Guy Carbonneau was fired as the head coach of the Montreal Canadiens yesterday.  He was close to completing his third season in the job.  With 16 regular season, GM/executive VP Bob Gainey will coach the Habs for the rest of the year along with associate coach Doug Jarvis and assistant coaches Kirk Muller and Roland Melanson.Of the situation, Gainey said: "Not long ago, I responded to a question that was asked to me about my best decision since taking over as general manager, and that Guy was my best decision.  The decision today can be seen as a contradiction, but in the last eight weeks the performance has been below average. I believe that a change in the direction at ice level is necessary."

The Canadiens, who currently sit in second place in the Northeast Division, started 10-4-2 but are 25-20-5 since November 17, 2008; 17-16-1 since December 22, 2008; and 7-8-1 since February 2, 2009. They were 5-4-1 in Carbonneau’s last 10 games.

Last year, the Habs won the 2008 Northeast Division for the first time since 1992 when Carbonneau was the team captain (they won the Stanley Cup the next season).

This comes just weeks after the legendary Guy Lafleur (Canadiens, 1971-1985) ripped the team leaders (both Carbonneau and Gainey) for benching Alex Kovalev for a couple games: "If I were in (Kovalev’s) skates, I’d have played my last game for the Canadiens.  No player with his talent would accept being humiliated like that. … I don’t know what Gainey is trying to prove in front of everybody. If you’re paying guys $4 million, $5 million a year, give them the tools to make sure they’ll produce. You just can’t switch lines and try things every night and hope something will come out of it. I don’t think this club has a team spirit. They don’t play for each other. They’re not playing as a team and they’re not ready to sacrifice themselves to win."

Gee, Guy.  Tell us how you really feel.  Oh wait, he does.  Here’s some more of what he said – this time in regards to Carbonneau’s coaching style: "He is operating like he has four (equal) lines, they play 1-2-3-4 every night.  You just can’t do it. Even if the fourth line was the best one night — they have to play to give the others a chance to relax, but your best players, let them play 25, 28 minutes a game if they can. (Carbonneau) won’t change his style. He should have done that before Christmas, even from the beginning of the season. Give your best players the ice time they need to play well, to get their confidence back, to prove to the organization what they can do."

image: TSN

Could this be good news for the Ottawa Senators?  For their sake, I hope so.  It’s been announced that the New York Islanders have traded Mike Comrie and Chris Campoli to the Sens in exchange for veteran centre Dean McAmmond and the Sharks’ first-round pick in the 2009 Entry Draft (via a different trade). 

The Sens could really use a boost at this point.  They were just getting on a roll when team captain, Daniel Alfredsson fractured his jaw, and things just have been really off-course for the club these past couple seasons. 

I’m hoping Comrie can just pick up where he left off since this is his second time dressing for Ottawa.  Of the situation, the 28-year-old said: ”I played in Ottawa before and I know what’s at stake and what it’s like.  It’s an exciting place to play and a great group of guys and I’m obviously thrilled about the opportunity to play on a great team.”

Mike Comrie is dating Hilary Duff and it’s rumored that his new teammate, Mike Fisher, has been getting cosy with country music star, Carrie Underwood.  Just sayin’…

image: TSN

The New Jersey Devils were defeated at home by the Toronto Maple Leafs in a 6-5 loss yesterday, with Niklas Hagman scoring the game winning goal.

Andy Greene of the NJ Devlis made third star of the night, gaining three assists and Maple Leafs player, Matt Stajan made second star by scoring two goals last night. First star went to NJ left wing, Zach Parise, who scored a goal in the third period. There were some really great goals during this game. Thomas Kaberle’s was amazing!

Here’s the scoring summary:

• TOR: Stajan, M. (04:13 in 2nd), Stajan, M. (PPG, 05:31 in 2nd), Steen, A. (PPG, 07:31 in 2nd), Mayers, J. (09:15 in 3rd), Ponikarovsky, A. (PPG, 10:25 in 3rd)
• NJD: Clarkson, D. (02:32 in 1st), Zubrus, D. (07:04 in 1st), Langenbrunner, J. (09:14 in 2nd), White, C. (13:42 in 2nd), Parise, Z. (11:17 in 3rd)

image credit: TSN

*This post was written by Lauren Croteau, for Jeanne, who is away.

The visiting Ottawa Senators proved to be too hot to handle for the Buffalo Sabres with the Sens skating to an easy 5-2 win.  Jason Spezza (Ottawa) had a great night, scoring two of the five goals.  Here is the scoring summary:

• OTT: Schubert, C. (PPG, 18:06 in 1st), Heatley, D. (PPG, 00:19 in 2nd), Spezza, J. (04:48 in 2nd), Spezza, J. (18:18 in 2nd), Donovan, S. (05:50 in 3rd)
• BUF: MacArthur, C. (PPG, 14:37 in 3rd), Numminen, T. (PPG, 19:28 in 3rd)

The Montreal Canadiens were eliminated from the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs after they lost in Game 5 against the Philadelphia Flyers, which ended in a 6-4 score. Here is the scoring summary:

PHI:Umberger, R. (10:20 in 1st), Richards, M. (14:02 in 2nd), Umberger, R. (15:44 in 2nd), Hartnell, S. (17:00 in 2nd), Upshall, S. (16:56 in 3rd), Knuble, M. (19:10 in 3rd)

MTL:Plekanec, T. (PPG, 04:29 in 1st), Kovalev, A. (11:28 in 1st), Higgins, C. (08:15 in 2nd), Kostitsyn, A. (02:13 in 3rd)

Here are the highlights from the game:

The Philadelphia Flyers won at home in their game against the Montreal Canadiens in a 4-2 win. Here is the scoring summary:

MTL:Plekanec, T. (12:59 in 3rd), Koivu, S. (13:36 in 3rd)

PHI:Umberger, R. (PPG, 07:47 in 2nd), Hartnell, S. (06:47 in 3rd), Briere, D. (PPG, 16:22 in 3rd), Umberger, R. (19:58 in 3rd)

Here is the highlights video:

The Montreal Canadiens were defeated in a 4-2 battle against the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 2 of the first round of the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs.  Here is a score summary:

PHI:Umberger, R. (05:53 in 1st), Carter, J. (PPG, 08:39 in 1st), Briere, D. (13:33 in 2nd), Umberger, R. (17:39 in 3rd)

MTL:Koivu, S. (PPG, 16:18 in 1st), Markov, A. (01:26 in 3rd)

Check out these highlights:

The Pittsburgh Penguins, who will soon be facing off against the Philadelphia Flyers, swept the Ottawa Senators in the first round of the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs.  Here are the best moments from the Penguin vs. Senators series:

The Montreal Canadiens are in a heated battle with the Philadelphia Flyers in round of the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs but before that, they faced the Boston Bruins.  Here is a collection of the best moments from that series.

The Montreal Canadiens visited the Boston Bruins for game 6 of the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs quarterfinals.  I really thought the Canadiens had this series in the bag but the Bruins have come back and forced game 7 (on tonight!).  The Bruins won 5-4.  Here’s the scoring summary:

MTL: Higgins, C. (09:44 in 1st), Plekanec, T. (07:43 in 2nd), Bouillon, F. (10:04 in 3rd), Higgins, C. (15:56 in 3rd)

BOS: Kessel, P. (01:54 in 2nd), Sobotka, V. (03:13 in 3rd), Lucic, M. (12:13 in 3rd), Kessel, P. (15:45 in 3rd), Sturm, M. (17:23 in 3rd)

Here are the highlights: