Updates from Habs Practice (Sept 28)

Though the Canadiens have yet to submit a contract offer to Brendan Gallagher, which they'd have to get signed for him to play any regular season games, the 19-year old was at practice this morning with the Habs.

Gallagher slid into the spot yesterday occupied by Aaron Palushaj on a line with David Desharnais and Andrei Kostitsyn.

The top 6 remained unchanged, meaning full forward lines were:

(thanks to J-F Chaumont on Twitter for getting these out quickly)

Mike Cammalleri - Tomas Plekanec - Erik Cole

Max Pacioretty - Scott Gomez - Brian Gionta

Andrei Kostitsyn - David Desharnais - Brendan Gallagher

Michael Bournival - Andreas Engqvist - Mike Blunden

Mathieu Darche - Lars Eller - Yannick Weber - Aaron Palushaj

Hal Gill - P.K. Subban

Josh Gorges - Chris Campoli

Jaroslav Spacek - Raphael Diaz

Alexei Yemelin - Jeff Woywitka

Alex Henry - Frederic St. Denis

Certainly this looks good for Gallagher at least playing Thursday night, if not having an inside track at a roster spot. Lars Eller is not yet cleared for "full practice", and given that his line is the "extras" group with Yannick Weber practicing at wing for a second consecutive day, it looks like Michael Bournival, Andreas Engqvist, and Mike Blunden may be dressed ahead of Aaron Palushaj tomorrow evening.

Similarly, it appears Raphael Diaz will get another chance on D ahead of Alexei Yemelin by virtue of the pairings. Diaz was impressive in his previous game, so taking another look at him doesn't seem like a bad move. Yemelin may start the year in the 7th d-man slot if Diaz earns a top 6 role.

- Also supporting Diaz's current "hold" on a spot are the powerplay units from practice.

First unit:

Mike Cammalleri - David Desharnais - Erik Cole

Tomas Plekanec - P.K. Subban

Second Unit:

Max Pacioretty - Scott Gomez - Brian Gionta

Raphael Diaz / Chris Campoli / Andrei Kostitsyn (rotating)

Tomas Plekanec at the point is not something too new, as he occasionally played back there last season. If he does get a chance in that spot, it will be as a placeholder until Andrei Markov is ready to feed P.K. Subban the puck instead.

- Jacques Martin appeared rather impatient this morning, often loudly correcting players and taking time to point out even small mistakes. With the team off to a 1-5-0 preseason start (despite of course not playing a full roster), now seems like a good time for the coach to step up before the real games begin.

- In other news, on a different sheet of ice in Brossard at Hamilton Bulldogs camp, the injured Olivier Fortier and Louis Leblanc are both on the ice, but still wearing "no contact" jerseys. Leblanc appears still a little while away, as he sat on the bench for much of practice. This actually highlights a huge advantage to having the Canadiens and 'Dogs both holding training camp practices in Brossard. Because they've yet to receive a clean bill of health, neither Fortier nor Leblanc can officially be cut from Habs' camp. Yet since Hamilton's sessions are in the same building, they're able to train with their AHL teammates.

UPDATE: - Placed on waivers yesterday, Brian Willsie and Nathan Lawson both cleared and will join their AHL teammates with the Hamilton Bulldogs. Defenseman Alex Henry, captain of the Bulldogs and coming off of a solid training camp, was placed on waivers today to also be sent down.

23/09/11: Montreal 4, Ottawa 3 (SO); vets lead way

While we've stated that losing in preseason isn't a real concern, repeated losses may eventually have the effect of weighing down team morale. Thus, it was a nice sign to see the Montreal Canadiens bounce back from a 3-o deficit last night to top the Ottawa Senators 4-3 in a shootout and improve their exhibition game record to 1-2-0.

P.K. Subban had been the Habs' top player against the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday but he was held out last night with a minor upper body injury. The slack was picked up by another young veteran, Max Pacioretty, who followed up on a "decent" first outing against Buffalo to lead the way with 2 goals, a boatload of shots and chances, plus a nice shootout marker against the Sens. Pacioretty looks ready to start the year, every bit as fast as his pre-injury self and playing the same game.

A player that DOESN'T want to repeat last year, Scott Gomez, made his preseason debut and looked far better than he did for most of last year. Gomez skated the puck well and set up some chances, all the while showing off his trademark carrying of the puck through the neutral zone - a skill at which there might be no better forward in the league. While it wasn't pretty, he was credited with the game-tying goal in the last 35 seconds by positioning himself in front of the net and whacking away at a rebound.

In addition to scoring the shootout winner, Erik Cole picked up 2 assists to now give him 3 points in 2 games. He was most noticeable in creating turnovers throughout the game, picking the pockets of opposing defenders. Looks like he'll be a nice fit.

If his first game against Buffalo was disappointing, it may have been just nerves, as Brendan Gallagher turned his play up many notches last night. His quick hands were evident as he took advantage of playing with Pacioretty and Gomez in coming up with several near-miss scoring opportunities.

In goal, Carey Price made a few nice saves, a small improvement from his first outing. But he still doesn't seem to be in season shape, with 3 pucks getting by him on 18 shots in the game's first half. Nathan Lawson looked quite good playing the second half, as while he didn't have to make many tough saves, he supported the rush well, most evidently with a long bomb breakaway pass he fed to Pacioretty for his second goal on the powerplay.

In what may be training camp's biggest surprise, Gabriel Dumont is meddling with a lot of prognosticators line-ups and depth charts. The short but feisty center has been far more remarkable than the likes of Aaron Palushaj, Brock Trotter, or even Andreas Engqvist. It will be interesting to see how the Habs handle the situation, as Engqvist fits the team's need better due to his size, and is a very responsible defensive player, but Dumont has shown greater upside in playing more physically and having a better rounded game.

Canadiens Sign Nathan Lawson to 1-Year Deal

As mentioned earlier today, the Habs needed to find a starter for the Hamilton Bulldogs. Well they've done that now in 27-year old goaltender Nathan Lawson, signed to a 1-year, 2-way contract. The contract will pay him $550,000 if he plays in the NHL, and $105,000 in the AHL.

http://canadiens.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=568595&cmpid=rss-News

Lawson finished 2nd in the American Hockey League in save percentage in both the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons, before seeing 10 games of NHL action with the New York Islanders last year during a time of injury problems. He should have few problems filling the void left by Curtis Sanford and Drew MacIntyre, though it is unclear whether the latter left for Buffalo by his own will, or if the Canadiens were not interested in retaining him.