Chantal Machabée posted this on Facebook as a salute to the unreal weather we've been having in Montreal.

The late, impossibly great Bob Marley.

He loved soccer, but I just know Bob would have been a Canadiens' fan ... if only for the haze in the old Forum.

• AUDIO: Jacques Martin | Brian Gionta | Michael Cammalleri | Roman Hamrlik

Michael Cammalleri returned to practice with his teammates today but will not play tomorrow in Toronto. Nor will rehabbing Marc-André Bergeron play tomorrow.

But coach Jacques Martin targets the return of both for the next week, the Habs embarking on an eight-day stretch that will see them play five games. Martin said he thought Bergeron could play Monday at home vs. Ottawa, with Cammalleri being evaluated daily.

Defenceman Paul Mara leaves Montreal this weekend for Boston and will undergo shoulder surgery next Tuesday, which pretty much spells the end of his season.

Mara has officially been listed as "did not dress" the past eight games and was listed as injured for 11 games before that. He is signed with the Canadiens only through the end of the season.

No words on Saturday's starting netminder. That should come during morning skate at the Air Canada Centre.

Let's keep our fingers crossed.

Because as we say in Quebec, jamais deux sans trois.

Remember this heart-stopping scare from last month?

And the perp was, of course. Pittsburgh's number 24.

And La Presse's Marc Antoine Godin reports Pierre Gauthier and Don Meehan are talking about a new contract for the incomparable number 79.

•  •  •

The Phoenix Coyotes have won seven in a row.

They are within three points of Chicago and San Jose.

Phoenix has allowed fewer goals than any team not called the Devils.

So tell me again why Dallas fired Dave Tippett.

And why John Tortorella still has a job.

•  •  •

Four Habs Fans is always great, but Photo Shop genius Josie Gold has outdone herself on latest Canadiens signing Hunter Bishop.

• UPDATE, 11:28 am: All present and accounted for, including Plekanec, with the exception of Mara. Butch Bouchard had expressed a desire to see the Brossard facility and again meet Ryan O'Byrne, who gave up his No. 3 for Bouchard's jersey retirement.

• UPDATE, 11:19 am: Cammalleri on ice with Habs. Legendary former captain Émile (Butch) Bouchard was at the players bench not long ago in his wheelchair. What a place.

• UPDATE, 10:45 am: Habs goalies Halak and Price have been on the ice since 10:15, taking shots from Darche and Maxwell with goalie coach Proulx. Cammalleri's water bottle is on the boards in front of the bench, suggesting he might practice with the team today for the first time since his knee injury Jan. 30 in Ottawa.

The Canadiens are on Brossard practice ice this morning at 11:30 before chartering to Toronto for Saturday's game vs. the we'll-get-'em-next-year Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Air Canada Centre game will begin a stretch of five games in eight nights for Montreal, continuing Monday at home vs. Ottawa, in Buffalo Wednesday, home to Florida on Thursday and home to New Jersey next Saturday. Then, three days off before facing Carolina at home on March 31.

We'll be at practice today. Updates and audio to come here after the workout; live updates on Twitter here.

Wisniewski gone a good long time for this.

Check out the commentary by the idiot announcers: Seabrook "selling" the penalty.

He was out cold before he hit the ice.

• My main man, the one and only Patrick V. Hickey, on Melnick Underground

* Shout-out to Ayan _SB for pieces on Danny Kristo and Louis Leblanc

Canadiens general manager Pierre Gauthier announced today the signing of free agent forward Hunter Bishop to a two-year contract (2010-11 and 2011-12). He will report to the Hamilton Bulldogs early next week.

Canadiens general manager Pierre Gauthier announced today the signing of free agent forward Hunter Bishop to a two-year contract (2010-11 and 2011-12). He will report to the Hamilton Bulldogs early next week.

Marc-André Bergeron practised with the Canadiens this morning for the first time since he injured his knee last month. He said he felt good and was energized by being back with his teammates but his return to the lineup is on hold. He said he won't dress for the Saturday game in Toronto. 

Michael Cammalleri skated on his own after the regular practice and said he hopes to practice with the team next week. 

Tomas Plekanec, who was questionable for the Rangers game Tuesday, took a therapy day but will play in Toronto. Defenceman Paul Mara also took the day off. 

Veteran Canadiens photographer Bob Fisher is currently lining up the troops on Bell Centre risers for the Habs' second team photo of the year, the traditional second shot scheduled after the trading deadline to present the club that is going to/toward the playoffs.

The Canadiens are expected to be practising in about an hour. Marc-André Bergeron is due to be skating with his teammates, but not yet, apparently, is Michael Cammalleri.

Updates and post-practice audio to come.

I've seen better Hitler spoofs – including the Kovalev   and Markov classics– but video scout Jarred Friedman dug this up to launch a few days of Leaf-bashing

Former Canadiens coach Guy Carbonneau, photographed last Saturday in the Hockey Night in Canada broadcast booth at the Bell Centre.
Dave Sidaway, Gazette

• Gazette feature: On his 50th birthday, Carbonneau looks ahead and back

• Texte en français: At CKAC Sports

Guy Carbonneau turns 50 on Thursday, happy with the many good things in his life.

And this birthday promises to be less eventful than No. 49.

A year ago to the day, Carbonneau sat before a news conference at the Bell Centre, nine days after he’d been fired as the Canadiens' 28th head coach, a job he'd viewed as his destiny.

He answered questions for nearly an hour, addressing his dismissal by then GM Bob Gainey that had taken him and many others by surprise.

An ad in the Montreal Gazette from March 1955, offering the suspended Maurice Richard employment at a butcher supply shop.

It was an event that changed the political landscape in Quebec, giving birth to a nationalist movement and the so-called Quiet Revolution.

Maurice (Rocket) Richard always maintained that he was "just a hockey player," but a star-struck population, its French-speaking citizens in want and even need of a hero, would never let him be that.

NHL president Clarence Campbell's suspension of Richard for a violent outburst during a game March 13, 1955 would ultimately lead to the Richard Riot four nights later, St. Patrick's Day.

And the civil unrest and its fallout would become a cornerstone moment in Quebec's history.

Canadiens historian and Habs Inside/Out friend Robert Lefebvre has put together this tremendous look back at the event and what led to it, using the Internet in the best way to offer a multimedia tour.

Absolutely essential reading for any Canadiens fan.

The Canadiens have earned a day off today, winners of six consecutive games and this morning sitting in sixth place in the NHL's Eastern Conference, a healthy seven points inside the playoff cut.

Not playing again until Saturday in Toronto vs. the Maple Leafs, the Habs returns to practice ice tomorrow at 10:45 am. For fans who attend, note that this session is at the Bell Centre, not Brossard as usual, and is not open to the public.

The Rangers' Sean Avery has Canadiens' Brian Gionta in a headlock as Scott Gomez helps his teammate Tuesday night. Al Bello/Getty Images

Preview | Matchups | Tuesday's NHL schedule | Boone's Game Blog and About last night ... | Stubbs on Twitter | Basu's Playoff Checkup | Hickey's game story

AUDIO: Jacques Martin | Jaro Halak | Glen Metropolit | Jaro Spacek | Tomas Plekanec

• At a Glance: The Canadiens extended their winning streak to a season-high six games on Tuesday with a 3-1 win over the New York Rangers. The Canadiens got goals from Glen Metropolit in the first period, his 16th, and Sergei Kostitsyn in the third period, his sixth of the season. Super pest Sean Avery scored for the Rangers in the second period, but that was only one of only 20 shots the Rangers had on Jaroslav Halak. The Canadiens dominated most of the game, including outshooting the Rangers 18-5 in the second period. Tomas Plekanec, who was a game-time decision, scored an empty-net goal to seal the win.

• Key Moments: The Canadiens killed off a power-play in the final minute of the game during which the Rangers enjoyed a 6-on-4 advantage after pulling Henrik Lundqvist. Plekanec scored his goal shorthanded with 36 seconds to play.

• What It Means: Montreal improves to 36-29-6 and 78 points, moving ahead of the Flyers for sixth spot in the Eastern Conference after the Flyers lost 4-3 in a shootout to the Predators. The Flyers have two games in hand, however. Montreal also opens up a seven-spoint lead on the Rangers, who remain in ninth place. The Canadiens are also only one point behind the Ottawa Senators for fifth place.

• What's Next: The Canadiens are in Toronto to take on the Maple Leafs on Saturday. They are then home to welcome the Senators to Montreal on Monday to start a busy week that also includes games against the Sabres, Panthers and Devils.

They won't be needing that ... at least for a while.

Barring the most calamitous collapse in the history of the franchise, your Montreal Canadiens are going to be playing hockey in mid-April.

The New York Rangers probably can begin polishing their golf clubs. 

In a must-win four-pointer, the Rangers mustered only 20 shots on goal (to the Canadiens' 35) and were dominated in every aspect of the game ... except for stupidity, and they have a big advantage there with Sean Avery.

The Canadiens played a textbook road game, 

Jacques Martin rolled his four lines (everyone played double-digit minutes except Tom Pyatt, who had 9:49), got a solid game from his six Dmen and superb work on special teams: the Canadiens scored on their first power play (Glen Metropolit, his 1q0th PP goal of the season) and were perfect again in five shorthanded situations.

The Canadiens have not yielded a power play goal since the first period of their home game against Edmonton.

Six wins in a row – all with Jaroslav Halak in goal.

It's taken most of the season, but as Jacques Demers pointed out on l'Antichambre, the Canadiens finally have an identity.