Montreal Canadiens Ends Longest Road Trip Of The Season.

The Montreal Canadiens will end a seven-game road trip tonight when they will face the Florida Panthers. Montreal is on an interesting streak as they won five of the first six games of this important road trip.

Before the beginning of the sequence, I thought that the Canadiens needed to win at least five of those seven games to stay in the playoff hunt in the Eastern conference. The objective was met yesterday when the Canadiens defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning during the overtime period by the score of 2-1.

The return from injury of defense men Andrei Markov and forward Brian Gionta combined with the addition of Benoit Pouliot and the extraordinary work of goaltender Jaroslav Halak are the main reasons of those late 2009 success. As a result, the team started to bunch up wins while Jaroslav Halak was named NHL's first star last week.

Montreal has also found their mark on the special teams. The penalty killing has shown great efficiency during the second part of December after a difficult start. Let's not forget the power play unit who now ranks in first place.

Let's kick start those new year celebrations with a victory over the Florida Panthers tonight.

Happy 2010 everyone!

(Picture: Jaroslav Halak, Canadian Press.)

2010 World Junior Hockey Championships: Canada Ends Prelim Round.

The preliminary round of the 2010 World Junior Hockey Championships will end today for Team Canada as they will face Team USA this afternoon.

Canada did not encounter any problem during their first three matches. First, they defeated Team Latvia by the score of 16-0 before shutting down Team Switzerland by 6-0. Team Slovakia did manage to score a couple of goals but fell by the score of 8-2.

With three wins in three games for Team Canada and Team USA, the first place of the prelim round will be at stake. A first place means a spot in the semifinal round. We can expect a very disputed match between those two teams.

(Picture: Jordan Eberle and Tyler Hall, Canadian Press.)

Montreal Canadiens Breaks The December 23rd Drought.

With a decisive 5-1 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes, the Montreal Canadiens has won a hockey game on December 23rd for the first time since 1945!

The Canadiens took control of the game very early into the first period. Andrei Markov opened the score after only 1:29 of play. Markov has scored three goals in three games since his return. Andrei Kostitsyn doubled the score a minute later. His brother, Sergei, scored the third goal for the Canadiens before the tenth minute mark.

Goaltender Cam Ward was pulled after the third goal. Manny Legace went in but couldn't stop the Canadiens. Glen Metropolit added a fourth goal for the Canadiens before the end of the first period. Only Brandon Sutter scored on Jaroslav Halak during the first.

Benoit Pouliot who was acquired a few weeks ago in return of Guillaume Latendresse played a first game in his new uniform.

Glen Metropolit scored a second goal for the final score of 5-1.

With that third victory in a row, the team will fly back to Montreal in a good mood for Christmas. Jaroslav Halak and Marc-Andre Bergeron deserves a pad in the back from their team mates as both were stellar two days ago to steal an overtime victory to the Atlanta Trashers.

The seven game road trip will resume in a couple of days.

(Picture: Sergei Kostitsyn, Getty Images.)

Montreal Canadiens' Andrei Markov Returns To Action.

After being injured during the very first game of the season, Andrei Markov should be in uniform this evening as the Montreal Canadiens will begin a very important seven game stretch on the road.

The outcome of this seven game road trip for the Canadiens will greatly impact their position in the standings. The club is currently 12th in the Eastern conference and is on a five-game losing streak.

Why is this road trip so important?

When we look at the teams that the Montreal Canadiens will face in those seven games, we can honestly think that those games are within their reach.

The New York Islanders, the Carolina Hurricanes, the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Atlanta Trashers and the Florida Panthers are not exactly powerhouses in the NHL. The Canadiens needs to win at least five of those seven games to stay in the playoff hunt.

There is also another question worth my attention today: Is the return of Andrei Markov premature? Initially, a return during the month of January or even February was optimistic. Is Andrei Markov at 100%?

The Canadiens plays the New York Islanders tonight and some of our questions will be answered during that game. The Canadiens needs to end the losing streak against the Islanders.

Happy Holidays.

(Picture: Andrei Markov, Getty Images.)

The Lack Of Discipline Sinks The Montreal Canadiens.

The Montreal Canadiens lost their last three games. One of the factors that costed the team in those last three games is the lack of discipline.

Yesterday's 4-3 loss to the Buffalo Sabres came after coming back twice from a one goal deficit during the third period. The Canadiens' Ryan O'Byrne and Glen Metropolit were both called for a penalty in a span of 37 seconds and gave the decisive 5-on-3 advantage to the Sabres. Clarke MacArthur pushed the puck behind goaltender Jaroslav Halak during the double man advantage, sending the Sabres ahead for good.

The Montreal Canadiens cannot afford to take that much penalties and hope to win the majority of it's games. The lesson must sink in.

On a brighter side, Andrei Kostitsyn looks to have found his groove during this month of December. With two goals and an assist in a losing cause, he was named the first star of the game yesterday, despite the loss.

Head coach Jacques Martin sent Andrei Kostitsyn on the first offensive line with Tomas Plekanec and Mike Cammalleri a couple of games ago and the results are interesting for the team. The chemistry between Kostitsyn and Cammalleri on the ice is refreshing and gives a decent offensive output to the team.

The Canadiens' are still in eight place in the Eastern conference while their top defensemen, Andrei Markov, is recovering from his injury and is now skating with the team during practice sessions. Markov could be back in the lineup before the end of the month of December, a lot earlier than initially expected.

Until then, the Canadiens will play the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday and the Minnesota Wild on Thursday.

(Picture: The Buffalo Sabres, Canadian Press.)

The Montreal Canadiens Wins The Centennial Match.

Inspired by the pre game festivities, the Montreal Canadiens defeated the Boston Bruins by the score of 5-1.

The fans gathered at the Bell centre saw a larger than nature Habs team effort. A very disputed first period gave the tone in this match. Montreal's goaltender, Carey Price, made a couple of good saves to keep the score tied before Jaroslav Spacek opened the score with a good shot from the blue line that beat goaltender Tim Thomas.

The Canadiens and more especially Carey Price shut the door on the Bruins later on in this first frame during a double man advantage.

The highlight of the match came from Mike Cammalleri who scored three goals during the second period alone. His 15th goal of the season completed his hat trick to the delight of the crowd. The Canadiens went to the dressing room up 5-0 after two periods.

Vladimir Sobotka avoided the shut out early in the third period when he tipped a shot past Carey Price.

Final score: Montreal Canadiens 5 - Boston Bruins 1

The fans of the Montreal Canadiens will remember this evening for long time as those celebrations ended with a dream performance on the ice.

Happy 100th anniversary.

(Picture: Michael Cammalleri, Getty Images.)

The 100th Anniversary Of The Montreal Canadiens.

On this December 4th 2009, the Montreal Canadiens officially celebrated the 100th anniversary of the franchise. The centennial match features the Boston Bruins, a great rival team in the history.

Before the game, a prestigious ceremony covering the entire century was presented at the Bell centre for the fans packed in the arena.

To begin, a touching movie presented to the fans the deceased players, managers and past owners, and then, a presentation of all of those that worked and contributed to the success of the club during those 100 years. A fair number of them were unknown to the average Montreal Canadiens fan.

That movie was followed by a short five minute warm up session with past superstars. Stephane Richer, Yvan Cournoyer, Guy Lafleur, Patrick Roy, Vincent Damphousse, Patrice Brisebois, Ken Dryden, Serge Savard and many many others exchanged a few passes and skated together. This little activity was really appreciated by the cheering crowd.

Just a few minutes later, all those greats of the past gathered to the center of the ice for a moving celebration of two ex-players that deserved their place with the other great players of the club. The jerseys of Emile ''Butch'' Bouchard (number 3) and Elmer Lach (number 16) were then raised to the ceiling of the building to immortalize, honor and salute their passage and their contribution.

The pre-game celebrations ended with yet another amazing number of ex-players that were presented to the crowd. Many of those brought us back memories while some of them were less popular and almost forgotten. All of them concluded with a huge ''family'' portrait that literally covered the entire neutral zone of the ice. The history of the Montreal Canadiens is a rich one and we had another example of it.

Happy anniversary and cheers to another 100 years for the Montreal Canadiens.

(Picture: Maurice Richard, Hector ''Toe'' Blake and Jacques Plante, Canadian Press.)

Win A Trip To Vegas With Bistro Crustini.

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of henderson bas. All opinions are 100% mine.

Before I begin to explain the details of the Bistro Crustini contest, I want to take these lines to thank Bistro Crustini for their great choice and their great taste. Really.

I rarely enjoy frozen meals or snacks but today I have to admit that those Crustinis are really great. I do buy a couple of boxes every time they are on sale at my local grocery store. Perfect and crisp each and every time. They make a quick evening snack. My personal favorites are the Philly cheese steak and the Barbecued chicken.

And now for the trip to Las Vegas, it is in fact very simple.

Bistro Crustini is giving away a trip to Las Vegas on Game Day for the Big Game.

This contest is reserved to Canadian residents only. All you need to do is register on the website and type your valid Bistro Crustini UPC to enter the contest. You can enter as many UPC as you wish.

The Grand Prize includes:
- Airfare tickets for two.
- Five days, four nights at a deluxe hotel.
- Chauffeured limousine service.
- Two tickets to a show.
- $1,500 spending money.

There are also second prizes:

1 of 3 Home Theatre Systems and a weekly prize of a digital camera.

To win, grab yourself a Bistro Crustini and enjoy their great taste. Then go online and enter your UPC for a chance to win YOUR trip to Vegas. I have entered four UPC myself already.

Good luck to everyone and thanks again Bistro Crustini!