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.

You can also find the game stats here:

Game Summary

Event Summary

Facoffs Report

Full play by play

TOI Wild

TOI Canadiens

Roster Report

Shot Report

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.