Patrick Roy with the Canadiens in the 1980s.
Steve Babineau, NHLI via Getty Images

Otherwise detained by Grey Cup reporting, so I don't have audio of the teleconference held today with Patrick Roy, whose sweater No. 33 will be retired by the Canadiens on Saturday night. But below is the entire transcript of the call.

The NHL's introduction:

A little over five years ago, Patrick concluded his 19-year National Hockey League career as the NHL's all-time leader among goaltenders in games with 1,029 in victories with 551.

On Saturday night, prior to their game with the Boston Bruins, the Montreal Canadiens will honor Patrick by retiring his No. 33 at the Bell Centre.

A quick message from your friendly neighbourhood tech support. We've received a number of emails from people who cannot access the site. This was due to software that prevents people--spammers, mostly--from bombarding the site with junk. However, blocking access is an inexact science, so some legitimate users were blocked as well. We apologize for the inconvenience, and we've turned off the software for now while we look for other solutions.

Everyone should now be able to access the site. If you still have problems, email dru.oja.jay [at] gmail dot com.

There were no changes in the Canadiens' lines as they practiced this morning at the Sensplex in Kanata but coach Guy Carbonneau said he wouldn't hesitate to do some more juggling if the team doesn't play better.  

Normally, the coach would think about using Georges Laraque in tonight's game but the Senators won't have their resident heavyweight, Chris Neil. He's out with a torn meniscus in his knee. The Sens are also missing Mike Fisher, who also has a knee injury.

 Carey Price will make his third consecutive start in goal while Ottawa counters with Alex Auld.   

The Canadiens will try to regroup from Tuesday's dismal 2-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes when they take on the Ottawa Senators in Kanata, Ont., on Thursday.

Some audio as the teams prepare for that one, sent along by Pat Hickey:

• Ottawa's rugged Chris Neil on the knee surgery he'll have Friday for a torn miniscus;
• Ottawa's Chris Phillips on the Senators' dealing with the loss of Neil and Mike Fisher to knee injuries;
• Canadiens' Alex Tanguay on his line's problems;
• Habs head coach Guy Carbonneau.

Former Canadien Sergei Samsonov celebrates his first goal in 19 games – against the Habs, of course – in front of Montreal's Sergei Kostitsyn.
Jon Gardiner, Reuters

Rosters | Tale of the Tape | Play-by-Play | Faceoffs
Game Summary | Event Summary | Game Story | Boone |

AUDIO:  • Price   • Kovalev   • Carbonneau

Without Carey Price in goal, making a career high 46 saves, the Carolina Hurricanes might have beaten the Canadiens 10-1 tonight.

But if the 2-1 loss in Raleigh, N.C., wasn't embarrassing on the scoreboard, it certainly was in the unkept statistic of being badly outplayed. The unravelling of the Canadiens continues...

Former Canadien Sergei Samsonov scored his first goal of the season – in fact, his first goal in 19 games – at 3:06 of the third period. Ray Whitney then bagged his fifth three and a half minutes later, giving the Hurricanes a come-from-behind victory.

From Pat Hickey in Raleigh, N.C., where he reports they had a few snowflakes this morning. (So it's not just us.)

Canadiens defenceman Josh Gorges, still looking for his first goal as a Canadiens after 97 games in the CH, had one of his sticks chopped up and sacrificed, scattered by goalie Carey Price around the RBC Center this morning. The ritual was aimed at breaking the curse that has stricken the still-looking rearguard.

Also: Carolina coach Peter Laviolette on the head shots to Brandon Sutter and others, and his thoughts on tonight's game (low volume).

Paul Stastny: five years, $33 million

Gifted player, but that's another crazy second contract. Stastny's entry-level deal pays him $710,000 this year.

Do you envy Bob Gainey sitting down with the agent representing Mike Komisarek and Christopher Higgins?

• In the Delaware County Daily Times, Anthony Sanfilippo praises Paul Holmgren for another steal: Matt Carle

• Marc De Foy in the Journal de Montréal on the Canadiens'  power-play woes

• Thanks, nightmare_49, for this link to a skeptical look at Carey Price from Canes Country

• And ESPN's Scott Burnside asks:

Speaking of goalies, how do you feel about the Montreal goaltending situation?
Honestly, slightly uneasy. There is no disputing that sophomore Carey Price is a world talent. But over the past week or so, the Canadiens have proven with a series of erratic performances that they're not going to run away with the Eastern Conference. Moreover, the up-and-down play of Price -- whose goals allowed over the past four starts look like this: 2, 6, 0, 6 -- begs the question whether GM Bob Gainey isn't headed down the same path that cost the Canadiens a trip to the Eastern Conference final a year ago.
You'll recall that after trading Cristobal Huet to Washington at last year's trade deadline, Gainey turned over the goaltending duties to two untested rookies, Price and Jaroslav Halak. In the end, that move cost the Habs, as Price wobbled at the end of the first round against Boston and then collapsed in a five-game series loss to Philadelphia. Price is still putting up solid numbers (he's 8-3-1 with a .915 save percentage and 2.61 GAA), and the Habs are still near the top of the Eastern Conference standings.

But the bottom line is the Canadiens' goaltending lineup lacked a veteran presence this spring, and there's no reason to think it won't lack that same presence next spring. That's why we'd keep our eyes on guys like veteran netminder Dwayne Roloson, who might look in a Canadiens jersey, or Nikolai Khabibulin, or Manny Fernandez, although that's not going to happen given that the Bruins and Habs are division-mates. Still, food for thought, no?

Our friend Erle Schneidman, of canadiensmemorabilia.com, sends along an X-your-favourites ballot for the three-game 1979 Challenge Cup, Russia vs. the NHL as a one-time replacement for the All-Star Game, and a ticket stub from the 1948 All-Star Game, the NHL's second, at Chicago Stadium.

("Please keep your X's inside the boxes," reads the ballot, which surely was produced by the folks who brought you Quebec's last referendum.)

The ballot was in colour, but we've converted it to black and white so it's more legible. Canadiens who were voted to that team: Lafleur, Robinson, Gainey, Shutt, Savard, Lapointe, Dryden.

The NHL beat the Russians 4-2 in the opener, then lost 5-4 and 6-0 in Games 2 and 3. All three were played at New York's Madison Square Garden.

The Canadiens’ AHL affiliate Hamilton Bulldogs will play host to the Binghamton Senators at the Bell Centre for the second time in team history, facing off on Sunday, Nov. 30 at 5 p.m.

The Bulldogs’ roster features many of the Canadiens’ top-rated prospects just a few strides away from the NHL, including team captain Kyle Chipchura and the team leading scorer, forward Matt D’Agostini.

When the Canadiens play the Carolina Hurricanes tomorrow night in Raleigh, coach Guy Carbonneau says he'll use the same lines he used against St. Louis Sunday

Here's Carbo, in his own words.

The coach said all the penalties Sunday – the Canadiens had 10 power plays, the Blues nine – made it difficult to assess the changes. In case you missed it, Alex Kovalev joined Saku Koivu and Alex Tanguay on a trio which failed to set the world on fire while matching the Kostitsyn brothers with Robert Lang provided Montreal with both of its goals. 

Carey Price will be in goal against the Hurricanes. 

The Canadiens had the day off today, with the upscale Southpoint Mall in neighbouring Durham, N.C., a popular choice for shopping and dining. 

As you may have noticed, we recently added a section down the side of the page called Sites We Like. While we think we have a good starting point, we want to add to this list, whether it be official team blogs or just good hockey sites.

So, here's your chance to help shape a section of HIO. We would like to add some sites YOU like to the sites WE like.

Send them to me via email at kmio@thegazette.canwest.com and I will have a look at them and add as many as possible to HIO. There's no deadline here, so whenever you come across one, feel free to send it my
way.

I look forward to seeing what sites are frequented by our faithful readers.

At 9:15 am ET, Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby was trailing Canadiens' Alex Tanguay by 108,438 votes in all-star balloting to determine the starting lineups for the Jan. 25 contest in Montreal. Tanguay currently is ranked third, behind No. 1 Alex Kovalev and No. 2 Saku Koivu.

Defenceman Mike Komisarek maintains a nearly 137,000-vote lead on No. 3-ranked Mike Green; Andrei Markov leads Komisarek by almost exactly 20,000.

In goal, Carey Price is 169,400 votes clear of Pittsburgh's Marc-André Fleury.

See the updated totals for the leaders here.