It's been an eventful couple of days since the puck dropped on the NHL season, and in Montreal, the focus has shifted from one injury to another.
George Parros' plight has shifted moderately out of focus, with the Canadiens strongman making an appearance at the team's practice facility Wednesday, and the news that he'll be out indefinitely with a concussion.
As the Canadiens unloaded their bus in Lac Megantic yesterday, Max Pacioretty was among the players in attendance. Aside from Parros, Brandon Prust had some family business to attend to that kept him from this special occasion which, in combination with the preseason scrimmage, helped the Canadiens tally $800,000 to donate to the town. Unfortunately, Pacioretty never stepped on the ice; sidelined for what the Habs deemed a "therapy day".
We'll see if Pacioretty takes to the ice today in Brossard (Update: 11:00am, Pacioretty and Prust are both practicing), as the Canadiens continue to prepare for the 0-1 Philadelphia Flyers.
A trio of former Canadiens make their way back to Montreal for Saturday's game, in Hal Gill, Mark Streit and oh...right... Vinny Lecavalier never was a Canadien. However, the elusive Lecavalier will be the Flyers' main attraction for all media members in attendance.
The storylines are rich, given how close Lecavalier was to signing here, the fact that he actually replaced Daniel Briere in Philadelphia, and of course, that Briere was supposedly--and Marc Bergevin will vehemently disagree--Montreal's consolation signing.
We also can't ignore that one game into his career with the Canadiens, goalless through the preseason and first game of the regular season, Briere has a date with destiny against the team that bought him out of the deal that kept him away from Montreal in the first place.
Dramatic. Indeed.
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NHL Notes:
-Big league goal from Sid Crosby last night. He sure made it look
easy. That puts him two behind Alex Ovechkin, who's started off the season on fire.
Big story last night: Marc-Andre Fleury looking spectacular in a 3-0 shutout.
-St. Louis Blues looked excellent last night. I've got them in the Cup finals this year.
-How about the start to the season that Mikhail Grabovski's had? He looks unreal, and that Washington powerplay looks terrifying. If they can figure it out on defense, they're going to prove a lot of people wrong this year, including myself.
-Matt Sitkoff who works for the NHL and NHL Network tweeted a short while ago that Alexander Barkov became the youngest player to score an NHL goal since Ted Kennedy, in January of 1944.
-Another young player really impressed me last night, and he's been getting rave reviews in San Jose: Tomas Hertl.
-Speaking of San Jose, what's a reasonable point projection for Brent Burns as a right winger. This guy is a bulldozer. Sick, sick shot last night to get San Jose on the board.
-Vancouver looked real bad in their first game, but Roberto Luongo looked real good. They lost 4-1. Incidentally, so did the Rangers in their debut under Allain Vigneault. This is a storyline we just can't avert our eyes from this year.
-Chris Kelly's penalty shot was the first ever penalty shot goal to kick off a season of scoring for a team in the NHL. Crazy.
-Scott Gomez has more goals this season than every Montreal Canadien, except for Lars Eller and Brendan Gallagher. Who's laughing now, eh Bergevin?
-Devils fans were cringing about Ryane Clowe--he who suffered multiple concussions last season--fighting in his first game of the year.
He's there for five years. This is a big part of the reason the Devils signed him. Toughness and willingness to defend his teammates are parts of his game you can't really criticize (the goal scoring's another story). Devils fans better get used to it...
-The Leafs and Habs have something in common. It's extremely important for both teams to do well without a couple of their best players.
The Leafs have gotten off to a 2-0 start with David Clarkson on this sidelines. If they win 6/10 without him, that'll be a success. If they win more, power to them.
As for the Canadiens, a record above .500 without Alexei Emelin would go a long way towards helping them secure a playoff spot. A record above .650 without Emelin would be impressive.
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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