New Puck Daddy: Bridgestone discontinues sponsorship with Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award http://t.co/aWNA9cvl5N — Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) August 19, 2015

#Habs rookie camp info: Medicals in Brossard Sept. 10, then all leave immediately for London, Ont., and rookie tourney w/ TOR, OTT, PITT 1/4 — Dave Stubbs (@Dave_Stubbs) August 21, 2015

#Habs rookies in London, Ont., tourney Sept 11-13, bus back to Montreal, possible scrimmages in Brossard Sept. 15-16, to be confirmed 2/4 — Dave Stubbs (@Dave_Stubbs) August 21, 2015

#Habs annual golf tourney to benefit @CHCFondation at Laval-sur-le-Lac Sept. 10, medicals Sept. 17, on ice at Brossard begins Sept. 18 3/4 — Dave Stubbs (@Dave_Stubbs) August 21, 2015

Alex Galchenyuk. Summer training 2015. Miami ,Florida. Fast Twitch. Video #7 #BeastMode https://t.co/PyicfSj2Qg — Anna Galchenyuk (@Agalchy) August 17, 2015

1) Bridgestone quietly announced last week that they will no longer be sponsoring the Mark Messier Leadership Award.How does this relate to the Habs? Because it is time for the NHL to right a wrong and create a proper award to honour the late Montreal Canadiens great, Monsieur Jean Beliveau.2) Personally, I always believed that it was ludicrous that the NHL decided to create an award for Messier before honoring the games greatest and most deserving players such as Beliveau, Wayne Gretzky, Gordie Howe, Bobby Orr, Mario Lemieux... It appeared as a thinly veiled effort by the league to connect to younger fans by appearing hip and with it.3) Creating a leadership award was a good idea by the NHL. However, naming the award after Messier, mostly because he was and remains to be the only person to captain two different teams to a Stanley Cup win does not make him the ultimate leader. Ask Vancouver Canucks fans and former players their opinion of Messier while he was a Canuck. A great leader unites the locker room and shows up every night. While Messier did that as an Oiler and Ranger, he certainly did not perform to his capabilities on and off the ice in Vancouver.4) Beliveau may not have captained two different teams toward winning the Stanley Cup, but that is simply because he played his whole NHL career with the Canadiens. It was a different era, star players were not traded the same way that they are today. If Beliveau had gone on to play with any other team he would have instantly made them a Stanley Cup contender.5) Beliveau won the Stanley Cup 10 times as a player and was the Canadiens captain for 10 years. His name appears on the Stanley Cup more than anyone else, a total of 17 times as he was a Canadiens executive for the last 7 Cup wins. Beliveau had the ability to unite teammates, fans and even a country. He could have been Canada’s Governor-General, a symbolic post but an appointment that very few would have had a problem with. I have never heard one true negative about Jean Beliveau, can you say the same about Mark Messier?6) There is no doubt that Messier was an excellent player, captain and leader. However, honoring his accomplishments so soon after his career ended was a blatant disregard towards the other greats. Beliveau deserved that honour. His accomplishments are so great and numerous. It is time for the NHL to stand up and do the right thing.7) Hiring Craig Ramsay as a Coaching Consultant was a great move by Bergevin and the Canadiens management team. Ramsay was very familiar to Assistant GM’s Larry Carriere and Rick Dudley from their playing days in Buffalo. Dudley and Ramsay had also worked together in Ottawa and Atlanta. While the Habs were rumoured to be interested in Jacques Lemaire as a coaching consultant, it was obvious that the Canadiens greatest deficiencies are on offense and the powerplay.8) While Ramsay was not an offensive player in his NHL career, he became a very strong assistant coach, specializing on working with the offence and powerplay. I highly recommend reading this NHL.com article in which Ramsay breaks down the struggling St. Louis Blues powerplay during the 2014-2015 season:9) A few quotes/highlights from the article:"They're relying on a single-concept power play, which is get it to the point and shoot it, or get it from the point to the half-wall and shoot it," Ramsay said. "So they're looking at 45- and 50-foot shots and hoping for some miracle shot, but I don't see them with that guy, that big-time shooter.”"You don't have to break people, but you have to show them something else," he said. "They just refuse. They want to use that high-shot, tip-rebound game. They can't keep doing the same thing and expect it to suddenly be better."10) Those quotes could very well sum up the Montreal Canadiens power play last season, even though they are about the Blues. The Habs power play was always the same. The same strategies, the same players, the same movement (or lack thereof). Ramsay has proven to be an astute observer of the game and it will be exciting to see what changes he is able to implement.11) Speaking of which, the greatest question is how Canadiens head coach Michel Therrien will react to management bringing in Ramsay. This is not one of his buddies that he brought in on staff. Personally, I’m going to be positive on this for now. Therrien 2.0 has matured (compared to his 1st stint in Montreal) and he seemingly has a very good relationship with Bergevin. As Ramsay is a coaching consultant and a veteran, Therrien should not feel threatened by his presence. Perhaps Therrien’s greatest challenge will be keeping all of his coaches and players on the same page.12) There has been a never ending debate regarding the vacant captaincy of the Montreal Canadiens. While I believe that the Canadiens will go with the status quo of 4 assistant captains once again this season, there is a greater sense that eventually the reigns will be handed over to Max Pacioretty and he will become the next captain of the Habs.13) Check out the comments made by Nathan Beaulieu in this interview with on the the Habs website. Beaulieu Interview “ I kept in contact with a lot of guys over the summer. Max Pacioretty has been huge for me. We’ve had a lot of conversations. He’s a very modest and very honest person. He’s always there if you want to talk. He might not be that much older than me, but I really look up to him and his maturity. He’s already dominated in the league at such a young age,” praised Beaulieu, who has long been impressed by Pacioretty’s ability to overcome any and all obstacles in his way. “He’s gone through some of the toughest adversity you could ever have gone through. Just look at all the things that have happened in his career. He’s been through it all. That makes him an easy guy to talk to about different situations.”14) While I love Subban, his personality and his ability to lead on the ice, Beaulieu’s quote regarding Pacioretty screams captain material to me. Pacioretty’s maturity is incredible. The adversity that he has battled through shows tremendous strength. He has the hunger to constantly improve all facets of his game. He is there for his teammates, on and off the ice. When Beliveau passed away last year, we heard countless examples of how he was there for his teammates. Beaulieu’s small comments actually speak volumes as to Pacioretty’s character.15) The other great thing from Beaulieu’s interview, is learning how he took the initiative to create a hockey tournament benefitting a girl he knew who became partially paralyzed due to a car accident. The tournament raised over $60,000 that will go towards Megan’s medical expenses. Just the week beforehand Beaulieu was in Vancouver participating in Brendan Gallagher’s Softball Tournament raising funds for the Shriner’s. And before that Beaulieu was was at the Saint John Sea Dogs Alumni charity game, giving back to his former Junior team. Helping out others is obviously important to him and it is great to see him maturing off the ice as well as on it. Expectations are high for Beaulieu coming into training camp…16) The roster for the Canadiens rookie camp has still not been announced. However, thanks to Montreal Gazette Journalist and Canadiens historian/archivist Dave Stubbs, we at least know a bit of the training camp schedule:17) It has been a number of years since the Canadiens participated in a rookies camp tournament. Excitement is actually pretty high for it as it will give hockey-starved fans an early glimpse of 1st round picks Nikita Scherbak, Michael McCarron and this year’s pick defenceman Noah Juulsen. Scherbak and Juulsen were held out of the development camp scrimmages so fans are really looking forward to seeing how they perform.18) While many assume that Greg Pateryn will be the Canadiens 7th defenceman this season, he is working hard to make sure he stays up with the big club for the full year. His contracts over the next three years are very cap-friendly and he would surely be claimed if he were to be put on waivers. Said Pateryn:“ I’ve really been focusing on improving my foot speed, my quickness, my transition and my lateral movement… When it comes to physicality, any chance I have to finish my check I’m going to keep doing it. That’s my job. But, if I go out and start looking for guys to hit – and I take myself out of position – I can really get into trouble. I need to find that balance. I’m not necessarily going to try to be a more physical player, but when the opportunity is there, I have to take advantage of my size night in and night out.”Pateryn is acutely aware on the facets of the game in which he must continue to improve upon. He also mentioned being mentored by Tom Gilbert and Mike Weaver and how they were key in the continued development of his game.19) Mike Weaver has still not signed with any NHL teams for the upcoming season. Does he want to retire or will he accept a try-out, similar to what Sergei Gonchar was given in Pittsburgh? The Weaver’s loved living in Montreal and his wife Rihanna will star on W Network’s “Hockey Wives” this season. Would Weaver be interested in joining the Canadiens management team this season? Either is a role similar to what Patrice Brisebois did or perhaps another coaching consultant? Pateryn is not the first young player to mention Weaver as a positive influence…20) Thinking out loud, but isn’t it curious that the Habs younger defencemen have credited veterans with the improvement in their game, rather than assistant coach J.J. Daigneault? Players seem to have taken the greatest strides when veterans like Weaver and Gonchar decidedly took the youngsters under their wings.21) The Canadiens penalty kill was not very good during the 2015 Playoffs. While the Habs were tied for 7th on the PK during the regular season, during the postseason they fell to 15 of 16. Was this due to Andrei Markov’s poor playoff performance? Did the Canadiens fail to adapt to their opponents strategies? While the Canadiens have Carey Price in net, he can’t do it all, especially when they are down a man.22) Have you seen the videos of Alex Galchenyuk’s Summer workouts, posted by his sister?Galchenyuk looks like he took his training very seriously this off-season and is looking to be stronger and faster. I’m looking forward to the testing part of training camp and seeing Galchenyuk’s improvement and results.23) If Galchenyuk is stronger and faster, his confidence will only continue to grow. I think it is more and more likely that we will see him start training camp as a center and the Habs brass will see how he performs and who he has chemistry with...24) Just 20 days now until the Canadiens Main Training Camp opens up and the players hit the ice!!!! What story-line are you most excited about?PS: Sorry for the uncharacteristic long delay between blogs from me, been a bit hectic but should be back to normal now :)Thanks and follow along!