Bryan McCabe

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.

Wayne Gretzky, pictured here with one of the reasons he wanted to live in southern California, cried during the press conference:

The Great One - for one moment in his career - just couldn't hold it together. The 27-year-old, who had spent almost his whole life fending off jealous hockey parents, tough opponents and harsh critics, broke down after reading off just a few words at Edmonton's Molson House.

"For the benefit of Wayne Gretzky, my new wife and our expected child in the new year, I thought it was beneficial to all involved if they let me play with the Kings," he said to the shock of everyone in the room. "It's disappointing having to leave Edmonton, but there comes a time when."