It was fitting that swarms of hockey fans were milling about the Hockey Hall of Fame yesterday, waiting to catch a glimpse of a quartet of former Montreal Canadiens.
"There were nights when we were playing in Winnipeg, Calgary, Vancouver, Edmonton that there were transplanted Easterners, and when we would score, we would look at each other and say: 'Wait a minute, we're on the road, aren't we?' " former Canadiens defenceman Larry Robinson said. "It was great."
Robinson and three other great Habs from the past -- Yvan Cournoyer, Frank Mahovlich and Serge Savard -- were at the Hall of Fame in Toronto yesterday to help unveil an exhibit that commemorates the Canadiens' 100th anniversary.
Among the items on display are Georges Vezina's skates and stick from his final game in 1925; Jacques Plante's first mask, worn in 1959; the stick Jean Beliveau used to score his 500th goal; and Patrick Roy's stick from Game 5 of the 1986 Stanley Cup final.
The exhibit will be on display for a limited time.
"I still believe that we have probably the best Hall of Fame in all of sports," Robinson said. "This is an extremely exciting event because 100 years is a long time. It's great that the Hall of Fame put a special display up for us."
The unveiling officially kicked off the Hall of Fame weekend, which will culminate on Monday night when Igor Larionov, Glenn Anderson, Ray Scapinello and Ed Chynoweth are inducted.
The Canadiens and Maple Leafs meet tonight at the Air Canada Centre.
Robinson currently is a special assignment coach with the New Jersey Devils, and like everyone else in the hockey world, wonders what life will be like for the Devils with future Hall of Fame goaltender Martin Brodeur recovering from elbow surgery for up to the next four months.
"Well, we'll find out," Robinson said. "Don't take anything away from (Kevin) Weekes. It's unfortunate he plays behind one of the greatest goaltenders. We'll see. If we can ride through this storm, it will make us that much stronger come spring."
Mahovlich is one of a few players who has had the privilege to wear both the Canadiens and Maple Leafs sweaters.
Guess where he enjoyed playing more?
"They really played to win and I think management had a lot to do with it," Mahovlich said of his time in Montreal. "It was run properly. I never felt the way I felt in Toronto in Montreal."
SID THE SILENT
Sidney Crosby missed a perfect opportunity to lay off the vanilla this week.
A few days after Washington Capitals forward Alexander Semin said he didn't see anything special about Crosby, the Pittsburgh Penguins star replied:
"I'd be better off keeping my opinion to myself. He can say what he wants."
Actually, it would have been great to hear Crosby pop off. The NHL's stars should let their mouths do the talking a little more often.
Imagine how the world would be different if a truly influential player, not Sean Avery, had something interesting to say.
Crosby might have taken the high road, but the tensions between the Penguins and the Capitals are rising.
There's bad blood between a pair of Russian stars, Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin and Capitals forward Alexander Ovechkin.
Malkin told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review his relationship with Ovechkin went sour during the summer of 2007 when Ovechkin allegedly socked Malkin's Russian agent at a Moscow bar. Until then, the two were friends.
"Good time, good friends, good talk," Malkin said. "Now, it's so-so."
Ovechkin repeatedly has tried to run Malkin through the boards during games. The only unfortunate part? The Capitals and Penguins don't meet again for more than two months, on Jan. 14 in Pittsburgh.
KNEE-HUNTING SEASON
Darcy Tucker has started to spread his grating wings in the Western Conference.
After a game between the Colorado Avalanche and Minnesota Wild on Thursday night, Wild defenceman Nick Schultz accused Tucker of deliberately trying to take out his knees with a low hit in the third period.
What's worse is Schultz said Tucker told him the hit was coming.
"My concern is at the end of the second (period), he tells me he's going to come and take out my knees, and then he actually does it," Schultz said. "It says everything you need to know about the guy."
Tucker was assessed a clipping minor.
For Schultz, the incident is part of a larger problem.
"We're lacking respect for each other," Schultz said. "It's something we're trying to get away from -- hits to the head and taking out a guy's knees."
Tucker had finished with his media availability after the game and was not around to respond to Schultz's claims.
A low hit is not new to Tucker.
During the 2002 playoffs, he laid waste to the left knee of Michael Peca, who had to have surgery to repair the damage.
Ice chips
If the Florida Panthers think the return of defenceman Bryan McCabe from a back injury will help their power play -- the worst in the NHL -- it's wishful thinking. McCabe became an ordinary defenceman in Toronto once opponents took away his ability to shoot from the point with the man advantage ... Phoenix Coyotes rookie centre Kyle Turris expected to have 100 family and friends in the stands at GM Place in Vancouver on Thursday night. That didn't stop Coyotes coach Wayne Gretzky from making Turris a healthy scratch for the second game in a row ... If Steve Eminger plays for his new team, the Tampa Bay Lightning, against his old team, the Philadelphia Flyers, tonight, he will become the 10th defenceman to suit up for the Lightning this season. No wonder that team is a mess.
