Sunday Habs Links: Galchenyuk reaches out to fan through Hockey Fights Cancer

Montreal Canadiens

• Canadiens legend Elmer Lach passed away at age 97. May he rest in peace. [Montreal Gazette]

R.I.P. Elmer Lach, who at 97 was just 57 days younger than the NHL. Another of the Canadiens' endless supply of superb hockey ambassadors.

— Adam Proteau (@Proteautype) April 4, 2015

Here's #Habs Elmer Lach (L) hugged by Rocket Richard – Rocket broke Elmer's nose here – after Elmer's '53 OT goal 2/2 pic.twitter.com/ZPVbNPSfFk

— Dave Stubbs (@Dave_Stubbs) May 9, 2014

• You can check out rare photos of Lach with teammates Gerry McNeil, Doug Harvey, and Maurice Richard here. I find the ones of their fishing trip especially evocative of a bygone era (fishing! in flannels and slacks!). Canadian legends here, guys. [CBC]

• Defenceman Brett Lernout have be assigned to the Bulldogs from the WHL's Swift Current Broncos. [Bulldogs]

• Look at the plus/minus of the 1975-76 Habs. Guy Lafleur has a cool 68, but my favourite has to be the goalies(Dryden and Larocque) with a neat collective zero. Gotta love 70's hockey. [Reddit]

• Scott Gomez was fined $1,478.49 for an elbowing penalty on Alexei Emelin. Watch the hit here.  [CBC Sports]

• Alex Galchenyuk reaches out to teenager Kyle Kramer, who just went through a six year battle with leukemia. Kramer has been a fan since Galchenyuk played in the World Juniors, and wears the same #27 on his hockey team as his hero. [High School Sports]

I have a very special story to share with you guys, after reading a heartwarming article about Kyle Kramer and his battle with cancer (http://highschoolsports.nj.com/news/article/-4465477392244245692/kyle-kramer-of-gov-livingston-beats-cancer-and-worse-to-return-to-playing-ice-hockey/) Me and @agally94 decided to reach out and organize a meet&greet with him after the game in New Jersey. We are so happy that it all worked out. Thank You to his mother Heidi Kramer, JC Hageny and Mike Levine for your help in making this happen! #HockeyFightsCancer#TrueHero#KyleKramer#Warrior#Galchenyuk#27#MakeYourDreamsComeTrue

A photo posted by Anna Galchenyuk (@agalchy) on Apr 4, 2015 at 5:30am PDT

Around the League and Elsewhere

• The NHL does a good job creating parity, so is the draft lottery worth its hype?  [Department of Hockey Analytics]
  

When it comes to making the playoffs, the current era has a greater divide between "have" franchises (those that make the playoffs regularly) and "have-nots" (those that can regularly book April tee times) than ever before.

Why might this be? It is possible that the draft lottery has had some effect, but it seems unlikely to be that important given how minor the impact is on a team’s draft position. Perhaps more plausible is that the salary cap has magnified the difference between well-run and poorly-run teams – increasing the return to front office talent.

• America defeats Canada 7-5 to win the women's world hockey championship. (editorial note: Booooooo.) [CBC]

Team USA celebrates being World Champs! #WWC2015 | https://t.co/WuCylJfLjZ

— USA Hockey (@usahockey) April 4, 2015

• Rob Ford has been appointed to the Hockey Hall of Fame and Museum's board of directors. Is this a belated April Fool's joke? [CBC]
  
• Not hockey related, but 96,000 people total in Montreal visited the two Toronto Blue Jays exhibition games at Olympic Stadium. Could the city eventually sustain two major league franchises? [TSN 690]