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Mats Sundin's agent denies a Swedish newspaper story that his client has signed with Vancouver.

And so the soap opera continues – and it's becoming absurd.

Enough, already!

How hard can this decision be?

Vancouver = $$$

Montreal = Glory

Toronto = Toronto

Retirement =  Brett Favre

Any questions?

At a time when too many NHL general managers are spending money like drunken sailors, Gazette sports editor Stu Cowan points out that Bob Gainey (flashing his best Eddie Creachman move in this photo) has done a masterful job of managing the Canadiens' payroll.

• And in Buffalo, Sabres GM Darcy Regier is drawing praise for his smooth negotiations with Ryan Miller,  a franchise cornerstone who has re-upped for five years.

•  •  •

CBSsports.com's Wes Goldstein has rated the off-season moves of NHL teams.
Here's Goldstein's take on the Canadiens:

The biggest news out of Montreal so far this summer has been the announcement that the team will host next spring's draft. It's going to be part of the franchise's centennial, an anniversary the team hopes to celebrate with a 25th Stanley Cup title.
Montreal believes that goal is in reach if it can land the missing piece it has been seeking so desperately since the trade deadline. That would be big center Mats Sundin, the former Toronto captain who has yet to decide if he even wants to continue his career. Montreal traded for his negotiating rights before the free-agent market opened, but to this point have failed to convince the 37-year-old to sign.
In the meantime, the Canadiens haven't stood still, trading for high-scoring but sometimes tentative forward Alex Tanguay and adding some muscle with enforcer Georges Laraque. Montreal also re-signed some key young players including Andrei Kostitsyn, who was targeted by the upstart new Russian league. Overall, the Canadiens probably has enough to repeat as division champs, but if they can land Sundin, the Habs might just be legitimate Cup contenders. Grade: B

Not a word about Mats Sundin this fine Saturday morning. Guaranteed.

Instead, La Presse blogger Stéphane Laporte wonders about chemistry on RDS's Canadiens broadcasts now that Benoit Brunet is replacing Yvan Pedneault.

Also in La Presse, Marc-Antoine Godin analyzes the Canadiens' schedule.

And Sports Illustrated's Allen Muir lists his must-see games of 2008-'09, including:

Jan. 25: All-Star Game in Montreal -- If the Habs don't win the Cup,
this game could be the highlight of their centennial celebrations. No
team has done a better job of maintaining links to its glorious past,
so expect them to put on an impressive show.
Apr. 11: Pittsburgh at Montreal -- A preview of the Eastern Conference Finals? Could be.

Michel Therrien gets a new three-year contract in Pittsburgh.

Odd, because the former Canadiens coach was not hired by Penguins general manager Ray Shero but by his predecessor, Craig Patrick.

And rumours swirled, after the Stanley Cup final, that several Penguins would not come back if Therrien were still coaching. It was also suggested that Mario Lemieux was a Therrien critic.

Ryan Malone did depart. So did Marian Hossa.

But Brooks Orpik, said to be no fan of his coach, re-upped. And now the coach has a three-year extension  – which is an eternity in coaching

So go figure.

The new Montreal Juniors may be losing their marquee attraction.

Angelo Esposito has signed a multi-year contract with the Atlanta Thrashers.

With junior eligibility left, however, Esposito will have to return to the Q unless he makes the Thrashers

• Ryan Miller will stay in Buffalo: five years, $31.25 million. There had been speculation the Michigan homeboy would join the Red Wings as a UFA next summer.

•  •  •

Yvon Pedneault out, Benoit Brunet in as Pierre Houde's analysis partner on RDS telecasts of Canadiens games.

•  •   •

"Basically, it came down to development," Max Pacioretty told The Gazette's Pat Hickey from his home in New Canaan, Conn. yesterday. "I think I developed in this past year better than I  ever have before. It really helped me improve as a player and get to  where I want to be as an NHL player some day."

•  •  •

Canucks general manager Mike Gillis thinks the 2010 Olympics will be an incentive for Mats Sundin to sign with Vancouver.

Gillis said that he was still confident that Sundin would accept the Canucks' two-year, $20 million contract and that the 2010 Winter Olympics would be a possible incentive to convince Sundin.

"What we have talked about is that if he (Sundin) were to play a couple more seasons, he would be the captain of the defending team in the Olympics in the town that he plays in, which we believe to be unprecedented, and may never be available to a player ever again."  
Gillis told the Team 1040 in Vancover.  "So we have talked about his captaincy of  the Swedish Olympic team, but we haven't gone further than that at this point."

•  •  •

Just for fun, let's send Gary Bettman an e-mail asking for his help in getting a fortune out of Nigeria.

According to a report in The Tennessean, California-based Canadian entrepreneur Doug Bergeron said Boots Del Biaggio boasted that his financial statements never underwent the due diligence process that prospective NHL owners face.

Canadiens undefeated so far!

For the complete 2008-09 schedule for the Canadiens, click here.

 TSN's take.

 Interesting move.

First-round draft choices Mike Komisarek and Christopher Higgins each played two years of college hockey, at Michigan and Yale, respectively.

Ryan O'Byrne played three seasons at Cornell, James T. Wyman four at Dartmouth.

First-rounder David Fischer is going back to Minnesota for his third season.

Leaving players in school gives them another year to develop – at no expense to the club. And it delays free agency.

Max Pacioretty has been signed after his freshman year at Michigan.

Bob Gainey and Trevor Timmins must LOVE this kid.

According to RDS, the Canadiens will open their 2008-09 season on Oct. 10 when they visit the Buffalo Sabres.

Their first home game will be on Oct. 15 when the Boston Bruins visit the Bell Centre.

The final game of the regular season will be on April 11 against the Stanley Cup finalist Pittsburgh Penguins.

The complete schedule will be released Thursday at noon.

Ryan O'Byrne has signed a three-year contract worth $2.825 million. He will make $700,000 this season, $725,000 in 2009-'10 and $1.4 million in the final season of the deal.

O'Byrne made $590,000 last season.

The signing leaves the Canadiens $6.8 million under the salary cap.

From the Mother Ship:

Montreal Canadiens General Manager Bob Gainey announced today the signing of defenseman Ryan O’Byrne to a three-year contract (2008-09 to 2010-11). As per club policy, financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

“Ryan acquired a great deal of NHL experience last season. He is part of our young core of defencemen and certainly has the potential of becoming a very good NHL player. He is big, intense and his physical play are important assets for our team,’’ said Bob Gainey.

O’Byrne, who will turn 24 on July 19, will begin his second season in the NHL this fall. In 2007-08, he scored seven points (1 goal, 6 assists) and served 45 minutes of penalty in 33 games with the Canadiens, averaging 13:23 minutes of ice time per game. The 6’5’’, 228 lbs defenceman also played 20 games with the Hamilton Bulldogs, posting eight points (2-6-8), a plus-4 differential and 49 penalty minutes. He was named to the Canadian AHL All-Star Team.

A native of Victoria, British Columbia, O’Byrne was selected in the third round by the Canadiens, 79th overall in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft. He played three seasons with the ECAC Cornell University Big Red from 2003 to 2006.

Shawn Belle under contract
The Canadiens also announced today the signing of defenseman Shawn Belle to a one-year, two-way contract (2008-09). Belle, 23, was acquired from the Minnesota Wild on July 11 in return for forward Corey Locke.

 The Maple Leafs have added an extra exhibition game to their pre-season
schedule and, with the help of longtime corporate sponsor Coca-Cola,
every ticket to the Sept. 22 game against the Buffalo Sabres will be
given away for free.

The promotion was announced at a Fan Appreciation rally that drew 700 to the Air Canada Centre this morning. They each got two tickets to the exhibition game, and the balance will be distributed  through contests and promotional campaigns.

 “The Leafs have the most loyal and passionate fans in the NHL,” said interim Toronto general manager Cliff Fletcher, a former Montrealer who should know better. “Securing the additional pre-season Leafs game and giving away the tickets to the Coca-Cola Zero Fans First Game is our way of thanking them for their ongoing support.”

 Tom Anselmi, MLSE's executive vice-president and chief operating officer, predicted the exhibition game fans would be noisier than the usual Leafs crowd, which tends toward corporate season ticket-holders whose expense-account reserve belies Fletcher's assertion that the club's following is passionate.

Anselmi also alluded to Toronto's changing demographics. The city is no longer populated exclusively by people who look (and think) like Don Cherry.

"Fifty per cent of Toronto was born somewhere else," Anselmi said. "Every kid didn't grow up playing road hockey like you and I did. Half the kids grow up in places where hockey isn't what it's all about.

"We worry about the long-term future of hockey. We need to be continually investing in the growth of the game and the growth of this team in the hearts and minds of this city."

If such concern exists in the executive suites of the Bell Centre, it has yet to manifest itself in free anything.

Spotted at Buonanotte last night ...

KIDDING!

As Montreal hockey fans wait with bated breath – and as Bob Gainey waits to find out how much money he has to sign Ryan O'Byrne, a seventh-defenceman and, maybe, a Plan B centre – Mats Sundin has gone fishing in Sweden.

Hope they're biting for the big guy.

Hey, if he signs maybe they'll add gravlax to the menu at Beauty's.

Hot trade rumour in the Ottawa Sun:

Martin Gerber
and defenceman Andrej Meszaros to the Los Angeles Kings. Kings send Anze Kopitar to Chicago, which deals Nikolai Khabibulin and either 
Brent Seabrook or Cam Barker to Ottawa.

A steal for the Senators, if it happens. But that's what I thought when they got Mike Commodore and Cory Stillman.

•  •  •

• In the Globe, Tim Wharnsby writes Terry Murray will coach the Kings. And Stephen Brunt columnizes on Gary Bettman's Del Biaggio problem.

• A bank in Michigan is suing Sergei Fedorov for more than $2 million.

• François Gagnon on why Vincent Lecavalier is worth all those millionsVinny worth it. And RDS on Vinny's popularity in  Tampa.

• Calgary will play a pre-season game in Winnipeg Sept. 24. Their opponent: the Coyotes, who were the Jets until they moved from Winnipeg to Phoenix after the 1996 season.

Habs I/O poster Amanda Stein – aka Steiner – took a whack of photos at the development camp.

You can check them out at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2074704&l=2c7bc&id=48301252

John Tavares, come on down!

The NHL has announced the 2009 draft will take place at the Bell Centre next June 26-27 – a few weeks  after  the Stanley Cup parade.

“The Montreal Canadiens are extremely proud to host the 2009 NHL Entry Draft,” said Canadiens President Pierre Boivin.  “In December 2009, the Canadiens will become the first professional hockey team to celebrate a century of history. Thanks to the NHL, the Entry Draft is back in Montreal after 17 years. We are excited about this occasion, knowing the past history of the Draft and its origins in Montreal.”

Montreal was the site of the draft from 1963 through 1984, before the NHL began holding it in different cities each year. The last time the draft was held in Montreal was 1992, when Roman Hamrlik was selected first overall by Tampa Bay.

The Canadiens web site reports Georges Laraque will wear number 17 this season.

Laraque was number 27 in Phoenix and Pittsburgh, but that's taken in Montreal.

Laraque will become the Canadiens' 45th 17 and the first since Jason Ward in 2003-04.

Jean-Guy Talbot wore 17 the longest, 1954 to 1967. Rod Langway wore it from 1978 to 1982.

Other notables to have worn No. 17 include Ken Reardon, Phil Roberto, Larry Pleau, Murray Wilson, Craig Ludwig, John LeClair and Benoit Brunet. Guy  Lapointe wore it from 1968 to 1970 before becoming number 5.

Greatest 17 ever? Has to be Jean Beliveau, who wore it for the two games he played with the Habs in 1950-51.

Larry Brooks, in the New York Post, writes Ted Nolan's fate was sealed in early March when he didn't play Rick DiPietro in a home-and-home series against the Rangers.

You don't diss the franchise goaltender – which is something Nolan should have learned when he got into it with Dominick Hasek in Buffalo.

Pat Hickey, in The Gazette, contextualizes the Nolan firing in the dysfunctional recent history of his hometown team.

•  •  •

Heckuva way to celebrate:

Kris Draper tells the Detroit Free Press his diaperless newborn daughter, Kamryn, relieved herself in the Stanley Cup last month.

The seeds of this sacrilege were sown in that TV commercial for the Hockey Hall of Fame that they showed 5,000 times during the playoffs. A day in the life of the guy who  takes care of the Cup has a brief clip of him sitting on the toilet, reading a paper.

What is it with Ted Nolan?

He's been fired, with a year left on his contract, by the Islanders.

They're the team that finally hired Nolan after he'd been fired in Buffalo and out of the league for eight years – a long exile for a former Jack Adams Award winner.

So what is it?

Racism? Nolan is First Nations.

Inability to get along with his bosses? Nolan had problems with general manager John Muckler in Buffalo and, latterly, with Garth Snow on the Island.

Inability to handle star players? Dominic Hasek wanted him out of Buffalo.

Rumoured successor with the Islanders: Bob Hartley.

Check out Josh Gorges' iPod recommendations:

Nice deal: 11 years, $85 million, front-loaded.

Maybe Vincent Lecavalier can sign with the Canadiens when he's 40.

• Marc-Antoine Godin has a story on the eternally hopeful Mathieu "I'm the Other Matt Carle" Carle.

• Yvan Pedneault on Bob Gainey's summer and the ongoing pursuit of a Number One centre.

If Mats Sundin plays hockey this season it will be as a member of the Montreal Canadiens.

Why?

Because it makes sense.

And Sundin is a sensible guy from Sweden, a sensible social democracy where people drive Volvos and go to Ingmar Bergman movies and learn to play smart hockey.

Maybe as you read this Sundin is at the wheel of his XC90 (all hockey players drive big-ass SUVs) on his way to the DVD store to rent The Seventh Seal. And perhaps he's thinking of the three cities where he might play hockey in 2008-'09.

Max Pacioretty wowed the crowd at Canadiens' development camp on Friday.

The  big forward scored twice on nifty backhands during the 3-on-3 scrimmages.

On the first goal, Pacioretty drove the net and was slammed after scoring by Andrew Conboy, who was chosen 120 picks after Pacioretty in the 2007 draft. Conboy is a 6'4" bruiser who managed to rack up 188 minutes in penalties playing in the relatively tranquil – by Canadian major-junior standards – USHL.

Conboy will be a freshman at Michigan State this fall. If Pacioretty returns to Michigan – which he probably will – they'll be seeing more of each other.

As Pat Hickey writes in The Gazette today, Trevor Timmins describes Pacioretty as "head and shoulders" above the other prospects at camp.

Take this to the bank, people: Max Pacioretty will be with the big club when the 2009-'10 season begins. And he's going to  be a good one.

While the Canadiens prospects were skating through 3-on-3 and 4-on-4 scrimmages at Development Camp (Max Pacioretty looked GREAT!), the team swung a mnor deal, sending smurf-sized forward Corey Locke to the Wild for intriguing defence prospect Shawn Belle, Carey Price's former junior teammate.

From the Habs' PR commissariat:

General Manager Bob Gainey today announced the
acquisition of defenceman Shawn Belle from the Minnesota Wild, in return for forward Corey Locke.

Shawn Belle, 23, played in the American Hockey League for the past three seasons. In 2007-08, he
registered three points (1 goal, 2 assists) and 74 penalty minutes in 63 games with the Houston Aeros. The 6-2,
232 lbs defenceman played nine games for the Wild during the 2006-07 season, scoring an assist (0-1-1).

The Edmonton, Alberta native Belle was the St. Louis Blues’ first round selection, 30th overall in the 2003
NHL Entry Draft. His rights were traded to Dallas for Jason Bacashihua on June 25, 2004. The Wild acquired
him on March 9, 2006 with Martin Skoula, in return for Willie Mitchell and a second round pick in 2007.

A teammate of Carey Price with the WHL Tri-City Americans from 2003 to 2005, Belle was named to the
Canadian national team four times during his junior career. He earned a gold medal with Team Canada at the
2005 World Junior Championships. 

Corey Locke was selected by the Canadiens in the fourth round, 113th overall in the 2003 NHL Entry
Draft. He spent the past four seasons with the AHL Hamilton Bulldogs and played his first NHL game with the
Canadiens on January 8 against Chicago.

• Belle's profile at Hockey's Future:
http://www.hockeysfuture.com/prospects/shawn_belle

You knew Brian Burke wasn't going to let Kevin Lowe have the last word.

So despite Gary Bettman's unequivocal comman that bothcombatants in the war of words STFU, Burke has fired off another salvo, including an absurd accusation of tampering.

 • The Globe's Eric Duhatschek on the uneasy truce between the NHL and Russia's new Continental League.

• Man, they're lucky he wasn't home. Thieves broke in and stole Milan Lucic's Memorial Cup ring from his parents' house in Vancouver.

Pavol Demitra to Vancouver: two years, $8 million.

Canucks are $10 million under the cap  and still a player in the Sundin sweepstakes.

HockeyBuzz says Canadiens' Plan B is Patrick Marleau.

Pat Hickey talks to the man.

Meanwhile, San Jose signs defenceman Christian Ehrhoff to a three year contract for three times what  Gorges is making.

And the Globe's Tim Wharnsby looks at spiralling salaries in the NHL.

Three-year contract worth a reported $3.3 million.

Boone is delighted.

Gorges made $495,000 last season when he proved he deserved a regular spot on the blue line.

This news was posted to the Comments section yesterday by one of our spies in Kelowna.

The official blah-blah:

“Josh established himself as a key member of our defensive squad last season. His reliability and solid
play made him one of our most improved players. He is a young defenseman with a very good work ethic,’’ said
Bob Gainey.
Gorges, 23, will begin his fourth season in the NHL this fall. In 2007-08, he set career highs in games
played (62), points (0-9-9) and shots on goal (41). Gorges took part in the final 52 games of the season and
played in all 12 playoff games.
A native of Kelowna, British Columbia, Gorges was acquired by the Canadiens from the San Jose Sharks
on February 25, 2007 along with a first-round selection in 2007 (Max Pacioretty), in return for Craig Rivet and a
fifth-round selection in 2008. He played 165 career games in the NHL, scoring 19 points (1 goal, 18 assists),
and serving 89 penalty minutes.

Let's get a pool going on the date of the first off-ice incident.

The Bolshevik revolution began on Oct. 25, which sounds about right.

Tie-breaker will be the actual offence. A good bet is DWB: Driving While Bourgeois.

Has Ray Emery seen Eastern Promises?

These people do not take kindly to blithe spirits.

He's got owners under indictment.

He's got a TV deal with a U.S. cable network that no one watches.

He's got fading defencemen signed to six-year contracts, 14-goal scorers making $4 million a season and goaltenders going for $12 million a pair, while supplies last.

Gary Bettman is CRAAAAAZZZZZYYYYYYYY!

This week's special at Crazy Gary's: A Conn Smythe Trophy winner who will make almost $1.5 million less this season than Michael Ryder.

One goal, 16 assists, plus-1 on the season, an average of 18 minutes a game.

Not Nicklas Lidstrom, but Paul Mara wasn't totally horsebleep.

Or was he?

Mara, 27, has re-signed with the Rangers: one year, $1.95 million.

Mara made $3 million last season. He was the highest-paid defenceman on the Rangers roster.

An NHL player HAS ACTUALLY TAKEN A PAY CUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Memo to Mara: Phone Michael Ryder's agent.

If you can keep your head while all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on Lowe ... you'll be a man in the treacherous world of salary cap hockey.

Bob Gainey is a man.

He has locked up Andrei Kostitsyn for three years at a fair-but-affordable $3.5 million per.

Gainey has re-signed Jaroslav Halak for $1.5 million over two seasons. Halak will play about 20 to 25 games as the Canadiens Number 2 goaltender. Should Carey Price falter or succumb to the sophomore jinx, Halak has the experience and talent to step in and carry the team.

With Marc Denis rediscovering his game and sharing time with young Cedric Desjardins in Hamilton, the organization is set at hockey's most important position – and every goaltender is playing for six figures.