Training camp

The Gazette's Pat Hickey writes that the Canadiens appear ready for the regular season after their 3-2 win over the Boston Bruins on Thursday night. Captain Saku Koivu said afterward that he is tired of playing exhibition games and can't wait for the start of the regular season. The same goes for Cristobal Huet, who played the entire game and stopped 30 of the 32 shots he faced.

Head coach Guy Carbonneau said his troops are "close" to where he wants them to be to start the season.

The Gazette's Pat Hickey writes that the Canadiens appear ready for the regular season after their 3-2 win over the Boston Bruins on Thursday night. Captain Saku Koivu said afterward that he is tired of playing exhibition games and can't wait for the start of the regular season. The same goes for Cristobal Huet, who played the entire game and stopped 30 of the 32 shots he faced.

Head coach Guy Carbonneau said his troops are "close" to where he wants them to be to start the season.

The Gazette's Pat Hickey writes that Canadiens head coach Guy Carbonneau has some tough decisions to make concerning his defensive corps after the oustanding training-camp performances of Josh Gorges and Ryan O'Byrne.

Carbonneau must balance their performances against veterans Francis Bouillon and Mathieu Dandenault.

"You know what the veterans can do, but some of the young guys have come to camp well prepared and they're making the decision tough," Carbonneau said.

The Gazette's Pat Hickey writes that Canadiens head coach Guy Carbonneau has some tough decisions to make concerning his defensive corps after the oustanding training-camp performances of Josh Gorges and Ryan O'Byrne.

Carbonneau must balance their performances against veterans Francis Bouillon and Mathieu Dandenault.

"You know what the veterans can do, but some of the young guys have come to camp well prepared and they're making the decision tough," Carbonneau said.

Hockey's Future takes a look back at the Canadiens' training camp to date, breaking down the developments by position. Read the article here.

Hockey's Future takes a look back at the Canadiens' training camp to date, breaking down the developments by position. Read the article here.

Pat Hickey has provided the following update from Mont Tremblant:
Defenceman Roman Hamrlik won't play Thursday night when the Canadiens face the Boston Bruins in preseason action at the Bell Centre. Hamrlik practised with the team Wednesday in Mont Tremblant, but stayed afterwards for treatment on an undisclosed injury that the team doesn't consider serious.

Ryan O'Byrne will take Hamrlik's place in the llineup. Coach Guy Carbonneau might make some other changes to the lineup, but wasn't sure – or wasn't saying – what they might be.

Pat Hickey has provided the following update from Mont Tremblant:
Defenceman Roman Hamrlik won't play Thursday night when the Canadiens face the Boston Bruins in preseason action at the Bell Centre. Hamrlik practised with the team Wednesday in Mont Tremblant, but stayed afterwards for treatment on an undisclosed injury that the team doesn't consider serious.

Ryan O'Byrne will take Hamrlik's place in the llineup. Coach Guy Carbonneau might make some other changes to the lineup, but wasn't sure – or wasn't saying – what they might be.

The Gazette's Pat Hickey writes that while Guy Carbonneau had intended to use his Opening Night roster for the last two exhibition games, those plans might have a hit a snag because some questions remain as to who will be on that roster.

The biggest question seems to be who will be the team's No. 2 goaltender. The answer is no clearer today than it was at the start of training camp, with Jaroslav Halak and Carey Price continuing to battle it out for the job.

And Mikhail Grabovski seems to have shuffled the cards on the forward lines, taking a place yesterday on a line with Guillaume Latendresse and Bryan Smolinski, leaving Maxim Lapierre and Garth Murray as the odd men out.

The Gazette's Pat Hickey writes that while Guy Carbonneau had intended to use his Opening Night roster for the last two exhibition games, those plans might have a hit a snag because some questions remain as to who will be on that roster.

The biggest question seems to be who will be the team's No. 2 goaltender. The answer is no clearer today than it was at the start of training camp, with Jaroslav Halak and Carey Price continuing to battle it out for the job.

And Mikhail Grabovski seems to have shuffled the cards on the forward lines, taking a place yesterday on a line with Guillaume Latendresse and Bryan Smolinski, leaving Maxim Lapierre and Garth Murray as the odd men out.

RDS is reporting that none of the nine Canadiens players placed on waivers after Monday's cuts have been claimed by another NHL team. That means all will now report to Hamilton, where the Bulldogs open training camp today.

Here's the list of players who cleared waivers: Yann Danis, Andrew Archer, Mathieu Biron, Jean-Philippe Cote, Jamie Rivers, Jonathan Ferland, Corey Locke, Duncan Milroy and Cory Urquhart.

RDS is reporting that none of the nine Canadiens players placed on waivers after Monday's cuts have been claimed by another NHL team. That means all will now report to Hamilton, where the Bulldogs open training camp today.

Here's the list of players who cleared waivers: Yann Danis, Andrew Archer, Mathieu Biron, Jean-Philippe Cote, Jamie Rivers, Jonathan Ferland, Corey Locke, Duncan Milroy and Cory Urquhart.

Carey Price signs his first Canadiens contract in the home of his junior-team billet in Washington State on April 13
One of three goalies going north today
Photo courtesy Jill Williams

The Canadiens this morning have announced the demotion of 29 players, 27 of whom are bound for the American Hockey League's Hamilton Bulldogs (though nine must first clear waivers) with another two headed back to their junior teams.

Star goaltender Carey Price remains with the big club, and heads north this afternoon for the next phase of training camp, three days at Mont Tremblant.

The group headed north is three goalies, nine defencemen and 14 forwards. They are:

GOALIES: Jaroslav Halak, Cristobal Huet, Carey Price.

DEFENCEMEN: Francis Bouillon, Patrice Brisebois, Mathieu Dandenault, Josh Gorges, Roman Hamrlik, Mike Komisarek, Andrei Markov, Ryan O'Byrne, Mark Streit.

FORWARDS: Steve Bégin, Kyle Chipchura, Mikhail Grabovski, Christopher Higgins, Saku Koivu, Andrei Kostitsyn, Tom Kostopoulos, Alex Kovalev, Maxim Lapierre, Guillaume Latendresse, Garth Murray, Tomas Plekanec, Michael Ryder, Bryan Smolinski.

Here's the final list of cuts made by general manager Bob Gainey, who is expected to comment on the roster moves at 1:15 this afternoon; we'll have that covered as well.

Yann Danis (photo left)
Could be a good catch for a team in need of goaltending

Goalies:
Yann Danis (must clear waivers)
Loïc Lacasse
Cédrick Desjardins

Defencemen:
Andrew Archer (must clear waivers)
Mathieu Biron (must clear waivers)
Mathieu Carle
Jean-Philippe Côté (must clear waivers)
Marvin Degon
Jon Gleed
Jamie Rivers (must clear waivers)
Pavel Valentenko

Forwards:
Mathieu Aubin
Ajay Baines
Thomas Beauregard
Jimmy Bonneau
Matt D'Agostini
David Desharnais
Jonathan Ferland (must clear waivers)
Sergei Kostitsyn
Janne Lahti
Francis Lemieux
Corey Locke (must clear waivers)
Eric Manlow
Ben Maxwell (to junior)
Duncan Milroy (must clear waivers)
Ryan Russell
Gregory Stewart
Cory Urquhart (must clear waivers)
Ryan White (to junior)

Carey Price signs his first Canadiens contract in the home of his junior-team billet in Washington State on April 13
One of three goalies going north today
Photo courtesy Jill Williams

The Canadiens this morning have announced the demotion of 29 players, 27 of whom are bound for the American Hockey League's Hamilton Bulldogs (though nine must first clear waivers) with another two headed back to their junior teams.

Star goaltender Carey Price remains with the big club, and heads north this afternoon for the next phase of training camp, three days at Mont Tremblant.

The group headed north is three goalies, nine defencemen and 14 forwards. They are:

GOALIES: Jaroslav Halak, Cristobal Huet, Carey Price.

DEFENCEMEN: Francis Bouillon, Patrice Brisebois, Mathieu Dandenault, Josh Gorges, Roman Hamrlik, Mike Komisarek, Andrei Markov, Ryan O'Byrne, Mark Streit.

FORWARDS: Steve Bégin, Kyle Chipchura, Mikhail Grabovski, Christopher Higgins, Saku Koivu, Andrei Kostitsyn, Tom Kostopoulos, Alex Kovalev, Maxim Lapierre, Guillaume Latendresse, Garth Murray, Tomas Plekanec, Michael Ryder, Bryan Smolinski.

Here's the final list of cuts made by general manager Bob Gainey, who is expected to comment on the roster moves at 1:15 this afternoon; we'll have that covered as well.

Yann Danis (photo left)
Could be a good catch for a team in need of goaltending

Goalies:
Yann Danis (must clear waivers)
Loïc Lacasse
Cédrick Desjardins

Defencemen:
Andrew Archer (must clear waivers)
Mathieu Biron (must clear waivers)
Mathieu Carle
Jean-Philippe Côté (must clear waivers)
Marvin Degon
Jon Gleed
Jamie Rivers (must clear waivers)
Pavel Valentenko

Forwards:
Mathieu Aubin
Ajay Baines
Thomas Beauregard
Jimmy Bonneau
Matt D'Agostini
David Desharnais
Jonathan Ferland (must clear waivers)
Sergei Kostitsyn
Janne Lahti
Francis Lemieux
Corey Locke (must clear waivers)
Eric Manlow
Ben Maxwell (to junior)
Duncan Milroy (must clear waivers)
Ryan Russell
Gregory Stewart
Cory Urquhart (must clear waivers)
Ryan White (to junior)

As I spoke to a number of Canadiens after practice on Tuesday, their comments to be heard in an audio post here, the same theme was replayed: NHL players arrive at training camp today in virtually game-ready shape, having trained most of the summer to arrive in peak condition.

(And they'd better be; the Habs were in camp for exactly three days last weekend before they hit the ice for five exhibition games this week, including three in three nights.)

That's not always been the case, and it reminded me of a story I wrote about Canadiens legend Jean Béliveau nine Septembers ago. I recycle it below, and hope you enjoy the words, and especially the photo that runs with it.

The Angelo Esposito Circus comes to the Bell Centre tonight, the homegrown Montrealer having caused a furore – well, some in the media did – when he wasn't drafted by the Canadiens in June. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette today reports that Esposito, who will face the Canadiens tonight in both clubs' first exhibition game of the season, is unlikely to spend the season with the Penguins.

Forward Ryan Russell isn't a highly regarded prospect, but he make quite an impact on Sunday with a body check that sent the towering Ryan O'Byrne over the boards and into his team's bench. But Russell also made an impression on the scoresheet with a goal in the day's first scrimmage.

Read what The Gazette's Pat Hickey has to say about Russell here.

Canadiens' Christopher Higgins with Institute 3E mental conditioning coach Gary Parks, photographed at Higgins's summer-ending barbecue at his home on Long Island, N.Y. Parks also worked with Canadiens defenceman Mike Komisarek.
Photo courtesy Gary Parks

Understanding the benefits of the smallest edge in today's NHL, young Canadiens stars Christopher Higgins and Mike Komisarek spent part of their summer working with a mental conditioning coach. The two close friends, keys to the Canadiens' success this season, believe that the lessons they learned will help sharpen their focus during the marathon campaign.

The Canadiens announced this afternoon that seven players have been returned to their junior teams after three days of training camp.

Here's part of the team's release:

The seven players who will report to their respective junior team are: forward Olivier Fortier (Rimouski - QMJHL), defencemen Yannick Weber (Kitchener - OHL), P.K. Subban (Belleville – OHL), Cameron Cepek (Edmonton – WHL), Sébastien Piché (Shawinigan – QMJHL) and Mathieu Labrie (Acadie-Bathurst - QMJHL), as well as goaltender Andrew Loverock (Mississauga – OHL).

That leaves 55 players at training camp.

Here's some of the highlights and observations from Day 3 of training camp on Sunday.

Team C, with goaltender Carey Price and Saku Koivu, won both scrimmages, with the line of Koivu, Michael Ryder and Sergei Kostitsyn looking particularly good. Koivu scored two goals in the first scrimmage, including a nice move on a penalty shot to beat Andrew Loverock.

Defenceman Ryan O'Byrne made his presence felt this morning with several jarring hits. But he was also rocked by Ryan Russell, who sent O'Byrne flying into his team's bench. Russell also scored a goal several minutes later.

Mark Streit has opened the scoring with 15 minutes to play. He used a defenceman as a screen to beat Cédrick Desjardins between the legs to give Team C a 1-0 lead.

Matt D'Agostini got that one back quickly for Team B, ripping a shot past Yann Danis from the slot area. The forward continue to impress with his nose for the net and gritty play.

Tomas Plekanec gave Team B a 2-1 lead with a wraparound that caught Danis looking the wrong way with about seven minutes left to play.

Defenceman Mathieu Carle notted the score at 2-2 with a one-timer that Desjardins had no chance on, Carle has been one of the more impressive defencemen so far at camp. Fellow Team C blue-liner Jean-Philippe Cote scored with two minutes remaining to give Team C a 3-2 lead.

Sergei Kostitsyn added an empty net goal to seal the Team C victory at 4-2. He played well in his second game of the morning, using his speed to his advantage and being able to muscle opponents off the puck.

Carey Price started the game in nets for Team C and Jaroslav Halak was manning the pipes for Team B. With 20 minutes to go, Desjardins took over for Halak, who has yet to give up a goal during the scrimmages. Yann Danis is now in nets for Team C.

Saku Koivu gave Team C a 1-0 lead only five minutes into the morning scrimmage on a nice backhand shot through Cristobal Huet's legs ona nice pass from Sergei Kostitsyn.

But the lead didn't last long as Kyle Chipchura tied it at 1-1 only momemts later with a wrist shot to the top corner over Carey Price.

Ryan O'Byrne laid out Sergei Kostitsyn with an open-ice check early in the game, but then was beaten to the puck on the backcheck by Michael Ryder. O'Byrne later flattened Jonathan Ferland with a crunching open-ice hit that the fans in the stands loved. Looks like he's got a mean streak this morning.

Guillaume Latendresse was awarded a penalty shot and made a few nice moves to undress Carey Price over the glove hand with a nifty backhand shot to the top corner to give Team A a 2-1 lead with 22 minutes to go in the first scrimmage.

Day 3 of training camp gets underway at 10:00 a.m. with a scrimmage between Team C and Team A. At 11:00, Team C takes on Team B.

After the scrimmages and an on-ice workout at noon, the players will head downtown to annual Jamboree, which starts at 11:00 with a number of activities.

We'll keep you updated throughout the morning.

Team B took both scrimmages at the Sportsplexe 4-Glaces in Pierrefonds this morning, beating Team C 4-1 and Team A 3-0.

Carey Price was beaten twice during his half of the morning scrimmage. Steve Bégin got things started with a one-timer over Price's blocker on a set up from Mikhail Grabovski from behind the net. Mathieu Dandenault made it 2-0 a few minutes later on a pass from Francis Lemieux.

Michael Ryder got one back for Team C with a one-timer on a nifty pass from Sergei Kostitsyn from behind the net on Yann Danis, who had just replaced Jaroslav Halak.

Francis Lemieux scored Team B's third goal on a penalty shot - given instead of a player having to serve a two-minute penalty. Tomas Plekanec rounded out the scoring on a nifty pass from Janne Lahti on a 2-on-1.

Christopher Higgins is not taking part in scrimmage for a second straight day and the Canadiens could not say when he would see game action. Higgins has said that he is good to go, but that the medical staff is simply being cautious. He is not expected to miss the start of the season.

Forward Ajay Baines is out with a sprained right knee. No timetable has been given for his return.

Saturday is the second day of Canadiens training camp in Pierrefonds and today's schedule will follow that of Saturday.

At 10:00 a.m., there will be a scrimmage between Team B and Team C on Rink #1 of the arena. At 11:00 a.m., Team B will take on Team A. We'll keep you up to date on the day's progress.

Some of the notables on Team B include Jaroslav Halak, Roman Hamrlik, Mathieu Dandenault, Janne Lahti, Tomas Plekanec, Matt D'Agostini, Steve Bégin and Alex Kovalev.

On Team C, you will find Carey Price, Yann Danis, Mathieu Carle, Francis Bouillon, P.K. Subban, Saku Koivu, Michael Ryder, Sergei Kostitsyn, Maxim Lapierre and Ben Maxwell.

Team A, which takes the ice at 11:00 a.m., includes Cristobal Huet, Andrei Markov, Ryan O'Byrne, Mike Komisarek, Pavel Valentenko, Guillaume Latendresse, Bryan Smolinski, Andrei Kostitsyn, Kyle Chipchura, Tom Kostopoulos and Ryan White.

Here's a short video put together by Kevin Mio with some clips from the first day of the Canadiens training camp and some comments from Mike Komisarek, Roman Hamrlik and head coach Guy Carbonneau.

View the video here.

Canadiens' Tom Kostopoulos crashes into goalie Cédrick Desjardins as Marvin Degon slides by Friday. (THE GAZETTE/Phil Carpenter).

**Updated with comments from players**
It's a beautiful sunny day in mid-September, but the Sportsplexe 4-Glaces in Pierrefonds is packed with hockey fans. That can only mean one thing: Canadiens training camp is under way. And what a start it was, with crunching hits and some excellent performances from prospects and established players.

Here's some of the highlights from the Canadiens first on-ice session of training camp.

Christopher Higgins is taking part in the drills this morning, but he will not take part in scrimmages for the time being as he continues to heal from shoulder surgery. He has passed all his medical exams, so there is no cause for concern, the Canadiens said. Afterward, Higgins said he was perfectly healthy, but the team's medical staff has decided to be cautious. However, he could not give a timetable for his return to game action.

In the first scrimmage this morning, Team White won 5-4 in a shootout. Alex Kovalev looked to be in fine form with a goal in regulation and a nifty move in the shootout to beat Loic Lacasse. Matt D'Agostini scored the shootout winner.

After the workouts, Kovalev took time to sign at least six autographs for a young fan with a Kovalev jersey and several cards waiting outside the locker rooms.

Le Journal de Montréal published a list of 10 questions surrounding the 2007-08 edition of the Montreal Canadiens. Have a look at them here and give us your opinion on the questions and answers the newspaper gave.

The Canadiens exhibition schedule is a hectic one, with six games in seven nights starting Monday and Tuesday against the Penguins. But head coach Guy Carbonneau said that is exactly what he wanted.

"We wanted to give the young players a chance to show us what they could do and we wanted some time at the end of camp when we would be able to do some intensive work with the guys who are going to start the season," Carbonneau said.

The 62 players in camp should remain with the team until after the Sept. 23 exhibition game against the Bruins in Halifax. After that game, a drastic cut is expected, with only 26 or 27 players remaining.

Read Pat Hickey's article on the opening of training camp here.