Koivu

Goaltender Carey Price, captain Saku Koivu and forward Christopher Higgins all are with the Canadiens on their road trip for back-to-back games in Atlanta and New Jersey tomorrow and Wednesday.

But that doesn't necessarily mean that any of the three will see action.

Head coach Guy Carbonneau said after practice today that, based on the way his team has been playing, he's in no hurry to rush anyone back into the lineup. Not with another few days off on the horizon in the form of the all-star break.

It seems likely that Price will start one of the two games. It also seems likely he'll get the green light to play in the all-star game, though Carbo hopes he'll stick to his 20 minutes and not take part in the skills competition. Koivu and Higgins skated full practices today and both looked good.

Georges Laraque skated before the full session but will not travel. Nor will Alex Tanguay (not on the ice) and Mathieu Dandenault (who skated just a few minutes of the practice).

Captain Saku Koivu runs his injured ankle through a workout today before his team's practice in Brossard. Koivu skated the entire practice, as well, and in all probability expects to return to the lineup next week.
Marie-France Coallier, Gazette

You'll find the highlights of today's practice at the posts below, filed from the Bell Sports Complex in Brossard. And below you'll find the Stubbs news story and column on the Sergei Kostitsyn-Mikhail Grabovski feud, as it were, which might (or might not) resume Feb. 7 in Montreal when the Canadiens and Maple Leafs next meet.

Listen in to a few voices following today's practice:

• Carbo's bilingual media briefing (fantastic new soundboard in Brossard in a very large room, so the coach will sound great and you'll barely hear the questions);

• Robert Lang on his first half, the team's first half, the Grabovski affair, and Lang's picturesque second goal vs. the Rangers, the highlight-reel special;

• Captain Saku Koivu on his rehabilitation and Grabovski;

• And a little more Koivu.

Following practice today in Saint-Jovite, a number of Canadiens on a number of subjects.

The team returns to practice up here on Friday before returning to Montreal for its final preseason game, Saturday vs. the Minnesota Wild.

• Head coach Guy Carbonneau, in English

• Carbonneau, in French

• Captain Saku Koivu

• Christopher Higgins

• Georges Laraque, in English

• Laraque, in French

• Kyle Chipchura

• Max Pacioretty

Canadiens captain Saku Koivu faces the media today during the first day of his team's training camp.
Dave Sidaway, Gazette

The Canadiens began their 2008-09 training camp today with medicals and a plethora of fitness tests, and Inside/Out's Dave Stubbs and Mike Boone burned out their mp3 batteries (seriously, Stubbs did) to bring you the audio bonanza that follows.

No need to describe in a nutshell what the players have to say. You'll no doubt listen to every word. But all are insightful and a little something to slake your thirst before the Habs hit the ice in Pierrefonds on Saturday morning.

Here's who we met near the dressing room today:

• Captain Saku Koivu. Clip runs 15:45
• Alex Kovalev. 16:44
• Christopher Higgins. 14:48
• Mike Komisarek. 16:33
• Carey Price. 6:49
• Alex Tanguay (French and English). 6:59
• Georges Laraque. French runs 8:20
• Laraque. English runs 3:26

Canadiens captain Saku Koivu and star forward Alex Kovalev are both headed into the final year of their contracts, both unrestricted free agents on July 1, 2009.

In his weekly Journal de Montréal column today, Canadiens icon Guy Lafleur suggests the club focus on re-signing Kovalev and let Koivu go, saying: "I have the conviction that Kovalev is more useful to the Canadiens than the captain, especially if (Kovalev) continues to play as he did this year."

The Canadiens go into the final week of the season with a fistful of question marks and the team may go to battle in the playoffs without captain Saku Koivu for the second time in three years.

Koivu was struck on the left foot by a shot from Ales Kotalik early in Friday night's game in Buffalo. He continued playing and assisted on Christopher Higgins's overtime winner.

But Koivu didn't play Saturday vs. Toronto and was on crutches, wearing a foot brace, as the team boarded its flight home after the 4-2 loss to the Leafs. We should learn more late this afternoon about the health of Koivu, as well as that of Mark Streit and Francis Bouillon, also nursing tender feet from shot pucks.

After going much of the season with little serious injury trouble, the Canadiens are staring at a few problems this morning, with tests and rehab ongoing. We'll report more later in the day, officially an off-day for the team, when we have the information. But with three games left in the regular season, things aren't pretty:

• Captain Saku Koivu, defenceman/forward Mark Streit and D Francis Bouillon all will put their feet up for the medical staff today or tomorrow. Koivu and Streit took shots off the foot Friday in Buffalo, and though both played that entire game, they sat out last night's 4-2 loss in Toronto. RDS reports that Koivu wore a foot brace and used crutches to board the team's charter home last night.

• Bouillon was drilled in the right instep by a shot in last night's third period and did not return to action. Leaving the dressing room, he told François Gagnon of La Presse that he was hit in precisely this spot during Monday's home-ice win over Ottawa.

• D Mike Komisarek continues to rehab a hip injury, suffered March 20 in Boston. The original prognosis was for him to miss three weeks.

• F Guillaume Latendresse didn't make the trip to Buffalo and Toronto, suffering neck spasms.

The Canadiens had practice time scheduled today at the Bell Centre, but they won't use it. They'll skate tomorrow late afternoon, then bus to Ottawa for Tuesday's game against the Senators. The Habs need just one more point between now and their final game of the regular season, next Saturday at home vs. Toronto, to clinch the Northeast Division title.

Canadiens spokesman Dominick Saillant emails from Toronto that Habs captain Saku Koivu has a foot injury, suffered in Friday's 4-3 overtime victory over the Sabres in Buffalo, and will not play tonight. He will be re-evaluated back in Montreal.

Updating Kovalev's status at 5:42 p.m.

Alex Kovalev did not take part in today's practice, nursing a sore ankle apparently dinged early in Wednesday's game vs. the Florida Panthers. Kovalev returned to score the game-winning goal in overtime, but he's not been on skates since, and it's unclear whether he'll be in shape to face the Philadelphia Flyers at the Bell Centre on Saturday.

Defenceman Josh Gorges was home... sick. But Roman Hamrlik, out the past week with the flu and a skin irritation, is expected to be back in the lineup.

Carey Price gets the start in goal, and you can hear him here speaking about that.

Other audio: captain Saku Koivu talks about individual success, Michael Ryder and much more.

If today's practice is any indication, Canadiens head coach Guy Carbonneau is moving Michael Ryder back onto a line with Saku Koivu and Christopher Higgins for tomorrow night's Bell Centre tilt against the Boston Bruins.

Other lines used by Carbo today: Andrei Kostitsyn with Tomas Plekanec and Alex Kovalev, the team's most consistent trio; Steve Bégin with Bryan Smolinski and Sergei Kostitsyn; and Guillaume Latendresse, Maxim Lapierre, Tom Kostopoulos and Mathieu Dandenault rotating in and out on a fourth line.

Bulldogs callup Corey Locke was supposed to in the lineup tonight in place of flu-bitten Saku Koivu, who will watch the game from his New York hotel room.

But while Locke made it to Madison Square Garden at the last minute, his equipment didn't. The Canadiens will play with 19 men.

Saku Koivu's two goals Saturday carried the Canadiens over the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Bell Centre.
Dave Sandford, Getty Images

It had been nearly 13 1/2 games, elapsed time, since Canadiens captain Saku Koivu had scored. On Saturday, his timing was impeccable.

Koivu scored the Canadiens' first two goals in Montreal's solid 4-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs, giving the Habs their first two-game win streak since Nov. 8.

With his parents in the Bell Centre stands, visiting from Finland for the holidays, Koivu scored his sixth and seventh goals of the season, the first he's scored since Montreal's home-ice win Nov. 17 against the Boston Bruins. And in so doing, he again silenced the critics who have been dogging him of late.

After the game, Koivu explained that while his two goals were important, of more significance was the way the Canadiens played 60 minutes of winning hockey, bottling their success of the road and bringing it home. Here you'll find Monday's Gazette column by Dave Stubbs, and the audio portion of the dressing-room interview, which runs about 7:30.

A little sound from the dressing room post-practice on Friday afternoon:

Canadiens captain Saku Koivu on the team's troubles at home, playing with Sergei Kostitsyn and Koivu's own goal-scoring drought. Clip runs 3:43.

Goalie Carey Price on fine-tuning his game, home ice, his success against the Maple Leafs and how his mother was impressed by his first apartment in Montreal. Clip runs 2:08.

Rookie forward Sergei Kostitsyn talks about his NHL debut. Clip runs 6:07.

Head coach Guy Carbonneau's daily media conference in English and French. He begins speaking about the health of Andrei Kostitsyn and Guillaume Latendresse. Clip runs 10:47.

Canadiens defenceman Andrei Markov holds a 51,088-vote lead over Boston's Zdeno Chara, continuing to lead all Eastern Conference rearguards in updated balloting for the NHL All-Star Game.

Netminder Cristobal Huet continues to lead New Jersey's Martin Brodeur in the goaltending category, 122,228 votes to 120,537.

Captain Saku Koivu ranks seventh with voters for Eastern forwards, while write-in candidate Alex Kovalev is 12th.

Cast your ballot(s) here. And you'll find the new NHL-released totals here.