Head coach Guy Carbonneau said his troops are “close” to where he wants them to be to start the season.

“We want to play better defensively, and I think we’ve played for 60 minutes in our last two games,” Carbonneau said. “When we looked back at last season, we saw that there were little mistakes that cost us games. We’re trying to avoid those mistakes, and if we can cut our goals against by at least 30 goals, it will help us.”

The Canadiens got goals from veterans Alex Kovalev, Andrei Markov and Tomas Plekanec, and were able to kill off seven of the eight penalties they took.

The Habs wrap up their preseason on Saturday night when they travel to Ottawa to take on the Senators. Final cuts are expected to be made by Monday.

Head coach Guy Carbonneau said his troops are “close” to where he wants them to be to start the season.

“We want to play better defensively, and I think we’ve played for 60 minutes in our last two games,” Carbonneau said. “When we looked back at last season, we saw that there were little mistakes that cost us games. We’re trying to avoid those mistakes, and if we can cut our goals against by at least 30 goals, it will help us.”

The Canadiens got goals from veterans Alex Kovalev, Andrei Markov and Tomas Plekanec, and were able to kill off seven of the eight penalties they took.

The Habs wrap up their preseason on Saturday night when they travel to Ottawa to take on the Senators. Final cuts are expected to be made by Monday.

Ryan O’Byrne will take Hamrlik’s place in the llineup. Coach Guy Carbonneau might make some other changes to the lineup, but wasn’t sure – or wasn’t saying – what they might be.

In other news, the Canadiens have added another specialist to the club: former Canadien Ryan Walter will join the staff as a leadership coach. Walter has his own business as a leadership coach and motivational speaker. You can learn more about him at ryanwalter.com

Ryan O’Byrne will take Hamrlik’s place in the llineup. Coach Guy Carbonneau might make some other changes to the lineup, but wasn’t sure – or wasn’t saying – what they might be.

In other news, the Canadiens have added another specialist to the club: former Canadien Ryan Walter will join the staff as a leadership coach. Walter has his own business as a leadership coach and motivational speaker. You can learn more about him at ryanwalter.com

The biggest question seems to be who will be the team’s No. 2 goaltender. The answer is no clearer today than it was at the start of training camp, with Jaroslav Halak and Carey Price continuing to battle it out for the job.

And Mikhail Grabovski seems to have shuffled the cards on the forward lines, taking a place yesterday on a line with Guillaume Latendresse and Bryan Smolinski, leaving Maxim Lapierre and Garth Murray as the odd men out.

With Patrice Brisebois returning to the ice for the first time in training camp yesterday, there is now nine healthy defenceman at camp. At least one will have to be cut before the season starts if the Canadiens decide to keep eight blue-liners like they did last season.

Hickey writes that the Canadiens’ most interesting decision on defence will be concerning rookie Ryan O’Byrne, whose size and skating ability are offset by his lack of NHL experience. The fact he is the only defenceman with a two-way contract might also factor into the decision.

The biggest question seems to be who will be the team’s No. 2 goaltender. The answer is no clearer today than it was at the start of training camp, with Jaroslav Halak and Carey Price continuing to battle it out for the job.

And Mikhail Grabovski seems to have shuffled the cards on the forward lines, taking a place yesterday on a line with Guillaume Latendresse and Bryan Smolinski, leaving Maxim Lapierre and Garth Murray as the odd men out.

With Patrice Brisebois returning to the ice for the first time in training camp yesterday, there is now nine healthy defenceman at camp. At least one will have to be cut before the season starts if the Canadiens decide to keep eight blue-liners like they did last season.

Hickey writes that the Canadiens’ most interesting decision on defence will be concerning rookie Ryan O’Byrne, whose size and skating ability are offset by his lack of NHL experience. The fact he is the only defenceman with a two-way contract might also factor into the decision.

Read what The Gazette’s Pat Hickey has to say about Russell here.

Here’s part of the team’s release:

The seven players who will report to their respective junior team are: forward Olivier Fortier (Rimouski – QMJHL), defencemen Yannick Weber (Kitchener – OHL), P.K. Subban (Belleville – OHL), Cameron Cepek (Edmonton – WHL), Sébastien Piché (Shawinigan – QMJHL) and Mathieu Labrie (Acadie-Bathurst – QMJHL), as well as goaltender Andrew Loverock (Mississauga – OHL).

That leaves 55 players at training camp.

Team C, with goaltender Carey Price and Saku Koivu, won both scrimmages, with the line of Koivu, Michael Ryder and Sergei Kostitsyn looking particularly good. Koivu scored two goals in the first scrimmage, including a nice move on a penalty shot to beat Andrew Loverock.

Defenceman Ryan O’Byrne made his presence felt this morning with several jarring hits. But he was also rocked by Ryan Russell, who sent O’Byrne flying into his team’s bench. Russell also scored a goal several minutes later.

In the second scrimmage, Sergei Kostitsyn continued to play well, using his speed to his advantage and being able to muscle opponents off the puck.

Matt D’Agostini continued to make himself noticed and has shown he has a nose for the het. He beat Yann Danis with a quick slapshot from the slot that the goaltender barely saw. D’Agostini is also making an impression with his gritty play.

After the scrimmages, head coach Guy Carbonneau said he was particularly impressed with O’Byrne, Russell, Price and defenceman Mathieu Carle.

Carbonneau also said he would be making some cuts later this afternoon, mostly junior-aged players that will be returned to their clubs.

The coach also said he would fill out his lineup for the first of two exhibition games agaist the Pittsburgh Penguins after the Jamboree this afternoon.

Forward Christopher Higgins was held out of scrimmages again today and there was no indication if he would play in the coming exhibition games. Higgins insists he is ready to play, but the team’s medical staff is being cautious after offseason shoulder surgery.

All three goaltenders in a battle for a spot with the Habs had good outings on Sunday, with Jaroslav Halak continuing his shutout streak. He has yet to allow a goal during training camp. Cristobal Huet and Carey Price both had good outings, although Price was beaten for two goals in the first scrimmage. Huet gave up a single goal to Koivu on a pass from Sergei Kostitsyn.

Another standout today was Kyle Chipchura, who demonstrated he can also put the puck in the net after beating Price to the top corner with a powerful wrist shot. He is looking more and more comfortable on a line with newcomer Tom Kostopoulos.

Matt D’Agostini got that one back quickly for Team B, ripping a shot past Yann Danis from the slot area. The forward continue to impress with his nose for the net and gritty play.

Tomas Plekanec gave Team B a 2-1 lead with a wraparound that caught Danis looking the wrong way with about seven minutes left to play.

Defenceman Mathieu Carle notted the score at 2-2 with a one-timer that Desjardins had no chance on, Carle has been one of the more impressive defencemen so far at camp. Fellow Team C blue-liner Jean-Philippe Cote scored with two minutes remaining to give Team C a 3-2 lead.

Sergei Kostitsyn added an empty net goal to seal the Team C victory at 4-2. He played well in his second game of the morning, using his speed to his advantage and being able to muscle opponents off the puck.

Carey Price started the game in nets for Team C and Jaroslav Halak was manning the pipes for Team B. With 20 minutes to go, Desjardins took over for Halak, who has yet to give up a goal during the scrimmages. Yann Danis is now in nets for Team C.

But the lead didn’t last long as Kyle Chipchura tied it at 1-1 only momemts later with a wrist shot to the top corner over Carey Price.

Ryan O’Byrne laid out Sergei Kostitsyn with an open-ice check early in the game, but then was beaten to the puck on the backcheck by Michael Ryder. O’Byrne later flattened Jonathan Ferland with a crunching open-ice hit that the fans in the stands loved. Looks like he’s got a mean streak this morning.

Guillaume Latendresse was awarded a penalty shot and made a few nice moves to undress Carey Price over the glove hand with a nifty backhand shot to the top corner to give Team A a 2-1 lead with 22 minutes to go in the first scrimmage.

Garth Murray scored on goaltender Andrew Loverock with a quick wrist shot over the blocker side to tie the game at 2-2. Koivu then netted his second goal of the game for a 3-2 Team C lead on a penalty shot with a nice move that had Loverock going the wrong way.

Ryan Russell just sent O’Byrne flying over the boards and into Team A’s bench with a thunderous hit that drew cheers from the crowd. Russell then scored a goal to give Team C a 4-2 lead with 13 minutes to go.

Team C took the game 4-2, lead by a three-goal outburts against Loverock in the second half of the scrimmage.

After the scrimmages and an on-ice workout at noon, the players will head downtown to annual Jamboree, which starts at 11:00 with a number of activities.

We’ll keep you updated throughout the morning.

Carey Price was beaten twice during his half of the morning scrimmage. Steve Bégin got things started with a one-timer over Price’s blocker on a set up from Mikhail Grabovski from behind the net. Mathieu Dandenault made it 2-0 a few minutes later on a pass from Francis Lemieux.

Michael Ryder got one back for Team C with a one-timer on a nifty pass from Sergei Kostitsyn from behind the net on Yann Danis, who had just replaced Jaroslav Halak.

Francis Lemieux scored Team B’s third goal on a penalty shot – given instead of a player having to serve a two-minute penalty. Tomas Plekanec rounded out the scoring on a nifty pass from Janne Lahti on a 2-on-1.

In the second game, Alex Kovalev blasted a shot past Cristobal Huet at the midway point of the scrimmage, with Matt D’Agostini and Andrew Archer rouding out the scoring. Halak and and Desjardins combined to pitch a shutout for Team B.

In both games, the line of Bégin, Kovalev and Grabovski stood out as the best out there, while Tom Kostopoulos and Kyle Chipchura formed an interesting and effective combination.

Lahti demonstrated some speed and skill in setting up Plekanec’s goal, and also used his size to create some room for himself several times.

Ryan O’Byrne put his size to good use on several occassions with some jarring hits in the corners.

Forward Ajay Baines is out with a sprained right knee. No timetable has been given for his return.

At 10:00 a.m., there will be a scrimmage between Team B and Team C on Rink #1 of the arena. At 11:00 a.m., Team B will take on Team A. We’ll keep you up to date on the day’s progress.

Some of the notables on Team B include Jaroslav Halak, Roman Hamrlik, Mathieu Dandenault, Janne Lahti, Tomas Plekanec, Matt D’Agostini, Steve Bégin and Alex Kovalev.

On Team C, you will find Carey Price, Yann Danis, Mathieu Carle, Francis Bouillon, P.K. Subban, Saku Koivu, Michael Ryder, Sergei Kostitsyn, Maxim Lapierre and Ben Maxwell.

Team A, which takes the ice at 11:00 a.m., includes Cristobal Huet, Andrei Markov, Ryan O’Byrne, Mike Komisarek, Pavel Valentenko, Guillaume Latendresse, Bryan Smolinski, Andrei Kostitsyn, Kyle Chipchura, Tom Kostopoulos and Ryan White.

View the video here.

**Updated with comments from players**
It’s a beautiful sunny day in mid-September, but the Sportsplexe 4-Glaces in Pierrefonds is packed with hockey fans. That can only mean one thing: Canadiens training camp is under way. And what a start it was, with crunching hits and some excellent performances from prospects and established players.

Here’s some of the highlights from the Canadiens first on-ice session of training camp.

Christopher Higgins is taking part in the drills this morning, but he will not take part in scrimmages for the time being as he continues to heal from shoulder surgery. He has passed all his medical exams, so there is no cause for concern, the Canadiens said. Afterward, Higgins said he was perfectly healthy, but the team’s medical staff has decided to be cautious. However, he could not give a timetable for his return to game action.

In the first scrimmage this morning, Team White won 5-4 in a shootout. Alex Kovalev looked to be in fine form with a goal in regulation and a nifty move in the shootout to beat Loic Lacasse. Matt D’Agostini scored the shootout winner.

After the workouts, Kovalev took time to sign at least six autographs for a young fan with a Kovalev jersey and several cards waiting outside the locker rooms.

11:45 a.m.: The second scrimmage has just ended and Andrei Kostitsyn scored a goal for the Reds and looked like one of the best players on the ice. Defenceman Pavel Valentenko also scored for the Reds and Guillaume Latendresse netted the winner in a 3-2 Reds victory. Maxim Lapierre scored two goals for the Whites in a losing cause, beating Carey Price for one of his tallies.

When speaking with journalists, Kostitsyn said his goal is to make the Canadiens this season, and judging by the first day of camp, his goal should be achieved. He also said he has seen enough of Hamilton and is eager to play in the NHL.

Forward Michael Ryder received a puck in the face, but the Canadiens say he is fine and will be back on the ice on Saturday.

As for injured defenceman Patrice Brisebois, he was behind the bench for one of the teams during the scrimmages, but is able to conduct off-ice workouts and could be skating again within a week.

Mike Komisarek, who has established himself as one of the team’s best defencemen, spoke to the media about the loss of some leaders during the offseason, but he didn’t appear too concerned with the issue. He said it was time for players like himself, Higgins and other youngsters to take on a bigger role with the team and said it doesn’t take a letter on the jersey to make someone a leader.