Tomas Plekanec

In an interview with the Edmonton Sun, Georges Laraque talks about coming home to Montreal:

"When I was a kid, I remember they were winning all the Stanley Cups and every kid on the street had a Habs jersey," Laraque said.
"And what I remember the most was the Rocket Richard book that we used to read at school. "

Possibly The Hockey Sweater, en français?

Non, says poster Ben D.:

 Thanks, Ben

•  •  •

In the Edmonton Journal. Jim Matheson shoots down the rumour that had Ales Hemsky traded from the Oilers to the Canadiens:

The message boards say the Canadiens might be dangling forward Chris Higgins, defenceman P.K. Subban, a member of Canada's world junior team last year, and another roster player. And, defenceman Denis Grebeshkov's name has been talked about going to Montreal, too.

Kevin Lowe told Matheson it's all BS.

From Canadiens.com, the team web site, Tomas Plekanec's iPod favourites.

Two questions:

• Who the heck are the All-American Rejects?

• Doesn't he hear Crazy enough at the Bell Centre?

Tomas Plekanec wears a turtleneck under his jersey, but he's no slowpoke.
BRUCE BENNETT, GETTY IMAGES

In today's one-on-one, The Gazette's Kevin Mio sits down with Canadiens forward Tomas Plekanec, who has settled into his role as Alex Kovalev's centre and proven he is up to the task after a shaky start last season. The Czech forward exploded offensively during the second half of last season, finishing with 20 goals, and that has carried over into this season. Through 35 games, he has 11 goals and 16 assists.

In this week's feature, he discusses topics such as why he wears a turtleneck under his equipment and how he has adjusted to playing with Kovalev.

Here's a sample of his answers:

You spent three seasons in Hamilton, which is a long time for some players. Looking back, do you think that was a good thing for you in the long run?

"For sure. When you're a young guy, you don't
really like it down in the minors, but if you go about it and think it's good for you, it's going to help you for sure. It helped me a lot. When I look back, I think it's a great thing for me to have played there."

Who was your idol growing up?

"It was Jaromir Jagr all the time because he is from the same city (Kladno, Czech Republic) and he was the closest star to look at."

Read the entire article here.