[caption id="attachment_1245" align="aligncenter" width="585"] Thanks Buds, you're a good man and a real pro. Good luck in the Peg, you are going to need it.[/caption] The Montreal Canadiens closed out the preseason with two losses to the lowly, and now much maligned Ottawa Senators, the most recent coming in last night's 4-2 loss. Montreal finished the preseason with a 4-2-1 record and it don't mean much of a damn anyhow. But two losses in a row to the Sens, a division rival no less, isn't a good thing. So is this a case of the Canadiens not taking the Sens…

After a disappointing 5-1 loss to the Washington Capitals to end their home season, I thought I'd give you some funny Habs quotes from the room:   Carey Price: "Hey, I spoke to my daddy and he says I just have to work harder to get through this." Max Pacioretty: "Well at least I scored tonight." Brandon Prust: "Look. I'm playing with a separated shoulder, a sore back and a funny rash on my leg. I can't speak for the others." Raphael Diaz: "It's not my fault. I haven't played since February." Brendan Gallagher: "I'm just a rook!" David Desharnais:…

Canadiens lose third straight, fall to 4th in Eastern Conference with 6-4 loss to Pittsburgh It's funny how things are so relative. [caption id="attachment_1141" align="alignleft" width="300"] Yes that is Josh Gorges, even if he hasn't looked like the Josh Gorges we know and love of late. Habs were beaten soundly by the Pittsburgh Penguins last night, 6-4. AP[/caption] I mean, if we knew at the beginning of the year the Canadiens would be 4th in the East with five games remaining in the season, we'd be completely ecstatic! Wouldn't we? But today, after losing their third straight game and fourth…

Montreal wins its way into the postseason with a decisive 5-1 win over the hapless Sabres I challenge anyone right now to come out and say that they picked the Canadiens to make the playoffs this season. Maybe the completely biased fans that make up Habs Nation might have; but certainly not any of the "professional" pundits. Of course, the proof is right here on this blog that Habs Fan in LeafLand did indeed pick the Habs to make the playoffs, finishing 7th in the conference. [caption id="attachment_1127" align="alignleft" width="300"] Brendan Gallagher outwaits Buffalo goalie Ryan Miller to put the puck…

Canadiens best Jets 4-1 in Montreal to hand Winnipeg their fifth straight loss Peter Budaj's father and brother were in Montreal to see him. Coach Therrien said "Yah sure, you can play." So backup goalie Peter Budaj not only played but played well in a 4-1 Habs win over the Jets at the Bell Centre. [caption id="attachment_1107" align="alignleft" width="254"] Michael Ryder scored two goals helping the Habs to a 4-1 win against the Winnipeg Jets. AP[/caption] The win allowed the Canadiens to notch two points and climb a step closer to conference leading Pittsburgh in the end of season sprint.…

Canadiens sweat it out for two of a possible four points in back to back road games against Pens and Bruins Wow the last two nights have been pretty tense. Playoff tense, even. Back to back road games for the Canadiens against the other two top teams of the Eastern Conference: the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Boston Bruins. Coming into it, a split would have been more than acceptable. And that's what the Habs got, a split. Acceptable. [caption id="attachment_1086" align="alignright" width="300"] Sidney Crosby scored the only goal in the Habs 1-0 loss to the Penguins Tuesday night. AP[/caption] Things…

Habs points streak ends at 11 games; Gionta scores 20,000th goal in Canadiens history in 6-3 loss to Isles ---------------------------- Not a great game all-around, Habs vs. Isles on the island. The defense was sketchy; Price didn't have the bounce back game we had hoped he would; and the Islanders took full advantage. So let's give that mediocre team the kudos they deserve for doing what they needed to do to get the two points. Get it together Carey. Your team, your fans... need you to be at your best. Isles beat Habs 6-3 on Long Island. AP But nevertheless,…

Habs take 3 of 4 points on weekend to reclaim top spot in Eastern Conference-----------------------------------If there's one thing we know about freshman GM Marc Bergevin is that he likes hockey players with character.So it was no surprise that his first signing was gritty forward Brendan Prust as a free agent from the New York Rangers. The Blueshirts still seem to be having issues replacing him.It's players like Prust who provide those intangibles that can often swing momentum from one side to the other.Brandon Prust taking one for the team from Milan Lucic in Boston. Lucic should really know better and…

Canadiens outlast Hurricanes scoring three in third to win 3-0 in Montreal---------------------------Captain Kirk was in Montreal Monday night.Captain Kirk Muller that is -- Head Coach of the Carolina Hurricanes.Peter Budaj earns his first shutout as a Canadien and picked up his second win in a row as the Habs beat the Carolina Hurricanes 3-0 in Montreal. API like him. I always have. But I don't care much for his team. And goaltender Cam Ward, I'd take him on my team any day. But he always seems to burn the Habs.Fortunately, not on this night.On this night, it was Peter Budaj…

Budaj records first win of the year as Habs beat Flyers 4-1 in MontrealNO EXCUSESIt's the Canadiens' slogan this year, emblazoned in large letters in the dressing room. Habs continue their winning ways by beating the Philadelphia Flyers 4-1 in Montreal. APThe Flyers were coming off a loss in New Jersey last night while the Canadiens waited for them in Montreal, having won two straight in Florida.NO EXCUSES not to win.And they didn't disappoint. The Canadiens came out flying against the Flyers, taking the lead 1-0 on a goal by first star of the game Brendan Gallagher, who took a…

Canadiens drop 3 of 4 points in back to back games against Bruins and Sabres-------------------------------------------If I said Buffalo Sabres goalie Ryan Miller would give up four goals five straight games in a row, would you think I was crazy? Drunk? Just plain stupid?(Well I am fighting a cold right now.)But it's true. Yet still, the Canadiens unfortunately reminded us of the team we painfully watched last year Thursday night in Buffalo when they gave up a two goal lead in the third to lose in a shootout 5-4.For their part, the Canadiens came back strong after a disappointing loss to…

Everyone all together now:One-two-three, Habs take the lead.Four-five-six, their opponents tie it late.Seven-eight-nine, nothing in overtime.Ten-eleven-twelve, Habs in shootout hell.Scotty Gomez getting rubbed out along the boards. He's good at that.Peter Budaj made the start in Pittsburgh last night and even with two separate two goal leads, the result was the same. The Penguins tied the game with less than 3 minutes left and we could all predict the final result from there.I for one was hoping the team would press hard in the five minute OT period to do anything to avoid going to a shootout.Another shorthanded goal allowed,…

It's tough to win games when you're only scoring 2-3 goals a game.But the Canadiens were able to pull out 2 wins doing just that, with subsequent OT winners first in Phoenix then in Nashville last night. The Habs finally ended their scoring futility against Predators goalie Pekka Rinne and got out of Nashville with 2 big points because of a nice wrister by Max Pacioretty in OT.For the second game in a row the Habs had to battle through adversity with players coming back into the game after spending time in the dressing room, only to then come back…

Last night's game at the Bell Centre against the Tampa Bay Lightning was the closest thing so far to a regular season game in terms of lineup and flow and the one positive we can take away from last night's 4-0 loss is that it still is a preseason game and counts for nothing.Scott Gomez watches as Tampa Bay goaltender Dwayne Roloson lunges for puck in Montreal last night. Photo: APMissed assignments, lack of finishing and a couple of other bounces leave the Habs looking for answers as we near the start of the season. I mean when you have…