dlbalr

Yep, it's a loan. That was a good one for Hamilton, the Stewart-Vernace one. Hoping they find a way to pull one off before the Clear Day deadline.

For anyone watching on CBC, someone should start a drinking game for the number of times they discuss Carlyle and his extreme line matching tendencies. Man, are they overplaying that theme...

In his defence, it's not as if he had a ton of high picks to work with. No 1st in 2008, no 2nd in 2009, 2010, or 2011. If the bulk of the NHL'ers come from the top-2 rounds, only having half the picks (3 1sts + 1 2nd) over that span seriously limits the odds. Back out the fact that most teams don't have NHL'ers from the past 2 drafts and now we're looking at procuring 1 NHL'er with 2 picks, a 2009 1st and a 2008 2nd (Leblanc and Kristo, the latter hasn't turned pro yet so he still could become one). Meanwhile in the prospect thread, all we're talking about is how most of the current prospects are by far outperforming their draft ranking so he's doing something right. Beaulieu and Tinordi, the most recent 1st rounders, are both progressing very well even if they're not in the NHL as teenagers. He makes mistakes like everyone else does but I'll take Montreal's overall track record with Timmins at the helm over most teams.

Mike, would you be able to give us a bit of an idea what the lines were for this game? I didn't catch much of it; I'm curious if Leblanc/Engqvist (both recalled) were on the same line or not.

Beaulieu, a point per game d-man. That has a nice ring to it.

Hamilton loses 1-0 in the shootout.

Hamilton fails to score on a late PP, here comes the shootout...ugh.

The good news is that Hamilton gets at least a point. The bad news is Lake Erie, a team they need to catch, gets one for sure as well. Heading to OT.

Not really Hamilton related but former Bulldog Brock Trotter was just dealt to St. John's for goalie Peter Mannino and winger Kenndal McArdle. This is an AHL move prior to their trade deadline.

7 minutes left, still 1-1.

Ron Wilson fired by the Leafs, no replacement named yet. Interesting.

1-1 through 1. Engqvist has the PPG for Hamilton. Alex Henry isn't in the lineup for this one, I sincerely hope the Habs didn't get the bright idea to call him up as a forward. Lake Erie's goon was ejected in the period for boarding.

Shinniman (one of the linemates) just signed with the Coyotes.

No Palushaj and Gomez for tomorrow so expect a callup or two (with 10 healthy forwards, they could call a pair up as emergency recalls and not touch their limit of 4 regular recalls). My guess is that it'll be between Leblanc, Schultz, or Engqvist.

Nash hasn't played all year with a shoulder injury.

That's a good point, Ellis should be on a lower salary/bonus so any sort of slide would be smaller. Still though, you could structure the deal to ensure you get a slide too to avoid what happened with Mayer. It's a minor detail but given that the Habs are almost always against the cap, every bit helps.

I know that much, I mentioned it in the article. But, why not sign him yesterday and have the contract slide, shaving a bit off the cap hit?

I think the misplay of the night will come from this game too...

That was an impressive dive, that's for sure. Nice to see the PP clicking for one game at least while Eller and Bourque are terrific on the penalty kill.

Lots of prospects signed today around the league, there must be a reason as to why they preferred to wait until today.

My quick write-up (this is one way to spend an intermission): http://www.habsworld.net/article.php?id=2744

Subtle. Nicely done.

Love? That was despicable, jumping the same guy he had a staged fight with earlier. We're already short a forward with Palushaj out and he goes and does that? Inexcusable. I'd be tempted to nail him to the bench, it's clear his head isn't in the game. There's giving a guy a shove for a late tap and then there's what he did, beyond overboard and unnecessary.

Correct on all accounts.

St-Denis takes a penalty...and the Marlies are awarded an empty net goal. Willsie goes ballistic chasing down the referee who from the sounds of things had quite the difficult night.