Oleg Petrov

He never played for LA, but that's where Gainey got him from - I think it might have been kind of a 3-way trade. As for the contract-year thing, he played quite well in the second half of last season, almost as well as he's playing now. His first half he was pretty much playing injured the whole time.

I agree. Leaps and bounds ahead of what he was doing last year. No liabilities, so many positives from the guy. That's why I was so shocked by the stat myself...

Yeah...he's 24, not washed-up yet. Not every team has a Begin already, and he had 5 goals in 36 games last year - decent 4th-line material in St. Louis or Philly. Somebody's got to replace Petr Nedved...

In related news, Bulis on pace for his worst production since leaving Washington. In Bob we trust...

I concur - thanks bebe, I wouldn't have seen this otherwise, and it's an amusing li'l picture.

They're salivating over Garth Murray as we speak.

Here's a little unintuitive stat for you all: Bonk is on the same point-production pace as last year. Believe it!

It's crazy that they're doing so well when so many players haven't found their thing yet. Imagine the Samsonov we saw against Boston playing every game? I keep trying to figure out how the Canadiens win games - until Saku caught fire a week and a half ago, there wasn't a scorer near the top 30. But last season I was feeling the same thing about Buffalo...no complaints at all.

Begin is still untouchable, but I don't think he'd be on the IR if Carbonneau didn't realize he had a problem brewing. I don't think the Habs will ditch Downey. His roster spot is to sit in the stands and be ready to find himself pencilled in for a game that could get rough. No other player can honestly handle that role - you don't want a player that's good for anything else to be sitting in the stands. So he's essentially the 13th forward, a role that nobody else should be relegated to. Murray, on the other hand - he was already platooning with Downey, but when Begin comes back, then the question becomes whether you can platoon him with Downey and Streit - even if Streit is the 7th d-man, he's been so good as a 12th forward/on-call defenseman for when a d gets injured mid-game/gets a 10-minute misconduct that you can't dress Murray without effectively choosing him over Streit, which is impossible because of how good Streit has been in filling that role. My feeling is that when Begin comes back, Lapierre will be sent down because even if Lapierre is a stronger force than Begin this week, the Habs are not ready to start sitting Begin for Lapierre. If you're not going to sit Begin, then you have to sit three of Lapierre, Downey, Streit and Murray, and there's no point in keeping Lapierre if you're not giving him 10 mins or more of ice time. Because of the way Streit's playing, though, I don't think the Habs can hang on to Murray either, as it's ridiculous to play Murray ahead of Streit, and he's no good to anybody in the stands (unlike Downey). So Lapierre sent down, Murray waivered and sent down or traded to Phoenix once the Christmas trade freeze is over...I'm sure they could use him.

I think Gainey should pay someone to get a megaphone at the next GMs meeting and announce, "PLEASE NOTE THAT SHELDON SOURAY INJURED HIS WRIST IN EARLY DECEMBER." That should knock about 2 mil off his ufa price so the Habs can keep him. No need to point out that it was his non-bionic wrist.

When Traverse was claimed in the first place, it was a bit of a blow to him because his family is now based near Worcester, which is where he was playing within the SJ organization, but it was made up for by the likelihood that he might be back in the NHL, which he wouldn't be within the San Jose gang. Then a couple of days later Gainey got Niinimaa, and it seemed like the meanest thing to do to Traverse, as he was now doomed to Hamilton instead of near home in Worcester or in the NHL in Montreal. All the commentators at RDS were ashamed of it when it happened, and it's not the kind of thing Gainey would let stand, I think - hence sending him back where he was happy now. I really don't see this as a preparation for some Sidney Crosby trade.

Franz Kafka. But that was clearly a joke, h in the b, and a funny one. I think Mathieu Schneider is the highest-profile Jewish hockey player right now. Honestly, the only one I can think of. Brad Richards is clearly a Scientologist. Or maybe a devotee of the Bangalore branch of Kali-Durga worship. I can't decide which.

Mandatory visors. Now. I'm tired of seeing guys with blood pouring out of their eye sockets like tonight. At least start with a grandfather clause or something. Sit everyone in the NHLPA down in a movie theatre and show a reel of the Berard footage over and over about 80 times. That'll do the trick, I bet. Hope Bonk's doing all right.

It's definitely in the air. Higgins was answering a question in the locker room on RDS tonight about what he'd think about playing C. He said as long as he's getting the ice time he feels he deserves (sounded very un-Higgins-like to me) and it helps the team, he'll play anywhere. I think the second line deserves another couple of games, especially after their game against Boston. If that doesn't work, I want Kovalev with Koivu and Latendresse, and Higgins between Samsonov and Ryder. But realistically, Carbo feels comfortable moving Latendresse down to the 4th because he won't complain as much, so Koivu-Higgins-Ryder will be back together soon and then for a long time.

I thought the article would have done well to point out that all his 12 points have come in the last 17 games, since he was moved into Higgins' spot. Makes his contribution lately seem as impressive as it truly has been. I was a Latendresse skeptic, but I've warmed up to the kid. There are more articles about him because the press knows his being French makes him a better story, irrespective of how good a player he is. If I were a reporter, I'd follow the bigger story, too, and I wouldn't expect dirty looks from Borat for it. (Not that Borat even knows how to give a dirty look - he sent me an e-mail once and there were no letters, only sixteen smileys, an exclamation mark, and a picture of a baby kitten rescuing Pikachu from a bottle of fabric softener. I asked someone about it and they said it was an actual quote of his.)

I gotta go with the wink. I remember watching that game on tv and seeing it happen live, on a random camera angle post-whistle. The commentators didn't even mention it, but my brain exploded, and I'm sure everyone else watching the game had the same experience. I wish a similar camera angle would have caught Koivu's face after schooling Peca off the faceoff for that unassisted goal a few games ago - he turned around after burying it through Raycroft and said something to Peca that was pure Patrick Roy.

Yeah, Zubrus wouldn't break the top 6 (with Higgins back) and he's a modern-day Rob Brown alongside Ovechkin. Who's Rob Brown, you ask? Exactly. 1988-89 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 68 GP 49 G 66 A 115 Pts I'll take Perezhogin, thank you very much. Let's see what they're both doing in 2 years. Also, as talented as Bulis was (though I never liked him), Zednik was the key to that trade. Forget the last season - the guy was *the* sniper on the team from 01 to 04. 79 goals over three seasons; Linden and Zubrus had 88 between them over the same time period.

He's not playing up to his potential, but even so, he's earning his 4.5. I still think Gainey scored a coup in locking him up for that much. Can you imagine what he would have gotten in the open market this past summer? No, he doesn't score enough. Yes, he should be taking more wristers from the faceoff dot. But as a couple of people have already pointed out, he's often double-teamed by the opposition and he draws penalties all the time when frustrated opponents hook him or hold him - even if that's off-balanced by his annoying 2-minute misconducts. You remember how all last year and the beginning of this year he would do that right-side blue-line swerve on the power play and dance in to the net to take that killer wrist shot? Every team is aware of that now, so he can't do it any more, but the effort other teams' PKs put into stopping him from doing it opens things up for the other players. These are things which don't show up in the stats, but Carbo knows them. As for the things which do show up in the stats - Souray is a huge part of the PP success, but so are Markov and Kovalev - Markov at the left point with his surreal passes to Kovalev low right who passes to the left slot to someone who hopefully scores. Other than Souray's cannon, that's all the Habs have going on the PP, and that half of it wouldn't happen without Kovalev. Watch for it next game, you'll see it again and again. As for yesterday, he played a horrible game, and he knew it. That giveaway for Savard's 2nd goal was just the worst of a bad night of off-sync passes, etc, and it had him shaking his head on the way to the bench, which he never does. But the guy did have the flu...

Max Power?

Hey Gang, I remember hearing a while ago that when they retired number 4 and number 16, it was at a time when they still didn't put names on the back of jerseys, and that the retirements were supposed to be not just for Beliveau and H. Richard but Aurèle Joliat (4) and Elmer Lach (16) as well. There's not much footage of these guys, of course, so they're a tough sell to modern audiences, but I think it's important that if their jerseys were retired more than 30 years ago, they not be omitted from the rafters just because most people don't know who they were. Isn't that the whole point of retiring numbers anyway? So that the players are remembered? This isn't an argument that these guys should have their jerseys retired - it's just calling attention to the fact that they already have had their jerseys retired. I'm pretty sure the Canadiens organization knows about this - apparently it turned up in their press guide a couple of years ago - but the jerseys in the rafters now do have names, and they're Beliveau and H. Richard for those two numbers, and nobody else's. I'd like to get a bit of a groundswell going of people talking about this so that maybe the Habs will get embarrassed and rectify this. Aurèle Joliat: Aurel Emile 'Little Giant' Joliat (Ottawa, August 29, 1901 – June 2, 1986 in Ottawa) When discussions about the greatest left wing during the 1926-46 era are done, the name of Aurel Joliat is invariably mentioned. At 5' 07'and 136 lbs, Joliat played for the Montreal Canadiens from 1922-38. He was the recipient of the Hart Memorial Trophy in 1934. Joliat was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1947. In 1998, though he had been retired from hockey for 60 years, he was ranked number 65 on The Hockey News' list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players. His brother Robert also played professional hockey. Joliat died at the age of 84 in 1986, after seeing his beloved Canadiens win their 23rd Stanley Cup earlier that year and was buried in Notre Dame Cemetery in Ottawa, Ontario. NHL Totals 654 270 190 460 757 54 14 19 33 89 Elmer Lach: Elmer James Lach (born January 22, 1918 in Nokomis, Saskatchewan) Lach was the recipient of the Art Ross Trophy in 1948 and the Hart Trophy in 1945. He did lead the NHL in scoring during the 1944-45 season with 80 points, but this was before the creation of the Art Ross Trophy. Elmer was the centre of the great "Punch Line" with Toe Blake and Maurice Richard. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1966. Elmer won the Stanley Cup three times in the years 1944, 1946, and 1953. In 1998, he was ranked number 68 on The Hockey News' list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players. NHL Totals 664 215 408 623 478 76 19 45 64 36

If he were a goalie, Maxi pads would work. But for the kind of player he is, Maxi is too feminine hygiene-related.

I loved Matt Snazzlund back in the day, but his point totals were from the high-flyin' eighties. If his career had taken place a decade later, I don't think he'd have topped more than 60 points in any season. But he was a great forward at a time when the Habs were all about defence and relying on Patrick Roy.

Maximus, or Gladiator. I assume Pete is because Pierre = Peter.

I always liked Yanic Perreault, but by the time he left Montreal, he was dead weight, an old player blocking young development. I'm happy he's doing so well, but there's a reason he couldn't get a contract with Nashville again, and a reason why the only team that would sign him for almost minimum wage was Phoenix. Yes, he scores goals and wins faceoffs, but his plus-minus was usually the worst on the Habs, from what I remember, he made the team smaller, and the team lost more with him in the lineup. (Same thing with Ribeiro - I loved watching him, but I don't think he made the team win games as much as he does by not being in the city.) That said, the second line is a defensive catastrophe right now, even with Plekanec involved, so it's hard to imagine they'd be much worse with Perreault, and at least then they might score some goals. But I'm optimistic that this line will get sorted out eventually, especially with the new possibilities tied to Higgins' return. There's only so many spots on the bench, and if you have a declining Perreault in one of them that's one more retirement that has to happen before Kostitsyn gets in the game. Again, I wish him all the success in the world. I think he had rough treatment while he was here, and he was vital to the Canadiens making the playoffs without Koivu in 02.

I didn't make the comment, so I can't speak from authority, but I assume coat = jacket = "Streit" jacket.