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• Pat Hickey's take:

• Interesting analysis from Arpon Basu:

" ... a $2.75 million cap hit over the next two years is a good deal for both Price and the Canadiens. It gives both sides a good window to see what will become of this talented young man who clearly lost his way at last year's All-Star break, but who hasn't necessarily lost it altogether. For Price, he makes a very decent wage and has two years to prove himself. For the Canadiens, should Price completely flop his contract is not an albatross and is only on the books for two years."

• Boone rants

• And in La Presse, Richard Labbé writes "with two weeks to go until the opening of training camp, Pierre Gauthier can breathe a bit easier. The most pressing issues have been taken care of, and the club can concentrate on hockey."

• At ruefrontenac.com, Pierre Durocher says the Canadiens were very generous in the amount of money they've shelled out for Price.

• Bob Hartley predicts Price will be under enormous pressure.

And ticket packages go on sale online tomorrow.

Gerry Johannson, Carey Price's agent since the goalie's first days in junior hockey, says he figured getting a contract signed with the Canadiens would take most of the summer.

But he never doubted that a deal would get done before training camp, and he praises Habs GM Pierre Gauthier for the positive, professional way he approached the goalie's future in Montreal, today extended by two seasons with a $5.5-million contract signing.

Stubbs column below on Johannson's take on getting his client's signature on the bottom line.

Carey Price signs his first Canadiens contract in April 2007 in the Pasco, Wash., home of Dennis and Jill Williams, his Tri-Cities billet for four seasons, before leaving for the Hamilton Bulldogs.
Courtesy Williams family

• AUDIO: Price conference call

The Canadiens have signed goaltender Carey Price to a two-year contract.

No official word on terms of the deal. The figures being mentioned on Twitter range from $5.25 million ($2.5 million and $2.75 million) to $2.65 million per to $5.5 million ($2.5 million and the $3 million Price was prepared to go on strike to get, as per our national public broadcaster).

A cap hit of $2.75 million would leave the Canadiens with 21 players under contract and about $2 million worth of breathing room.

Price is in Kelowna, where he's spent most of the summer and is working with goaltending coach Pierre Groulx at the junior Rockets rink. After the conference call, he planned to drive to Tri-Cities where "my girlfriend has a family reunion I've got to go to", Price said, stressing the obligatory nature of the excursion.

Sounding poised, relaxed and confident, Price began by saying he does not feel an undue degree of pressure, beyond the challenge of wanting to do well for his teammates.

"I learned ice time isn't just given to you, it's earned," Price said, in response to a question from Dave Stubbs about the goaltender's late-season difficulties.

Price also said a two-year contract is ideal at his age and stage of development.

Price has been working with his personal coach, Eli Wilson, and says he's in good shape. He has wrapped up his rodeo riding and plans to be in Montreal Sept. 10.

Asked how many games he'd like to start this season, Price answered "82" before getting serious and telling Pat Hickey that the goaltending workload will be a coach's decision, based on merit. 

In response to a question about whether his off-season training has stressed lateral movement and his glove hand, Price said he's worked to improve all aspects of his game.

Admitting 2009-'10 had been difficult for him, Price said he'd strayed further from his game as the season progressed. Asked to describe his experience in Montreal to date, Price said: "It's been hard and it's been awesome."

HIO interrupts its Carey Price vigil to bring you thrilling news of how freakin' great we are.

Gazette marketing stats wizard David Klimek took time out from devouring stories about his beloved New England Patriots to forward some Google Analytics stats on Habs Inside/Out page views.

The total for August was 1,319,627 – up from 1,084,556 in August, 2009. That's a 22 per cent bump.

And add 85,801 mhabisinsideout.com hits from mobile devices.

Because Boone pucked off for three glorious weeks of vacay last month, bonus money is a three-way split among Stubbs, Hickey and Mio.

They've voted a 10 per cent cut to Carey Price as a gesture of appreciation for giving Canadiens' fans something to read and argue about in August.

Larry Brooks of the New York Post had an exclusive late Wednesday night.

Brooks wrote the NHL is willing to grandfather the Kovalchuk, Luongo and Hossa contracts if the NHLPA, in essence, re-opens the CBA. Damien Cox's take.

• Pierre Gauthier lives in Vermont.

• Check out Mitch Melnick's superb interview with Chris Chelios. Chelios says some very nice things about Red Fisher.

• If Antti Niemi – 26-7-4 with seven shutouts in the regular season; 16-6 in the playoffs with two shutouts, a .910 save percentage, a 2.63 GAA and his name on the Stanley Cup – is worth $2 million, just what is Carey Price holding out for? François Gagnon floats a familiar name: José Theodore

• Bruce Peter has been researching the Canadiens' young talent for Robert L's site

• More surgery for Jacques Demers

• Kids, don't try this at home! In the video below, Max Pacioretty does a 57-inch box jump – which means he can leap over Gary Bettman.

• Rien à voir avec hockey, but everyone has to do this way cool Arcade Fire/Google Map thing

Renaud Lavoie of RDS talked to The Franchise's agent last night and Tweeted: Getting closer but still work to do on the Carey Price contract talks. More talks to come this week. Both sides hope to have a deal soon.

And this just in from the B.C. rodeo circuit. Hey, is all that riding going to stretch his five-hole?

• Arpon Basu looks into the salary cap crystal ball and wonders how hard it will be to re-sign Josh Gorges

• Bill Guerin's agent tells La Presse there have been no talks with the Canadiens

• James Mirtle's updated free agent list – including you-know-who atop the RFAs

• Michael Farber on Chris Chelios, a "true original":

In the summer of 1990, general manager Serge Savard was being pressured by upper management to move Chelios because, well, in its estimation, the defenseman was not exactly a choirboy off the ice. Denis Savard, whom the Canadiens had passed on a decade earlier to choose Doug Wickenheiser No. 1 in the entry draft, was a local darling who seemed to have at least some miles left on his undersized chassis. With an old-fashioned Chelios-Savard straight-up swap all but set -- a deal that favored the Blackhawks given the relative ages of the players - Chicago coach/GM Mike Keenan called owner Bill Wirtz, who doted on Savard, to inform him the deal was ready to go. Wirtz didn't want to make the trade, but finally relented, telling Keenan, "We need to get more."

And Chicago got it. Incredibly the Canadiens added a second-round draft pick to make the deal.

• Damien Cox: The whole league is waiting to see what happens with the retooled Kovalchuk contract 

So says Canoe.ca.

The "story" is based on a Tweet by CBC-Montreal sports reporter Michel Godbout:

EXCLUSIVE: a very very reliable source close to Carey Price says the goalie wants 3 million per or he's going on strike. Habs listening?

Hey, two "very"s to describe "reliable". Gotta be true, right?

• In other news to raise your blood pressure, Gilles Courteau, president of the Q, is dissing the Canadiens for their insufficient attention to Quebec hockey.

• And Chris Chelios makes it official ... for now

The Wheeling Nailers?

The Canadiens have a new East Coast Hockey League affiliate, replacing the Cincinnati Cyclones and delighting journalists who are never quite sure how many Ns and Ts there are in Cincinnati.

Added bonus: The logo features a hard-working miner from the coal fields of West Virginia.

And yes, you can follow the Nailers on the legendary WWVA, broadcasting at 1170 on your AM dial out of Wheeling with a 50,000-watt signal strong enough to reach ships at sea.

This from the indefatigable Robert L:

The Canadiens were previously affiliated with the ECHL Wheeling Thunderbirds from 1992-93 to 1995-96. During that time slightly over a dozen later round draft choices and some free agent signees played there, such as Louis Bernard, Martin Brochu, Keli Corpse, Dion Darling, Craig Ferguson, Scott Fraser, Robert Guillet, Ryan Kuwabara, Tony Prpic, Yves Sarault, John Uniac, Terry Virtue and Tomas Vokoun. they switched their name to Nailers from '96 on. Francis Bouillon was the last Canadiens affiliated player sent to Wheeling.

Shout-out to observer for finding a 1968 Sports Illustrated story on Wheeling's Continental League football team, including this description:

Where but in Greater Wheeling could you find the World's Tallest Smokestack? ("A Landmark," the Wheeling News-Register correctly describes it under a front-page picture of the region's civic monument, "322 feet taller than the Eiffel Tower. ") Where but in Wheeling, and the whole lush Ohio Valley, would you find such a lavish per capita production of steel, chemicals, strip-mined coal, cement dust, smog and slag?

The affiliation will be shared with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

• Another Down Goes Brown classic, this one an application to head the NHLPA.

• In non-hockey news, Lloyd's of London – fully recovered from the payout on Patrick V. Hickey's knees – is insuring Troy Polamalu's hair for $1 million.

On Tuesday, Jean Béliveau turns 79.

No need to start trotting out the superlatives or the adjectives with this post, which will be one of a great many dedicated to a unique man.

Gentleman Jean is likely without dispute the great ambassador hockey has known, and he remains a treasure not just for Canadiens fans, but for anyone who enjoys hockey and appreciates a legend on the rink and away from it.

On behalf of Canadiens fans the world over, and those who loathe the Habs yet understand what true greatness on and off the ice is all about, Habs Inside/Out sends its birthday greetings to Le Gros Bill.

Robert Lefebvre has produced what surely must be the definitive tribute: one link for every candle this Canadiens icon will see on his cake.

Very many happy returns, Jean. You're absolutely one of a kind.

Feel free to use comments on this post to send along your greetings, and we'll see that they get to the birthday boy in the days ahead.

According to RDS, injured Canadiens defenceman Andrei Markov has resumed skating on his own.

The all-star was injured during the playoff series against the Pittsburgh Penguins, and had surgery on his injured knee in the offseason.

Jaroslav Halak will be at the Fairview shopping centre in suburban Pointe Claire this Saturday afternoon between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.

Jaro will be autographing 8x10 photos (in his Blues jersey?) for $20, with all proceeds to the Ste. Justine children's hospital.

Speaking of signatures, do you suppose Carey Price will have signed by the time Jaro is greeted by his adoring fans?

And any suggestion that agent Allan "Let's See What I Can Tweet to F--- With Price's Head" Walsh arranged this show to embarrass the Canadiens is purely paranoid speculation.

• Sam Gagner re-ups for two years with the Oilers, and Lee Stempniak stays in Phoenix.

• From Allan Muir's mailbag in SI:

Sergei Kostitsyn in Nashville: bargain of the offseason or disaster in the making?
-- Helen Stakitch, Tenn

Look, when the adjective most commonly associated with a player is "enigmatic," it's probably best to put your head between your knees and prepare for a rough landing. No one denies that Kostitsyn has the talent to be a productive second-line forward in the NHL. He has the skill set to chip in 20 goals and 60 points if he puts his mind to it. But what evidence is there that he will?

Some will point to his no-risk contract (one year, $550,000). If he was in it for the fat stacks, he could have piled up a lot more rubles in the KHL, so maybe he's serious about getting his head right. And I've learned never to underestimate what Barry Trotz can accomplish. If there are five coaches capable of getting Kostitsyn to focus, Trotz is one of 'em.

Hey, I like the signing. A team that needed an offensive injection at a bargain price took a chance and slapped a sweater on a player who fits the bill. But the best predictor of future behavior is past action...and we've all seen plenty of Kostitsyn's selfish, mercurial play. If I had to bet, I'd put money on him wearing a different jersey after the end of this deal.

Here's a look at some of the Canadiens news.

Goaltending still the big question mark: NESN

Gazette sports editor Stu Cowan chats with Mario Tremblay

Desjardins trade by Habs makes sense, Mathias Brunet says in La Presse

Juniors' Vincent compares Habs prospect Leblanc to Mike Richards

The Canadiens have announced that single-game tickets for the 2010-11 season will go on sale Sept. 11 at 10 a.m.

For all the details, visit the Canadiens website.

Reports surfaced Wednesday night that former MLB players' association boss Donald Fehr has been hired by the NHLPA. Nothing has yet to be confirmed, though.

Will Donald Fehr be the NHLPA's next boss?

More on Fehr from CBC's Jeff Marek.

The Gazette's Red Fisher will be inducted into the Quebec Hall of Fame.

Former Hab Brisebois on NASCAR fast track, Dave Stubbs writes.

Ken Holland wasn't surprised by Habs decision to trade Halak, La Presse reports.

Quebec City needs a new arena before an NHL return, Bettman says.

Canadiens to get more exposure on CBC than the Maple Leafs.

• Andrei Markov might be headed into his contract's final season with the Canadiens without talks having begun on keeping him with the team beyond 2010-11. Radio-Canada's Jean-François Chaumont has Markov agent Don Meehan saying that Habs GM Pierre Gauthier recently told Meehan that "(Gauthier) wants to wait until the right time" to talk contract.

• New Canadien Ian Schultz in conversation with CJAD's Rick Moffat (audio, no idea the vintage of the interview)

• Road-warrior alert: HIO friend Kevin van Steendelaar has put together this excellent guide to ticket sales for Canadiens road games.

• Brian La Rose at habsworld.net on the contract situation of goalie Carey Price.

• Robert Lefebvre with yet another interesting project: A series profiling the Canadiens' top 25 players under the age of 25.

Frozen in time: the McFarlane figure of Cristobal Huet as a Canadien.

Not saying that it's a challenge to link you to Canadiens news these days, but we're really ready at HIO Central for a little hockey.

To start: La Presse reports today that René Angélil is negotiating Guy Lafleur's ambassadorship contract renewal with the Habs. (What a hammer Angélil holds: "Sign the Flower or my wife, Céline Dion, will sing at the Bell Centre!")

• Former Habs defenceman Patrice Brisebois is at the L'Équipeur store on Hymus Blvd. in Montreal-suburban Pointe-Claire this morning from 10 a.m. to noon. He'll be signing autographs and racing remote cars in advance of this weekend's NASCAR races – today's parking-lot race winner earns $500 that will go to the Support Our Troops initiative. All welcome.

• Lots of talk, but how much action at World Hockey Summit? | Red Fisher | Bruce Arthur | Jeff Marek

• Cristobal Huet seems bound for Switzerland

• 42 candles on the cake today of Benoît Brunet

• No tire-kickers yet for Oilers' ex-Habs defenceman Sheldon Souray

• Randy Phillips checks in on the Montreal Juniors training camp, featuring Habs prospect Louis Leblanc.

This toaster will torch the CH logo into your whole wheat. Comes with a certificate of authenticity, too, because none of us want to eat counterfeit toast.

• Red Fisher turned 84 yesterday, and celebrated (as it were!) by being interviewed by Mike Boone

• A feast for the eyes

• The first five years of the shootout, from NHL.com

• From The Hockey News: Top 10 NHL players who left the league to play in Russia

• Pretty cool Newsy Lalonde hockey card, if you've got a spare quarter-million dollars

• True story that Sergei bought one of these before he left for Nashville?

Some of us (the writer of this post included) remember when you'd send in a proof of purchase from Bee Hive Corn Syrup or these other St. Lawrence Starch Co. products to get a cherished 5x7 black and white photo of your favourite hockey stars. This ad is off the back of the writer's 1960s Bee Hive scribbler.

• An NHLPA feature on Canadiens' Maxim Lapierre, and how he's excited about the season to come.

• What I did on one day of my summer vacation, by Travis Moen.

• Former Canadien Alex Kovalev made a swing through Montreal in recent days, accompanying 69 heart-ill children to a summer camp courtesy of his foundation. RDS spoke with Kovy about that, the Senators and the idea that Andrei Markov might be named Habs captain.

• PuckDaddy on the NHL's tiebreaker change.

• Don Cherry weighs in on a whole lot of things.

• Windsor Star's Bob Duff's typically fine read on Montreal-born trailblazing NHL goalie Bob Sneddon.

• The same week they name his hometown Île Bizard, Que., arena after him, it's announced that Vinny Lecavalier is headed for knee surgery.

The nerve centre of the Montreal Forum's ice-making plant, mid-1970s. Not a computer in sight.
Gazette photo

From CSNwashington, a look ahead to the Canadiens season. The Habs will finish 12th in the Eastern Conference according to these guys – who see the Toronto Maple Leafs finishing 11th. They see only Atlanta, the Islanders and the Florida Panthers finishing lower than Montreal.

• Without letting the facts clutter its view, bettor.com wonders whether the price for Price is too steep.

• Pierre Boivin reportedly to name his son, Patrick, as Canadiens' director of hockey operations.

• Habs prospect Louis Leblanc wasn't in the lineup last night as the Montreal Juniors beat Gatineau 7-5 at Cynthia Coull Arena in Greenfield Park. It was the Juniors' preseason opener. Michael Clark had two goals and an assist for the winners, who scored five times in the third.

• Here's an upcoming event they likely won't be celebrating in Quebec City.

• From The Hockey News, Adam Proteau's thought-provoking look at the business of covering hockey 13 months a year, providing an "infolanche" of things that often aren't news at all.

The Montreal Juniors begin their preseason campaign tonight in Greenfield Park, on Montreal's South Shore, and the team is shining its spotlight on much more than just gilt-edged Canadiens prospect Louis Leblanc.

• The Gazette's Red Fisher: Time to do away with the shootout.

• Robert Lefebvre looks back today at the Canadiens' Big Three on defence. And he's not talking Hamrlik, Spacek and Markov.

• Ten reasons to get excited about the Habs this season, courtesy The Bleacher Report.

• More on the testing of NHL rules. And still a little more here.

• Meet Patrice Brisebois tonight in Boisbriand. The link details Breezer's appearance schedule next week in and around Montreal.

• Marty (Goal-A-Game) Barry, a Canadien for a brief spell, died on this day in 1969. The Hall of Famer's story, here at Legends of Hockey, is worth your time. See below for a little more.

... Carey Price is showing fine form in the rodeo.

Ron Reusch's blog brings you up to date on the roping skills of the Canadiens goaltender.

• Food for thought: Who should be the Canadiens' next captain?

From Pat Hickey: The Canadiens won't be heading back to Teen Ranch in Ontario to do a little bonding at the end of training camp. This fall, they're heading to Clermont, in the Charlevoix region – just a hop, step and jump from the casino in Malbaie.

The Habs will head there after their final exhibition against the Islanders on Oct. 2 at Le Colisée in Quebec. They will spend four days practising in Clermont before flying to Toronto for their season opener on Oct. 7.

So he cut his teeth with the Canadiens during last season's playoffs. Now popular defenceman P.K. Subban is pumped for the season ahead. Chances are pretty remote he'll be skating much in Hamilton.

Meanwhile, The Hockey News suggests Canadiens fans get ready to bite their fingernails again this season: the magazine predicts the Habs will finish eighth in the Eastern Conference, in the last playoff spot. Here's a little background.

Canadiens legend Guy Lafleur has been unanimously acquitted by the Quebec Court of Appeal of giving contradictory testimony at the trial of his son, Mark Lafleur.

Former Canadiens defenceman Patrice Brisebois will again be running his L'Équipeur-sponsored Dodge Avenger in the Canadian Tire Series race Aug. 28, as part of the NASCAR Nationwide Series NAPA Auto Parts 200 on Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

Check out the link here to see where you can go in the next while to meet Breezer, check out his car and help the very worthwhile cause he's supporting.

Karri Ramo, new to the Canadiens as of tonight.
Philip MacCallum, Getty Images

Cédrick Desjardins is now a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Canadiens' fast-becoming unofficial affiliate in Florida, in exchange for Finnish goaltender Karri Ramo.

• The team's release:

Canadiens general manager Pierre Gauthier announced today the acquisition of goaltender Karri Ramo from the Tampa Bay Lightning, in return for netminder Cédrick Desjardins.

Ramo, 24, suited up for 44 games with Omsk in the Kontinental Hockey League in 2009-10, posting a record of 21 wins, 17 losses, 4 overtime losses, a 2.11 goals against average and a .913 save percentage.

He tied for 6th in the league in goals against average, and was also tied for 4th with four shutouts.

So Tomas Kaberle is still a Toronto Maple Leaf. How many of you stayed up past midnight to see whether he'd be traded, or whether his no-trade clause would again kick in? (Where's Mats Sundin in all of this?)

Evidently, Canadiens goalie Carey Price didn't sparkle in a team calf-roping event in Chilliwack. Price turns 23 today, by the way.

And if Hilary Duff hadn't married Mike Comrie, but instead wed the Windsor Star's Bob Duff, or even NHL Hall of Famer Dick Duff, she'd be Hilary Duff-Duff.

Yes, it's a slow morning at HIO...

Five minutes and 35 seconds into this clip, another fan is revealed. With thanks to Inside/Out reader Simon Fraser, who sent along the link to this shot from high up in the Bell Centre at the end of Sir Paul McCartney's Montreal concert this past week.

• UPDATE: Former Canadiens defenceman Patrice Brisebois was classified 28th on a starting grid of 28 today in a NASCAR Canadian Tire Series stock-car race in Trois-Rivières. Breezer didn't complete a lap, according to unofficial results, listed as having engine problems. Unsure whether he'll will run on Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on Aug. 27, on the undercard of the NASCAR Nationwide Series NAPA Auto Parts 200.

Roughly one month until the Canadiens open training camp the middle of September, a rookie camp to kick things off a few days before.

While MIke Boone dips his toes in the surf of Maine, hence reducing the volume of links he was providing here, we offer a YouTube clip sent along by Todd Denault that appears almost to be a home movie, shot at Butch Bouchard's restaurant in 1971. How many Habs can you recognize in this?

And from our friend Robert Lefebvre, a thought-provoking piece on legendary Canadien Newsy Lalonde.

• Newcomer Dustin Boyd will wear No. 17 this season. See below for the Canadiens' official list of those before him who have worn that sweater. (My favourites: 1930s goalies George Hainsworth and Wilf Cude and, during his 1950-51 tryout, Jean Béliveau.)

By the way: Sir Paul McCartney apparently left the Bell Centre stage the other night with a Canadiens jersey. First the Dalai Lama, now Sir Paul. Anyone have a photo of it to share? Email it to dstubbs@thegazette.canwest.com

A few things while wondering whether Sir Paul McCartney, performing at the Bell Centre tonight, asked for a tour of the Canadiens' dressing room:

Michael Cammalleri is on the cover of The Hockey News Yearbook that landed in my mail today, and he's clearly one of highest-profile Canadiens heading into the 2010-11 season.

An interesting profile of Cammalleri by Vicki Hall of the Calgary Herald, from the city where Cammy played before arriving in Montreal where's he's become a huge fan favourite.

• One I missed a week ago (but better late than never): Jimmy Murphy talks to Bruins coach Claude Julien, who's thrilled to have for Habs assistant coach Doug Jarvis join his staff.

• And in this week's Hudson Gazette: Jacques Demers on his second chance at life after botched surgery took him much too near the ever-after.

The Habs former coach isn't bitter – he's genuinely happy to still be on this Earth.