Posts by Dave Stubbs

• BRUINS AUDIO: Coach Claude Julien English and French | Mark Recchi | Patrice Bergeron

At first yesterday, Bruins veteran Mark Recchi said he didn’t want to revisit last Sunday’s near-decapitation of Boston’s Marc Savard by Pittsburgh’s Matt Cooke, a hit that might have sidelined its victim for the rest of the season.

But then, considering the NHL’s decision not to suspend Cooke for what any reasonable observer would view as a vicious check, Recchi decided he couldn’t not speak up. So he did, calmly but with emotion, voicing an opinion possibly shared if not spoken by many NHL players.

“I think it would be very different if Sidney Crosby got hit like that,” Recchi said of the Penguins superstar. “It’s pretty sad to say, but unfortunately that’s the way it is.”

Some very strong comments from Recchi, head coach Claude Julien and forward Patrice Bergeron, who missed 84 games in 2007-08 when driven head-first into the boards to suffer a Grade 3 concussion.

Forward Ben Maxwell has been returned this morning to the Hamilton Bulldogs. Suspended Maxim Lapierre, who sat out the past four games, is eligible to return tomorrow vs. Boston.

The Canadiens return to practice in Brossard this morning following last night's too-close 5-4 shootout win over the lowly but very game Edmonton Oilers. The Habs are scheduled to hit the ice at 11:30 a.m. in a practice that, as usual, is open to the public.

The Boston Bruins, meanwhile, will hold a practice of their own at 1 p.m. at the downtown Bell Centre; that's not open to the public.

Locked in a playoff-berth battle, the Canadiens play host to the Bruins tomorrow night.

Questions surely to be asked of head coach Jacques Martin today: Who gets the start in goal (he surely won't answer that until tomorrow), and where does centreman Maxim Lapierre, returning tomorrow following a four-game suspension, fit into a lineup that has now won four straight games and seeks a season-high five against the Bruins?

As our spiritual leader Red Fisher might say: Stay tuned.

Canadiens' Travis Moen (left) and Sergei Kostitsyn celebrates Moen's second period goal against Edmonton.
François Lacasse, NHLI via Getty Images

Preview | Matchups | Thursday's NHL schedule | Boone's Game Blog and About last night ... | Stubbs on Twitter | Basu's Playoff Checkup | Hickey's game story

AUDIO: Ryan O'Byrne | Andrei Markov | Brian Gionta | Mathieu Darche | Jaro Halak | Jacques Martin

• At A Glance: One team so bad this season, they need a ladder to get into the basement. The other, battling to make the playoffs and doing well of late. So how to explain the Canadiens going to a shootout against the Edmonton Oilers – and needing a fifth-round goal by Andrei Kostitsyn to earn two points with a 5-4 win? The teams scored four goals on only 10 shots through the first half of the first period, Habs' Tomas Plekanec, with his 20th of the season, and Brian Gionta, with his 21st, bookending goals by Edmonton's Robert Nilsson and Sam Gagner. Defenceman Andrei Markov earned assists on both Habs goals. It wasn't until 15:25 through the second period that Travis Moen, with his eighth, banged one past Oilers rookie goalie Devan Dubnyk from a scramble to break the tie to put Montreal back in front. Edmonton’s Andrew Cogliano took advantage of Habs goalie Jaroslav Halak's inability to smother a puck in the first minute of the third to pull Edmonton even again. Sergei Kostitsyn, with his third, pushed the Habs back into the lead at 8:05, an advantage for just 1:14 when Halak fanned on a Shawn Horcoff slapper he’ll usually stop in his sleep.

• Key Moments: Montreal went 0-for-7 with at least one extra man. And while it wasn’t his best game of the season, Halak stopped five Oilers in the shootout to preserve the win.

• What It Means: The sixth-place Flyers were pummelled by No. 8 Boston, leaving the Habs in seventh place in the Eastern Conference with 74 points and tied with Philly, but having played three more games. Boston is eighth with 72.

• What's Next: The Habs return to practice Friday morning in Brossard then face the Boston Bruins Saturday night at the Bell Centre. That will wrap up a three-game homestand and lead to two road games next week: in New York on Tuesday and Toronto on Saturday.

Canadiens general manager Pierre Gauthier met the Montreal media before tonight's game to discuss the issue of head shots, a prime topic of conversation at the GMs' meetings in Florida. Here's the audio of his comments.

Canadiens goalie Jaroslav Halak, aided by defenceman Jaroslav Spacek and backchecking forward Benoit Pouliot, defend the Habs net against Tampa Bay's Vincent Lecavalier.
François Lacasse, NHLI via Getty Images

Not-so-fresh off last night's 5-3 home-ice win over the Tampa Bay Lightning, and having earned six of a possible eight points during a four-game trip that took them from Boston to San Jose to Los Angeles to Anaheim, the Canadiens will take a one-day break today.

This will be the first day off for goaltender Jaroslav Halak since Feb. 8, when the Habs stepped down after back-to-back Super Bowl matinées vs. Pittsburgh and Boston.

Halak, winner of the January/February segment of the Molson Cup as the Canadiens' player of the month, practised Feb. 9 and was in equipment through Feb. 13, the Habs' final game before the Olympic break. He then flew to Vancouver, took Slovakia to the bronze-medal game, returned immediately to Boston through Montreal, then went west with his team and returned to earn the victory last night. Safe to assume he didn't have an alarm set this morning.

The Canadiens skate tomorrow morning ahead of their game tomorrow night at home against Edmonton, the practice again Friday to prepare for Saturday's Bell Centre date with Boston.

• Boone: How many $$$ for Tomas Plekanec?

The Canadiens earned six points out of a possible eight during their just-completed four-game road trip, winning games in Boston, Los Angeles and Anaheim and losing one in San Jose.

The trip put the Habs in seventh place in the Eastern Conference, with another big week on the horizon: they're at home Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday to Tampa Bay, Edmonton and Boston before spending next week on the road again in New York vs. the Rangers and in Toronto vs. the Maple Leafs.

A quiet day today as the Canadiens charter home from California. The team is back on the ice tomorrow morning to prepare for the evening tilt vs. the Lightning.

Arpon Basu's highly useful look at the playoff race is here.

Canadiens' Tom Pyatt battles Anaheim's Teemu Selanne during first-period action at the Honda Centre.
Debora Robinson, NHLI via Getty Images

Preview | Matchups | Sunday's NHL schedule | Boone's Game Blog and About last night ... | Stubbs on Twitter | Pat Hickey's game story

• AUDIO: Jaro Spacek | Tomas Plekanec | Andrei Markov | Brian Gionta | Jaro Halak | Jacques Martin

• At a Glance: Just when you're ready to count the Canadiens out, they come up off the floor and score a 4-3 shootout victory over the Anaheim Ducks. After a strong 4-2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday, the Habs faceplanted out of the starting gate vs. Anaheim, coming up empty on two first-period power plays and yielding three Ducks goals through 20 minutes. Habs goalie Carey Price, yanked for the start of the second period, was shaky on one goal, but a thoroughly disorganized Montreal defence hung him out to dry on the others. Tomas Plekanec got one back nearly eight minutes into the second, fed a breakaway pass by Josh Gorges to beat Ducks goalie Jonas Hiller. Brian Gionta made it 3-2 with 1:50 to play with his 20th of the season, and with Jaroslav Halak on the bench for a sixth attacker, Andrei Markov tied the game with 10.7 seconds left in regulation, his fourth of the year. Gionta and Plekanec, with the winner, scored in the shootout with only Ryan Getzlaf beating Halak in four Ducks SO attempts.

Given the NHL's wildly inconsistent manner of dealing with injurious hits, the four games assessed yesterday to Maxim Lapierre is fodder for discussion.

Blogger/Canadian Press correspondent Arpon Basu has put together this excellent video look at suspension-producing checks as he wonders whether four games is suitable punishment for Lapierre, shelved until next Saturday for Thursday's check of San Jose's Scott Nichol.

• BILINGUAL AUDIO: Pierre Gauthier

• Habs didn't have much room to move: Hickey
• Idle trade-day GM Gauthier prepared to live with what he's got: Stubbs
• Much ado about nothing: Fisher

Canadiens general manager Pierre Gauthier, VP hockey operations Julien BriseBois and head coach Jacques Martin spent the day in Boston working the phones, as much as they did, but didn't see anything worth moving on as the NHL's trade deadline came and went.

Gauthier told the Montreal media by teleconference just now that the message he sends to his club is that any success the team is to achieve this season will come from within, a refrain heard last season when Gauthier's predecessor, Bob Gainey, didn't make any moves on deadline day.

Gauthier maintained that his two young goalies, Carey Price and Jaroslav Halak, are keys to the team's success this season. He added that he's satisfied with the talks he's had thus far to keep Tomas Plekanec with the organization beyond this year.

Apologies for the quality of the audio, which was less than superior at source.

Canadiens charter to San Jose? Right, Rorge.

The Canadiens fly to San Jose this morning and will be in the air when the 3 pm ET NHL trade deadline arrives. But general manager Pierre Gauthier and VP hockey operations Julien BriseBois will remain in Boston, where the Habs were 4-1 winners last night, to entertain offers – and probably make offers of their own – as the deadline nears.

Stay near Habs Inside/Out today for developments:

• Canadiens deals will be posted here as they happen, with background, bios, photos, etc.;
• Follow Stubbs on Twitter for up-to-the-minute Habs bulletins if you're away from your computer or TV;
• Boone will live blog the TSN trade-day telecast;
• Gauthier will hold a 4:30 ET conference call with media. We'll post audio of that immediately after it's done.

Twenty-two hours until the NHL trade deadline, Canadiens researcher and historian Robert Lefebvre offers this exhaustive look at the trades made until now by Habs GM Pierre Gauthier through the years.

• NEW: From Bruce Peter at Lefebvre's Eyes On The Prize website, a thorough, entirely remarkable look at the Canadiens inventory on the eve of the deadline: Centres / Wingers / Defence

The Canadiens will be in the air en route to San Jose when Wednesday's 3 pm ET trade deadline comes to pass.

General manager Pierre Gauthier is travelling with the club on this four-game road trip. But as the team flies on to California, Gauthier will remain in Boston with Julien BriseBois, VP of hockey operations, for the trade window's final hours. Gauthier is expected to speak to the media via teleconference some time late afternoon on Wednesday regardless of what moves the Canadiens make or don't make.

We'll be on that call, naturally, and will post audio of it.

Swiss goalie Jonas Hiller stones Belarus' Sergei Kostitsyn in a qualification round game shootout, which eliminated the Belarusians from the Olympics.
Jamie Squire, Getty Images

From The Gazette's Herb Zurkowsky, slumming it at Habs practice as he awaits the start of Alouettes training camp:

As expected, winger Sergei Kostitsyn has returned from the Olympics and is on the ice this morning at the Bell Sports Complex in Brossard, practising with his Canadiens teammates.


Kostitsyn was the leading scorer for Belarus in the Vancouver Games, producing five points in four games, including a goal and three assists in his country's only victory, 5-3, against Germany. Belarus was eliminated last Tuesday, by Switzerland, in a playoff qualification match. Belarus lost 3-2 in a shootout and Kostitsyn was denied what would have been the tying goal in the third round by netminder Jonas Hiller.


Tomas Plekanec (Czech Republic) and Andrei Markov (Russia) are expected to practice with Montreal tomorrow. The sole surviving Olympian, Slovakian netminder Jaroslav Halak, plays for the bronze medal tonight (10 pm ET) vs former Canadiens captain Saku Koivu's Team Finland.


Meanwhile, a Canadiens official said Quebec-based Olympic athletes will be honoured by the team prior to an upcoming home game next month at the Bell Centre. The Canadiens resume play this Tuesday, at Boston, the start of a four-game road trip.

Habs defenceman Andrei Markov, with Team Russia, signs an autograph Sunday at Vancouver airport.
Shaun Best, Reuters

• Ailing Habs welcome Olympic break: Stubbs
• P.K. Subban makes a good first impression: Hickey

So now we're truly at the Olympic break, every team having played its final game until the month of March.

For the next two weeks, the Canadiens will be in eighth place in the Eastern Conference, one point above the playoff cut with their three nearest pursuers holding one or two games in hand.

We're shifting gears here for awhile; I'm goin' (ice) fishin' for a bit, like the non-Olympic Habs recharging for the six-week run toward the playoffs. I will, however, drop in via Twitter from time to time.

Mike Boone will blog Team Canada's games on his side of the site and Kevin Mio will update this side with news items on the six Canadiens who are in Vancouver representing their countries: goalie Jaroslav Halak with Slovakia; forwards Sergei and Andrei (subject to medical clearance) with Belarus; centre Tomas Plekanec with the Czech Republic, defenceman Andrei Markov with Russia; and blue-line farmhand Yannick Weber with Switzerland.

Enjoy the Olympics. We'll see you with much more as of Feb. 24, when most of the Canadiens return to practice.

• AUDIO: Jacques Martin | PK Subban | Pierre Gauthier

• Update: Andrei Kostitsyn has been given a conditional OK to go to Vancouver. See Pat Hickey's post above. Is Dominic Moore a rental? "We'll see," general manager Pierre Gauthier said. Gauthier added that he did have interest in a few players at today's trade freeze, but that his salary cap was too tight. He said that he jumped at Moore sooner than later.

Carey Price gets his second consecutive start in goal tonight, tapped by head coach Jacques Martin to face the Flyers in Philadelphia tonight.

No morning skate for the Canadiens. P.K. Subban is an insurance policy on defence, playing only if Andrei Markov isn't ready to go. Josh Gorges has announced he'll play even after having been drilled in the head by a slapshot on Wednesday.

Newly acquired Dominic Moore is expected to be in the lineup.

Goalie Jaroslav Halak has been a revelation for the Canadiens, their fans and perhaps even the netminder himself.
Eliot J. Schechter/NHLI via Getty Images

Young Canadiens goaltender Jaroslav Halak came to Montreal's training camp this past autumn with the objective of playing at least as many games as he did for the Habs last season.

What he's done with his excellent, often spectacular play is become the team's de facto No. 1 goaltender, a Vancouver Olympian with his native Slovakia and a huge favourite of Montreal's admittedly fickle fans, who no longer view Carey Price as the only quality netminder in the organization.

But Halak, 24, is taking it all in stride, his feet on the ground and his head out of the clouds, aware that this can all change very quickly in a city that has been chewing up and spitting out its goaltenders almost since Georges Vézina.

Here's a feature profile of Halak, who marvels at the hockey madness of his adopted city while discussing trade rumours, his relationship with Price, his roots in the game and boyhood hockey-card collection, the honour of representing his native Slovakia in this month's Olympics and even his greatest weakness – chocolate milk.

The Canadiens are back on practice ice this morning in Brossard following last night's stirring 6-5 overtime victory over the Washington Capitals.

After being felled by the elephant gun that masqueraded as a Mike Green slapshot to the head, defenceman Josh Gorges is on the ice, practising with his teammates. It's a therapy day for fellow rearguard Andrei Markov. D Paul Mara did not practice and will not make this afternoon's trip to Philadelphia, though both Gorges and Markov will.

Andrei Kostitsyn again skated alone before practice, apparently for about an hour. The charter will be without Kostitsyn, Mara, Michael Cammalleri, Benoit Pouliot and Marc-André Bergeron

The Canadiens meet the Flyers tomorrow night before playing host to the same team Saturday at the Bell Centre in Montreal's final game before the Olympic break.

Canadiens forward Andrei Kostitsyn takes his surgically repaired left knee out for a test drive this morning in Brossard, supervised by head athletic therapist Graham Rynbend (background).
Marie-France Coallier

• AUDIO: Jacques Martin English & French | Jaroslav Spacek | Tom Pyatt

Carey Price gets the start tonight, his first since a Jan. 27 loss to Tampa Bay. Price is 1-1-3 lifetime vs. the Washington Capitals, with a 3.30 average and .896 save percentage. This season, Price is 1-1-1 with a .910 save percentage against the Caps.

Defenceman Paul Mara didn't skate this morning; all other healthy hands were on deck for a brief morning skate at the Bell Sports Complex in Brossard.

Expected lines for head coach Jacques Martin tonight (gotta love the third line – three centres!):

Mathieu Darche - Tomas Plekanec - Sergei Kostitsyn
Tom Pyatt - Scott Gomez - Brian Gionta
Maxim Lapierre - Ben Maxwell - David Desharnais
Travis Moen - Glen Metropolit - Matt D'Agostini

Andrei Kostitsyn was on the ice alone with head athletic therapist Graham Rynbend about 90 minutes before the scheduled start of the morning skate, then again after practice. Nothing demanding, but some gentle flexibility and range of motion work. It was AK46's first time on skates since having had knee surgery in early January.

• CAPITALS AUDIO: Montage of winning streak | Alexander Ovechkin on playing in Canada | José Theodore | Mike Green on Ovechkin | Brooks Laich

Alexander Ovechkin, José Theodore and their Washington Capitals, on a 14-game winning streak, are at the Bell Centre tonight to take on the Canadiens.

I'll be at the Habs' morning skate in Brossard, which begins at 11 am, and will file updates and audio here and on Twitter.

From our old, young friend Ben Raby in Washington, some excellent Capitals notes. Audio of Caps recorded after Tuesday practice is courtesy of Ben, too, provided with our thanks.

The Canadiens return to practice today after having had a day off – the players, if not management.

An 11 am practice in Brossard will begin to set the table for tomorrow night's formidable challenge, i.e., the visit of the Washington Capitals, they of the 14-game winning streak.

Updates to follow from Pat Hickey, who will be at practice today and no doubt will have the reaction of players about yesterday's resignation of general manager Bob Gainey.

By this time next week, Habs defenceman Andrei Markov will be wearing the jersey of his native Russia at the Vancouver Olympics. Markov is seen in action at the 2006 Turin Games.
Elsa, Getty Images Sport

The Canadiens will enjoy the day off before returning to practice ice tomorrow, a huge week on the schedule leading to the two-week Olympic break.

The Habs are home Wednesday to the Washington Capitals, now on a 14-game win streak. Then Friday it's on to Philadelphia, whose Flyers sit in the Eastern Conference's eighth and final playoff spot, three points behind No. 6 Montreal but with four games in hand. The Flyers make up one of those games tonight, home to New Jersey.

Montreal returns home next Saturday to face those same Flyers before shutting down, the Olympic Winter Games taking centre stage in Vancouver. The Habs open post-Olympics with four games on the road – Boston, San Jose, Los Angeles and Anaheim – before returning to the Bell Centre to face Tampa Bay on March 9.

Bruins' Blake Wheeler and Canadiens' Ryan O'Byrne exchange pleasantries during Sunday's first period.
Christinne Muschi, Reuters

Preview | Matchups | Sunday's NHL schedule | Boone's Game Blog and About last night ... | Stubbs on Twitter | Pat Hickey's game story

• AUDIO: Tomas Plekanec | Brian Gionta | Jaroslav Spacek

• At a Glance: A super Sunday but, alas, only for the Bruins, with a goaltender other than the Canadiens' Jaroslav Halak stealing the show. Riding a 10-game winless streak, one more loss from tying a franchise record for futility, Boston scored twice in the first period then held on for a 3-0 victory over the Habs at the Bell Centre. Adam McQuaid scored the first goal of his career to open the scoring at 17:32, that coming on a heavy-traffic slapper, then Marco Sturm beat Halak with less than four seconds on the clock, a deflected puck landing on Sturm's stick with Halak moving the other way. The second period was all Montreal's, the Habs outshooting their visitors 15-3, but Boston goalie Tuukka Rask, who made 36 saves to Halak's 24, was equal to them all. Sturm salted the game away midway through the third, his snap shot deflecting off defenceman Josh Gorges's stick past Halak.

• Key Moments: Sturm's goal in the last gasp of the first period. And Rask, who was dominant throughout, twice robbing Tomas Plekanec in the second, first with a glove grab, then later on a breakaway with a terrific right-pad stop.

• What It Means: With a win, Montreal could have pulled three points ahead of Tampa Bay in the Eastern Conference standings. Even with the loss, however, the Habs remain in sixth place, their 62 points one ahead of the Lightning but with Tampa holding three games in hand.

• What's Next: The Canadiens return to action at home on Wednesday vs. the Washington Capitals of Alexander Ovechkin, who scored a hat trick and assisted Sunday in the Caps' 5-4 overtime win over Pittsburgh – Washington's 14th (!) straight win. Montreal then plays back-to-back Friday and Saturday against the Flyers, opening in Philadelphia then at the Bell Centre to send themselves into the Olympic break.

It's been said the Canadiens are a family unto themselves. It's something Habs defenceman Ryan O'Byrne has learned in the past weeks and months, leading to and since last Sunday's loss of his mother, Lorelei, to breast cancer.

The 25-year-old flew home to Victoria early last month to spend a few days with his mother, who was in the final stages of a disease she'd been battling since O'Byrne was in junior hockey. Canadiens GM Bob Gainey encouraged him to take 10 days, time O'Byrne now cherishes before he'll attend his mom's memorial service back home during the Olympic break.

O'Byrne sat quietly in the dressing room after practice yesterday and shared a little of what has been on his mind, and how he's taken strength from those around him. Here's that story.

• AUDIO: Jacques Martin (courtesy Andie Bennett, Team 990) | Brian Gionta (begins speaking about not taking a therapy day) | Gionta on scaling Mount Chara | Carey Price (begins speaking about Super Bowl)

• Courtesy of Rod Francis at the Team 990, Pierre McGuire offers some cautionary words on the Tomas Plekanec contract situation

• UPDATE, 12:20 pm: Therapy days for Tomas Plekanec, Marc-André Bergeron, Benoit Pouliot and Sergei Kostitsyn
• UPDATE, 5:22 pm: Canadiens recall David Desharnais, Brock Trotter and Ryan White from Hamilton

So who's in the lineup Saturday to kickoff the Super Bowl matinée weekend?

The Stanley Cup-champion Pittsburgh Penguins at the Bell Centre Saturday at 2 pm, the badly limping Boston Bruins paying a return visit to Montreal Sunday at 3 pm following the Habs' 3-2 shootout win last night in Boston. Thank goalie Jaroslav Halak (again) for last night's victory. There's no sign of Jaro cooling off, any time soon.

Four Canadiens took therapy days, and late this afternoon the team confirmed it was recalling forwards David Desharnais, Brock Trotter and Ryan White from Hamilton. One or more of them will see duty today, Bergeron declared out for the weekend with a lower-body injury after having stopped a shot against Boston on Thursday.

Pat Hickey reports this callup puts Bergeron on injury-reserve; he cannot play until next Friday vs. Philadelphia.

The other three clinic patients might be game-time decisions, or they might have been in for regular maintenance.

Live updates on Twitter.

CKAC and RDS are reporting that the Canadiens are recalling forwards David Desharnais, Brock Trotter and Ryan White from the Hamilton Bulldogs.

Details to come, but Sergei Kostitsyn, Benoit Pouliot, Marc-André Bergeron and Tomas Plekanec all took therapy days today. Bergeron seems unlikely to be ready to play this weekend with a lower body injury, suffered while blocking a shot last night in Boston. The status of the others remains unclear, so this could be a just-in-case recall in two of the three instances.

Habs Inside/Out, on behalf of the site and its readers, expresses its sympathies to Canadiens defenceman Ryan O'Byrne, who lost his mother, Lorelei, to breast cancer on Jan. 28.

O'Byrne had taken a leave of absence early last month, missing four games for family reasons, when his mother was critically ill. Her passing is announced in this notice.

O'Byrne is expected to remain with the team, a memorial service for his mother to be held in Victoria, B.C., next Tuesday.

(Nice idea from reader Peter Stone in a comment below: if you wish to send your wishes to Ryan, visit the link above and sign the guestbook at the bottom of the notice.)

• AUDIO: Jacques Martin | Roman Hamrlik | Bruins coach Claude Julien | Patrice Bergeron | Steve Bégin

The Canadiens are in Boston to take on the Bruins tonight. A few words, then, from the dressing rooms after morning skate, culled by The Gazette's Pat Hickey.

(Retracting earlier claim... that wasn't Hick's lucky sweater, so I've unlinked the photo.)

Canadiens forward Michael Cammalleri meets the media at his Bell Sports Complex stall at noon today. He figures he won't be on crutches long, having already been told to do some walking without them.
Marie-France Coallier, Gazette

• AUDIO: Michael Cammalleri | More Cammy | Jacques Martin English & French | Matt D'Agostini

Canadiens forward Michael Cammalleri was sitting in his stall in sweatpants, a brace beneath on his right knee, crutches at his side, when he met a Montreal media mob shortly after noon today, ready to get his rehabilitation going.

Cammalleri would say nothing beyond he's got an injury to the right knee that will require no surgery, but he was in good spirits and looking to bum lifts from teammates since he can't yet drive a car.

Other quick notes from morning skate: Matt D'Agostini returns to the lineup, over the flu and his short conditioning stint in Hamilton.

Defenceman Paul Mara skated before practice; D Jaroslav Spacek skated with the team, but isn't back yet.

Jaroslav Halak starts in goal. Carey Price returned to the ice after the morning session and spent at least a half-hour alone on the rink, out of goalie equipment, shooting pucks at one empty net. Sometimes, maybe a guy just has to think.

• Martin juggles Habs' depleted ranks: Hickey
• Good ship CH loses another first mate: Stubbs
• Spat with Markov hugely overblown, Price says: Stubbs
• Lecavalier not the catch we thought: Hickey

• Michael Cammalleri will speak to the media following morning skate and coach Jacques Martin's update. We'll post audio. Paul Mara skated alone this morning. Matt D'Agostini, called up from Hamilton Sunday but unable to practise yesterday with the flu, is on the ice. So is defenceman Jaroslav Spacek, who's been out with an upper-body injury. D Paul Mara skated alone this morning, before practice.

Not the typical morning skate for the Canadiens today in Brossard, held a few hours before tonight's Bell Centre game vs. the Vancouver Canucks.

The Habs will update the condition of injured forward Michael Cammalleri. We'll learn whether the team must summon someone from the farm, if Matt D'Agostini isn't fit to go – if he's not, D'Agostini (flu), Paul Mara and Jaroslav Spacek (upper body) and Cammalleri (right leg) will leave the Canadiens with just 19 players. So who comes up? And... who's in net?

We'll be at the skate, an update to come here shortly before 11 am, and on Twitter for those plugged in.