Tremblant trip is last chance for prospects

[Habsfan84]

Cristobal Huet will be starting the season as the Canadiens' No. 1 goaltender, but that No. 1 might be followed by an asterisk.
As the Canadiens trimmed their roster to 26 bodies yesterday, rookie goaltender Carey Price was still in contention and general manager Bob Gainey suggested there was a scenario that would see Price start the season with the Canadiens.
Head coach Guy Carbonneau has said Price won't stay in Montreal unless he's No. 1, and also has indicated that Huet is No. 1.

But could there be room for Price as No. 1A? Gainey said yesterday that he didn't want either of his young goaltenders - 20-year-old Price or Jaroslav Halak, 22 - to be "dormant." He wants both to see action this winter and the key could be how Carbonneau divides the work with the NHL club.
Gainey noted that while New Jersey star Martin Brodeur makes 70 starts in New Jersey each year and his backup plays 12 games, there are other ways of dividing the work. That could mean 45-50 starts for Huet and 30-35 for either Price or Halak.
Halak, who was the No. 1 goaltender in the AHL last season, still has the experience edge over Price, but I'm confident we'll see all three goaltenders in Montreal at some point this season.
There are one or two other decisions to be made before the Canadiens open the season in Carolina next week.
There are nine defencemen in camp and at least one must go. But the Canadiens could delay a decision depending on Patrice Brisebois's health. He has yet to practice because of a groin injury and, if he isn't up to speed by the end of the week, he could start the season on the injured list.
Rookie Ryan O'Byrne is still in the mix, but logic would dictate that he has to be among the top six defencemen if he's going to stay up because he needs ice time if he's going to improve.
Andrei Kostitsyn and Maxim Lapierre, who were called up last season, are here to stay and so is Kyle Chipchura. There is currently an extra forward and that means that Mikhail Grabovski might have to wait for his chance.
Bulldogs waivering: Among the players sent to Hamilton yesterday, there are nine players who will be anxiously viewing the waiver wire. For players like Yann Danis, Corey Locke, Duncan Milroy and Jean-Philippe Côté, a call from another team might be the only thing to keep them from being labelled career minor-leaguers.
Danis, Côté and Jonathan Ferland have had a taste of the NHL, but have slipped behind younger prospects in the Canadiens' depth chart.
The other players who are subject to waivers are Cory Urquhart, Andrew Archer, Martin Biron and Jamie Rivers.
Johnson surfaces in St. Louis: I'm not the only person who was surprised that Mike Johnson didn't attract attention on the free-agent market. I thought he played well on the Canadiens' checking line last season and brought some veteran leadership to the dressing room.
The Toronto native finally resurfaced last week in the St. Louis training camp. That's the good news.
The bad news is the veteran right winger doesn't have a contract. After a summer of calling teams, the best he could do was a tryout with the Blues. He played about 11 minutes and was minus-1 in an exhibition game on Sept. 18, but did not dress for two games on the weekend. Johnson made $1.9 million with the Canadiens last season but, if he finds employment this season, he'll probably have to accept a deal in the $650,000 range.

Canadiens thin out training camp corps
A look at who made the CH grade and who didn't as the Canadiens pared their training camp roster yesterday:

Staying
Goaltenders: Jaroslav Halak, Cristobal Huet, Carey Price.
Defencemen: Francis Bouillon, Patrice Brisebois, Mathieu
Dandenault, Josh Gorges, Roman Hamrlik, Mike Komisarek, Andrei Markov, Ryan O'Byrne, Mark
Streit.
Forwards: Steve Bégin, Kyle Chipchura, Mikhail Grabovski, Christopher Higgins, Saku Koivu, Andrei Kostitsyn, Tom Kostopoulos, Alex Kovalev, Maxim Lapierre, Guillaume Latendresse,
Garth Murray, Tomas Plekanec, Michael Ryder, Bryan Smolinski.
Going
Goaltenders: Yann Danis (must clear waivers), Loïc Lacasse, Cédrick Desjardins.
Defencemen: Andrew Archer (must clear waivers), Mathieu Biron (must clear waivers),
Mathieu Carle, J.P. Côté (must clear waivers), Marvin Degon,
Jon Gleed, Jamie Rivers (must clear waivers), Pavel Valentenko.
Forwards: Mathieu Aubin, Ajay Baines, Thomas Beauregard,
Jimmy Bonneau, Matt D'Agostini, David Desharnais, Jonathan Ferland (must clear waivers), Sergei
Kostitsyn, Janne Lahti, Francis Lemieux, Corey Locke (must clear waivers), Eric Manlow, Ben Maxwell (to junior), Duncan Milroy (must clear waivers), Ryan Russell, Gregory Stewart, Cory Urquhart (must clear waivers), Ryan White (to junior).