Alex Tanguay

OK, bag the groin pull jokes.

This isn't funny anymore.

The latest victim: Alex Tanguay. He joins Alex Kovalev, Georges Laraque, Roman Hamrlik and Patrice Brisebois.

Guillaume Latendresse is hampered by a hip problem.Robert Lang and Christopher Higgins are also banged up.

Your Montreal Canadiens, who skated through the 2007-'08 season with no significant injuries – are being decimated in training camp.

The lineup (subject to change after morning skate) for tomorrow night's Bell Centre game against the Senators: 

jaroslav Halak and Marc Denis

Shootout hero Andrei Markov, Ryan O’Byrne, Josh Gorges, P.K. Subban, Alex Henry, Yannick Weber

AK46, SK74, Tomas Plekanec, a recovered Kovy, Max Pacioretty, Ben Maxwell, Gregory Stewart, David Desharnais, Matt D’Agostini, Steve Bégin, Max Lapierre, Tom Kostopoulos

The Pleks-Kovy-AK46 line will be back together tomorrow night. SK74 will play with Max-Pac and B-Max.

Newly-acquired Alex Tanguay tells Pierre Durocher of the Journal de Montréal he's delighted to be a Canadien and is looking forward to training camp.

"This is the most mythical hockey team. I feel like a baseball player that just got traded to the New York Yankees."  

Here's the original Journal story.

Durocher predicts Tanguay will burn up the links at Laval-sur-le-Lac today. The newcomer brings a four handicap to the Canadiens golf tournament. 

Dave Stubbs, tanned, rested and ready after his Beijing holiday, is at the tournament and will file an update later today.

•  •  •

It's opening day in the K.H.L. 

Who do you like in the big Vityaz Chekhov-HK MVD Balashikha showdown?

Want to impress the girls?

Being listed in the Canadiens' media guide adds two inches ... to your height.

The team has Josh Gorges at 6'1". That's an exaggeration, but you can't overstate the size of his heart.

Gorges, who turns 24 today, won a starting job last season by working his butt off from training camp on. The native of Kelowna has a nice skill set for the new NHL: good skater, makes a smart first pass, does not panic, despite taking a pretty good pounding, decent point shot.

Gorges played junior in the Dub and is the former captain of a Memorial Cup team. He does not shy away from heavy traffic and is right there to back up teammates if things get hairy.

No, Gorges is not your d-man to contain Alexander Ovechkin. But he teamed with Francis Bouillon to give Guy Carbonneau 15 to 18 minutes of solid hockey per game.

The media ignored Gorges until December last season before he became a go-to guy for honest and intelligent game analysis.

Canadiens got Gorges and the draft pick they used to select Max
Pacioretty in the trade that sent Craig Rivet to San Jose. It was one of
Bob Gainey's better deals, and Gorges was rewarded with a three-year
contract this summer.

The Gazette's Pat Hickey, reporting on the Canadiens' acquisition of Alex Tanguay from the Calgary Flames, was able to speak with Tanguay via conference call on Friday night and collected the following thoughts from the newest Hab.

"I think they're a team that has worked hard to become an elite team in the NHL and they proved they're one of the best teams by finishing first in the Eastern Conference," Tanguay said. "They're a skating team and I think that fits my style."

Hickey added that Tanguay waived his no-trade clause to join the Habs and hopes to sign a contract extension with the team.

And Tanguay says he has prepared himself for the pressure of playing in Montreal:

"I know there will be some pressure, but it's not like I'm Guy Lafleur," he said. And Tanguay said the move was good for family reasons.

"My wife and I just had a baby girl and now we'll be closer to both families," he said.

Read Hickey's full article here.

The Alex Tanguay file:

• A plus player every year of his career, including plus-35 his sophomore season in Colorado and plus-11 this past season in Calgary

• Durable: 78 games this season, 81 the year before, never fewer than 69

• Two shorthanded goals this season

• Career shooting percentage of 19.4; doesn't waste shots

 McKeen's 2007-'08 Hockey Yearbook on Tanguay:

Newcomer played a central role in Calgary's rejuvenated offence with a career high 59 assists and 81 points (in 2006-'07), though his efforts were offset by a soft playoff performance punctuated by some costly mistakes ... a deft passer and puckhandler who sees the ice exceptionally well ... languid skater with deceptive range and first-step speed ... can get lazy defensively and will lose 1-on-1 battles due to a lack of intensity and fortitude, vulnerabilities illuminated in the tougher playoffs ... remains a fussy, albeit efficient, shooter who often shuns openings in favour of the fancy set-up ... continues to hover in the not-quite-a-star territory, though has produced consistently strong numbers in each of the last four seasons.

The Score's yearbook:

Few NHL players have Tanguay's natural ability. While some weave their magic with stickhandling and taking defenders one-on-one, Tanguay beats you with silky passes through traffic and by finding the smallest of holes. At his most confident when contributing big numbers, he can also disappear when his head is filled with self-doubt. He has decent size and great speed, but is far from a physical player. 

 
•  •  •

The Globe & Mail's Eric Duhatschek has a column on why Mats Sundin would be a good fit for the Canadiens:

Gainey would not disclose what the Canadiens would give up, if he can convince Sundin to sign on the dotted line, but it could be as much as a first-round pick. Gainey characterized his conversation with Sundin as "an introductory phone call" and said they would hook up again in the near future for a follow-up chat. Gainey plans to sell Sundin on Montreal in the same way he would talk to any unrestricted free agent in July, explaining why he would be a good fit for the Canadiens and why the Canadiens would be a good fit for him.

In some ways, Gainey shares many of the same qualities as Sundin. They are both soft-spoken, resolute and like to do things in orderly fashion.

Ladies and gentlemen, start your calculators.

Alex Tanguay is now the highest-paid forward (and third highest-paid player, after Andrei Markov and Roman Hamrlik) on the Montreal Canadiens.

His $5.375 million pushes the Canadiens' 2008-'09 salary cap hit and bonus cushion to $42.6 million for 17 players.

If, as expected, the cap goes to $56 million, Bob Gainey has $13.4 million to sign Mats Sundin and RFAs Andrei Kostitsyn, Josh Gorges, Jaroslav Halak and Ryan O'Byrne.

Pass the KY. This is gonna be tight.