dlbalr

Of all the games to miss, I miss basically the entire comeback. Ouch.

Fortier snaps one off the crossbar and in to get Hamilton on the board. Nattinen/Mitera with the helpers.

Mayer held the fort...boy that feels odd to type but it's still 3-0 Marlies.

2 notes: - As I noted the other day, Morgan Ellis is likely to be dealt. It sounds as if the Saint John Sea Dogs will be getting him though that's just a rumour at this point. (They reportedly want one of either Ellis or current WJHC d-man Gormley.) - Speaking of rumours, don't forget the trade freeze ends at midnight. I suspect with all the hullabaloo surrounding the Habs, we'll see a flurry of rumours shortly thereafter. Heck, the usual Twitter rumour inventors aren't even waiting, they're in full force today.

And now it's 3-0. Ryan Hamilton with the goal. We're 5:19 into the game. Here comes Mayer.

Delay of game penalty leads to a PPG for Toronto. Methinks the team forgot the game started at 1...

Interesting line to start the game, the defensively challenged Avtsin with Fortier and Engqvist. Avtsin nearly scored on the first shift. And one shift later, the Marlies score. D'oh.

Canada's lines for today have Gallagher on the top unit with Schwartz and Scheifele while Bournival drops to the 4th line playing LW alongside Jenner and Connolly. Beaulieu is listed as the 7th D.

The holiday break is over for the Bulldogs as they travel to Toronto to kick off a busy week in a Boxing Day matinee. Active scoring leaders: Goals: DeSimone/Engqvist/Masse (6) Assists: Brian Willsie (11) Points: Brian Willsie (14) +/-: Andreas Engqvist (+3) PIMS: Zack FitzGerald (113) Active scoring leaders: Goals: Colborne/Hamilton (10) Assists: Mike Zigomanis (19) Points: Mike Zigomanis (24) +/-: Marcel Mueller (+9) PIMS: Kyle Neuber (52) Puck drop is at 1:00 PM EST and can be listened to by clicking this link: http://cham.player.amri.ca/

For the amount of hockey I follow, I don't get out to a lot of games. I've been to 3 AHL games in my life; before this, that was the highest level I'd seen. (I've been to about 25-30 OHL games but that's junior level.) As for why we're going to Ottawa, the main reason was price and the fact tickets were actually available (something that isn't exactly the case with the Habs).

Time for that annual thread (some have been here, others in The Lounge) where everyone can discuss all the Habs-related items they got during the holiday season. For me, I got a Cammalleri road jersey and tickets to Tuesday's game in Ottawa. As I've never been to an NHL game live before, I'm quite looking forward to this...regardless of the 7-hour each way drive that will be facing us. Here's hoping the Habs show up for this one unlike the travesty in Winnipeg.

Santa was good to Ron Wilson as he announced via Twitter this morning that he has signed a contract extension. Leaf fans worldwide feel as if they just got lumps of coal in their stocking.

Our annual StatTracker is now up. I'll be updating it regularly as the tournament progresses. If you're curious about how the current Habs have done in the World Juniors, their numbers are in the article as well. http://www.habsworld.net/article.php?id=2680

Speaking of Oakland, they may be moving to San Jose soon. I don't know about you but the name 'San Jose Athletics' doesn't have the best ring to it. http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_19614945

As soon as I read that, my thoughts immediately turned to Mike Komisarek scoring a breakaway OT winner (at 3 on 3 I believe) against the Leafs. What a way for Tinordi to technically score his first of the season.

For those of you who are planning to give away scratch tickets as a gift this holiday season, I sincerely hope you don't do this if it turns into a big winner.

Ye olde stat of the period. Every Hab is exactly 50% on the draw. In terms of ice time, Campoli is 2nd on the Habs, 40 seconds behind Gorges. Kostitsyn is 11th in TOI by a forward, only Weber has less than him. Both of those are perplexing.

Do remember that I'm guessing as to the line combos here, they all could be changed for all we know. In fact, we'll know momentarily.

It simply doesn't work on Montreal's cap, even with LTIR...unless they know something we don't about the long-term health of Gomez/Gionta this season. I don't think that one's legit.

Of course, I could be wrong and it's Emelin playing RD with Weber playing forward. Both, I suspect, are realistic options.

If I had to guess, the coaching staff is still uncomfortable with using Emelin at RD so instead, to simply get him in the lineup, they'll toss him on the fourth line. Guessing here, but the bottom 6 might look like this: Darche - Leblanc - Kostitsyn Emelin - Nokelainen - Blunden I don't think so. His ice time has gone down I believe since Cunneyworth took over, they evidently aren't seeing eye to eye.

Weber, Emelin in, Subban, Eller out. Interesting.

Oakland continues to blow up their decent rotation, sending Gio Gonzalez to the 'Natinals' (I'm never going to forget that screw-up) for 4 prospects, 3 of whom have a shot at being solid major leaguers. This coming about a week after dealing Trevor Cahill to Arizona for a group of not-so-good prospects (in my opinion). Some say it's tough being a Jays fan right now but how would you like to cheer for the A's? Spend nothing, deal major leaguers for prospects and then when they get good, trade them for more prospects. Kinda reminds me of the old Expos days. http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2011/12/nationals-to-acquire-gio-gonzalez.html

Next year it could be North Dakota (senior), Hamilton, Montreal, or if he exercises his rights to free agency, he could wind up in many different places.

With no game day skate, we won't find out until close to puck drop who's in and out in all probability.