It was pointed out today by Francis Bouchard that her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II is celebreating 60 years as the British Monarch.

With that in mind, we thought we'd recall her Habs connection that dates back before she became Queen.

Francis was able to find a clip of the Princess Elizabeth and husband Prince Phillip's visit to Montreal on October 29, 1951. The Royal Couple took in the Canadiens and Rangers that evening, with the Habs winning 5-1

The film footage of the game itself starts around the 3:25 mark of this link. Her Royal Highness seems less than interested in the clip, but the Montreal Gazette story the following morning notes she became more interested as the game progressed.

Both observed parts of a Leafs game a week prior, and Prince Phillip, who watched the occasional game in England, was highly entertained by the game action no matter who scored. When a certain Canadiens right winger scored two goals, that sent roaring waves of cheers through the crowd, the Prince had to ask who it was.

Floyd Curry felt no pressure playing before the royals, tallying the other three Caandiens goals for his only career hat trick.

Habs captain Emile Bouchard and captain Rangers Frank Eddolls are the two players seen greeting the princess in the clip.

As the Montreal Canadiens playoffs hopes drop, ticket sales from third party sources are quickly paralleling them.

That in mind, our partners at TiqIQ are offfering some great prices to catch the Habs in action at the Bell Centre, with last minute seats starting from $50 or maybe even less as game time appraoches!

It's a great opportunity for fans to still see some great teams at the Bell Centre, as the 2011-12 NHL season winds down. It's especially good for those out of town fans looking to make a road trip for a game, or happen to be in town when the Habs are at home.

We've also thrown in a few links for the Habs upcoming road games.

Tickets for Upcoming Home and Road Games

February 7 vs. Pittsburgh

February 9 at NY Islanders starting at $9 !!

February 11 at Toronto Maple Leafs

February 13 vs. Carolina Hurricanes

February 15 vs. Boston Bruins

Yesterday I was invited on to discuss Pierre McGuire as a possible GM for the Montreal Canadiens in the future. Listen to the podcast in it's entirety here.

Other highlights of the podcast were a discussion of Habs fan and Montrealer Jay Baruchel's new film 'Goon' and the loved until he steps on your sacred cows Ryan Lambert.

Oh and here's a trailer for 'Goon':

Goon - Official Trailer [HD] (via trailers)

New Montreal Canadiens prospect Patrick Holland went on reddit.com last night and did what's called an AMA, which means "ask me anything".

There are a few interesting comments in the thread, but the one that stood out (most depressingly) was the following:

Good luck to Patrick in his future within the organization.

According to the Montreal Canadiens official twitter feed, Brian Gionta has undergone successful bicep surgery to repair a tear that occurred in last night's game.

That pretty much spells the end of Gionta's season as recovery can be between 2 and 9 months for such a surgery.

Just another kick in the pants for Habs fans who thought this season would be one worth watching.

It may be time now for management to assess their strategy and start moving out pending UFAs as I suggested in mid-December.

Canadiens official press release:

PRESS RELEASE

MONTREAL – Montreal Canadiens General Manager Pierre Gauthier issued Wednesday a medical update on the status of forward Brian Gionta.

Gionta underwent successful surgery to repair a tear in the right biceps. He will be out indefinitely. The surgery was performed earlier today in Montreal.

The Canadiens’ captain suffered the injury during the third period of last night’s game against the St. Louis Blues.

The boy was just doing his job …

Delivering newspapers through sleet , snow and whatever Mother Nature tossed his way.

The weather was a minor inconvenience to the money that filled his pockets. It had been two years since his Dad passed away and his job helped to keep his mind off his pain. It also eased the monetary burden from his Mom. His task allowing the fifty – two year old woman more freedom to pay bills and buy food. That way – all of his earnings could provide the cool clothes and kid stuff that would allow him to keep up with his friends.

The boy and his Mom resided in an affluent community .It was not easy keeping up with a two-parent working neighbor. Kids could be cruel and, as his Mom discovered, adults could be just as cruel or more so.

The year was 1991.

David had started delivering print to the doors in his neighborhood shortly after the death of his Dad. On occasion – the job was tedious.Especially those cold wintry dawns when the wind would cut through him like a knife. Still, each morning without pause, the soon-to-be teenager carried out his duties with dignity. Banking whatever money that was available for a car when the law allowed.

Along the way , certain things happened which made his early morning tasks seem worthwhile. One of those things was having a professional hockey player as a client. Not just any hockey player. David had the good fortune to be able to place a paper on the porch of a Montreal Canadien. A particular player who was one of the hardest working skaters in the Habs modern era.

Brian Skrudland of Peace River, Alberta…

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Hi all,

Me and a few buddies have been traveling from NJ to Montreal once a year to see our Devils take on your Canadiens at the Bell Centre. So far each year has been awesome. We've come to games on weekends, have spent the nights at bars on Crescent Street, and have played pond hockey with the locals. Much to your chagrin, we even got to see this happen a few years ago: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xknU6X9qSk

This year, we're going to be making the trip (this weekend!) for the Dec. 17 game. As usual, we will be bringing our hockey gear as well. After speaking with a few Montreal fans at our game in New Jersey last Saturday, it seems apparent that the temperature may have not been cold enough yet for outdoor ponds/rinks to freeze.

So, here's where I'm looking for some help/advice from you guys. Do you know of any outdoor ice rinks/ponds that are frozen yet in the Montreal area? And, if not, can you recommend any indoor facilities that offer "open hockey" or pickup hockey? When is it normally offered, where, and how much gear is required?

Thanks a lot, and see you Saturday.

Thanks to my proud Habs fan daughter, received some tickets(via fan club member) to go skate with a couple Canadiens this past Sunday at the Bell Centre. We had a blast! We got to meet Montreal Canadiens players , Yannick Weber, Peter Budaj & Alexei Emelin as well as Youppi! My daughter was really excited that the nice girl(didn't get name) that does in-game interviews on big screen during home games did an interview with her and everyone there could hear and see it! that made her day. So proud my daughter and i got to experience this, meeting our very first NHL players from our favorite team skating on the very ice the play on and seeing the Bell Centre. I can now mark that off my bucket list! Our next thing we'd like to do is attend a game and watch our team play live for first time hopefully in the near future.My daughter would also love to meet P.K. Subban as i would love to meet Carey Price someday as well. So i hope everyone who attended event this past Sunday had as much fun as my daughter and I did. Maybe we'll see you next year! Go Habs Go!!

     Hi all and greetings from North Carolina.  My wife and I will be visiting Montreal in late January/early February and are avid hockey fans first of all as well as Carolina Hurricanes fans, however when the going gets tough down here (as is often the case lately) we enjoy following Habs hockey and have readily adopted them as "our" team in the playoffs when our beloved canes fall short of the mark.

    We intend on trying to get out to a Canadiens game while on our trip and are looking for any advice regarding what will likely be a once in a lifetime experience for us.  We have experienced the addictive feeling of playoff hockey and the magic of a Stanley Cup win here in  Carolina and are excited to experience this sport at its most storied and successful location.  We are, admittedly, envious of a place where you could talk hockey with virtually anyone (and its slowly getting better here) and actually have them understand what you are trying to convey.  Anyhow,  we are looking for advice on the whole package i.e. parking, pre-game food/drinks, best place to buy tickets, or anything else about Montreal that we shouldn't miss out on.  Thanks in advance and GO HABS!

(Yes we miss Erik Cole... Please send him back at your earliest convenience)

This is a (bad) picture of my framed, autographed Saku Koivu picture. The story behind this is quite interesting, at least, I hope it is. I am currently in remission after surviving leukemia and a subsequent relapse of it. During my first time dealing with it, as I was no longer able to play ice hockey, I grew really close with my younger brother's team and traveled with them to tournaments and the like. They all got together and wrote fellow cancer survivor Saku Koivu a letter telling him about my situation, and he sent them back this to give to me.

After a depressing loss, I felt I'd try and cheer you all up with this:

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