Around this point of the season, hockey fans start to wonder what their favourite team is going to look like as it heads into the playoffs, or if the playoffs aren't a realistic possibility, what their team will look like in October. A lot of this speculation has to do with the imminence of the "trade deadline" and rightly so as front offices are deciding whether or not they are "buyers" or "sellers", "tinkerers" or "mad scientists". This year our beloved Canadiens are almost certainly out of the playoff picture and they have already placed themselves in the "sellers" camp by trading Hal Gill for Blake Geoffrion and a pick. We do not yet know if management will try to "blow up" the team or if it will simply look to get rid of the contracts that are easiest to get rid of and pick up whatever scraps of prospect talent or draft picks that play-off bound teams deem expendable.

I thought it would be interesting for the HEOTP community to have a place where we could speculate wildly or reasonably about what PG and friends may do as 'Deadline Day" approaches. The idea is that if you hear of a rumour, wish to create one, or would like to speculate on what may happen this month, put it here in the comment section of this post and let the rest of us comment, tweak, constructively criticise, fidget and dream too. Hopefully the real "Deadline Day" will be of the "Cocoa Beach Fantasy" variety and not "Nightmare on Coronation Street", but I'm sure we'll come up with scenarios which would fit in both.

Speculate away!

In light of the recent trade I thought it would be timely to take a look back at the long career of Mr Hal Gill.

Gill has not had the opportunity to really stand out in the National Hockey League over the course of his career. In over 1000 games played he has scored 36 goals, and 143 assists. But why is it that everyone knows who “Hal Gill” is? He certainly has not put up the numbers to earn the respect of “household name.”

Lets take a journey back through the career of Gill, and examine some of this ‘legends’ highlights:

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It's not often a post goes up on EOTP just to link to another post on another website, but Puck Daddy's Greg Wyshynksi knocked one out of the park this morning, writing about the fake moral outrage trumped up by fans and media after Canadiens fans cheered when Zdeno Chara was hit in the face with the puck on a clearing attempt by Tomas Plekanec.

As for those Habs fans who thought it was classless to cheer, all I can say is that I didn't even see what happened, I just happened to be cheering. I didn't even know Chara was on the ice, and it kind of looked like he jumped into it. I didn't even know I was watching a hockey game.

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.