Team Can Contenders Pdf

Product:STAR Date:12-05-2009Desk: SPT-0004-CMYK/04-12-09/23:17:47

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SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2009

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SPORTS CANADIENS TURN 100

Former greats help Habs party in style Players, coaches from past eras celebrate centennial with two-hour ceremony

SHAUN BEST/REUTERS

SHAUN BEST/REUTERS

Above, from left: Ex-teammates Steve Shutt, Ken Dryden and Bob Gainey chat during ceremonies at the Bell Centre. Above right: Henri Richard, left, and Larry (Big Bird) Robinson share a laugh. MONTREAL—As he had done so many times before, Eddy Palchak sauntered out of the tunnel to the edge of the boards behind the Habs’ bench. Palchak, a trainer and equipment manager for 10 Stanley Cup-winning Montreal Canadiens teams, emptied a couple of buckets full of pucks onto the ice. As the vulcanized rubber dropped to the rink, echoes of “Eddy, Eddy, Eddy” descended from the Bell Centre’s bleachers. The Habs’ blast to the past marking their 100th birthday had begun. Before Montreal’s 5-1 win Friday against their longtime nemesis — the Boston Bruins — the storied club held a two-hour-long ceremony to commemorate its Dec. 4, 1909 founding and to honour a pair of the team’s all-time greats. The Bell Centre crowd roared as Palchak’s pucks were scooped up by about two-dozen former Habs — who had hopped on the ice in full

gear — including the legendary Ken Dryden, Patrick Roy and Guy Lafleur. Former head coaches Scotty Bowman, Jacques Demers, Jean Perron and Claude Ruel watched from behind the bench. “For all of you fans who supported the team for 100 years — it was special for you guys — but for us, as players, it was something unbelievable,” Lafleur told the crowd from a podium on the ice after being introduced by Hollywood actor — and enthusiastic Habs fan — Viggo Mortensen. “You guys partied some nights — we partied every night.” In an unexpected segment of the pre-game ceremony, the Habs made room in the arena’s crowded rafters for the numbers worn by the two oldest-living Canadiens — Elmer Lach’s No. 16 and Emile (Butch) Bouchard’s No. 3. The retired jerseys of Lach, 91, and Bouchard, 90, now hang with the

RYAN REMIORZ/THE CANADIAN PRESS

Former goaltender Patrick Roy donned the bleu, blanc et rouge once again for the festivities.

club’s 24 Stanley Cup banners and the numbers of 15 other Habs greats. The Habs have honoured many of their past stars in recent years leading up to the anniversary, retiring the numbers of the likes of Dickie

TEAM CANADA’S CONTENDERS AND ALSO-RANS FOR 2010 DEFENCE Inside track 1 Duncan Keith 1 Dan Boyle 1 Chris Pronger 1 Jay Bouwmeester 1 Scott Niedermayer 1 Shea Weber Still in contention GOAL Inside track 1 Martin Brodeur 1 Roberto Luongo 1 Marc-Andre Fleury Still in contention None Not this time 1 Cam Ward 1 Steve Mason

1 Drew Doughty 1 Dion Phaneuf 1 Robyn Regehr 1 Mike Green

Not this time 1 Dan Hamhuis 1 Brent Seabrook 1 Francois Beauchemin 1 Marc Staal 1 Stephane Robidas 1 Brent Burns

CENTRE Inside track 1 Sidney Crosby 1 Ryan Getzlaf 1 Joe Thornton Still in contention 1 Mike Richards 1 Jonathan Toews 1 Vinny Lecavalier 1 Patrice Bergeron 1 Brad Richards

RIGHT WING Inside track 1 Jeff Carter 1 Dany Heatley 1 Jarome Iginla 1 Rick Nash Still in contention 1 Steve Stamkos 1 Corey Perry 1 Shane Doan 1 Mike Fisher Not this time 1 Patrick Sharp

Not this time 1 Andy McDonald 1 Derek Roy 1 Jason Spezza

LEFT WING Inside track 1 Patrick Marleau 1 Brenden Morrow Still in contention 1 Dustin Penner 1 Ryan Smyth 1 Eric Staal 1 Martin St. Louis

Not this time 1 Dan Cleary 1 Milan Lucic 1 Simon Gagne 1 Jordan Staal

Young names entering mix for spot on Team Canada COX from S1

pionships on Dec. 30, although that date and place are not yet set in stone. It has been confirmed that there will be no three-man taxi squad as was the case in Turin, meaning Yzerman and Company will be announcing a 23-man roster — three goalies, seven defenceman and 13 forwards — and no more. Right now, it appears that between 16-18 roster spots are spoken for, with the three goalies to be Martin Brodeur, Marc-Andre Fleury and Roberto Luongo because Cam Ward has been injured and Steve Mason hasn’t played well in Columbus. Turin vets like Shane Doan, Robyn Regehr, Vinny Lecavalier, Ryan Smyth and Martin St. Louis are in tough.

Carolina centre Eric Staal, a taxi squad member in ’06 and a player projected as a left winger on Team Canada 2010, has played four games since returning to the Hurricanes lineup after missing more than three weeks with an injury. Staal, who has only three goals in 17 games, might benefit by the fact Canada’s least settled position is left wing, with only Patrick Marleau close to being a shoo-in at this point. “We are going to be choosing between guys who are having very good seasons,” said Yzerman. “But I can tell you that on Dec. 29, we’re not going to arguing over 20 players. The last-minute debate will be over two or three guys.” So while the large group has been pared, the decisions can only be getting more complex.

OLYMPIC WATCH GOLD Seven goals, four assists and a plus-12 in last three games for Sidney Crosby. Gee, wonder if he centres the top line? SILVER Roberto Luongo is back. Beat Martin Brodeur in a showdown of Olympic goalies this week and followed up with a strong outing against Philly with Steve Yzerman looking on. BRONZE Vinny Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis were invited to camp, but Steven Stamkos leads the Bolts with 17 goals (seven power play, one short-handed) and 29 points through 26 games.

Moore, Yvon Cournoyer, Serge Savard, Larry Robinson, Bob Gainey, Bernie (Boom Boom) Geoffrion, Roy and Dryden. Dryden suited up in his brown goalie pads Friday for the first time since he played his last game with the Canadiens. “It was a bit terrifying first going out,” said Dryden, adding he wore a few pieces of the bulkier, modern equipment owned by current Habs netminder Carey Price. “Actually, it felt better than I thought it was going to feel.” He reminisced about his run with the team in the 1970s, when he backstopped the Habs to six Stanley Cups. “We were a really good team and we were the kind of team that could beat you just about any way you wanted to play,” said the hall of famer. “We had the best general manager, we had the best coach, we had the best players, we had the best arena,

we had the best atmosphere to play in.” During the ceremony, former Detroit Red Wings great Gordie Howe walked out onto the red carpet holding Maurice (Rocket) Richard’s iconic No. 9 jersey. He introduced one of his old rivals — Habs great Jean Beliveau. Beliveau, who won 10 Cups with the Canadiens, drew one of the biggest ovations of the night. Boos rained down when the Bruins took the ice for the pre-game warmup and again when a taped video message by Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s played on the big screen. Harper’s congratulatory address was mostly drowned out by the jeering crowd. But the boos quickly turned to cheers as a similar message by Celine Dion’s husband and manager, Rene Angelil, rolled on the scoreboard. The Canadian Press

NHL NOTEBOOK

Flyers hire Laviolette after Stevens dumped The Philadelphia Flyers replaced coach John Stevens with Peter Laviolette on Friday after the team was shut out in consecutive games. Laviolette led the Carolina Hurricanes to their only Stanley Cup title in 2006. He was fired in December 2008 and was still under contract. Laviolette, who also coached the New York Islanders for two seasons, was 167-130-30 in his fourplus seasons with Carolina. Flyers GM Paul Holmgren made the call to fire Stevens. “I think Paul felt he had to make this change,” Flyers chair Ed Snider said. “I make it a policy never to overrule my general manager, because once I do, it means I’ve lost confidence in him.” The Flyers were expected to contend in the Eastern Conference this season. They are 13-11-1 for 27 points and out of the playoff picture entering Saturday’s game against Washington. Holmgren said a new voice was needed. “Peter Laviolette brings experience along with a different approach to the game,” he said. Stevens got the job early in the 2006 season after Ken Hitchcock was fired and led the Flyers to the Eastern Conference final the following season. The Flyers haven’t scored in their last two games, and captain Mike Richards called a team meeting after their 3-0 loss to Vancouver on Thursday. SELANNE’S BROKEN WING: Anaheim Ducks winger Teemu Selanne had surgery Thursday to repair a broken bone in his left hand and is expected to miss four to six weeks.

Selanne was injured Thursday night in a loss to Dallas when he was struck by Stars defenseman Karlis Skrastins’ shot. X-rays revealed a fracture in the area of the knuckle above Selanne’s middle finger. The 39-year-old Finnish star has 14 goals and seven assists in 27 games this season. He has 593 goals and 640 assists in 1,159 career regular-season games. BLANKING BULLDOGS: Cedrick Desjardins made 15 saves as the Hamilton Bulldogs extended their shutout streak to three games with a 3-0 win against the Toronto Marlies on Friday night. P.K. Subban scored twice and Brock Trotter added a single as Hamilton improved to 14-6-4. The win marked Desjardins’ second straight shutout and broke Hamilton’s franchise records for longest team shutout streak and longest individual shutout streak. The Bulldogs haven’t been scored on in 198 minutes 51 seconds. The Marlies (10-9-4) have been struggling to score lately. They have one goal in their last three games. CALIFORNIA’S DRAFTY: The 2010 NHL draft will be held in Los Angeles on June 25-26, marking the first time in its 46-year history that the event will be held in California. The NHL announced on Friday that the Los Angeles Kings will host the draft at the Staples Center. Round 1 will be shown live on June 25 by Versus at 7 p.m. EDT. The NHL Network will carry rounds 2-7 beginning at 1 p.m. on June 26. Star wire services

NHL: Full standings and summaries, S7