Canadiens hit the ice in Pierrefonds

posted by Kevin Mio at 9h00 EST on Sep 20


It's 9 a.m. and the parking lot and stands at the Pierrefonds Sportsplexe 4 Glaces are already packed with Canadiens fans itching to see their favourite players hit the ice in preparation for the 2008-09 season.

For those of you who can't be here, we will keep you posted with any news and developments as the Canadiens practice until 3 p.m. today, and hit the ice again Sunday morning at 11.



First on the ice: Josh Gorges and Yannick Weber. They’re on Team A, which also includes Carey Price, Francis Bouillon, Guillaume Latendrersse, Robert Lang, Alex Kovalev,  Tom Kostopoulos and prospects Greg Stewart, Kyle Chipchura, Brock Trotter, Olivier Latendresse and Ryan White.

Team B, which will practice at 11:30, includes Jaroslav Halak, Andrei Markov, Mike Komisarek, Tomas Plekanec, Andrei and Sergei Kostitsyn, Alex Tanguay and prospects Cédric Desjardins, Mathieu Carle, Max Pacioretty, Ben Maxwell, David Desharnais and Ryan Russell.

Team C, on the ice at 1 p.m., will include Marc Denis, Roman Hamrlik, Ryan O’Byrne, Patrice Brisebois, Christopher Higgins, Saku Koivu, Steve Beegin, Maxim Lapierre, Georges Laraque Mathieu Dandenault, plus Pavel Valentenko, P.K. Subban, Matt D’Agostini and Olivier Fortier.

Just drills today. For the scrimmages tomorrow, the roster will be divided.

A first-draft PR sheet listed:
Team A will be Denis, Halak, Hamrlik, O’Byrne, Gorges, Brisebois, Valentenko, Weber, Pleks and the Kostitsyns, Pacioretty, Maxwell, Tanguay, Bégin, Lapierre, Laraque, Fortier, Dandenault and Desharnais.

Team B is Price,  Desjardins, Markov, Komisarek, Bouillon, Carle, Subban, Higgins, Koivu, D’Agostini, Latendresse, Lang, Kovalev, Stewart, Chipchura, Kostopoulos, Trotter, Russell and White.

But Canadiens PR Dominick Saillant says we should ignore that info because it will be changed tomorrow.

•  •  •

Interesting line combinations on the first-draft PR sheet:

• Plekanecs centring the Kostitsyn brothers

• Maxwell between Pacioretty and Tanguay

• Pencil this in for the season opener: Bégin, Lapierre and Laraque

• Higgins, Koivu and D'Agostini

• Gui!, Lang and Kovalev

• Chipchura, Stewart and Kostopoulos

• Writing on the wall: Dandenault, with Olivier Fortier and Yannick "Who?" Lehoux.


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Bill H's picture
Submitted by Bill H on Sat, 09/20/2008 - 14:01.
This is a couple of days old, but I didn't see anyone else post the link. TSN predicts Alex Tanguay will be our top scorer. I've listed our top 9 players from the TSN list, and put the players stats from last year in brackets for comparison purposes. And the final stat in each line is the increase (+) or decrease (-) in point total from last season to this season (estimated) Alex Tanguay 24G 49A 73Pts (18G 40A 58Pts) +15 Alex Kovalev 28G 41A 69Pts (35G 49A 84Pts) -15 Andre Kostitsyn 31G 32A 63Pts (26G 27A 53Pts) +10 Tomas Plekanec 24G 39A 63Pts (29G 40A 69Pts) -4 Robert Lang 21G 38A 59Pts (21G 33A 54Pts) +5 Saku Koivu 17G 37A 54Pts (16G 40A 56Pts) -2 Alexei Markov 15G 39A 54Pts (16G 42A 58Pts) -4 Chris Higgins 26G 23A 49Pts (27G 25A 52Pts) -3 Sergei Kostitsyn 15G 26A 41Pts (9G 18A 27Pts) +14 Of note: Tanguay (+15) He's gotten rid of Keenan and his defensive game plan. He should be able to bounce back. His point totals for the 3 years previous were all around 80Pts. If he clicks with his linemates this year, he could well surpass the TSN prediction. Kovy (-15) Well apparently TSN thinks Alex is a bit of a flake. They have him dropping in production more than anyone else on the team. I say he's slimmed down, he's in a contract year, and he's matured dramatically and accepted a leadership role on the team in the last year. I think he'll come close to last year's totals. Big 'Tits (+10) Oh yes. What else can I say? This estimate could prove to be a conservative one. A lot depends on the continued success of our PP. Andre potted 12 PP goals for us. Interesting that of our top PP unit, TSN projects Kovy and Pleks will drop off from last year. Pleks (-4) I guess TSN figures Pleks overachieved last year. Maybe they think our PP will not be so successful, since Pleks had 12 PP goals last year. Robert Lang (+5) A year older, but with some hot wingers on our third line, he just may get better. He's been very consistent over the years. Saku (-2) With some decent scoring wingers, Saku might surprise the folks at TSN. I hope he does. Let's hope he stays healthy. Markov (-4) This may be about right. But we need him to find his game in the playoffs. Higgins (-3) I don't know about this prediction. I'm hoping he finds some linemates that he can have more success with. I'll give him a +5 over last year's totals. Lil 'Tits (+14) this is the biggest predicted increase after Tanguay. Considering Sergei only played 52 games last year, this prediction is tantamount to a sophimore jinx. If he improves and plays a full season, he should be able to get close to 20G 30A 50Pts, which would be an improvement of 23 points. http://www.tsn.ca/fantasy_news/feature/?ID=11655&lid=sublink02&lpos=topR...

originalsix's picture
Submitted by originalsix on Sat, 09/20/2008 - 11:16.
..

huge_polar_bear's picture
Submitted by huge_polar_bear on Sat, 09/20/2008 - 09:56.
I just managed to get opening night tickets in Buffalo to see our Habs destroy them!!!!! and going again in March... Go Habs Go !!!!!

Steiner's picture
Submitted by Steiner on Sat, 09/20/2008 - 09:31.
hey guys I'm sitting at the rink now on my iPhone. I am in the second rink on the riight- no players yet! They should be here in half an hour. The place us filling up really fast and people are getting excited. Water bottles are set up and the nets in place! It's busing with excitmentt! I'll give updates in a bit!

Moey's picture
Submitted by Moey on Sat, 09/20/2008 - 12:31.
I hope you're wearing socks! I was freezing at the first rink! Good luck, try to get some good shots.

G-Man's picture
Submitted by G-Man on Sat, 09/20/2008 - 09:46.
100 thanks, Steiner. Gilbert 2008/09 is the season of the Habs

Ian G Cobb's picture
Submitted by Ian G Cobb on Sat, 09/20/2008 - 09:18.
Thanks for being there for us Kevin. Look for group chemistry, who looks loose and comfortable out there, and who looks stressed. As a group during the competition, how is everyone reacting with each other. Yes they are fighting for a spot, on both the big club and the farm, but they are one corporation where camaraderie and chemistry are the key ingredient's. Let us know how you see it. Ian

Moey's picture
Submitted by Moey on Sat, 09/20/2008 - 12:15.
Hi Ian, I'll give you my observations, Kovy and Lang were like Siamese twins, both looked really good though. Kovy was entertaining the crowd by purposely missing shots on goal. Stewart looked really good so did Olivier Latendresse. Trotter was the worst, couldn't keep up with the one on one drill, he was really struggling.

Ian Cobb's picture
Submitted by Ian Cobb on Sat, 09/20/2008 - 16:58.
Great Moey. Thanks

originalsix's picture
Submitted by originalsix on Sat, 09/20/2008 - 09:03.
Someone please post video from the camp! Sucks I'm stuck at work both days till 3pm.. :(

G-Man's picture
Submitted by G-Man on Sat, 09/20/2008 - 09:23.
What's a Pens uni doing as your pic? Sure, it's Lemieux, but it's the 100th anniversary season! :) Gilbert 2008/09 is the season of the Habs

originalsix's picture
Submitted by originalsix on Sat, 09/20/2008 - 11:16.
Better now?! :)

G-Man's picture
Submitted by G-Man on Sat, 09/20/2008 - 16:38.
Much! :) Gilbert 2008/09 is the season of the Habs