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HEAD COACH
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Alain Vigneault
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ROSTER
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C - Saku Koivu, Vincent Damphousse, Scott Thornton, Matt
Higgins, Trent McLeary, Sergei Zholtok. LW - Shayne Corson,
Martin Rucinsky, Benoit Brunet, Terry Ryan, Patrick Poulin,
Andrei Bashkirov, Dave Morissette. RW - Mark Recchi, Brian
Savage, Turner Stevenson, Jonas Hoglund. D - Vladimir Malakhov,
Stephane Quintal, Patrice Brisebois, Brett Clark, Brad
Brown, Miloslav Guren, Stephane Robidas, Craig Rivet, Igor
Ulanov, Dave Manson. G - Jocelyn Thibault, Jose Theodore.
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INJURIES
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Saku Koivu, c (groin injury, day-to-day); Scott
Thornton, c (tear in his lower abdomen - at least three months).
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TRANSACTIONS
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None.
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GAME RESULTS
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10/28 Boston L 9-2
10/29 at Boston T 1-1
10/31 at Ottawa L 5-1
11/04 at N.Y Rangers W 4-1
11/06 N.Y Islanders W 4-2
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STANDINGS
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Northeast Division GP W L T PTS GF GA
Boston 15 6 6 3 15 36 26
Montreal 13 6 5 2 14 34 33
Toronto 14 6 6 2 14 41 44
Ottawa 11 6 5 0 12 37 34
Buffalo 11 5 3 3 13 30 23
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TEAM NEWS
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by Jacques Robert, Montreal Correspondent
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When Discipline and Commitment Pays Off
In hockey, as well as in the other sports, working hard has
always been the key word, both in practice and competition.
"Let's go back to the basics, be disciplined and follow the game
plan!" This is the essence of the message being sent by Vigneault
these days and... it is paying off.
Montreal posted two wins in a row against New York teams. Okay,
the Rangers and the Islanders are living a nightmare in the
Atlantic Division, but it's time to celebrate in the Montreal
dressing room - not only is goaltending no longer the Habs
problem but discipline is back on track on power plays. For How
long? That is always the question in Montreal.
After being routed in Boston (9-2) and in Ottawa (5-1), the
struggling Canadiens were likely to make a trade involving goalie
Felix Potvin. As a matter of fact, hockey fans were asking for
change as far as goaltending was concerned! Replacing Jocelyn
Thibault, Jose Theodore held the fort in the Big Apple (NYR) and
big shots like Damphousse, Rucinsky and Corson contributed to the
score. And Corson was delivering the game expected of him.
Super Theodore!
Theodore came out big two days later at the Molson Centre against
the Islanders. He made some outstanding stops in the third as the
Habs were dominated. Montreal stayed on top of things and
eventually won 4-1. Also, Vigneault's boys showed some
discipline. Actually, they took advantage of the Islanders'
penalties on all of their goals. The most impressive player
of the night was Trent McCleary. He kept his cool as Gino Odjick
was beating him up. In the second period, Odjick received a
double minor penalty and it translated into Recchi's goals that
gave Montreal the lead. Speaking of Recchi, he is the man fans
can rely on as Koivu is still missing. Ditto for Shayne Corson
who had an assist and a goal against the Islanders.
Once again, no one knows where to stand as far as Montreal's
future is concerned. Needless to say that Vigneault's job has not
been easy since the beginning of the season. The reason? Due to
injured offensive players, the coaching staff has had to juggle
the forward lines (Damphousse, Rucinsky, and Savage were reunited
in Boston for the first time). Inevitably, young players, like
Brad Brown, are frustrated when it's time to make room for
regular players. And, last week, Brown expressed his frustration
on this issue.
Let Young Players Play
Let's face it, Montreal has never been known for trusting young
players and it has never been so true this time around. However,
Reggie Houle kept repeating over the summer that the future of
Montreal lies on the young up-and-coming Habs in Fredericton.
Especially with departures of Bureau and Popovic. Fact or
fiction?
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