EHM:NHL Dynasty
 

Long time lurker here; gonna do a Canadiens dynasty for you all to follow. Wish me luck.

Team Preview: Goalies

Jose Theodore, 26
He's had one brilliant and two so-so seasons in the last three. His contract runs two more years. He's the clear #1 here, but with something to prove.

Mathieu Garon, 25
Still young enough to emerge as a #1. My coaches all agree his career has stalled a bit. May be shopped to a team looking for a young goaltender.

Jean-Francois Damphousse, 24
Former Devil prospect. Most likely will play in the minors this year.

Eric Fichaud, 27
Journeyman minor league goalie. Unsure about his future with the team. On the trading block.

Olivier Michaud, 19
The goalie of the future? Actually, the organization is a bit down on him right now; he'll get a chance to prove us wrong, but if another team shows an interest...

(unsigned prospects)

Vadim Tarasov, 26
Russian goalie, out of contract. I offer him a two-way deal with incentives; if he signs I'll keep him in the minors.

Joni Puurula, 21
Finnish goalie. Not really a prospect. Playing for Hameenlinna this year.

Jaroslav Halak, 18
Slovakian; decent prospect, but at least three years away from minor league hockey. PLaying for Slovan Jrs this year.

good luck :)

Team Preview: Defensemen

Sheldon Souray, 27, LD
Has a terrific shot and can hold his own defensively. Not a great skater.

Andrei Markov, 24, LD
Young Russian skater; 13 goals and 24 assists in 79 NHL games last season. Position on the team is solid.

Stephane Quintal, 34, RD
Getting up there in years, but can still hold his own in the defensive zone. Good size, positional play, and can skate with most forwards.

Craig Rivet, 28, RD
Longtime Canadien; locked up for the next four years. Definitely a top 4/6 defensemen. Better defensively than offensively.

Francis Bouillon, 27, LD/RD
Small blueliner from the Big Apple; will have to earn his icetime. Could play on a penalty kill.

Karl Dykhuis, 31, RD/LD
Former Flyer; best years were never that great. Under contract for two more years. Doesn't have a lot to offer; 3rd liner at best.

Ron Hainsey, 22, LD
Young New Englander; good offensive skills, but a defensive breakdown waiting to happen.

Mike Komisarek, 21, RD
Probably the best young defenseman on the squad. He's big and strong and likes to hit. Probably needs more time in the minors.

Patrice Brisebois, 32, RD/LD
14th Season with the Canadiens coming up. He's horrifically overpaid (4 Mil this year; 4.3 Mil next) but has some skills. His contract makes him hard to trade, so he's probably here for the next two years.

Patrick Traverse, 29, LD
Local boy; ok skater, not a lot of skill, decent hitter. Generic player.

Francois Beauchemin, 23, RD/LD
Not a good enough skater to crack my lineup. Too old to be a prospect; trade bait.

Rene Vydareny, 22, LD
Slovakian; unsure of his place on the team. Isn't making progress and being shopped.

Jean-Phillipe Cote, 21, LD/RD
First season of pro hockey coming up; it'll be in the minors.

Andrew Archer, 20, RD
Along with Cote, ready to start playing hockey for money. At this point, Archer is the better prospect. Solid hitter.

Matt Shasby, 23, LD
Not ready for prime time. Had a good college career at U Alaska-Anchorage, and works hard, but skills aren't near NHL caliber yet.

Phillipe Plante, 25, LD
Not likely to ever play in the NHL. Thinking about getting a real job.

(unsigned prospects)

Martti Jarventie, 27, LD
Has some nice skills; may be worth an offer as a depth guy. A bit undersized.

Mark Flood, 18, RD
Needs to fill out his frame; needs to work on his skating. Still just a kid, really. Drafted in the 6th round of the 2003 draft.

Russ Turgeon, 23, LD/RD
Not remotely a prospect. Skating for St. Lawrence.

Ikka Mikkola, 24, LD
3rd round pick of the 1997 Draft; hasn't really developed yet. Playing in Finland this year.

Derek Benoit, 18, RD/LD
Cornell player. Big and strong; might turn into something, you never know.

Gennedy Razin, 25, RD
Ukrainian non-prospect.

Oskari Korpikari, 19, RD
Determined Finn with a solid shot; I'd like to bring him to North America as soon as possible. Not a great prospect, but kind of intriguing.

Team Preview: Forwards (Part 1)

Alex Kovalev, 31, RW/C/LW
One of the most dangerous players in the game; still in his prime. Will make 6.5 Mil in this, his contract year. If the season goes badly he's deadline deal material.

Saku Koivu, 28, C
A fragile finesse player. A very smooth skater and stickhandler; creative playmaker.

Jan Bulis, 25, RW/LW
Emerged as a player last year with 16 g/ 24 a. I like him as a penalty killer.

Yannick Perrault, 32, C
Faceoff specialist, starting to get up there in years. UFA after the season.

Richard Zednik, 27, RW/LW
94 points the last two years. Good skater, doesn't shy away from contact.

Niklas Sundstrom, 28, RW/LW
Swedish two-way forward. Defensive skills are very solid. RFA after the season.

Andreas Dackell, 30, LW/RW
Swedish finesse type. Not my type of player, and I'm not sure how he fits in.

Pierre Dagenais, 25, RW/LW
There are some things to like here; he's big and strong and can carry the puck into the zone. I don't think he's going to make the team, unless he shows me something in exhibition.

Mike Ribeiro, 23, C/LW
A solid skater; in 116 NHL games, he only has 37 points. Definitely has something to prove.

Michael Ryder, 23, RW
Zero NHL experience. Good offensive skills, but small and not very strong.

Jim Dowd, 34, C/RW
Solid citizen in the clubhouse. Got a chance to play with the Wild the last three years, and made the most of it. Could definitely play on penalty kill squad.

Joe Juneau, 35, C/LW
Retiring after this season. Once scored 100 points for the Bruins; not likely to do that this year. Can still play, though.

Jason Ward, 24, RW/LW
Marginal player; has had 52 games in the NHL over the last 4 years. Not likely to make this team.

Steve Begin, 25, LW/C
Former Flame. I like his faceoff ability, and little guys that hit put a smile on my face. Not likely to be more than a fourth line guy.

Darren Langdon, 32, LW
Enforcer type. Every team needs one, right?

Benoit Gratton, 26, C/LW
Career minor leaguer.

Marcel Hossa, 21, LW/C
Split time with Montreal and the minors last year; still very raw, especially defensively. Hopefully I can keep him in the minors for a year or two.

Tomas Plekanec, 20, LW/C
Top notch passer. Doesn't do enough else to be interesting.

Chris Higgins, 20, C
Played two years at Yale. Future is probably at wing, and he's a couple of years away.

Alexander Perezhogin, 20, LW/RW
Another young forward; behind Plekanec and Higgins on the depth chart. From Kazakh.

Gordie Dwyer, 25, LW
Backup/minor league enforcer.

Duncan Milroy, 20, RW/C
Another 20 year old in need of some seasoning in the minors. Fast skater.

Jonathan Ferland, 20, RW
Ah! A power forward who can skate and score. Not ready for the NHL yet, but an interesting prospect.

Marc-Andre Thinel, 22, RW/LW
Crazy acceleration. Unsure about his place on the team. He'll be interesting to watch in exhibition.

Benjamin Carpenter, 25, LW
Minor leaguer.

Christian Larrivee, 20, C/RW
Not ready. Prospective two-way forward.

Team Preview: Forwards (Part 2- unsigned prospects)

Kim Staal, 25, C/RW
Danish player. Probably not good enough to play in North America.

Corey Locke, 19, C
Odd prospect; he's small (5'8", 176) but with almost no flair.

Michael Lambert, 19, LW/C
Good prospect, but raw; needs to get a lot stronger.

Andre Deveaux, 19, C
Doesn't look like anything at all here.

Cory Urquhart, 18, C
Reasonable prospect; injuries may be a concern.

Peter Strom, 28, LW
Potentially worth bringing over as a penalty killer; good skater, good defensive ability. Skating in Sweden. I offer a two way deal.

Brian Eberle, 22, RW/C
No prospect. Playing at Northeastern.

Maxim Lapierre, 18, C
Solid prospect. Good skater. Needs to get stronger.

Danny Stewart, 18, LW
Marginal prospect.

Thanks!

To be continued... perhaps not til next week though.

Team Preview, Part 4: Forwards, Unsigned Prospects

Danny Stewart, 18, LW
Clever passer. Decent prospect.

Timo Vertala, 24, LW/RW
Finnish two way forward. Not NHL material.

Johan Whitehall, 31, LW/RW
Decent skater, doesn't mind contact. Too old to be taken seriously, but potentially worth a look. Playing in Sweden.

Johan Eneqvist, 21, C
Another Swede... C- prospect. Not a great skater, but has some OK skills. Hard worker. Offered a two way deal.

Jimmy Bonneau, 18, LW
Big power forward type skating for P.E.I. Interesting prospect.

Juha Lind, 29, RW
Versatile Finnish skater. Could give us some depth. Offered a two way deal, but has absolutely zero interest in joining the team.

Viktor Ujcik, 31, LW/RW
Small, flashy Czech skater. Not coming over.

Alexander Buturlin, 21, RW/LW
Speedy Russian. Needs a lot of work. Offered a two way deal.

Niklas Anger, 26, LW
Swedish scorer. Not good enough for my squad.

Andrei Kastsitsyn, 18, LW/RW
Creative young Belarussian forward. Extremely solid hitter. Looks like a keeper.

Arto Kuki, 27, C
Big Finn. Not worth my time.

Two trades to report: Eric Fichaud to Philadelphia for a 7th round pick, and Rene Vydareny and a 9th to Minnesota for a 7th.

Vadim Tarasov (G) and Peter Strom (LW) agree to deals.

Two more forwards signed: Johan Eneqvist and Alexander Buturlin. I have arranged a 12 game exhibition schedule: Home and away with Toronto, the Rangers, Edmonton, Boston, Dallas, and Toronto again.

First exhibition game:

4-4 tie with the Leafs.
Michaud stopped 31 of 35.
Marc-Andre Thinel looked good; scored a goal.
Pierre Dagenais: 1G, 1A.
Patrick Traverse made some mistakes - was -2 on the day.

Fri Aug 22nd 2003 at Toronto
1-5 loss to the Leafs.
Theodore in goal: 36 saves
Only Montreal goal was by Sundstrum; assists to Perrault and Kovalev.

Jason Ward is dealt to Washington for an 8th round pick. Hopefully he'll get a chance to play there.

Martti Jarventie is signed to a contract; just a depth move, really.... except that it went through too late for him to come over this year! Oh well.

Wed Aug 27th 2003
2-2 at home with the Rangers.
Vadim Tarasov made 23 saves.
Ribeiro looked sharp, scored 1 G.
Kovalev: 1G, 1A

NY Islanders Roman Hamrlik breaks a leg in practice and is out for 6 months.

Fri Aug 29th 2003
1-2 loss at Madison Square Garden.
Chris Higgins scored our only goal.
Garon was solid; saved 34 shots.

Francis Bouillon out 3 months with a partially torn ACL.

Phoenix offers me Matt Schneider, a defenseman at North Dakota, for Andreas Dackell. I hold off the trade, hoping my scouts can give me some feedback on Schneider.

Mon Sep 1 2003
3-0 victory at home over Edmonton.
Damphousse stops 14 shots to get the shutout.
Goals by Carpentier, Dowd, and Komisarek.

Wed Sep 3 2003
4-6 loss at Edmonton.
We give up 50 shots!
Pierre Dagenais plays well again, collecting 2 assists.

We accept the trade with Phoenix. Schneider looks like a marginal prospect, but you never know, and I just didn't want Dackell on this squad. I wish him well.

Sun Sep 7th 2003
4-2 victory at home over the Bruins.
2 goals for Koivu; 2 assists for Ribeiro.
Theodore stops 22 shots.

Tue Sep 9th 2003
6-4 loss at Boston.
Bad game for Tarasov; stopped 25 of 31.

I'm going to skip ahead and just post exhibition stats here:

Theodore 1-1-1 2.68 .921
Garon 0-2-0 2.56 .925
Damphousse 1-1-1 2.33 .924
Michaud 0-1-1 5.00 .882
Tarasov 0-1-1 3.53 .873

Ummm... not sure how to print exhibition stats. I typed out the goalie stats, but I'm not ready to type out all the skater stats... guess we'll move onto the waiver draft. Apologies for the technical difficulties!

Brisebois at 4 Mil and Juneau at 2 Mil are exposed.

Round 1 Pick 1: Carolina picks Peter Worrell
Round 1 Pick 3: Columbus picks Andrew Ference
Round 1 Pick 10: Montreal picks Mark Smith
Round 1 Pick 12: NY Rangers pick Curtis Joseph (!)
Round 1 Pick 13: LA Kings pick Ray Whitney
Round 2 Pick 10: Montreal picks Mattias Timander (unprotect Patrick Traverse)
Round 2 Pick 17: Edmonton picks Jason Wooley
Round 2 Pick 20: Minnesota picks Branko Radivojevic (good pick - I had him in mind)
Round 2 Pick 22: St. Louis picks Byron Dafoe
Round 2 Pick 23: Vancouver picks Robert Reichel

I like fast defenders and tough forwards - I got one of each, and didn't lose anybody.

My opening day lineup:

Zednik-Koivu-Kovalev
Sundstrom-Ribeiro-Ryder
Bulis-Perrault-Dagenais
Langdon-Smith-Dowd

Souray-Quintal
Timander-Dykhuis
Markov-Brisebois

Theodore-Garon

We'll be playing a lot of left wing lock. I don't love this team, but I think we can make the playoffs if Theodore plays well. I've got too many soft forwards, and not enough offensive ability from my defenders.

Opening night is at home against the Penguins. Jean-Sebastian Aubin is out for four months with a shoulder injury. Mark Smith has a bum ankle, so he's replaced with Begin.

Pittsburgh...1...0...2:::3
Montreal.....1...2...3:::6


1 G, 2 A each for Kovalev and Koivu. A solid win at home. Only bad mark was special teams; we go 0 for 6 on the power play, Pitt goes 3 for 5.

After our opening night win, we have a 6 game road trip, starting in Carolina.

Friday Oct 10th
Montreal...1...1...0:::2
Carolina....1...2...2:::5
Theodore back with one day off, and looks bad.

Sat Oct 11th
Montreal...1...1...0...1:::3
Atlanta.....2...0...0...0:::2
Garon in net tonight. Ribeiro scores the overtime goal.

Wed Oct 15th
Montreal...0...2...3:::5
Dallas.......0...1...1:::2
Theodore bounces back from his Carolina disaster. Zednik scores 2 goals; the Board is pleased, as am I!

Sat Oct 18th
Montreal.......3...1...2:::6
Los Angeles...0...2...1:::3
Theodore plays great, stopping 40 shots. Perrault collects 3 assists.

Sun Oct 19th
Garon in goal; Rivet suits up; Quintal gets a breather.
Montreal...1...2...1:::4
Anaheim...0...3...1:::4
Not a bad effort for a second game in two nights; Koivu pulls a hamstring, could be out 10 days.

Tue Oct 21st
Juneau called up from the AAL to replace Koivu.
Montreal...0...2...1:::3
Calgary.....1...3...2:::6
A bad game all around, but overall not a bad road trip.

Thu Oct 23rd
WAS...1-0-4:5
MON...3-2-2:7
Dagenais scores a hat trick; Theodore falls apart in the third period. He's not off to a good start. I'll start splitting his icetime with Garon.

Sat Oct 25th
MON...2-2-0:4
PIT....0-2-0:2
Hat trick for Kovalev; Garon stops 33 of 35.

Tue Oct 28th
Montreal...2-2-1:5(7-2-1-0)
Toronto....1-0-2:3(7-3-0-0)
A big win against the Leafs. Theodore was big; 43 saves.

Thu Oct 30th
MON ...0-1-0:1(7-3-1-0)
TOR ...2-2-1:5(8-3-0-0)
Egads. We're outshot 50-17. An abysmal job of defending our goal!

Standings through October:

************************************************************************************************
National Hockey League_ - Saturday November 1st 2003
************************************************************************************************


================================================================================================
2003-04 Tables
================================================================================================

Eastern Conference

Pos Team Pld Won Lst Tie OTL Pct GF GA Pts
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st Tampa Bay 11 8 2 1 0 0.773 38 19 17
2nd Toronto 11 8 3 0 0 0.727 48 28 16
3rd New Jersey 10 7 3 0 0 0.700 30 21 14
4th Montreal 11 7 3 1 0 0.682 46 40 15
5th Florida 10 5 4 1 0 0.550 33 33 11
6th Atlanta 11 4 4 2 1 0.500 31 29 11
7th Pittsburgh 9 5 4 0 0 0.556 27 30 10
8th NY Rangers 8 4 2 1 1 0.625 20 19 10
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9th Ottawa 11 4 5 2 0 0.455 27 32 10
10th Washington 9 3 3 1 2 0.500 23 28 9
11th Carolina 7 4 3 0 0 0.571 23 21 8
12th Philadelphia 9 4 5 0 0 0.444 30 32 8
13th NY Islanders 9 3 4 1 1 0.444 22 26 8
14th Buffalo 10 2 4 4 0 0.400 34 40 8
15th Boston 8 1 6 1 0 0.188 23 45 3


Western Conference

Pos Team Pld Won Lst Tie OTL Pct GF GA Pts
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st Dallas 10 7 3 0 0 0.000 31 26 14
2nd Edmonton 11 7 4 0 0 0.000 28 25 14
3rd St. Louis 9 5 3 1 0 0.111 24 20 11
4th Calgary 9 6 2 1 0 0.111 34 24 13
5th Colorado 9 5 3 1 0 0.111 34 23 11
6th Columbus 10 5 5 0 0 0.000 27 32 10
7th Anaheim 11 4 6 1 0 0.091 33 35 9
8th Nashville 10 4 5 1 0 0.100 27 33 9
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9th Detroit 11 3 5 2 1 0.182 33 36 9
10th Minnesota 11 2 4 5 0 0.455 27 29 9
11th San Jose 10 4 6 0 0 0.000 30 30 8
12th Vancouver 9 3 4 1 1 0.111 27 31 8
13th Los Angeles 9 2 4 3 0 0.333 28 29 7
14th Chicago 9 2 6 1 0 0.111 22 30 5
15th Phoenix 10 1 7 2 0 0.200 25 39 4

Kovalev leads the league in points, but is now out for a month with broken ribs! That hurts.
Sat Nov 1st
MON...1-3-1:5(7-4-1-0)
PHI....3-1-3:7(5-5-0-0)
Ugly game for Theodore. I haven't been impressed with him at all.

Mario Lemieux is out for 5 months with a separated shoulder.


Thu Nov 6th
SJO....0-1-0:1(6-7-0-1)
MON...1-1-1:3(8-4-1-0)
Nice bounceback game. Garon stops 19 of 20; Langdon notches a goal and an assist.

Sat Nov 8th
DAL...1-2-2:5(9-6-0-0)
MON...0-1-1:2(8-5-1-0)
Garon bombs in his first chance at back to back starts. Jason Arnott scores 2 goals.

Vancouver is interested in acquiring Theodore; they are offering a 22 year old forward, Fedor Fedorov. I counter with Garon for Fedorov; they turn me down.



Tue Nov 11th
COL...0-0-0:0(8-5-1-1)
MON...0-2-1:3(9-5-1-0)
Solid! The board is pleased. Theodore pitches the shutout; Zednik gets two goals.

Fri Nov 14th
MON...0-5-2...7 (10-5-1-0)
COL....1-2-1...4 (9-7-0-0)
Down 3-1 halfway through, we turn on the red light 4 times in five minutes in period 2! 7 different players score goals. Garon stops 32 of 36,

Sat Nov 15th
EDM...0-3-0...3...(9-7-2-0)
MON...1-0-1...2...(10-6-1-0)
A tight game, Langdon goes down with a rotator cuff injury.

There's a fuss in the media about Martin Brodeur losing it; I'd still take him on my team.

Wed Nov 19th
MON...0-1-1...2...(10-7-1-0)
TAM...2-1-1...4...(13-5-2-0)

My patience with Theodore is running thin.

Thu Nov 20th
FLO....0-1-0-1...(8-6-3-2)
MON...1-0-0-0...(10-7-1-1)
Our special teams haven't clicked yet, and we give up a power play goal in OT. Garon plays well in the loss.

Los Angeles inquires about Theodore; they offer Alexander Frolov. I hold off for now; I'm not a fan of Theodore by any means, but you need a goalie, and my other options are unattractive.

Sat Nov 22nd
MON...1-1-2-0...4...(10-7-1-2)
NJD....2-1-1-0...4...(12-5-2-0)
Craig Rivet scores twice. Corey Schwab started for the Devils, and stopped just 18 shots. Theodore saved 39 of 43. A point on the road against New Jersey? I'll take that every time.

Vancouver puts Johan Hedberg on waivers. I put a claim in for him. I like him about the same as Theodore.

Tue Nov 25th
MON...2-1-1...4...(11-7-2-1)
CHI....0-1-1...2...(6-10-3-0)
Our penalty kill continues to struggle, giving up 2 goals on 3 chances. Garon played quite well tonight.

Curtis Joseph, playing for the Rangers, is getting killed by the media. He's actually played quite well, but Dunham is stinking the joint up.

Scott Niedermayer is out 8 months with a torn MCL. (That seems like a long time for an MCL to heal; I tore mine real bad once and I was fully recovered in less than 6 months.)

San Jose gets Johan Hedberg.

Fri Nov 28th
STL....0-0-2...2...(10-8-4-0)
MON...0-0-0...0...(11-8-2-1)
We only get 18 shots on goal. An uninspired effort. Byron Dafoe shuts us out! Byron Dafoe sucks!

Sun Nov 30th
PHO....1-0-0...1...(7-12-4-0)
MON...4-1-0...5...(12-8-2-1)
Kovalev makes his return, scores a goal, and then pulls his groin... out for three weeks. Garon stops 18 of 19.

Standings update:

************************************************************************************************
National Hockey League_ - Tuesday December 2nd 2003
************************************************************************************************


================================================================================================
2003-04 Tables
================================================================================================

Eastern Conference

Pos Team Pld Won Lst Tie OTL Pct GF GA Pts
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st Tampa Bay 26 18 5 3 0 0.750 95 52 39
2nd Toronto 25 14 8 2 1 0.620 86 65 31
3rd New Jersey 23 13 8 2 0 0.609 62 54 28
4th Florida 25 11 8 4 2 0.560 64 62 28
5th Philadelphia 23 13 9 1 0 0.587 79 67 27
6th Montreal 23 12 8 2 1 0.587 84 75 27
7th Washington 24 9 6 6 3 0.563 63 63 27
8th Pittsburgh 23 12 9 2 0 0.565 62 65 26
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9th Carolina 21 10 7 4 0 0.571 53 52 24
10th NY Islanders 23 9 8 4 2 0.522 63 63 24
11th Ottawa 25 9 10 6 0 0.480 55 59 24
12th Atlanta 26 9 12 4 1 0.442 67 76 23
13th NY Rangers 25 9 12 2 2 0.440 56 71 22
14th Buffalo 26 7 14 5 0 0.365 73 91 19
15th Boston 23 3 18 2 0 0.174 54 107 8


Western Conference

Pos Team Pld Won Lst Tie OTL Pct GF GA Pts
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st Dallas 25 16 6 3 0 0.120 72 56 35
2nd Edmonton 25 13 8 3 1 0.120 66 62 30
3rd Detroit 25 11 9 4 1 0.160 76 66 27
4th Calgary 24 12 7 5 0 0.208 65 56 29
5th Colorado 24 13 9 1 1 0.042 70 60 28
6th Columbus 24 12 11 0 1 0.000 67 75 25
7th Anaheim 25 11 11 2 1 0.080 77 73 25
8th Nashville 25 10 10 4 1 0.160 63 70 25
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9th St. Louis 23 10 9 4 0 0.174 61 59 24
10th Vancouver 22 9 8 4 1 0.182 64 66 23
11th San Jose 25 9 13 2 1 0.080 61 60 21
12th Minnesota 24 7 12 5 0 0.208 54 61 19
13th Chicago 22 7 10 4 1 0.182 59 67 19
14th Los Angeles 24 6 11 6 1 0.250 61 66 19
15th Phoenix 24 7 13 4 0 0.167 63 76 18

Wed Dec 3rd
MON...2-1-0-1...4...(13-8-2-1)
TAM....1-2-0-0...3...(18-5-3-1)
A tremendous win! Brisebois scores in overtime to the jubilation of the team!

Thu Dec 4th
BUF....0-0-1...1...(7-15-5-0)
MON...0-1-3...4...(14-8-2-1)
Zednik scores a pair of goals. Garon plays very well again - stops 19 of 20.

Sat Dec 6th
NJD....1-0-1...2...(14-9-3-0)
MON...2-0-2...4..(15-8-2-1)
We're on a bit of a roll now! Mike Ribeiro gets a hat trick and four points... Ryder gets 3 assists.

Mon Dec 8th
BOS....1-1-0...2...(3-22-2-0)
MON...3-2-2...7...(16-8-2-1)
Boston's really struggling, and we pound the bejeezus out of them. Mike Ribeiro follows up his hat trick with a 3 assist game, and Mark Smith collects 2 goals and 2 assists.

Wed Dec 10th
MON...3-0-1-0...4...(16-8-3-1)
ATL.....2-1-1-0...4...(10-13-5-1)
A bit of a momentum stopper. Garon again falters on the second of back to back starts.

Thu Dec 11th
MON...0-2-1...3...(17-8-3-1)
FLO....1-0-0...1...(11-12-4-2)
Theodore's best game of the year, stopping 34 of 35. Ryder, Ribeiro and Perrault combine for the two second period goals.

Sat Dec 13th
MON...1-1-1...3...(17-9-3-1)
BOS....2-1-2...5...(4-22-3-0)
Bruins win just their fourth game of the year. I'm not happy about this. Garon struggles in net.

Tue Dec 16th
MON...0-2-1...3...(18-9-3-1)
TOR....0-0-0...0...(16-11-4-1)
Always tremendous to beat our rivals. Theodore's second shutout of the year. Jose got off to a slow start but seems to have settled into a groove. His last five starts: 9-9-8-8-8.

Jose Theodore is the NHL Defensive Player of the Week. Craig Rivet, with three assists in the last two games, has been getting love from the local scribes for his solid play.

Thu Dec 18th
VAN....1-2-1...4...(13-10-6-1)
MON...0-1-1...2...(18-10-3-1)
Ugh. We're 27th in PP and 28th in PK and that's costing us games. I'll fiddle with the tactics a bit.

Sat Dec 20th
WAS...0-0-1-0...1...(11-9-9-3)
MON...0-1-0-0...1...(18-10-4-1)
A solid outing by Garon, but we're in a bit of a scoring slump.

Mon Dec 22nd
MON...0-1-3...4...(19-10-4-1)
NYR....1-2-0...3...(11-17-3-2)
Saku Koivu scores the last two goals of the game. Winning goal came with 24 seconds left! Talk about clutch. Theodore gets the win, Souray adds 3 assists.

Tue Dec 23rd
CAR...1-0-0...1...(14-11-6-0)
MON...1-2-0...3...(20-10-4-1)
Garon back in net, plays well. Both goalies are playing well! Ribiero, Ryder, and 4th liner Dwyer score goals.

looks like you are doing a good job so far. Keep up the good work. :)

Sat Dec 27th
Kovalev returns tonight.
Montreal (20-10-4-1) at Carolina (14-12-6-0)
1st Period
1-0 05:54 Rivet (Koivu, Zednik)
1-1 17:49 Worrell
2nd Period
2-1 26:16 Dagenais (Perrault) PP
3-1 28:26 Bulis (Begin)
3rd Period
3-2 40:44 Rourke (Wallin, Worrell)
4-2 48:48 Ribeiro (Zednik, Souray) PP
4-3 59:58 Worrell (Vasicek, Vrbata)
Final: Montreal wins 4-3
Saves: Irbe (Car) 22; Theodore (Mon) 27

Mon Dec 29th
Montreal (21-10-4-1) at Florida (13-16-5-2)
1st Period
1-0 07:01 Koivu (Kovalev)
2nd Period
2-0 22:13 Kovalev (Ryder, Ribeiro)
3-0 24:06 Koivu (Kovalev)
4-0 30:30 Perrault (Rivet, Bulis)
5-0 34:19 Ribeiro (Kovalev, Ryder)
3rd Period
6-0 44:57 Ryder (Souray, Brisebois) PP
6-1 59:20 Weiss (Audette, Van Ryn) PP
Final: Montreal wins, 6-1
Saves: Luongo (Fla) 20; Garon (Mon) 15

Tue Dec 30th
Boston (5-27-3-0) at Montreal (22-10-4-1)
1st Period
0-1 09:27 Souray (Kovalev, Ribeiro) PP
0-2 12:41 Ryder (Ribeiro, Kovalev)
1-2 14:35 Murray (Boynton, Thornton) PP
1-3 17:47 Souray (Quintal, Koivu)
1-4 18:32 Ribeiro (Kovalev, Markov)
1-5 19:25 Sundstrom (Zednik, Rivet)
1-6 19:37 Ryder (Ribeiro, Souray)
2nd Period
2-6 25:45 Samsonov (Rolston, O'Donnell)
2-7 26:02 Ribeiro (Zednik, Ryder)
2-8 27:07 Souray (Perrault, Dagenais)
2-9 29:07 Ryder (Ribeiro, Kovalev) PP
2-10 29:48 Kovalev (Ribeiro, Markov)
2-11 36:46 Ryder (Koivu, Souray)
3-11 38:19 Grosek (Axelsson, McGillis)
4-11 39:33 Gonchar (Thornton, Nylander)
3rd Period
4-12 47:17 Souray (Koivu, Ribeiro)
4-13 48:40 Smith (Kovalev, Begin)
5-13 49:28 Thornton (Nylander, Murray)
5-14 49:54 Bulis (Perrault, Quintal)
5-15 58:17 Ribeiro (Ryder, Brisebois) PP
Final: Montreal wins, 15-5
Saves: Theodore (Mon) 24; Raycroft (Bos) 18; Potvin (Bos) 12.

Holy smokes! 9 points for Mike Ribeiro! 4 goals apiece for Souray and Ryder! 3 hat tricks in one game! Boy does Boston suck!

Some standings, stats, etc.

Thu Jan 1st
Montreal (23-10-4-1) at Buffalo (14-17-7-0)
1st Period
1-0 03:01 Rivet (Koivu, Timander)
2-0 06:47 Perrault (Bulis, Dagenais)
3rd Period
3-0 43:53 Kovalev
Final: Montreal wins 3-0

Theodore's 3rd shutout. We're on a serious roll now.

Sat Jan 3rd
NY Islanders (19-12-5-2) at Montreal (24-10-4-1)
1st Period
0-1 05:29 Perrault (Kovalev)
0-2 14:53 Timander (Kovalev, Rivet) PP
1-2 15:40 Peca (Hunter, Scatchard)
2nd Period
2-2 26:51 Ronning (Papineau)
3-2 34:54 Aucoin (Parrish, Niinimaa) PP
3rd Period
4-2 42:27 Hunter
4-3 56:11 Bulis
Final: Islanders win, 4-3
Saves: Garon (Mon) 27; Dipietro (NYI) 28

Goalie stats for the year so far:

Wed Jan 7th
Montreal (24-11-4-1) at Nashville (16-20-6-1)
1st Period
0-1 11:20 Arkhipov (York, Bombardir)
2nd Period
0-2 25:34 Legwand (York)
1-2 35:33 Koivu (Sundstrom, Markov)
3rd Period
1-3 40:37 Murray
1-4 44:16 Johnson (Arkhipov, York)
Final: Nashville wins, 4-1
Saves: Vokous (Nas) 24; Garon (Mon) 26

Thu Jan 8th
Philadelphia (24-12-4-1) at Montreal (24-12-4-1)
1st Period
1-0 06:10 Recchi (Primeau, Gagne) PP
2nd Period
1-1 31:05 Kovalev (Markov, Ribeiro) PP
3rd Period
2-1 40:09 Kapanen (Gagne, Slaney)
3-1 45:03 Kapanen (Slaney, Leclair) PP
3-2 58:06 Dagenais (Markov, Rivet) PP
Final: Philadelphia wins 3-2
Saves: Theodore (Mon) 23; Esche (Phi) 31

Nashville (17-20-6-10) at Montreal (24-13-4-1)
1st Period
1-0 16:48 Legwand (Arkhipov, Hartnell)
2nd Period
2-0 23:56 Hnidy
2-1 34:08 Koivu (Zednik, Theodore)
Final: Nashville wins, 2-1
Saves: Theodore (Mon) 21; Vokoun (Nas) 20

On a 4 game losing streak now. General mike, you have clearly jinxed me.

Ottawa (21-14-8-0) at Montreal (24-14-4-1)
2nd Period
0-1 25:54 Ribeiro (Kovalev, Ryder) PP
Final: Montreal wins, 1-0
Saves: Garon (Mon) 30; Lalime (Ott) 19

Montreal (25-14-4-1) at Ottawa (21-16-8-0)
1st Period
0-1 10:50 Schaefer
2nd Period
0-2 Smolinski (Pothier, de Vries)
Final: Ottawa wins, 2-0
Saves: Lalime (Ott) 30; Theodore (Mon) 31

Montreal (25-15-4-1) at Boston (8-33-3-0)
1st Period
1-0 00:34 Koivu (Ryder, Ribeiro)
2-0 08:06 Ribeiro (Timander, Ryder) PP
3-0 15:05 Kovalev (Ribeiro, Ryder)
4-0 19:13 Perrault (Sundstrom, Dagenais)
4-1 19:23 Nylander (Thornton, Murray)
2nd Period
5-1 20:30 Kovalev (Koivu, Bulis)
6-1 28:41 Ribeiro (Koivu, Ryder)
3rd Period
7-1 40:45 Langdon (Smith)
8-1 42:29 Perrault (Sundstrom, Dagenais)
9-1 45:18 Kovalev (Bulis, Zednik)
10-1 59:11 Zednik (Kovalev, Bulis)

Final: Montreal wins, 10-1
Saves: Raycroft (Bos) 12; Potvin (Bos) 9; Garon (Mon) 30

NY Rangers (14-26-3-2) at Montreal (26-15-4-1)

2nd Period
0-1 29:14 Zednik (Kovalev)
1-1 36:12 Poti (Lacouture, Jagr)
3rd Period
1-2 47:20 Ryder (Timander, Ribeiro)
1-3 58:16 Dagenais EN

Final: Montreal wins 3-1
Saves: Theodore (Mon) 19; Joseph (NYR) 22

Montreal (27-15-4-1) AT NY Rangers (14-27-3-2)

1st Period
1-0 00:33 Markov (Kovalev, Rivet)
1-1 01:21 Immonen (Larose)
2-1 02:50 Smith (Dowd, Markov)
3-1 10:12 Koivu (Ribeiro, Ryder)
2nd Period
3-2 26:03 Holik (Sivek, Mironov)
3rd Period
4-2 51:17 Koivu (Ribeiro, Ryder)
4-3 53:10 Balej (Rachunek, Marek)
4-4 58:01 Balej (Poti, Tyutin)
Overtime
5-4 60:07 Koivu (Timander, Bulis)

Final: Montreal wins in OT, 5-4
Saves: Blackburn (NYR) 26; Garon (Mon) 29