Thornton's greeting: His fists

Fight enlivens Laraque's debut

MONTREAL - In the exhibition opener Sept. 22, Shawn Thornton laid a beating on Steve Begin.

It was retaliation for two things: Begin's back-cracking of Marc Savard last March, and an earlier fight in the preseason match in which Jeremy Reich took a pounding from Montreal forward Ryan Flinn.

Last night, it was time for the Canadiens to answer.

For the first time this season, Montreal coach Guy Carbonneau tabbed Georges Laraque for game action. Laraque, considered one of the NHL's premier heavyweights, had missed the entire preseason and the first three regular-season games with a groin injury. But last night, Laraque got the nod. And Thornton knew what was coming.

So when the tough guys hit the ice for the first time, Thornton skated over to Laraque, initiated the tussle, and the two dropped their gloves at 2:28 of the first period.

"I had to get it out of the way," said Thornton. "I would have been thinking about it all night if I didn't get it out of the way on the first shift. That's why I skated over toward where he was standing. He was more than willing to oblige. He did his job, I did mine, and we just played after that."

Last season, the Canadiens didn't have a true heavyweight. So on July 3, Montreal signed the 6-foot-3-inch, 243-pound Laraque, knowing he'd do his part to bring some muscle to the skilled club. Laraque entered the season with 1,037 penalty minutes and regularly draws the title of the NHL's most feared fighter because of his strength and punching power.

Last night, Thornton scored an early takedown when Laraque threw a punch and missed, tumbling to the ice. Thornton could have tied Laraque down, forcing the linesmen to put an end to the scrap. But Thornton allowed Laraque to get to his skates.

"The fight wasn't over, obviously," Thornton said. "I gave him a chance to get up. I thought it was a pretty good fight after that."

Laraque threw most of the punches, tagging Thornton with multiple left hands. The fight ended as the two nearly went into the Montreal bench. There were no flareups after the fight.

"There was a lot of talk about how much bigger they were going to play with Big Georges in the lineup, so I figured I might as well get it out of the way," Thornton said. "He's a big, tough guy. It's never fun grabbing a hold of him. But I didn't want [Milan Lucic] or [Zdeno Chara] having to take care of it tonight. That's my job. That's part of the reason I'm here. That's why it happened."

Saving face

Last night, for the first time as a Bruin, Stephane Yelle won as many faceoffs as he lost. The fourth-line center won six and lost six for a 50 percent efficiency rate.

It was a far better mark than the 26.7 percent he recorded in the season opener against Colorado.

"It was one of those nights in Colorado where a lot of pucks were landing in my feet and I couldn't get a stick on it," Yelle said. "It's one of those things where you keep working on it in practice, and hopefully I'll get into a better rhythm and gain some confidence."

Two nights later, Yelle improved against Minnesota, winning three of seven draws (42.9 percent). Entering last night's match against Montreal, he had a 31.8 percent winning rate.

Earlier in his career, Yelle was known as one of the better men on the draw in the league. In 2003-04, Yelle won 56.6 percent of his faceoffs. His winning percentage has declined each season since (55.4 in 2005-06; 50.4 in 2006-07; 49.9 in 2007-08). Last season, Yelle played mostly left wing for Calgary coach Mike Keenan, which limited his time in the faceoff circle and prevented him from finding his rhythm.

Yelle's signing pushed out Nate Thompson, now with the Islanders, as Boston's fourth-line center. Yelle understands that he needs to get better on faceoffs if he is to earn coach Claude Julien's trust in significant situations.

"When I struggle usually, I'm not looking at the puck," Yelle said. "I'm more focused on what the other player is doing. If you keep your eye off that puck, you lose that fraction of a second that you need to get those."

100 and counting

The Canadiens kicked off their centennial celebration last night. They unveiled the Ring of Honor, a ribbon of illustrations of all the Montreal Hall of Famers. It is located on the wall in the upper seating bowl of the Bell Centre. Inductees present for the unveiling were Dick Duff, Larry Robinson, Steve Shutt, Guy Lapointe, Bob Gainey, Guy Lafleur, Yvan Cournoyer, Henri Richard, Dickie Moore, Jean Beliveau, Emile Bouchard, and Elmer Lach. "This is pretty unique," Julien said. "It's great for this organization. When they asked us if we wanted to participate in it, I wanted our team to be part of it. It's a great occasion, not just for the Canadiens but for hockey."