Josh Gorges

A bigger-looking but leaner Josh Gorges was his always quotable self today talking about the changes to the Canadiens, all the left-hand shots on the Habs blueline, his own role, the Canadiens' (for now) vacant captaincy and more.

It says here that he might be a dark horse to wear the Habs "C" – an accountable leader in his own way who understands the duties the captaincy carries. The team could do much worse.

Here's Gorges in his nearly 15-minute interview.

Happy 25th birthday today to Mike Boone's main man, Josh Gorges.

OK, so it's a slow news day. But have a good one, Josh, probably in your hometown of Kelowna, B.C.

Cheap shot or no cheap shot, Canadiens defenceman Josh Gorges showed he's a beast of the blue line, returning to action tonight with a superb effort.

Stubbs reports from the Bell Centre:

Include Boston Bruins head coach Claude Julien among those delighted to have seen Saturday’s instant rise of referee Marc Joannette’s orange-banded arm.

Canadiens defenceman Josh Gorges had barely hit the ice 3:50 into the second period when Joannette signalled the penalty, calling a charging major on Denis Gauthier and tacking on a game misconduct after the Los Angeles Kings rearguard had angled to the boards at high speed and left his feet to flagrantly elbow Gorges in the head.

Column continues here.

Canadiens defenceman Josh Gorges plays with the puck with which he scored his first goal in the bleu-blanc-rouge. With a single shot Monday, he doubled his NHL output.
Allen McInnis, Gazette

How thrilled is Canadiens defenceman Josh Gorges to be playing Detroit tonight? He's scored half of his career NHL goals against the Red Wings.

One against Detroit on Jan. 4, 2007 in San Jose while he was with the Sharks, his other against the New York Islanders as a Canadien on Monday night.

Here's a 10-minute chat Inside/Out's Dave Stubbs had today with Gorges about that and other things, with the story below. Also:

• Head coach Guy Carbonneau in his daily media briefing
• Goalie Carey Price on Ryan O'Byrne, shootouts, Gorges, his new armadillo-like undershirt (see photo below), etc. Part 1 and Part 2
• Tom Kostopoulos, on his role in sacrificing Gorges's stick last week in Raleigh, N.C., in a bid to get him his first goal. And it worked!

From Pat Hickey in Raleigh, N.C., where he reports they had a few snowflakes this morning. (So it's not just us.)

Canadiens defenceman Josh Gorges, still looking for his first goal as a Canadiens after 97 games in the CH, had one of his sticks chopped up and sacrificed, scattered by goalie Carey Price around the RBC Center this morning. The ritual was aimed at breaking the curse that has stricken the still-looking rearguard.

Also: Carolina coach Peter Laviolette on the head shots to Brandon Sutter and others, and his thoughts on tonight's game (low volume).

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.

Pat Hickey talks to the man.

Meanwhile, San Jose signs defenceman Christian Ehrhoff to a three year contract for three times what  Gorges is making.

And the Globe's Tim Wharnsby looks at spiralling salaries in the NHL.

Three-year contract worth a reported $3.3 million.

Boone is delighted.

Gorges made $495,000 last season when he proved he deserved a regular spot on the blue line.

This news was posted to the Comments section yesterday by one of our spies in Kelowna.

The official blah-blah:

“Josh established himself as a key member of our defensive squad last season. His reliability and solid
play made him one of our most improved players. He is a young defenseman with a very good work ethic,’’ said
Bob Gainey.
Gorges, 23, will begin his fourth season in the NHL this fall. In 2007-08, he set career highs in games
played (62), points (0-9-9) and shots on goal (41). Gorges took part in the final 52 games of the season and
played in all 12 playoff games.
A native of Kelowna, British Columbia, Gorges was acquired by the Canadiens from the San Jose Sharks
on February 25, 2007 along with a first-round selection in 2007 (Max Pacioretty), in return for Craig Rivet and a
fifth-round selection in 2008. He played 165 career games in the NHL, scoring 19 points (1 goal, 18 assists),
and serving 89 penalty minutes.