Andrei Markov, one of the best defensmen in the NHL and a defenseman who we’ve had for the last 10 years in Montreal, will become a Canadian citizen on Friday July 16th 2010.

I’ve always been a huge Markov fan and he’s almost been a forgotten star in the NHL because he seems to do everything so quietly…. like ranking among the top offensive defensemen in the league.

Andrei, congrats on becoming a Canadian citizen.

@yarfangor on twitter wondered if that meant Markov could now play for Team Canada…..

Canadiens GM Pierre Gauthier announced the signing of prospect Alexander Avstin to a 3 year deal.

I’ve been anxious to see much more of Avtsin since he was drafted. The 19 year old just finished this year’s development camp last week.

The scouting reports said this guy had an physical game and lot’s of offensive skill. There was talk of Alexander possibly playing with the Juniors de Montréal or Hamilton. Now it’s official that we’ll see him in North America.

I would guess that Avtsin will spend the season in Hamilton. I’m sure we’ll see a glimpse of him at camp!!

Check out the official release:
http://canadiens.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=534383

RDS reports that the Habs have re-signed David Desharnais to a 1 year, 2 way deal.

Desharnais’s agent mentions in the article that David preferred to avoid arbitration and wants to prove his worth on the ice. In this age of big business in sports…. and all the big money…. it’s completely respectable to me that Desharnais made that choice.

In fact, another player (not a Habs player) who settled for a smaller contract just last year (I believe it was last season) was Manny Malhotra. He pretty much went in and worked really hard…. put his focus on playing hockey as best he could and this year he signed a 3 year 2.5 million dollar deal.

Not sure that Desharnais will follow that exact path but I think he’s got a shot at sneaking in and taking some ice time this season. Seeing him play last year I can’t help but think a bit about Gionta and Martin St Louis. Not just because Desharnais is 5′7, I mean yeah that’s part of the comparison but the other part is that Desharnais was all hustle.

I look forward to seeing him a little more this year.

According to RDS, Maxim Lapierre and the Montreal Canadiens have agreed on a 1 year $900 000 contract.

Last year, Plekanec had signed a 1 year deal and responded with a big year. I’m wondering if this will light a fire for Lapierre. Hopefully it will.

Lapierre has shown that he can be an effective pest for opponents. I’m always hopeful for every player that wears the “CH”…. and I only wish Lapierre all the success.

Maxim also provided a bit of humor in the playoffs…. anyone remember 2 diving penalties in a playoff game for Maxim?? Followed by 1 for Gionta…. man…. memories. What’s the record for diving calls in a game anyway?

Today it was announced that Jaroslav Halak signed a 4 year contract with the St Louis Blues. That officially makes him a St Louis Blues player.

I just wanted to write a few words to say that in my opinion, Jaroslav is one of those players who earned that 4 year $15 million dollar contract and all the respect that goes with it. In his draft year he was pretty much overlooked, he did his time in the ECHL, he did his stints in the AHL (call ups, send downs), he was put in as backup (behind both Huet and Price) on a few occasions despite playing very well and he never really made a fuss. He worked hard and through that hard work was rewarded.

Jaro you always looked good in that Habs jersey. Thanks for the memories and I wish you the very best in your career.

It’s official. Dominic Moore and Glen Metropolit will not be offered new contracts.

I can say that I was a fan of Metropolit from the time he came to Montreal. And really, who could forget that first game?

He’s put on waivers by his team at the time, the Philadelphia Flyers, only to be picked up by Bob Gainey’s (at the time) Montreal Canadiens. What made this unforgettable is that Metro had to face his former team that day.

I remember watching that game and how it was mentioned…. later on I remember hearing about the adversity he faced in his youth and also beating the odds to play in the NHL.

The word that followed Glen around was that he was loved by all his team mates. Metro played some great hockey in Montreal and I will miss seeing him in the Habs uni. Some GM out there will certainly get a good role player by picking up Metropolit.

I also remember Domini Moore coming over… as Gauthier’s first move giving up a 2nd round draft pick (2011)…. a price I figured was quite high.

But really Moore made me a believer. He worked hard in Montreal, playing a his role on the Habs 2010 playoff run and playing it well. I really thought Moore was a keeper. If it weren’t for the cap being so tight I’m sure Moore would have gotten an offer to stay in Montreal.

His spot will stay open for a younger player to make his way up from the minors I’m sure.

To both Glen and Dominic, I wish you the very best.

Since the end of the Habs playoff run there have been many changes and to me it feels like a kind of sequel to last summer…. however not in the same mesure we saw last season.

Jaroslav Halak is long gone to his new job with the St Louis Blues and it still seems as though some fans will hold on to that one for the months to come.

New arrivals Lars Eller and Ian Schultz, who came over in that Halak trade, will be at the Habs development camp from the 6th of July until the 9th. Yeah…. camp starts today!!

On July 1st, I had been hopeful that Gauthier would be able to sign Ellis…. but it didn’t happen. And one can’t really blame Ellis as in Tampa he’ll certain get his shot at being number 1.

On on the goalie front I believe this does mark a year of change… as Price will be the Habs number 1 goaltender going into this season. He had been etched in at number 1 before, but still being so young…. behind both Huet and then behind Halak who caught fire, he had some time to taste the NHL pressure cooker…. taste the pressure, the good times and the hard times.

I think Price did some maturing last season while Halak was getting all the playing time judging by how he seem cool with the media.

No big UFA signings this year…. and I wouldn’t have expected it. I saw some people were forever hopeful that somehow the salary cap would be forgotten and we’d end up with a Kovalchuck… but really. That’s a demand for the miraculous.

I’m hoping to get back to blogging alot in coming days. It’s a busy time for me and days, weeks are flying by….

As for the Habs development camp… here’s the list of players attending!
Name 2009-10 team
AVTSIN, Alexander Dynamo Moscow (Russia)
BRISEBOIS, François Colgate (ECAC)
BRUNELLE, Jonathan Drummondville (QMJHL)
CONBOY, Andrew Hamilton (AHL)
ELLER, Lars Peoria (AHL)
ELLIS, Morgan Cape Breton (QMJHL)
ENGQVIST, Andreas Djurgarden (Sweden)
GALLAGHER, Brendan Vancouver (WHL)
KLUBERTANZ, Kyle Djurgarden (Sweden)
MacMILLAN, Mark Alberni (BCHL)
MAXWELL, Benjamin Hamilton (AHL)
MAYER, Robert Hamilton (AHL)
PALUSHAJ, Aaron Hamilton (AHL)
PATERYN, Greg Michigan (CCHA)
QUATTROCCHI, Joseph Fort McMurray (AJHL)
SCHULTZ, Ian Calgary (WHL)
St-DENIS, Frédéric Hamilton (AHL)
SUBBAN, P.K. Hamilton (AHL)
TINORDI, Jarred USA U-18 (USHL)
WEBER, Yannick Hamilton (AHL)
WESTIN, John Modo (Sweden)
WHITE, Ryan Hamilton (AHL)

On Friday the Montreal Canadiens had traded up from 27th to 22nd with the Phoenix Coyotes to acquire Jarred Tinordi in the first round of the 2010 NHL draft.

If you don’t know much about Tinordi here’s the Gazette’s write up on him.

And here’s a short video interview with Jarred on draft day courtesy of Sportsnet.

I was stunned to see the news come and go. Jaroslav Halak traded to the St Louis Blues!?!?!?!

It had been my hope that Gauthier try to keep both young goaltenders, but in all actuality I figured the chances of that happening were quite low.

Halak had played second fiddle to Price for some time despite showing that he certainly could play and play well. Not sure if Halak had wanted out of Montreal although I wouldn’t necessarily blame him if he did.

Let’s remember, before everyone got on the whole “Halak” stop sign trip…. he had been in numerous trade rumors all season. And even though Carey Price took alot of heat from some fans….. it’s not that long ago that Halak was seen as quite average….. and was continually thrown into trade rumors by fans…. probably some of the very fans who voiced their opposition to this trade on Facebook and Twitter.

Imagine that.

Being a GM…. it would be a hell of a job. Especially in hockey mad Montreal. I’m not sure if I’ll like this deal… but no one really can.

Trading a young guy for another young guy or two…. it’s a crap shoot. There are no guarantees as much as we’d like to think there are.

Halak could go on to be a top notch goaltender. He could. At the same time folks, Carey Price could also go on to be a top notch goaltender for many years. Yes…. he could as well. There are NO GUARANTEES. At the end of the day, a GM (Pierre Gauthier) has to pick one moving forward and stick with his choice.

Gauthier managed to get a good prospect in Lars Eller. How many of you thought that he could get a Lecavalier for Halak? Alot of people voice pretty strong words…. I was on facebook when the news broke…. (yeah, I appologize to my twitter friends… I find it harder to take time away from twitter when I get on there)….

A young restricted free agent goaltender who will certainly demand a raise…. and you’ve got another young talented goaltender waiting in the shadow of this season…. probably wanting a raise. Pretty hard to keep both and build your team up front.

Do I like this trade?

I don’t know. Honestly. I watch and follow the habs alot. But I’m not a GM. And I’m not about to start saying that Gauthier should have gotten a top six forward…. or top centerman. Because I’m not a GM. Chances are, you’re not either. Pretty hard for us to really know what “market value” is when we’re not in the market. We can speculate. But let’s not get too carried away thinking we’d do better. Me and you, we can find out what market value is for a car…. if we go shopping around.

But if you start calling Chicago, Pittsburgh, St Louis or Detroit’s head office to try and discuss a trade for a Habs player…. will they take you seriously?

Anyways, I’ll stick with hindsight on this one. It kind of went without saying that one of the two goaltenders would be moved. So we could pretty much all see it coming…. (right?)

Remember hindsight? That terrible move that Gainey made that brought us some kid named Josh Gorges and a draft pick… some Max guy…. Yeah, that one actually worked out well.

Breath folks. Give this a chance to play out. Don’t let your emotions get the best of you. This is NHL hockey, moves will always be made in an attempt to improve teams. This is one of those steps taken by Mr Gauthier.

Like it or not….. Pierre Gauthier has balls.

For that, I give him my fullest respect….. he didn’t waste time lighting a fire.

Lot’s of talk already just days after the Canadiens playoff run ended.

I know that for some of you the interest in your favorite NHL team doesn’t end. For me, it certainly does not.

While the Habs were on their playoff run I tried to focus on their games. Current line ups, their performance etc…. while trying to leave the impending UFAs, RFAs, salary cap and that question that will keep lingering of which goaltender stays in Montreal??? Or IF they can somehow keep both.

Now that it’s the off-season (ok, not for you Hawks/Flyers fans) I’m starting to think about this stuff a little bit and am reading what other bloggers have to say as well as the media.

Certainly some interesting articles out there. Here are just a few.

NHL 2010 UFA Desert: Habs’ Plekanec Best Center Out There?
by Scott Weldon for Bleacher Report

Decision time for Habs’ GM Gauthier
by Pat Hickey for The Gazette

Price or Halak Could Solve Yzerman’s Problem in Net
by Alan Adams for NHL Fanhouse

There’s lot’s and lot’s to think about, dream about…. maybe even worry about. But hey, I’ll tell you straight up. I won’t worry about it. I’m a die hard fan, but I try to keep this at the “entertainment level”. NHL teams don’t pay my salary. It’s not a job. I love hockey, I love the Habs, I love NHL hockey….. it’s something fun.

However, I will admit that I’m passionate about the Habs.

So just as the playoff run has just ended.. my head is filling with this other stuff….