10 Teams Habs Fans Should Follow at WHC

The 2012 IIHF World Hockey Championships open this Friday with 16 countries set to battle it out for the title and valuable points  for the 2014 Olympic tournament seedings.  While a country like Kazhakstan enters with the expectation of getting blown out in most of their games, the following 10 teams should hold some intrigue for Montreal Canadiens fans to watch as the tournament gets going.

10) Belarus

Over the last few seasons, Belarus was somewhat of an adopted club for many Hab fans, as Andrei and Sergei Kostitsyn as well as Mikhail Grabovski spent time in the Canadiens' system and represent three of the very few NHL'ers the country has.  It is likely that there will be fewer allegiances for the nation this time around, since all three have moved on to other NHL clubs, and the Kostitsyn brothers remain in the NHL playoffs with the Nashville Predators.  Thus, the challenge will be a big one for Toronto's Grabovski with no other current North American pros on the team.  Belarus is currently 11th in the IIHF standings, with the top 9 teams getting automatic Olympic invites.  They will need a deep run to make up the 115 points that separate them from Norway.

9) Switzerland

The Swiss could have been a favourite of Canadiens fans, but both Raphael Diaz and Yannick Weber had to pull out of the event as they continue to nurse injuries.  By watching Switzerland, however, Hab fans will still be able to get reacquainted with long-time National Team captain and former Montreal swingman Mark Streit, who will be supported by Anaheim Ducks defenseman Luca Sbisa and young New York Islanders forward Nino Niederreiter (who Canadiens fans will remember from his preseason altercation with Mike Cammalleri).  Another name some Hab fans might remember is Goran Bezina, a 6'4", 220 lbs offensive blueliner who played 3 games for the Phoenix Coyotes back in 2003-04.  At various points over the past few seasons, there were some reports that the Canadiens might attempt to ink the 32-year old d-man, though as he has remained in Switzerland, the odds of a return to North America for him have become increasingly small.

8) France

We covered why France is an interesting story yesterday, with the main reason being starting goaltender Cristobal Huet.  Huet last played for the Canadiens during the 2007-08 season, and left the NHL after winning the Stanley Cup (albeit as a playoff back-up) with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2010, becoming the first player from France to achieve the accomplishment.

7) Slovakia

I'm sure most Canadiens fans can never watch Zdeno Chara lose enough for it to get old, so the Worlds may be a great opportunity to see Chara and an undermanned Slovak club get their rear ends handed to them.  But if spite isn't enough for you, two forwards have names that should ring a bell.  First is Marcel Hossa, younger brother of Marian, who began his NHL career in Montreal as a highly touted goal scorer.  Little Hossa lacked the consistency of his older brother, however, and never found a home in the NHL, moving from Montreal to the New York Rangers and finally a brief stint with the Phoenix Coyotes, before crossing over to the KHL where he has had a fine career as an offensive star.  Next is Juraj Mikus, who never played a game for Montreal, but was selected by the team in the fourth round in 2005.  Despite putting up decent numbers for the QMJHL's Chicoutimi Sagueneens, the Canadiens elected not to sign the 6'1", 205 lbs forward, so he returned to Slovakia.  He gave North America one last shot, spending the 2009-10 season with the AHL's Manchester Monarchs, but could not earn a call-up, and headed for the KHL.  He spent the latter half of this season with Saku Koivu's former club, TPS Turku, in Finland, where he scored 10 points in just 17 games.  Mikus is still only 25, so it isn't impossible that a strong Worlds encourages an NHL team to give him a look.  In the "what are they doing now" column, Slovakia's roster includes some former NHL'ers such as Miroslav Satan and Branko Radivojevic.

6) Finland

Unfortunately, neither Saku Koivu nor Teemu Selanne will take part in this event for Team Finland, but many eyes will be on the Finns since they enter as both defending champions and the IIHF's top seed.  Saku's younger brother Mikko Koivu will wear his country's colours, joined by the likes of Kari Lehtinen, Valtteri Filppula, Jussi Jokinen, and top prospect Mikael Granlund.  While Lehtinen will be the club's starter, a player of interest for Canadiens fans is goaltender Karri Ramo.  The Habs had acquired his rights from the Tampa Bay Lightning for AHL goaltender Cedric Desjardins, but he opted to remain in Europe, where he gets an opportunity to start.  He was included in the deal that sent Mike Cammalleri to Calgary this year, so he is no longer Canadiens property.  Still, if he sees any action, it will be interesting to see how he fares against international competition.  Hab forward Petteri Nokelainen was with the club for some exhibition games, but was cut from the final roster in favour of some players currently playing in Europe, though many have NHL experience (Niko Kapanen, Jarkko Immonen, Jesse Joensuu...).

5) Denmark

Montreal's Lars Eller should feature in a starring role for the Danes, though he will get help from NHL'ers Jannik Hansen, Frans Nielsen, and Philip Larsen.  It will be a tough role for Eller who has struggled with his offensive consistency, but certainly it is a good experience for the soon-to-be 23-year old all the same.  Denmark currently ranks 12th in the IIHF standings, and while climbing into the top 9 for an Olympic berth won't be easy, if they can maintain a top 12 spot, they will get to host one of the final qualification events, giving them an edge in that tournament which will take place next winter.  Denmark is only 5 points ahead of 13th place Latvia, but also only 15 points back of Belarus, so this is an important tournament for them.  Lars's younger brother, Mads Eller, played for Denmark at this year's World Junior Championships despite being only 16, but is still too young and inexperienced to make the Men's team for this event.  He most recently had 3 assists in 6 games at the World Under 18s.

4) Czech Republic

The Czechs have a dynamic offense, led by a one-two center punch of the Canadiens' Tomas Plekanec and Boston's David Krejci.  They will be flanked by the likes of Ales Hemsky, Milan Michalek, Michal Frolik, and Tomas Vincour.  After Montreal was eliminated from the playoffs last year, Plekanec joined the Czechs and had a sensational tournament, scoring 6 goals and adding 4 assists in just 8 games.  Banking on that success, the Czechs named Plekanec their team captain for this year's Worlds.  One other interesting story on the Czech roster is 40-year old Petr Nedved.  Yes, that Petr Nedved.  Nedved - who had obtained Canadian citizenship - won a silver medal with Team Canada at the 1994 Olympic Games.  The veteran of just under 1,000 NHL games left North America following the 2006-07 season and has since played in the Czech Elite League where he has been a dominant offensive player.  Aside from the 1995 World Cup of Hockey, this event will be the first time he has played for his homeland, though based on his five goals in six European Hockey Tour tune-up games, it may very well not be his last.

3) United States

The American entry into this tournament is lacking in starpower, but contains enough depth that they are sure to battle hard against any opposition.  The team will count on Montreal's Max Pacioretty to carry over his goal-scoring prowess from a great NHL campaign, playing on the top line with Paul Stastny and Bobby Ryan.  While that line may be impressive, there is a steep drop-off to the second line duo of Jim Slater and Kyle Okposo, though they were rather dominant in an exhibition game win over Sweden this morning (Sweden played without most of its NHL contingent).  The team should be solid on the back-end, with Cam Fowler, Jack Johnson, Alex Goligoski, and Justin Faulk anchoring a top 4 in front of Detroit netminder Jimmy Howard.  The U.S. sits sixth in IIHF rankings, 150 back of fifth place Canada and 55 ahead of 7th place Switzerland, so the event is unlikely to change their Olympic ranking either way barring some inspired performances.

2) Russia

Montreal's Alexei Emelin figures into his National Team's top 4 on the blueline, currently paired with former NHL'er Dmitri Kalinin, who now plays for St. Petersburg in the KHL.  Emelin, who just celebrated his 26th birthday, is coming off his rookie campaign in North America where he quickly became a fan favourite thanks to his thundering body checks.  With only one NHL season under his belt, he is no stranger to the large ice surfaces, and he has played for Russia in this very tournament three times before.  Another top d-man for the team will be Konstantin Korneev (Korneyev in Russian).  At 5'11", 181 lbs, he doesn't have Emelin's size, but he is solid defensively and has a more developed offensive game, making him a true two-way d-man.  Korneev was a 9th round pick by the Canadiens in 2002, but remained in Russia ever since rather than attempting a transition to North America.  This will be his sixth straight season taking part in the World Championship for his country, but though he is still only 27, the odds of seeing him in blue-blanc-rouge someday seem very minimal.  Offensively, Russia boasts superstars Evgeni Malkin and Pavel Datsyuk, but the team is largely composed of KHL veterans.  One such player is former Canadiens Alexander Perezhogin, who as a first round pick in 2001 was once seen as an up-and-coming star, but left North America after the 2006-07 season and currently plays for the KHL's Avangard Omsk.  He had a bit of a difficult year, with 27 points in 53 games being a career low for him in Russia.

1) Canada

Looking at the rosters, there should be little doubt that Canada enters the event as the favourites, solid at every position.  Certainly Canada is always a point of focus for Hab fans, but even moreso when there is a Canadien on the squad, which we have this year in P.K. Subban.  Subban started the first exhibition game on a top pairing with Chicago's Duncan Keith, but suffered a minor lower body injury early on, and did not return, also set to sit out today's tune-up.  The team won't confirm whether or not Subban will be available for Friday's WHC opener, but it seems he shouldn't miss too much time if any.  Canada has a deep and dangerous offense, and should get solid goaltending from Cam Ward.  To give you an idea, here is a projected line-up:

Alex Burrows - Ryan Getzlaf - Corey Perry
Jamie Benn - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - Jordan Eberle
Jeff Skinner - John Tavares - Patrick Sharp
Evander Kane - Ryan O'Reilly - Teddy Purcell
Andrew Ladd

Duncan Keith - P.K. Subban
Marc Methot - Dion Phaneuf
Jay Bouwmeester - Marc-Edouard Vlasic
Luke Schenn

UPDATE: Unfortunately, it was announced this afternoon that Subban's injury will keep him out two weeks, and as such he is returning to Montreal and will miss the World Championships.  Unfortunate for him as undoubtedly he was looking forward to again representing his country, but at least it isn't anything too serious that will derail his summer training.

Your Canadiens for December 31, 2011

A very Happy New Year to all Montreal Canadiens fans who are kind enough to stop by and read this site with any regularity. May the New Year bring all the best in health and happiness to you and those in your life. And to our Montreal Canadiens, of course. On the occasion of the New Year, I have put myself in the shoes of a number of members of the organization to make some resolutions on their behalf. Here they are:

Randy Cunneyworth - To learn Russian in order to communicate with Alexei Emelin... and to piss off the French media.

Scott Gomez - To score more goals than I did in 2011. In other words, more than TWO!

Andrei Markov - To play more games than I did in 2011. In other words, to play a game!

Andrei Kostitsyn - I go net, I score goals.

Alexander Avtsin - To play in 10 games with the Canadiens... or to go back to the KHL.

Josh Gorges - To improve my financial situation. Specifically on July 1st.

Carey Price - To score more goals than I did in 2011. I mean, if no one else is gonna do it...

Raphael Diaz - To get the team to play me at forward so I can have a 50-point season and cash in.

Tomas Kaberle - To catch Mike Sillinger for most NHL clubs played for (12)... By the end of 2012.

Brendan Gallagher - To set what must be some kind of record by taking 4 goaltender interference penalties in a single game.

Mike Cammalleri - To learn to speak French. Maybe then fans will stop trying to trade me.

P.K. Subban - To finally get my darned lightswitch fixed. It's been stuck... #AlwaysOn. I'll be so happy to have it fixed that I'll never turn it on again. #AlwaysOff for 2012. And I'll be sure to Tweet about it all the time. Ohhhh... you guys thought that had something to do with hockey!

Aaron Palushaj - To continue to follow in the Ben Maxwell model, meaning I should get to play for at least 4 different NHL clubs in 2012.

Lars Eller - To be a little less Danish by working on my Finish.

And some final updates as the Canadiens prepare to take on the Florida Panthers this evening:

- No changes again to the Habs' line-up, despite their loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. It's good to at least see some consistency from the coach. Carey Price will get the start.

- World Junior Championships Updates:

Jarred Tinordi and Team USA were upset for a second consecutive game, falling 5-2 to the Czech Republic. When Finland beat Denmark later in the evening, it officially knocked the Americans out of the medal round and into the relegation tournament, a huge disappointment for a pre-tournament medal favourite. Despite finishing a -2, Tinordi had a solid game, throwing some big hits and not being responsible for the goals he was on the ice for. He has had a very solid tournament and it is unfortunate he won't get a chance to compete for a top 3 position.

Michael Bournival missed practice again yesterday, after sitting out Thursday's game with a flu. In his absence, Nathan Beaulieu has been playing/practicing at forward.

Daniel Pribyl had a nice assist, taking a hit to make a play, in the Czechs win over Team USA. Pribyl, still recovering from his leg laceration, played limited minutes but looked good in finishing the game a +3. His assist means all five Habs prospects in the tournament have collected at least a point.

- Despite being outshot 39-30, the Hamilton Bulldogs overcame 2-1, 3-2, and 4-3 deficits to defeat the Rochester Americans 5-4. On loan to the Bulldogs for the remainder of the season, forward Mitch Wahl scored his first 2 goals for the club, earning first star honours. Aaron Palushaj and Andreas Engqvist each had a goal and an assist (all on the powerplay), and Gabriel Dumont's 5th goal rounded out the scoring. Defenseman Frederic St-Denis had 2 assists in the win.

- The Canadiens' CHL prospects didn't fare quite as well last night:

Olivier Archambault was the only Drummondville player to finish a -2 in his club's 4-2 win over Chicoutimi.

After a hot start to the season, defenseman Darren Dietz has cooled off in a big way. He had no points and an even rating in Saskatoon's 9-4 victory last night.

Morgan Ellis (pictured above) had no points and finished a -1 in Cape Breton's 6-4 loss to Halifax. But the bigger news came at game's end, when it was announced that Ellis has been dealt to the Shawinigan Cataractes (where he'll join Michael Bournival once back from the World Juniors) in return for a first round pick in 2013, a second round pick in 2012, and Bronson Beaton. This will be a great experience for Ellis, as Shawinigan will host this year's Memorial Cup. That tournament should be another interesting event for Canadiens fans to follow, with Bournival and Ellis guaranteed to be participating, and a strong likelihood of Nathan Beaulieu and Jarred Tinordi's clubs winning their leagues to make the Cup as well.

- Moving along to the college ranks:

Greg Pateryn and Mac Bennett's Michigan Wolverines won the Great Lakes Invitational (GLI) mini-tournament, defeating rivals Michigan State 3-2 in overtime in the championship game.

Steve Qualier had an assist to extend his current point streak to 8 games (5 goals, 8 assists) in a 3-3 tie against Princeton. On the season, this gives him 17 points in 15 games.

Danny Kristo generated a number of quality scoring chances but was repeatedly stopped, unable to snap a 4-4 tie between North Dakota and Harvard.

Dustin Walsh recorded an assist, returning to the Dartmouth line-up in a 3-2 win after a 6-game absence due to injury. Walsh now has 8 points in just 6 games played this season. He recorded 20 points in 34 games for Dartmouth last year.

Your Canadiens for December 29, 2011

The Canadiens will not make any changes to their line-up for tonight's game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, which means the following roster:

Max Pacioretty - Lars Eller - Erik Cole

Travis Moen - Tomas Plekanec - Andrei Kostitsyn

Mike Cammalleri - David Desharnais - Louis Leblanc

Mathieu Darche - Petteri Nokelainen - Michael Blunden

Josh Gorges - P.K. Subban

Tomas Kaberle - Alexei Emelin

Hal Gill - Raphael Diaz

Carey Price

- Starting in goal for Tampa will be former Canadien Mathieu Garon. Garon last played for the Habs during the 2003-04 season. Only two players who were on the team that year remain in Montreal, being Andrei Markov, and Tomas Plekanec who played his first two NHL games that season.

- Also playing for Tampa Bay, in his third game of the season, will be J.T. Wyman. A defensive forward (who actually started out his hockey career as a defenseman), Wyman spent 4 seasons with the Hamilton Bulldogs, playing 3 games for the Canadiens in 2009-10.

- Today was an optional skate for the Habs, but all players were on the ice except for Michael Cammalleri and Travis Moen. A Tweet from J-F Chaumont prior to practice indicated that Carey Price and Mathieu Darche were catching up with Lightning forward Tom Pyatt, while Max Pacioretty chatted with Martin St. Louis. The connection with Pyatt may be obvious to you, seeing as he played in Montreal last year, but the St. Louis - Pacioretty friendship is a little more obscure. This past July, Pacioretty's first "game" following the infamous hit by Zdeno Chara was a charity match in Connecticut in which Pacioretty skating on a line with St. Louis.

- World Junior Championships updates from yesterday:

Jarred Tinordi played a strong game for the United States, earning his team's player of the game honours, despite the Americans dropping a 4-1 result in an upset to Finland.

Michael Bournival improved on his first performance for Team Canada, playing the third/fourth line center role well in Canada's 5-0 victory over the Czech Republic. And this improvement despite the fact that a bad cold almost meant Bournival had to sit the game out. Bournival's assist in the game means 4 of 5 Canadiens prospects in the tournament now have at least a point.

Brendan Gallagher, on the other hand, didn't have as strong a night as in the opener, missing two great scoring chances (one shot directly into the Czech goalie, and the other a whiffed one-timer) and taking two penalties.

Nathan Beaulieu continues to receive limited ice time in the #7 defenseman role, serving mainly as a powerplay specialist. With the man advantage, Beaulieu's shots frequently missed the net, plus for a second consecutive game, he took a third period penalty. Beaulieu has played well enough to deserve more ice time, but he'll need to step it up further to earn his coach's trust.

Daniel Pribyl was officially named to the Czech Republic's roster yesterday afternoon, recovering from the leg laceration that made him questionable for the tourney. He made his debut in a limited role against Canada last night.

- The Hamilton Bulldogs were also in action last night but were shut down by former Canadiens goaltender David Aebischer. Despite outshooting the St. John's IceCaps in each period (and 40-26 on the night), the 'Dogs fell by a 3-1 score. Andreas Engqvist had Hamilton's lone tally, his 8th in just 16 games. He had only 10 in 71 games last season.

- The last few weeks have seen many trade rumours about Canadiens prospect defenseman Morgan Ellis jumping to another CHL team, but it seems all have reached a stalemate for the time being. This would have nothing to do with his NHL rights (he would remain a Hab), but the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, the team he captains, sit 14th of 17 teams in the QMJHL. Ellis is expected to turn pro next season as he makes the leap to the AHL (or at least the ECHL) but could prove a hot rental for the remainder of this year for a Memorial Cup contending team. He picked up 1 assist in a 5-4 shootout win last night, giving him 25 points in 33 games. A lot of the discussion has involved him joining a team of another Hab prospect, possibly to play with Nathan Beaulieu on the stacked Saint John Sea Dogs, or solidifying the defense of Michael Bournival's Shawinigan Cataractes. The current QMJHL trade window closes January 7th, so a move should be completed between now and then.

Your Canadiens for December 28, 2011

That one felt good, didn't it Habs fans? I posted Monday my skepticism about the Canadiens' chances at making the playoffs this season based on the likely record they'd need from here on out in order to make it. But there is no doubt that if they are going to make it, they need to start winning NOW. Let's hope that last night's offensive output was the breaking of a slump for a number of players and not just a fluky flash-in-the-pan. The third period was encouraging as, despite the team being up by 3 goals, Montreal did not let up and continued looking to generate more chances. There was no "sitting on the lead," which typified the Jacques Martin regime, even if the former coach himself claimed he would never instruct his players to do so.

Mike Cammalleri showed nice chemistry with Louis Leblanc, and Lars Eller seemed to work well with Erik Cole, so there is no reason not to give these lines at least a couple of games together to see what might develop. The game wasn't perfect; there is still lots of work to do. But it's a start. Hopefully.

- World Junior Championships update:

Neither Canada nor the U.S. were in action yesterday, meaning no news on the Habs' prospect front. The Americans play Finland at 3:30 PM EST today on TSN, after which Canada faces the Czech Republic at 8:00 PM EST (also on TSN).

Speaking of the Czechs, there is news about Daniel Pribyl. As mentioned yesterday, he was mysteriously left off the Czech Republic's roster, despite a report that he was to be made an assistant captain. As speculated, it was indeed an injury that kept him out, specifically a laceration above the knee. Apparently it was bad enough that it would bleed just from bending the knee, though the Czech coach indicated that the team purposely named only 12 forwards for now to keep a spot open should he recover quickly. If he can't go in the next couple of days, they'll fill it with another player. The Czechs won their tournament opener 7-0 over Denmark last night.

On the subject of Pribyl, check out this Q&A with him which is undated, but evidently was prior to last June's draft, where the Canadiens selected him in the 6th round:

http://dansallows.com/interview-daniel-pribyl/

- Despite the World Juniors getting underway, Canadian junior league play resumes. In the QMJHL last night, Olivier Archambault picked up an assist but finished a -2 in a 9-3 Drumondville loss. Archambault, Montreal's 4th round pick in 2011, now has 29 points in 32 games but is an abysmal -14.

Over in the WHL, defenseman Darren Dietz also finished a -2 in a 7-2 Saskatoon loss. Dietz dropped the gloves in both the first and third periods, resulting in 2 fighting majors.

Jarred Tinordi + Daniel Pribyl Named WJC Assistant Captains

In addition to having three prospects as important cogs on Team Canada, the Montreal Canadiens will have two other prospects playing big roles for their countries at the upcoming World Junior Championships. When the tournament opens on Boxing Day, defenseman Jarred Tinordi will be an assistant captain for Team USA, while center Daniel Pribyl will wear an A for the Czech Republic.

Tinordi, 19, was Montreal's first round pick, 22nd overall, in 2010. The 6'7", hard-hitting defensive defenseman is the captain of the Ontario Hockey League's London Knights and should have a big role on a shutdown pairing for the Americans. Tinordi's game has very little offensive upside, but is the type of player the Canadiens sorely lack and thus will make a highly anticipated debut with the Hamilton Bulldogs next season. Tinordi had previously captained the U.S. under 18 team, but will serve as an assistant to WJC returnee Jason Zucker. The other assistant is fellow returnee and WHL star Emerson Etem.

Pribyl, who just turned 19 on December 18th, is a 6'4" skilled center who was taken in the 6th round this past June. Criticized for not using his size to his advantage in winning battles often enough, Pribyl has boom-or-bust potential but will first need to fill out his frame and work on his agility and balance. He plays in the senior league in the Czech Republic, but has limited ice time as a young player and has managed just 2 goals in 15 games despite being seen as an offensive player. He is penciled into a third or fourth line role on the Czech Juniors team, but the club will need added offense throughout the line-up as top prospect Martin Frk has had to declare forfeit for the tournament due to injury.