It appears the Canadiens are set for training camp and they have signed all their RFAs and made a small splash on the UFA market.

July 13:  Canadiens sign UFA – D Ryan Johnston (free agent) 

Defenceman Ryan Johnston was an invite to Habs development camp, and he impressed the Canadiens so much that the Canadiens signed him to a two-year, entry-level contract.  he’s coming through the NCAA college ranks, having played with Colgate University.

July 14:  Canadiens re-sign RFA Micheal Bournival

Michael Bournival is coming off an injury filled season where he suffered two concussions and never really recovered from the first.  Bournival signed a two-way contract that will pay him $600K if he plays in the NHL.  Read article here

July 15:  Canadiens re-sign RFA D Jarred Tinordi

Jarred Tinordi has fallen in the Habs depth charts amongst young defenseman.  Greg Pateryn and Nathan Beaulieu have passed him.  Tinordi re-signed for a two-way, one year contract ($850.5K in the NHL).  Should Tinordi not make the club with the Canadiens in October, he needs to clear waivers to be sent back to the AHL.

July 24:  Canadiens sign draft pick Dan Audette.

The son of former NHLer and Canadien, Donald Audette, Dan Audette was drafted in the 5th round, 147th overall, in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft.  Donald Audette signed an entry level deal with the Canadiens.

July 24:  Canadiens sign UFA Alexander Semin

The Canadiens finally got a top 6 forward.  Well at least they are hoping they did.  Alexander Semin became a UFA this summer after Carolina bought him out   Semin signed a one year deal with the Canadiens and will make $1.1M with the Canadiens.  Semin will wear #13.  Hear conference call

See Hockeydb stats:

July 29:  Canadiens and Bruins unveil their Winter Classic logos.

The Canadiens will be introducing another jersey this upcoming season.  Already the  Canadiens announced that their game-day jerseys will now feature laces at the collar.  But they also unveiled their 2016 Winter Classic jersey, opting to wear a re-make of their 1922-24 jersey.  Read story here.

July 30:  Canadiens sign RFA Alex Galchenyuk to a Bridge deal

Finally, the biggest wait of the off-season finally happened.  The Canadiens and Alex Galchenyuk finally agreed on a two year deal.  Galchenyuk will get $2.5M in 2015-16 and $3.1M in 2016-17.  read Pat Hickey’s column here.

July 30:  P.K. Subban training with Ben Johnson

Yes it’s true.  Subban teaming up with notorious Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson in hopes to get faster and be more agile.  See TSN story here.  Not to be outdone, former Canadian sprinter Bruny Surin has also reached out to P.K. Subban to offer his help.

@PKSubban1 if ever you want to work on speed training in Montreal, don't be shy. I'd be happy to help. #GoHabsGo

— Bruny Surin (@BrunySurin) July 31, 2015

August 1:  Canadiens will permanently close their Canadiens Hockey Hall of Fame on August 30th.

The short-lived temple of Canadiens’ memorabilia will be no more after August 30th.  The Canadiens announced that they need the space currently occupied by their Hall of Fame, is needed  for renovations to take place in order to “… enhance the fan experience at the Bell Centre in 2015-16 and beyond.”  It’s not too late to visit the Canadiens’ shrine.  For the month of August until it closes, price of admission to visit the Canadiens Hall of Fame is free.  Read story here.

Enjoy the summer!

GO HABS GO!

Looking for Montreal Canadiens merchandise,  check out SHOP.GOHABS.com

It’s been almost three weeks since my last post.  In that time the NHL held its NHL Draft and Free Agency has begun.  Not to mention the Canadiens held their Development Camp.

June 26:  NHL Entry Draft

June 27:  Canadiens modify their ionic jersey

The Canadiens announced they will modify ever so slightly their jerseys for the 2015-16 season.  The changes include:

• Hexagonal copper grommets and white laces

• All-white collar

• the collar will have  “LNH” for Ligue Nationale de Hockey.

The last time the canadiens modified their jersey was back in 2007.  And the Canadiens had laces on their jerseys from the 1940s to 1974.

June 28:  Canadiens buy-out P-A Parenteau

In a move to get some much needed salary cap relief, the Canadiens bought out the final year of P-A Parenteau’s contract.  Parenteau was scheduled to earn $4M in 2015-16.  he will get $1.33M for the next two seasons instead.  On top of his salary that he will get with Toronto Maple leafs as Parenteau signed with Toronto on July 1st.

June 30:  Habs sign a pair

On the eve of Free Agency, Habs signed restricted Free Agents Brian Flynn and extended the contract of Greg Pateryn.  Flynn signed a 2 years, $1.9M , whereas defenceman Pateryn earns an extension.  Already signed for 2015-16 at $562.5K, Pateryn will make $800K for 2016-17, and 2017-18.

July 1:  The start to Free Agency Frenzy

Turns out it was not much of a frenzy for Habs fans and especially for Habs GM Marc Bergevin.  Bergevin did not sign any free agents, instead opted to trade Brandon Prust to the Vancounver Canucks for Zack Kassian and a 2016 5th Round Pick.  This marks Kassian’s third organization in his young career.  The tarde makes the Canadiens younger, and saves on the Cap.

Tale of the tape:

Brandon Prust was shocked hearing about the trade while vacationing in Rome with his fiancée MariPier Morin.  In fact this was their last tweet just prior to finding out about the trade.

Bonne fête du Canada! Dernière journée en 🇮🇹 pour nous! #ciaoroma Happy Canada day everyone! Last day in 🇮🇹 for us! pic.twitter.com/tdsgW32fmS

— Maripier Morin (@maripiermorin) July 1, 2015

Brandon prust went on to thanks the Canadiens.

1) Just want to thank the @CanadiensMTL, the city of Montreal n all of Habs nation for being great to me the last 3 seasons

— Brandon Prust (@BrandonPrust8) July 1, 2015

July 1st:  Habs sign UFA defenceman Mark Barberio

Montreal local boy mark barberio signed as a free agent with the Montreal Canadiens.  Having come up with the Tampa bay organization, Bareberio, 25 years old, has already appeared in 103 NHL games.  Barberio signed a 1 year, 2-way deal with the Canadiens.

Mark Barberio

Defense — shoots L
Born Mar 23 1990 — Montreal, PQ
[25 yrs. ago]
Height 6.01 — Weight 185 [185 cm/84 kg]

Amongst the other players also getting added attention were, Sven Andrighetto who played 12 games with the Habs in 2014-15.  Daniel Carr, Charles Hudon.

Dave Stubbs reports from Habs dev Cap.  Read story here.

List of players that were invited to Development Camp.

Re-Signings

The Canadiens also announced the re-signing of the following

July 10:  Max Pacioretty suffers knee injury, out 12 weeks

Seems Max Pacioretty always has an injury to overcome.  Luckily this happened during the off-season while doing dry-land cross-fit like training.  No surgery required, but he’ll miss all of training camp.  Read story here.

July 12:  The oldest living Canadien, Bob Fillion celebrates his 95th birthday.

Fillion played in 327 games all with the Canadiens  between 1943-1950.  As posted by Dave Stubbs…

Happy 95th birthday to 1940s #Habs LW Bob Fillion, the oldest living Canadien http://t.co/FmZ65lAWXL pic.twitter.com/SJeIxQEUJM

— Dave Stubbs (@Dave_Stubbs) July 12, 2015

And finally, still no news on Alex Galchenyuk.  the last remaining RFA for the Canadiens as the Canadiens are trying to get him to sign a 2 year bridge deal, as they currently have just over $7 million in cap space remaining.

Happy Summer!

It’s been a while since I last posted an update as we head to the 2015 NHL Draft and July 1st UFA signing (which this year will not be much of a frenzy).

June 1st:  In the taking care of business department, Habs re-signed Gabriel Dumont and Morgan Ellis to one year,two-way deals.  Both played in the AHL last season and Dumont did get a taste of the NHL  with 3 games played.  Read Gazette story here.

June 13:  Seems RFA defenseman Nathan Beaulieu is here to stay.  2014-15 was his breakout season appearing in 64 GP.  He signed a two year, $2 million deal in what many say is a bridge deal because when the deal expires in 2017, Beaulieu will still be a RFA.  Read story here.

June 15:   Torrey Mitchell decided to take the home town discount agreeing to a 3 year, $3.6 million deal with the Canadiens.  Mitchell was eligible for UFA come July 1st, but after bouncing around San Jose, Minnesota, Buffalo and Montreal these past four seasons, looks like he opted for stability and re-signed.  Read Dave Stubbs’ story here.

Torrey Mitchell’s Conference Call

June 18:  The 2015 Pre-season schedule is already out.  It all begins Sept 20 and Habs will play a total of 8 games before they drop the puck to start the 2015-16 season on October 7 in Toronto.

Pre-season Schedule

June 22:   Well look who finally decided to pop the question?  Habs Brandon Prust finally proposed to long-time girlfriend, TV personality MariePier Morin choosing to pop the question in Italy.  Read story here.

June 22:  Alex Galchenyuk is a RFA and has decided to fire his agent Igor Larionov, who works along with Ian Pulver.  Not sure what to read into this, but it appears Galchenyuk was unhappy with his ice time and didn’t like the fact that his agent was going to bat for him.  Galchenyuk has now turned to Pat Brisson to represent him.  Pat Hickey discusses Galchenyuk in his column as his former agent Larionov has a few words for Galcheyuk.

June 22:  In August 2016, the World Cup of Hockey will return and Hockey Canada named Doug Armstrong as Team Canada GM.  Amongst Armstrong’s extensive team to pick the roster is Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin.  Read story here

June 24:  According to Richard Labbé of LaPresse, the Canadiens have made qualifying offers to their 6 RFAs; Alex Galchenyuk, Jarred Tinordi, Brian Flynn, Magnus Nygren, Christian Thomas and Michaël Bournival. A formality if they wish to retain them.  LaPresse story here.

June 24:  NHL Awards Show turned into the Carey Price Show.  Carey Price picked up 4 awards; Ted Lindsay Awarded to MVP as chosen by the players.  The Vezina Award for top goalie.  The Jennings Trophy (shared with the Blackhawks’ Corey Crawford for allowing the fewest goals.  Both Montreal and Chicago allowed 189 goals).   And finally, Carey Price won the Hart Trophy as league MVP.  Carey Price and PK Subban were also named to the 2014-15 Post-Season 1st Team All-Star.  Read Montreal Gazette`s summary here.

Chalk up another smart move by Habs GM Marc Bergevin.  At the 2015 trade deadline, Bergevin picked up a player, who arguably, was the biggest fish on the trade market in defenceman Jeff Petry from the Edmonton Oilers.

And now , two and a half months later, Bergevin was able to convince Petry to re-sign with the Habs, in a year with a weak free agency pool, where Petry could have done really well for himself out in the open market.

That’s not to say Petry took a home team discount, because he didn’t.  Habs were able to re-sign Petry for 6 years, $33M.

The $5.5M average cap hit breaks down per year as follows:

The deal includes a No-Trade Clause.  And once again, to acquire Petry from the Edmonton Oilers didn’t cost the Canadiens any assets.  Only two draft picks.  2015’s 2nd Round Pick and a conditional pick which becomes a 2015 4th Round Pick.

Personally I am surprised by the signing because I thought  Petry, an American from Michigan, would sign with a team like Detroit.  And the fact that at the age of 27, at his peak of his career, I am surprise he would forego his UFA opportunity.

Jeff Petry Stats
Defense
Born Dec 9 1987  -- Ann Arbor, MI 
Height 6.03 -- Weight 196 -- Shoots R


Selected by Edmonton Oilers round 2 #45 overall 2006 NHL Entry Draft

                                            --- Regular Season ---  ---- Playoffs ----
Season   Team                        Lge    GP    G    A  Pts  PIM  GP   G   A Pts PIM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2005-06  Des Moines Buccaneers       USHL   48    1   14   15   68  11   2   5   7   8
2006-07  Des Moines Buccaneers       USHL   55   18   27   45   71   8   0   6   6  10
2007-08  Michigan State University   CCHA   42    3   21   24   28
2008-09  Michigan State University   CCHA   38    2   12   14   32
2009-10  Michigan State University   CCHA   38    4   25   29   26
2009-10  Springfield Falcons         AHL     8    0    3    3    2  --  --  --  --  --
2010-11  Oklahoma City Barons        AHL    41    7   17   24   18   6   0   1   1   4
2010-11  Edmonton Oilers             NHL    35    1    4    5   10  --  --  --  --  --
2011-12  Edmonton Oilers             NHL    73    2   23   25   26  --  --  --  --  --
2011-12  Oklahoma City Barons        AHL     2    0    1    1    2  --  --  --  --  --
2012-13  Edmonton Oilers             NHL    48    3    9   12   29  --  --  --  --  --
2013-14  Edmonton Oilers             NHL    80    7   10   17   42  --  --  --  --  --
2014-15  Edmonton Oilers             NHL    59    4   11   15   32
2014-15  Montreal Canadiens          NHL    19    3    4    7   10
2014-15p Montreal Canadiens          NHL    12    2    1    3    4
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
         NHL Totals                        314   20   61   81  149

Current statistics as of 2015-05-30

Jeff Petry addressed the media via a conference call following the announcement on June 2nd.

Jeff Petry also took to twitter to post:

Excited for this opportunity to be a part of the @CanadiensMTL for the next 6 years! Thanks for all the support! #GoHabsGo

— Jeff Petry (@PetryJ) June 3, 2015

As did Jeff Petry’s wife, Julie.  Suffice to say they are both excited to be part of the Montreal Canadiens organization for the next 6 years!

Live from the control center earlier….Excited to see what the next 6 years in Montreal have in… https://t.co/KZV8JJhHyQ

— Julie Petry (@petryules) June 2, 2015

A quick summary of the Montreal Canadiens related news this past week.

May 22: Canadiens prospect Charles Hudon, who played for Hamilton Bulldogs last season with 19G, 38A for 57 points in 75 games, has hopes to make the big club next season according to LaPresse.  Please read Richard Labee’s story

May 25:  The Montreal Gazette picked up a instagram posting by Carey Price’s wife Angela Price, of the couple enjoying their Italian vacation.  Carey Price’s vacation Twitter Photo

I fell in love with Rome today #vatican #colosseum #ancientrome #beautiful #historyoverload #tiredfeet pic.twitter.com/EZJdcegwVJ

— Angela Price (@AngelaPrice24) May 25, 2015

May 27:  Montreal Canadiens prospect Michael Mc Carron of the Oshawa Generals is making an impression at the Memorial Cup.  Read story here

May 27:  Montreal Canadiens owner Geoff Molson expressed optimism with the Canadiens despite being eliminated in the 2nd round of the playoffs.  Brendan Kelly of the Montreal Gazette reports

May 27:  When Guy Lafleur speaks everyone listens.  Lafleur mentioned that the Canadiens next captain should be Brendan Gallagher. And he goes on to say that Alex Galchenyuk should play centre.  Guy Lafleur discusses the Habs

May 27:  Habs GM Marc Bergevin announces the promotion of pro scout Vaughn Karpan to the position of Canadiens Director of Pro Scouting.  Read Pat Hickey’s column

May 28:  The St. John’s Ice Dogs, the new home of the Canadiens top AHL farm club, unveiled their new colours adopting the bleu-blanc-rouge of the CH.  The Ice Dogs new jersey will be unveiled in the coming weeks.   Read story here

Le bleu-blanc-rouge vous va à ravir, @IceCapsAHL! / Bleu-blanc-rouge looks lovely on you, IceCaps! pic.twitter.com/Ez9FZSgVSq

— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) May 28, 2015

May 28:  Sportsnet looks at what Habs GM Marc Bergevin’s off-season game plan is.  Read Eric Engels’ story

From time to time I will post an update of Habs related news during the off season.

May 15: Hamilton Bulldogs’s Assistant Coach Stephan Lebeau will not be returning with the Canadiens organization, LaPresse reports (Please read: Habs do not renew Stephan Lebeau’s contract) . Hamilton Bulldogs will relocate to St. Johns, NFLD beginning next season to become the St. John’s Ice Dogs.

May 16: Are the Habs in the Kerby Rychel sweepstakes? The Blue Jackets centre is rumoured to be shopped around by the Columbus. Please read: Are the Canadiens After Rychel

May 20: Habs prospect Artturi Lehkonen, drafted in the same draft as Jacob de la Rose, has decided to spend another season in Europe. Lehkonen, who plays left-wing and hails from Finland was the 55th overall pick in the 2013 entry draft, and will play another season in the Swedish Elite League. Please read: Habs Prospect staying in Europe

May 20: Restricted free Agen Gabriel Dumont still hopes habs will make him a qualifying offer to retain his rights. Otherwise he will become a UFA. Dumont’s agent has yet to hear from Bergevin. Please read: Gabriel Dumont ponders future

May 20: Jacob de la Rose underwent successful wrist surgery on May 20th at the Montreal General Hospital. Rehab is expected to last three months and he should be ready in time for training camp in Spetember.
Please read: de la Rose has successful wrist surgery

May 21: Add the name of Michaël Bournival who hopes that the Canadiens will make him a qualifying offer this summer, as he too is a RFA this off-season. Bournival suffered two concussions during the season and only now declares himself fully healed from the head injury. Please read: Bournival recovers from concussion

The Montreal Canadiens started the 2015 NHL Playoffs with great promise. Having finished first in the Atlantic division during the 2014-15 season, most pundits expected the Canadiens to go far in these playoffs. They started Round 1 of the playoffs against the Ottawa Senators jumping to a 3-0 series lead in the best of 7 series, finally winning it in 6 games. Now halfway into the 2nd Round, many have lost hope. With the Canadiens trailing the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-0 in games in the best of seven Divisional Final, few expect the Canadiens to even win another game. And Betfair.com revised their predictions too as Tampa Bay are favorites to win the series, despite the fact Montreal started with home ice advantage.
Going into the series, both clubs finished with 50 wins. However Habs head coach Michel Therrien kept telling everyone that his team were the underdogs. Tampa finished the season with the most goals for with 262 goals whereas Montreal finished with 221. Defensively Montreal had the edge with 189 goals against compared to Tampa’s 211.
Time and time again, teams with the most defensive record don’t do particularly well by the time the playoffs come around. Habs GM Marc Bergevin will keep preaching that “you win with defence”. But the truth of the matter is, whenever the playoffs roll around, everyone buckles down and plays defence. It’s easier to teach players how to play defensive systems than it is to teach how to score. To score in the NHL you need natural talented abilities. Abilities that Tampa are blessed with in Steven Stamkos, Tyler Johnson, and Nikita Kucherov. Montreal’s only pure goal scorer is Max Pacioretty.

Michel Therrien’s strategy was to copy what the 2014 Stanley Cup winner Los Angeles Kings did during the 2013-2014 season where they lead the league in goals against during the regular season playing a committed game of defence. And lead by forwards Anze Kopitar, Jeff Carter, the league’s best defenseman in Drew Doughty, and Jonathan Quick in goal, helped propel the Kings to win their second Stanley Cup in three seasons.

And who could blame Bergevin’s and Therrien’s strategy for these playoffs. Along with their sniper Pacioretty, the Canadiens soon to be crowned 2014-15 Vezina Trophy Winner in Carey Price, who is also a finalist for league MVP. They have Norris Trophy finalist P.K. Subban on the back end. Unfortunately for the Canadiens during the 2015 Playoffs, the Canadiens were not blessed with the same commitment to defence. And they lack natural ability to finish their scoring chances as their offense has sputtered, and their 2015 Playoffs Power Play is a woeful 3.8%, a problem they have struggled with for over a season now.

There is not much left in the tank it seems for the Canadiens to go further than they did last year in the playoffs. During the off season Bergevin and Therrien need to re-think their strategy because obviously with their current roster, they can’t get to the finish line.

Head to head comparison between the Tampa Bay Lightning vs Montreal Canadiens who face off against one another in the 2nd Round of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

This marks the third time the two teams meet during the playoffs with the most recent being last year when the Canadiens swept the Lightning in the opening round of the 2013 playoffs.

Before then , you needf to go back to 2004, when Tampa defeated Montreal in a first round 4 game sweep, the year Tampa Bay won their only Stanley Cup.

This also marks the classic best offense vs best defence as Tampa finished first in league scoring, and the Canadiens were first in team defence.

Below are the roster changes both Tampa and Montreal made this year since they met last year in the playoffs.

See broadcast schedule below.  Please note that for Games 3 and 4, they are back to back.  That is because on May 2nd, Tampa’s Amalie Arena, has a circus act.  And on May 8, Kevin hart performs.

Fri May 1 @ Montreal — 7pm CBC, TVA Sports, NBCSN
Sun May 3 @ Montreal — 6pm CBC, TVA Sports, NBCSN
Wed May 6 @ Tampa Bay — 7pm CBC, TVA Sports, USA Network
Thu May 7 @ Tampa Bay — 7pm CBC, TVA Sports, NBCSN
Sat May 9 @ Montreal — TBD CBC, TVA Sports, TBD
Tue May 12 @ Tampa Bay — TBD CBC, TVA Sports, TBD
Thu May 14 @ Montreal — TBD CBC, TVA Sports, TBD

The broadcast crew for CBC will be Play-by-play: Jim Hughson; Game Analysts: Craig Simpson and Glenn Healy; Reporter: Scott Oake.

For Habs Playoffs tickets, click here.

For Habs merchandise, click here.

Head to head comparison of the Ottawa Senators vs Montreal Canadiens who face off against one another in the 1st Round of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The only other time the Canadiens faced the Senators in the NHL Playoffs was in 2013 when the Senators ousted the Canadiens in 5 games in the opening round of the Playoffs.

Series begins Wednesday April 15th in Montreal.

For Habs tickets, click here.

For Habs merchandise, click here.

Bravo to Montreal Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin.  Why?  In the 7 days leading up to the trade deadline, Bergevin made four roster acquisitions, and gave up only one roster player.  How does one accomplish this feat?

On Feb 24, Bergevin got started by trading rookie forward Jiri Sekac to Anaheim for RW Devante Smith-Pelly.  Turns out that was the only roster player that left the Canadiens for another team.

On Trade deadline day March 2nd, Bergevin accomplished 3 separate trades, an NHL record.  Bergevin got started early, acquiring much coveted Top 4 defenceman Jeff Petry from the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for 2015 2nd Round Pick, and 2015 5th Round Pick (Conditional).  (The Canadiens had two 2015 2nd round picks, having acquired another 2nd round pick in the Josh Gorges trade with Buffalo before the start of the 2014-15 season.)  Petry is a UFA at the end of the 2014-15 season.

The second trade Bergevin concluded on trade deadline day on March 2nd, saw the Canadiens acquire more depth at centre obtaining Brian Flynn in exchange for 2016 5th Round Pick.  With Buffalo, Flynn spent at least 2 min per game on the Penalty Kill.  Flynn is a RFA after the 2014-15 season.

And finally to conclude Bergevin’s wheeling and dealing, Habs acquired local boy Torrey Mitchell from Buffalo Sabres in exchange for Habs prospect Jack Nevins (F), and 2016 7th Round Pick.  Mitchell is a UFA after this season,  As for Nevins, he  really didn’t fit in the long term plans with the Canadiens.

To make room for the March 2nd acquisitions, Habs sent down to AHL’s Hamilton Bulldogs Michael Bournival, and Greg Pateryn.  And the Canadiens are loaded with Grade “A” prospects at both the AHL and Junior level with the likes of Charles Hudon, Sven Andrighetto, Christian Thomas, Jarrod Tinordi Michael McCarron, Nikita Scherbak, and Zach Fucale, leaving the future intact too!

Bravo M. Bergevin!