 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|||||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
||||||||||||||
 |
|
|||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Montreal Canadiens Collingwood
Pre-Season Mini-Camp
| photos - Paul Richards |
Coach Jacques Martin Feels His Team Has Improved |
The Montreal Canadiens feel that getting away from the bright lights of the big city and spending time in the resort communities of Collingwood and The Blue Mountains will help the team bond quickly as it prepares to start a new NHL season. Coach Jacques Martin said that a team can come together quickly in this type of situation, and he's hoping for a fast start to a new season. His team was just one shot away from eliminating the Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins last season. Coach Martin feels that his team is ready to compete in the Eastern Conference. He feels the team has made improvements over last year's squad. One area that he feels is better is the team's goaltending, with the addition of Peter Budaj who can take some of the load away from starter Carey Price. Martin told reporters that he feels Price could play about 60 games in the 2011/2012 season thanks to the arrival of Budaj. Martin hopes the injury bug won't hit the team as hard as it did last year. Defenceman Andre Markov is not yet skating with the team, but is on schedule as he recovers from his latest knee injury. Markov's return will be a big boost to the team's blueline. Newcomer Chris Campoli will be a nice addition to the team's defence. Montreal opens the season on Thursday, October 6th against the Toronto Maple Leafs in an Original Six battle at the Air Canada Centre. |
 |
Tuesday's practice at the Eddie Bush Memorial Arena was highlighted by an on-ice altercation between Max Pacioretty (pictured above) and PK Subban (pictured below). Subban told reporters that the disagreement was no big deal at all. "I think I get into about four or five of those a practice. We're all out there working hard, it's battling, it's good. There's no problems on our team. We just go out there, it's practice. The season starts in two days ... we're trying to get ready for the season." Pacioretty echoed Subban's thoughts. "It's just the heat of the moment. PK and I are good friends, but stuff like that happens every day. We'll laugh about it now." Pacioretty said the players want to get some game action going now that training camp is drawing to a close. |
 |
| Last year, P.K. Subban fired 14 goals and assisted on 24 others for 38 points. |