Drama club in Montreal
Turmoil and travail becoming habitual
Boy oh boy, that's some kind of fun they're having in Montreal, isn't it? In the midst of their 100th anniversary season, the Canadiens have morphed into a piece of pulp fiction that could turn the NHL Network into the best daytime TV this side of "General Hospital."
Really, what next, Sonny Corinthos (a.k.a. Maurice "Rocket" Benard) behind Les Glorieux's bench, with his trusted "GH" sidekick, Jason, scanning the
A quick review:
Question remains: Was it a prelude to Kovalev being dealt prior to the March 4 deadline, or Gainey's desperate attempt to jump-start one of the game's most talented wingers?
Answer: An unrestricted free agent as of July 1, Kovalev likely will be dealt, allowing the Habs to remove a headache and at least capture an asset (second-round draft pick?).
Lafleur on Gainey: "No player with [Kovalev's] talent would accept being humiliated like that. I don't know what Gainey is trying to prove in front of everybody."
Lafleur on the coach: "Carbonneau is operating like he has four [equal] lines, they play 1-2-3-4 every night. You just can't do it. Even if the fourth line was the best one that night - they have to play to give the others a chance to relax, but your best players, let them play 25, 28 minutes a game if they can . . . [Carbonneau] won't change his style. He should have done that before Christmas, even from the beginning of the season. Give your best players the ice time they need to play well, to get their confidence back, to prove to the organization what they can do."
Question remains: Will Carbonneau's heavy-handed approach, which has led to the questionable riddances of Michael Ryder, Sergei Samsonov, and Mike Ribeiro (all doing well in other NHL cities), ultimately lead to his own undoing?
Answer: Gainey remains enamored of Carbo's taskmaster ways, and is so deep into the stream of backing the coach that he has no choice but to charge ahead, even if the stream leads to a fatal whirlpool.
The Habs held a news conference Friday and Gainey clearly was disturbed by the report in La Presse.
"I can only go on what I know today," he said, "and what I know today is not good. It's not good for our team, it does not reflect well on our team, it does not reflect well on the individuals. We've made the players aware that this is not the kind of conduct that is part of people in our organization, and for them individually as young athletes, as professionals who are trying to attain their goals, that they have to make stronger choices than the person beside them."
Question remains: Is there some kind of power play going on here that has nothing to do with the X's and O's that usually occupy a team's attention?
Answer: Rumor has it the next Habs captain will be referred to as "Capo."
Boston has an outside chance
Charlie Jacobs wants the NHL to hold its Jan. 1 "Winter Classic" outdoor game here in the Hub of Hockey. The next Jan. 1 would be just fine, as far as the Bruins' executive vice president is concerned.
"I'd love to have the game - period," he said. "It would be a coup."
Meanwhile, according to a number of sources, NHL representatives in recent weeks have been shopping around various cities and sites, with Boston, New York, and Philadelphia atop the list.
Fenway Park and Gillette Stadium are the two venues under consideration here. According to Jacobs, NHL officials have visited both sites. Either way, the most likely opponent would be the Canadiens (if Year No. 100 doesn't prove to be their last), followed by the Rangers.
Gillette could accommodate a much bigger crowd, upward of 69,000, about double Fenway (if seats aren't added against the Wall). However, TV would push for Fenway, and the in-city location would make the once-in-a-lifetime event much more of a happening. Perhaps the park could be open for public skating before and after the big game. And you know some Fenway marketer will want to bottle and sell the melted ice when the show leaves town.
Yankee Stadium is the obvious favorite in New York. League officials last summer eyed the old Stadium for the Jan. 1, 2009, game, but ultimately opted for the Wrink at Wrigley when it became clear it would be too costly to keep the House That Ruth Built winterized (the much-feared Frazeeing factor).
In Philadelphia, Lincoln Financial Field, home of the NFL's Eagles, is believed to be the No. 1 contender.
Football stadia, such as Ralph Wilson Stadium outside Buffalo, host of the Jan. 1, 2008, game, afford far better sightlines than baseball parks. However, scheduling can be trickier, especially in cities that could host NFL postseason games. It takes better than a week to set up the temporary rink and another week to tear it down. Even Adam Vinatieri would have trouble lining up a 35-yarder from the faceoff dot.
Officially, the league has not committed to staging an outdoor game next season, but commissioner Gary Bettman made a point of saying during the Chicago festivities that the league didn't find a conflict in staging a Jan. 1, 2010, game and sending its best and brightest to the Olympics only six weeks later.
Foreign affair
The Bruins maintain an interest in getting Carl Soderberg over here and playing for Providence, but it has to happen before the NHL's March 5 "clear date" deadline. Soderberg, a 6-foot-3-inch, 210-pound Swedish center, spent all this season in Malmo (most recent available stats: 32 games, 15-29 -44), despite the fact that the Redhawks dumped their highest-priced players at the tail end of the season.
Tricks of the trade
As the weekend approached, Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli figured there was a "60-75 percent" chance he will swing a trade prior to next Wednesday's 3 p.m. deadline. His priority? "Well, if I had to make one a priority, it would probably be at forward," he said. In other words, don't rule out a move to add a backliner. With Marco Sturm (knee surgery) gone for the season, it might be wise to add a reliable lefthanded shot up front, especially for power-play duty. Also, adding size at center could help, with 5-10 Marc Savard and 6-foot David Krejci no doubt prime targets for opposition defensemen in the postseason. Keith Tkachuk is likely among Chiarelli's top three choices, because he is big (6-2/235), lefthanded, and can play both left wing and center. Erik Cole is also big (6-2/205), also a lefthanded shot, and also has to be on the list.
Summer camp plans
Nothing is finalized, but look for the Bruins to stage another development camp this summer, within a week or two of the June 26-27 draft in Montreal. They are also mulling a rookie camp, one that would have a collection of their young players facing youngsters from other NHL squads. Toronto is a likely participant, which could lead to the camp being staged in southern Ontario or the greater Buffalo region.
Give us a signal
Nothing new on the Bruins' efforts to get their games on radio next season. Some seven months from the 2009-10 opener, they are without an AM or FM nesting place. Maybe streaming over bostonbruins.com will be the way to go?
Freedom trail
Hard to figure Montreal's strategy, frighteningly similar to Boston's pre-lockout mind-set, allowing much of their top-end talent to remain eligible for free agency as of July 1. Alex Tanguay, Saku Koivu, Alexei Kovalev, and Robert Lang, their most highly compensated forwards, are all UFA-bound. Ditto for defenseman Francis Bouillon, Mathieu Dandenault, Mike Komisarek, and Patrice Brisebois (as well as the recently obtained Mathieu Schneider). As of today, the Habs have less than $24 million committed in 2009-10 salaries. A cynic might think that owner George Gillett Jr. is prepping Les Glorieux for a sale.
Ringing endorsement
Pierre McGuire, popular TSN commentator and sometimes sidekick to Mike Milbury on NBC's hockey telecasts, revealed his choices for the Canadian Olympic team last week, and Savard made McGuire's cuts. Four other centers - Joe Thornton, Vincent Lecavalier, Mike Richards, and Ryan Getzlaf - were among McGuire's 13 forwards. "That's nice, but we've still got a way to go," said Savard. "I know it sounds like a cliché, but I'm really focused on what we've got going on here right now. But, yeah, it's nice to see that the work you're putting in is being noticed. It's a nice mini-honor, I guess you'd say."
A Bruin and a patriot
Wayne Gretzky keeps reminding everyone that he won't be part of the 2010 Canadian Olympic effort, be it managing or coaching, and early last week he suggested that Claude Julien, among others, would be a fine candidate for the Team Canada coaching staff. "Always an honor to represent your country, no doubt," said Julien.
Lofty goals
Capitals blue liner Mike Green, now the owner of the longest goal-scoring streak (eight games) by a defenseman, could break the 35-goal plateau this season. Only three defensemen (Bobby Orr, three times; Paul Coffey, three; and Doug Wilson, once) ever potted 35 or more.
One-man show
If you missed it, get thee to YouTube to see Alexander Ovechkin's tour de force Wednesday night when he picked off Komisarek's pass in the neutral zone, mixed a spin-o-rama into a pass he banked off the sidewall to himself, then raced in to shovel a one-hander by Carey Price while being dragged along the ground by Kyle Chipchura. Mesmerizing. Anyone else out there get the idea that A.O. might pot 1,000 goals before he is done? "Not likely to happen," figures Bob Waterman of the Elias Sports Bureau, "barring the NHL making the nets bigger in the future." Gretzky holds the all-time mark of 894 goals in 1,487 games. Ovechkin had 205 goals in his first 301 games. The Great One had 249 at the same point. "No one keeps up such a pace as they get older," said Waterman. If Gretzky had maintained his goals-per-game average of his first six seasons (.907, 429 goals in 473 games through '84-85) over the last 1,014 games of his career, he would have ended up with 1,349 goals instead of 894. Waterman already has forgotten more hypotenuses than I ever knew, but working with the math Mrs. Markell drilled into me (Grade 5, Bedford Center Elementary), I've got A.O. banging in No. 1,000 in game No. 1,468.
Kevin Paul Dupont can be reached at dupont@globe.com; material from personal interviews, wire services, other beat writers, and league and team sources was used in this report. 
