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The Canadiens selected Tomas Plekanec in the third round (71st overall) at the 2001 NHL Draft in Sunrise, Fla. — two weeks after current teammate Victor Mete celebrated his third birthday.

The Canadiens had two first-round picks that year, selecting defenceman Mike Komisarek seventh overall and taking forward Alexander Perezhogin with the 25th pick. In the second round, the Canadiens took forward Duncan Milroy 37th overall.

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Plekanec spoke no English when the Canadiens drafted him and was coming off a season in which he posted 9-9-18 totals in 47 games with Kladno in the Czech Republic. He has turned out to be a fantastic pick by the Canadiens, who are often criticized for their lack of success at the draft.

On Saturday, Plekanec will suit up for his 964th game with the Canadiens when the Boston Bruins visit the Bell Centre(7 p.m., CBC, SN, TVA Sports, TSN Radio 690). Only eight men have played more games with the Canadiens: Henri Richard (1,256), Larry Robinson (1,202), Bob Gainey (1,160), Jean Béliveau (1,125), Claude Provost (1,005), Andrei Markov (990), Maurice Richard (978) and Yvan Cournoyer (968). Plekanec recently passed Guy Lafleur, who ranks 10th with 961 games in bleu-blanc-rouge.