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HEAD COACH
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Alain Vigneault
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ROSTER
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C - Saku Koivu, Scott Thornton, Trent McLeary, Serguei
Zholtok. LW - Shayne Corson, Martin Rucinsky, Benoit Brunet,
Terry Ryan, Brian Savage, Dave Morissette, Patrick Poulin. RW -
Dainius Zubrus, Turner Stevenson, Jonas Hoglund, Jason Dawe. D -
Vladimir Malakhov, Stephane Quintal, Patrice Brisebois, Brett
Clark, Miloslav Guren, Craig Rivet, Igor Ulanov, Eric Weinrich,
Alain Nasreddine, Scott Lachance. G - Frederic Chabot, Jeff
Hackett.
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INJURIES
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Benoit Brunet, lw (back spasms, day-to-day); Patrice
Brisebois, d (sternal-clavicular separation, shoulder,
undetermined); Craig Rivet, d (strained groin, day-to-day).
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TRANSACTIONS
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03/09 Scott Lachance, d, was acquired from the New
York Islanders for a third-round selection. 03/10 Mark Recchi,
rw, traded to the Philadelphia Flyers for Dainius Zubrus, rw, and
a second-round draft choice. 03/23 Traded Vincent Damphousse, lw,
to San Jose for future considerations.
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GAME RESULTS
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3/11 at St.Louis W 3-0
3/13 Toronto W 2-1
3/18 Nashville W 3-2
3/20 Washington L 1-0
3/22 San Jose T 1-1
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STANDINGS
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Northeast Division GP W L T PTS GF GA
Ottawa 69 40 20 9 89 203 146
Toronto 70 38 27 5 81 217 199
Buffalo 68 32 23 13 77 180 152
Boston 69 31 27 11 73 181 159
Montreal 70 28 32 10 66 164 179
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TEAM NEWS
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by Jacques Robert, Montreal Correspondent
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Life Is Not Beautiful!
If you've watched the Oscars, you know how the Canadiens fans
feel: bored! Will this season ever end? When a paying spectator
wears a bag over his head that says, "Just Trade them all!", you
know that things are definitely not going well. Plus, for someone
who grew up watching the Canadiens Dynasty, it is very hard to
accept the fact that their favorites will most likely not make
the playoffs for the second time in thirty years.
On the ice and in the office, efforts are being made and with
some good results. GM Houle tried to shake up the team by trading
Recchi to the Flyers and by acquiring Scott Lachance from the
Islanders. However, it is still too late to keep playoff hopes
alive. In his first game, Dainius Zubrus - who came to Montreal
in the Recchi deal - fared well against St. Louis. He scored the
first goal in a 3-0 win against the Blues.
And for a change the Habs were lucky in Toronto: an apparent
tying goal with less than two minutes to go was disallowed
because of a crease infraction in Hackett's territory. That
night, Damphousse added two assists, for his first two-point game
since Nov. 17 in Carolina. After that 2-1 win against the Maple
Leafs, the Habs were on a roll as the hosted and downed the
Nashville Predators 3-2. Defenseman Stephane Quintal remarked,
"Since Mark (Recchi) left, I think that we might be playing a
little better as a team". He added, "Sometimes I think we rely
on our big players too much."
But things changed against Washington. The Habs didn't show-up
for the first period (four shots on goal), but the Caps did as
they scored a short-handed goal that turned out to be the winning
one. Montreal lost 1-0 even if the players rallied in the second
with 16 shots on goal. The goal drought that has plagued the Habs
this season is more and more apparent and costly. The team might
end the season with no 20-goal scorer since the 1940-41 season.
The game against San Jose was therefore a typical one. The Habs
fired 44 shots at San Jose goalie Steve Shields but could only
manage one goal in a 1-1 tie. "It's been the story of our
season," said Canadiens coach Alain Vigneault. "It's like a
football team that drives into the red zone but can't score, or a
baseball team that has the bases loaded but can't get a key hit."
Montreal is 11th in the Eastern Conference and remains about
seven points behind eighth place Boston, holding a game in hand.
Let's not forget the other teams in between. So we can't expect a
happy ending this season in Montreal.
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