse of Howie.

Man was Morenz fast! A blur, really.

The Death of Howie Morenz

In an era before television, only a lucky few hockey fans ever got to see Howie Morenz play. To hear his contemporaries tell it, the Canadiens forward played the game with a flair and skill perhaps only matched by Maurice Richard. But in January 1937 it all came to an end with a vicious leg injury that broke the bone in four places. Seven weeks later, on March 8, 1937, Canadiens fans were devastated to hear Morenz was dead. In this retrospective CBC-TV clip, mourners line up around the block to pay their respects.

Day 1: Iced Lightning (September 6)

Day 2: Canadiens Hockey in the pre-Television Era (September 7)

Day 3: Hockey's First Televised Game in Canada (September 8)

Day 4: Jean Beliveau's First Games, the Big Contract, and the Rocket's Fuse (September 9)

Day 5: The Rocket's 325th Goal and the 1953 Stanley Cup (September 10)

Day 6: The Rocket and the Riots (September 11)

Day 7: In '54 and '55, It Was Close But No Champagne For The Habs! (September 12)

Day 8: The 1956 Stanley Cup (September 13)

Day 9: The 1957 Stanley Cup (September 14)

Day 10: The 1958 Stanley Cup (September 15)

Day 11: The Rocket's Last Hurrah (September 16)

Day 12: The 1959 Stanley Cup (September 17)

Day 13: The 1960 Stanley Cup (September 18)

Day 14: Jacques Plante's Revolutionary Invention (September 19)

Day 15: The Canadiens 1950's Dynasty Team and Player Facts and Stats (September 20)

Day 16: Celebrations and Nostalgia (September 21)

Eyes On A Dynasty - Day 1: Iced Lightning

2010-09-06T06:07:43Z

This is the beginning of a multi-part EOTP Habs video clip series that will run over the next two weeks. We've chosen to call it "Eyes On a Dynasty", for want of a more conclusive title.

The basic theme is the Montreal Canadiens captured on film, from the earliest footage available to the conclusion of the 1950's dynasty run as the greatest hockey club ever assembled. As the series plays out and leads to the era of the first televised games from the Forum in 1952, you will see private films, silver screen film shorts and clips from motion pictures. From there, small screen footage from television takes us through a decade of unparalleled Habs' success.

The inspiration for the series idea came from EOTP site contributor Francis Bouchard, whose vaste knowledge of Canadiens related clips, historical game footage and movies expanded this series from an article or two into a full blown concept. Initially providing me with a film short called "Iced Lightning" a mini-doc on Montreal hockey history from 1948, Francis dilligently helped guide the series to encompass an even larger concept.

The heart of our project thus became the six Stanley Cups won by the Canadiens in the first eight seasons of the television era. With that, for a couple of boys who hadn't lived through it, it became plain and clear why the Montreal Canadiens remain a most popular team across the country to this day. The Habs had the right team and the right players at a perfect time!

Aside from Francis, two other friends of the site lent a helping hand in guiding this series, although they've no idea of their infuence. Luckily, it was a happy coincidence that I happened to be reading Todd Denault's book on Jacques Plante while perusing the many clips you will see in coming days. As the Plante book serves equally as a fascinating look inside the Canadiens dynasty, it became a reference point and guide. Subliminally, a quote from Dave Stubb's HIO bio stuck with me, when I was at the stage of deciding to make this a larger project or not. It reads: "Stubbs's fantasy is to travel back in time to the 1950s and watch the great Canadiens dynasty that won five consecutive Stanley Cups". Almost from the inception of HIO, Dave has been tremendously supportive of the work done at EOTP. That note in his bio gave a little inspirational push, and this series is dedicated to him.

The series begins today with "Iced Lighning". Although chronologically out of order, it is where Francis and I took off from, as the perspective of the clip focusing on Montreal's hockey history at that time provided a shuddering time warp, a reminder of how much the game has changed....and how some things about it haven't changed much at all. From this ten minute short, Francis and I were captivated, brought back in time to an era where hockey for the masses might have been best represented by a big screen movie or trailer. Across Canada, for those who never made it into the Forum for a live action glimpse, this clip is what they knew in 1948.

A great deal of work, revision, research, and more work went into this month long series. I hope everyone enjoys it.

At the end of this post, a listing of upcoming articles and their days of publication are noted.

Sometime during 1946 and 1947, a ten minute hockey short called Iced Lightning was filmed and produced concerning the hockey hotbed of Montreal, most likely to be shown in movie theatres just before the feature films of the day.

A historical film document in every intent, Iced Lightning was designed to show the game from it's youthful beginnings from streets and parks through to the profesional NHL game. Produced by Paramount Picture's Jack Eaton, the film highlighted hockey in the city of Montreal and a Canadiens club fresh off its sixth Stanley Cup in 1946.

Prior to the first televised hockey games and with Hockey Night In Canada a pipe dream at this point, the movie theatres were where many people first saw moving footage of hockey being played.

As youths, several stars at the time, such as Maurice Richard, claimed they never witnessed a live Canadiens game until they played in one. Only a decade later, players such as Jean Beliveau and Jacques Plante would tell that their first experiences in becoming Canadiens fans came over the radio, listening to the exploits of the Rocket and crew.

The silver screen is where hockey was most often displayed at large, in the form of full length movies that more often than not, played up the game's more violent aspects.

Movies such as the King of Hockey (1936), Idol of the Crowds and The Game That Kills (both 1937) were noteworthy only for having connected the storylines to underworld themes such as suspicious team owners and players on the take.

While these were hardly cinematic classics by any means, the movies did have some basis of truth, as New York Ameican's owner Bill Dwyer, a prohibition bootlegger and mobster seemed to be central to Hollywood ideas of what hockey was all about in the 1930's. Nonetheless, this was for many people, their introduction to the Canadian game of hockey south of the border.

Imagine, the "Duke" John Wayne as a hockey player!

Today, Brian Burke would draft this guy if he didn't know his real name was Marion!

Likely in the early 1940's, as filming capabilities progressed, someone surely thought of representing the game of hockey in a more positive light. That could quite well have been the inspiration for Iced Lightning. The ten minute short on the Canadiens was not to be the last of its kind.

Parts of Iced Lightning were filmed on at least a pair of occassions, the first being on November 1, 1946 during a Canadiens and Maple Leafs game at the Forum. Another date film crews were in Montreal later that season, was on February 6, 1947, when a Gazette article referred to a film shooting during a practice session for Grantland Rice's Sportslight series.

Note: The November 1 filming was engineered for entirely different purposes that a simple movie clip. It is actually a very interesting story that plays into the ever-growing Habs and Leafs, Frank Selke / Conn Smythe rivalvy. More on this here.

Clippings from November 2, 1946 and February 6, 1947.

Other clips of the Canadiens may have been filmed as late as March 1948. Much footage was taken outside in the great Montreal winter, where teams of different age levels competed on outdoor rinks city wide.

Released in 1948, the movie's focus is all Montreal, at a time when the city was Canada's largest. The movie backtracks the history of the game all the way to McGill University in 1875, mentioning hockey's progressive stages along the way.

One error in the narrative commentary, the very first pucks were never "a three sided cube", whatever that is supposed to be!

The first action scenes show a McGill Redmen team during an outdoor practice, while rule changes over the evolution of the game are discussed. Just past the minute mark in the clip, kids are shown playing street hockey in it's most primitive form while narrator Ted Husing describes the game's simplicity. Precious is the kid padding his shin with a catalogue, rapidly performing the task as though he could do it blindfolded.

At this time in the city, there were 144 free outdoor rinks in the Montreal area, which is said to be of a million and a half population. All rinks were run by the city's recreational department, churches and schools.

You get a sense, by the sheer numbers mentioned as participants, as to why the Canadiens club would become so strong in the coming decade. Little wonder it is referred to as the hockey center of the world.

By the clip's three minute mark, female hockey players, referred to as "tomboys", participate in the outdoor games. The ladies are actually from the Royal Victoria half of McGill University, are appear quite adept in the skills of the game. Next up is footage of an all-black Royal Canadian Legion team from the city during a practice session.

The first glimpse of a player dressed in Canadiens colours is Howie Morenz Jr, filmed during an outdoor practice across the street from the Forum at Atwater park. Morenz Jr, was in the midst of a 42-26-68 season in 27 games with the Juniors in 1946-47, when this rare footage was taken. Here we see scrimmages, pitting red versus white teams, in drills run by coach Wilf Cude, the former Canadiens goalie.

It is 4:50 into the clip when we are finally introduced to the big boys, the defending Stanley Cup champion Canadiens, featuring many of the legends from the 1946 Cup win.

The camera crew filmed the Habs on separate occasions, one being the game involving the Maple Leafs on November 1, 1946 and on another occasion the following season, when goalie Bill Durnan was named captain in Toe Blake's absense.

Footage begins inside the Canadiens dressing room, as we see players such as Blake, Elmer Lach, and Butch Bouchard going through their pre-game rituals.

The narrator mentions that the Canadiens have won more Stanley Cups than any other team, but the gap in wins was not quite as wide as it is today. When Montreal won their sixth in 1946, it put them one ahead of Toronto (Leafs, St. Pats and Arenas). The Red Wings, Rangers and Bruins all had 3 Cup wins to their credit, with another two going to the Blackhawks.

"It is more than a speedy body contact game, it's a bruising, smashing sport, and calls for much padded protection", goes the narration, but as we can see, the equipement of yesteryear would see an entire team carried off on stretchers today.

As we watch Bill Durnan dress, he is compared to a boxer and a footaball player, and referred to as "a human target for that fast speeding puck."

A close up shot gives us a good look at the ambidextrous Durnan's two catching mits.

Incidentally, the captain's "C" on Durnan's sweater dates some of this footage between January and March of 1948, after the career ending injury to captain Toe Blake. Interestingly, we see both captains on ice together seconds later. Blake, who suffered a double ankle fracture in a January 11, 1948 game against the Rangers, never returned to active NHL play, but is seen in team functions following the injury. It could be that the sequence of film clips are not in historical order.

As coach Dick Irvin appears, the team heads out onto the Forum ice to practice. We see the strides of the legendary Maurice "Rocket" Richard, who is mentioned as the game's highest paid player at the time. Only into his fifth season at the time, Richard is described as "not a rough player."

A red and white scrimmage follows, and you can see Ken Reardon and Butch Bouchard give a heavenly heave to a Habs' forward attempted to split between them. Moments later, on a second try, forward Bob Carse manages to slip around rearguards Glen Harmon and Roger Leger.

Footage of the Canadiens and Maple Leafs game one season earlier on November 1, 1946 is then shown. Both teams are wearing dark jerseys, which seems to lost on the narrator, who is describing the game in colour.

Rough play from the era, sticks pointed and high, is shown, as the narrator tells that offenders go "off the rink, in the clink!" for violations of the rules.

Bring that saying back to hockey jargon, anytime!"

"Montreal and Toronto are natural and bitter rivals!" That little has changed! A two handed tomahawk chop by a Leafs player follows that note.

"Even the referees can't begin to pin the penalties where they belong."

Did I mention little has changed!

As an eight player scrum breaks out along the boards, our narrator exclaims, "THIS IS HOCKEY!"

Unfortunately for the film crews, the game was not an offensive one, goal scoring wise. The lone Canadiens marker is scored by George Allen, the Habs only goal of the 1-1 tie, despite the narrator's proclamation that Montrealwon the game.

The final shot of the film is that of the stove pipe Stanley Cup, as it was at that time.

That in a wrap, was the game of hockey at the dawn of the 1950's, just prior to the television era making it all just a tad more real.

Here is Iced Lightning!

Day 1: Iced Lightning (September 6)

Day 2: Canadiens Hockey in the pre-Television Era (September 7)

Day 3: Hockey's First Televised Game in Canada (September 8)

Day 4: Jean Beliveau's First Games, the Big Contract, and the Rocket's Fuse (September 9)

Day 5: The Rocket's 325th Goal and the 1953 Stanley Cup (September 10)

Day 6: The Rocket and the Riots (September 11)

Day 7: In '54 and '55, It Was Close But No Champagne For The Habs! (September 12)

Day 8: The 1956 Stanley Cup (September 13)

Day 9: The 1957 Stanley Cup (September 14)

Day 10: The 1958 Stanley Cup (September 15)

Day 11: The Rocket's Last Hurrah (September 16)

Day 12: The 1959 Stanley Cup (September 17)

Day 13: The 1960 Stanley Cup (September 18)

Day 14: Jacques Plante's Revolutionary Invention (September 19)

Day 15: The Canadiens 1950's Dynasty Team and Player Facts and Stats (September 20)

Day 16: Celebrations and Nostalgia (September 21)

Habs Top 25 Under 25: #1, Carey Price, FTW!

2010-09-03T12:00:34Z

More photos » Paul Chiasson - AP

about 1 year ago: Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price makes a kick save off the Pittsburgh Penguins during the second period of an NHL hockey game on Saturday, April 11, 2009 in Montreal. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press,Paul Chiasson)

Browse more photos »

Ever since Trevor Timmins shocked the hockey world by taking goaltender Carey Price fifth overall in the 2005 Entry Draft, the son of the chief of the Ulkatcho First Nation has been the subject of a lot of debate, both logical and illogical. Goaltending and the Montreal Canadiens always makes for popular water cooler talk, newspaper copy, blog article or broadcast television feature in this country, and Price has provided plenty in all those various disciplines in his five years in the Canadiens organization. In this age of the internet and every Habs game airing on cable television, there's been all kinds of crazy following the young man as he ascended to the role of starting goaltender for the Habs, including "scandalous" photos of him partying in Mexico, and disdain over him joking with "Cabbie" on The Score after a playoff loss. He's been booed, gotten angry at the fans, gotten angry with his teammates, and even shot a puck after a Washington Capitals goal right at the goal celebration in this past playoffs.

And despite all that, he's still the Canadiens greatest hope, the top player in the organization under the age of 25 according to our vote. Five of the seven participants gave him a first place vote, and the other two gave him a second. So why, despite all this turmoil, are we still so very high on his abilities?

For starters, there aren't many goalies who have played as much top level hockey as him at his young age. Ryan Miller was just getting his feet wet as a professional at Price's age, playing 15 games for the Sabres but ultimately not cracking the lineup for another two years. Cam Ward won the Stanley Cup at age 22, only to struggle the next year and post an average season the year after. Marc-André Fleury was coming off a year in which he had a .906 SV% and an .880 SV% in the playoffs, only to break out with his first big year at that age. Carey's quick start, followed by his well documented struggles in 2008-09 and then a decent, but inconsistent, year at age 22 aren't exactly uncommon. Most goalies aren't even in the league at his age, Price has put up decent numbers for a goalie who has been there.

Does that make him the next great goaltender? No, but there are many legitimate reasons why we're still quite optimistic about his progress.

Perhaps the most intimidating factor about Price is his level of athleticism for a goaltender that is listed at 6'3", 219 lbs. His lateral movement allows him to challenge shooters from the top of his goal crease, giving very little room on the first look, and yet still push off quickly to make a save on the one timer. Witness Matt Cooke of Pittsburgh get robbed on a comedy of defensive errors here:

His glove hand, much maligned during the 2008 Stanley Cup playoffs, certainly doesn't look like a weak point anymore. When Price broke into the league, his goaltending coach was Roland Melanson, a butterfly specialist who aided Jose Theodore into a top tier goaltender (albeit briefly). Melanson's style helped Price make an immediate impact, but ultimately made Price a bit of a creature of the habits he was being taught. This isn't Melanson's fault, per se, but probably a natural reaction of a student to his teachings: he was relying less on his natural ability, and more on the fundamentals of goaltending as taught by Melanson. His glove was being put in the proper position, but Price seemingly couldn't make any adjustments when he was going down into his butterfly.

When Melanson was replaced by Pierre Groulx last year, the first noticeable change in Price's game was to maintain an aggressive stance. Groulx's approach matches that of his offseason coach, Eli Wilson, and is more based on the hybrid style popularized by the wave of Finnish goaltenders that have come through the ranks. It seems to have worked well for Price. It plays to his natural size advantage, and allows for a more reactionary approach for his glove hand. When he goes into his butterfly, he's also very quick to get back on his feet. This could all be a matter of improved patience, but seeing the pattern of Melanson's previous protigés leads me to believe this was a targeted change by Groulx.

Another strong asset of his game is his puckhandling skills. It's a bit of a double-edged sword for Price: he's extremely confident in his abilities, and that can sometimes make fans tense up when he spends a lot of time looking for an outlet pass and a forechecker is baring down on him. But on a team that has struggled in breakout plays during his tenure, Price has certainly helped the team's cause.

So he's big, quick on his feet, has strong reflexes and is a great puckhandler. And we're supposed to believe this guy sucks because he hasn't dominated the NHL before his 23rd birthday? It's generally the belief of the panel here that Price has yet to reach his peak performance age, and there's no reason to think that he can't do so in Montreal. I suppose that's where we might differ from the prevailing common wisdom surrounding the goaltending position in Montreal: that Price needed out and that Halak had claimed the title in 2009-10. For all the talk about Price's alleged shortcomings, that he was somehow not mentally strong enough to handle the unique pressures of the Montreal market, that he let bad goals and games haunt him, or that he was immature, no one ever gave real tangible evidence as to why that was.

I can't possibly explain what is going on in Carey Price's head when he gets booed, or what the last thing he thinks about before he goes to bed is. To me, any talk of a player's lack of cajones is simply projection by the person making the accusation. The fact that Price has never, to anyone's knowledge, requested a trade or bemoaned a lack of playing time suggests he's taking the experience in stride to date. He's clearly been frustrated, of that there is no doubt, but he's back for two more years as of yesterday without a contract holdout.

Of course, a discussion about Price wouldn't be complete without one on Jaroslav Halak. We don't know if Halak will be a better goalie than Price, but we do know a rational decision on the matter was pretty hard to come by after the season was over. Price's season was a failure, despite posting improved numbers from 2008-09, and Halak's season was unbelievable. We've seen a season like Halak's before in Montreal, in fact we saw it twice in the last decade. Jose Theodore in 2001-2002 and Cristobal Huet in 2005-06 posted similar seasons, and it didn't predict future success for either goalie. We won't know how Halak could've handled the additional expectations (there is that pesky mental analysis again), but we do know that goalies generally don't repeat such high end seasons with regularity. It's quite possible Price posts a similar season to Halak in the next couple of years. And it's possible another trade scenario could present itself at the time. Would the Habs deal Price in the same situation?

Is it wise to build your team around a goalie in today's age of disposable goalies? Inevitably, some team will always think so. It's prudent that the Habs don't continue to rely on superhuman goaltending efforts in the future, because we haven't seen many teams that do so have success in the Stanley Cup playoffs, or the regular season for that matter. That being said, Price is still an incredible talent, and the consensus choice as the best young asset the team currently possesses. He's won internationally, in the AHL, and has had great seasons in major junior and the NHL already at age 23. He'll likely have a few good to great years in the NHL, and if our panel is right, they're betting on a good to great career. It's a risk we're willing to take based on the evidence so far.

And if not, the guys that have bet on him might end up working with Price again in the future, this time as rodeo clowns.

Carey Price signs for 2 years

2010-09-02T20:24:12Z

Carey Price signs for 2 years

No "strike". Two weeks before training camp. A reported $5.5m total.

Panic averted. Our top player under 25 (feature up tomorrow) is in the fold. How novel.

Habs Top 25 Under 25: 5-2

2010-09-01T14:10:13Z

Ryan Remiorz - AP

As if the pressure of being the first Quebecois kid picked by the Montreal Canadiens in the first round since 1998 wasn't enough, the team gave him a Canadiens jersey with number nine on it. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Ryan Remiorz)

View full size photo »

Yeah, we're going to stretch this out just a little bit longer. Of course, by the end of this piece, it should be pretty obvious who we collectively think is the best player under 25 in the organization, but we'll be giving him his own feature regardless. In the meantime, have a look back at the series from the start: the Introduction, #25-21, #20-16, #15-11, and #10-6. Also, another special thanks are due to the crew at the Copper & Blue (yes, I'm a poet and I do know it) for the concept.

#5: Louis Leblanc, C, 19 years old

He's the man who possesses probably the greatest hockey name on this entire list, and he's already a bit of a local legend despite not playing any meaningful games in Canada for the past two years. That will all change this fall, as Leblanc looks to join the list of famous Harvard dropouts such as Bill Gates, Howard Hughes, Robert Frost, and Matt Damon. But it's not like we're putting unrealistic expectations on him or anything... right?

Leblanc will start his post-Crimson journey wearing the decidedly less pretentious maroon of the Montreal Junior Hockey Club after turning professional by signing a 3 year entry level contract with the Montreal Canadiens this August. The year in Verdun should help prepare him for the professional schedule, the media demands of Montreal, and to put him in top form in time for the Canadian U20 World Junior Championships, a team he is expected to make after being a late cut last year. He's already helped the QMJHL team become a hot ticket in Montreal, as the Juniors have already sold out a handful of regular season games well before the start of the season. All this for a player few have actually been able to see play, albeit one that was picked 18th overall by the Canadiens just a year ago.

Leblanc was the 1st overall pick in the 2007 QMJHL midget draft by Val D'Or, even though he had indicated he was not going the major junior route and pursue his education at Harvard. This forced Leblanc to spend another year playing AAA Midget hockey before going to Omaha to join the USHL's Lancers in his NHL draft year (2008-09). This lack of exposure might be the reason the scouting reports on him are quite mixed. Some say his speed is one of his best assets, but others view it as merely average. For what it's worth, when I saw him play at the 2009 U20 Evaluation Camp in Saskatoon, where he played left wing on a line with Matt Duchene, he always seemed to gain a step on the defenders and cause problems with his acceleration. Perhaps not surprisingly for a man who was admitted to Harvard, his hockey smarts are well regarded by everyone, with buzz words like 'crafty' and 'great vision' making frequent appearances in scouting summaries. Rich Michalowski of Premium Scouting sees him as a player in the Sam Gagner mould, a strong two-way talent who will need to develop physically to become a successful pro. His junior coach, Pascal Vincent, sees a lot of Mike Richards in him.

Visual proof that Pouliot indeed did play in the 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs. All photos courtesy of Getty Images.

#4: Benoit Pouliot, LW, 23 years old

Acquired via trade from the Minnesota Wild last November for Guillaume Latendresse, Pouliot had a prolific start to his Montreal Canadiens career, scoring 15 goals over 39 games to finish out the regular season. However, things got rocky over the final stretch, and in the playoffs, Pouliot was a bit contributor, not scoring a single goal while being relegated to the 4th line more often than not. He was a highly productive junior player who was selected 4th overall in 2005, but failed to stick with the Minnesota Wild. So, what exactly can we make of Pouliot at this point in his career?

Pouliot's game is centered around his speed. At his best, he's the guy who has cheated a little on the breakout play, pushing the defenders out of position and receiving a stretch pass in full stride to create an offensive chance. This should make him a perfect compliment on a line with effective defensive players like Scott Gomez and Brian Gionta. In fact, it's precisely those free wheeling qualities that helped Pouliot start his career with the Canadiens on fire: after getting his feet wet in his first two games coming off a nagging wrist injury, Pouliot had 14 goals and 8 assists in a 27 game span from December 28 - March 20, reaching the scoresheet in 19 of 27 games. In that time span, he only had 5 games with less than 15 minutes of ice time, a mark he only reached twice with the Wild before the trade. Then, to close out the year, he only had 1 goal and 1 assist in his final 10 games, and only 2 assists in 18 games (plus one game as a healthy scratch). In that stretch, his ice time was severely cut, he only broke 15 minutes in half of those games, and 9 times saw under 10 minutes. (all game stats from NHL.com)

I'm not going to go into excruciating detail on the subject, (leave that for our good friend Olivier Bouchard and his scoring chances breakdowns at En Attendant Les Nordiques) but clearly Pouliot's effectiveness is dictated by his linemates, and he has yet to find a role outside of 'third wheel' in the NHL to this point. Despite losing that role down the stretch last year, Pouliot is the front runner for the open spot on the top 6 heading into training camp this year. He possesses the size, puck skill, speed and shot to play that role, he just might not have the hockey sense. With gradual improvements in his play without the puck, Pouliot should be able to be a decent scorer in the NHL, with an upside of around 25 goals a year. However, there is a reason the Habs did not want to go to arbitration with him, and did not submit a qualifying offer to him this past June (and then gave him a 50% raise anyways). He has yet to prove himself a strong player in his own right, but he's shown signs of being a useful player for the future.

Safe to say, this year is incredibly important for Benoit Pouliot.

#3: Lars Eller, C, 21 years old

Acquired in the controversial Jaroslav Halak trade in June, Lars Eller is the top dog in the greatest generation of Danish hockey players to date. He has everything scouts look for in a centre outside a top 5 selection: great speed, good size, excellent hands and strong hockey sense. As a 20 year old rookie, he played tough minutes for the Peoria Rivermen and came out with 57 points, despite fighting a bout of mono to start the year. That 57 point output led the cellar dwelling team in points by 13, and earned him seven games with the St. Louis Blues where he potted his first two NHL goals. At the end of the season, he suited up for Denmark at the World Championships, where he finished in a tie for second in team scoring with 5 points in 7 games, helping the Danes to their highest ever finish (8th).

In short, Eller fills what has been a desperate need for the Canadiens for many years: he is a young, playmaking centre who has first line potential. He's a guy who makes the players he plays with better, and has shown great ability at even strength. He is a fundamentally sound hockey player with very little downside, and no obvious red flags when it comes to personality or work ethic. Corey Pronman at Premium Scouting gives this report:

He’s at his best with the puck on his stick as he can be an elusive puck-handler and is an excellent playmaker. Eller displays a solid all-around game as he comes back hard on defense, plays an excellent penalty kill and also has some grit to his game. He won’t be a sniper at the highest level, although he definitely has an average shot that could beat NHL goalies. He has produced at every level he’s played at. The last two year’s stats may be influenced because Peoria, the Blues’ AHL team was simply horrific and Eller’s 57 points led the team despite taking some time to play on the big club.

Eller's immediate future with the Habs is uncertain, though many are pegging him for the 3rd line centre job that was left open with the departures of Dominic Moore and Glen Metropolit. Dustin Boyd, Maxim Lapierre, Ben Maxwell and David Desharnais are all in the mix for this role, so it's not a given that Eller will be given the job. With two strong, two-way centres occupying the top 2 spots, the Habs might be able to afford to give a youngster like Eller a shot on the 3rd line, eating up some softer minutes with the idea of getting some decent production from their third line. There's a chance Eller will be sent to Hamilton, but he appears to be the forward who spent most of last year in the AHL that has the best shot at making the Canadiens right out of training camp.

When I was floating around the idea of doing this list, I kept wondering to myself: Where would the panel have put Jaroslav Halak? Then I realized Halak had turned 25 in May, and would not have qualified for the list as a result, but it was an interesting thought. According to our prognosticators, we traded Halak for our 3rd and 20th most promising youngsters. So, in fairness to Pierre Gauthier, I think we can safely say that we think it was a pretty good return on investment in that light.

#2: P.K. Subban, D, 21 years old

Well, here's the moment you've been waiting for. In what was obviously a two horse race for the top spot on our list (no players listed previously got even a second place vote), the current darling of the Habs faithful came up a little short. We'll talk more about the other guy later. Subban is clearly the star child of the Canadiens organization right now: his energy is contagious, his play is enchanting, and his results to date are staggering. Here's a quick rundown of what's happened to Subban since being drafted 43rd overall in 2007:

160 points in 152 OHL games (including playoffs)
9 points in 13 U20 WJC games, winning two gold medals
63 points in 84 AHL games (including playoffs) as a rookie
10 points in 16 NHL games (including playoffs) as a callup
All-Rookie Team (AHL), All-Star team (OHL and U20 WJCs)

He's a puckmoving defenseman with incredible skating ability, great puck control, good passing skills and a decent point shot. His skills translate well into being a PP quarterback, as he prefers to hold onto the puck, drawing defenders to him before making a pass or doing a spin-o-rama to create an even greater advantage. While his moves are of the high risk variety, his skill pays off more often than not, even against NHL veterans. He always makes plays with his head up, and rarely retreats with the puck, pushing the play forward towards the opponent's goal. His defensive game lacks polish, but is passable at the NHL level. This is what seperates Subban from his main competition in the OHL, Drew Doughty. That being said, Subban has always been able to dominate at every level to date, and there is little reason to doubt his abilities won't translate well into the NHL long term.

When Subban was drafted, his first press conference had all the Montreal media glowing about his confidence and personality. He joked about his name (it stands for Penalty Kill), he constantly smiled, he even claimed he was going to make the Habs out of training camp at age 18. This didn't happen, but now at 21, there's no doubt he will be in the starting lineup this October, potentially lining up beside Andrei Markov on the top defensive pairing. He's eligible for the Calder Trophy this coming season, and if you asked him about it, he'd probably say he was going to win it.

It's quite safe to say that we haven't seen a player as skilled as Subban with that level of confidence in the Canadiens system for a long time. In fact, for a generation of Habs fans, he's one of a kind.

Rank	Player	Pos.	Age	Height	Weight	Current Team	Habs Contract
2	P.K. Subban	D	21	5'11"	207 lbs.	Montreal Canadiens (NHL)	Yes
3	Lars Eller	C/LW	21	6'1"	198 lbs.	Hamilton Bulldogs (AHL)	Yes
4	Benoit Pouliot	LW	23	6'3"	181 lbs.	Montreal Canadiens (NHL)	Yes
5	Louis Leblanc	C	19	6'0"	181 lbs.	Montreal Junior Hockey Club (QMJHL)	Yes

Bonne fête Jean! - A Beliveau Birthday Link Bonanza

2010-08-30T03:43:12Z

Tomorrow, August 31, 2010, Canadiens legend Jean Beliveau turns 79 in Earth years, but he is a man whose life is as timeless as his legend is eternal.

In Act One of Beliveau's time, he was a graceful and skilled hockey player, a dazzling talent who helped the Canadiens to ten Stanley Cups. He was an exempliary leader on the ice and a role model beyond its bounds. His career in hockey could be said to have been unparalleled.

In Act Two of Jean's time, he parlayed all that the game of hockey did to benefit him, and gracefully and generously used it to the benefit of others through endless acts of charity though his foundation's name and via others. You could look him up under the word "integrity".

As a present to Beliveau fans, especially the younger ones who may not have had the chance to see him play or learn much about him, below are 79 links to explore Le Gros Bill's life and times. (You won't read them all today so I will throw a link to this article in the sidebar so you can check it out when you have the time.)

When Jean Beliveau's career as a hockey player ended in 1971, he moved to the Canadiens front office, but his main goal from there was the foundation in his name that sought to help those less fortunate. It is a doctrine he has never abandonned, making it a priority of his for close to fourty years now.

If you can find a stain on Beliveau's life legacy, you might next want to look for the Pope who wrote all the lyrics for the Rolling Stones.

There is good reason why words such as class and dignity stick to Jean.

Personally, I was priveleged to have seen Beliveau play on television for three years, culminating in a season in which I saw him score a hat trick against Minnesota to reach 500 goals, and months later help the Habs to their 17th Stanley Cup.

As a kid, a pre-teen, those were unforgettable times.

As a man, later in life, it is his Second Act, in fact, that has had a more profound effect on me, and it has everything to do with how one chooses to treat those around them. Often, when I encounter personal hurldles, I ask myself how Beliveau would treat the situation. It is a compass that has served me well when employed.

There are many Beliveau stories I have read and heard, but one that has stayed with me was an account in a french newspaper years ago, by a writer who had set a date with Jean for an interview in downtown Montreal. The meeting was to take place in Beliveau's Forum office, but the reporter was asked to meet Jean somewhere down St. Catherine Street. They would make time by meeting a bit earlier, and walking along the way. Steps in that direction included a stop inside a bookstore, and once both the reporter and Beliveau neared the sidewalk close to the Forum, he met up with a vagrant of the city streets.

Oozing of an alcoholic stench, unkempt and caught in a stargazing headlight, the hobo grasped at Beliveau, intruding his personal memories upon him. He began a rambling monologue of greatest "Le Gros Bill" moments he'd seen, settling on 1971 as a question period for personal query. The ragged fan, tattered and disheveled in appearance, spent a good ten minutes with Beliveau, trading questions. Jean left the conversation, learning as much of the man, thanking him for stopping to chat. The reporter was taken aback, and impressed as he was by Beliveau's kindness and respect to a total stranger, the story sought on that day was long forgotten and replaced a moment in which Beliveau was caught being himself.

I was eight years old when Beliveau captained the Canadiens to that 1971 Stanley Cup. Perhaps it was because my father had told me a gazillion Beliveau stories by then that I felt I was older at that time. Looking back, all these years later, it's hard to say.

My father, Gerald Palma Lefebvre, was lucky enough to share a birthday with Le Gros Bill, same day, same year. Both are turning 79, but no lie, my elder looks about 65. Then again, he's never battled out a dozen Stanley Cups. My Dad just broke about every rib he owned crossing finish lines racing bikes on dirt tracks in the 1960's.

I never did get to see Jean Beliveau play live, but I did get to meet him in person once, almost twenty years ago. At a hockey card show in Cornwall in the early 1990's, he signed the only momento I had of him at the time - an Esso NHL Stars sticker book. I mentioned to him that he shared a birthday with Dad. Surprised, Beliveau asked if he was with me that day. He wasn't. No mind, Jean asked what he had done in his life, where he was born, if Dad was retired. I told him I thought my father had retired too young perhaps, as I also thought Le Gros Bill had. Jean said that Dad will benefit from kicking back whilst he's able and not when he's been forced.

I brought up 1971 myself, recalling it, from in my youth. Jean noted that Ken Dryden's exploits notwithstanding, Montreal would not have won the Cup had it not been for the contributions of Frank Mahovlich, Henri Richard, John Ferguson and Jacques Lemaire, among others. Funny, Dad had said those same things!

Happy Birthday, boys!

79 Links

Greatest Hockey Legends - Jean Beliveau profile

Dennis Kane.com - ...and the parade winds its way down Jean Beliveau Avenue? (Great idea, by the way!)

Ya! The Habs Rule! - Accolades and Honours Still Come for Jean Beliveau

Montreal Gazette - Jean Beliveau: In a class by himself

Legends of Hockey - Jean Beliveau profile (Biography, Statistics, Photo Gallery, Spotlight)

Habs Inside Out - Beliveau's Fast Hat Changed the Face of the NHL

Jean Beliveau - Wikipedia profile

Canadiens.com - Beliveau profile and photo gallery

Here's Hockey - A National Film Board short featuring Beliveau

Eyes On The Prize - "I Shared My Husband With The Public": Elise Beliveau

You Tube - Jean Beliveau Legends of Hockey clip

You Tube - Beliveau in Game 7 of the 1965 Finals

Puck Daddy - Mount Puckmore: The Four Faces of the Montreal Canadiens

Montreal Gazette - Canadiens' Great Jean Beliveau Hopes for a Last Call at Mellon Arena

The H Does Not Stand For Habs - Hope for a Great Man

The Hockey News - Former Canadiens Great Jean Beliveau Named Honourary Captain of Olympic Team

NHL.com - Pioneers: Jean Beliveau (video)

Eyes On The Prize - Beliveau Memorabilia Up For Grabs at Charity Auction

Eyes On The Prize - Beliveau Unsure How To Handle The Roy Hot Potato

Eyes On The Prize - Jean Beliveau Honoured

Classic Auctions - Beliveau Memorabilia

Check Out My Cards - A Collection of close to 50 Beliveau cards

Montreal Gazette - Mom's Hero: Surprise Meeting with Jean Beliveau left her standing in awe

Journal de Montreal - Une vie qui n'a pas a l'abri des coups durs

Journal de Montreal - Pas toujour facile

Sports Illustrated - Grand Jean, A Mighty Man Is He: May 5, 1969

Google Books - Read exerpts from My Life In Hockey ( a true bookmark folks!)

Canadiens.com - Beliveau Night Brings Them Out

Greatest Hockey Legends - Beliveau Could Fire The Puck

Greatest Hockey Legends - Who was better, Beliveau or the Rocket?

Greatest Hockey Legends - Classic Snapshot from Life Magazine

Greatest Hockey Legends - Corn Tribute for a-maze-ing Beliveau

Greatest Hockey Legends - Jean Beliveau Gets The Honourary C

Dennis Kane.com - Meet Mr. Beliveau, Supermodel!

Pic Search - Hundreds of Beliveau photos

Dennis Kane.com - Two Great Stars Speak to Each Other...

Dennis Kane.com - Beliveau, too bad he's not a real doctor...

CBC.ca - Gentleman Jean: The Life and Times of Jean Beliveau

The Ryan Coke Experience: The Habs Top 100

Eyes On The Prize - Some Thoughts on Jean Beliveau

Legends of Hockey - Jean Beliveau: Pinnacle

Legends of Hockey - Jean Beliveau: Treasure Chest

NHL.com - Classic Clip: Original Faceoff

La Presse - Jean Beliveau retrouve le Centre Bell

Telegraph Journal - Fans Meet Their Hockey Hero

Ads Past - A Beliveau Endorsement

E-Bay - Links to Beliveau Memorabilia

CTV.ca - A Memorable Encounter with Jean Beliveau

Dennis Kane.com - Lovely Habs' Wives of the 1950's

Greatest Hockey Legends - Beliveau Should Be The Next Honoured With NHL LIfetime Achievement Award

Canadiens.com - Beliveau receives 2009 NHL Lifetime Achievement Award

Montreal Mystique - Interviews Jean Beliveau

Greatest Hockey Legends - 1965: The Quiet Dynasty Begins

Canadiens.com - Beliveau's Road to 1000 Points

You Tube - Jean Beliveau 1964 All-Star Game

Montreal Gazette - Jean Beliveau: The Ultimate Gentleman

Canadiens.com - Beliveau: Born to Lead

Canadiens.com - Beliveau's Powerplay Hat Trick!

Canadiens.com - Beliveau Arrives in Montreal (film clip)

Greatest Hockey Legends - Jean Beliveau: My Life in Hockey reviewed

Sports Illustrated - Beliveau and the Marvels from Montreal: January 23, 1956

Eyes On The Prize - Celebrating the Generosity and Lifetime Achievements of Jean Beliveau

NHL.com - Jean Beliveau: Nobody Comes Close

RDS/Le Grand Club - Un soir d'hiver au Forum

Montreal Gazette - Sorry Canadiens, Beliveau's first love is his wife Elise!

Studio 1- Beliveau at book premiere

Rootsweb - A vintage photo gallery

Montreal Gazette - He's Hockey's Ultimate Pen Pal

Canada.gc.ca - The Prime Minister's Speech on Jean Beliveau

Classic Auctions - Beliveau Memorabilia Part 2

Montreal Gazette - Beliveau A Hero On and Off the Ice

Montreal Gazette - Beliveau Lends Class to Fundraiser

Bang The Drum - The Vintage Jean Beliveau Table Hockey Game

Bleacher Report - This day in hockey: Beliveau and Howe Inducted into HHOF

NHL.com - Beliveau is a player for the ages

Uwritesports - Beliveau: The Greatest of all Time?

The Hockey Writers - Jean Beliveau: A Class Act

Habs Top 25 Under 25: 10-6

2010-08-27T16:31:19Z

More photos » John Ulan - AP

8 months ago: The Edmonton Oilers' Andrew Cogliano, 13, fights with Calgary Flames' Dustin Boyd during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Edmonton, Alberta on Monday, Dec. 28, 2009. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, John Ulan)

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Now we're really getting into the heart of the matter. Actual NHL players, top prospects, and recent acquisitions appear on the list as we look at the top 10 Montreal Canadiens under the age of 25. To view the rest of the list, here are players 25-21, 20-16, 15-11 and the introductory piece.

#10: Dustin Boyd, C, 24 years old

Acquired in the trade that sent Sergei Kostitsyn to the Nashville Predators, Boyd is a young centre who had a very strong WHL career and made an appearance for Canada at the 2006 U20 World Junior Championships, where he was teammates with current Canadiens Benoit Pouliot and Tom Pyatt, as well as former Canadiens Kyle Chipchura and Guillaume Latendresse. He was second in scoring on that team to Blake Comeau, with four goals and two assists in six games. Since turning pro, Boyd has played in 210 NHL regular season games, plus 9 playoff games, more than anyone else under 25 in the Canadiens' organization. He hasn't found his scoring touch at this level, however, topping out at 11 goals and 24 points last year with the Calgary Flames and Nashville.

Boyd is an effective defensive player, posting the lowest GA/60 minute figure on Calgary before being traded. He has good speed, and posted the best faceoff numbers of his career after being traded to Nashville. That could be nothing more than a hot streak, because his career faceoff numbers aren't very impressive. For the time being, he's penciled in on either the 3rd or 4th line out of training camp, a role he hasn't escaped so far in his career. Will he be as productive as Sergei Kostitsyn? Probably not, but considering he was a player who forced himself out of town, the Habs could've done worse in getting Boyd in return.

#9: Tom Pyatt, LW/C, 23 years old

Acquired as part of the Scott Gomez trade with the New York Rangers last summer, Pyatt surprised many observers out of training camp by making a push for a roster spot. Eventually, Pyatt forced his way into the regular lineup, a feat that is noteworthy despite the opening night presence of Georges Laraque as an everyday player. Pyatt's game is all about the details: good skating, strong backchecking, aggressive puck pursuit and getting in the passing lanes. It translates well into penalty killing, and he was taking a regular shift on the PK by season's end and into the playoffs.

Pyatt's obvious weakness: his offensive game. He recorded only 5 points in 40 NHL games last year, plus 4 points in 18 playoff games. It's unlikely he'll ever threaten for a spot in the top 6, but some kind of scoring ability is appreciated even from the final 2 lines. He'll have to focus extensively on excelling as a defensive player as a result. He's also a potential Lady Byng candidate: He's recorded only 36 PIM in 156 AHL games, and won the OHL's Most Sportsmanlike player in 2006-07 with only 18 PIMs in 58 games, to go along with 81 points. Most Byng winners are also offensive stars, so Pyatt probably has some work to do in other regards if he's to achieve that kind of accolades as a NHLer.

#8: Alexander Avtsin, RW, 19 years old

Avtsin is the true wildcard of the Habs' system. Picked 109th overall in 2009, the Habs swung for the fences and picked a 6'3", 200 lbs. winger with good hands, good speed, and a great shot. So why was he still available? Well, because he's Russian. Avtsin, however, immediately made his desire to play in North America well known, and this past summer, bought himself out of his contract with Dynamo. That freed him up to sign with the Canadiens, and he'll almost certainly begin his North American journey this fall in beautiful downtown Hamilton, Ontario. As one of the few teenagers in the AHL, he'll also have a leg up when it comes to select the Russian U20 World Junior team that will play just down the road in Niagara and Buffalo, New York.

What are the concerns about Avtsin? Well, he suffered a major wrist injury which ended his KHL rookie season after just 30 games. With his shot being such a dangerous weapon, there are concerns about how he'll recover from that setback. He's also not noted for his physical game despite his size, and has a lot of polishing up to do to develop an all-around game. Basically, at this point, he's a bit of a one-trick pony, but good coaching could help to insulate his weaker points and use his natural gifts to greater effectiveness.

#7: Max Pacioretty, LW, 21 years old

One of only five former Montreal Canadiens first round draft picks still in the system (with two of them being from the past two years), Pacioretty has had a turbulent first two years as a pro. His career path was greatly accelerated, playing high school hockey in Connecticut at 16, the USHL at 17, NCAA at 18 and turning pro by 19. Perhaps it's a matter of him needing some catching up, but his offensive game has yet to translate at the professional level. Still, there is quite a lot to like about his game. He didn't hurt the team at all last year during his 52 games, all from the start of the season, but he wasn't progressing, either. His solid skating, strong physical play, and unselfish game gave him passing grades as a third line player. Unofortunately, the Habs are expecting more from him than that.

This inability to translate his offensive game as a professional (he also only has 8 goals in 55 career AHL games) has brought up some interesting questions. Topham at Lions in Winter, who took part in this project, wonders if Pacioretty might be worth converting into a defender, given his strong skating ability, good passing, and strong understanding of the defensive game. It's a bit of a left field proposition, but we have seen players like Craig Rivet and Andrei Markov move from forward to defense with great success, so there is precedent. However, doing so would be giving up on one of the Habs more promising forward prospects, and at this point seems unnecessary.

#6: Danny Kristo, RW, 20 years old

Selected in the 2nd round of the 2008 Entry Draft, Kristo was actually the Canadiens' first selection, as they had traded their first round draft choice in the Alex Tanguay trade, a move oddly made possible by Calgary's acquisition of current Hab Mike Cammalleri earlier that day. Kristo isn't blessed with great size, but he has good staking ability and excellent puck skills. He's the kind of forward that makes defenders back off a little bit, for fear of getting beat by a quick move. Kristo earned the WCHA Rookie of the Year honours last year and played a key role as the USA U20 team won gold at the World Junior Championships in Saskatoon this past January. Kristo is actually teammates with another Canadiens prospect, Michael Cichy, at the University of North Dakota.

Kristo will return to the UND for another year, probably a smart move given the experience of Pacioretty. Kristo will be looked on as a leader at the UND as they hope to repeat as conference champions, which is a significant experience for him this coming year in light of the fact that he's no longer eligible to play at the World Juniors.

Here are some words from Rich Michalowski at Premium Scouting on Kristo:

Kristo’s stickhandling is strengthened by his quick hands. He’s got some fancy moves and can dangle with the best of them. He gets away with it now but he’ll need to not rely upon those moves as he progresses into a professional career. Kristo has great vision and offensive awareness and has the ability to get the puck to the open man. He’s also very creative with the puck and has the ability to surprise the defense with his passes. Those skills earned Kristo time manning the point on the power play. Kristo plays a responsible defensive game through good positioning, discipline and hard work in his own end.

Rank	Player	Pos.	Age	Height	Weight	Current Team	Habs Contract?
6	Danny Kristo	RW	20	5'11"	181 lbs.	U. of North Dakota (WCHA)	No
7	Max Pacioretty	LW	21	6'2"	212 lbs.	Hamilton Bulldogs (AHL)	Yes
8	Alexander Avtsin	RW	19	6'3"	198 lbs.	Hamilton Bulldogs (AHL)	Yes
9	Tom Pyatt	LW/C	23	5'11"	181 lbs.	Montreal Canadiens (NHL)	Yes
10	Dustin Boyd	C	24	6'0"	187 lbs.	Montreal Canadiens (NHL)	Yes

Habs Top 25 Under 25: 15-11

2010-08-25T13:00:41Z

More photos » Gus Ruelas - AP

6 months ago: Montreal Canadiens center Ben Maxwell (61) moves the puck past Los Angeles Kings defenseman Rob Scuderi (7) during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Saturday, March 6, 2010, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Gus Ruelas)

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The next group of five players were pretty hotly contested amongst our panel. They include several players that appeared in Montreal's lineup at some point during the 2009-10 NHL season, and the panel at large walked away with mixed opinions on their future as a result. Also gracing the list is a well regarded new addition to the team, who the panel hasn't yet formed conclusive opinion on. For players 25-21, click here. For players 20-16, click here. To re-introduce yourself to the panel and the concept of the Top 25 Under 25, click here.

#15: Mathieu Carle, D, 22 years old

After three seasons of apprenticeship in Hamilton, Mathieu Carle is at a crossroads in his career with the Canadiens. A puckmoving blueliner with a right handed shot, Carle has a lot going for him. That's not to mention the fact that he's one of a few Quebecois players in the Habs system that is on the cusp of the NHL. Unfortunately for Carle, what was developing into a breakthrough season was cut short due to injury, something that has held him back in the past. Carle had 15 points in 31 games in Hamilton last year, while being deployed by coach Guy Boucher as his number 1 blueliner to start the year. The role of #1 blueliner was eventually fulfilled by P.K. Subban, who seized the opportunity and now looks to have a regular spot in the 2010-11 Canadiens starting lineup.

Carle isn't blessed with great size, but he's the kind of blueliner that can fill a nice role on the team's bottom pairing if all works out. There is a spot open on the Habs blueline to start the year with the injury to Andrei Markov, but the acquisition of Alexandre Picard makes Carle's chances of cracking the roster on opening night that much more difficult. Carle doesn't possess the PP skills that Picard does, which may be the final factor in sending him back to Hamilton. He would have to clear waivers in order to do so, but with only 3 NHL games and coming off an injury, he's a safe bet to clear waivers after training camp. That is, unless Boucher backs up his assertion last year that Carle was NHL ready and requests the Lightning to take a chance on him.

#14: Ben Maxwell, C, 22 years old

Maxwell ended last season on the Canadiens roster, a late season injury callup who didn't get into much action and was caught in a numbers game with regards to the CBA, which only allows a certain amount of demotions and callups after the trade deadline. He had injury concerns in junior, but has overcome those as a professional with back-to-back healthy seasons. He has progressed steadily at the AHL level, posting 58 points in 73 games as a rookie and 44 points in 57 games as a sophomore. However, in 21 NHL games to date (1 in the playoffs), he has yet to record his first NHL point.

Maxwell is a playmaking centre who can play the high forward position on the powerplay, and even the point if need be. He likes to have control of the play, allowing his teammates to gain favourable positions to lead an offensive attack. He has good skating skills and a decent wrist shot. With the additions of Lars Eller and Dustin Boyd, Maxwell is likely ticketed to Hamilton where he will battle it out with David Desharnais for the top centre spot. He remains eligible to be classified as a rookie for the 2010-11 NHL season, despite playing 21 games over the past 2 years in the NHL.

#13: Ryan White, RW, 22 years old

Another 2006 draft selection of the Habs (taken after Carle and Maxwell), Ryan White climbed up the depth chart considerably in 2009-10, earning 16 games with the Canadiens in various callups mid-season. In those games, he recorded his first two NHL points, and displayed the hard work and grit that he will need to provide on a daily basis if he is to make the NHL. White projects as a 3rd or 4th line winger who finishes his checks and is willing to defend his teammates with his fists, despite his smaller 6'0", 201 lbs. frame. White recroded 173 PIMs in Hamilton last year to go along with 17 goals and 34 points.

White also has a chance to crack the Habs roster out of training camp, but he'd need to show significant improvement in order to do so. His gritty game works to his advantage, but Martin protected White and gave him soft minutes in his games, something he likely won't be as keen to do over a full season. With Mathieu Darche signing on for another season, another stint in Hamilton is likely, but look for White to appear in the Habs lineup when injuries occur. White's footspeed is a concern, but since his game is geared towards playing a depth role it likely won't hold him back too much.

#12: Yannick Weber, D, 21 years old

Weber had a tough 2009-10, especially considering how strong his 2008-09 season was as an AHL rookie. That being said, he was challenged greatly in the year, losing some of his minutes to Subban at the AHL level, while also playing in the 2010 Olympics for Switzerland, a level of competition he was not prepared for. Switzerland's lack of depth on defense gave him the spot, and his play particularily against a strong USA team left a lot to be desired. But then again, it isn't a situation he'd have to face if he were from any of the Big 7 international countries, so it's best to keep that in mind. Weber is a smaller defenseman known for his huge shot, a trait that allowed him to make the AHL All-Star game as a rookie and see time in the NHL playoffs in 2008-09 when Mathieu Schneider and Andrei Markov were injured.

While Weber's defensive game will need to improve to advance to the NHL, it will never be his strong point. His strengths will come on the power play, and having to learn to play last year in the AHL without top PP minutes was probably a boost for his learning curve. Weber will almost certainly be heading back to Hamilton to start 2010-11, but he's in the final year of his entry level contract, so he'll have to start to make a push for playing time in the NHL again. Look for Weber to be the Bulldogs' go to guy on the PP this coming season.

#11: Jarred Tinordi, D, 18 years old

The Habs moved up in the 2010 Entry Draft to pick Tinordi 22nd overall, but our panel is split as to where to put him on our future list. Some see him as a great combination of size, grit, skating ability and leadership that translates into a solid top 4 blueliner, who could even develop into a top shutdown blueliner. Others see him as a long term project who might reach the NHL, but in a complimentary role. His move to London of the OHL will give our panel a greater chance to follow his progress in his first season after being drafted, and we should get a better read on him as a result. Tinordi attended the USA's U20 Evaluation camp, but was cut before the team played their exhibition games. Tinordi was the captain of the U18 team who won gold in Belarus this past spring.

Corey Pronman of Premium Scouting describes him like this:

He sees the play developing well and when faced with oncoming forwards edges them to the outside and then closes the gap like a pro either by forcing the puck away from them or by separating them with his body. His puck skills are okay, but he is limited in that role. His skating is good for a big man but could be improved upon as he will have trouble with the higher-end skaters at the next level. He needs to keep his mean streak intact although he can take dumb penalties and he can sometimes take himself out of the play trying to be too physical.

By going to London, rather than Notre Dame of the NCAA, it can be assumed that his mean streak will be encouraged. Tinordi will be allowed to fight, and the smaller rinks of the OHL will provide ample opportunity to lay punishing bodychecks. It also helps to have a coach in Dale Hunter, who is well known for his love of the physical play. Another benefit to joining London will be the increased playing time: Tinordi will be looking at a 70 game schedule, double what he would have faced if he had gone the college route. However, it also puts him on the clock: Tinordi's rights will expire after 2 years, rather than the 4 year window the Habs would have had if he went to the NCAA.

Rank	Player	Pos.	Age	Height	Weight	Current Team	Habs Contract?
11	Jarred Tinordi	D	18	6'4"	207 lbs.	London Knights (OHL)	No
12	Yannick Weber	D	21	5'11"	194 lbs.	Hamilton Bulldogs (AHL)	Yes
13	Ryan White	RW	22	6'0"	201 lbs.	Hamilton Bulldogs (AHL)	Yes
14	Ben Maxwell	C	22	6'0"	176 lbs.	Hamilton Bulldogs (AHL)	Yes
15	Mathieu Carle	D	22	6'0"	205 lbs.	Hamilton Bulldogs (AHL)	Yes

Habs Top 25 Under 25: 20-16

2010-08-24T15:00:56Z

More photos » Gene J. Puskar - AP

9 months ago: Montreal Canadiens' David Desharnais (58) collides with Pittsburgh Penguins Craig Adams during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Pittsburgh, Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2009. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

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In this next group of youngsters, we're starting to hit up some names more familiar to Habs fans, and at #18, we start to hit the range where all panelists were in agreement that the player was one of the 25 best in the organization. We're starting to move away from the question marks and into the guys we all see as potential players for the team at some point, if not already. To view players 25-21, click here. For an introduction to the Top 25 Under 25 concept, click here.

#20: Ian Schultz, RW, 20 years old

Fresh off captaining the Calgary Hitmen to a WHL Championship and a 3rd place finish at the Memorial Cup, Schultz was ready to turn professional in the St. Louis Blues' organization. However, management of the Blues and the Canadiens had other plans, and he was included as one half of the Jaroslav Halak return. Schultz is a big, physical winger who will probably need to make the NHL as much with his fists as with his skates. However, at this point at least, he looks to be more than a potential goon. The younger brother of Washington Capitals defenseman Jeff Schultz, he's proven to be a solid goal scorer at the junior level, notching 33 goals over 93 regular season and playoff games last year in a complimentary role. He also racked up 150 PIMS, so the power forward potential is certainly there, although not at an elite level.

The upside on Schultz isn't huge, but he's a safe bet to devleop into a good AHLer and potentially a bottom 6 NHL forward. Where he'll have to excel in the future is the defensive side of the game, showing he won't be a hindrance to his teammates on the ice while maintaining his physical edge. If all goes well, Schultz has the potential to develop into a fan favourite. Maybe not quite the fan favourite level of the guy he was traded for, but a well liked teammate none the less.

#19: David Desharnais, C, 24 years old

There are quite a number of things that stick out about David Desharnais. The first thing people may notice is his size... or lack there of. Desharnais is all of 5'7", 176 lbs., and that height is likely measured with the skates on. The second thing that sticks out are the much higher numbers on his stat line: 2 100 point seasons in the QMJHL, 1 100 point season in the ECHL, and a 100 point pace last year in the AHL (78 points in 60 games). His puck skill and playmaking smarts put him in an elite class amongst AHLers, but there are legitimate concerns over whether he can transfer those skills at the NHL level, where the game is quicker and the opponents are that much stronger.

Desharnais main drawbacks, aside from his size, are his skating ability (described as merely average) and his defensive play. Brian La Rose of Habsworld thinks the key to him making it in the Habs organization could be how new Hamilton Head Coach Randy Cunneyworth deploys him next season, suggesting he try him out in a defensive role. "The road to the NHL, on any team, almost always begins on the bottom line. If Desharnais' defence improves, he may very well have a legit shot down the road somewhere." Desharnais has an outside shot at making the Habs out of training camp, but more than likely will be sent back to Hamilton for one more year, as he is waiver exempt. He made his NHL debut this past year, playing in 6 games and earning 1 point for the Habs.

Gabriel Dumont celebrates scoring an OT winner for Drummondville at the 2009 Memorial Cup. (Getty Images)

#18: Gabriel Dumont, C, 19 years old

Dumont is one of my personal favourites (although I ranked him 25th, which was probably too low), as he shares the name of a famous Métis warrior from the 1885 Northwest Resistance in Saskatchewan. Like his namesake, Dumont is known for his work ethic and hard nosed play. He piled up 51 goals this past season for Drummondville of the QMJHL, and turned professional to help out on the Hamilton Bulldogs' playoff run this past spring. Despite an injury in his draft year, he managed to put up 49 points in 51 games, and 19 points in 19 playoff games as Drummondville advanced to the Memorial Cup Finals under the guidance of former Hamilton head coach, and current Tampa Bay coach Guy Boucher. He's a smaller player, standing only at 5'9", 172 lbs., but he doesn't play the game like he's physically outmatched.

Dumont projects as a potential bottom 6 forward, and possibly in a bit of a pest's role. Comparisons to Pittsburgh's Max Talbot have been given in the past, but he will need a lot of seasoning in Hamilton before he gets his chance to play at Talbot's level. While I gave the label of a potential fan favourite for Schultz, there is no doubt that should Dumont make it in Montreal, he'll be a favourite. Dumont was the first player on the list here that received a vote from every single panelist.

#17: Joonas Nattinen, C, 19 years old

The only Finnish player on our list, Nattinen is a promising young centre out of the Espoo Blues program in the SM-Liiga. A playmaker with good size and speed, he's been on the bubble of the men's team roster the past couple of seasons, playing 43 games in that time period for the Blues, while spending the rest of his time dominating the junior circuit and helping the national junior team. Nattinen had 4 assists last year to help Finland to a 5th place finish in Saskatoon for the 2010 World Juniors, and will likely play a key role for the Finnish team in Buffalo this December and January.

Nattinen was the Habs' second choice, 65th overall, in the 2009 Entry Draft, a draft in which the team focused heavily on re-stocking their centre depth. At 6'2", 181 lbs., he has some filling out to do but possesses the size the Habs have been lacking at the top level for quite some time from their centres. Nattinen has one more year remaining in Finland before the Habs must sign him to a contract, or else lose his rights. It's possible that they will sign him and let him stay in Finland in 2011-12, but he could be coming to North America as soon as next year.

#16: Aaron Palushaj, RW, 21 years old

Another St. Louis Blues castoff, Palushaj came to Montreal in the trade that sent Matt D'Agostini out west at last year's trade deadline. Once a highly regarded teenager coming from the University of Michigan, where he was teammates with Max Pacioretty, Palushaj struggled in his adjustment to the pro game in Peoria and was made expendable by St. Louis as a result.

The Habs are hoping that the promise he showed in college will eventually be fulfilled in Hamilton and then Montreal, and that last year's struggles were necessary growing pains for his development. Palsuhaj is still highly regarded by some scouting services despite his slow AHL start, and his acquisition could turn into a bit of a steal if he fulfills on that promise.

He reads the game well and positions himself in lanes well on top of being able to make smart plays with the puck. Aaron has lead feet and doesn’t generate much speed. He works very hard and will constantly be moving to try and compensate for the lack of speed. - Corey Pronman, Premium Scouting

Palushaj's game is mainly revolved around his puck skills, and whether or not there's a place for him in Montreal down the line remains to be seen. Certainly, it's a worthy gamble by Gauthier to deal a player like D'Agostini, who was struggling in the NHL even against soft competition. Palushaj has two years left on his contract, so he'll have plenty of time in Hamilton under the guidance of Cunneyworth to develop into a solid pro.

Rank	Player	Pos.	Age	Height	Weight	Current Team	Habs Contract?
16	Aaron Palushaj	RW	21	6'0"	185 lbs.	Hamilton Bulldogs (AHL)	Yes
17	Joonas Nättinen	C	19	6'2"	181 lbs.	Espoo Blues (SM-Liiga)	No
18	Gabriel Dumont	C	19	5'9"	172 lbs.	Hamilton Bulldogs (AHL)	Yes
19	David Desharnais	C	24	5'7"	176 lbs.	Hamilton Bulldogs (AHL)	Yes
20	Ian Schultz	RW	20	6'2"	185 lbs.	Hamilton Bulldogs (AHL)	Yes

Habs Top 25 Under 25: 25-21

2010-08-23T16:00:39Z

Late yesterday, I introduced EOTP's Habs Top 25 Under 25 project. It's based on the series The Copper & Blue have been doing this year, and I've recruited all of EOTP's writers as well as some outside help in the form of Topham from Lions in Winter and Brian La Rose of Habsworld.net. The only requirements for all players in this ranking is that they must be under 25 as of Sept. 15, 2010, and the Montreal Canadiens must hold their NHL rights. These are the results of the votes cast by each panelist, weighted equally.

The following players are either viewed as longshots by the panel, or they are players that are well out of the limelight but possess legitimate potential. All five of the players did not garner a top 25 placement from every panelist, and there was generally a wide range of opinion amongst the panelists who put the player on their ballot. Over and over again, the idea of whether a player was likely to make an impact on the Habs roster was prominent in the panelists minds.

#25: Maxim Trunev, RW, 20 years old

Trunev is a bit of a question mark going forward, as he currently plays for Severstal Cherepovets of the KHL. He has progressed nicely through the Russian junior ranks, and due to the lack of a transfer agreement between the KHL and NHL, the Habs hold his NHL rights indefinitely, allowing them exclusivity to sign him when his KHL contract expires. Trunev was taken 3rd overall in the 2008 CHL Import Draft by the Portland Winterhawks of the WHL, but never reported due to his KHL contract. He made his IIHF debut this past year at the U20 World Junior Championships in Saskatoon and Regina, tallying 4 points in 6 games on Team Russia's second line.

Trunev's greatest assets are his speed and shot. While he has yet to be placed in a scoring role in the KHL, he projects very well there to become a top line forward. He likes to lead offensive rushes across the blue line and drive to the net, but he tends to stick to the perimeter when his team is setting up in the offensive zone. He doesn't possess great size, but he's big enough that his size won't be a factor in holding him back. He's still quite young, as he will only turn 20 on Sept. 7, so there is still good reason to keep an eye on his development in the coming years. Of course, whether or not he'll commit himself to leaving a potentially lucrative KHL career for a shot at making the Montreal Canadiens has yet to be seen. There are currently no talks to bring him over.

#24: Brendan Gallagher, RW, 18 years old

Drafted just this past June, Gallagher comes with more hype than the typical 147th overall draft pick. He's a spunky little winger with tremendous hands that surprisingly compliment a decent pair of fists, notching 41 goals and 81 points in his second season in the WHL, while racking up 111 penalty minutes. So why did he fall all the way to the late 5th round? Simple: he's only 5'8", and does not possess elite speed. It's similar reasons to why fellow Habs prospect David Desharnais and ex-Habs prospect Corey Locke were not considered top draft choices either, but Gallagher appears to be cut from a different cloth than those two. He reminds me a lot of fellow WHLer Brandon Kozun, who starred for Team Canada at the U20 World Juniors this past year. Gallagher, like Kozun, is high on Hockey Canada's radar, having recently taken part in the summer evaluation camp for the U20 team.

There's a lot of reason to like Gallagher, who makes the list ahead of fellow 2010 draft picks Morgan Ellis and Mark MacMillan, despite being picked after them. But that being said, the real test for Gallagher now will be potentially playing at the international level, improving his acceleration, and adapting to the pro game. The Vancouver Giants, Gallagher's WHL team, always have a competitive squad, so a Memorial Cup appearance could also be in his future.

#23: Andreas Engqvist, C, 22 years old

Signed as an undrafted free agent last summer, Engqvist will be coming over to North America after spending a final season with Djurgården of the Elitserien in Sweden. It was his fourth season in Sweden's top league, and his best production wise. He managed 14 goals and 12 assists during 51 regular season games, but really stepped it up in the playoffs, where he posted 13 points in 16 games. Those strong improvements earned him a spot on Sweden's bronze medal winning World Championship team in May, where he played a bottom six role, posting four points in eight games.

Engqvist is not the sexiest of prospects, but he's a big right handed centre who projects well as a bottom six forward. The knock on his game is that although he is bigger and plays well defensively, he isn't all that physical of a player. So he's a bit in the Radek Bonk mould. Engqvist will likely start this season in the AHL, but could see time in the NHL if he adjusts quickly to the smaller rink size and more condensed schedule. He potentially could fill a need for the Habs going forward, as they lack both centres with size as well as ones that are right handed.

#22: Alexei Emelin, D, 24 years old

Once a highly touted prospect, Emelin is an example of the kind of player that make NHL GM's very weary of selecting Russian players today. Twice now, the Habs have tried to negotiate a deal to have him come over to the NHL, only to have him continue his KHL career instead. Once considered a reckless renegade defenseman in the KHL, Emelin has calmed down as he has become a veteran, posting a career low 50 PIMs last year for Ak Bars Kazan (his career high is 131 PIMs). He really made an impact in the Gagarin Cup playoffs, scoring 5 times and posting 13 points to help lead Kazan to the title. He was named the top defenseman in the Gagarin Cup Finals, and the strong finish earned him a spot on Russia's silver medal winning World Championship team in May.

Emelin's game is built around strong defensive and physical play. He's a good skater for a defenseman, keeps it simple offensively and is known for making big open ice hits. He has been accused in the past of hitting players in vulnerable positions, making him a controversial player in the KHL. His contract expires next year, and guess what, word is he's willing to try the NHL again. He scored lower on this ranking because many panelists didn't believe he was serious in ever suiting up for the Canadiens.

#21: Mac Bennett, D, 19 years old

Bennett is considered a long term project, as he was drafted based on his raw potential out of a Connecticut preparatory school in which he only played 15 games during his draft season. He advanced to the USHL last year, making their All-Rookie team with 23 points in 53 games. He'll continue his rapid ascent up the ranks by attending the University of Michigan this fall. The Habs will still have four years in which to evaluate his progress at that level before deciding on whether or not to offer him a professional contract. Despite his strong USHL season, Bennett was not invited to this summer's Team USA U20 evaluation camps.

Bennett is known primarily for his speed and puck moving ability. What is also well known about him are his bloodlines: his grandfather Harvey was the goalie of record when Maurice Richard scored his 50th goal in 50 games, while his uncles Curt and Harvey Jr. became NHL players, too. Bennett is a smaller defenseman, though at 6' tall, he should be able to fill out so that his size isn't a factor in his advancement when it comes time to turn professional.

Rank	Player	Pos.	Height	Weight	Current Team	Habs Contract?
21	Mac Bennett	D	6'0"	174 lbs.	U. of Michigan (CCHA)	No
22	Alexei Emelin	D	6'1"	223 lbs.	Ak Bars Kazan (KHL)	No
23	Andreas Engqvist	C	6'3"	198 lbs.	Hamilton Bulldogs (AHL)	Yes
24	Brendan Gallagher	RW	5'8"	159 lbs.	Vancouver Giants (WHL)	No
25	Maxim Trunev	RW	6'0"	190 lbs.	Severstal Cherepovets (KHL)	No

Habs Top 25 Under 25: Introduction

2010-08-23T02:23:49Z

More photos » Reed Saxon - AP

Jarred Tinordi is raising his arm, hoping we'll pick him high in the inaugural EOTP Top 25 Under 25. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)

Browse more photos »

If you're a follower of SB Nation, you may be already aware of this concept. The Edmonton Oilers blog, The Copper & Blue, has run this twice in the past year as a look ahead for their team's future. So, with training camp coming up next month, I figured it'd be a good idea to poll the talent here at Eyes on the Prize to see what we thought, good or bad, about the guys our favourite team has in the same group. We're hardly perfect guys for the job, we aren't scouts for anyone currently, but we're passionate followers of the team and always keep an eye out for talent that could help the team win games down the line.

But first a few words about the concept. Top 25 Under 25 is about comparing players based on their age, not their pro hockey experience. When you eliminate players that are already contributing NHLers, you don't always give an accurate depiction of what the future of the team entails. All players that are signed to a NHL contract are under the control of their parent team until at least age 25... players cannot become UFA's before that age unless the team decides to buy them out or not submit a qualifying offer on their contract. The Habs actually possess two players that were not qualified by their teams this June: Benoit Pouliot and Dustin Boyd. But come next year, the Habs will again have the option of qualifying both those players based on their current deals.

It also is pretty common knowledge that players don't reach their peak production years until about the age of 25. They might be as good as they're going to be at age 21... we can't say that with 100% certainty that they will improve. But it's reasonable to assume players will get better if they are under 25 years old. Once they hit 25, that becomes less likely. It's a good age to use as a measuring stick.

So we're looking at players that will be under 25 on Sept. 15. Sept. 15 is the date that, in a player's draft year, they use as a cutoff. Each entry draft pits players that will turn 18 between Sept. 16 the previous calendar year and Sept. 15 of the current year. It also is an approximate starting point for NHL training camps, meaning no player can report to a training camp before their 18th birthday (at least roughly).

Each panelist was asked to submit their own top 25. Each player was then given points for their placement: 1st place got 25 points, 2nd place 24 points, and so on down to 25th place getting 1 point. I then took out the highest and lowest scores of each player to eliminate any potential personal bias to arrive with a total that reflects the general assessment of the panel. This last step did very little to change the results, and really only had an effect on the lower ranked players, but the players at the lower end ended up being guys generally liked by the majority of the panelists. Just as an added note, it should be known that new acquisition Karri Ramo was not included in the ranking, as the voting was originally done with Cedric Desjardins involved. His votes were discounted and we didn't bother to include Ramo due to the group not being familiar enough with him at this point.

For the list itself, click here for players 25-21, here for players 20-16, and here for 15-11.

And now, without further ado, the EOTP scouts:

Robert Lefebvre, Manager, Eyes On the Prize

Well, if you've been here before, you know Robert L's points of view already. He's tirelessly built up this very blog to what it is today, sharing his wealth of knowledge about the Habs in all his years as a fan. He's a member of the Society for International Hockey Research, and has even done some junior hockey scouting in the past. He's played the game, coached minor hockey, and let's face it: he knows more about the Habs than you do. He's also the boss around here, and is frequently inspired by the real Boss.

Chris Boyle, Editor, Eyes On the Prize

Habs fans throughout the internet know him by his code name "Wamsley", and they also know him for his incredibly thorough, analytical take on goaltenders. He's not a fan who is easily impressed, and he scoffs at the emotional outbursts of his brethren, favouring reason. He's like former PM Pierre Elliot Trudeau without having a dislike for all things west of Algonquin Park. Chris used to run the website Fantasy Hockey Sense, but now lives a more relaxed online existence.

Kevin van Steendelaar, Manager, Ya! The Habs Rule!; Editor, EOTP

Kevin is one of the more well known Habs bloggers on the net, running the prolific Ya! The Habs Rule! while also maintaining a high profile blogging on hockey cards paraphernalia and alerting GTA fans of upcoming autograph sessions on Examiner.com. He's also a frequent Twitter contributor when it comes to the Good Ship Habs, and is also a member of the Society for International Hockey Research. Those that follow him on his blog, here on EOTP, and on Twitter know him as a passionate follower who expresses his opinion matter of factly.

Francis Bouchard, Manager, EOTP; Writer, Le Nord Newspaper (Hearst, Ontario)

Bouchard is a self-described "super fan" of the Habs, who immerses himself in all the pop culture tidbits that the Habs have embraced over the years. His posts on EOTP have focused a lot on Habs media appearances in unconvential forms over the years, from the history of the Habs appearing on film, early footage of team practices, and his conversations with Robert have provided frequent inspiration for our boss. He frequently makes the trip to Montreal to attend games (which is a good half-day trip from Hearst), and when the call came to submit a list, he scoured through any information he could find like the detail-oriented reporter/fan he is.

Chris Topham, Editor, Lions In Winter

Topham is well known in the Habs blogosphere, as during the regular season LIW provides some of the best post-game analysis you'll see for any team out there. He and co-editor Tobalev end each post-game with the 6 players they feel are worthy of a spot on the dome team, and their eyes for nuances in the flow of the game are on full display. Topham is an attention to detail mind when it comes to stats, embracing the new statistical world and applying that knowledge to what he observes on the ice. They were repsonsible for a goals created project on LIW, and are consistently trying to find the precise areas where the Habs are doing well, while paying heed to what they must improve on. Needless to say, they are often at odds with the conventional fan and media reaction as a result.

Brian La Rose, Chief Editor, Habsworld.net

Habsworld is one of the longest running Habs fan communities on the web, and still one of the best. Brian is a CBA expert, and also a keen follower of Montreal's AHL affiliate, the Hamilton Bulldogs. Habsworld features a lot of material for Habs prospects as a result, providing weekly recaps of the Bulldogs as well as living the fan's life of following the Canadiens very closely. If you're looking for quick information on new prospect acquisitions, be they through a trade or a collegiate free agent signing, Habsworld is probably going to have info available quicker than anyone. They will also be doing a prospect ranking before the start of the season, so keep your eyes out for that one.

Bruce Peter, Editor, Eyes On the Prize; Manager, Puck Worlds

As for me, I'm somewhat well known around the blogosphere by my handle saskhab, but lately I've been taking up residency at SB Nation's international hockey blog Puck Worlds. I'm a follower of hockey at various levels, and try and bring the knowledge I have from that experience to this project. Like everyone else, I've been a huge Habs fan since childhood, and that passion has helped lead me to my current role here. Am I an expert? I wouldn't say that, I'm more of an interested party like most of us here. However, if someone is willing to pay me good money for being a hockey expert, I will gladly claim such expertise. So yes, I'm an expert.

I hope you enjoy this series, which will start tomorrow with a profile on players 25-21 on our ranking.

One Time Habs "Can't Miss Kid" Bonar's Story - One Every Hockey Playing Teenager Should Grasp

2010-08-21T09:09:49Z

Robert L note: This is from the site archives. A couple of years ago, I looked up former Canadiens prospect Graeme Bonar in a Google search and was quite surprised by the story that soon revealed itself. I did not link to or post on the Globe piece ot the CAMH article at the time, but something in his tale stuck and stayed with me. Bonar's story has nothing to do with great hockey goals scored or championships won, yet his story is miles more heroic and compelling.

Early in his life, hockey came easy to Bonar. He was a natural. He dedicated every ounce of his being to his dream of playing in the NHL. Everything that came after he was on the verge of achieving it, was a whole other nightmare. Born and raised in Mimico, Ontario, Bonar's NHL dreams are shared by thousands of youngsters lacing up skates each year. Where those dreams ultimately led him, involved a darkness opposite to the expected limelight.

If often have thoughts of junior hockey players in this country, and what happens to them as they sacrifice education for a shot at the big leagues. Some players, inevitably, slip through cracks. Bonar's crevice became a canyon, one that took everything he had inside to climb out of. After the final score, when the ice had melted, he became the hero he always sought to be - behind a microphone, usually in a suit and tie, and not a hockey jersey.

I'd like to thank Graeme personally, for sending me some pics, and making me aware of the content at his Facebook page. Feel free to stop by Graeme's page and offer your encouragements.

In the mid 1980's, the Montreal Canadiens had endured a rough patch of early playoff exits three years running. Then General Manager Serge Savard had taken over, and within a few seasons, he drafted an excellent crop of kids brimming with talent and oozing confidence. The names are all hockey lore now. There was Roy, Chelios, Lemieux, Richer, Corson, Momesso and others. As a group and individually, they all showed great promise, and Habs fans were getting quite excited at the prospect of these kids regenerating the Canadiens hopes for seasons to come.

One player in the fray missed the party altogether. You would have to be an avid long time Canadiens fan for the name Graeme Bonar to mean anything to you. Bonar was a third round choice of the Canadiens, 54th overall in the 1984 draft. I recall him playing with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds of the OHL around 1985. I had always wondered just what had happened to him. He had natural goal scorer written all over him. After reading about him play in the 1985 Memorial Cup, and hearing of his first steps with the Canadiens, he truly seemed to be a "can't miss kid".

Somewhere along the way, "can't miss", went missing.

Bonar's destiny, unfortunately, had other challenges in mind. After tallying a whopping 66 goals and 71 assists for the Soo as a 19 yr old, one year after being a 15 goal scorer selected by the Habs, Bonar was traded to Peterborough to round out his junior career. The Canadiens had been thrilled by the progress he had shown, and big things were being expected of him when he turned pro.

He arrived for his second Canadiens training camp in the fall of 1986 and did not disappoint as he took the lead in pre - season scoring. For a kid who grew up empassioned by the game at every turn, Bonar was primed to have rubbed shoulders with future Hall Of Famers such as Guy Lafleur, Larry Robinson and Bob Gainey. Few could brag about such big league dreams coming true, but it was then that Bonar's dream crashed down hard.

A severe injury in camp essentially slammed the brakes on Bonar's hopes. An opposing player fell on Bonar's leg, snapping his achilles tendon. It was career threatening. Due to swelling, trainers needed to cut off Bonar's skate boot to remove his foot. Judging by the immediate pain, grim facts surfaced fast. Bonar was told his career might be in jeopardy. The damage meant he would basically continue playing on one good leg.

As Bonar had dedicated his entire life to nothing more than succeeding in hockey, he was ill prepared for a life without it. He chose to bravely, if ill - advisedly, soldier on in the game, half the player he once was. Painkillers made playing tolerable, but he could hardly ever be quite the same without speed to match his natural instincts.

Rejoining the Sherbrooke Canadiens late in the 1986-87 season, Bonar still struck for 6 goals and as many assists in the final 21 games. Despite the setback and prognosticated diagnosis, his output was encouraging enough for him to continue on. Problematic was a growing reliance on the painkillers he still took, and mixed in with the alluring high life style enjoyed by athletes on a professional paycheck, Bonar developed a set of evils that would eventually outlast his hockey skills.

Bonar returned to Sherbrooke the following season, sticking around long enough to score a final goal for the Canadiens organization. He would soon depart on a journeyman's hockey escapade in search of his lost game. He would toil in minor leagues for several seasons, with stops in such places as Flint, Jacksonville, Saginaw, and Indianapolis, all the while rarely unpacking his suitcase long enough to take up root. Along the way, a broken wrist and fractured collarbone kept up his dependance on prescription drugs. Clinging to hockey as his only means of identity, he drifted as far as roller hockey with the Florida Hammerheads in 1993-94.

Ten years down the road in 1995, Bonar realized he'd hit rock bottom hard. The mental and physical anguish of dealing with his lost dreams had pushed him into the empty voids offered by booze, sex, and drugs. He became further depressed and alienated from his loved ones when he realized more and more than he did not have the life skills to gain regular employment. Possessing no qualifications to fit himself into the working life, Bonar was at an emotional crossroads.

Without friends, family, or any means of support, he feared his life was over, but realized that he was scared to die. The fear of it ignited a desperation inside him, one that he hadn't felt since dedicating himself to a life of hockey at a young age. He vowed to achieve sobriety, and once he did, he would put his life experiences to good use.

After coming clean with help from Alcoholics Anonymous, Bonar enrolled in addictions counsellor courses, becoming involved with several organizations that sought to help those who had travelled Graeme's path in life. Today, Bonar has been clean for close to 15 years, and uses his two biggest passions - helping others, and hockey - by being an awareness speaker all over Ontario and in New York state. He has done volunteer work - coaching, mentoring, fundraising, refereeing, and speaking out - for a wide ranging array of athletic and charitable organizations. His work has teamed him once more with the Montreal Canadiens, as well as working with the Canadian Olympic Team and the Ontario Hockey League.

It is an accomplishment that might once have seemed impossible while plunged in the depts of despair. Bonar now finds that the keys to his own happiness involve knowing what he wants from life and growing towards it. Remaining active and preaching the powers of belief in self, help him balance life's work, and it has rewarded him in bringing him closer to his co - workers, family and daughter Chantal.

In June of 2007, Bonar was a more than worthy recipient of a CAMH Transforming Lives Award.

Siri Agrell of the Globe And Mail was on hand at the time to speak with Bonar, and his quotes point out a major failing point of junior hockey, then and now.

"You aren't prepared," he said of the abrupt end to his dream. "When the curtain falls, it's a tough thing to deal with. I think there should have been more support, because there was none. There's not enough education, there's not enough help, no matter when you stop playing. At the time, I just wasn't ready for life after hockey," he said. "I think it's something a lot of athletes struggle with, not just ones who had careers ended early."

What Bonar relates, is in plain speak, the ugly hidden underbelly of our country's fascination with the glory of hockey. Few players get to live out their NHL dreams, yet many dream of it. The odds are lottery - like. Those who reach a crescent, more often than not, discover a cliff at some point. Hockey doesn't want to know about it's failures. Bonar's tale, was a story long before you read this.

Peter Selby, a clinical addictions program director for the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, puts it this way:

"Professional disappointments can often set people on the path to addiction. Young people must be given more guidance when entering the world of competitive sports. Parents must make it clear that there is life beyond competition, and ensure that children maintain strong relationships outside of sports so they retain a support network if they are hurt. When you're dealing with a young person, who hasn't developed neurologically, you're sitting on a perfect storm should something negative happen. The real balance is how do you get them to be high achieving but still realistic?"

Bonar's story is one of coming full circle in life, and it is one not without it's own ironies. Once ill prepared for a life beyond the game of hockey, events that occured then likely rendered him a case study of all that could wrong when education is forfeited for a life of nothing but pucks and fame. There was a time when his choices could have underlined all what not to do in life. Nowdays, Bonar is a role model, and not entirely an unlikely one.

Looking in the mirror one day, through the haze of a foggy past and a dream run afoul, Bonar made a choice, and opted for the helping hand rather than the toe tag. No one was there to hold up the mirror for him.

This You Tube clip below features Bonar with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds was found at his Facebook page. It is about all the video that can found on him, other than the snippets in CAMH link. Bonar is number 29, and can be seen at the very beginning of the clip, and again near the 2:30 mark. As you'll see, there's no hockey being played here, just one kickass 8 minute brawl between Terry Crisp's Hounds and Bill Laforge's Hamilton Steelhawks in 1985. The late Bob Probert, a team mate of Bonar's, has a couple of feature bouts.

Graeme Bonar profile from Hockey Draft Central

Bonar stats from Hockey Database.com

The Incomparable Big Three

2010-08-20T01:14:46Z

Earlier this week, I was asked a simple question by EOTP friend Joe Pelletier, on who I thought was the best defenseman of the Big Three. Joe was eliciting opinions from a variety of Habs' sites for an article at Greatest Hockey Legends, and his question spurred an entire article of mine on the subject. I also asked the crew at this site to weight in, and all of Chris, Kevin, Francis and Bruce ranked Robinson, Savard and Lapointe, 1-2-3 in that order. Check out Joe's piece and the opinions he solicited and have a look at this article from March of 1972, when the Canadiens players rescued coach Scotty Bowman and others in a St. Louis motel fire.

Three of the Canadiens greatest defensemen in team history were collectively known in the 1970's as The Big Three.

Yup, capital letters and all!

The moniker was an obvious one, as these three blueliners were a complete package of skill and gamesmanship. It seemed ridiculous almost, that one team could own so much talent on the backline.

Among the many assets the Canadiens had in that decade, it was often The Big Three who were singled out by opposing players and coaches for the reasons as to the Habs powerhouse teams. Some nights, it seemed these three players all logged upwards of thirty minutes in a given game, still looking like they had energy left for overtime at the end of sixty minutes.

Le Senateur

Serge Savard was the first to arrive on the Canadiens scene, playing a pair of games in 1966-67. He had been in the Montreal system for close to five years by that time, originally being signed to a C-Form as a forward.

Unbelievably, Montreal almost lost the rights to Savard at one point. Sometime around when he was converted to a defensemen in with the Junior Canadiens, certain persons in the organization became momentarily less impressed with his skills and he was left off the Habs protected list.

Approached by a scout from the Red Wings organization, Savard was informed of his status, and surprised and panicked, checked it out with Montreal to see if this was true. It was realized an error was made, and the Canadiens quickley re-added Savard's name. In later years, Savard was explained that due to his less than stellar play at one point, he was simply forgotten by the club.

Imagine now if the anchor of eight Stanley Cup championchips had gotten away due to a bureacratic snafu. I mean, this is no Francois Beauchemin!

Two full seasons in with Montreal, Savard became the second Conn Smythe Trophy winner in team history in 1969.

In 1972, Savard was a member of Team Canada for the Summit Series. In the five games he appeared in, Canada's record was four wins and a tie, losing the three Savard did not play in.

Perhaps that is testament to Le Senateur's greatest asset, a calming presence that often spread its way to teammates. Sturdy and dependable with a strong vision of the unfolding game, Savard was equally adept leading a rush or reading the one coming at him. Wracking up his fair share of points, he was seldom caught out of position. As a defender, he was never known as a thundering bodychecker, yet he was a miserable proposition to try to get around.

Fans who recall Savard's first steps have long maintainted that a pair of serious leg injuries early in his career actually robbed him of some speed and mobility in his position. It's hard to fathom that he could have been even better than he was.

Savard went on to play a full 14 seasons with the Canadiens and participated in 8 Stanley Cup wins.

Pointu

Guy Lapointe played his first game with Montreal in the 1968-69 season, becoming a regular contributor in 1970-71 when he contributed 15 goals as a rookie defenseman, a record at the time.

The player known as Pointu came into the Canadiens as a bit of a wild horse, an untamed thoroughbred of limitless offensive skill and potential. A fleetfooted skater with a blistering shot, Lapointe tended to stray at times defensively, often opting for crunching hits rather than smarter plays. This lead to undisciplined habits and high penalty minute totals, but as time passed, he was groomed into the Canadiens method of schooling and developed rather quickly from there.

With experience, Lapointe became a more poised blueliner, often in pairing with Savard. Learning to hang back on the rush, if not leading it himself, he often jumped into the play as an invisible fifth man, ghostly emerging from the shadows to unleashed a devastating boomer. His quick takeoff speed made him a transition specialist able to spot an opening hole before it closed. A patented Lapointe play would see him spotting an opening, dashing to the blueline to feed a breaking player, and then taking part in the two on he his astuteness created.

Blessed with all kinds of talent surrending him, it was natural that Lapointe's gifts were best shown on the powerplay. A threat at anytime by his devastating shot, Guy smartly didn't overuse the weapon uneccessarily. He would help control the play, moving the puck to the best option, and waiting just long enough to be forgotten in the heat of action to step in and fire away.

Lapointe never won any major awards in his 12 year career with Montreal, but he did score in double digits for nine sucessive seasons. He was at the peak of his prowess between 1973 and 1977, when he came within one goal of having four 20 goal campaigns in five years. His best year offensively was 1974-75 in which he tallied 28 goals, still a team record.

Big Bird

In 1971, with their fourth choice, twentieth overall in the Amateur Draft, the Canadiens selected Larry Robinson, a gangling and somewhat awkward defenseman from the Kitchener Rangers of the OHL. Lanky and rawboned, many considered Robinson to be a project of sorts, a defenseman who would need some nurturing and time to develop to full potential.

Like Savard, Robinson was a former forward, converted to the blueline at a young age due to his size and height. Sent to the Nova Scotia Voyageurs, Robinson was tutored by aging veteran Noel Price, and within a season and a half was called up to Montreal for good.

As befits many a farmboy, Robinson owned a threatening physique, but the potential to use it was diminished by a shy and polite demeanor. While with Nova Scotia, coach Al McNeil patiently waited for Robinson to come around, finally sitting him for a game to give the player pause to think. At 6'4'', and 225 pounds, Robinson was the asked by the coach what his physical dimensions were. Upon reply, Larry was then asked, "So when are you going to start using it?"

Robinson seemed to seize the message, using his size and becoming an on ice presence. A few rounds of putting up dukes, combined with punishing hits created for him a space in which his full game would develop. When these traits became part of the Robinson package, an injury to Jacques Laperierre opened the door for him in Montreal. Eager to make good on a first impression, Larry never returned to the East Coast again.

Once in the NHL, Robinson progressed, steadily employing the same lessons learned in the AHL. Gradually, the league acquainted themselves with savvy defenseman of good vision, owning a policeman's attributes and a mean streak displayed occasionally enough to make tough guys think twice.

As it had evolved in the lower rung, Robinson was now the benefactor of great space and time, only with the Canadiens, he was blessed with an incredibly talented supporting cast to his game. Surprisingly, or perhaps not, the once gangling and awkward defender bloomed into an offensive powerhouse on the blueline. His style and the compatibility of newfound assuredness made it so that he blended perfectly well with the attributes of Savard and Lapointe before him.

Robinson went on to become the most decorated member of the trio, winning two Norris trophies as the leagues best blueliner, as well as a Conn Smythe Trophy in 1978. Over his career, the Big Bird was an incredible plus +730.

The Big Three were essentially born nearing Robinson's third year. In all, they played a full eight seasons together and have a combined 20 Stanley Cups wins in their careers.

All three have had their jersey numbers taken out of Canadiens' circulation, but in Lapointe case, his number five went to the rafters in honour of Bernie Boom Boom Geoffrion. There are many Canadiens' fans who feel Lapointe deserves the same treatment.

The Big Three are best remembered collectively by many, likely due to the fact that no NHL team before or since can ever boast of such blueline talent and artilliary. It's unlikely any fan will ever see a similar lineup of Hall of Famers all on one club again.

Pick just one? Yeah, right!

Back during their prime years, I recall being asked by a fellow fan, which of the three was the best.

It was tough to answer then, as it is now.

The way the question was put to me was in hypothetical terms, such as a draft scenario with Canadiens holding the first overall pick and all of The Big Three being available prospects at that imaginary time.

Without the benefit of hindsight, who would you choose between the lanky and raw Robinson, the wild but promising Lapointe, or the composed Savard?

It's tough to call isn't it?

Think of L.A. Kings' Drew Doughty as Savard, commanding ray Bourque-like respect, the Habs' P.K. Subban as Lapointe, given Sheldon Souray's shot, and a young and green Chris Pronger as Robinson, with a dash of Jay Bowmeester hesitance.

It doesn't help much, does it?

I'm tempted to go with Robinson, that is until hindsight reminds that Savard's ways greatly benefitted and settled down both Lapointe and Robinson when they were newcomers.

Without hindsight, I'm going with the offensively talented Lapointe, being he would be the rarer bird of the three as an offensive componant.

All views considered, I'm back at Robinson now. Don't ask me again - I might just change my mind every ten minutes.

The best thing about The Big Three in Montreal?

The Habs never had to decide!

Photos for this post are courtesy of the Montreal Canadiens historical website players section. Check it out!

Poll

If you had your choice of only one player from The Big Three, who would you choose?

Serge Savard

76 votes

Guy Lapointe

28 votes

Larry Robinson

524 votes

628 votes | Poll has closed

Habs' Gauthier Sidesteps Media and Fans with Late Night Trade

2010-08-19T16:08:02Z

It is not as though the Montreal Canadiens organization ought to call a full blown press conference to announce and explain every minor deal the club makes, but they surely could be more forthcoming in their manner of accomodating the press.

Case in point, the very misunderstood swap on Tuesday that sent Hamilton Bulldogs netminder Cedrick Desjardins to Tampa for exiled KHL goalie Kari Rammo.

The deal was somewhat baffling on first take, and yours truly among others, got caught up in the ozoned details and unexplained nature of it. From many parts, a lot of questions were fired into a great void without much of an answer from GM Pierre Gauthier on the motives behind it.

Gauthier has a certain method about him when confronting the Montreal Media Madness. Unlike Bob Gainey before him, he gives a good quote or two, wraps it in a provokative thought, and then openly says to further prodding that its time he zips his lips. In the instance of minor deals, the team simply issues a press statement regarding the player(s) being acquiring that never contains a shred of thought on why the traded player is leaving the organization.

Traditionally, that is not the purpose of the press release per se, but something as simple as a five minute conference call to reporters, with one simple statement in mind, would go a long way to clarifying thoughts and explaining motives to media and hence fans of the team.

In this area, the organization comes up short in recognizing and respecting their fans needs via the media

They are not helping themselves much by proceding this way, because in the interim of the story breaking and the real story emerging, all kinds of things (untrue and speculative) are written and needless thoughts are formed.

Desjardins' case is even more particular and needy, and the ensuing confusing is mighty testament to what will occur every time in the future when details are not forthcoming.

The departing goalie is one of a few francophone players in the organization at the moment. No need to reindulge ourselves into what Quebec born players mean to media and fans in the province. Goaltending itself is also a hot topic, at any given time.

So you have a goalie, a francophone, and a trade. Hmmm!

Is it not somewhat predictable what will occur?

Consider Desjardins is a sympathetic player who has come a long way in his career. His tale reads almost like a feel-good hard luck story. Undrafted, the kid never gave up, dug in his heels in junior despite doubts about his talent level, and emerged a Memorial Cup winner. Signing a contract with the Canadiens, he then went off to Cincinnati and won a Kelly Cup. Next came an AHL challenge in Hamilton, in which he posted interesting numbers, league leading ones that gained him accolades along the way. Despite misgivings about him, he was threading together successive positive seasons and in the eyes of some, was about to knock on the Canadiens goaltending door this coming training camp.

So the Montreal francophone press and fans are pulling for the kid and want him to do well, but....he's not quite in the team's bigger picture, and he's trade, to the dismay of some.

And in all this, the Canadiens and Gauthier say not a word!

It's a shame, because the real story here is a good one, and much better than the press the club and the trade itself received since Tuesday.

Francois Gagnon, in a La Presse article titled Ramo instead of Desjardins! Really? (Ramo plutôt que Desjardins! Vraiment?) had this to say:

By unveiling the news in the middle of the night on Monday, Pierre Gauthier did not indicate in his press release, not only what motivated him to trade another francophone, but worse, also replace a goaltender who has had a winning record everywhere he's played by one who has posted inferior statistics.

In all, he must have a good reason or two. I'm just anxious to hear them...

Translation:

En dévoilant la nouvelle en milieu de soirée lundi, Pierre Gauthier n’a pas indiqué dans son communiqué de presse ce qui l’avait motivé à laisser partir un autre francophone, mais pire, à remplacer un gardien affichant un fiche gagnante partout où il est passé par un autre qui n’a jamais présenter des statistiques équivalentes.

In all, he must have a good reason or two. I'm just anxious to hear them...

In the same paper, in an article titled "Cédrick Desjardins traded; the art of making friends" (l'art de se faire des amis), Richard Labbé writes:

I understand fully that Pierre Gauthier is not in position to make friends, but often we get the impression he'd rather let his clientele dangle.

Translation:

Je sais bien que Pierre Gauthier n'est pas là pour se faire des amis, mais parfois, on dirait qu'il se balance un peu de sa clientèle.

Arpon Basu of The Daily Hab-it titling his piece Beyond Comprehension

Once I got past the initial feelings of disbelief, it was confusion that took over my thoughts as I tried to figure why - in the same summer you traded away perhaps the finest young goalie in the league, let alone the organization - you would immediately trade another promising young goalie for a castaway who has been relegated to KHL duty?

I echoed Mr, Basu's sentiment somewhat, angling my take at the dwindling goalie depth chart:

I fail to follow the logic of acquiring a player (in this case, simply his rights) who cannot perform for the organization immediately in some capacity somewhere on the depth chart beginning now.

Rick Keene at A Winnning Habit also placed the minor trade in big picture.

Given the relative uncertainty in Montreal – not knowing how Carey Price will respond to pressure and Alex Auld ’s seemingly recent status of journeyman, the move is baffling. Desjardins was one of the best young goaltenders in the AHL while Rammo on the other hand, has not shown an ability to pay with the big boys, although he did play his handful of games on a defensively challenged Lighning squad.

So there you have it, five perspectives all written from the view behind a muddied lens, thanks to a trade announced in the middle of the night by an uninforming GM Gauthier.

In the interim, opinions were strongly formed, the media stumped, and fans misguided to the true notions behind the deal. It's just plain wrong.

The francophone press, like good houndogs on any trail, pursued the story another day, straight to a source with no motives to sidestep. Credit them for digging up all that we needed to know.

In talking to Cédrick Desjardins himself, two french papers managed to nail all the reasons why the deal went down in the first place. Not only are those reasons simple and understandable under the circumstances, they could just as easily have been relayed by Gauthier himself.

Eric Leblanc of RDS (Tampa Challenge Inspires Desjardins / Le défi de Tampa inspire Desjardins) managed to put together quotes from both Desjardins and Canadiens' public relations man Donald Beauchamp to advance what was behind the veil.

Hence a picture becomes clearer. Speaking is good!

"At first I was caught off guard, because I wasn't expecting it and was readying myself for the Canadiens' training camp". - Desjardins

Translation:

"Au début, c’était l’effet de surprise car je ne m’y attendais pas et je me préparais pour le camp d’entraînement du Canadien". - Desjardins

Concerning Ramo, the Canadiens Vice President of Communications, Donald Beauchamps, confirmed that he will play out his season in Russia.

Consider it as a favour done to Cédrick Desjardins, as Sanford and Robert Mayer will be our goalies in Hamilton for the upcoming season. Once he has completed his contract in Russia, Ramo will become a goalie with NHL experience for the Canadiens organiation.

Translation:

Quant à Ramo, le vice-président communications du Canadien, Donald Beauchamp, a confirmé à RDS qu’il allait compléter son entente en Russie.

C'est comme une faveur que nous faisons à Cédrick Desjardins car Curtis Sanford et Robert Mayer seront nos gardiens avec les Bulldogs de Hamilton cette saison. Quand il aura complété son contrat en Russie, Ramo sera un gardien avec de l'expérience dans la LNH pour notre organisation, a déclaré Beauchamp.

Now, there's a starter to a fire. Desjardins was out of the picture in Hamilton it seems, although the Canadiens signed him to a contract on July 20, nineteen days after signing both Alex Auld and Curtis Sanford on July 1.

This info opens the speculative thinking caps nice and wide. Was Desjardins battling for positioning with Auld for the backup job in Montreal, with Sanford for the starter's role in Hamilton, or with Robert Mayer for the backup role.

Either way, and it is beside the point now, the Canadiens will not have a fifth organizational goalie to supply to the ECHL Cincinnati Cyclones, who are continuing their affiliation agreement with the Canadiens.

Beauchamp's statement claims that Desjardins no longer fit into team plans. Why then, did Montreal put him under contract on July 20?

A dumbass guess, would be because Desjardins had accrued a certain value. The favour Montreal has done for him by trading him to Tampa could just have easily been done by allowing him to become an unrestricted free agent, could it not?

By signing him, Gauthier was able to gain an asset in Ramo - that's a good thing!

So, why not pounce on the opportunity to make oneself appear intelligent under the circumstances. Only Pierre Gauthier can answer that one!

Later on Wednesday, Le Journal de Montreal's Jean-Philippe Bertrand uncovered the nugget of truth. Desjardins, through his agent, hinted that if he was no longer in the Habs' plans, he didn't want to twist in the wind.

Alas! So much muck and mire to scrape off for simple discovery!

From Bertrand's article (A Real First Shot / Cédrick Desjardins: une vraie première chance), come these revelations:

After seeing that Jaroslav Halak had been traded to the St. Louis Blues in June, Desjardins thought he had an NHL shot. But when the Canadiens signed Alex Auld, the cards were laid on the table.

No longer convinced he had a chance to graduate to the Canadiens, the 25 year old athlete did not hide his opinion to his superiors that he felt he would have a better shot at the big leagues with another organization.

"It wasn't openly put that way, but my agent made it known that it would be preferable that if they were not intending to give me a shot, that they should trade me," Desjardins added.

Translation:

En voyant Jaroslav Halak quitter vers St. Louis en juin dernier, il pensait bien que ça y était. " Mais avec l’embauche d’Alex Auld, l’équipe a décidé de prendre une toute autre direction", a-t-il mentionné lorsque joint au téléphone, mardi.

Ne croyant plus en ses chances de graduer un jour avec le Tricolore, l’athlète de 25 ans n’a pas caché à ses patrons avoir l’intention de se faire valoir ailleurs.

" Ça n’a pas été dit clairement comme ça, mais mon agent a fait comprendre à l’organisation qu’il serait préférable de m’échanger si elle n’avait pas l’intention de me donner ma chance", a-t-il ensuite ajouté.

So, for all intents, Desjardins asked for the trade. That's the story. The whole of it, and the origin of it. That's it and that's all.

In the media and in minds of the fans, trades and the details behind them, mostly originate from the Canadiens organization themselves, but as we see, this is not always the case.

We've all been trumped, stumped, duped and played.

Just a little insight would have been appreciated, Pierre!

Like many of us, I want to like Pierre Gauthier and want to have faith in what he does, but why does he have to make that so difficult for us fans?

It's a runaround of sorts, when we want conciseness.

Is that too much to ask?

The Canadiens, often accused of not providing a path for Quebec born prospects, have enabled one of their own, let's suggest, to reach the NHL.

In signing and grooming the long shot Desjardins, the Habs did a good thing, but that all becomes lost in this embroglio.

Like everything else bottom line, it won't matter to them until the team bites it and the sellouts cease.

Whether it is the organization or Gauthier himself, the Canadiens bungled a shot at making themselves look good, turning a positive into a negative.

All this over a minor trade!

Habs' Strongest Position of Depth Now Its Weakest

2010-08-17T07:30:33Z

Why not trade the entire Canadiens team to Tampa for the Lightning's complete roster and get all this over with?

Canadiens GM Pierre Gauthier yesterday, dealt Hamilton goaltender Cedrick Desjardins to Tampa for Finnish stopper Karri Ramo, who is committed to the KHL for another season.

I've now lost count of how many former Canadiens players, prospects and management now don the lightning bolt, but rumours of Steve Yzerman and Guy Boucher secretly meeting over lunch with Youppi! in a Tampa restaurant ought to be lighting up the Hockey Buzz message boards by the time you read this.

No, I mean really, this is bordering on ridiculous here. Is there some kind of collective erection in Tamba for Habs components? What gives? It makes a fan think an organization might reconsider allowing another to hire away minor coaches and assistant GM's under contract, for fear it will return to pluck its dividends one by one.

But that is beside the besides. When what is essentially a minor near deal causes such rumbles, the general consensus is that the trade confounds.

And this deal by riddler Gauthier makes little sense in the short term, and provides no clues into the future.

I fail to follow the logic of acquiring a player (in this case, simply his rights) who cannot perform for the organization immediately in some capacity somewhere on the depth chart beginning now.

Speaking of depth charts, last season Montreal goalie ranks included Jaroslav Halak, Carey Price, Curtis Sanford and Cedrick Desjardins - earning raves with the Bulldogs - with Robert Mayer somewhere next in line.

It now boasts, and that term is used loosly, Carey Price, who is not under contract, followed by three NHL vagabonds in Alex Auld, Sanford and now Ramo, while Mayer's challenge remains at the AHL level.

Now anyway it is sliced, no matter where fans sit on the great Price / Halak debate of last season, there is no denying that the Habs backbone in 2009-10 was their goaltending. They were the bucketmen of a sinking boat, bailing with both hands to keep the club afloat. For this coming season, it is to be hoped no leaks develop in the good ship, because what were then buckets are now achors and anvils.

Further wrapping the conundrum in a puzzler is the fact that Carey Price remains unsigned at the moment. That will change, and yesterday's trade, will not affect how he begins next season.

Now I like Carey Price, and I have not stopped believing he is the real deal, but the kid's got some weighty proving to do. His skeptic's anxieties are well known, let's just say. As time passes, I am beginning to see the old Jesus Price noose of a moniker in a different light, as it's likely been since the son of Mary and Joseph parted the seas, that any one group of people have placed so much faith in one person for their hopes.

Still, He walked on water and they crucified him too!

Price might be the least of present tense concerns in the bigger picture, and the rammifications are aplenty, looming somewhere down the line.

In Montreal, where nothing creates controversy and fear more than goaltender questions, the unanswered list is long and getting longer.

Should Price play up to his potential this coming season, but then get hurt, does the thin depth in goal not place a certain pressure to rush him back?

That could happen, and that's everyone's main worry now. It likely was before this trade, either way.

Can Alex Auld ably spell Price every fourth game in normal rotation, or even take the reigns during a prolonged injury?

I'm afraid of this answer!

When's the last time Sanford had a good sniff of NHL competiton? Would he be ready in a panic?

It's been awhile, but he did get a taste of AHL final four competition. I know, it doesn't make you feel any better either.

Was this trade a simple upgrade of player skill in a one for one deal, with a one year time lapse, and does Ramo have any interest in playing in the NHL?

It could be just that, only there is a likelyhood we never find out. If it pans out, kudos to Gauthier's smarts, but I don't like the risk.

Why would Ramo reconsider the NHL again if it doesn't offer him more properity than the KHL at this point? If couldn't crack Tampa in thin times, how does he remotely consider Montreal?

Maybe he loves strip clubs, but other than that, I don't see any Montreal allure for him.

Could it be that this trade was done to accentuate the progress and development of Robert Mayer?

It will do that regardless, but Mayer was not even the number one with ECHL Cincinnati last season.

Where is the next promising Canadiens goaltending propspect, just waiting for a chance to show his stuff at the NHL level?

Good question. No one has the answer.

Who pushes Price?

Carey himself, hopefully.

Is the loss of Cedrick Desjardins potentially franchise crippling.

Hardly at all, but the ranking in a position's depth should never be compromised, especially after the strongest performer has been traded away.

Karri Ramo is one year away, at least, from helping the Canadiens in any way. By the time he arrives - if he does - the most urgent need for him might have passed.

Hey Scrapbookin', Whatcha Got Cookin'

2010-08-16T10:01:02Z

Robert L note: We're starting a new thing at EOTP, a daily (well, almost) links roundup from the best the Habs bloggers have to offer. There will be approximately nine blogs scanned on a daily basis, because that's about all my time can handle on the days I'm around to do it. If readers chose to, they can add links I've missed in comments sections.

The heading or title when the links appear will be of an article I've chosen as sort of a pick of the day, as you can see by today's example. I'll lead in with a paragraph from an article that has impressed me on a given day, directing readers to that particular site. The other links will follow below. I'll try to mix things up as often as I can and on slower days I'll dig into the various archives of each site for oldies that are goodies.

Dennis Kane.com - Hey Scrapbookin', Whatcha Got Cookin'

This episode begins with a reply from Sam Pollock after I’d asked the team when I was a kid if I could be stick boy for one game. Good old Sam said if they did it for me they have to do it for others too so I’ll just have to be content to watch and enjoy instead. Give the letter a couple of clicks and make it bigger. Also, Jean Beliveau does some modeling at Christmas, and a host of other things I hope you like!

Continue reading...Here's today's roundup.

The H Does Not Stand For Habs - No Carey, No Cry

Ya! The Habs Rule! - Habs chat from Lapierre, Subban, Cammalleri and more!

Habs World - The Potential Impact of Leblanc and Tinordi Leaving the NCAA for the CHL

Lions In Winter - Gionta for Captain

The Daily Hab-it - A Philosophical Change?

A Winning Habit - Habs' Future Filled With Collage Dropouts