P.K. Subban was awarded the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s top defenseman Saturday night in Chicago. The other finalists in the voting were Pittsburgh’s Kris Letang and Minnesota’s Ryan Suter. The Candiens Brendan Gallagher finished second to Florida’s Jonathan Huberdeau in voting for the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie.
Montreal Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin announced Thursday the signing of defenseman Davis Drewiske to a two-year contract extension (2013-14 and 2014-15). As per club policy, financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Word has leaked that P.K. Subban will be recipient of the Norris Trophy when it;s announced Friday night during the telecast of game 2 of the Stanley Cup final. Former Canadiens goaltending consultant Roland Melanson calls Carey Price’s game “deteriorating”. Alexei Kovalev signs in Swiss Second Division.
The Canadiens have decided not to renew the contract of goaltender coach Pierre Groulx which will inevitably lead to speculation that Patrick Roy’s original coach Francois Allaire will return to the team. Sources are reporting Allaire has signed with the Colorado Avalanche, moving Hamilton coach Vincent Riendeau into the role as top candidate as Groulx’s replacement.
Michael Ryder’s agent, Thane Campbell, told the Journal de Montreal Wednesday that his client will be allowed to walk away as an unrestricted free agent July 5th without any effort to resign him by the Canadiens. Ryder does not fit into the Canadiens long-term plans and never did.
The Canadiens have announced the hiring of Shane Churla as Chief Amateur Scout. Churla, 47 years old, comes to the Canadiens after working as an amateur scout with the Dallas Stars organization for the last seven years where he worked the territories of Alberta, the USHL and WCHL college hockey. He will report to
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The Canadiens, like 28 of the other 29 teams in the NHL have shrugged off the importance of Sweden as a source of top level NHL talent. The exception, of course, is the Detroit Red Wings. The Canadiens, thanks to a key addition to their scouting department appear to have finally picked up on the draft potential of Swedish players.
The Canadian Hockey League announced Thursday the suspension of Canadiens prospect Dalton Thrower of the Saskatoon Blades under supplemental discipline for the balance of the 2013 MasterCard Memorial Cup. The suspension was for a check to the head that occurred in the first period of Wednesday’s game that injured opponent Taylor Leier of the Portland Winterhawks.
Alexei Emelin’s season ended with a hard collision with the Boston Bruins Milan Lucic on April 6th at the Bell Centre. The Canadiens and Emelin finally opted for reconstructive surgery this week after a one month delay while swelling surrounding the left knee was reduced allowing doctors to diagnose tears to both his MCL and ACL. He will not be available to the Canadiens until December.
Defenceman Magnus Nygren, a Canadiens fourth round pick in 2011 and 2012 second round pick Sebastian Collberg have signed entry level contracts. Both will report to the Canadiens development camp in July. Collberg is expected to return to Sweden for one more development year. Nygren, named the top defenceman in the Swedish Elitserien will be auditioning for a position with next season’s Hamilton Bulldogs.
