Looking at the year–to–year changeover of the Montreal Canadiens heading into the 2013-14 season, there is less turnover in roster players than in seasons past.  Last season coming out the lockout, the Canadiens had a new Management team, a new head coach, a new system and brought in new players.  In addition, two rookies made the roster from Day 1; Brendan Gallagher and Alex Galchenyuk.

From the players who started the season with the Canadiens last season, four players are no longer with the Montreal Canadiens organization.  Yannick Weber is now playing with the Vancouver Canucks.  Tomas Kaberle was bought out of his contract and now plays back home for Kladno in the Czech league. Colby Armstrong was a UFA and signed this off season with Vaxjo HC (Swedish Elite League).  And Erik Cole was traded to Dallas Stars midway thru last season for Michael Ryder.

By season’s end, Ryder, a UFA signed with the New Jersey Devils, and Jeff Halpern, a waiver pickup last season, remains unsigned.

Who replaced these roster spots?

This off-season the Canadiens made a huge splash on the free agency market by signing UFA Daniel Brière.  The Canadiens also signed UFA defenseman Douglas Murray, who played with San Jose last season.  And tough guy George Parros was obtained from the Florida Panthers in a trade involving a minor league player.

Coming out of training camp, with injuries to defenseman Alexei Emelin, Davis Drewiske, and Douglas Murray, Jarred Tinordi was able to crack the top 6 on defence.  And forward Michaël Bournival, who impressed many during training camp, has also made the 23-man roster.  Remains to be seen how many games action Bournival will get as the season progresses.

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On Thursday, after reading The Gazette’s Dave Stubbs’ feature on Andrei Markov, now entering his 13 year in the NHL, all with the Canadiens, it made me wonder.  In these past 12 seasons, how many Habs GMs has Markov seen?  Number of Habs head Coaches Markov has played for in that time span? Captains, etc.?

So I compiled the following table.

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The Montreal Canadiens opened their training camp schedule on Sept. 11 when 55 players showed up for medicals.   Happy to report that Alex Galchenyuk put on the most mass during the off season gaining 7 lbs over last season.

For a full list of the 55 players invited to the Canadiens Training camp, click here.

Here is my list of the 5 top players to watch for.

#1) Louis Leblanc, 6’0, 190 lbs, Centre:  Leblanc was the Canadiens 1st pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.  Having already played 42 games in the NHL, Leblanc did not play 1 game in the NHL last season.  He got off to a slow start with AHL Hamilton and then got injured and never got his groove back,  This Training Camp, Leblanc needs to impress Marc Bergevin and Michel Therrien as the team tries to evaluate him and determine if he’s NHL or AHL material.

#2) Christian Thomas, 5’09, 176 lbs, Right-Wing:  Christian Thomas was acquired in the off season in a trade with the New York Rangers for Danny Kristo,  Many say Thomas is ready to make the jump to the NHL.  He it basically as raw as it gets having played only 1 game in the NHL.  Should Brian Gionta start the season on Injured Reserve recovering from off-season bicep surgery, many are speculating that Thomas will start the season with the Canadiens playing wing on a line with Tomas Plekancec and Rene Bourque.

#3) Jarred Tinordi, 6.06, 215 lbs, Defence:  Jarred Tinordi got his feet wet in the NHL late last season playing 8 regular season games and all 5 games in the playoffs.  Having come in to take up Alexi Emelin’s spot on the roster last season, Tinordi has to prove to Habs management if he is higher on the depth chart than Francis Bouillon, Raphael Diaz, Davis Drewiske, or newly acquired Douglas Murray.

#4) Nathan Beaulieu, 6’02, 194 lbs, Defence:  Nathan Beaulieu too was given an opportunity for a regular shift last season after Alexei Emelin went down with season ending injury, but only played 6 games and was then returned back to the AHL.  This off season Beaulieu trained out of the Habs’ Brossard practice facility, and he is challenging Tinordi for that last spot on the blue line.  With the Canadiens most likely carrying two extra defenseman to start the season, Beaulieu is on the bubble. And after the first scrimmage this trainign camp, Beaulieu hurt his shoulder and was placed on IR.  He’s now on the outside looking in, almost surely starting the season in Hamilton.

#5 Joonas Nattinen, 6’03, 192 lbs, Centre.  Joonas Nattinen was drafted back in the 2009 draft.  Having played in Sweden these past 4 seasons, Nattinen has seen late season North American action albeit briefly, for Hamilton, these past two seasons.  But he’s ready to make the transition to North America for the duration of a season?  Many eyes will be watching.

Below is a schedule of the Canadiens Training Camp and the Pre-Season Schedule.

September 11 
Medicals and Physical Testing

September 12 
Practice, Group A 10 – 10:45 am
Game A vs B 11 – 11:50 am
Conditioning, Group A 12 – 12:30 pm
Practice, Group B 12:15 – 12:50 pm
Conditioning, Group B 1:30 – 2 pm

September 13 
Practice, Group B 10 – 10:45 am
Game A vs B 11 – 11:50 am
Conditioning, Group B 12 – 12:30 pm
Practice, Group A 12:15 – 12:50 pm
Conditioning, Group A 1 – 1:30 pm

September 14 
Practice, extra players 10 – 11 a.m.
Game Team Red vs Team White (Bell Centre) 1 p.m.

September 15: Start of Pre-Season Schedule:

SEPT. 15, 2013 Sabres at Canadiens; 7:00pm Bell Centre Montreal
SEPT. 16, 2013 Bruins at Canadiens 7:00PM  Bell Centre Montreal
SEPT. 20, 2013 Canadiens at Hurricanes 7:30PM Pepsi Colisee Quebec City
SEPT. 21, 2013 Hurricanes at Canadiens 7:00PM  Bell Centre Montreal
SEPT. 23, 2013 Devils at Canadiens 7:30PM Bell Centre Montreal
SEPT. 25, 2013 Canadiens at Senators 7:30PMCanadian Tire Centre Ottawa
SEPT. 26, 2013 Senators at Canadiens 7:30PM Bell Centre Montreal

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Glancing at the available UFA list this off season, and with training camp one week away, should we be surprised to see the amount of former Habs who still can’t find work in the NHL?  Many former Habs have either signed on to play in the Europe or they are still waiting for a call from an NHL team.

This past weekend two former Habs found work or about to find work abroad. Yahoo! Sports quotes from Czech publication Sport that Tomas Kaberle (who played with Canadiens 2011-13 and who the Canadiens  used a compliance buyout on his contract this past off season) is close to signing on with Dinamo Minsk.  And one time Habs Ryan O’Byrne (2007-11), who split last season between the  Colorado Avalance and the Toronto Maple Leafs, has signed on with HC LEV Praha in the Czech Republic.

Earlier this summer, Chris Campoli (2011-12) signed on with Lugano in the Swiss League.  Colby Armstrong is taking his game to Sweden (Swedish Hockey League’s Vaxjo Lakers).  Arsmtrong will be joined by  Petteri Nokelainen (2011-13) who signed a one-year contract with Brynas IF of the Swedish Hockey League.

Closer to home former Habs Steve Begin (2003-07) signed a minor league deal with Calgary Flames AHL affiliate Abbotsford Heat in BC.

These are the lucky ones.  Here is a list of former Habs still looking for work:   Hal Gill (2009-12), Jose Theodore (1996-2004), Jeff Halpern (2010-11, 2013), Michael Leighton (2007) , Tom Kostopoulos (2007-09), Guillaume Latendresse (2006-2010), Mathieu Garon (2000-04), Brett Clark (1997-99), Ron Hainsey (2002-04), and  Ben Maxwell (2008-2010).

Unsigned players is not something exclusively related to the Montreal Canadiens.  For many of these players, the Montreal Canadiens were one of their many stops in their NHL careers.  A reflection of today’s reality in the NHL.

Also with the salary cap going down this season to $64.3M (was $pro-rated at $70.2M during the lockout shortened 2013 season), many of the above mentioned players are squeezed out by today’s economics.  Teams needing to find cheaper, younger alternatives to fill their 3 and fourth lines, or 3rd defensive pairing, or back-up goalie.

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Start of Habs camp just around the corner

This 2013-14 NHL season, training camp starts earlier this year due to the NHL taking a 17 day break in their schedule in February to accommodate  the Winter Olympics between Feb 9 and Feb 26, 2014.

In addition, the 2013-14 will be marked by changes to both the NHL schedule and NHL playoffs format.

First, realignment was finally settled with Winnipeg moving to the Western Conference and Detroit and Columbus moving to the Eastern Conference.  As such, the Detroit Red Wings are now part of the newly formed Atlantic Division consisting of: Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings, Florida Panthers, Montreal Canadiens, Ottawa Senators, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Toronto Maple Leafs. Columbus moves to the newly created Metropolitan Division.

The schedule calls for the Montreal Canadiens to play 4 or 5 games against opponents within their own division (they will play 5 games against each the Senators and  Maple Leafs), play 3 games against teams within their conference.  And the Canadiens will play both home and away games against teams in the Western Conference.

The playoff format also changed.  The top three teams in each division qualify for the post season play, followed by two wild card teams that make up the two best teams remaining in the conference.  With the first seed in each division playing a wild card team (the #2 seed will play the #3 seed within their division).

It all kicks off officially Tuesday September 3, 2013 when the Montreal Canadiens hold their annual Golf Tournament, this  year at the Club de golf Laval-sur-le-Lac.  As TSN690′s Amanda Stein tweets, @amandacstein: “The official start to the years hockey madness.”

It is followed by the Canadiens Rookie Camp from September 5-9.  With the official start to the Montreal Canadiens Training camp taking place on Wednesday September 11.

The Canadiens will have three weeks to bring their roster down to the 23 man roster.  The season kicks off October 1^st when Toronto Maple Leafs visit the Montreal Canadiens.

And already betting odds have already been posted for this NHL season.

Key dates leading to the start of the season.

September 3:  Montreal Canadiens Charity Golf Tournament; Club de golf Laval-sur-le-Lac

September 5 – 9:  Montreal Canadiens Rookie Training Camp; Centre Sportif Bell in Brossard, Qc.  40-man rookie roster lineup

September 11:  Official Montreal Canadiens Training Camp opens, with players report for physicals; Centre Sportif Bell in Brossard, Qc

September 15: Montreal Canadiens first pre-season game vs the Buffalo Sabres; 7pm at Bell Centre, Montreal, Qc

October 1^st:   Montreal Canadiens inaugurate the 2013-14 season playing host to the Toronto Maple Leafs; 7pm at Bell Centre, Montreal, Qc

This season, the NHL is sending their best to participate in the Winter Olympics.  Dating back to the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano, this marks the 5th consecutive Olympics NHL players take part in the Olympics (1998/Nagano; 2002/Salt Lake City; 2006/Milan; 2010/Vancouver; 2014/Sochi).

Potentially 10 Canadiens players can be taking part in the Winter Games.

Twelve teams qualified for the ice hockey competition at the Olympics.   Every country are holding an Orientation camps prior to the start of their 2013/14 seasons.

Team Canada will be holding Camp between August 25- August 28. Two members of the Montreal Canadiens have been asked to attend;  G – Carey Price and 2013 Norris Trophy Winner defenseman P.K. Subban.

Other members of the Canadiens have also been invited by their respective countries to take part in their orientation camps include defensemen Alexei Emelin and Andrei Markov by the Russian Federation.

Team USA have invited forwards Mac Pacioretty and surprisingly sophomore  Alex Galchenyuk.

Some other members of the Canadiens will be a lock to represent their country at the Olympics. They include defenseman Raphael Diaz (Switzerland), goalie Peter Budaj (Slovakia) and forwards Tomas Plekenec (Czech Replublic) and Lars Eller (Denmark).  Eller is by far the best player on his team.

The Winter Olympics take place between February 7, 2014 to February 23, 2014.  Team Canada is the defending Gold Medal Champions.

Mario Perrazzino

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