Good move?

Did the Habs give up too much? Is Gomez worth all that money?

Thoughts?

It won’t be easy against the Bruins who have been owned by the Canadiens in recent years and have to be salivating at the chance at revenge. The Bruins are in a position to inflict some damage to a depleted Habs team. Help force them out of the playoffs and/or send a message should the Habs take 8th, and the Habs and Bruins dance in another playoff match up next week.

Mathieu Schneider may return to the lineup and powerplay to hopefully help secure that point.

2:00 – 10:00 p.m.
Lay’s NHL All-Star Jamboree
Parking lot across from the Bell Centre & Windsor Station, Montreal, QC

The official fan festival during NHL All-Star weekend, Lay’s NHL All-Star Jamboree will offer entertainment for fans of all ages. All 18 NHL trophies from the Hockey Hall Of Fame – including the Stanley Cup – will be on display. Fans who attend the Jamboree can take part in a number of interactive elements – including securing autographs from NHL alumni and current NHL players; testing hockey skills at the new Honda NHL SuperSkills area; interacting with NHL mascots; perusing the 2009 NHL All-Star Trading Card and Memorabilia Show presented by Upper Deck and McFarlane Toys; facing off on the new NHL 2K9 – the first hockey video game made for the Nintendo Wii; listening to the latest music provided by XM Canada’s deejays; enjoying refreshments and shopping for official NHL All-Star 2009 merchandise including the exclusive Saku Koivu McFarlane action figure available only at this event.

Tickets to the Lay’s NHL All-Star Jamboree can be purchased at the Bell Centre ticket office, by phone at (514) 790-2525 or 1-877-668-8269 or online through www.canadiens.com. Tickets for the Lay’s NHL All-Star Jamboree cost $10 CAN Thursday through Saturday. On Sunday, a section of the Jamboree will be unavailable due to the NHL All-Star 2009 festivities, therefore ticket prices will be reduced to $8. A portion of the proceeds from the Lay’s NHL All-Star Jamboree will go to Hockey Fights Cancer within the Montreal community.

Friday, January 23

10:30 a.m.
NHL All-Star Replay – a rink renovation project build by Home Depot
Martin-Lapointe Arena (183 rue des Érables, Lachine, QC H8R 1B1)

The NHL and City of Lachine will host a board cutting ceremony for the newly renovated Martin-Lapointe Arena in partnership with Home Depot. Team Depot, Home Depot’s employee volunteer force, helped to complete the renovations which included painting, new rubber flooring, refurbished benches, new rink and entrance doors, new score clocks, nets, PA systems and a new state of the art Olympia ice resurfacer to commemorate the NHL All-Star Game in Montreal and celebrate minor hockey in the City of Montreal.

Children from local programs will participate in the ceremony as part of the NHL’s Hockey Is For Everyone initiative.

2:00 – 10:00 p.m.
Lay’s NHL All-Star Jamboree
Parking lot across from the Bell Centre & Windsor Station, Montreal, QC

Saturday, January 24

8:00 – 8:45 a.m.
McDonald’s® In The Line Up® Clinic
Bell Centre

Winners of the McDonald’s® In The Line Up® contest will gear up for an on-ice hockey clinic with two NHL All-Stars. McDonald’s Restaurants of Canada Limited partnered with the NHL and the NHLPA to bring an NHL All-Star experience to Canadian minor hockey players. Twelve regional winners, one from each province and two from the Territories, were randomly selected to fly to Montreal for the 2009 NHL All-Star Game festivities. Winners will also join the NHL All-Stars during player introductions and stand with their heroes during the singing of the national anthems.

8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
NHL All-Star Got Skills
Martin-Lapointe Arena (183 rue des Érables, Lachine, QC H8R 1B1)
NHL All-Star Got Skills is the ultimate challenge for local youth hockey players in the Montreal area to test their skills and compete like their favorite NHL Stars. The program will have 150 children test their skill level in skating, puck handling, shooting, and goaltending categories. Saturday’s winners will compete on Sunday.

9:00 a.m. – noon
McDonald’s® NHL All-Star Game Practice
Bell Centre

Fans have the chance to take a first look at the 2009 NHL All-Star rosters as the Eastern and Western Conference All-Star teams make their debut to the ice. Teams will take the ice for their team photos and interactive practice. Limited amount of tickets will still be available for purchase on January 17th – 18th at a specific Montreal area McDonald’s restaurant. Stay tuned to local media for more information. Part of the proceeds from the ticket sales will be donated to charity.

10:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m.
Lay’s NHL All-Star Jamboree
Parking lot across from the Bell Centre & Windsor Station, Montreal, QC

4:00 – 5:30 p.m.
Player Red Carpet Arrivals
Bell Centre

NHL All-Stars and YoungStars will greet fans and media along the red carpet upon their arrival for the night’s festivities.

7:00 – 9:00 p.m.
Honda NHL SuperSkills – featuring the NHL YoungStars Game presented by Upper Deck
Bell Centre

Six of the NHL’s most creative players will compete to win the votes of fans by performing feats of puck-handling and goal-scoring in the latest addition to the Honda NHL SuperSkills competition, the Scotiabank NHL Fan Fav Breakaway Challenge. Fans will determine the winner by mobile text messaging in-arena. Top young players in the game will take center stage in the sixth NHL YoungStars Game presented by Upper Deck where this year, for the first time, the three-on-three game will pit NHL sophomores against rookies.

Honda NHL SuperSkills will be televised live on CBC and RDS in Canada and VERSUS in the United States. NASN, ASN, J Sports, Sky Mexico, Fox Sports Australia and other NHL international broadcast partners will provide live coverage of the Honda NHL SuperSkills to more than 150 countries and territories in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, the Pacific Rim, Mexico and the Caribbean. NHL Radio™ will provide exclusive, national radio coverage which can be heard on stations around the United States and Canada as well as on Sirius XM Radio’s NHL Home Ice, located at XM channel 204 and on SIRIUS channel 208 with the “Best of XM” programming package.

9:30 p.m.
Bud Light NHL All-Star Concert on Crescent
Crescent Street from Maisonneuve to Ste. Catherine Street
Canadian rock band and multi-Juno Award nominee, Hedley,will headline a free outdoor concert. Hockey and rock fans alike will have the opportunity to celebrate the 57th NHL All-Star Game among NHL ice sculptures that will decorate Crescent Street.

Sunday, January 25

9:00 a.m. – noon
NHL All-Star Mascot Breakfast
Bell Sports Complex

More than 600 children from the Montreal area will enjoy the opportunity of a lifetime when the NHL’s mascots take over the Bell Sports Complex during All-Star Weekend. In collaboration with the NHL and the Canadiens Children’s Foundation, kids between the ages of 8-12 will enjoy a special breakfast while watching the League’s mascots hit the ice for their very own “skills” competition. Children will participate in games, face painting and photo opportunities with the mascots and NHL YoungStars.

10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Lay’s NHL All-Star Jamboree
Parking lot across from the Bell Centre ONLY

10:00 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.
NHL All-Star Got Skills
Martin-Lapointe Arena

NHL All-Star Got Skills is the ultimate challenge for local youth hockey players in the Montreal area to test their skills and compete like their favorite NHL Stars. The program will have 150 children test their skill level in skating, puck handling, shooting, and goaltending categories. Sunday’s winners will have a chance to compete in the Got Skills Final.

6:00 – 9:00 p.m.
57th NHL All-Star Game
Bell Centre

Whatever your opinion of Patrick Roy is, and there are many, the fact remains he is one of the best goaltenders to have ever played the game.

He is the last goaltender to lead carry the Canadiens to a Stanley Cup.

And since the night he left Montreal, the Canadiens began a descent into total and complete mediocrity as a hockey team. One of the darkest periods of Habs history followed and haunted the team up until (arguably) very recently.

Would it have been the same if Patrick Roy was a Hab until retirement?

We’ll never know. All we know is it’s been a long 15 years since a Canadiens goalie hoisted the Cup.

Tonight they visit the Senators, whom they handled fairly easily last week and came away with a 4-0 win. Confidence should not be an issue, should it?

New lines for tonight:

Latendresse – Koivu – Tanguay
Higgins – Plekanec – Kovalev
A.Kostitsyn – Lang – Kostopoulous
Laraques – Begin – S. Kostitsyn

The Habs are hurting. On the ice they have looked terrible in 2 of their last 3 games. Individual players are starting (continuing?) to struggle. An added dose of injuries and suspension haven’t made it any easier.

It shouldn’t be any easier tonight welcoming the Flyers who no doubt will play their normal physical game. A style that continues to give the Canadiens fits.

The Habs have owned the Flyers in regular season play, but they’ve also owned the Bruins going into Thursday’s game. We all saw how that turned out.

A streak in today’s game, that borders on ridiculous. How long can it last?

This is the first time the Habs have had real trouble. Time to panic or bump in the road? Which team shows up?