To the pantheon of great Montreal Canadiens please welcome ... Tom D’Agostini, Jay Leach and Tom Pyatt?
Hey, you work with what you have, and the Habs are trying to stay afloat near .500 with a patchwork roster that has leaned on a number of callups for injured starters.
That will put them at something of a disadvantage again Tuesday when they play the near-healthy Maple Leafs at the Bell Centre.
Names such as Brian Gionta, Scott Gomez, Andrei Markov and Andre Kostitsyn have been shelved in recent days.
“We’ve taken a beating lately,” said ex-Leaf defenceman Hal Gill, who himself is trying to make it back from a hairline foot fracture by Tuesday night.
“Hopefully, we’ll be the better for it when it’s over. Our callups have done a great job and added some size.
“It’s a huge hit to lose guys such as Gomez and Gionta.”
The same way the oft-troubled Leafs seem to reach for an extra gear when facing Montreal, expect the same from the home team.
The games between the clubs have been high scoring since last year, at almost a combined eight goals per match.
“I don’t know why the games end up like that,” Leaf winger Lee Stempniak said. “It seems there are lots of power plays.
“One of our goals is to work hard using our feet and force other teams to take penalties against us.”
Gill says the Canadiens were getting comfortable with a new system and coach Jacques Martin before the injuries hit.
“We have a tendancy to be helter skelter sometimes,” Gill said. “But we have the ability to be a fast team.”
Montreal is in a celebratory mood after the Alouettes pulled off a Grey Cup stunner.
Gill, who had been a high school quarterback in the Boston area, has been following the CFL while playing in Toronto and Montreal.
“A lot can happen in the CFL in just a few minutes,” Gill said with a laugh.
“That (finish) was pretty amazing.”
