Posts Tagged ‘Prospects’

Cedrick Desjardins is the AHL’s Goaltender of the Month for December 2009

I wrote a little piece on PK Subban being named to the AHL all-star squad and how much confidence that might give him moving into the second half of the season… well, one of his team mates has also been playing some amazing hockey in Hamilton.

Cedrick Desjardins has been lights out this year.

In 21 games this year he’s got a Goal’s against average of 1.66 and a save percentage of .932. In the month of december Desjardins went 8-0-0 (8 wins, no losses!), he had a goals against average of 1.16 and a save percentage of .949.

Just a few years back we saw Halak playing some strong hockey in Hamilton with the Bulldogs and now Canadiens fans should be happy that there’s another prospect making a strong show.

His strong play in Hamilton might be another factor in making it a little bit easier to move a goaltender in Montreal. He would be a possibility as backup.

Yannick Weber called up again

With the recent injury to Roman Hamrlik last night the Montreal Canadiens called up Yannick Weber. Hopefully the Habs management have made all the proper contacts so that the whole “playing an in-eligible” player thing won’t happen again.

I’m sure they did.

Last time Weber was called up we didn’t get to see him in action and he was sent back to Hamilton. This time around he’ll most certainly see a bit of ice.

Here’s the official release from the Montreal Canadiens website.

http://canadiens.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=510236

Habs call up Yannick Weber
Thursday, 17.12.2009 / 12:00 PM / moves
PRESS RELEASE

MONTREAL — The Montreal Canadiens announced that defenseman Yannick Weber has been called up from the AHL Hamilton Bulldogs. Weber will join the Canadiens today in Montreal for tonight’s game against the Minnesota Wild.

The 5’11’’, 193 lbs defenseman played three games with the Canadiens earlier this season. He was held pointless with one shot on goal, while averaging 14:50 minutes of ice time per game.

Weber recorded six points (1-5-6) in 24 games with the Bulldogs this season. He added 62 shots on goal and 24 penalty minutes, with a +4 plus/minus differential.

Louis Leblanc cut from this year’s world juniors

Montreal’s 18th overall pick in last year’s draft, Louis Leblanc, has been cut from team Canada’s World Junior roster.

So far this year, Leblanc has 3 goals and 6 assists in 9 games (1 point per game) to go along with 22 penalty minutes. (Check his hockeydb.com stat sheet)

I’d hoped to see Leblanc play in this year’s tournament but it won’t happen. If Louis continues to progress I’m sure he’ll have a strong chance to make next year’s team.

David Desharnais recalled from Hamilton

David Desharnais has been called up from the Hamilton Bulldogs and with another possible injury, he may get the chance to show what he can do.

I really liked Desharnais in pre-season… a very unlikely success story just like teammate Brian Gionta and Martin St-Louis he’s a small forward at 5 foot 7.

David had a good season last year in Hamilton and this year due to injury he only played in 7 games. In those 7 games however, Desharnais has 4 goals and 6 assists.

You can find the official release on the Canadiens website here….

I hope he has a strong show tonight!

Jay Leach may play and thoughts on D

The newest member of the Montreal Canadiens might see the light of day in the next game on Tuesday against the Calgary Flames.

At first when I saw that the Habs had claimed Jay Leach off waivers I figured he would probably be in Hamilton. But it’s quite possible or maybe probable that he’ll play on Tuesday night.

Leach is a big stay at home defenseman at 6′4 220 lbs and he does play a physical game.

With injuries to half of the defensive core Bob Gainey has been trying to bolster the D with a variety of moves to date.

In last night’s game Ryan Malone scored a goal by being able to stand around in front of the crease and not just get one whack at the puck but got his own rebound off of Carey Price’s stop to put his second shot in the net. This has been a big problem for the Canadiens and not just this season.

If Leach gets some ice time this is one of the tasks he’ll likely be given. Clear the front of the net or at least make it much harder for the opposing teams to park their players there.
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Prospect watch : Tom Pyatt

Back in the early months of the summer and just prior to the draft we all heard of that big trade that brought Scott Gomez over from the New York Rangers. In that deal we saw Chris Higgins go the other way…. a player that I enjoyed and had high hopes for.

Along with Gomez came his hefty contract which, I will admit, made it hard for me to swallow that deal. After “UFA season” opened and we signed Cammalleri and Gionta, who both mentioned the Gomez deal as a factor in their decision, I thought it might be shaping up. At least it didn’t look too bad…. we had some newly acquired offensive punch to replace that which had gone out with the players who were not being offered contracts to return.

In that trade came a player that at first I took no notice of. His name is Tom Pyatt.

So who is Tom Pyatt??
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Shawn Belle gets the call

As many of us were expecting a swift call up of newly acquired Marc-Andre Bergeron it seems as though the Habs feel he needs more time to get it going.

Shawn Belle was called up yesterday to round out the defense as Yannick Weber had been sent down.

Some might not like this move but I don’t mind it at all.
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Season just about on and some last cuts made

As I write this there is 2 more sleeps before the new 2009-2010 season opens with the Montreal Canadiens facing the Toronto Maple Leafs. I’ve been waiting for this long enough to qualify me as a slightly obsessed fan.

Jacques Martin has made some more cuts and now we have the team or roster together that will start the year.

The cuts that were made today were Ben Maxwell, Tom Pyatt, Yannick Weber, Mathieu Carle and Curtis Sanford.
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Player feature : Max Pacioretty – Future File

Great little feature on Sportsnet on Max Pacioretty.

There’s not really much to the video as it’s only about 50 seconds long… but it basically highlights that he is a top prospect and is a young, big strong forward that could have a big role on the club in coming years.

Enjoy!

Canadiens VS Senators – Post game highlights and comments

The Montreal Canadiens played their second pre-season match up at the Bell center last night against the Ottawa Senators who opted not to dress Alex Kovalev. I really didn’t expect Kovalev to play because I’m sure he’ll get a favorable reaction from the crowd and he is quite fresh in voicing his desire to return to Montreal someday…

This game marked the second win in the pre-season for the Canadiens and another loss for the Senators as the Canadiens won 2-1…
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