PK Subban attended the Pepsi North America Cup event that was mentioned previously. Look at him holding that trophy. Hopefully he can hold Lord Stanley's mug in a Habs jersey. [Toronto Star]
Image by Glenn Lowson for the Toronto Star
The 2010-2011 NHL regular season schedule was released on June 22. The season will start and end in Toronto against the Leafs. The Habs will play St. Louis and Halak (if he's in net) on March 10. [Canadiens]
The Canadiens signed Mathieu Darche on June 22 to a one-year, $500,000 contract on June 22. It's his first one way deal. Good for him. [Canadiens]
Also on June 22 Tomas Plekanec was signed to a six-year, $30 million deal. Gionta and Plekanec are getting paid exactly the same now. I hope we get good point totals from both of them for the terms of their contracts. [Canadiens]
On June 25th the Canadiens were active at the draft, moving up from 27th to 22nd via a deal with the Phoenix Coyotes to snag defenceman Jarred Tinordi in the first round. [Canadiens]
Picture from Getty Images
Looking good! Though the number 10 was kinda strange to see on him. Number 10 belongs to a beautiful Flower, of course...
The Habs added more prospects on June 26. With the 113th pick, the Habs selected Mark MacMillan. Morgan Ellis was selected at 117th. Brendan Gallagher was taken at 147 and John Westin from Sweden was taken 207th. I must say, John's name doesn't look very Swedish. Maybe that's just me. Hope these guys can all help us out in the near future. I look forward to seeing them don the CH. [Canadiens]
Morgan Ellis looks happy.
Picture from Getty Images
And here's a video of Brendan Gallagher from 2009:
On June 28 Tom Pyatt was signed to a one-year, $500,000 contract. (YAY! Thanks PG.) [Canadiens]
On the same day Benoit Pouliot was strangely given a ginormous raise and signed to a one-year, $1.35 million dollar contract. I'm as confused as the rest of the fans out there. [Canadiens]
On June 29, Sergei Kostitsyn was traded with future considerations to the Nashville Predators for UFA centre Dustin Boyd, goalie Dan Ellis, and future considerations. Ellis signed a two year, $3 million contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning (and they steal from us again?!!) while Boyd inked a one-year, $650,000 contract with the Habs on Canada Day. No idea about the future considerations. It's interesting to note that these two teams are connected by the ECHL's Cincinnati Cyclones. [Canadiens]
Also on free agent frenzy day the Habs signed goalie Alex Auld to a one-year, one million dollar contract. It is now official that whoever is in net next season (be it Price or some other poor soul) will be the number one goalie. But thank you Alex for willingly being our back up. I hope your shield of armour is strong enough to take criticism from all the fans and media. [Canadiens]
The eventful Canada Day also saw denfenseman Frédéric St-Denis signed to a one-year, $550,000 contract. [Canadiens]
Goalie Curtis Sanford was given the same money for the same amount as St-Denis on the same day. He chose Montreal over Vancouver and Phoenix, who also made similar offers. [Canadiens]
The PGA showed some love for the Habs by having caddies wear the jerseys of the 17 players with retired numbers. Henri Richard, Yvan Cournoyer, Stephane Quintal, Rejean Houle, Pierre Mondou, and Michael Cammalleri were present from the Habs. You can check out Mike here. [Canadiens]
Scott Gomez is getting Saku Koivu's old number. Number 11 was the number he wore in minor hockey, baseball and basketball. That's one athletic kid. It's interesting that Bob Gainey told him not to wear that number last season. The man had some sense, even though he brought Gomez's ridiculous contract upon us. [The Montreal Gazette]
You can read about Aurèle Joliat's childhood home in Ottawa and see some pictures thanks to this interesting story by the Ottawa Citizen. It's cool to know he lived on Stanley Avenue and won three Stanley Cups! [Ottawa Citizen]
Twenty-two prospects will be attending the Canadiens' second development camp which runs July 6-9. All of this year's draft picks will be attending, as will 'Lars Leller' and Ian Schultz who were acquired in the trade from St. Louis. Is it bad if Eller's name is misspelled so quickly? [Canadiens]
Alexander Avtsin has left HC Dynamo Moscow in order to play for the Canadiens' system. The Russian was chosen in the fourth round, 109th overall in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. He's a big guy It's great to see a player who we recently drafted that actually wants to play for us. Unlike some others. *cough* Louis Leblanc *cough* [Russian Prospects]
You can work for the Habs! (Dream job...*drool*) Ahem, that is if you have the right skills. [Canadiens]
Keep track of the all the remaining contract lengths and signing dates thanks to the official site. [Canadiens]
The Canadiens are facing a cap penalty for the 2010-2011 season. It's (only) $68,751 (some people earn less per year but ok). That puts the Habs' cap at $59,331,249. That's still a load of cash. [Cap Geek]
On a somber note Sgt. James MacNeil, who was a Habs fan was laid to rest in Nova Scotia on July 2 in Cape Breton. Rest in peace. [680 News]
....
So the Canadiens were really busy as the entire post here is full of links to the official website. Hopefully there will be a variety of stories next time. This was inevitable with free agent frenzy going on.
One thing I don't get: pay cuts for quite a few players, and a pay raise for someone not so deserving. Is this a consequence of signing free agents in the past for insane salaries? Overpaying players hurts you in the future. *sob*
Hope you all enjoyed Canada Day and Independence Day!
