Jacques Martin’s team managed to do something that they haven’t been doing a whole lot of this season… outshoot their opponents. However, the final shot count was as close as you can get. The Habs edged the Panthers 39-38 in shots.

Jaroslav Halak was the game’s first star as he stopped all 38 of Florida’s shots facing off against former Habs pick Tomas Vokoun who was named the game’s 2nd star.

I certainly wasn’t on the edge of my seat watching the game and to be honest I’m surprised at the high shot totals. Maybe it was just me… but I didn’t find it was a spectacular game.

Certainly a bright spot for me has been Benoit Pouliot. His first couple of games I was sure exactly what he would have to bring or how he would fit in with his current linemates Brian Gionta and Scott Gomez. But he’s been picking it up. He scored the winning goal last night, his first on home ice in Montreal.

Something that I’ve noticed is that Pouliot does go to the net. And he’s been doing it enough that I have actually noticed it. Latendresse, whom Pouliot was traded for often spoke about playing in front of the net but more often than not I’d notice he wouldn’t play there!

Pouliot was drafted high because he’s a highly skilled player. He’s got speed and great hands.

In Minnesota the Wild seem to be getting some good hockey out of Latendresse so this trade will hopefully be one of those that gives new life to both guys.

We’ll be seeing Benoit Pouliot soon. He was the player who came to Montreal in the Latendresse trade with the Minnesota Wild. It was announced today that he’s been called up from the Hamilton Bulldogs. Pouliot had 3 pts in his last game in Hamilton, 1 goal and 2 assists.

Pouilot was a high pick (4th overall) in the 2005 draft… just ahead of our own Carey Price. He has talent to burn and I think the hope is that the new surroundings, closer to home along with the new coaching staff might be just what the doctor ordered for Benoit.

Here’s the official press release that can be found here:
http://canadiens.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=510684

Canadiens recall Benoit Pouliot from the Hamilton Bulldogs
Monday, 21.12.2009 / 10:47 AM / News
Montreal Canadiens
PRESS RELEASE

MONTREAL – The Montreal Canadiens announced today that left winger Benoit Pouliot has been called up from the AHL Hamilton Bulldogs. Pouliot will join the Canadiens today in Atlanta for tonight’s game against the Thrashers.

Pouliot recorded three points (1 goal, 2 assists) in three games with the Bulldogs. He also maintained a +1 plus/minus rating, registered 11 shots on goal and served four penalty minutes.

Pouliot, 23, was assigned to the Bulldogs on December 10 for conditioning purposes. The 6’03’’, 199 lbs forward has yet to play a game with the Canadiens due to an injury. Pouliot played 14 games with the Wild this season, recording four points (2 goals, 2 assists), serving 12 penalty minutes with a plus/minus rating of 0 and averaging 11:56 minutes of ice time per game.

Hoping that he’ll be back sometime.

And RDS is reporting that Andrei Markov started skating and that there’s a chance that he could be back in the lineup as early as late December.

Imagine if Markov did come back healthy and ready to go by early January… just in time to get in sync for the playoff run….

Gomez, Spacek, D’Agostini and the newly acquired Benoit Pouliot were also skating today.

The game against the Penguins had the Habs down Markov, Gill, Gomez, Spacek, Gionta, D’Agostini and Andrei Kostitsyn…. am I missing a few???

The team played with effort and heart.

Imagine what this team may look like in Januray or February is these guys are back and the team is relatively healthy. I’m optimistic… At the rate of NHL injuries this year though…. there are no guarantees.

Mon Guillaume was probably the guy… or at least one of the guys who was almost always brought up in some kind of media reports.

One part of fans and media may have thought that Guillaume hadn’t been given a fair shot… and others thought that he had been given a shot.

In my opinion, from what I saw and heard this season, I thought a message was sent to Guillaume when the Canadiens signed him to a 1 year deal.

But I don’t think the message passed to him was all negative. Of the players that Jacques Martin met with in the off season, Guillaume was one of them. And through camp and the start of the year, I remember hearing Martin talk about what he wanted and what he expected out of Guillaume… on the top lines.

I believe there was definitely a spot for him to win. And maybe that is exactly what the problem was. Maybe Guillaume didn’t take the spot that was there for him.

It’s all “maybe this”, “maybe that”… but one thing is for sure. For such a young player, Guillaume’s numbers weren’t horrible… but the expectations put on his shoulders seemed to quickly outweigh what he brought.

A couple of the areas that Guillaume had been asked to work on was his skating and his positioning… Martin had wanted him to be around the front of the net alot more… if memory serves… I seem to remember Guillaume even mentioning Holmstron as an example of what his role could (or should) be.

Well, he certainly didn’t play like Holmstron. If he had he probably wouldn’t have been traded.

Anyways, I’ve always wanted Guillaume to succeed. I thought it was great for him and the organization when they drafted him and I had always hoped he’d blossom into one of their leaders.

It didn’t happen.

Guillaume, if you happen to read this. I wish you the very best man. You’ll have less media frenzy to deal with and maybe the fresh start will be good for you.