All Habs Headlines: Friday February 6, 2015 |
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On this day in hockey history… 1943 – Montreal’s Ray Getliffe scored five goals and an assist to lead the Canadiens to an 8-3 win against Boston. |
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► Montreal Canadiens: Febuary 6
- The Canadiens practiced today at the Bell Sports Complex in Brossard.
- After having been sent down to the Hamilton Bulldogs on Wednesday Jacob de la Rose was recalled by the Canadiens on Thursday.
- Coach Michel Therrien announced that Carey Price will start in goal on Saturday at home vs the New Jersey Devils. The Habs will then travel to Boston for an evening matchup against the Bruins on Sunday night. Check out the All Habs Weekly Forecast for a preview of the weekend’s games.
- Michel Therrien on Carey Price being run in recent games, “It need to stop. The league needs to do something about it.”
- Missed Tuesday night’s game? Check out our game report which includes the game summary, video highlights, 3-stars and post-game quotes: Recap – Sabres vs Canadiens: Giving Away Two Points
► Lines and defense pairings at practice
Brandon Prust was not at practice due to the flu. It’s unclear whether Prust will be available for the games against New Jersey and Boston.
Pacioretty – Desharnais – Weise
Galchenyuk – Plekanec – Gallagher
De La Rose – Eller – Thomas
Bournival – Malhotra/Dumont – Sekac
Markov – Subban
Gonchar – Beaulieu
Gilbert – Emelin
Weaver
► Making the playoffs
- It’s clear that the Canadiens will make the playoffs this season. They have much higher goals than that this season. Sports Club Stats estimates the Habs chances at making the playoffs is 99.1 per cent. In fact, the playoff teams for the Eastern conference are pretty well set. The only unknown is the positioning.
- It’s interesting to look at the Canadiens traditional rivals. The Boston Bruins are expected to make the playoffs with an 83.6 per cent chance. It’s quite a different story with the Toronto Maple Leafs who have just a 0.6 per cent chance.
- Also take a look at the declining fortunes of the defending Stanley Cup champions. The Los Angeles Kings chances have dipped to 25.2 per cent.
► Bergevin goes shopping
- The Canadiens find themselves in a fortunate position with the best goaltender in hockey able to carry them to victory in most games this season. Consensus is that the Canadiens biggest needs are a second-line scoring winger and a top-4 defenseman. Antoine Vermette, Ryan O’Reilly, Mike Green, Cody Franson and Keith Yandle are names that often come to the fore when analysts speculate about the Habs needs.
- Contrary to the above, Ken Campbell from The Hockey News, writes that the Canadiens are “desperate” to add to their bottom six at the trade deadline. His article mentions names like Jiri Tlusty, Scottie Upshall, Sean Begenheim, Mike Santorelli and Daniel Winnik.
- Bergevin is loathe to give up a high draft pick but he does have assets like Zach Fucale and Nathan Beaulieu to deal.
- Who would you like to see the Canadiens acquire before the deadline. Please take our poll.
[poll id=”159″]
► The Kane saga
- The Jets Evander Kane has elected to shut down his season and have surgery to repair a damaged labrum in his shoulder. The normal recovery for this type of procedure is 4-6 months.
- When Jets coach Paul Maurice was asked about the coincidence between the dressing room incident and Kane’s decision to have surgery now he replied, “That would be a question for Evander.”
- The decision puts Winnipeg in a tough position with an immediate hole in their lineup with a chip that can be cashed only at the NHL Entry Draft or in the summer. Kane is an asset that is still coveted by many teams but given the recovery period there is no urgency to make the move before the trade deadline.
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