Habs Return Injured Betts to Flyers

The NHL announced this morning that the Montreal Canadiens have returned center Blair Betts to the Philadelphia Flyers as he failed his physical. NHL by-law 11.8 (a) and CBA clause 13.20 (a) allow the league to reverse/cancel a waiver claim if the claimed player is deemed medically unfit to play for his new team. Betts had an undisclosed knee injury which was keeping him out of action.

This is bad news for the Habs who could have really used a player like Betts to center their fourth line. Until/unless another move is made, the job is back to being Andreas Engqvist's, despite his unimpressive play.

As we reported earlier, this story was first broken on Twitter by TSN 990 Radio reporter Amanda Stein, and later confirmed by a number of journalists and sources.

http://www.rds.ca/canadien/chroniques/327925.html

With this plus the news of Chris Campoli expected to miss a number of months of action, it will be interesting to see what Pierre Gauthier's next move might be. There are some UFA fill-ins still available on the market, including Bryan McCabe and Paul Mara on the back end or John Madden as a defensive center, but in all honesty, at least in this fan's view, it is time for Mr. Gauthier to make a bolder move. It seems clear the defense needs some healthy help instead of continuing to play plugs, while the lack of top end talent and grit up front may continue to be a problem throughout the season. It may be early to switch to "panic mode," but with such parity in the East, the Habs can ill afford to fall way behind their competition even in October or November.

Hockey Day in Winnipeg! (Reminder: 5:00 PM EST Start!)

Today marks a historic moment that many old Winnipeg Jets fans have been dreaming about for years. Yes, Winnipeg, NHL hockey returns to your city this afternoon as the Montreal Canadiens visit your Jets for their season and home opener.

To properly set this up, here's a look at the last meaningful NHL game played in the city, some 15 years ago:

Expect a rocking building this evening and a Jets team that will come out all fired up. From a Habs' fan perspective, we can at least hope for a better effort/performance than we saw in the season opener in Toronto.

- Habs' expected lines:

Mike Cammalleri - Tomas Plekanec - Erik Cole

Max Pacioretty - Scott Gomez - Brian Gionta

Mathieu Darche - David Desharnais - Andrei Kostitsyn

Travis Moen - Andreas Engqvist - Yannick Weber

Hal Gill - P.K. Subban

Alexei Emelin - Josh Gorges

Jaroslav Spacek - Raphael Diaz

Carey Price

Peter Budaj

- Lines this afternoon for the Winnipeg Jets:

Andrew Ladd - Bryan Little - Blake Wheeler

Evander Kane - Mark Scheifele - Kyle Wellwood

Brett MacLean - Alexander Burmistrov - Nik Antropov

Tanner Glass - Jim Slater - Chris Thorburn

Ron Hainsey - Tobias Enstrom

Dustin Byfuglien - Johnny Oduya

Mark Stuart - Zach Bogosian

Ondrej Pavelec

Chris Mason

- As per Amanda Stein of TSN Radio 990, there is a rumour out there that Blair Betts will officially be returned to the Philadelphia Flyers due to his undisclosed injury at the time he was waived and his failing to pass a physical as a result. A number of sources have since reported the same, so it seems official, but stay tuned for confirmation from the league or either team.

- Jacques Martin has said that the injury to defenseman Chris Campoli may take months to fully heal from a torn hamstring. This is certainly not good news for Montreal's blueline, and it will be interesting if Pierre Gauthier decides to be active now to replace both him and Betts.

- Alexei Emelin will make his NHL regular season debut tonight. It will be interesting to see if he plays as the physical player Habs fans expected or the toned-down version of himself we saw in preseason.

- Some prospect news of last night:

Michael Bournival did not score for once, but still had an assist in Shawinigan's 4-2 victory. He now has 10 goals and 13 points in 6 games.

Nathan Beaulieu had 2 assists in Saint John's 8-2 victory, giving him a goal and 3 assists in 6 games.

In the WHL, defenseman Darren Dietz scored his second of the season in a 5-1 win. He has 6 points in 6 games.

Brendan Gallagher added 2 goals for the Vancouver Giants but was stopped both on a penalty shot and in the shootout in his team's shootout loss. Since being cut from Habs' camp, Gallagher has 4 goals in 3 games played.

The Hamilton Bulldogs opened their regular season last night with a big 5-2 win. Nathan Lawson allowed 2 goals on 32 shots, while Brock Trotter led the way offensively with 2 goals and 2 assists. Frederic St. Denis also had 2 goals, while Ian Schultz had the 5th from the fourth line. Aaron Palushaj, completing the top line with Trotter and Brian Willsie, had 2 assists.

Over in the NCAA, North Dakota lost 6-2, but both Canadiens prospects, Danny Kristo and Mark MacMillan, finished with an assist (and Kristo was even a +1 on the night).

Here's some video from that game thanks to HFBoards prospect expert Whitesnake:

Yesterday, 09:39 PM	#579
Whitesnake The perfect match Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Montreal Country: Posts: 29,058 vCash: 500	North Dakota Highlights: 1- Big hit by Kristo at 0:06 2 -Great feed by Kristo shorthanded at 0:32 3- MacMilan wins a faceoff that results in a goal at 1:08 http://www.fightingsioux.com/mediaPo...b_oem_id=13500

Your Canadiens for October 7, 2011

Minor notes from practice a day after the Canadiens' loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

- Carey Price was not at practice today, while Mike Cammalleri left early, both affected by a flu bug. Fortunately, with no game Saturday night, they'll get an extra day to recuperate before playing in Winnipeg Sunday night.

- Defenseman Joe Callahan, who signed with Montreal earlier today, is currently on waivers and will report to the Hamilton Bulldogs once he clears, per Jacques Martin. He is simply a replacement for Jeff Woywitka.

- Yannick Weber practiced at forward on the fourth line once again, while Alexei Emelin slid into the injured Chris Campoli's spot on the blueline. Martin indicated he expects Emelin to play Sunday.

- Chris Campoli, who had looked pretty good since being signed to fill in on D. will be re-evaluated by doctors today for the hamstring injury he suffered last night. Though he left the building on crutches, it is believed the prognosis might be better than initially feared (which was for a 3+ week absence).

- Lars Eller has received medical clearance and hopes to play his first game next Thursday (home opener vs. Calgary) or Saturday (vs. Colorado).

- Blair Betts was absent from practice for the second consecutive day and there is no timeline for when he might play, but his injury is still said to be minor and unrelated to his history of shoulder problems (which he claims are behind him).

- Erik Cole, who played only 14:38 last night, found himself on the Tomas Plekanec line in practice, where he finished the opening game and where most Habs fans believe he belongs. Full lines today were:

Mike Cammalleri - Tomas Plekanec - Erik Cole

Max Pacioretty - Scott Gomez - Brian Gionta

Mathieu Darche - David Desharnais - Andrei Kostitsyn

Travis Moen - Andreas Engqvist - Yannick Weber

Lars Eller

Hal Gill - P.K. Subban

Alexei Emelin - Josh Gorges

Jaroslav Spacek - Raphael Diaz

Habs Claim Blair Betts off Waivers

The Montreal Canadiens announced today that the club has claimed Blair Betts off waivers from the Philadelphia Flyers.

Betts, 31, is a 6'3", 210 lbs left-handed fourth line center who excels in the face-off circle and on the penalty kill. He is in the final season of a deal paying him $700K this year. He is also a capable shot-blocker, replacing Tom Pyatt in that role.

Originally drafted 33rd overall by the Calgary Flames in 1998, Betts has played 477 NHL games split between the Flames, New York Rangers, and Philadelphia Flyers. Last season, Betts scored 5 goals and 7 assists in 75 games for Philadelphia.

As Andreas Engqvist had a disappointing training camp, this gives the team some fourth line depth. He will also take away some difficult penalty killing minutes from Tomas Plekanec and Scott Gomez.

There is one concern with Betts, which is word out of Philadelphia that he is struggling with a shoulder injury. To play his hard nosed style game effectively, he will certainly need a clean bill of health. Betts wore #11 with the Flyers, but given that it's taken in Montreal, he may opt to go back to the #15 he wore when in New York.

UPDATE: As we guessed, the Habs confirmed that he will indeed wear #15. Fans will be happy they can re-use their old Jeff Halpern or Glen Metropolit jerseys!

With Mike Blunden and Aaron Palushaj being assigned to Hamilton, and Jeff Woywitka on waivers to join them, the team had one open roster spot while Ryan White and Andrei Markov are on injured reserve.