Habs : Canadiens’ Daniel Brière enjoying spot on power play

Source : Montrealgazette

Link : Youtube channel 
          My facebook page
          My Twitter

Daniel Brière finds himself back in familiar territory as he lines up with the Canadiens’ first power-play unit.

“It’s good to be back there because I didn’t play much on the power play last year in Philadelphia,” Brière said Tuesday after the Canadiens practised in Brossard. “That’s partly my fault, because I had injuries and I wasn’t playing that well.”

A healthy Brière said he’s starting to feel comfortable with new linemates Max Pacioretty and David Desharnais, and that playing together on the power play has helped the line come together.

“We had some success on the power play early (Monday) night and that’s good for the confidence,” said Brière, who assisted on the first of two power play goals by Pacioretty in the Canadiens’ 3-2 win over the New Jersey Devils.

“I thought we played well on the power play and that will carry over into our 5-on-5 play,” added Brière, who was the Canadiens’ most significant acquisition in the off-season. “We’re getting to know each other, where we’re going to be and what we’re going to do in certain situations.”
Brière was cycling down low when he found Pacioretty in the high slot for Montreal’s first goal.

Brière said the power play has always been a large part of his game.

“Even when I was starting in Phoenix and I was playing on the fourth line, I had time on the power play,” he recalled of his early days in the National Hockey League.

Brière’s success on the power play is reflected in the statistics. He has scored 102 of his 286 goals with the extra man and he has also collected 148 power-play assists.

While the Canadiens haven’t spent a lot of time working on special teams, it appears that coach Michel Therrien is relying heavily on defencemen P.K. Subban and Andrei Markov. The Canadiens were on the power play for 6:08 Monday, and Markov was on the ice for 5:44 and Subban logged 5:30. Subban assisted on Pacioretty’s second goal when he caught the Devils’ defence napping with a stretch pass from deep in the Canadiens’ zone to the far blue line.

Pacioretty beat Martin Brodeur with a backhander off the rush.

“You saw his speed and his hands on that goal,” Brière said.

Brière added that he’s enjoying the intense practices in Montreal and has gained an understanding of the Canadiens’ system.

“When I was in Philly, it was always tough to play against Montreal and New Jersey, and I didn’t know why,” Brière said. “The system here is all about putting pressure on the opponent, not giving them room to move.”

With back-to-back games against the Senators Wednesday night in Ottawa and Thursday at the Bell Centre (7:30 p.m., RDS, TSN Radio 690 for both games), Therrien said he would try to strike a balance between getting his lineup ready for next Tuesday’s season opener against Toronto at the Bell Centre and keeping his troops fresh.

“We have some young players we want to look at some more, and we’ll do that in Ottawa, and then we’ll have pretty much the starting lineup back here in Montreal,” Therrien said.

That means fans in Ottawa will likely see Nathan Beaulieu, Magnus Nygren, Patrick Holland, Nick Tarnasky, Gabriel Dumont and Michael Bournival, who still has an outside chance to make the opening-night roster.

Captain Brian Gionta will make his first appearance of the preseason on Thursday, playing on a line with Tomas Plekanec and Rene Bourque. Gionta had surgery on his right biceps and, while he was cleared for contact last week, the Canadiens elected to give him some extra recovery time.

Therrien confirmed that his opening-night lineup is set. He’s happy with the David Desharnais, Tomas Plekanec and Lars Eller lines and it appears that Travis Moen, Ryan White and Brandon Prust will form the fourth line.

George Parros, who had shoulder surgery in the off-season, has been cleared for contact, but Therrien said the 6-foot-5, 224-pounder won’t play in either of the final two exhibition games.

The end of Tuesday’s practice provided some fun as assistant coach Gerard Gallant joined a shootout contest and scored back-to-back goals on Peter Budaj and Carey Price.

“I think we’ll keep (Gallant) behind the bench and use him in shootouts,” Therrien said.

Link : Youtube channel 
          My facebook page
          My Twitter

Zachary Fucale’s father is a proud Canadiens fan

Source : montrealgazette.com

Link : Youtube channel 
          My facebook page
          My Twitter
  
 When the Canadiens selected his son, Zachary, in the second round of June’s National Hockey League entry draft, they spared Jack Fucale and his cousins, who are diehard Habs fans, from rooting for another team.

That potential scenario had been the subject of fun, lighthearted exchanges among them before the draft.

“We were all discussing this. I said: ‘How are we going to do this?’ ” Jack Fucale recounted on Tuesday.

“It’s only automatic that we’re going to become fans of whatever team he goes to.”

As it turned out, the talk was for naught. The Canadiens selected Zachary Fucale, a goaltender with the Halifax Mooseheads, in the second round (36th overall).

“It makes everything so much easier, right?” his father said.

“How can a Canadiens fan become a Toronto Maple Leafs fan or a Boston Bruins fan? How do you do that? You just can’t.”

Jack Fucale, his wife, who is also a big Canadiens fan, and their two daughters, along with other family and friends, watched Zachary make his Bell Centre debut at Saturday’s scrimmage and again on Sunday when he played for part of the Canadiens’ first preseason game against the Buffalo Sabres.

Fucale called it “very heartwarming and overwhelming at the same time” to see his son play there.
The two had watched a number of Canadiens games together at the Bell Centre in the past. Fucale, who owns a transportation company, would buy Canadiens game packages. “So there were a few years when Zach and I were at the Bell Centre quite often,” he said.

Asked if he had any concern about his son being put in the media spotlight in Montreal, Fucale said: “No, because he can handle it. He’s handled it up until now at a very, very young age. And so I don’t see it getting problematic at all.”

Fucale grew up in a bilingual home in Rosemère and attended French and English schools. He looked poised at the Canadiens’ training camp, fielding reporters’ questions in both languages. He’d already faced some media attention in the past as a top prospect and No. 1 goalie for the Halifax Mooseheads, who won the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League championship last season and the Memorial Cup.

Fucale, who signed a three-year entry level contract with the Canadiens last weekend, was among 14 players released from the Habs’ training camp on Monday after their 6-3 preseason loss to the Boston Bruins. It’s not a surprise that Fucale, who is only 18, is returning to his major-junior team.
Fucale called the training camp helpful for his development and said he learned a lot.

“I saw the level of play is very high, it’s very fast. So for me, it’s very important to work on every part of my game,” he told reporters Monday night.

“There are so many screens during the game. A lot of people are trying to obstruct the view. And guys are stronger, they’re smarter, their shots are just harder,” Fucale added.

“Every little aspect of the game is better in the NHL and you’ve got to adjust and get better.”
Fucale said he didn’t want to look too far ahead when asked about trying to land a spot on Canada’s team for the world junior championship in Malmö, Sweden, which starts on Dec. 26.

“I just want to continue doing my job, just keep working, and if I earn a spot on that team I’ll be super happy,” he said.

Link : Youtube channel 
          My facebook page
          My Twitter
 

Habs : No pressure on Canadiens, Michel Therrien insists

Source : montrealgazette.com



Michel Therrien says his team isn’t feeling any pressure as the favourite going into its first-round Stanley Cup playoff series against the Ottawa Senators.

And the coach doesn’t think there’s any pressure on the five Canadiens who will be experiencing NHL playoff action for the first time.

“We don’t feel pressure, we want to apply pressure,” Therrien said after his team wrapped up three days of practice in preparation for the opening game in the best-of-seven series Thursday at the Bell Centre (7 p.m., CBC, RDS, TSN-690 Radio).

Therrien predicted a long and arduous series and was careful to avoid any inflammatory comments that would find their way to a bulletin board in the Senators’ locker room.

He dismissed Ottawa coach Paul MacLean’s suggestion that there was pressure on the Canadiens as the favourite in the series and then he went on to praise MacLean’s work in getting to the playoffs despite a string of injuries.

When he was asked whether the bad blood between Brandon Prust and Chris Neil might spill over into the post-season, he ducked the question and praised Neil for his competitive spirit.

Inexperience could be a concern for both teams going into Game 1. The Canadiens have three rookies — Brendan Gallagher, Alex Galchenyuk and recall Jarred Tinordi — while Max Pacioretty and 
Raphael Diaz are seeing playoff action for the first time.

Ottawa will have at least five rookies in the lineup, including Cory Conacher, Jakob Silfverberg and Mika Zibanejad.

Therrien said he has talked to his young players and he believes that they are ready for their first taste of the playoffs.

Tinordi, who could be a factor in the post-season, appeared calm after practice Wednesday. He has been soaking in the playoff atmosphere since being recalled from Hamilton last week and has been getting tips from his father Mark, a former NHL defenceman with 70 playoff games under his belt.

“It’s exciting,” said Tinordi, whose NHL experience is limited to eight games. “I remember my first game, I didn’t sleep much the night before. I was pretty jittery. I’m taking a different approach this time. I want to play my game and not get too ramped up. I’m sure all the emotions will be there on the day of the game, but right now I’m just focused on Ottawa.”

Tinordi said he expected the atmosphere at the Bell Centre would be crazy, “but we have to use that in a positive way.”

The 6-foot-6 Tinordi is important because he gives the Canadiens some size and his physical play helps fill the void left by Alex Emelin’s season-ending knee injury.

The Canadiens have spent a good part of the past three days working on special teams, particularly the penalty-kill, which has struggled for most of the season. The addition of Tinordi and the return of Prust and Raphael Diaz from injuries can help the Canadiens turn this area of the game around.

“We’re ready,” said Diaz, who is back to playing 20 minutes a game after missing 25 games with a concussion. “It’s about blocking shots and getting in the shooting lanes. One of the biggest parts of the PK is to be in the lanes and you have to know when to force and when to stay back. You don’t want to force a player when he has good control because then he can make a pass and you’re out of position.

“The PK is about work, it’s about heart and it’s about four guys working together,” added Diaz. “The last couple of games, we’ve been good and I think we’ll take that into the playoffs.”

Therrien will start the playoffs with almost the same lineup he employed last Saturday in Toronto. The one exception will be in goal with Carey Price replacing Peter Budaj.

Ryan White, who returned Saturday from a five-game suspension, gets another shot at centre on the fourth line with Prust and Travis Moen. Jeff Halpern is better than White in the faceoff circle, but White is the more physical player and the line may be designed to keep Neil’s competitive spirit in check.

Game 2 in the series is scheduled for the Bell Centre Friday night, with the series moving to Scotiabank Place in Kanata for games Sunday and Tuesday.

Awful night for Carey Price as Leafs rout Canadiens in Toronto

Source : Montrealgazette.com

The Toronto Maple Leafs scored on four of their first five shots on goal and defeated the Canadiens 5-1 Saturday night at the Air Canada Centre. Goaltender was clearly the difference in a game that illustrated why the Canadiens should be wary of a first-round playoff matchup against the Leafs. James Reimer made 36 saves as the Leafs beat the Canadiens for the third time in four meetings. Carey Price and Peter Budaj gave up five goals on the first nine shots they faced although neither received much in the way of defensive help.

Still No. 1: Despite the loss, the Canadiens maintained first place in the Northeast Division, which means that if the season ended now, the Canadiens wouldn’t have to worry about the Leafs. Instead, they would be heading to New York to play the Islanders. Montreal maintained its one-point lead over Boston in the division when the Bruins dropped a 4-2 decision to the lowly Carolina Hurricanes.

Price isn’t right: Price was pulled at 10:25 of the first period after giving up three goals on four shots. The Leafs opened the scoring on a power-play goal by Tyler Bozak at 1:54, made it 2-0 on a goal by Leo Komarov at 8:08 and sent Price to the bench with a goal by Jay McClement at 10:25. It was the earliest Price has been yanked in his NHL career.

Budaj not much better: We might have had the ingredients for a goaltender controversy, but backup Budaj gave up a goal to Dion Phaneuf on the first shot he faced at 17:06 and Phil Kessel scored at 4:32 of the second period to give the Leafs five goals on nine shots.

Drewiske delivers: The only Canadien to beat Reimer was newcomer Davis Drewiske. The defenceman scored on a shot from the high slot at 13:08 of the first period to cut the Toronto lead to 3-1.

Specialty items: The Canadiens’ string of seven games without giving up a power-play goal ended when Bozak scored in the first period. The Leafs were 1-for-5 with the extra man. The Canadiens’ power play, which ranked fourth in the NHL going into the game, was 0-for-4 and managed only three shots on net.

He said it: When asked to characterize the Montreal-Toronto rivalry this season, Leafs coach Randy Carlyle said: “Lopsided scores.” He was almost right. The Leafs have won by 6-0, 2-1 and 5-1 margins. The Canadiens were 5-2 winners here on Feb. 27. The teams meet here to close out the regular season on April 27.

What’s next: The Canadiens play four games in six nights beginning Monday when the Philadelphia Flyers visit the Bell Centre (7:30 p.m., TSN-Habs, RDS, TSN 690 Radio). The Canadiens travel to Pittsburgh on Wednesday and wrap up the week with their final two regular-season home games, against Tampa Bay on Wednesday and the Washington Capitals on Saturday.

NHL Trade Deadline 2013

 Source : Montrealgazette.com

The list of all transaction yesterday.

Trade tracker

Columbus acquires: Patrick Killeen

Pittsburgh acquires: Future considerations

Minnesota acquires: Jeff Deslauriers

Anaheim acquires: Future considerations

Washington acquires: Martin Erat Michael Latta

Nashville acquires: Filip Forsberg

New Jersey acquires: Steve Sullivan

Phoenix acquires: 2014 Seventh-round pick

Anaheim acquires: Matthew Lombardi

Phoenix acquires: Brandon McMillan

Boston acquires: Wade Redden

St. Louis acquires: 2014 conditional seventh-round pick

Toronto acquires: Ryan O'Byrne

Colorado acquires: 2014 fourth-round pick

Columbus acquires: Blake Comeau

Calgary acquires: Fifth-round pick

San Jose acquires: Raffi Torres

Phoenix acquires: 2013 third-round pick

Minnesota acquires: Jason Pominville 2014 4th-round pick

Buffalo acquires: Matt Hackett Johan Larsson

Columbus acquires: Marian Gaborik Blake Parlett Steve Delisle

New York acquires: Derick Brassard John Moore Derek Dorsett

Philadelphia acquires: Steve Mason

Columbus acquires: Michael Leighton 2015 third-round pick

Tampa Bay acquires: Ben Bishop

Ottawa acquires: Cory Conacher 2013 Fourth-round pick

Pittsburgh acquires: Jussi Jokinen

Carolina acquires: 2013 conditional pick

Edmonton acquires: Jerred Smithson

Florida acquires: 2013 fourth-round pick

San Jose acquires: Scott Hannan

Nashville acquires: Conditional 2013 seventh-round pick

New York acquires: Ryane Clowe

San Jose acquires: 2013 second-round pick 2013 third-round pick Conditional 2014 second-round pick

Boston acquires: Jaromir Jagr

Dallas acquires: Lane MacDermid Cody Payne Conditional 2013 2nd-round pick

Vancouver acquires: Derek Roy

Dallas acquires: Kevin Cannauton 2013 second-round pick

Los Angeles acquires: Robyn Regehr

Buffalo acquires: 2014 second-round pick 2015 second-round pick

St. Louis acquires: Jay Bouwmeester

Calgary acquires: 2013 or 2014 first-round pick 2013 cond. fourth-round pick Mark Cundari Reto Berra

St. Louis acquires: Jordan Leopold

Buffalo acquires: 2013 second-round pick 2013 fifth-round pick

Pittsburgh acquires: Jarome Iginla

Calgary acquires: 2013 first-round pick Kenneth Agostino Ben Hanowski

Pittsburgh acquires: Douglas Murray

Dallas acquires: 2013 second-round pick 2014 second-round pick

Pittsburgh acquires: Brenden Morrow 2013 third-round pick

Dallas acquires: Joseph Morrow 2013 fifth-round pick