montreal canadiens hockey - habs blog

Assuming the Canadiens and Captain Saku Koivu are all healthy to start the year, the Habs coaching staff may have some major thinking to do regarding line combinations. There are a surplus of options and the Canadiens probably have more depth right now than any time in the last 10 or 15 years.

Who will dress and where will they play? Who will be spending more time in the press box than on the ice? With newcomers like Sergei Samsonov and Mike Johnson all but guaranteed prime spots up front, what happens to character players and fan favorites from last year like Steve Begin, Garth Murray and Aaron Downey? What happens to young talent like Tomas Plekanec, Alexander Perezhogin and Andrei Kostitsyn who need ice time to develop?

The Canadiens Jumble

Where do they all fit?

Sergei Samsonov - Saku Koivu - Alex Kovalev
Mike Johnson - Mike Ribeiro - Michael Ryder
Chris Higgins - Radek Bonk - Steve Begin
Aaron Downey - Garth Murray - Tomas Plekanec
Andrei Kostitsyn - Alex Perezhogin

Looking at the players above, it looks easy to say that prospects like Guillaume Latendresse, Kyle Chipchura and Mikhail Grabovsky are still quite some time away from ever having a chance to play.

How do you see the lines matching up for Game 1 on October 6th?

The Canadiens will open their training camp the same as they did last year at the Sportsplex in Pierrefonds on September 15th.

The Canadiens traditionally hold public practices for the fans over 2 or 3 days and it usually draws a pretty large crowd.
Fans get an up close look at NHL stars and future prospects in a small arena.

If that is not enough, you should go anyway just to see what 9 Range Rovers parked in a row look like.

Pictures from last years camp.