Montreal, H3B5E8

Not quite as catchy as Beverly Hills, 90210 is it? But these days, life is a soap opera in Montreal as Sergei Kostitsyn plays with our hearts. Will he stay or will he go? Will older brother Andrei stand by his brother, or his team? Will Canadiens players ever learn how to spell Cammalleri? Is Scotty too Hottie? All this and more this week on Montreal, H3B5E8!

I wonder if Scott Gomez ever realized that his brief stint on One Life to Live would be training for an NHL season. The latest news is that after once again leaving the Hamilton Bulldogs and being suspended by the Canadiens, forward Sergei Kostitsyn is once again back in Hamilton after a one-on-one chat with Habs GM Bob Gainey. All of this within a 24-hour time span. Hopefully Bob has settled Sergei down for the foreseeable future, although no one knows what was said in the meeting, including his agent Don Meehan who told reporters that Sergei is still contemplating a move to Russia to play with a KHL team.

I have a small amount of sympathy for Sergei – he is too talented to play in the AHL. Every time he has been demoted, he has played at a point-per-game pace for Hamilton. I do think he should be playing in Montreal. Max Pacioretty has not been good but not great and he would benefit more from the time in Hamilton. But Kostitsyn he has to be willing to buy into Jacques Martin’s system. If you’re a hockey player in the NHL, you play for a coach and you do what the coach tells you to do, whether you like it or not. You signed a contract, you honour it to the best of your ability and you don’t complain. Its survival of the fittest in the NHL, and if you can’t adapt, like Sergei demonstrated in the preseason, you will find yourself on the outside looking in. So for Sergei’s sake, I hope he figures this out before he becomes the next Alexander Perezhogin. Who? you might ask. Exactly, I will reply.

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The Canadiens welcome John Tavares and the New York Islanders to the Bell Centre tonight. Glen Metropolit is expected back in the lineup which will be a welcome addition for the Habs. He’ll likely be replacing Guillaume Latendresse, who is questionable for the game after leaving practice with a lower body injury. If Latendresse does play, expect either Chipchura or Laraque to sit out.

Jaroslav Halak has been announced as the starter, his second start in a row after he was very good in a 2-1 shootout win over the Thrashers on Tuesday. Although the Canadiens have not been shy about declaring Price as the undisputed #1 in Montreal, I think Martin is making the right decision by sticking with the goalie that is winning. Although Price saved the day in the Habs early games, his play has not been as good as the season has worn on and Halak deserves his chance to show that he can win games.

Mathieu Morin is a lifetime Habs fan, and will be providing in depth coverage on the team throughout the season. In his spare time, he is the author and photographer behind the photoblog View Found, and the commissioner of the CMHL, a simulated fantasy hockey league.

The above photograph of Sergei Kostitsyn was taken at Ricoh Coliseum the last time he was sent down to the Hamilton Bulldogs, a 2008-2009 16-game stint in which he recorded 13 points.