Montreal Canadiens: Injury-Man Strikes Again!

Right now, the Habs' injury list is like the daytime in Montreal: it gets longer with the spring. But as much as I am enjoying a little late sunshine at 5 p.m., watching the players get down one after the other does not inspire me any good.

Last week, for the first of the back-to-back games against the Bruins, two players got injured. Guillaume Latendresse got a hit along the board and feels some pain in the neck ever since. Mike Komisarek' "hips don't lie", as he got a lower body injury and is expected to miss another two weeks.

Thursday against the Sabres, Saku Koivu hurt himself on blocking a shot in the first period. The Captain could finish the game, but rumours are talking about nothing less than a fracture, and four weeks on the sideline.

That same night, Mark Streit ended with three assists, and a painful ankle. Both Koivu and Streit missed the game against Toronto. The only thing I found interesting with Koivu on the sideline was to see Kovalev with the "C" on his jersey. Dude, it looks good on him ! (No, no, I don't have anything against Koivu, I'm just saying)

Facing the Leafs, Francis Bouillon blocked a shot in the third period, and never came back on the ice. He seemed to be okay though, sitting next to Carey Price on the bench, watching his team lose it 2-4 to Vesa Toskala.

So now, we have three forwards and two defensemen out. Oh boy, that's an entire shift !

And it does not get any better, as they will face the revenge-seeking Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night. The Sens just got blanked by the Bruins yesterday, and there is now way they will let the Habs get over that division title that easily.

By the start of yesterday's game, Coach Carbo put Mathieu Dandenault on the third line, to replace Mark Streit. By the end of it, Dandy was playing on the blue line for the first time this season. Carbo had to manage as best as he could, after losing Bouillon, and Ryan O'Byrne who got a game misconduct after an elbow penalty in the first.

More precisions about each injury will be provided anytime soon, but so far, the only thing I can hope for is for the other guys to step up.

Well, there is already Josh Georges. He is not that tall, he is not a Zdeno Chara or not even a Komisarek. But this guy is improving so much, and actually earned himself a spot on the penalty killing. He is even the chosen one to replace Mike Komisarek, and play along with all-star Andrei Markov.

For the physical play, we can count on Steve Begin. Man, on that game against the Bruins, he just hit whoever was moving around with a "B" on the jersey. Bruins Marc Savard is reportedly having some back pains due Begin's forechecks.

The young players in this team, as well as the "less young" in the third and fourth line, should find here an opportunity to shine.

We could recently see some nice plays from Sergei Kostitsyn, but for some reason, his Kovalev-alike stick handlings never get properly done ! One time he goes but loses the puck, another time he gets the puck but cannot get past the defensemen. But for a 20-year old guy, it is a good start, a very good start.

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