Habs For Breakfast - The Return Of Captain K

Saku Koivu is done rehabbing his broken foot bone and is returning to the lineup tonight. Is this great news or what?

I won't keep you from it. Here's today's links:

Koivu, Bouillon Are In For Game 6 - Habs Inside Out

"Koivu, this morning shaved down to the scalp, has been out of action since March 29, having finished a game in Buffalo vs. the Sabres the night before with a broken bone in his left foot. He's been skating with the past few days and had his first practice with the club this morning, taking part in the game-day morning workout at TD Banknorth Centre." - Dave Stubbs

Thomas's Success A Decade In The Making - Gazette

"It has been one of the subplots throughout this series, a mismatch on paper but hardly one on the ice: the intersecting paths of two goaltenders cutting their NHL playoff teeth. The Canadiens' Carey Price is a rookie not yet a year out of his teens, a novice pro who's been groomed for the postseason stage on which he's expected to star for seasons to come." - Dave Stubbs

Canadiens Fans Get Butt Ended By CBC - Gazette

"We love Montreal. We really do." That was the headline on a blog that appeared on the CBC website this week. It was part of an attempt by Scott Moore, the executive director of CBC TV Sports, to stem the tide of criticism directed at the network from disgruntled Canadiens fans." - Pat Hickey

Habs Screw Up Passover Plans - Gazette

"The hockey club has been in existence for 99 years, which leaves the Canadiens a few millennia short of the Children of Israel. And because our hometown heroes came up short against Boston on Thursday night, the Children of Israel have to choose between Passover and Game 6 of the playoffs. Passover commemorates the Exodus from Egypt when, if you've seen the movie, Charlton Heston led the Israelites out of slavery and into the desert, where they wandered for about as long as Toronto has waited to win another Stanley Cup." - Mike Boone

Price Should Bounce Back Tonight - Gazette

"As far as I know Price never has sought this kind of attention from people who should know better. It wasn't his idea to be mentioned in the same breath with Roy and Dryden, and from what I have read and heard he's made that clear on many occasions. What is also clear is that he will have nights like Thursday again, just as Roy and Dryden and every other goaltender who has ever played the game have had nights to forget." - Red Fisher

Koivu Could Face Bruins Tonight - Gazette

"Koivu will skate again this morning in Boston, making his return for tonight's sixth game possible. The Canadiens lead the series 3-2, but have lost two of the last three games, including a 5-1 drubbing on home ice Thursday, when many expected the Bruins to acquiesce - especially after Montreal scored first." - Herb Zurkowsky




















Price Kept Under Wraps - Globe Sports

"In the Montreal Canadiens' dressing room yesterday afternoon — really, a Potemkin dressing room, as is the norm these days, a false-front media set with slogans on the wall and pictures of the ancient greats where the players are summoned individually for interviews (they actually hang out and change their clothes elsewhere) — Carey Price was unavailable." - Stephen Brunt

Price Fluctuations - Boston Herald

"The question heading into tonight’s must-win Game 6 at TD Banknorth Center is: Do the B’s possess the mental toughness to reel that fish into the boat? Or does the marlin have the strength to wriggle off the hook? The fish in question is the Canadiens’ 20-year-old goaltender Carey Price, who was so good in the first four games of the series, giving up a total of five goals. But he allowed five more in Game 5 at the Bell Centre, and didn’t look very good in the process." Steve Conroy

Al Jazeera, A Fan Mugging, Bin Laden, And Some Excellent Excuses For The Habs - Dennis Kane's Excellent Montreal Canadiens Blog

"This is my own opinion, but I would have to guess that Bin Laden grew up cheering for the Broad Street Bullies, is now rooting for the Bruins, and also likes Sean Avery. I wonder if Bin Laden and his greasy pranksters clip the standings out of the Al Jazeera sports section and have a hockey pool every year." - Dennis Kane

A Little Something To Cheer Us Up - Four Habs Fans



Ils sont de retour - RDS

"Pour terminer le travail face aux Bruins de Boston, le Canadien comptera sur le retour de son capitaine Saku Koivu et sur le défenseur Francis Bouillon pour cette sixième partie."

Price a-t'il été ébranlé? - RDS

"Je ne vais pas vous dire que nous l'avons ébranlé, a dit l'entraîneur des Bruins, Claude Julien. Nous avons tiré. Nous avons lancé les rondelles vers le filet. Nous avons été chanceux ici et là."

Markov joue-t-il blessé? - La Presse

"Lors d'un entretien avec l'entraîneur Vyacheslav Bykov, Markov aurait invoqué le fait qu'une vieille blessure au genou était revenue le hanter et qu'il souffrait aussi d'une blessure à l'épaule. Évidemment, nous sommes en séries et Markov n'a rien voulu confirmer. Guy Carbonneau non plus, d'ailleurs. «Il joue 27 ou 28 minutes par match», a dit Carbo, hier, à propos de Markov, qui en a joué 22 et demie jeudi." Marc Antoine Godin

Kovalev: "Nous devrons être en congé" - La Presse

"Même s'il a refusé de rencontrer les médias avant de quitter pour Boston, hier, le capitaine a montré quelques signes militant en faveur d'un éventuel retour. Un retour qui serait accueilli avec plaisir par tout le monde. "Saku serait d'une aide précieuse", a admis Kovalev." - François Gagnon

"Ils faut sentir l'urgence de gagner": Carbo - Le Journal

"Vous ne gagnerez pas souvent en marquant un seul but par rencontre", faisait remarquer Jean Béliveau jeudi soir après avoir assisté à ce désolant revers de 5 à 1 au Centre Bell. L'attaque du Tricolore est en panne et, pourtant, c'est la même équipe qui a enregistré le plus grand nombre de buts dans la LNH durant la saison avec un total de 262 !" - Pierre Durocher

"Saku nous manque": Plekanec - Le Journal

"À mesure que la série progresse, le Canadien ressent vivement l'absence de Saku Koivu. Dans le vestiaire de l'équipe, hier, Tomas Plekanec a formulé le souhait de voir Koivu reprendre sa place dans la formation sous peu. "Il nous manque, a laissé tomber Plekanec. Il est un leader, il est notre capitaine." - Serge Turcotte

Les jeunes joueurs du CH sont frustrés - Le Journal

"Les Bruins ont tout d'abord enlevé la zone centrale aux joueurs du Canadien, tout en se repliant à cinq dans leur territoire et en s'assurant de ne pas être victimes de surnombres. Devant cette façon de jouer des Bruins, les frères Andrei et Sergei Kostitsyn, Tomas Plekanec, Chris Higgins et Michael Ryder, entre autres, affichent de la frustration parce qu'ils sont incapables d'exploiter leur rapidité et de manoeuvrer avec la rondelle." - Jacques Demers

More from Habs Inside Out, RDS, La Presse, and le Journal.
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Habs Feast On Baked Beantown Bruins

Talk about rebounding from a shutout loss!

On the day when mercy finally came John Ferguson Jr.'s way, the Canadiens showed none to a Bruins team that has been owned by the Habs for some time now.

How humiliated were the Bruins by our Habs in this one?

It can be summed up in a simple clip from the second period, when a tied up Alex Kovalev dropped a glove while corralling a puck behind the net. With the puck dangling at the end of a one armed stick, Kovalev played the puck back to himself off the backboard, spun and then recovered both the glove and the puck at his feet, before spinning back through traffic again to emerge in front of the net, puck in hand and untouched.

It will be the non - goal highlight of the week!

I've said it before and I'll repeat it - the Bruins play stupid hockey against the Canadiens. They bring a stupid game plan that they do not deviate from with increased losses. They think they can push around the Canadiens and lure them into indiscipline and capitalize on it as if they were the 1972 Bruins.

Or maybe Claude Julien thinks he is still coaching the Devils and the Habs team he is facing is the one he was fired from?

What worked for Julien last year in Jersey evidently is not working now!

It's a dumb game plan made even more moronic by starting Alex Auld in net rather than the usually sturdy Tim Thomas. What was Julien thinking? Was he resting Thomas for the All Star Game?

Zdeno Chara might strike fear into the rest of the NHL, but against the Habs he becomes one clumsy dolt. The Canadiens are used to building their game around keeping him off base and prepare the lines that face him accordingly. It worked for them when Chara was with Ottawa, and they do not steer clear from him as a Bruin. The Bruins do not get this.

As long as the Bruins approach the Canadiens the same way, they will not win. They'd better use the Devils angle and try boring the Habs to death before pouncing on them.

But enough about the Bruins and how they baked themselves for a Habs dessert. How about what the Habs did well it this game?

Boston arrived in Montreal on Sunday in order to be well rested and prepared for the game. Montreal scored 14 seconds in, and added another goal 2:58 later.

Boston gave the Canadiens powerplay only one opportunity to work with in the first period. The Habs responded with four even strength goals.

Boston players did their utmost to get under Mike Komisarek's skin. Komisarek took no penalties, had a goal and an assist and finished the night +3.

Boston keyed on the trio of Kovalev - Plekanec - Kostitsyn. The Habs had goals from all four lines, and the trio in question had a 5 point night.

Montreal scored six even strength goals. So much for the team that couldn't score five on five.
Andrei Markov was +4 on the night.

Mark Streit had three assists, bringing his total to 25, just one behind team leaders Koivu and Plekanec. He makes about $600,000 a year!

Guillaume Latendresse could have scored his 20th goal tonight. Yes I know he has only twelve goals so far, but he has muffed and milliganed on a good dozen chances in the last few games. The good news is that he is getting more chances than ever before by doing a bunch of things right -like charging the net bulldozer style. Everything will come unblocked for him soon.
Did I mention all four lines scored tonight?

Michael Ryder, brought back to the top line, justified coach Carbonneau's somewhat controversial decision by scoring his eighth goal of the year. In the 11 games since being sat out, Ryder has 4 goals, and that ratio translates into a 30 goal scorers pace. This, and the manner in which he has scored his last two, suggest his nose for the net and his quickness have returned. Let's not give up on this Newfie so soon!

That goon the Canadiens so badly need, wasn't needed tonight. Komisarek had ample opportunity to trashcan a few poor Bruin's faces, but opted to chose democracy in light of the score. Tom Kostopuolos came to the defense of a fouled teammate and Sergei Kostitsyn - surprise, surprise, defended himself adequately well after being cross checked by Chara, and pounced upon by Chuck Kobasew. A Russian with balls - how could we be so lucky, I ask you Don Cherry?

Good news - bad news! The Canadiens are but 6 points behind the injury riddled Senators. The Devils who won tonight, are only five back. The Habs and the Devils meet in Jersey Thursday!

Komisarek and Max Lapierre each had five hits tonight. Begin and Andrei Kostitsyn led in shots on goal with three each.

Canadiens centermen fared well tonight. Plekanec - 62%, Lapierre 60%, Smolinski 53%, Koivu 50%.

To highlight what an anomality this win was, the Canadiens outscored the Senators (3), Avalanche (0), Thrashers (0), Wild (1), and Flames (2) tonight 8-6 - which is just simply funny!

I bring the last point up for purposes of a reality check. The Canadiens can score goals, but games will not be handed to them every night as this one was. Regardless of how they won, or how big the margin was, all it really adds up to is 2 points in the bank.

Alex Auld, with more holes than a piccolo, will not be in goal Thursday!

With an All Star weekend off ahead of them, the Habs players focus might be elsewhere come Thursday night.

It is this game against the Devils, in their arcade, that will truly show where the Canadiens are at, moreso than the rout we enjoyed tonight.

But heck, we have two days to gloat, bask in this slaughers glory, while the Leafs..... aw that's too easy!

This win was just one small piece of the big picture.