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An emotional week

By: 
Amit Malhotra   |   March 14th, 2011, 12:45
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We all knew something was going to happen as the Habs were ready to take on the Boston Bruins early last week, but nobody expected to see a young player, lying on the ice, motionless, and a whole stadium full of people standing on their feet praying for that young player.  It's not something we are used to seeing and it's certainly not something we wish to see every game.  The victim: Max Pacioretty, having the season of his life after being demoted to the Hamilton Bulldogs last year.  The culprit: Zdeno Chara, a hulking, 6'9 Boston Bruins defender who felt he had

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Bring on the Bruins

By: 
Amit Malhotra   |   March 7th, 2011, 14:31
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It was a perfect week for the Habs, three games, three victories, including one against Guy Boucher's Tampa Bay Lightnings, a team comprised of some of the best offensive players in the league.  One can put in all the Cliches here, "Carey-ing the team", "Price is right", etc.

It's all about the special units

By: 
Amit Malhotra   |   March 1st, 2011, 13:03
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In this new NHL, special units are one of the most important aspect of the game and if you can shine when up by a man or shut the opponent down when missing a man, you can win games.  This was evident this past week when the Habs took on the powerful Canucks, the surging Leafs and the competitive Hurricanes.  Special units made a major difference in these games along with solid goaltending. 

Depleted Defense, Invisible Offense

By: 
Amit Malhotra   |   February 22nd, 2011, 12:15
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This last week was marked in the NHL for the numerous trades that took place in anticipation of the trade-deadline that approaches, but in Montreal, it was marked by the depleted defensive corps and the almost invisible offense.  The Habs managed to get only one point out of the possible six last week and their woes in the Western Canada continued.  To end an already disappointing week, they also managed to be one of the rare guest teams to lose in an outdoor match dropping the Heritage Classic against the Calgary Flames on Sunday afternoon by a score of 4-0.  Here's a lo

Battered and Bruised

By: 
Amit Malhotra   |   February 15th, 2011, 14:10
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Coming off a good week in which the Habs managed to get six out of the eight points losing only once against the revived devils, everybody expected them to come out strong against their divisional rivals The Boston Bruins. Not only was this an important game for the standings, a four pointer as we like to call them, but also because the Habs have had the Bruins' number this season, or in fact, since the last few seasons.

6 out of 8: Not bad at all!

By: 
Amit Malhotra   |   February 9th, 2011, 11:03
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Head coach Jacques Martin was fairly pleased by the week that went by, and there is no doubt, it was a tough one.  With a pair of back-to-back games and some tough opponents (Capitals, Panthers, Rangers and the Devils), the Habs came out with 6 points in the pocket out of the potential eight, not a bad week of work at all.  Even though the week ended on a sour note, no one can deny the fact that the Habs solidified their position in the conference after winning three out of the four inter-conference games. 

The real season starts now

By: 
Sam Malhotra   |   February 1st, 2011, 20:07
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With only one game remaining before the All-Star game, the Montreal Canadiens were in Philadelphia to face the number one team in the league.  The Habs started well but a constant trip to the penalty box during the last three minutes of the opening frame allowed Philadelphia to score twice on two-man advantages.  Montreal tried climbing back but another too-many-men penalty to Montreal resulted in the fourth goal in the second.  All-Star goaltender Carey Price made many key saves to keep his teammates in the game but their indiscipline cost them the game losing this one by a

Depleted Canadiens Soldier on

By: 
Sam Malhotra   |   January 25th, 2011, 01:06
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After losing all-star defenceman Andrei Markov and Josh Gorges to season-ending injuries, Montreal got hit with flu bug and major injuries to the key players during week #16.  The Habs lost Michael Cammalleri for two games the week before and this past week were forced to play without Benoit Pouliot.  Puliot had been playing some of his best hockey on a line with Mathieu Darche and David Desharnais before coming down with the flu.  During the week, on a Black Tuesday, not only did Montreal lose services of Cammalleri for a long period with a separated shoulder, they almost lo

Montreal finds ways to win

By: 
Sam Malhotra   |   January 17th, 2011, 01:50
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After collecting five out of the possible six points, the Canadiens entered week 16 with a couple of crucial games against the New York Rangers.  The Habs started the week without the services of Michael Cammalleri who was forced to leave Saturday's game against the Boston Bruins fighting with flu.  Lars Eller was put back in the lineup and was asked to replace Cammalleri on the first line.

Back on track

By: 
Sam Malhotra   |   January 11th, 2011, 15:49
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After struggling during the first six games of the road trip, Montreal ended the trip with a solid performance against the Panthers and carried that into the new year with a solid performance against the Atlanta Thrashers.  Montreal were to have an easy schedule with two games in six nights but both of the games were against top class opponents leading their respective divisions.  Before the game against the Penguins on Thursday, the general manager Pierre Gauthier called a press conference to announce the loss of another ace defenceman Josh Gorges for the remainder of the season.