Remember the "Vengeance Now" slogan the Philadelphia Flyers used during the first two rounds of the playoffs, including their five-game, second-round victory over the Canadiens? Well, that's not going to help them tonight against the Pittsburgh Penguins, who lead the best-of-seven Eastern Conference Final 2-0 with Game 3 tonight in Philly.

Ryan White
Three-year deal (Photo courtesy hitmenhockey.com)

Canadiens announced today they have signed centre Ryan White to a three-year contract.

A native of Brandon who played his junior hockey with the Calgary Hitmen of the Dub, White was the Canadiens' third-round draft choice (66th overall) in 2006.

Here's the team's press release:

Montreal Canadiens General Manager Bob Gainey announced today that forward Ryan White agreed to a three-year contract (2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11).

As per club policy, financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

TSN is reporting that Swedish sensation Fabian Brunnstrom has chosen the Dallas Stars as his NHL home, leaving the Canadiens, whom he visited late in their playoff run, among the unlucky suitors.

A prominent French publisher is insisting that the Canadiens play more francophone music during their Bell Centre games.

But the Quebec government said yesterday it's not going to force arena management, i.e., the Canadiens, to increase the French content of its music.

Read below for what appears in today's Gazette:

Even though the 2008 NHL playoffs have only 4 teams remaining, the Habs Inside/Out playoff pool is still anyone’s game. The top 150 fantasy teams are separated by a mere 30 points – a gap that could be easily closed with one productive series.

Canadiens general manager Bob Gainey and coach Guy Carbonneau met the media this afternoon to offer their postmortem on the 2007-08 season.

Here is their full 50-minute conference in audio form. Download it for listening offline, but be advised it's a 46 MB file. Here's Mike Boone's executive summary of it.

From today's Gazette:

Dave Stubbs: Habs sign off until next season
Pat Hickey: Canadiens need to re-sign Streit
Hickey: Halak needs more work, agent says
Dave Johnston: Bad karma proved Habs' undoing
Don MacPherson: Rioters called Canadiens' early exit
Editorial: Canadiens' streak brought a sense of community

Not all of the Canadiens have finished playing hockey.

Andrei and Sergei Kostitsyn and Mikhail Grabovski are in Quebec, wearing the world-championship jersey of with their native Belarus. Tomas Plekanec will join the Czech Republic for the tournament, as well, as will Saku Koivu (Finland) and Andrei Markov (Russia).

The Canadiens came through the Bell Centre today to clean out their belongings and head into summer after a massive signing of charity souvenirs and their annual postseason team dinner.

The "scandal" of the day: Alex Kovalev is reported to have received a text-message saying he's was too slow to make Russia's team to the worlds. The Russian coach has since denied that a message of any kind was sent, and that Kovalev is not on the squad because it already had four good lines.

Audio from the chaos follows. And go here for Boone's detailed take on the day.

• Mark Streit (English) • Streit (French) • Carey Price 1 • Price 2 * Chris Higgins

Console yourself this first Monday of the Canadiens offseason with this terrific video at YouTube.

The Canadiens players drift through the Bell Centre today to clean out their lockers and pick up their offseason fitness programs before meeting with the team's hockey management then heading off into summer. Tomorrow, GM Bob Gainey and coach Guy Carbonneau will meet the media one last time to critique the season that was, and the next season that will be.

Inside/Out's Pat Hickey, Dave Stubbs and Mike Boone will spend too many hours at the rink today and will check in late afternoon with words and audio.

The Canadiens will be packing their gear and cleaning out their lockers for the summer after being eliminated by the Philadelphia Flyers four game to one in the Eastern Conference semifinals on Satuday night.

Despite outplaying the Flyers in many of the games, the Canadiens were unable to overcome Martin Biron's play and were done in by R.J. Umberger, who scored eight goals in the five-game series, including two during the deciding Game 5.

Here's a look at what's being said about Saturday's game:

• Dave Stubbs: End of the dream
• Pat Hickey: Stellar season ends on sour note
• Herb zurkowsky: Richards gives Flyers a boost
• Red Fisher: Flyers worked harder, got stops from Biron
• Canoe.ca: Journal de Montréal coverage en français
• Cyberpresse.ca: La Presse coverage en français
• Phil Sheridan, Philadelphia Inquirer: From the lowest of expectations to halfway there • Tim Panaccio, Philadelphia Inquirer: Flyers dispose of Canadiens
• Tim Wharnsby, Globe and Mail: Flyers finish off Canadiens

Nothing planned for the Canadiens on this rainy Montreal morning. Players likely will drift through the Bell Centre tomorrow to pack up for the summer, and there will be an early-week media debriefing by general manager Bob Gainey and head coach Guy Carbonneau.

Linked below: audio of players and Carbo gathered shortly after the Philadelphia Flyers had eliminated the Canadiens from the playoffs on Saturday night. Thanks to our friends at RDS, Luc Gélinas working the dressing room, for putting his mic in scrums while we were elsewhere.

• Carbo • Koivu 1 • Koivu 2 • Price 1 • Price 2 • Higgins • Streit • Latendresse • Gorges

Canadiens' Christopher Higgins slides into Flyers goalie Martin Biron after a hit by Mike Richards Saturday night at the Bell Centre. John Kenney, The Gazette

Lineups | Game Summary | Event Summary | Boxscore | Boone | Game Story |

Not even Guy Carbonneau's lucky tie could save the Canadiens this time.

The Philadelphia Flyers eliminated the Canadiens from the postseason with a 6-4 win on Saturday night at the Bell Centre.

It was a game the Canadiens probably shouldn't have lost - as was the case several times in this series - but in the end, Montreal made a few too many mistakes as key moments that allowed the Flyers to advance to the Eastern Conference final.