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Mike Cichy this past season with the Indiana Ice.
Robert J. Meyer, USHL Images

Here's a nice piece by Ryan Kennedy of The Hockey News on USHL Indiana Ice forward Mike Cichy, a seventh-round draft pick (199th overall) of the Canadiens last weekend.

Not everyone has the red carpet rolled out for them à la Tavares, Hedman or Duchene. Here's the story of a kid who dreams of the NHL, and comes to Montreal now as one of 40 players who will take part in next week's development camp.

Courtesy of The Pipeline Show, hosted weekly by Guy Flaming and Dean Millard on Team 1260 AM in Edmonton, here's audio of a May 19 radio interview with Cichy, in which he talks about his season, being named the Clark Cup Playoff MVP, and what lies ahead for his hockey career. Little did he know that future would include a CH.

Louis Leblanc of Kirkland, the Canadiens' first pick (18th overall) in last weekend's entry draft, is among the 40 players attending the camp. He's seen here with Trevor Timmins (left) and Bob Gainey.
Dave Sidaway, Gazette

From a release: The Canadiens announced today that 40 prospects will participate in the team’s annual development camp from July 6-12 at the Bell Sports Complex in Brossard. It is the most players attending since the first edition of the development camp in 2001.

All sessions are open to the public. Here's how to get there.

The Canadiens prospects will first take to the ice on Monday, July 6, at 1:30 p.m. The development camp consists of on-ice sessions every day until July 12 with on-ice sessions on both surfaces of the complex. Off-ice conditioning sessions are also scheduled every day. An intersquad game is set for Saturday, July 11.

Twenty-four of the 40 players at camp are Canadiens draft selections, including all eight players from the 2009 NHL Entry Draft held last June at the Bell Centre. The group includes first round picks Louis Leblanc, Max Pacioretty and David Fischer, as well as prospects P.K. Subban, Olivier Fortier and Yannick Weber.  Twenty-four of the 40 players also participated in the 2008 Development Camp.

There's a petition going around urging the Canadiens to bring back Alex Kovalev and give him the captain's C. 

Here's the link.

But those who'd rather have Saku Koivu back and keep the captain's C can show their support here.

Canadiens great Dickie Moore at his Nov. 12, 2005 sweater retirement. Moore is saddened by the Habs' decision to cut Saku Koivu adrift. See Stubbs column below.
Dave Sandford, Getty Images

A day for the Canadiens to catch their breath yesterday, after Wednesday's flurry of free-agent signings brought a fistful of new players to Montreal.

A hot topic of conversation remained the move by defenceman Mike Komisarek to move to Toronto, and we had a chance to speak to new Habs forward Brian Gionta about his reunion with Scott Gomez, both players reeled in by GM Bob Gainey on Wednesday. Audio of Gionta's chat is available in a post below.

• Komisarek follows cash to Hogtown: Hickey
• Almighty dollar conquers, divides NHL loyalties: Stubbs
• Gainey reunites old pals Gionta, Gomez: Hickey
• Komo no stranger to pressure: National Post

And see below for how Gazette cartoonist Terry Mosher, aka Aislin, feels the Molsons should honour outgoing captain Saku Koivu.

The Montreal Canadiens did not play a single hockey game in June.

The team was idle in May.

And in late April.

Despite the Canadiens' early and ignominious playoff exit, Habs Inside/Out had a good spring.

The numbers don't lie. Google Analytics credits the web site with 1,237,783 page views in June – an 85 per cent increase over the 668,327 views in June, '08.

Woo hoo! Bonus cheques all around for Stubbs, Boone, Hickey and Mio.

And imagine site traffic if the Canadiens ever made a deep playoff run.

Woo hoo! Bonus Depends and walkers for Stubbs et al.

Newly signed UFA Brian Gionta has just chatted with the Montreal media via conference call. The Canadiens, he says, have "a ton of speed and are well balanced." Needless to say, he's excited with this new chapter in his career.

Here's the full audio of that call.

Hockey Canada today released the names of the 46 players it will invite to its 2009-10 national men's team orientation camp next month, the first step toward selection of the Olympic team for Vancouver 2010 and the 2010 IIHF world championship.

Not one Canadiens player is on the list, though congratulations are due to Habs equipment manager Pierre Gervais, who will perform this task for his third consecutive Olympics.

Here's the full rundown.

Canadiens captain Saku Koivu meets the Montreal media for the final time on April 23, following his team's elimination from the playoffs. He prophetically said in this interview that if he wasn't signed with the Habs by July 1, he expected to be playing elsewhere next season.  Marie-France Coallier, Gazette

Updated Thursday 5:40 am ET

• Gainey reshapes the Canadiens
• Mixed bag for Habs: Fisher column
• Welcome to the Land of the Smurfs: Hickey column
• Record-setting spending spree: Globe's Gordon
• Major impact on free-agent landscape: NHL.com's Kimelman

Canadiens general manager Bob Gainey met with the Montreal media Wednesday night at the team's Brossard training facility to discuss his team's entirely new face. He said his work this free-agency season is "probably done," having dropped $107.8 million U.S. in 24 hours.

Brian Gionta is a new Canadien, having signed a five-year, $25-million contract tonight. Marian Gaborik, another sought-after free agent, has joined the New York Rangers for five years, $37.5 million.

Just off the phone with Mike Komisarek, who today signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Komisarek signed a five-year, $22.5-million contract with the Leafs, and in so doing leaves the only NHL club he's known.

"I've played in tough environments, I'm sure it's not going to be easy coming back," Komisarek said of what he'll face from Canadiens fans when the Maple Leafs come to the Bell Centre. "It's the competitive nature of the game (but) it's stuff like that that you don't really worry about."

Matt Keator, Komisarek's agent, said early this evening that negotiations with the Canadiens were "respectful." Komisarek agreed with that assessment.

"I've always looked at Bob (Gainey) in high regard," he said. "I've respected what he's done as a hockey mind. He's had plenty of success. He's always been good to me and I've always appreciated everything they've done for me and the way they've treated me. It's unfortunate that things haven't worked out (with the Canadiens) but it's the business of what we do."

Here's audio of a portion of our conversation.

Here's the audio of a conference call just concluded with Mike Cammelleri, who this afternoon signed with the Canadiens as an unrestricted free agent. The contract is for five years and $30 million.

(Former) Canadiens defenceman Mike Komisarek leans into Toronto's Matt Stajan.
Dave Sandford, Getty Images

Mike Komisarek is now a Toronto Maple Leaf. Which suggests that Mikhail Grabovski no longer will be the most loudly booed Maple Leaf when Toronto comes to the Bell Centre next season.

The deal is for five years at $4.5 million per season.

Komisarek was a popular man during the first day of free-agency, courted by at least 10 teams just one hour into the process. He's now headed to Brian Burke's Leafs, giving Toronto the size the Leafs GM covets.

TSN reports the deal is said to include a limited no-trade clause, giving Komisarek the opportunity every September to give the Leafs a list of 12 teams to which he would accept a trade, should the relationship between player and team not work out the way both expect it will.

Also today, Steve Bégin signed with the Boston Bruins, moving nearer Montreal from the Dallas Stars.

Visit the Bruins website for a conference call with Bégin, who said it will be "fun to be on the other side" of the famed Bruins-Canadiens rivalry, and that he'll "be on the right side now," as well as the announcement on the Bruins site.

Mike Cammalleri brings a scorer's touch to the Canadiens.
Dave Sandford, Getty Images

If you can't get a big centre, get two small ones.

That's Plan B for Canadiens general manager Bob Gainey, who has lured Mike Cammalleri from Calgary with a five-year deal worth $30 million.

Cammalleri, who is 5-foot-9 and 185 pounds, 39 goals and 43 assists last season while playing left wing and centre. It was a career season for the 27-year-old who had the advantage of playing with Jarome Iginla.

If you add Scott Gomez's height and Cammalleri's  height and divide by two, the results equals Saku Koivu's height and is one inch short of that of Tomas Plekanec.

A good look at Cammalleri's statistics here.

The Canadiens release is below. And go here for audio of Cammalleri's conference call with the media this evening.

Hall Gill with a trophy of some note, displayed in Detroit last month.
Bruce Bennett, Getty Images

It appears that the Canadiens have accepted the fact that defenceman Mike Komisarek is not coming back, and they're moving on with an even larger blue-line acquisitions. 

Montreal this afternoon signed stay-at-home defenceman Hal Gill to a two-year contract.

Gill adds considerable size to the blueline at 6-foot-7 and 250 pounds but he's yet another left-handed shot and he's not the most mobile player. He had two goals and eight assists in 62 games with the Pittsburgh Penguins last season.

The 34-year-old has played 851 games with Boston, Toronto and Pittsburgh.  

Jaroslav Spacek defends Sabres end against (former) Hab Christopher Higgins in Buffalo last season.
Bill Wippert, NHLI via Getty Images

Jaroslav Spacek, who signed a three-year contract with the Canadiens, is a steady,puck-moving defenceman. He's on the smallist side – what's new for the Canadiens? – at 5-foot-11 and a shade over 200 pounds.

He averaged more than 22 minutes of ice time in each of the past two seasons and was on Buffalo's No. 1 power-play unit. He scored four of his eight goals on the power play. He shoots left which isn't necessarily as an asset since the Canadiens' top two returning D-men – Andrei Markov and Roman Hamrlik – are also left-handed shots.

He was a plus-2 last season and has been a plus player each of the last five seasons with an aggregate of plus-20. 

Spacek signed a three-year deal for $11.5 million, whoich means a cap hit of $3.83 million a season.   

Canadiens release below:

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.

Multi-year deal with Chicago – a dozen years, $62.4 million.

When the Canadiens were looking for a goon – sorry, a tough character guy – laast summer, they signed Georges Laraque to a two-year deal at $1.5 million per annum.

The Leafs have signed Colton Orr to a four-year deal averaging $1 million a season. Orr had 1 goal and four assists in 82 games and was minus-15. But Toronto was most interested in his 193 penalty minutes and his 18 fights, twice as many as Laraque. Then again, Orr was healthy for the entire season.

Mike Komisarek has attracted the offers of 10 teams in the first hour of free agency.

The first two free-agency signings involving defencemen are in and they raise the question of Mike Komisarek's value.

The Calgary Flames signed Jay Bouwmeester to a five-year deal with an average salary of nearly $6.8 million. But the Tampa Bay Lightning signed Mattias Ohlund to a seven-year deal averaging $3.5 million. Ohlund is older than Komisarek but has good size at 6-foot-2 and 220 pounds and has an offensive component that is missing from Komisarek's game.

TSN reports the Sedin twins have re-signed in Vancouver. Each for five years, $6.1 million per.

USA Today's Kevin Allen this morning suggests that the Maple Leafs will bid for defencemen Mike Komisarek and François Beauchemin, saying that both are perfect fits for Toronto GM Brian Burke.

So at noon ET today, the fun really begins.

Inside/Out will invest Canada Day at the tube and on the phones as the Canadiens change the face of their organization, 10 unrestricted free agents set to move, or to stay.

Yesterday's deal to acquire Scott Gomez for Christopher Higgins and Ryan McDonagh, with parts from both sides, made headlines, obviously. There's probably more today where that came from. Here's how the New York Rangers see yesterday's transaction. Another view here from the New York Daily News.

Stay tuned...

Christopher Higgins has known only one NHL organization. As he moves to the Rangers, he now knows two.
Jim McIsaac, Getty Images

Christopher Higgins's mother, Sue, is thrilled beyond words on Long Island, her son soon to be playing much nearer home. His father, Bobby, is another matter. A Canadiens fan "for 50 years," Higgins says, Bobby Higgins is burying his son's Canadiens paraphernalia. Or at least putting it behind closed doors in the basement for now.

Higgins has played 282 regular-season NHL games in his career, which began at age 20 during the 2003-04 season. Drafted by the Habs in the first round (14th overall) in the 2002 entry draft, the Canadiens is the only organization he's known as a professional athlete.

Tonight, I reached Higgins at his summer home on Long Island, where the day's trade to the New York Rangers was still sinking in. He spoke glowingly of his time in Montreal and of the fans in this city, no matter their voice on any particular night.

New York is a dream come true. But leaving Montreal doesn't happen without many memories being stirred.

Higgins told me his phone hasn't stopped ringing since even before the trade was announced, his first knowledge of it coming in a voice mail left by Canadiens GM Bob Gainey. Higgins's buddy, Mike Komisarek, might yet wind up back in Montreal, he said, though he said the defenceman keeps his cards close to his vest.

Here's a conversation with Higgins tonight as he sets off in a new NHL direction.

The Canadiens' newly acquired centreman Scott Gomez has just concluded a conference call with Montreal journalists. He is in Alaska, on a fishing trip.

Gomez said the trade is part of the business and he's a little disappointed that he didn't have a chance to play more for New York coach John Tortorella. But he said he's excited to be playing in the "mecca of hockey."

• Here's the full audio of the call.

Scott Gomez is a new Canadien, arriving with two other Rangers for Christopher Higgins and three more Canadiens.
Mike Stobe, NHL

The Canadiens have this afternoon traded forward Christopher Higgins and defence prospect to the New York Rangers for centre Scott Gomez in a multiplayer deal.

Canadiens general manager Bob Gainey announced the acquisition of Gomez along with forward Tom Pyatt and defenceman Michael Busto from the Rangers, in return for Higgins and McDonagh, Pavel Valentenko and Doug Janik.

Gomez will earn $8 million next season. He's under contract through 2013-14.

"We are extremely pleased to have acquired an impact centreman in Scott Gomez," Gainey said in the Canadiens' new release.

"He is an outstanding playmaker and an excellent skater. Having won the Stanley Cup twice with the New Jersey Devils, he brings to tour team a lot of playoff experience. Scott is an elite player who will certainly contribute to the success of our team for years to come."

Mike Komisarek will test the free agent market.

Says Komisarek's agent, Matt Keator, in a statement: "After much discussion and thought, Mike Komisarek has decided to enter the free-agent market tomorrow at noon.

"Should (the Canadiens) desire, we intend to keep Montreal involved in the process, as they have treated Mike so well during his time in the organization. He remains interested in re-signing with them."

Mike Komisarek, the Canadiens defenceman who is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent tomorrow, was among 34 players invited to the training camp from the United States team heading to the Vancouver Olympics. Ron Hainsey, a former Canadiens defenceman now playing for the Atlanta Thrashers, was also invited to the camp which will be held outside Chicago in August. 

The Canadiens have offered Komisarek a contract but there has been no indication that he has accepted _ or rejected _ the deal. 

Noon ET on Canada Day and all heck will break loose on the free-agent front. Will it in Montreal?

The Gazette's Red Fisher doesn't expect any big UFA signings by Canadiens GM Bob Gainey, while Pat Hickey says Gainey has his sights set on the Sedin twins. TSN reports this morning that the Sedins are now with their agent, considering the offer delivered in person to Sweden by Canucks GM Mike Gillis.

By tomorrow noon, will Gainey sign any of his 10 roster players who can be UFAs at that hour? We'll keep you posted.

In the meantime, here's how the Globe's Eric Duhatschek ranks the top available UFAs: he's got Kovalev, Koivu and Komisarek a respective sixth, eighth and 10th. If Komisarek doesn't re-sign with Montreal, Duhatschek says, then Boston is a likely destination (becoming a teammate of Milan Lucic), further enlivening an already spirited rivalry.

CBC.ca offers this useful two-part primer on free-agency, beginning tomorrow.

Here's a detailed preview of the Eastern Conference, and one of the Western Conference.