CBC organizes a contest every year rewarding the most hockey-dedicated Canadian city. From Nova Scotia to North Bay, the lucky winner hosts a preseason game between two NHL teams.
This year's winner is Roberval, in the province of Quebec.
The Montreal Canadiens, the Buffalo Sabres, a few former Canadiens players, Youppi, Gary Bettman, the CBC team—was that a Bruins flag with Don Cherry?—and the Stanley Cup were then in Roberval to please thousands of hockey fans.
Numerous kids had their chance to see the players at the morning practice. "They are bigger than on TV!" said one. "I am happy to see Steve Begin for real," said another.
The Buffalo Sabres also took part in bringing smiles to the fans. "When we arrived in town and saw all those kids waiting for the Canadiens, we decided to stop and greet them. Our French players went to talk to them," recounted Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff.
About 1,000 fans attented the game, and 5,000 others watched it outside on a giant screen.
David Desharnais and Olivier Fortier were added to the lineups, while Roman Hamrlik did not play due to an injury from last game.
Tonight's lineups
Kostitsyn - Plekanec - Kostitsyn
Paccioretty - Maxwell - Tanguay
Flynn - Lapierre - Glumac
Desharnais - Fortier - Aubin
Weber - Gorges
O'Byrne - Anderson
Henry - Dandenault (with Hamrlik on the sideline)
Tomas Plekanec scored twice for the Habs, with Andrei Kostitsyn bringing the winning goal. The last two goals for Montreal have been shorthanded ones. On the Sabres' side, Derek Roy and Nathan Gerbe—with a beautiful goal—marked the scoring sheet in the third period.
Marc Denis played the entire game, as Jaroslav Halak took a shot on the shoulder by Max Lapierre during the warm-up. He made 19 saves, while Patrick Lalime stopped 12 attempts before leaving his net to Adam Dennis for the third period.
A whole new roster should start the game tomorrow in Detroit. Players such as Carey Price and Alexei Kovalev are among those who will make the trip to face the Cup-defending champions.
Updates on Saku Koivu and Georges Laraque's injuries should be given over time. Meanwhile, as the Canadiens do not want to take any risk on Halak's shoulder, we should expect to see Marc Denis as Price's backup tomorrow.
Post-game thoughts
Alex Tanguay was used at the blue line on the power play, while most of the rookies got a taste of penalty killing.
Weber was also on the power play a couple of times. The Swiss player said he is looking forward to be the next Mark Streit, his idol. He seems to be doing well on the blue line.
Ryan O'Byrne didn't have a great game, and took a penalty in the third period. But he is establishing himself as a strong defenseman—which will give players like Dandenault a hard time finding a place on the bench.
A little anecdote—as you may have noticed during the game, the penalty box was really small. The players had to stand on the bench at first, close the door, and then sit down. It was cute. The Arena has a capacity of 1,000 people, and must have felt different from the Bell Center or HSBC.
Marc Denis impressed a couple of times tonight. Without taking anything away from Jaroslav Halak, I have the feeling we will hear about him.
Last but not least, Max Paccioretty is starting to look like a power forward. It should be exciting to see how his evolution goes—in Hamilton, I mean.
Go Habs.
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about 1 month ago
Thanks for this Miah, it's quite thorough and informative.
Are the Canadians preseason games on TV? Down in LA we are lucky if one or two get televised.
from about 1 month ago
u re welcome. it depends on who they are facing, but I believe they are not all shown on TV. In montreal, u can buy the broadcast from the website of the local chanel, but the local chanel itself wont show every game on TV.
i guess that is what is available for most fans, paying on RDS.ca to have full coverage!
about 1 month ago
Good write, Miah. I didn't get a chance to watch enough of the game last night, so I can't really comment on it. I just think it is totally awesome that the Sabres got to participate in an event like this. I heard there were a bunch of fans at the airport in Chicoutimi, and the Sabres were signing autographs and what-not. Awesome! We get spoiled, being able to go to a game whenever you want (and you can get tickets); I can't imagine loving hockey and not being able to watch games live..
Can't wait for the real games to start.
from about 1 month ago
i agree it is great that such competition is organized. the winner receives money and financial help to renovate their arena, and the tickets are for free for as far as I remember. i am not sure on the free tickets but normally that is the way it goes.
for sure, for the kids, and for the people aspiring to play hockey one day, being able to meet players is quite something. there were interviews on TV, and they were all so impressed and so happy!
I guess it is when we see things like that that we do realize we are quite lucky with our live-games and our tickets! lol
about 1 month ago
It looked like a great time for a small wonderful community.
from about 1 month ago
yup! it did! they are not going to forget it anytime soon! ;D
about 1 month ago
Great analysis, Miah. I have missed your analysis over the summer, glad you're back!
from about 1 month ago
thanks Alan! I am so glad the season is back again! it feels great, ;)
about 1 month ago
This is what I love about the NHL. I doubt you would ever see MLB or the NFL do something like this for a small town.
from about 1 month ago
sometimes, u tend to realize that it is all about marketing. nfl and mlb are getting more in the heads of the young canadians, and a way to promote the sport of hockey is actually promote it directly to the small towns.
still, i think it s great, it makes people happy!
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