It’s been a long time. In fact, nine days since the Montreal Canadiens played a game. Many thought that the new management would take advantage of the break to start revamping the product on the ice, to no avail. So it’s with relatively the same line-up that the Habs will start their activities again, bringing no hope for a frustrated fan base.

We are entering Super Bowl week and the Canadiens will be busy, playing four games in six days, including two matinees. Here’s what the schedule looks like this week:

Tuesday Feb.8	New Jersey Devils	7:00 PM ET
Thursday Feb.10	Washington Capitals	7:00 PM ET
Saturday Feb.12	Columbus Blue Jackets	12:30 PM ET
Sunday Feb.13	Buffalo Sabres	12:30 PM ET

Only the Capitals have a winning record so technically, we could think that the Canadiens have a chance to get a few points… yes, technically.

Here were the lines at practice this morning:

Lehkonen – Suzuki – Toffoli
Byron – Evans – Anderson
Hoffman – Dauphin – Gallagher
Armia – Poehling – Caufield
(Pezzetta – Pitlick/Dvorak – Paquette)

Chiarot – Romanov
Kulak – Petry
Clague – Wideman

Montembeault
Primeau

Dvorak isn’t quite ready to come back. Carey Price skated for 20 minutes yesterday and skated again this morning before practice.

Injury update:

PLAYER	POS	UPDATED	INJ	STATUS
David Savard	D	Fri, Feb 4	Ankle	IR. Expected to be out until at least Mar 26
Mathieu Perreault	C	Fri, Jan 28	Lower Body	IR. Expected to be out until at least Feb 21
Jonathan Drouin	LW	Fri, Jan 28	Wrist	IR. Expected to be out until at least Feb 8
Joel Edmundson	D	Wed, Jan 26	Back	IR. Expected to be out until at least Feb 8
Carey Price	G	Sat, Jan 22	Knee	IR. Expected to be out until at least Feb 8
Jake Allen	G	Fri, Jan 21	Lower Body	IR. Expected to be out until at least Mar 17
Shea Weber	D	Thu, Oct 14	Ankle	IR. Expected to be out until at least Sep 1

More reading…

Habs To Get An Expos’ Reverse Retro Jersey

Somewhat Surprisingly Quiet Week Off

Invaluable Experience For Nick Suzuki