The Fifth Liners

The Montreal Canadiens 3-1 win over the New York Rangers tonight at the Bell Centre was very impressive one and aided by the excellent saves of Carey Price in net, they continue to prove they are worth a shot at the cup this year! But it was this excellent play between Tomas Plekanec and Max Pacioretty in the first period that caught everyone's attention. You are unlikely to see a better example of passing play between teammates this season.

There will be no player wearing the 'C' emblem next year at the Bell Centre as today it was announced that for the first time since 2009-10, the Montreal Canadiens will opt to have no official Captain on the ice and will instead go with four alternate captains instead. Andrei Markov , Max Pacioretty , Tomas Plekanec and P.K Subban have been chosen to fill the various leadership roles next season. Ever since former captain Brian Gionta opted to join the Buffalo Sabres as a free agent, the Habs franchise has been slow to appoint a successor, Subban appeared to be the main candidate, but it appears that he will not be the ruler on ice just yet. But what is the effect of selecting four different leaders? Well it does means that the Habs have a new flux of leadership on ice which could create better harmony on ice which will be needed after the problems that Subban's contract negotiation caused. However, with no out and out figure to guide them, it could cause issues wit...

This season's Stanley Cup playoffs have been one of the best and most unpredictable of years gone by, the Boston Bruins; almost everyone's favourite for the cup have been dumped out by the Habs. The Rangers, riding high under the stewardship of Alain Vigneault have put out the Pittsburgh Penguins. Last night also saw another sting in the tail, as the LA Kings put an end to an impressive Anaheim Ducks with a 6-2 win at the Honda Center! We've now arrived at the conference finals. During the regular season you never would have predicted these line ups. But who will triumph here? Western Conference Chicago Blackhawks v LA Kings The Blackhawks have done well to salvage some pride after an indifferent regular season and players such as Jonathan Toews, Marion Hossa and Brent Seabrook have impressed during this time. I have no doubts they will fight to the bitter end to bring the cup by to Illinois for a second year running. They are not as dominant as last season, but th...