by Chantal, AllHabs.net

MONTREAL, QC — While you await the Habs next game on Friday night, how about a little light reading ? I did some research and came up with a list of facts, stats, anecdotes and quotes from around the NHL. Enjoy !

► Vancouver Canucks newcomer David Booth is now wearing number 7 in honor of his younger sister, who also plays hockey.

► We all know goaltenders are superstitious. Boston Bruins Tim Thomas always uses the same urinal before every game.

► Anaheim Ducks Bobby Ryan took a little trip to Las Vegas before training camp. Here’s what he said : “First time I left Vegas without dry heaving this summer!” He’s really growing up.

► Washington Capitals Alex Ovechkin is one of the funniest NHL players on twitter. A few months ago, he tweeted this : “Hi guys! I’m back in USA! Now I’m in Toronto Canada..”

► L.A Kings Jarret Stoll holds the best shootout record for one season in NHL history. He was 9-for-10 in 2010-’11, becoming the first player to post a 90 per cent conversion rate for at least ten chances. Sidney Crosby went 8-for-10 in 2009-’10 and Wotjek Wolski was 10-for-12 in 2008-’09.

► How involved was Montreal Canadiens Max Pacioretty in the planning of his wedding day ? “I did absolutely nothing. I just showed up and made sure I was wearing the right tux. That was about it.”

► In his next life, new Washington Capital Roman Hamrlik would like to be reincarnated into Roger Federer.

► Tampa Bay Lightning’s Steven Stamkos has registered 41 power-play goals the past two seasons. No other player has more than 30.

► NY Islanders’ Michael Grabner, Buffalo Sabres’ Thomas Vanek and Philadelphia Flyers’ Andreas Nodl are the only Austrians in the NHL.

► Montreal Canadiens Hal Gill says the Stanley Cup is a pretty big trophy..”I bet Brian Gionta swam laps in it when he won it.”

► Philadelphia Flyers Scott Hartnell’s father is bald, bald, bald. To quote him: “Scott got his hair from his mother.”

► Canadiens assistant coach Randy Ladouceur wore the “C” in Anaheim and Hartford during his 13 year NHL career, while Randy Cunneyworth captained the expansion Senators for four seasons.

► Nashville Predators 6-foot-5 netminder Pekka Rinne has a twin sister. “She’s average size for a woman” he says.

► Montreal Canadiens Jaroslav Spacek has lunch at Da Vinci on game days. He always gets the pasta penne a la vodka.. “but only half a shot, not a full shot!”

► We all know NHL’ers love pranks. Here are some of Colorado Avalanche Daniel Winnik’s favorites:

• Put in wake-up calls to other guys’ rooms very early in the morning.
• Put water cups on shin pads, so when the guy pulls them down off the top of the locker, all the water falls on him.
• Clear tape on the skate blades is classic. When they try to skate, they fall.
• Apply Tiger Balm on the front of helmets and foreheads start burning.

► This year, some of his teammates did the following : John-Michael Liles is always wearing a hat around the locker room, so they froze all his hats together.

► Last October, 7.1% of NHL games ended in a shootout. This October the number has doubled to 14.5%.

► The Sturgeon Hall Restaurant owners in Kelowna BC are both from Montreal. They’re diehard Habs fans and have named a burger after Josh Gorges.

► On his first day at Colorado Avalanche training camp, a very intimidated rookie Peter Budaj asked Patrick Roy to sign some of his hockey cards.

► Montreal Canadiens P.K. Subban admits to having a man crush on Will Smith.

► Pittsburgh Penguins Sidney Crosby has 572 points in 412 career games. His points-per-game average, 1.39, ranks fifth all-time behind Gretzky, Lemieux, Orr and Bossy. His 82 career playoffs points in 62 games is the highest points-per-game mark for active NHLers.

► Montreal Canadiens Carey Price has a stitched Bible verse on his blocker.

► 38 referees are typically on payroll each NHL season.

► Montreal Canadiens Raphael Diaz’s sister Daniela suited up as a forward for Team Switzerland’s women’s hockey team at the 2006 Olympics in Turin.

► Detroit Red Wings Pavel Datsyuk is 187 career plus-minus in 662 regular season games. Teammate Nicklas Lidstrom is 429 plus-minus career total!

► And finally, after Habs Maurice Rocket Richard got hurt in 1959, Marcel Bonin borrowed his gloves and scored 10 goals in 11 games! After that, he declared: “If I knew I would get such great results, I would have borrowed his jock strap too!”

Sources : CBC, Twitter, CBS, The Fourth Period, Canadiens Magazine, The Hockey News, me!