When National Hockey League players see the schedule for the first time, they circle a few games.

View Large

Habs' Scott Gomez, who missed four games to injury, practises yesterday. He's expected to play against the Leafs tonight.

Photograph by : PHIL CARPENTER, THE GAZETTE

ARTICLE TOOLS

• Printer friendly
• E-mail

Font:

• *
• *
• *
• *

But Mike Cammalleri said the Canadiens looked at the 2009-10 posting and they marked the month of December.

"I think this month is the one that stood out for us because we have so many games coming up," Cammalleri said after an intense practice in Brossard yesterday in preparation for the December curtain-raiser tonight against the Toronto Maple Leafs (7:30 p.m., TSN, RDS, CJAD Radio-800).

Tonight's game at the Bell Centre is the first of 17 games this month and and if that seems like a heavy load, consider that 11 of those games are on the road and all but one of them are against Eastern Conference rivals. The exception is the Dec. 17 home game against Minnesota that will mark Guillaume Latendresse Homecoming night.

In keeping with the play-'em-one-game-at-a-time philosophy, Cammalleri said the team isn't looking past tonight.

"We're playing the Leafs and that's always special," said Cammalleri, who grew up in the Toronto area.

The Canadiens are 2-0 against the Leafs but head coach Jacques Martin noted that one win came in overtime and one was in a shootout.

Toronto has added a healthy Phil Kessel and had a two-game win streak before losing to Buffalo last night.

The rest of the week features a Thursday trip to Buffalo and a rare Friday night home game against the Boston Bruins. It will mark the 100th anniversary of the Canadiens' first game and will be preceded by the pomp that has become a Canadiens trademark.

"This week is obviously a special week for the organization and everybody who is a Habs fan and for everyone around the team," Cammalleri said.

"It celebrates the centennial and it's pretty special," Cammalleri said.

But when he was asked what memories he would take away from this week, he replied: "I'd like to look back and say we won three big games."

The Canadiens' chances of winning any games improved yesterday when Scott Gomez and Matt D'Agostini practised with their teammates.

D'Agostini, who has been out since he suffered a concussion and a knee injury on Oct. 30 in Chicago, has been cleared to play, while Gomez, who has missed four games with a lower-body injury, was expecting the green light yesterday afternoon.

"It's nice to have Scott back," Cammalleri said. "That's the exciting part for us now. We've been able to hold the fort a bit and we're excited to be getting guys back now."

While the Canadiens had more than $30 million in talent on the shelf last week, they go into tonight's game only two points behind the eighth-place Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference standings.

Gomez has been the centre on the top line since the beginning of the season, but he's penciled in tonight on the No. 2 unit with Max Pacioretty and Travis Moen. That's at least partly a recognition of the fine job Tomas Plekanec is doing and he'll remain between Cammalleri and Sergei Kostitsyn.

D'Agostini will play right wing on a line with Glen Metropolit and Kyle Chipchura.

The return of Gomez and D'Agostini is the most tangible sign the Canadiens are getting healthier, but there's more help on the way as the Canadiens prepare for the busy month ahead. Hal Gill (broken foot) has been cleared for action and could be in the lineup by the end of the week. Andrei Kostitsyn (lower body), Andrei Markov (torn tendons) and Benoit Pouliot all skated yesterday under the watchful eye of athletic trainer Graham Rynbend.

phickey@thgazette.canwest.com