Habs : Subban ready to take the heat in Boston, predicts a long, tough series

 Source : Faceoff.com

Everything is magnified when the Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins meet in the playoffs, and that's how P.K. Subban likes it.

The flashy Canadiens defenceman is sure to be a target for the Bruins and the TD Garden fans when the two Original Six teams meet for the 34th time in the post-season.

Boston fans tend to boo Subban the same way Montreal fans give it to Zdeno Chara whenever the towering Bruins defenceman touches the puck at the Bell Centre.

"It doesn't matter if I like it or I'm ready for it because it doesn't really dictate how I play or how this team plays," Subban said Monday. "That's the most important thing.

"If they're trying to find ways to get me off my game, that means I'm doing something right."
Montreal is on a lengthy break after sweeping the Tampa Bay Lightning in the opening round, while the Bruins will also be rested after eliminating the Detroit Red Wings in five.

It will be Subban's second career playoff meeting with the Bruins. In 2011, he had two goals and four points as Montreal won the first two games of the first-round series in Boston before going on to lose Game 7 in overtime.

The 2013 Norris Trophy winner expects another long series, but hopes for a different result.

"I've always been a guy that's excited to play in the playoffs because it's meaningful and because it seems like the bigger the stage, the better I play and the more I play," he said. " And when I play more I always play better.

"I think I learned through that series, going up 2-0 in Boston and then losing in seven games. It's not a fun thing to do, but we were that close to beating them and they went on to win the Stanley Cup that year."

The Canadiens won three of four meetings with the Bruins this season, including both games in Boston.

But they will still be underdogs against a Bruins side that is little changed from the one that reached the Stanley Cup final last season and won the Presidents' Trophy for having the most points this past season.

"I'm sure people are going to enjoy the series," said Subban. "I'm predicting it's going to be a long and gruelling series.

"They're better than they were (in 2011) and it's going to be an even tougher series. Trust me, we're not thinking about coming home up 2-0. We know it's going to be a grind."

The Canadiens tend to counter the Bruins' physical play with a game based on quickness and puck pressure. Boston's big men take runs at Subban, who they see as a diver who talks too much on the ice.

Subban, in turn, plays some of his best hockey against Boston.

"I don't consider that any part of my game," said Subban. "I consider playing well as the biggest way of agitating other teams' players — putting the puck in the net, playing physical, having an impact on the game.

"That seems to (make people angry) a lot more than talking or chirping."

Games between the teams often get nasty, including one this season when Boston's Milan Lucic speared defenceman Alexei Emelin in the groin area.

The bad blood has built up over decades of meetings between the teams. It has mostly gone in favour of Montreal, which has a 24-9 record in playoff series against Boston since their first meeting in 1929.

The Bruins have won the last two, however.

"I knew that part of playing for the Montreal Canadiens is there were rivalries and a lot of history," said Subban. "At the end of the day, we'll probably talk about it for the next three or four days but once the puck drops, it doesn't matter what rivalry or history there is.

"It's just a matter of winning. Then, after the game, we'll talk abut history and whatever."
It won't be the first Bruins-Canadiens series for Montreal coach Michel Therrien. During his first stint with the Canadiens, he won a first-round series in six games over Boston in 2002 before losing in the next round to Carolina.

"I was a lot younger at the time and had more hair," said Therrien. "But (Bruins coach) Claude (Julien) has a lot of experience too.

"It's a challenge for both teams."

To break up the monotony, the Canadiens had a simulated game day on Monday, including a morning skate and an intrasquad game in the evening against mostly call-ups from the AHL's Hamilton Bulldogs.

They will take Tuesday off and get back to regular practices on Wednesday.

Habs : Bergevin faces extra heat going into second draft as Canadiens general manager

Source : Montrealgazette.com

 Holding the third overall draft pick made things relatively simple for Marc Bergevin a year ago at his first NHL draft as general manager of the Montreal Canadiens.

This time may be trickier, as Bergevin and his staff go into Sunday's draft holding the 25th overall pick. However, having six picks in the first three rounds could make it interesting.

"Last year we only had two picks before ours and we had a good idea of what we were going to do," said Bergevin, who selected forward Alex Galchenyuk. "This year, it's completely different."
And this time there is unexpected extra pressure on Bergevin in the form of centre Vincent Lecavalier.

Montreal fans are pushing hard for the Canadiens to sign Lecavalier, who entered the unrestricted free agent market on Thursday when the Tampa Bay Lightning announced they were buying out 33-year-old's hefty contract.

The Canadiens have not had a French-Canadian star in many years, and Lecavalier would fit that bill. They also want to get bigger up front, and Lecavalier is six-foot-four. And, with 20 players signed and $9 million in salary cap space open, they should be able to afford him.

Even Mathieu Darche, a former Canadien and Lightning, urged Bergevin on his blog for RDS to sign the slick centre who scored 52 goals in 2006-07.

The temptation to make a play for his former teammate in Tampa would have to be enormous, even if it seems to go against Bergevin's philosophy.

Only a week ago, Bergevin said he was leery of using free agency for anything but acquiring role players to fill gaps in the roster, as he did last summer with Brandon Prust and Colby Armstrong.

"To me, free agency is a tool, but it's not a way to make your team a top team," he said. "It's overplayed. You have to be really careful with free agency."

He does not rule out making a deal to move up in the draft, however. The Canadiens have three second round picks, including the 34th and 36th overall from previous deals, as well as their own 55th pick. They also draft 71st and 86th overall in the third round.

"I can say we're always looking to improve our position, but there's a price to pay," he said.

"You don't build a team through free agency or trades, you build it through the draft. And you need to be patient with these guys. Look at the teams that have success, like Chicago. The core of their players, most of them came through the draft. And it took years for them to become the elite team they are now. It's not a secret recipe, how to build a hockey team."

He gave no indication on what sort of players he and scouting director Trevor Timmins are looking for.

After his smaller-than-average team was eliminated in the first round of playoffs by Ottawa, he said he would like more "balance" between big and small players. So they may look for some bigger bodies.

The organization is also thin on goalies, having not drafted one since they took Petteri Simla 211th overall in 2009. They have selected only two since they got Carey Price fifth overall in 2005.
So they may be tempted by Halifax Mooseheads goalie Zach Fucale.

There are a handful of other prospects from Quebec who may be available if that is a consideration, including defenceman Samuel Morin and forwards Laurent Dauphin, Anthony Mantha and perhaps Frederik Gauthier.

The flashy Jonathan Drouin, expected to go in the top five, is likely out of their reach. Bergevin said it would take more than offering a first and second round pick to move up that high.

"It's not just to draft the players available, but to draft the players you like," he said. "If you can move up and get that player, and it comes at a price you feel is not too steep, then I will do that."
What he has to offer is other draft picks.

"Especially in the early second (round)," he said. "The 34th and 36th. Those are really good picks.
They're appealing picks."

Montreal has its best collection of picks since it had five in the top 73 in 2007. That year, they got Ryan McDonagh (now a New York Ranger) 12th, Max Pacioretty 22nd, Norris Trophy winner P.K. Subban 43rd and defenceman Yannick Weber 73rd.

Their off-season moves so far include buying out rearguard Tomas Kaberle and signing depth defenceman Davis Drewiske to a new deal.

Habs vs Senators : Heat turned up on rivalry between Canadiens and Senators

Source : Montrealgazette.com

There was not a provocative word spoken in the days leading to Game 1 of the Canadiens-Ottawa Senators Eastern Conference quarterfinal. Just a great, almost embarrassing deal of respectful talk and mutual admiration between two clubs that, until now, haven't really been rivals at all.

But on Thursday night, in one sickening, blood-spilling collision, all of that changed.
Canadiens centreman Lars Eller left the Bell Centre on a stretcher, having suffered a loss of consciousness, a concussion and facial and dental fractures after being flattened by Ottawa defenceman Eric Gryba.

And now, with the Senators' 4-2 Game 1 victory and Game 2 on tap here Friday night, this series has a very sharp edge. In one horrifying moment, whether you believe as does Ottawa coach Paul MacLean that the hit was just a "hockey play" that ended badly for Eller, two teams have carved themselves a very different relationship.

Senators goalie Craig Anderson was in different universe, making 48 saves to backstop the victory. Facing any other goaltender on this night, the Canadiens are winners.

But the Senators got the netminding they needed against a swarming Canadiens squad while Habs goalie Carey Price was beaten four times on 31 Ottawa shots.

It wasn't the loss that marked this night as much as the cataclysmic check that laid out Eller.

The 23-year-old was concussed by a high, hard check by Gryba 13:28 into the second period, levelled just inside the Canadiens blue line. Whether it was a direct or indirect head shot is subject to debate.

Eller had just taken a clearing pass from defenceman Raphael Diaz when he was crushed by the 6-foot-4, 222-pound Gryba, who read the play and made full-speed shoulder/tricep high contact with his target just as he took the puck. That Eller was bent a little increased his two-inch height disadvantage.

"If I'm Eller, I'm really mad at No. 61 (Diaz), whoever that is, for passing the puck when I'm not looking," MacLean said later. "It's always been a dangerous place."

Canadiens coach Michel Therrien would not discuss the check or its aftermath except to say: "We all saw the hit, I'm sure the league will review it. I'm not allowed to make any comment."

And, Therrien said, "I'm not going to blame Raphael."

Eller hit the ice heavily upon impact, face down, bleeding profusely, and was tended to by head athletic therapist Graham Rynbend, his assistant, Nick Addey-Jibb, and team doctor Vincent Lacroix. At Eller's side, Addey-Jibb waved his hand vigorously to quiet the by-now chanting fans.

Looking directly down on the player from the media gallery as he was wheeled off the rink on a stretcher, he was a bloody, eyes-glazed mess.

Eller remained in Montreal hospital overnight for observation, obviously out of action for Game 2 and quite possibly much longer than that.

Canadiens forward Rene Bourque later said that Eller had taken a "dirty hit" directly to the head and added that he believed Gryba deserved a suspension.

There was no immediate word whether the NHL, whose commissioner, Gary Bettman, was in attendance Thursday, will take any action.

Centre Ryan White said he didn't see the hit "too well, but when a guy is down in a heap like that, it's always tough to see. We're hoping Larry's going to be all right and back in action as soon as possible.

"We just wanted to stay focused (on the bench)," he added of the shock upon seeing Eller in such difficult shape, having left a lot of blood on the ice.

"It's tough seeing one of your teammates go down like that. We wanted to get that win for him. It didn't go that way tonight but it's a long series. . . . As a team, we played hard after that, we just got away from our game in the third."

The leadup to this series, the first between the two clubs in the NHL's modern era, had been remarkably placid.

No one expects the Senators and the Canadiens to wear the ugly face of the Habs and the Boston Bruins, whose rivalry has developed a true sense of hatred through 33 playoff series since 1929 — 33 more than Canadiens vs. Senators — and a forest of sticks reduced to kindling over skulls and bones.

The Habs and Bruins have faced each other 170 times in the postseason; the Habs and modern-day Senators now just once.

But as the best-of-seven between Montreal and Ottawa began Thursday, there was a terribly genteel mood, almost warm and fuzzy feelings of mutual respect exchanged by both sides for opposing players, cities, even fan bases.

If there was a frayed edge to this series, someone surely would have taken out a pair of sewing scissors and snipped it off, making sure the loose thread didn't unravel the hem.

Where one team's skin-pricking words can often fill the opponent's dressing-room blackboard, even benign comments used for motivation, the Habs and Senators uttered not a single contentious word before Game 1.

A single action, on this night, spoke with much greater volume.

There's a lot of hockey to be played before this series is decided. But with the scene of Eller leaving the ice a pulpy, scarlet mess, the atmosphere is hardly what it was before opening faceoff.

We're not at Habs vs. Bruins yet, but two teams have taken a dramatic step in that direction.