Ryan White

Forward Ryan White has been sent back to the AHL's Hamilton Bulldogs Sunday morning after being recalled on Saturday morning to face the New Jersey Devils.

White played 6:37 in his 11 shifts, registering two hits and blocking one shot. He was recalled to fill in for Georges Laraque, who was unable to play with an upper-body injury.

The Canadiens' use of an ineligible player Tuesday in Ottawa might hit them hard in the wallet.

TSN's Bob McKenzie reports that the brief use of Ryan White, whose call-up from Hamilton that afternoon didn't go through its proper NHL channels, might cost the Canadiens a six-figure fine.

An apparent miscommunication between Habs GM Bob Gainey and VP hockey operations Julien BriseBois, both of whom thought the other had contacted the league about the call-up, meant that White had to hastily be withdrawn from the lineup after the game had started and he'd played a few shifts. Tom Pyatt rushed down from the pressbox to take his place.

Insult to injury for White: he was demoted to Hamilton yesterday, though not for the mistake for which he was an innocent bystander.

Ryan White must feel like a yo-yo today. He was sent back down to the Hamilton Bulldogs - following the rules, we hope - by the Canadiens on Wednesday, only 24 hours after being recalled by the Canadiens. We all know now what happened as the proper procedures were not followed and White was pulled from Tuesday night's game against the Senators because the NHL had not been advised of his recall in the correct manner.

The Habs recalled forward Ryan White from the Hamilton Bulldogs yesterday for last night's game in Ottawa.

According to Martin McGuire, the fine reporter who also does French-language play-by-play of Habs games for CKAC radio, Canadiens GM Bob Gainey and Habs VP hockey operations Julien BriseBois both thought the other had notified the NHL. Neither had, and White was ruled ineligible to play and had to be removed after barely having worked up a sweat during the 4-1 Montreal victory over Ottawa last night.

So what would have happened had White had been a factor during his brief action, even say assisting on a goal?

Only days after being sent down to the Hamilton Bulldogs, Ryan White has been recalled by the Canadiens on Tuesday.

Max Pacioretty wowed the crowd at Canadiens' development camp on Friday.

The  big forward scored twice on nifty backhands during the 3-on-3 scrimmages.

On the first goal, Pacioretty drove the net and was slammed after scoring by Andrew Conboy, who was chosen 120 picks after Pacioretty in the 2007 draft. Conboy is a 6'4" bruiser who managed to rack up 188 minutes in penalties playing in the relatively tranquil – by Canadian major-junior standards – USHL.

Conboy will be a freshman at Michigan State this fall. If Pacioretty returns to Michigan – which he probably will – they'll be seeing more of each other.

As Pat Hickey writes in The Gazette today, Trevor Timmins describes Pacioretty as "head and shoulders" above the other prospects at camp.

Take this to the bank, people: Max Pacioretty will be with the big club when the 2009-'10 season begins. And he's going to  be a good one.

Ryan White
Three-year deal (Photo courtesy hitmenhockey.com)

Canadiens announced today they have signed centre Ryan White to a three-year contract.

A native of Brandon who played his junior hockey with the Calgary Hitmen of the Dub, White was the Canadiens' third-round draft choice (66th overall) in 2006.

Here's the team's press release:

Montreal Canadiens General Manager Bob Gainey announced today that forward Ryan White agreed to a three-year contract (2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11).

As per club policy, financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.