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Tonight Montreal’s Big Three become one (that’s not it)
Tonight Guy Lapointe’s number will finally hang high above the ice he won so many cups on (definitely not)
Tonight Montreal’s number 5 finally gets the special treatment (nope)
Pointu’s number 5 (that was already retired as Boom Boom’s number) is going to be hanging from the Bell Centre tonight. To celebrate this special night, the Habs have seen fit to continue to bench Rene Bourque. You know the Habs – they love to get their special ceremonies just right.
Sadly I never saw Pointu play. Like many of Montreal’s modern hockey legends, Lapointe’s glory days happened when I was barely alive. I was a toddler at the time he was traded to St. Louis – for a pick used to select Sergio Momeso – but I read Larry Robinson’s biography (Robinson for the Defense) and Ken Dryden’s the Game as a teen and his legend stayed with me. As I get older, I realize more and more how ridiculous it is to have a defense comprised of three first team all stars all of whom were Norris worthy.
Has there been a top three as good as Savard, Lapointe and Robinson in the last 30 years?
With Rene Bourque a healthy scratch and Michael Bournival injured, Travis Moen comes back to the fold. Prust skates alongside Sekac and Eller on the SEPtic line while Moen skates with Weise and Malhotra on the fourth line. Drayson Bowman has been called up from Hamilton and will likely sit tonight.
I’m looking forward to this game and it’s not because of the Pointu ceremony, I’m excited to see Charlie Coyle who I thought was dynamite in his time with Saint John and I’m intrigued to see Matthew Dumba’s skating which has always struck me as kind of awkward and tentative, but certainly not the weakest part of his game – it’s just a very unique style (or it was in junior).
Puck drop is at 7:00 PM ET
In Canada: City TV
In Quebec: TVA
In Minnesota: FS-N+
In the USA: NHLN-US
Elsewhere: NHL Gamcenter Live or NHL Center Ice
| Left Wing |
Center |
Right Wing |
| Max Pacioretty | David Desharnais | PA Parenteau |
| Alex Galchenyuk | Tomas Plekanec | Brendan Gallagher |
| Brandon Prust | Lars Eller | Jiri Sekac |
| Travis Moen | Manny Malhotra | Dale Weise |
| Left Defense |
Right Defense |
| Andrei Markov | P.K. Subban |
| Alexei Emelin | Tom Gilbert |
| Nathan Beaulieu | Mike Weaver |
| Goaltenders |
| Carey Price |
| Dustin Tokarski |
Scratched: Rene Bourque
Injured: Michael Bournival
As for the Minnesota Wild, here’s how they’re tonight:
| Left Wing |
Center |
Right Wing |
| Thomas Vanek | Mikael Granlund | Jason Pominville |
| Jason Zucker | Mikko Koivu | Charlie Coyle |
| Nino Niederreiter | Kyle Brodziak | Justin Fontaine |
| Stephane Veilleux | Erik Haula | Ryan Carter |
| Left Defense |
Right Defense |
| Ryan Suter | Jonas Brodin |
| Marco Scandella | Christian Folin |
| Keith Ballard | Mathew Dumba |
| Goaltenders |
| Darcy Kuemper |
| Niklas Backstrom |
Scratched: Nate Prosser
Injured: Zach Parise, Josh Harding, Jared Spurgeon, Matt Cooke
Check out the opposing side at Hockey Wilderness
