Montreal Canadiens – 100 stations and counting
Without a doubt, a great support network is what puts a great team in the best position to take home the Stanley Cup. Montreal Canadians have it. Coaches include head coach Guy Carbonneau, assistant coach Kirk Muller, assistant coach Doug Jarvis, and assistant coach Roland Melanson. The training staff is strong with Senior Equipment Manager Pierre Gervais, Assistant Equipment Manager Pierre Ouellette, Assistant Equipment Manager Patrick Langlois, Video Coach Mario Leblanc, Principal Athletic Therapist Graham Rynbend, Athletic Therapist Nick Addey-Jibb and Strength and Conditioning Coordinator Scott Livingston. The Canadians’ medical staff includes chief team physician and chief surgeon David Mulder, orthopedic surgery consultant Eric Lenczner, sports medicine consultant Vincent Lacroix, dentist Jean-Francois Desjardins and ophthalmology consultant John Little.
Although the Canadiens are in fourth place in the NHL Eastern Conference with 27 wins, 13 losses and 6 overtimes, there is still a long way to go for the 2008-2009 season. In January, the Canadiens have three more games against the Lightning, Panthers and Kings. In February, the Canadiens will host games against the Bruins, Penguins, Maple Leafs, Senators, Canucks, and Sharks. For the rest of February, the Canadians will travel and take to the ice on the road in games against the Flames, Oilers, Avalanche, Canucks, Capitals, Penguins and Flyers.
By March, the heat will be on and the Canadiens will hit the road for more road games against the Sabres, Thrashers, Stars and Senators. At home, they will have the opportunity to host games against the Oilers, Islanders, Devils, Rangers, Maple Leafs, Thrashers, Lightning, Sabers and Blackhawks. In April, expect to see the Canadiens in road games against the Islanders, Maple Leafs, Rangers, and Bruins. Home games for April will be against the Senators and Penguins; the latter of which will be the final game of the season for the Canadiens. The final game will take place on Saturday, April 11.
The 2008-2009 roster features forwards Steve Begin, Kyle Chipchura, Matt D’Agostini, Christopher Higgins, Saku Koivu, Andrei Kostitsyn, Sergei Kostitsyn, Tom Kostopoulos, Alex Kovalev, Robert Lang, Maxim Lapierre, Georges Laraque, Guillaume Latendresse, Max Pacioretty, Tomas Plekanec, Gregory Steward and Alex Tanguay. Unfortunately, Higgins, Laraque and Tanguay are currently on injured reserve.
Canadian defensemen include Francis Bouillon, Patrice Brisebois, Mathieu Dandenault, Josh Gorges, Roman Hamrlik, Mike Komisarek and Andrei Markov. As with the forward players, current injured reserve claims defenseman Dandenault. However, both goalies, Jaroslav Halak and Carey Price, are fine.
The prospect list for the Canadians is long and comprehensive, including forwards Mathieu Aubin, Andrew Conboy, David Desharnais, Ryan Flinn, Oliver Fortier, Mike Glumac, Patrick Johnson, Danny Kristo, Oliver Latendresse, Yanick Lehoux, Ben Maxwell, Alexander Perezhogin, Steve Quailer Ryan Russell, Brock Trotter, Maxim Trunev, Ryan White and James Wyman.
Possible defenders include Chad Anderson, Shawn Belle, Andre Benoit, Mathieu Carle, Marvin Degon, David Fischer, Alex Henry, Scott Kishel, Konstantin Korneev, Ryan McDonagh, Ryan O’Byrne, Phillipe Paquet, Greg Pareryn, Joe Stejskal An, Nichlas Torp, Pavel Valennko, Yannick Weber and Alexei Yemelin. Potential goalkeepers include Mark Denis, Cedrick Desjardins, Loic Lacasse, Robert Mayer and Jason Missiaen and none of these two groups are injured.