Thursday, October 6, 2011

Let the 2011-12 Drive for 25 Begin!


At long last, we've made it! After an off-season that just couldn't end soon enough, filled with heartbreaking tragic losses and the constant reminder that the dreaded Boston Bruins are the current Stanley Cup Champions, this evening we have the opportunity to put the summer behind us and focus on the ultimate goal: bringing a 25th Stanley Cup to Montreal.

A little after 7:00 PM tonight, the long haul that is the NHL's regular season will get underway with a match between Original 6 rivals the Toronto Maple Leafs and your Montreal Canadiens. In preparation for that, here are you gameday notes:

MONTREAL CANADIENS

Mike Cammalleri - Tomas Plekanec - Andrei Kostitsyn
Max Pacioretty - Scott Gomez - Brian Gionta
Mathieu Darche - David Desharnais - Erik Cole
Travis Moen - Andreas Engqvist - Yannick Weber

Hal Gill - P.K. Subban
Chris Campoli - Josh Gorges
Jaroslav Spacek - Raphael Diaz

Carey Price
Peter Budaj

Press Box: Alexei Emelin, Lars Eller (injured), Blair Betts (injured)
Injured Reserve: Andrei Markov, Ryan White

- Newly acquired Blair Betts was absent from practice today as he rehabs a minor shoulder injury. He will not play tonight, but is day-to-day.

- Defenseman Jeff Woywitka was claimed off waivers by the New York Rangers. As such, his stay in the organization was a short one.

- RDS reported yesterday that though Lars Eller is expected to get medical clearance from doctors today, it should still be at least a week or two before he is ready for game action.

- Carey Price will wear pink-accented pads throughout the month of October for breast cancer awareness, but due to a holdup waiting for league approval, they will not be ready for tonight's game.

A couple of video previews of the coming season for the Habs found on YouTube:





TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS

Joffrey Lupul - Tyler Bozak - Phil Kessel
Matt Frattin - Mikhail Grabovski - Nikolai Kulemin
Philippe Dupuis - Dave Steckel - Colby Armstrong
Jay Rosehill - Matthew Lomobardi - Mike Brown

Carl Gunnarsson - Dion Phaneuf
John-Michael Liles - Luke Schenn
Jake Gardiner - Mike Komisarek

James Reimer
Jonas Gustavsson

Press Box: Cody Franson, Colton Orr, Clarke MacArthur (suspended)
Injured Reserve: Tim Connolly, Nazem Kadri

Here's the enemy's perspective. A Leafs preview video:




And finally, a non-Habs, non-Leafs focused video to get you pumped for the NHL season to come:



No comments: