Your Canadiens for October 5, 2011 (Updates from Collingwood)

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:

http://yourcanadiens.blogspot.com/2011/10/trying-to-understand-jacques-martins.html

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:

http://www.sports.ru/en/hockey/127034149.html

- 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.

Your Canadiens for October 4, 2011 (Updates from Collingwood)

As the season inches closer, the Canadiens' leadership retreat in Collingwood near the resort of Blue Mountain rolls on. Here are your stories from today:

- Travis Moen returned to practice with his teammates and even slotted into a fourth line role (as opposed to skating with the reservists) which should indicate he'll be ready to play on Thursday.

To clear a roster spot for Moen, Montreal placed Mike Blunden on waivers today to be sent to the Hamilton Bulldogs.

- Your lines from practice today:

Max Paciorett - Scott Gomez - Brian Gionta

Mike Cammalleri - Tomas Plekanec - Andrei Kostitsyn

Mathieu Darche - David Desharnais - Erik Cole

Travis Moen - Andreas Engqvist - Yannick Weber

Spares: Mike Blunden - Lars Eller (inj) - Aaron Palushaj

Hal Gill - P.K. Subban

Chris Campoli - Josh Gorges

Jaroslav Spacek - Raphael Diaz

Spares: Alexei Emelin - Jeff Woywitka

Carey Price

Peter Budaj

A lot of fans are unhappy at seeing the name of Erik Cole on the "third line," but it has been apparent throughout training camp that it is Jacques Martin's goal to ice a relatively balanced three line offense. Just because Cole is slotted to play with David Desharnais doesn't mean he won't take shifts on the Tomas Plekanec line in place of Andrei Kostitsyn. Plus, he's on the top powerplay unit as well, so he has far from being used as a traditional "third liner."

With the return of Moen, the team waived Blunden to get the roster down to 23 before opening night, and given the number of d-men around the team, it is likely Jeff Woywitka goes once Lars Eller receives final clearance from doctors (expected this week).

- Max Pacioretty and P.K. Subban got into a little confrontation at practice today after Subban extended a knee in Pacioretty's direction during a drill. This is nothing to worry about, as the two are known to be friends, with Subban even attending Pacioretty's wedding this summer. If anything, this shows the players are itching to go and get the season underway!

- Based on the Canadiens website, Alexei Emelin seems to have officially dropped the Y from the spelling of his family name (formerly Yemelin). Prior to his arrival in North America, Habs fans flipped back and forth on the correct spelling, and it appears the Russian defenseman has done the same.

- Also based on the roster page of the site, the Habs have placed the names of Andrei Markov, Brendon Nash, and Hunter Bishop on Injured Reserve. Being an IR would mean they will miss at least a week of action, which is a given in all three cases anyway. The "update" on Markov is that his recovery remains on track and that he might be able to rejoin his teammates before the end of October.

- Here's how former Canadien Marc Denis of RDS sees the team shaping up for the coming season:

http://www.rds.ca/canadien/chroniques/327587.html (French)

- After much speculation, the New York Rangers officially placed the name of Sean Avery on waivers today. No, Habs fans, he would not be a good pick-up, so don't start any rumours. Even if the Canadiens could use his on-ice talents, the show that surrounds the player would clash immensely with the Montreal media. Pierre Gauthier will not be interested in disrupting a cohesive locker room by bringing him in.

More interesting names for Gauthier on the waiver wire are fourth liners Blair Betts and Victor Oreskovich, but with Moen back and Eller close, the GM may be happy with enough with his own 4th unit.

Your Canadiens for October 3, 2011 (Updates from Collingwood)

While the Canadiens enjoy their secluded retreat in the Blue Mountain resort area of Collingwood, just outside of Toronto, we bring you minor updates prior to the opening of the NHL season. (for those wondering, having been there myself, Blue Mountain is to Toronto much like Mont Tremblant is to Montreal)

- Both Lars Eller and Chris Campoli skated with their teammates today. It is not impossible that one or both be in the line-up on Thursday against the Leafs. Campoli is the more likely of the two given that, contrary to earlier reports, Eller has not yet been cleared for full contact. He is expected to meet with doctors in Toronto last this week. Jacques Martin revealed, meanwhile, that Campoli did not suffer a concussion from the Ryan Malone hit, and did not experience any symptoms of post-concussion syndrome. All practice sessions during the retreat, held at Eddie Bush Arena, are closed to the public.

- As per Nick Kypreos, Brendan Shanahan and the National Hockey League have decided not to suspend Ryan Malone for his hit that knocked Chris Campoli out of Saturday night's game between the Habs and Lightning. Cue outrage and protest in Montreal. It was pretty borderline to say the least, especially when you consider how aggressive Malone had been all night long, plus the score of the game. With the harshness with which Shanahan has ruled up till now, one must wonder if this is the first sign of inconsistency in his rulings, that for which his predecessor Colin Campbell was most frequently criticized.

Here's Shanahan's official explanation, which makes little sense if you ask me:

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=590940

So, no suspension because the player being hit DIDN'T have control of the puck? Shouldn't that make it worse?

(Yes, I realize this looks at only one side of Shanahan's explanation, omitting his actual rationale; this is simply my own opinion and disagreement with his conclusions)

- Michael Bournival is absolutely shredding the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League right now. He added 2 goals and an assist to his stat line last night in a 4-3 Shawinigan shootout win (though he was stopped on his shootout attempt). Bournival now has 9 goals and 2 assists in just 4 (yes, FOUR!) games played. The QMJHL leader, undrafted Anton Zlobin, currently has 11 goals, but has played 10 games, with all of the other top scorers also in the 8-11 game range (see the leader board HERE).

- Little discussed Habs 2011 draftee Magnus Nygren is off to a good start to his season in the Swedish Elite League. The 21-year old defenseman already has 4 goals and 1 assist in 7 games, while he had only 4 goals in 22 SEL games a year ago.

- Prospect Steve Qualier, hoping to rebound after injury derailed his development at Northeastern University last season, will miss the season opener due a team-imposed suspension. Allegedly it has something to do with off-ice issues from last year, but in either case it shouldn't cause him to miss many games. This comes after Michigan suspended one of their top blueliners in prospect John Merill for 11 games for violating team policies. The Merill suspension will open a door for Habs prospects Mac Bennett and Greg Pateryn to take on greater responsibility.

- Not Habs related, but first round pick Mark Scheifele appears to be sticking with the Winnipeg Jets (at least for a 9 game tryout), having signed a contract today. Canadiens fans will likely get to see him firsthand when the Jets host Montreal for their home opener next Sunday afternoon. Those who have read this site for a while know that Scheifele is one of the players I really hoped would fall to Montreal's pick, as many had projected was possible, but Winnipeg snatched him up far earlier than prognosticators had ranked him.

UPDATE: - Jacques Martin refused to let reporters in on any of the off-ice activities planned for the retreat in Collingwood, but based on a Tweet by P.K. Subban, it looks like paintball is one of them:

Risky activity for a team with as many injuries as the Habs? Either way, great to see Andrei Kostitsyn hanging with the leadership core of the team. Last week, Mike Cammalleri Tweeted a shopping pick that included Kostitsyn laughing alongside Scott Gomez. Fitting in with the team's leaders can only help Andrei have a good season.

For more info and photos from the retreat, see this story put up on Canadiens.com this afternoon:

http://canadiens.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=590931

- On the waiver wire today, a number of former members of the Montreal Canadiens organization including Alexandre Picard, Ryan Russell, Jay Leach, and Doug Janik. In the case of Russell, the fact that he is on waivers while (at least for now) Mike Blunden remains in Montreal shows good asset management on Pierre Gauthier's part from this summer's swap.

- A minor update on the health of Andrei Markov. Doctors continue to insist that his knee is gradually improving, and while Jacques Martin won't commit to a timeline for him to resume practicing with his teammates, he says a return to action during the month of October is not out of the question. Based on after-the-fact comments by Pierre Gauthier, saying that he knew all along Markov wouldn't be ready for day 1, and the fact that the Habs gave significant money over significant term to the defenseman, Canadiens fans hope and feel that Markov had certainly better be back in action before too long.