The new Habs leadership is facing their first big challenge. Who will step up and take the reins away from Brian Gionta and Josh Gorges? Eric Engels gives us his thoughts. [Hockey Buzz]
Check out all of the highlights and analysis from the Habs and Buffalo Sabres game on Wednesday night. The game marked the first time that the Habs faced former captain Brian Gionta and assistant captain Josh Gorges since they departed this past summer. [EOTP]
The Habs faced a lot of questions after they lost to the Chicago Blackhawks 5-0 at the Bell Centre. In just 10 days the Habs went from being first place in the NHL with a 7-1 record, to having an 8-4-1 record good enough for 7th in the league and 2nd in their division. Things haven’t completely fallen apart yet, but that is a lot of ground they gave up. [NHL]
Jiri Sekac was finally given another chance to get into the lineup on Wednesday night against the Sabres. It came, however, at the expense of the $3.33M Rene Bourque. Will he stick? [TSN]
Tomas Plekanec really hit the nail on the head with what he said after the game on Tuesday against the Blackhawks. Dave Stubbs has the story. [Montreal Gazette]
Around the League
Looking for a place to catch your favourite team play while visiting New York City? A new app from SportChaser will help you find a bar in NYC that’s playing the game you want to see. [SportChaser]
The Pittsburgh Penguins announced they have signed goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury to a 4-year, $23M extension on Wednesday. This comes after a summer of questioning whether or not Fleury was a good enough goalie to get the Penguins through the playoffs. A lot of people will be surprised with this signing I am sure, but truth be told, Fleury is the current active playoff wins leader. [Deadspin]
NHL Legend Gordie Howe is recovering remarkably since his stroke last week. We can only hope that he makes a full recovery and comes back and plays next year at 87 years old to mark his 27th season in the NHL. (sarcasm people he’s not going to play again). [ESPN]
The Minnesota Wild will be without their star forward Zach Parise for at least their upcoming three game road trip. Parise is the Wild’s team leader in points and leads the forward corp in ice-time per game as well. The Wild are definitely going to be put to the test. [Hockey Wilderness]
The “Sophomore Slump” has been a widely known epidemic for years that people keep denying will happen to certain players and then BOOM, they suck all of a sudden. Thomas Hertl of the San Jose Sharks is a perfect example of this so far this season. [Puck Daddy]
