Marc Bergevin is quickly building his management team within the Montreal Canadiens. Having already brought on Bobby Kinsella and Rick Dudley last week the rookie GM added Scott Mellanby as the team's Director of Player Personnel.

It looks to be a good match for the Canadiens, as Mellanby brings over 20 years experience as an NHL player, and has worked his way through management as an advisor, scout and assistant coach over the last five years. NOt to mention he was a Habs fan stuck in the GTA, much like Chris Boyle and myself. You gotta respect that alone!

Prior to his front office work, Mellanby made some appearances on Hockey Night In Canada, during their Hot Stove segments int the fall of 2007. This was the period when it was Ron McLean and one, maybe two guests (Mellanby, Sean Burke and later P.J. Stock, and not the babbling back and forth that is more common on the current version, which evolved a matter of months later.

Mellanby likely got the gig through his dad, longtime HNIC producer Ralph Mellanby, but he came across as a well thought speaker. Fans may have found the one on ones rather dull, hence the more frequent use of less informed but highly opinionated ratings grabber Mike Milbury. A clip of Mellanby and Stock debating hits in the NHL comes after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

Imagine walking into the Montreal Forum on, oh let's say March 23, 1944, and you chose to skip splurging the dime on a game program. Little would they know the significance of the game's events. It was Game Two of the Stanley Cup Semi-Finals, between the Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs.

It was on that night where Maurice Richard would score five goals in one playoff game, becoming the second NHL player to accomplish that feat. It has been done only three other times since.

Richard would be awarded all of the Three Star selections for the game, a first in NHL history.

One of these programs, is now on the block at Classic Auctions. Graded in VG+ condition, with a bit of cover wear, the program has an opening bid of $200.

Another program of significance, stems from 17 years later when Bernie "Boom Boom" Geoffrion became the second NHLer to record 50 goals in a season. This program grades in Ex-NrMt condition, with the minimum bid of $150 already hit.

Of Stanley Cup significance, a program from the Canadiens deciding game in 1931 is also available.

We hit a milestone last week here at Eyes On The Prize, when we had visitor number 2 million pass through our little part of the Habs blogosphere. It marries up nicely with us hitting over 3 million page views last month.

It's a minor number to compared to other larger sites on the good ole WWW, but for our group of guys (Andrew, Stephan, Chris, Bruce, Robert, Francis and myself) it's a nice little number to be proud of. Thanks to the gents for their work, research and contributions to the site that keep you reading and commenting.

Most importantly, we would all like to thank you, our readers, for your support to hit this mark, and hope that we can continue to carry on whatever it is that brings you back.

We'll be making a few more announcements in the coming months and throwing in a few goodies for you during the dog days of the post-season to keep you entertained.

In the mean time, here's a bit of between periods/late night reading to tie you over.

Continue reading this post »

With word getting out in the wee hours, and made official on Wednesday afternoon, the Montreal Canadiens have found their new General Manager.

Marc Bergevin, who has learned his NHL executive craft for seven years with the Chicago Blackhawks, will get his chance to jump into the driver's seat of hockey's most storied franchise.

Lots of reaction to start the month of May, so here's a wrap up of links to what people had to say

Continue reading this post »

After two seasons of totally deflating the morale of Montreal Canadiens fans, Mario Tremblay called it quits as bench boss on this day in 1997.

Most famously known for his part in the expulsion of Patrick Roy, and the lesser spoke of conflict with Donald Brashear among others, Tremblay did manage to get the Habs to the post season in the two seasons he was head coach.

Without Roy, the Canadiens managed to finish in sixth the Eastern Conference, before bowing out in six games to the New York Rangers.

Tremblay's last stab behind the bench was a 77-point squeak in to grab the eighth and final playoff spot. It was a season that saw conflicted captain Pierre Turgeon traded, Saku Koivu missing 32 games with a knee injury, and a media report where anonymous players questioned the coach's competency . The beleaguered Canadiens fell to the New Jersey Devils in the first round.

Tremblay cited his resignation on the criticism of the media. "A coach has to live with criticism," he said in his announcement. "But there's a point where it has to stop. When they do things to try and break you, that's not right."

"We had a tough season, no question about that," said Canadiens President Ronald Corey, who is often associated more directly with the teams post 1993 Stanley Cup deconstruction. "Mario had to work under extreme pressure all season long, and he showed a lot of courage and I have a lot of respect for him for that."

Current Vancouver Canucks coach Alain Vigneault would later be named as his successor.

For a little viewing pleasure, to tie you over on a day off from the playoffs, we came across the Montreal Canadiens 75th Anniversary documentary, cut into six segments on YouTube.

This post was actually sitting in an archived page on the site, originally posted by Robert Lefebvre. Some of the footage will be familiar to regular readers, as we have used some portions in prior articles.

The video features segments on Habs greats Aurel Joliat, Howie Morenz, Maurice Richard, Jean Beliveau and Guy Lafleur among others, intertwined with footage of the current Canadiens team at the time.

The latter segments focus on Lafleur, who retired during the club's anniversary season in 1984.

Continue reading this post »

Better late than never, but Andrew Berkshire, Stephan Cooper, Bruce Peter and myself finally got together this past Tuesday evening, to look back on what was the Montreal Canadiens 2011-12 season.

We looked at the good (what there was) and the bad for the Habs and looked ahead to the team's future in terms of a new GM, coach and who could come and go by the time September rolls in. There's also some talk on the playoffs (what we had seen to that point) towards the end.

Audio is a touch scratchy here and there, and you can have a drinking game with the number of ums and ahs I throw out there.

Continue reading this post »

Much like their parent club, the Hamilton Bulldogs will not be part of the post season in the AHL. The 'Dogs wrapped up their season Sunday, closing out the 2011-12 campaign at 34-35-2-5, finishing last in their division and 14th overall in the Western Conference.

Bulldogs coach Clement Jodoin is already looking ahead to the next season that he hopes will be void of a revolving door of call-ups and injuries. "I have my plan, I would like to have a structure of 14 guys and after that there are 10 rookies," Jodoin said. "There’s a lot of things out of our control. It was important to finish the season on a positive note.”

Throughout their final game, a 3-2 win over the Grand Rapids Griffins, the team announced their annual individual award winners, many of whom saw time with the Habs this past season.

Continue reading this post »

It was sad to wake up this morning and learn of the passing of Montreal Canadiens Hall of Fame defenseman Emile "Butch" Bouchard at the age of 92.

Bocuhard arrived with the Canadiens in the 1941-42 season, when the team's rebuilding process was underway.

He was the ideal stay at home rearguard in his NHL career, just predating the puck-moving defenseman era that would be sparked by future teammate Doug Harvey, picking up a Second Team All-Star award in 1944. That was followed by three consecutive First Team All-Star selections. Paired with Ken Reardon, they made life difficult for opposing forwards who entered Montreal's side of the ice.

Butch would deliver punishing hits and was highly skilled at getting that first pass out of the defending zone. In researching various stories on the Canadiens during his tenure, it was more often than not that number 3 was involved in the game-breaking play. Be it digging the puck out of the corner or getting a pass out to the likes of Elmer Lach, Toe Black, Jean Beliveau or Maurine Richard, Bouchard was always there.

He was captain of the Canadiens for eight straight years, then a team record. He was the first Quebec-born captain of the club and the blueprint for Beliveau's captaincy.

Beliveau recalls Bouchard's strength and leadership in his biography,"My Life in Hockey."

"When I joined the Canadiens, Emile "Butch" Bouchard was on his last legs, both at the blue line and as our team captain. I only played with Emile for two years, and in the last year he didn't play all that much.Still he was well respected throughout the league for his strength. One night, a fracas started in Detroit and was right to the Red Wings' bench, opened the door, and chased a player through it - unheard-of behavior then, as now. Nobody on the Detroit team dared do anything, and they certainly had their share of tough customers. The only other defenceman of that era who matched Butch in terms of strength was the late, great Tim Horton.

"As a captain, Butch took great pains to listen to everyone's opinion to any issue, and served as a model for my stint as team captain in the 1960s."

An injury filled 1955-56 injury-filled season forced Bouchard to retire, just as the Canadiens were about to embark on their unprecedented five consecutive Stanley Cups.

Bouchard was on hand for that fist Cup in 1956, as well as three prior ones (1944, 1946 and 1953.)

He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1966, and has received numerous other accolades that include the Orde of Quebec and the Order of Canada.

An arena in his home town of Longueil, Quebec is named after him, as is thew QMJHL's award for the league's best defenseman.

Bouchard's Number 3 sweater was retired, alongside Emler Lach's, during the Canadiens Centennial ceremony on December 9, 2009.

Rest in Peace, Mr. Bouchard. More tributes and clips after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

Something new at EOTP, with the Montreal Canadiens not in the running for Lord Stanley's goblet, we thought we'd put out an area to chat during tonight's games. Have at it kids!

Ottawa Senators at New York Rangers Game One Corsi/Fenwick

Washington Capitals at Boston Bruins Game One Corsi/Fenwick

San Jose Sharks at St. Louis Blues Game One Corsi/Fenwick

Chicago Blackhawks at Phoenix Coyotes Game One Corsi/Fenwick

Shea Weber gets a slap on the wrist for bouncing Henrik Zetterberg's melon off the glass, while Byron Bitz gets two games. What up with that?!

Rick Keene with his Top-10 reasons why the Habs missed the post-season.

Well the Montreal Canadiens regular season is done, and who would have thought Brad Staubitz would have had half as many goals as Scott Gomez by season's end. eh?

The Habs clean out thier lockers tomorrow and we should likely get the post mortem from Geoff Molson, likely Randy Cunneyworth and perhaps Serge Savard, who may or may not be the new VP of hockey operations come tomorrow.

Savard has already denied the report from Radio Canada's Martin LeClerc, much like Patrick Roy blew off LeClerc's report that the deal was done to see him as hew Habs bench boss.

The EOTP crew will gather Tuesday to discuss this most disastrous and peculiar season, shortly after we learn the team's draft position around 8:30pm.

In the meantime:

Dave Stubbs on Randy Cunneyworth

Olivier's analysis on the last game of the season, and Chris Boucher analyzes Peter Budaj's performance.

Rick Keene on Jacques Martin, who feels no bitterness to the Canadiens

On April 8, 1952, Maurice Richard scored what is arguably the greatest goal of his storied NHL career. It was Game Seven of the Stanley Cup Semi-Final. The second-place Montreal Canadiens were heavy favorites over fourth place finishers the Boston Bruins, and were expected to cruise into the final round.

The Bruins, however, had other plans in mind. The Canadiens took the first two games, in the safe confines of the Montreal Forum, with convincing 5-1 and 4-0 victories. It seemed like the Habs were well on their way to a date in the Final.

Boston rallied back with a pair of victories of their own at the Boston Garden, before stunning the Habs in Montreal with a 1-0 win in Game Five. Jack McIntyre provided the lone goal at 3:30 of the third period, and "Sugar" Jim Henry stopped 31 Canadiens shots in front of a shocked Forum crowd. Boston was headed home with a 3-2 series lead.

Continue reading this post »

Two words: Bragging Rights

Yes, the Toronto Maple Leafs will finish ahead of the Montreal Canadiens, but after tonight they are essentially both on the same page, done for the season and will await the results of Tuesday's Draft Lottery.

What does remain is pride for Habs fans. A regulation win tonight, and the Canadiens can take the season series against Toronto with a 3-2-1 record, the Leafs, and their fans, looking from there end would be 3-3. It would be a small victory for the Habs, in a season that has been a SNAFU from day one.

The ones to watch in the Blue and White are ex-Hab Mikhail Grabovski, who has 10 percent of his season point total (50) against the Canadiens, and captain Dion Phaneuf. Despite the calls to run him out of town by many Toronto fans and media, Phaneuf too has five points against Montreal.

Grabovski is questionable, along with goalie Jonas Gustavsson for tonight's game. Both have lower body injuries.

Continue reading this post »

The Montreal Canadiens close out their road season tonight, as they visit Kirk Muller's Carolina Hurricanes.

Kirk Muller, remember him? Stanley Cup winner with the Habs, later named captain, traded, returned as assistant coach, then left again as a shot as a head coach wasn't going to pan out in Montreal?

Well since getting the call from the Hurricanes earlier this season, Muller has racked up a 24-19-12 record (60 points). It's a small sample that projected out works out to 88 points, but given the record the Canadiens had with their interim coach, one has to wonder. It will be interesting to see Captain Kirk with full season under his belt next year.

"You’re always being judged every day in this business," Muller said following Carolina's 2-1 win over the Ottawa Senators. "It’s the way you play the game. What I want to see is guys fight through this and have pride and finish up the right way so we can feel good about a lot things with where we're at.

The Hurricanes have been playing strong, despite out of a playoff spot, going 6-3-1 in their last 10 games. They have lost their last two home games however, and with tonight's game being their last at home, they'll want to give their fans something positive to close out the season.

Eric Staal continues to lead his team in scoring, albeit a tad off his pace from last season (insert Erik Cole comment here). Nonetheless, the Hurricanes captain is 21st in the league in scoring, headed into tonight's game, and has three points in three meetings with the Habs.

P.K. Subban leads the Canadiens in scoring against Carolina this season, with a goal and three assists. Tomas Plekanec and David Desharnais each have three points. Erik Cole has seven points in his last six games on the season.

Cam Ward is expected to get the start in goal for Carolina.

Continue reading this post »

1930: George Hainsworth records his third shutout of the playoffs, as the Candiens won Game One of the Stanley Cup Finla 3-0 over the Boston Bruins.

1947: Billy Reay scores four goals against the Bruins, as the Canadiens won Game Four of the Stanley Cup Semi-Final 5-1.

1958: Maurice Richard records his final playoff hat trick, as the Canadiens defeated the Detroit Red Wings in Game Four 4-3 to sweep their semi-final series. It was the seventh career playoff hatty for The Rocket.

1989: Patrick Roy goes undefeated at home, picking up a 2-2 tie against the Philadelphia Flyers. Roy was 25-0-4 at the Montreal Forum during the regular season.

Born on this day: Hall of Fame Defenseman Ken Reardon (1921)

The Washington Capitals are getting good news at just the right time. Clinging on to the eight seed in the Eastern Conference playoff race, the Caps announced this morning that Nicklas Backstrom will be back in the lineup tonight as they face the Montreal Canadiens.

Backstrom has not seen action since a game against the Calgary Flames on January 3, when he took an elbow to the head from current Habs forward Rene Bourque. From this morning's skate, the Capitals center will be on the top line with Alexander Ovechkin and Marcus Johansson.

The big benefit should be Washington's power play, which has struggled of late, going at a 14.7 percent rate in the 40 games Backstrom has missed. Thirty-five of Backstrom's 100 career NHL goals have come with the man advantage. The have won just 18 games since their number one center went down.

Backstrom has 14 points in 15 career games against the Canadiens, but, as you will see below, the Capitals haven't needed his services against the Habs this season.

Interesting fact from NHL.com: Since being ousted in the first round of the 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs, the Capitals are 6-0-1 against Montreal with four shutouts from four different goalies.

The Canadiens would hopefully like to light the lamp a bit more in their final game with Washington. They've managed just a single goal, in the first three meetings this season, despite outshooting their opponent 92-63.

They Habs were defeated by the conference-leading New York Rangers 4-1 on Friday night. They were held to just 20 shots on goal and despite some decent Corsi/Fenwick numbers, only had nine scoring chances.

Peter Budaj gets the call in goal for Montreal. MIchal Neuvirth goes for the Caps.

Continue reading this post »

It's certainly not a good time for the Florida Panthers to be on a losing streak. The cats have lost three straight games and, if they are not careful, could find themselves quickly falling from third place in the Eastern Conference to ninth and an abrupt end to their season.

The current Southeast Division leaders are 25th in five-on-five goals F/A, and have a 24th ranked penalty kill. Their power play is a respectable 11th in the league, but overall they're not exactly screaming Stanley Cup contender.

The Panthers did salvage single points, in a pair of shootout losses to the New York Islanders and Edmonton Oilers, over the weekend, giving them a three point lead over the Washington Capitals and Buffalo Sabres. But against bottom feeder teams this late in the season, those missed points could come back bite the Panthers.

Fortunately for them, they've managed to beat the Canadiens in all three meetings this season but don't be surprised to see the Habs wanting to play spoiler.

"We still want to win hockey games," said Canadiens coach Randy Cunneyworh, following Monday's practice. "Regardless of where guys are, the end result remains that we still want the 'W.'"

Jose Theodore is 4-1-2 with a 1.66 goals-against average in his last seven starts, but got shelled in his only Bell Centre appearance as a non-Hab. Scott Clemmensen is 5-0-0 (1.65 GAA, .942 SvPct) in his career against Montreal.

Continue reading this post »

Well it's come to this, the Montreal Canadiens season has been such a bummer that I didn't even post a thread for last night's 4-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers.

Truth be told I was called away from the good old laptop to deal with other events that ran into overtime. Not like we appeared to have missed anything, aside from the fact the Habs are officially out of the playoffs.

Just six games left in the NHL season for Le Bleu, Blanc, et Rouge, and they could make the Florida Panthers or Washington Capitals playoff hopes more difficult this week. Both teams are separated by four points, which is third and ninth place for the top-two Southeast Conference teams.

Well they're getting an arena, now how long till Gary Bettman concedes a new or used NHL franchise to Quebec City? Leigh-Anne Power, Abe Hefter and myself discussed that this evening on CJAD's The Locker Room. Leigh-Anne is convinced that Bettman will never put another team in Canada, until trying it in another US market such as Kansas City. She's probably right, but QC is a certainly deserving hockey city for it.

The weekend had some good news, as Jean Beliveau was released from hospital Friday.

Continue reading this post »

Well the Montreal Canadiens at least won bragging rights over the Ottawa Senators this season. With last night's 5-1 win, they took the regular season series with a 4-0-2 . A small victory in what has been a disappointing season by far.

Another achievement was Erik Cole's three goals that came in the first 5:41, setting a team record for the fastest hat trick from the start of a game. Cole had several other opportunities throughout the game, but the team record of six in a game (Newsy Lalonde) still stands.

Cole equaled his career best with his 30th goal of the season. Hmmm, remember how people wondered how the Habs winger would do without Eric Staal?

Cole and Max Pacioretty became the first pair of Canadiens to score 30 goals in a season. Vinny Damphousse and Pierre Turgeon did it 16 years ago, although they both scored 38.

Continue reading this post »

The final meeting from the Montreal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators takes place on a rare Friday home game for the Habs.

The Senators have lost four of their last five, but picked up single points in two non-regulation losses (one to the Canadiens). They are grasping to their seventh place spot in the Eastern Conference, but still could catch the division leading Boston Bruins.

Colin Greening has three goals in his last four games for the Senators, while "Mr. Norris" Erik Karlsson has five points in his last five games. Karlsson and Jason Spezza have both picked up four points in the five games against Montreal this season.

Spezza has been battling the flu, but is feeling "a little bit better" and will take to the ice tonight. Craig Anderson gets the call in goal tonight. It will be Anderson's first start in goal, after missing over a month with a deep cut in his hand.

The Canadiens hold a 3-0-2 edge in the season series. Josh Gorges was the First Star in their last meeting, blocking ten shots in a penalty infested match just last Saturday.

Carey Price has played in all five meetings with Ottawa this season, and gets the call again tonight.

Pop Quiz: How many players have played for both the Montreal Canadiens and the Ottawa Senators, current edition? Bonus if you know how many played for both the Habs and the old school (1917-34) Sens?

Continue reading this post »

The Montreal Canadiens, after a few days away from game action, play three games in the next four nights, starting with a visit to the Buffalo Sabres.

The Sabres have scored three goals in each of their five meetings against the Canadiens this season. Four times it was good enough for a win. Montreal, averaging 2.55 goals a game, had to take it to a shootout to pull out their lone win against their division rival.

The Sabres are 6-2-2 in their last ten games, coming off a 7-3 dismantling of the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday. They are still on the outside looking in at an Eastern Conference playoff spot. It won't be the easiest journey to the post-season, with a tough schedule up ahead.

To make it, a full two-point win is an absolute must for them. "I need difference-makers right now," coach Lindy Ruff said. "I don’t need to hear about great chances or missed (scoring) opportunities. Missed opportunities will put us in a bad place."

Marcus Foligno, Drew Stafford, and Tyler Ennis have a combined 11 goals and 25 points in the last five games for the Sabres. Ennis has nine points, converting a point in each of those five games.

Tyler Myers will be eligible to return to action tonight, following his three-game suspension for his hit on Scott Gomez, last Monday.

The media attempted to stir up a revenge mentality following the Canadiens Tuesday practice. Habs coach Randy Cunneyworth dismissed that, citing he feels Myers paid his dues and took responsibility for his actions.

Myers is on the same page, focused on what is needed for the team. "I'm going to approach it like any other game," he said. "It's in the past. I didn't mean to hurt him. It's not my intention to go in and kill a guy like that. Whatever happens, happens. I'm just going to focus on two points."

Nathan Gerbe (upper body) and Matt Ellis (knee) remain out for the Sabres. Tomas Kaberle (upper body) is still out for the Habs, as are Scott Gomez, Brian Gionta, Travis Moen, Raphael Diaz and Mathieu Darche.

Continue reading this post »

There are nine, yes count'em, nine games left before the Montreal Canadiens on-ice season comes to an end for 2011-12. Certainly not anywhere close to where we thought they'd be after preseason, but nobody saw this season coming.

With the Canadiens lack of success, there's always one individual to conveniently point the blame at. Come on down Rene Bourque! He was the topic of discussion on CJAD's The Locker Room on Sunday evening, between myself, fellow Habs blogger Leigh-Anne Power and host Abe Hefter.

Bourque's play has been called out by coach Randy Cunneyworth, TSN's Mike Johnson and the "know it alls" at HNIC. The general consensus is the "he's not moving his feet," assessment. They appear to be right, and Chris Boucher backs it up. To sum up, Bourque's tenure with the Habs so far has been brutal.

Leigh-Anne made an excellent note that it appears as if Bourque's confidence is temporarily lost, and that the typical goal scorer needs that to be successful. I was in agreement, adding that Bourque got thrown onto the derailing train of a Canadiens season, and that fact that the coach who publicly called him out won't even be behind the bench in Montreal this October. The off-season for number 27 will be a crucial point in his career to get himself back on track, with players like Louis Leblanc, Aaron Palushaj, Blake Geoffrion and Brendan Gallagher waiting in the wings.

Apparently the Habs winger is already getting the message, as this one-on-one with CJAD's Rick Moffat reveals.

Continue reading this post »

Things can go really well or really bad for the Ottawa Senators over the next few games. They find themselves just two points back of the Northeast Division leading Boston Bruins, but at the same time have only a seven-point edge over ninth place Buffalo.

They have to hope the momentum of winning six of their last eight visits to the Bell Centre gets them pushing up. The Habs would like nothing more than to make things difficult for them.

They've played really well against us," said Senators coach Paul MacLean, following Tuesday's practice. "They've been difficult games so we expect the same thing."

MacLean has been getting a lot of consideration for the Jack Adams Trophy as NHL Coach of the Year. Last season the Senators finished with 74 points and had a goal differential of minus 58. So far this season they already have 81 points and are in the plus in for/against by 10 goals.

The Senators will give Ben Bishop gets his first career start against the Canadiens tonight. The 25-year-old netminder is 2-0-1 (2.27, .926) for the Senators, since being acquired in a trade with the St. Louis Blues. The 6'7" Bishop was taken 80 spots after the Canadiens selected Carey Price in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft.

Erik Karlsson has 10 goals and 11 assists in his last 13 games for the Senators, and is a strong favorite for the Norris Trophy. Coach Paul MacLean is also getting a lot of Jack Adams Trophy consideration of late.

The Habs took Tuesday off, following a four game road trip that saw them play in three time zones.

Scott Gomez took a nasty hit from the Buffalo Sabres' Tyler Myers on Monday night. The Buffalo defenseman was given a three-game suspension for the hit. Gomez was injured on the play, and is out indefinitely with a concussion.

Tomas Kaberle 's partner is expecting today, so he is a question mark for the evening. The Habs called Up Frederic St-Denis from Hamilton, if needed.

Erik Cole has three points in three meetings with Ottawa this season. He is four goals shy of his career-high of 30. If the gets to that plateau, he and Max Pacioretty would be the first pair of 30-goal scorers for the Canadiens, since Vincent Damphousse and Pierre Turgeon did it during the 1995-96 season.

Price is 6-1-1, with a 1.62 goals-against average and a shutout, against Ottawa in his last eight appearances.

Continue reading this post »

The Buffalo Sabres are still on the outside looking in on this season's playoff race, but are quickly making a legitimate shot for the post season. Buffalo has gone 7-2-1 in their last ten games,

A big reason for their recent success, has been the turnaround of goaltender Ryan Miller. The former Vezina winner has won five of his last six starts, and has been on fire since the All-Star break. The Sabres' number one man between the pipes will face Peter Budaj tonight.

The Sabres are expected to be without forwards Matt Ellis (knee) and Patrick Kaleta (neck , day-to-day), but got some good news that Tomas Vanek will return to the lineup. Vanek has been battling shoulder problems since taking a hit from Erik Cole on January 31.

Marcus Foligno, son of former jumping Sabre Mike, scored his first NHL Saturday in Ottawa. He says he's saving the trademark family leap until he pots one at home. Father Mike is making the trip down from Sudbury for the game.

Buffalo has won three of four meetings so far this season against Montreal, with the Habs taking the most recent in a 4-3 shootout win, on February 12. Max Pacioretty had the shootout winner that night, and has five points against the Sabres this season.

Pacioretty has five goals and five assists in his last five games for the Canadiens.

David Desharnais could be a game-time decision for Montreal.

A look at the Sabres' season, from HNIC's Elliotte Friedman, after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

"I witnessed Herb’s brilliance. There was no question that the years I spent with him still evoke some of my best hockey memories. Herbie was a super hockey player, a beautiful style, a beautiful skater, a great playmaker. Those days the younger ones learned from the older ones, I learned from Herbie." - Jean Beliveau

I have to admit, I was really disappointed with the NHL this past weekend.

I was saddened to read about the passing of Herb Carnegie at the age of 92. He was a hero and inspiration to not just the game of hockey, but life in general. You can read his official obituary here.

Carnegie was easily one of the greatest players to never make the NHL. There of course numerous reasons for a player not making the NHL, but in Carnegie's case, it was the color of his skin.

Growing up in Toronto, Carnegie chronicled his battles with racism in his autobiography, "A Fly in a Pail of Milk: The Herb Carnegie Story." I had just given the book a re-reading just a matter of weeks ago, and I strongly recommend it.

Playing hockey in the early 1930's, Carnegie always responded to the racial slurs, from the fans and opposing players, by lighting the lamp and finding the back of the net.

He was an outstanding player in his junior days, but his goal of an NHL career would take a massive set back in 1938. He learned through his coach that Conn Smythe, owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs, the team he grew up idolizing and following on the radio, would sign him if someone could turn him white. It was a devastating blow to the young forward.

"It was sickening and heart-breaking because all I wanted was a chance," Carnegie said years later.

There has been argument that Smythe never made the comment, but on the other hand there no evidence to say the Leafs owner denied it either.

Continue reading this post »