He stays, like it or not

[Habsfan84]

Tomas Plekanec came out of sickbay last night and that meant Mikhail Grabovski returned to the press box as a healthy scratch.
And that's where he's likely to spend most of his time until
the end of the regular season. Grabovski went AWOL last week in Phoenix because he wasn't in the lineup and, after smoothing things over with general manager Bob Gainey and head coach Guy Carbonneau, he indicated he would prefer to return to the Hamilton Bulldogs to get some ice time.

It seemed like a good idea at the time, but Gainey had to point out to the player he didn't have any choice but to stay in Montreal.
"We have to put in a list of players who are eligible to finish the season in Hamilton and play in the playoffs and he's not on the list," Gainey said. "When he talked about going back down there, the list had already been submitted and he wasn't aware of the rule."
Last season, the Canadiens put Maxim Lapierre on the list and they could have put Ryan O'Byrne, Grabovski and Sergei Kostitsyn on the list this season. But Gainey felt none of the players would benefit from further AHL experience.
What's the consolation for Grabovski? He'll be paid an NHL salary for the remainder of the season. His NHL salary is $700,000; he makes a fraction of that when he's in Hamilton.
Grabovski replaced Plekanec on Sunday in Anaheim and picked up an assist on the Canadiens' only goal. Plekanec, who has been battling the flu, skipped the morning skate yesterday but was cleared for action after the pregame warmup.
Other healthy scratches last night were Patrice Brisebois, Steve Bégin and Mathieu Dandenault. Brisebois had been dressed for the two previous games, but O'Byrne returned to the lineup last night.
Scoring for charity: Ford dealers in Quebec have teamed up with the Canadiens to help the Club petits déjeuners.
The dealers are contributing $2,000 for each goal the Canadiens score between March 1 and the completion of the regular season on April 5.
With the four goals last night, the Canadiens have scored 20 goals since March 1, representing a contribution of $40,000. The Canadiens have scored 227 goals this season, tops in the NHL.
The club provides nutritional breakfasts to 15,000 youngsters across Quebec. Last year, the club served 2.1 million breakfasts.
Getting in the way: Mike Komisarek, who is the Canadiens' nominee for the Masterton Memorial Trophy, continues to throw his body in harm's way. The NHL leader in blocked shots, Komisarek had seven blocks in the game last night.
Turnabout is fair play: The Devils' only win against the Canadiens this season was back on Nov. 20 in New Jersey. The score then was 4-0, the same score as last night, but with a different winner.