dlbalr

Tough way to lose it, the Bulldogs had plenty of opportunities to clear the puck but didn't. Mayer looked decent in goal, he'll be able to hold his own as the backup this year. Quite impressed with Nash, he's more well rounded than I thought. Desharnais was the most dangerous forward out there, Pacioretty looked good but his hands remind me so much of Chad Kilger that it scares me.

A couple of former Bulldogs on the Barons as Shawn Belle (who got quite a raise when he went there) and Greg Stewart both signed there in the offseason.

I think it's both - his play can get under a players' skin for sure but his mouth in the past has got him in trouble - I'm sure he's still yapping as always so it'd play a role in all likelihood.

To be honest, I agree - his mouth got the best of him at times last year and this was the first game I saw signs of it tonight. It's best to nip this in the butt before it evolves as it did last year (where he'd chase players around the ice and get himself in trouble). Other than that, he was solid, as was basically the whole team - it was a perfect road game, not a lot of work for Price, lots of chances, a great bounce back game for sure. HW 3 Stars: http://www.habsworld.net/article.php?id=2237 Game Stats: http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20102011/ES020099.HTM

2 goalies have bolted overseas in the past week, Thomas Greiss (SJ) and Erik Ersberg (LA), the latter being released along the way as well. Makes me feel a little more appreciative for Sanford, a veteran who's willing to ride the buses.

Even the overtime was a lot like the one from the night before, it was eerily similar...with a similar result sadly.

Fans of the NBA are largely familiar with the concept of having value simply in an expiring contract, that's partly where the interest lies, I think. In the hypothetical I suggested in the rumour thread (saw fans on various boards hypothesizing such an offer) that would see O'Byrne/Moen go for Bieksa (which, as noted, doesn't work cap wise but it does for this point), the Habs benefit in theory by acquiring the better defenceman plus getting rid of a contract beyond this season. (And if he fits the system, then perhaps you extend him, who knows?) They then would bring up a Bulldog to take that player's place next year and lo and behold, you've got a little more cap space. In Vancouver's case, they shed a little cap space this year which is needed since they're over the cap, save for LTIR; they just have to "eat" a contract next year to facilitate such a deal. I was afraid the NHL would skew towards this structure but it's certainly starting to look that way - expiring contracts are quickly becoming more of a commodity.

I missed all but the OT/SO last night so I can't say for certain (Derek could have mentioned something), but last I heard, Bishop was nowhere close to returning. Palushaj, who was supposed to be on the trip, was not - he's likely doubtful for tomorrow's televised (on CBC/NHLN-US) game vs Oklahoma City. I suspect once Palushaj/Avtsin both are fully healthy, we may see one of Masse/Fortier be sent down.

Sounds like Pyatt is staying with Gomez/Gionta after all and Boyd is a likely scratch despite lines from the morning skate suggesting otherwise actually. http://www.cjad.com/Blog/HabsNews/blogentr...ntryID=10154999 Enjoy the game, Louis!

Elliott's in for the Sens per François Gagnon. Spezza now listed as doubtful, Zack Smith recalled.

Vancouver's in cap trouble, no way do they take on Gomez's deal, especially for an expiring in Bieksa. A couple of us have discussed KB in the rumour thread, I'm not sure there's a fit since both teams are near (or over) the cap.

Thanks Bar for doing the GDT, I had just come online to put one together... Potential Ottawa Lines: Michalek - Spezza ** - Alfredsson Foligno - Fisher - Kovalev Ruutu - Kelly - Neil Regin - Winchester - Shannon Phillips - Gonchar Campoli - Carkner Hale - Karlsson Spezza is questionable with his recurring groin issues, no word on the goalie yet. HW Preview: http://www.habsworld.net/article.php?id=2236

Shootout results: Manitoba: 3 Perrault (goal) Rosa (no goal) Hodgson (goal) Schroeder (goal) Hamilton: 0 Russell (no goal) White (no goal) Pacioretty (no goal) Game stats: http://theahl.com/stats/game-summary.php?game_id=1007404

Bulldogs PP late in OT...if I didn't know better, I'd swear it was a repeat of yesterday's game. Edit: Like yesterday, they didn't score.

Delmas is indeed in net tonight, 3-3 in OT. Weber (franchise record 15th career PPG), Desharnais, and Dumont with the goals for Hamilton, who had a 3-1 lead. Still no Avtsin, Fortier in for Masse, Petruic in for Klubertanz (injured).

Can't see Subban being sent down though it'd make more sense economically - that wouldn't bridge the whole gap though. As for Desharnais over Eller? I could see that happening if need be. Heck, if Price is going to get the bulk of the starts, they could always farm out Auld and use Sanford as backup or carry a 21 man roster if need be - but none of these seem plausible. We're a week and change away from most teams hitting the 10-game mark so there's time to make some space in the event this has legs to it.

As is always the custom, the Bulldogs (2-1-1) will play a back-to-back on the road in Manitoba (3-2-0) , tonight is game 2. Injury wise, Palushaj didn't make the trip (so I was wrong about that in yesterday's GDT but he was originally supposed to) while Avtsin remains questionable. Scoring leaders: Goals: Yannick Weber (4) Assists: 4 tied with (4) Points: Yannick Weber (8) +/-: Alexander Avtsin (+3) PIMS: Alex Henry (19) Scoring leaders: Goals: Kevin Connauton (4) Assists: Jordan Schroeder (4) Points: 3 tied with (4) +/-: Lee Sweatt (+4) PIMS: Travis Ramsey (17) Puck drop is at 8:30 PM EST and can be listened to by clicking this link: http://cham.player.amri.ca/

The defence was the focus of today's HW Mailbag where 3 writers chipped in their views. Might as well open it up to the board for your takes as well. (If you haven't read the article, here are the questions we tackled:) 1) Who would be your 7th defenceman (assuming all are healthy): Alexandre Picard, Ryan O'Byrne, or someone from Hamilton? 2) In a typical game, how much ice time should each each defenceman get? (Out of 120 possible minutes) 3) Andrei Markov - would you offer him an extension right away or wait until later in the year/offseason? What say you on these topics?

I'm a little baffled too - I think any deal sees 2 Habs going the other way - O'Byrne and fill in the blank (Moen makes the most sense on Vancouver's end). I'd assume White would replace Moen, Picard to the AHL making 7 d-men. Full season numbers: Bieksa (3.75) + White (0.85) = 4.6 in, O'Byrne (0.94) + Moen (1.5) = 2.44 out, 2.16 difference. With Picard in the AHL, the Habs' raw cap space would move to about 900k, with another 0.6ish million (I'm doing these calculations in my head) in bonus cushion. The numbers simply don't work, at least not yet. That said, Vancouver isn't moving Bieksa tomorrow, Salo's still out - by then, the numbers might work barring a rash of injuries that kills the little cap space the Habs currently have.

6 games for Rypien, that to me is a lot more realistic than the 12-15 games I kept seeing people clamour for.

Als will be missing a few regulars tonight - still no Duval (David stays in), Cobourne supposedly (he's on the depth chart but all reports say Whitaker will start), Ferri (Banks in), and Maypray (Vann in).

Bieksa (VAN) reportedly to be dealt sooner than later (when Salo's healthy I'd assume), Gauthier remains interested per TSN's Darren Dreger. http://watch.tsn.ca/nhl/clip364237#clip364237

Shootout Results: (Manitoba shot first each round) Manitoba: 2 Perrault (no goal - post) Rosa (goal) Hodgson (no goal - post) Schroeder (goal) Hamilton: 0 Pacioretty (no goal - lost the puck) Maxwell (no goal) Desharnais (no goal) Wyman (no goal) Final SOG 34-32 Hamilton http://theahl.com/stats/game-summary.php?game_id=1007398

No dice scoring on the PP, shootout time now.

I thought the Habs weren't terrible overall through 40 minutes but they basically mailed it in after. As for the Gomez/Gionta combo, I mused about it in the HW Recap but instead of trying to find someone to play with them, could you not break them up? It may not be overly ideal but it might be a better option than putting a player with 2 goals in 44 career regular season games, all due respect to Pyatt of course. On a side note, any notice Brunet chortling when Houde announced that Brodeur had another shutout? Between that and the live, never-ending salivating over Magnon-Grenier, I could've swore he was cheering at the buzzer.