Jaroslav Spacek

Canadiens say lower-body injury, to be re-evaluated Saturday.

As Red Fisher might say: "All together now: breathe in and... hold it!"

AUDIO: Jacques Martin | Ryan O'Byrne

Czech Republic's Jaroslav Spacek (left) and Martin Straka celebrate their country's bronze medal at the 2006 Turin Olympics.
Elsa, Getty Images

Over seven consecutive days, Pat Hickey and Dave Stubbs are introducing you to the seven new members of the Canadiens who joined the team during the offseason.

We began Saturday with a's profile of Mike Cammalleri. On Sunday, we profiled Travis Moen. Monday was a look at Hal Gill. Yesterday, we studied Paul Mara. Today it's defenceman Jaroslav Spacek, with the series concluding tomorrow and Friday with profiles of Brian Gionta and, finally, Scott Gomez.

Canadians made a grand deal out of this country's hockey championship at the 2002 Olympic winter Games in Salt Lake City. And what wasn't to celebrate about Canada's first five-ring hockey gold in a half-century?
But back up four years, to the 1998 Nagano Olympics, and put this flag-waving in perspective.
The Czech Republic, ranked sixth, knocked off hockey superpowers from the U.S., Canada and, finally, Russia to win the country's only gold medal in Japan.
In Salt Lake City, Canada defeated the U.S. in the title game, beating a country with whom we debate how much we can legally stuff in our trunk on a Saturday cross-border trip to the mall.
In Nagano, the Czechs defeated an opponent that 50 years earlier, to the week, had helped engineer a communist coup in their small nation. A foe who, 20 years after that, had rolled tanks of occupation into the streets of Prague.
There is satisfying victory, which 2002 was for Canada. And there is one that forever changes lives, as 1998 did for the Czech Republic, an entire population then bleak with a crippled economy, political uncertainty and fatal, massively destructive flooding.

• Link here to today's profile of Jaroslav Spacek.

Three more weeks of training, but it will be tough to top this gem from Day One:

"Montreal has a better downtown than Buffalo, for sure ..." – defenceman Jaroslav Spacek, comparing the new place he plys his trade to the last one.

In a well-travelled career that has included stops in Chicago, Columbus, Florida and Edmonton the native of the Czech Republic has gained an appreciation of Canadien fans.

"They push me to do my best," Spacek said.

There were about 1,200 pushers on hand for the opening of training camp, including the heckler who bellowed "Gomez, you gotta wake up this year!!"

"Yeah, I heard him," Scott Gomez said. "He has every right to voice his opinion. That's what makes the fans great here. It shows you the passion.

Coach Jacques Martin said he would like to see his defencemen support the attack this season.

"Teams defend so well, there are few odd-man rushes," Martin said. One of the ways to create advantage is to have defencemen capable of becoming fourth attackers.

Martin repeated his "puck possession" mantra. He would like to see sound decision-making, tape-to-tape passing and a "shooting mentality", as opposed to excessively fancy playmaking.

Martin liked the work of all four goaltenders in today's game and singled out Guillaume Latendresse's physical play for praise.

The coach said given the number of new faces, training camp will afford the team an opportunity to forge an identity, which Martin hopes will be based "work ethic, commitment at both ends of the ice."

AUDIO: Scott Gomez  Paul Mara  Jaroslav Spacek  P.K. Subban  Jacques Martin (in French and English ... not a great recording ... hey, it's training camp)

Today's featured video: Paul Mara wears a microphone for a Rangers game. (Thanks, Xvache, for finding it.)

And today's featured shout-out is a hearty Happy Birthday to Harani, a great Canadiens fan who has contributed excellent Comments to Habs Inside/Out. As of today, she can legally buy a beer at the Bell Centre. You go, girl!

• Robert Sauvé, freshkly fired by Alex Tanguay, tells CKAC the Canadiens could have had François Beauchemin but chose Jaroslav Spacek instead.

• The Canadiens site has videos of Scott Gomez and Travis Moen "acting" (but, thanfully, none of Johnny Depp and Leo DiCaprio playing hockey.)

• Lions in Winter on the Tanguay schmozzle.

• Mathias Brunet, in La Presse, on why Ian Laperrière had no problem getting a contract at the age of 35.

• In The Hockey News, Ryan Kennedy writes about Rated Rookies, a Montreal clothing company that makes a "Die, Chara, Die" tee-shirt. The Milan Lucic model is next.

• TSN has unearthed a video of Red Fisher talking to Dave Hodge about the Canadiens' move from the Forum to the Bell Centre. It's in colour. And there's sound! And U2!!

• Stephen Brunt on the mess in Phoenix. How about they just fold, hold a dispersal draft and send Shane Doan to the Canadiens?

• The Hockey News Fantasy Poooler doesn't think much of our new-look team. He rates the Canadiens a C+, down from A- a year ago.

• Lions in Winter, a Canadiens blog we really like, has interesting pieces on Guillaume Latendresse, Jaroslav Spacek and the genius of Scotty Bowman.

• Robert L. writes about a Canadiens' prospect with a funny name.

• Big shout-out today to the blogger's muse. The bodacious barrister is getting married this morning – not, as she would have liked, at centre ice of the Bell Centre with 21,273 singing Here Comes the Bride, but in the wedding pavillion of Disney World. Warmest congrats to the awesome avokitten of Section 301 from all of us (and one of us in particular) at Habs I/O.

Today's topic for discussion: the power play.

Yvon Pedneault, on CKAC yesterday afternoon, said Canadiens fans can look forward to a better PP for two reasons:

• It's Mike Cammalleri's forte. His 19 PP goals tied Cammalleri with Alex Ovechkin for second last season, behind Tomas Vanek's 20.

• Jaroslav Spacek will play the right point and provide the complement to Andrei Markov that was missing all last season, until Bob Gainey acquired Mathieu Schneider.

Pedneault also said the Canadiens have three defencemen who can effectively move the puck: Markov, of course ("Keep your stick on the ice," Pedneault said, "and he'll put it there"); Spacek and, surprising mention, Roman Hamrlik.

I'd add my man Josh Gorges, who makes a nice first pass.

•  •  •

• The Canadiens web site offers Henri Richard's playlist, including two tunes by the Greatest Crooner of All Time (hint: it's not Eddie Vedder).

• Got Junk .... uhhh, that is priceless Habs memorabilia? Guy Lafleur wants it.

And now on to the gems unearthed by Habs I/O's indefatigable research staff:

• Thanks to 24 Cups, who found Driving Miss Tanguay, a visual representation of the pace of his UFA negotiations (funny, that doesn't look like Bob Sauvé) and a Bob Gainey cartoon on a good New York Islanders web site.

• From Yathehabsrule, the news that Christopher Higgins will appear at a NYC comedy club. Not surprising. As any journalist covering the Canadiens can attest, Higgy killed in the room ... not that it's a tough room. Also, Kevin van Steendelaar's look back at July 1989, when the team lost its captain.

•  •  •

Kids, don't try this at home!

The Eklund rumour generator.

The Canadiens have signed defenceman Jaroslav Spaceck to a three-year, $11.5 million deal.

The 35-year-old Czech has spent the last three seasons with the Buffalo Sabres and had 45 points (eight goals, 37 assists) in 80 games with the Sabres last season.

More details to come.