Well Happy Family Day, Louis Riel Day, Islander Day, President's Day or, if you live in Quebec, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, BC or the Territories, Monday!

While the Habs get ready for practice this morning, here's a couple bits of history and a few links to tie you over.

1924: Canadiens' fans waited two hours in the Mount Royal Arena for the Senators to arrive for their game. But they never showed! The team was stranded on a snowbound train 50 miles from Ottawa. The game was played the next night (a 3-0 Habs' win).

1995: Patrick Roy became the 31st goaltender in NHL history to appear in 500 games as the Canadiens won 3-2 in overtime over the Islanders.

Happy Birthday to former Habs defenseman Pierre Bouchard, who turns 64 today.

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The Montreal Canadiens have yet again called up Aaron Palushaj from the Hamilton Bulldogs. Everybody Drink!

Erik Cole, Louis Leblanc and David Desharnais took therapy days from Habs practice, so maybe an injury replacement but unlikely. With the departure of Hal Gill, it does leave a roster spot so it's quite possible that coach Randy Cunneyworth may go 12-6 when the Canadiens face the New Jersey Devils Sunday.

More links, and a tribute vid to "The Kid" after the jump.

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It's been a tough season. At times, it's seemed too long, but right about now, for those of us fans that still want to win, it's looking awfully short. We're just about at the 3/4 mark, the trade deadline is less than two weeks away, and the team still has played more games than they have accumulated points, which is a very bad sign this far into the year. Some fans have been on a 'Fail for Nail' mission for... well, we first jokingly talked about that in game threads around here back in October right before the Parry Pearn firing. The team might have held a playoff spot after 2 games this year when they were 1-1 and had a positive goal differential, and I think I remember an hour or two in November where they had briefly claimed a spot, although that changed by the end of the night. The playoffs have almost always been just out of reach.

While I can understand the desire to get the best possible result from a dreadful year, this team is simply too good to fail that terribly. What is amazing is that they're in this position at all, to be frank, that we can even talk about the potential of winning the draft lottery to move up to the #1 overall seed. One of the easiest eyeball measures I use when looking at the standings to try and figure out who might be over or underachieving is goal differential: the best teams generally post the best differential. Losing or winning games by one goal can happen for any number of reasons, and in hockey, the shootout increases the randomness of the win total.

It's certainly possible that the Habs' non-sensical results continue, but it doesn't look good for finishing in the bottom five... the competition is just too strong (well, really, too weak):

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I have criticized Pierre McGuire in the past for several reasons, but now with his friend and TSN990 radio host Mitch Melnick writing this piece in a campaign to get him hired as GM, the usual McGuire for GM meme for when the Habs are struggling is gaining momentum. Add to that many believe it is a foregone conclusion that Pierre Gauthier will be relieved of his duties in the offseason and the speculation goes into overdrive.

I will say from the beginning that I am not in favour of Pierre McGuire becoming the next General Manager of the Montreal Canadiens, but I don't think it's fair to just pile on and cherry pick in order to do so. McGuire is not a fool, he is not Mike Milbury, and there are many positives to him. It is only fair to look at both sides of the issue before coming to a conclusion. We will start by looking at McGuire's positives, then weigh them against the negatives.

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Down goes Andreas Engqvist and up comes Louis Leblanc, as the Montreal Canadiens prepare for tomorrow night's game against the New Jersey Devils.

Engvist did much of nothing in his two-game call up with the Canadiens. He played 4:12, and was on the ice for the deciding goal, in Tuesday's 3-1 loss to the Buffalo Sabres. In the Habs 7-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings he went minus one.

We got our first look at Leblanc in December, where he racked up his first five NHL points in 14 games. The Habs First Round pick in 2009 has 17 points in 25 games with the Hamilton Bulldogs (AHL).

A lot of talk on pending unrestricted free agent Travis Moen being moved may be put on hold. The gritty winger has missed two games with an upper body injury, that nobody seems to know the nature of. His status remains day-to-day, but coach Randy Cunneyworth said that further tests are needed to determine the extent of the injury.

That freezes any move on Pierre Gauthier's part for the time being. After all, who's going to buy damaged goods, except for Pierre Gauthier? Anyone remember Blair Betts?

But if the Saskatchewan farm boy's injury is clear by deadline the day, the Pittsburgh Penguins could be looking for what he could bring to the table.

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Tim Thomas is entitled to his political opinions. That's his right and freedom in the US and Canada. However, when it comes to a team outing to visit The President of The United States, on needs to check his ego at the door.

So the Bruins, with only one American in tow made the trip to the East Wing to visit President Obama today. Former Bruin, and current Habs rearguard Tomas Kaberle took advantage of the team's off day to make the trek. That's what makes it interesting to me. A team of predominantly Canadian an European players, were willing to meet a world leader, not of their own nationality, while little Timmy decided to stay home.

Seriously though, how many world leaders have entered the doors of the White House, even though the two leaders at the time have a strong political indifference? Castro? Check. Brezhnev? Check. Khruschev? Him too.

I know goalies have their quirks and oddities, but Thomas opened up a whole new floor.

"I believe the Federal government has grown out of control, threatening the Rights, Liberties, and Property of the People. This is being done at the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial level. This is in direct opposition to the Constitution and the Founding Fathers vision for the Federal government, Thomas stated on his Facebook page.

"Because I believe this, today I exercised my right as a Free Citizen, and did not visit the White House. This was not about politics or party, as in my opinion both parties are responsible for the situation we are in as a country. This was about a choice I had to make as an INDIVIDUAL."

Thomas' rebuttal well put, and the Presidential meeting was not mandatory by the team, but putting his political beliefs ahead of his teammates is a bit egotistical. Given this, would Georges Laraque have gone to the White House in 2008, had the Penguins won the Cup?

Thomas isn't the first to take a pass on a visit to the White House, but putting his beliefs out front has certainly got attention. For the record, the Canadiens Hal Gill had to skip the Penguins '09 meeting with Obama due to a team commitment (golf tournament).

Video of Kaberle's trip, and other Habs links, after the jump.

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The Habs held their annual open fan practice this morning at the Bell Centre, with close to 18,00 fans on hand to watch the event.

A couple notable on-ice absentees were Carey Price and Travis Moen. Moen was taking a therapy day, while Price was nursing what is reported to be a cut on his foot. A vinyl shooter tutor took his place opposite Peter Budaj.

In the skills portion, Mathieu Darche, Andrei Kostitsyn and Tomas Kaberle each hit the four targets in six attempts during the Shooting Accuracy competition. Kaberle was the overall winner by accomplishing it the fastest, in 13.8 seconds. Kostitsyn and Darche both did it in 16 seconds

P.K. Subban edged Yannick Weber in the Hardest Shot department, clocking in a 151 km/h to Weber's 147. Weber apparently challenged his fellow defensemen to hop the boards and join the competition.

Lars Eller took home the Fastest Skater title, making a lap of the Bell Centre in 13.3 seconds.

Budaj and Team Red won the 4-on-4 game 7-3 over Team White. The losing goalie didn't have much to say after.

Video of the Skills Events and other links after the jump

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Clips of the trip, and some other links on last night's loss to the Pens and looking ahead to tonight's tilt with the Toronto Maple Leafs,, after the jump.

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