Audio:  • Bob Gainey  • Francis Bouillon  • Carey Price

Andrei Kostitsyn, having missed the past two games with the flu, was back on Brossard practice ice this morning.

Alex Kovalev was missing, his red jersey being filled by… Gregory Stewart. Also not on the ice were defenceman Mathieu Schneider and forward Georges Laraque. Nothing mysterious about the three absentees – "therapy days," the team says.

Matt D’Agostini was wearing a sweater that made him a spare part on a line with Plekanec and the Brothers Kostitsyn, though coach Bob Gainey said he needed to talk with Andrei K before deciding that’s he up to play tomorrow vs. Chicago.

Defenceman Francis Bouillon took part in his first hard practice since being sidelined Feb. 21 (15 games ago) with a groin injury. Bouillon said that while he wouldn’t call it a setback, he experienced pain pushing off and will be ready to return when he’s ready. In other words, don’t look for him Thursday against the Islanders, as was rumoured last week.

Carey Price (audio courtesy Andie Bennett of Team 990) starts in goal tomorrow. 

Audio from the dressing room and Carbo’s media briefing:

•  Carbo English   • Carbo French   • Lang   • Price   • Maxwell

The executive summary: Goalie Carey Price said he felt about 90 per cent today after a practice that saw him on the ice longer than the Canadiens expected. Head coach Guy Carbonneau said Jaro Halak starts Saturday, and depending on how he does and feels, he could go again Sunday. No need to rush Price at this point.

Price quietly said his injury began in his left quad and moved down to his knee, so it’s not groin or hip.

Andrei Kostitsyn saw a doctor today. No damage done from his knee-on-knee hit by the Flyers’ Scott Hartnell last night, but Carbo hopes GM Bob Gainey has serious thoughts about discussing it with the league. Kostitsyn is day-to-day, but definitely out for Saturday’s game vs. Buffalo.

Happy birthday to Robert Lang, 38 today and the Canadiens’ leading scorer. He’s proven to be much more than a consolation prize in the sorry Mats Sundin Sweepstakes.

Ben Maxwell is expected to stay up with the Christmas roster freeze, which kicks in today. Maxwell says it will be his first Christmas away from home, but he’s happy, needless to say, to be in Montreal.

Q: I was thrilled when a rookie netminder named Ken Dryden led the Canadiens to the Cup in 1971. Could you please compare Dryden with Carey Price, and comment on the prospects that history might repeat itself in 2008 for the Habs and their rookie goalie? — Steve Valley

SB: I think a more favorable comparison for Price was Patrick Roy, who also won the Stanley Cup as a rookie for the Canadiens. Both Roy and Price joined the farm team when the junior career was over, they both won the Calder Cup for the farm team of the Canadiens, Roy in Sherbrooke when he just came out of junior and Price in Hamilton. The difference between them and Dryden is that when Dryden went in against Boston in the ’71 playoffs he’d only had a half dozen NHL games, although he’d played minor pro with the Montreal Voyageurs. Price has played half a season now in the NHL, so he has more NHL experience than Dryden, although not as much minor pro. Dryden was 22 or 23 — he was older because he had played for Cornell — and Price is 20 and so was Roy. So the dynamics are more favorable for a comparison with Roy.

Canadiens goalie Carey Price with a new pad looming over what he’s now wearing. Both left Vaughn’s factory at precisely the same size, but the game has pounded down Price’s current model, which he’s worn only since the end of January.
John Kenney, Gazette

They’ve nearly reached the end of their two-month life, shrunken by battle, blackened by pucks, scarred by sticks, slashed by skates.

And yet, Carey Price’s goalie pads didn’t look too shabby yesterday – until they were propped up beside the factory-fresh, graphically redesigned pair he’ll begin to break in today and be wearing in games as early as this weekend.

Then they looked like hell.

"This is a little like Christmas," Price said in the Bell Centre dressing room after morning practice, a hulking, 20-year-old kid eagerly inspecting his new custom-made Vaughn Velocity pads pulled from a duffle bag by Jorg Achenbach, the company’s pro services rep. "It always seems like Christmas when I get new pads."

Here’s the full story from today’s Gazette, and a sidebar about the NHL’s discussions to shrink league goalies in a bid to increase scoring. You’ll also find a photo gallery here of Canadiens goalies through the decades, in what passed for padding during different eras.

Vaughn Custom Sports pro services rep Jorg Achenbach shows Carey Price his new equipment Monday in the Canadiens dressing room.
John Kenney, Gazette

It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that Carey Price has sizzled since being promoted last week to the Canadiens’ No. 1 netminding job.
John Mahoney, Gazette

Carey Price awoke last Tuesday as the Canadiens’ backup goaltender, having started 15 fewer games this season than Cristobal Huet, the veteran with whom he was sharing the netminding duties.

By noon, he was the Canadiens’ undisputed No. 1 goalie, Huet gone to the Washington Capitals on the NHL’s trade-deadline day in a deal that caught Price, and most everyone else, by complete surprise.

That night, Price made 26 saves to lead the Canadiens over the Atlanta Thrashers and snap the team’s two-game losing streak. On Friday, he made 31 stops to beat the Sabres in Buffalo; the next night back in Montreal, 31 saves to defeat the New Jersey Devils.

His stats are tremendous: through this three-game win streak, the 20-year-old from Williams Lake, B.C., has a goals-against average of 1.33 and a sizzling save percentage of .956.

And none of the above, as Price leads his club into a four-game road trip this week, is the least bit unusual for a rookie goalie whose entire young career hasn’t been lived by the book of tradition.

Carey Price’s Remarkable Year

Canadiens goaltender Carey Price had more highlights in the past 13 months than many hockey players have in a lifetime.

In order, beginning in January 2007:

-> Backstops Canada to its third consecutive world junior championship gold medal. He’s named the tournament’s most valuable player, its top goalie, and was selected to the all-star team.

-> Returns to his Western Hockey League’s Tri-City Americans, leading them to a franchise record for victories.

-> Named to the WHL Western Conference first all-star team, wins the Del Wilson Trophy as the WHL’s top goalie and is named the Canadian Hockey League’s goalie of the year.

-> Signs a three-year contract with the Canadiens organization on April 10, days after the end of his final junior season.

-> Reports to American Hockey League’s Hamilton Bulldogs and plays his first professional game April 13 against Grand Rapids, stopping 27 of 28 shots to be named the game’s first star.

-> Leads the Bulldogs to the AHL Calder Cup championship with a 2.06 goals-against average and a .936 save percentage. He makes 46 saves in the first game of the final to record a shutout.

-> Named winner of the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as the Calder Cup final’s MVP. At 19, he is the youngest ever to win the award.

-> Butterfield trophy completes a remarkable hat trick: Price becomes the only goalie in history to win the Butterfield, CHL goalie of the year and world junior MVP in one year.

-> Celebrates his 20th birthday on Aug. 16.

-> Attends Canadiens’ September training camp and on Oct. 1 is named to the team’s roster for the 2007-08 season.

-> Makes NHL debut on Oct. 10, making 26 saves in Pittsburgh to earn his first victory.

-> Wins the Molson Cup for October, awarded to the Canadien who scores most points in three-star voting.

-> Moves into his first apartment, shared with teammate Kyle Chipchura, in mid-November.

-> Records his first career shutout on Feb. 16, a 1-0 home-ice victory over the Philadelphia Flyers.

-> With the trade of veteran Cristobal Huet on Feb. 26, 2008 to the Washington Capitals, he becomes the de facto No. 1 goaltender of the Canadiens after having played a total of 26 NHL games.

Lots of speculation around the arena about trades, but no deal has gone down yet.

Listen to Christopher Higgins and Michael Ryder talk about … all the talk about trades. And here’s Mike Komisarek on the same topic, recorded after Saturday’s 3-0 loss to Columbus.

Canadiens goalie Carey Price, in the kitchen of his apartment Wednesday, studies a George Foreman grill brought to him by Jill and Dennis Williams, from 2003-07 his billet family while he played with the Western Hockey League’s Tri-City Americans.
John Mahoney, Gazette

Carey Price calls Jill and Dennis Williams his second family, and spending a couple of hours with them Wednesday afternoon in Price’s Montreal apartment showed a closeness that comes from living under the same roof for four years.

The Williamses are in Montreal this week, living with Price, reminding him of the joys of home cooking and taking in the sites between Canadiens games at the Bell Centre.

The Gazette and Inside/Out’s Dave Stubbs files this feature story on Price, who was 16 when he arrived on the Williams’s doorstep in Pasco, Wash., and the couple who have been billeting Tri-City Americans hockey players for nine years – none having left quite the impression of the Canadiens’ 20-year-old goaltender.

See below for a photo of Price’s well-stocked refrigerator.

Jill and Dennis Williams can’t bear to check the best-before date on Carey Price’s orange juice. Which we did, and it read Feb. 18. Oops. Middle and below: Price relaxes with his second family. In his lap is a prop for the video game Guitar Hero, at which he is very, very good.
John Mahoney, Gazette

Alex Kovalev did not take part in today’s practice, nursing a sore ankle apparently dinged early in Wednesday’s game vs. the Florida Panthers. Kovalev returned to score the game-winning goal in overtime, but he’s not been on skates since, and it’s unclear whether he’ll be in shape to face the Philadelphia Flyers at the Bell Centre on Saturday.

Defenceman Josh Gorges was home… sick. But Roman Hamrlik, out the past week with the flu and a skin irritation, is expected to be back in the lineup.

Carey Price gets the start in goal, and you can hear him here speaking about that.

Other audio: captain Saku Koivu talks about individual success, Michael Ryder and much more.

Mark Streit moves up to forward to make room for the returning Patrice Brisebois. 

Read below for a capsule look at his incredible past 12 months: 

Carey Price’s Remarkable Year

Canadiens goaltender Carey Price had more highlights in the past 12 months than many hockey players have in a lifetime. In order, beginning in January 2007:

Backstops Canada to its third consecutive world junior championship gold medal. He’s named the tournament’s most valuable player, its top goalie, and was selected to the all-star team.

Returns to his Western Hockey League’s Tri-City Americans, leading them to a franchise record for victories.

Named to the WHL Western Conference First All-Star team.

Wins the Del Wilson Trophy as the WHL’s top goalie.

Is named the Canadian Hockey League’s goalie of the year.

Signs a three-year contract with the Canadiens organization on April 10, days after the end of his final junior season.

Reports to American Hockey League’s Hamilton Bulldogs and plays his first professional game April 13 against Grand Rapids, stopping 27 of 28 shots to be named the game’s first star.

Leads the Bulldogs to the AHL Calder Cup championship with a 2.06 goals-against average and a .936 save percentage. He makes 46 saves in the first game of the final to record a shutout.

Named winner of the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as the Calder Cup final’s MVP. At 19, he is the youngest ever to win the award.

Butterfield trophy completes a remarkable hat trick: Price becomes the only goalie in history to win the Butterfield, CHL goalie of the year and world junior MVP in one year.

Celebrates his 20th birthday on Aug. 16.

Attends Canadiens’ September training camp and on Oct. 1 is named to the team’s roster for the 2007-08 season.

Makes NHL debut on Oct. 10, making 26 saves in Pittsburgh to earn his first victory.

Wins the Molson Cup for October, awarded to the Canadien who scores most points in three-star voting.

Moves into his first apartment, shared with teammate Kyle Chipchura.

Last week, takes possession of his first vehicle, a Ford Harley-Davidson pickup truck.

Cristobal Huet, who backed up Price Saturday vs. Toronto, will fill the same role tomorrow, and he isn’t overjoyed with the idea, having been widely believed to be getting the start. But Carbonneau wants Huet to get another few days of practice before returning to action, having sat out the past six games with a groin injury.

Guillaume Latendresse practised at Verdun with his teammates, but will be a game-time decision, having suffered what’s reported to have been an upper-body injury last Thursday in Philadelphia. Defenceman Patrice Brisebois practised as well, rehabbing a shoulder injury, but left early and won’t be in the lineup.

A little sound from the dressing room post-practice on Friday afternoon:

Canadiens captain Saku Koivu on the team’s troubles at home, playing with Sergei Kostitsyn and Koivu’s own goal-scoring drought. Clip runs 3:43.

Goalie Carey Price on fine-tuning his game, home ice, his success against the Maple Leafs and how his mother was impressed by his first apartment in Montreal. Clip runs 2:08.

Rookie forward Sergei Kostitsyn talks about his NHL debut. Clip runs 6:07.

Head coach Guy Carbonneau’s daily media conference in English and French. He begins speaking about the health of Andrei Kostitsyn and Guillaume Latendresse. Clip runs 10:47.

The Canadiens’ masks:

Jaroslav Halak
En route to Montreal

The Canadiens have confirmed last night’s RDS website report that goaltender Jaroslav Halak is being recalled from the Hamilton Bulldogs, the Canadiens’ AHL affiliate.

There was no mention in the team’s press release as to why Halak is being recalled, but Cristobal Huet suffered a pulled groin in Saturday’s loss to Nashville, and Halak will sub for him, Carey Price getting the start tomorrow at home vs. Detroit. Huet is being listed as day-to-day.

In 11 games this season for the Bulldogs, Halak is 4-4 with a goals-against average of 2.66 and a save percentage of .910.

Halak lost out to Price this fall in the race to be Huet’s backup. The native of Bratislava, Slovakia, played 16 games with the Canadiens last season, going 10-6 with a GAA of 2.89 and a save percentage of .906. He had two shutouts.

Halak’s callup sends the Bulldogs to the Cincinnati Cyclones, the East Coast affiliate of the Canadiens and Nashville Predators, to elevate goalie Cédrick Desjardins.

Desjardins, 22, has a 6-3-1 record with the Cyclones and a 2.01 goals against average. He has three shutouts this season-most among ECHL netminders and his goals-against average is fifth-best in the league. Desjardins has not allowed a road goal in 130:25, dating back to Oct. 31.