It has been confirmed that Carbonneau will stick with Higgins-Koivu-Kovalev line for the first game of the second round tonight against the Philadelphia Flyers. That means that the Kostitsyn brothers will again be centered by Tomas Plekanec.
So basically, there are no line or lineup changes expected tonight. The same team that beat Boston in game 7 is what we will be seeing on the ice tonight against Philadelphia.
It is official!!! Saku Koivu and Francis Bouillon will return to the lineup tonight against the Bruins. This is really good news going in to game 6 of the series tonight in Boston. The Canadiens obviously need a pick-up of some sort and this is it. The return of Koivu should really help out the first line as it gives the Canadiens a much better second line.
Go! Habs! Go!
Are you looking for a good Habs playoff song? Never mind good ... this song is great! The song, "25 Feels a Lot Like 93", is by ANNAKIN SLAYD and if you have not heard it yet, hit the link below. If you have heard it, you know you want to hear it again (and again) ...
http://www.myspace.com/annakinslayd
Here are the line combinations for tonight's first playoff game against Boston:
Alex Kovalev - Tomas Plekanec - Andrei Kostitsyn
Sergei Kostitsyn - Christopher Higgins - Michael Ryder
Steve Bégin - Bryan Smolinski - Tom Kostopoulos
Mathieu Dandenault - Maxim Lapierre - Guillaume Latendresse
Andrei Markov - Mike Komisarek
Roman Hamrlik - Patrice Brisebois
Josh Gorges - Mark Streit
The main surprises are that Mark Streit is on defense, Ryan O'Byrne is out and Mathieu Dandenault is in. Not sure why O'Byrne isn't playing against the Bruins when everyone pretty much expects them to play extremely physical. Oh well, we'll see what happens.
Go! Habs! Go!
Our wallpaper of the day is a nice montage of Habs rookie standout Guillaume Latendresse. Latendresse is having a great first season in the NHL and should have a bright career ahead of him. With hard work and more experience, Latendresse could become the power-forward the Canadiens have been looking for the last few years.
Wallpaper is courtesy of the Official Montreal Canadiens site.
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Our wallpaper for today is a cool montage of Habs star defenseman Sheldon Souray. Sheldon is having a career year in goals, assists and points and could very well finish the season as the top scoring defenseman of the league. When was the last time the Habs had a player that was at the top of his position!?! Despite this, some so-called Montreal fans say he isn't worth resigning. That he is a one-dimensional player. Well, those fans are wrong. Sheldon makes mistakes like EVERY other defenseman. But because he plays around 25 minutes a game, he obviously has more chances to make an error than other Habs players. Despite this fact, he actually has less give-aways than Markov and Komisarek. On top of that, Souray is a physical presence on the ice and one of the few Habs that will step-up to defend his teammates. He is not shy to share his thoughts with the press and appears to be a true leader in the dressing room. Yes sir, if it were up to me ... I would resign Souray in a heartbeat ... even at $5.5 million per year!
Link: Sheldon Souray Desktop Wallpaper (photobucket)
Our site of the day is the HamiltonBulldogs.com. This is the official website of the Canadiens farm team, the Hamilton Bulldogs. If you are looking for information regarding the players you might see with the Habs in the near future, this is the place to go. You will find team news, player statistics, personnel data, live radio web casts and more!
Link: HamiltonBulldogs.com
As the trade deadline approaches, many Canadiens fans are wondering if Sheldon Souray will still be a Hab next Tuesday night. In honor of all the good moments Sheldon has given Montreal fans since his arrival in 2000, we proclaim today Sheldon Souray Day!
Link: Sheldon Souray Wallpaper - 1024x768 (ImageShack)
Our Montreal Canadiens site for today is GoHabs.com. This is one of the best Canadiens sites on the internet. GoHabs has everything a Montreal fan could want. It is packed with news, team personnel information, full team history, a fan forum, trade and draft picks, hall of fame section, and a whole lot more. This is a must see for all Montreal fans.
Link: GoHabs.com
Our site of the day is HabFans.com. This site is one of the most active Habs message boards on the net. The posters are very knowledgeable and continuisly update the board with the latest Habs news. This is a great site for any Canadiens fan.
Link: HabFans.com
Our video of the day is a tribute to the Montreal Canadiens. The Habs have been on a downward trend since the end of December. But, they are still in 7th place in the conference and have 25 games to put the ship back on course. Now is the time to support our team 110% as the final countdown for the playoffs begin!
Link: Montreal Canadiens Tribute Video (YouTube)
Our wallpaper of the day is a one of our pictures taken from the Montreal-Carolina game last Tuesday night at the Bell Centre. This picture is of Sheldon Souray, the Habs All-Star defenseman.
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Today's wallpaper photograph is a shot of Alex Kovalev waiting for a face-off during Tuesday's game against the Carolina Hurricanes. I have always been a Kovalev fan and supporter, however even I realize it is time for him to step it up. The Canadiens are just 4 points ahead of 9th place in the conference and need to start winning on a more regular basis. To do that, the Habs need Kovalev to put it in to second gear!
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Here are a few pictures taken at last night's game against the Carolina Hurricanes at the Bell Centre. More Habs desktop wallpaper backgrounds from this game to come over the next few days.
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Our wallpaper of the day is a cool picture of Habs captain Saku Koivu. Koivu is going through a bit of a rough spell right now with the Canadiens, but there is no need to fret. He continues to play hard and give it his all. If anything, Saku could use a couple new line mates to get back on track. Michael "I like eating the puck" Ryder and Chris "I am not 100% since the ankle injury" Higgins also need a change pretty bad; these two guys are completely lost right now and Saku is the one paying the price.
The Koivu wallpaper is courtesy of DesktopExchange.
Wallpaper link:
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Our video of the day is a clip from the Thursday night game between Montreal and Pittsburgh. At one point, Colby Armstrong of the Penguins laid out Habs captain Saku Koivu with a massive hit. The hit was clean, but an unwritten rule in hockey says you do not hit the opposing team's star players like that. If a Hab had nailed Sidney Crosby in a similar fashion, you know the Penguins would have defended him. That is the way hockey has been played since the early days.
Luckily, Sheldon Souray is a team player. He did not hesitate to defend his captain and teammate Saku Koivu. This is an important part of hockey. You let the other team know that if they are going to nail one of your star players, they will pay the price!
On the other hand, Christopher Higgins and Michael "Easy" Ryder just skated away from Armstrong. Not even a little Sherwood tap or some harsh words for the guy. They just went about as nothing had happened. That to me is very disappointing. When your line mates do not defend you, there is a problem. Next time Higgins or Ryder gets nailed, I honestly hope nobody comes to their defense.
Link: Sheldon Souray Defends Saku Koivu (YouTube)
Finally, video of the Ken Dryden retirement ceremony is available on YouTube. If you are at all fan of the Canadiens and you did not see this, then do yourself a favor and watch it. If this does not make you proud to be a fan of the greatest hockey franchise in the world, then you should probably not call yourself a Habs fan.
It is a shame that no "official" site is carrying this footage. It would seem to me that at the very least, the Canadiens should have this video on their website.
Part 1 (YouTube)
Part 2 (YouTube)
Part 3 (YouTube)
Part 4 (YouTube)
Part 5 (YouTube)
I am scouring the web for video of the Ken Dryden retirement ceremony, but I am coming up pretty much empty-handed. The only short clip that is available at this time is from ESPN.com.
Link: Ken Dryden Retirement Ceremony Video (ESPN.com)
Our wallpaper of the day is in honor of Habs legend Ken Dryden. The Canadiens retired his number 29 Monday evening in a very classy and touching ceremony that was presented coast-to-coast on both RDS and the CBC. As soon as a video of the ceremony is available, we will post it here.
This background wallpaper is courtesy of the Official Montreal Canadiens site.
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Watching the Habs game this past Saturday from Toronto, I could not help but think that it must suck to be a Leafs player. You had the Canadiens in town. You had the Leafs in complete control of the game. You had the Leafs up 4 to 1. Yet the Toronto fans were dead. They sat on their hands. There was no energy from the crowd at all; they were like ZOMBIES!
The Montreal crowd at the Bell Centre is the opposite. They cheer, they stomp, they clap, they boo, they SING. And that is when the Habs are losing. When the Habs are winning, it is like a madhouse in there!
Our video of the day is a fan clip from the Molson Ex Zone at the Bell Centre. The video was shot at a game in December 2005 against the Toronto Maple Leafs. This clip is but an example of the great hockey fans and atmosphere that reign in Montreal.
Link: Molson Ex Zone (YouTube)
