We're only a day away from a return to NHL hockey! As the Canadiens finish off their final preparations for the opener against the Toronto Maple Leafs, we bring you one final training camp update.
- Instead of joining their teammates on the ice today, Aaron Palushaj, Mike Blunden, and Jeff Woywitka trained in the gym. This likely indicates they will all be Hamilton-bound by day's end (though Woywitka would still need to be waived first). This is good news as it could indicate more healthy bodies (Lars Eller?) returning to the line-up.
UPDATE: - Per the Canadiens, Palushaj has officially been sent to Hamilton. Blunden will have to wait till he clears waivers at noon today, and Woywitka should be placed on waivers at the same time. The cuts come as the Canadiens must submit their opening day roster by 3:00 PM today.
UPDATE: - As we mentioned, Woywitka was placed on waivers by the Canadiens today as well. After clearing waivers, Blunden was officially assigned to the Bulldogs at noon.
- Per Canadiens.com, Ryan White has also now officially been placed on IR. Since he was not on injured reserve at the end of last season, this means he must be held out at least a full week.
UPDATE: - Lines in practice remained the same today. I put up a feature this morning on trying to make sense of them. Check it out here:
So with the cuts, this will be your final roster.
Ladies and Gentlemen, your 2011-12 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
Lars Eller (inj.)
Hal Gill - P.K. Subban
Chris Campoli - Josh Gorges
Jaroslav Spacek - Raphael Diaz
Alexei Yemelin
With Ryan White and Andrei Markov currently on injured reserve.
Very interestingly, this is only 22 names, meaning there is 1 free roster spot. Does the team know something that we don't yet? Is there a waiver claim in for Blair Betts and/or Victor Oreskovich?
- Thanks to Mike Cammalleri's Tweet, we know that last night the team visited Scandinave Spa Blue Mountain for some rest and relaxation. Looks like a nice place.
If you want to see the latest Tweets from all members of the Canadiens organization, you can follow our Habs Player List on Twitter.
- Alexei Emelin's agent Don Meehan gave an interview to a Russian news outlet where he expressed his confidence that his client will remain with the Habs all season. He confirmed that there is indeed a clause in Emelin's contract which would allow him to return to the KHL instead if he were to be assigned to Hamilton, but says he had a chat with Pierre Gauthier who expressed satisfaction with Emelin's performance thus far. The interview:
- For those that may not have seen it, during the Canadiens' game in Quebec City against the Tampa Bay Lightning, as the crowd was doing the wave, Carey Price joined in. Courtesy of the amazing site 25stanley.com, here is the video:
- The Canadiens officially sent forward Ian Schultz down to the Hamilton Bulldogs, indicating that he is sufficiently recovered from his injury to get the needed medical clearance. That leaves Louis Leblanc, Olivier Fortier, Hunter Bishop, and Brendon Nash as players technically still with the Canadiens camp because their injury prevents them from being sent down to the AHL. The Habs are charged a small fraction of their AHL salary against the cap for every day they will be spend on the NHL roster.
- Former Habs goaltender David Aebischer (yes, THAT David Aebischer) has signed a 1 year AHL deal with the farm team of the Winnipeg Jets, the St. John's Ice Caps. Aebi has spent the last 4 seasons playing in the Swiss Elite League.
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