New rules make sin bin a busy place

[The General]

canada.com

Habs, Thrashers drew 32 penalties; 'Let's just say I hope the adjustments are made quicker than later,' Julien says

So much for speeding up the game.

The Canadiens' first exhibition game showed that there are many adjustments to be made before the players abandon the age-old traditions of clutching and grabbing.

"Let's just say I hope the adjustments are made quicker than later," said Canadiens head coach Claude Julien, who saw his team whistled off for 17 of the 32 penalties in Sunday's 3-2 exhibition win over the Atlanta Thrashers.

The new rules are supposed to bring a quicker pace to the game, but Sunday's contest became bogged down by the steady parade to the penalty box.

"As coaches, we can use drills that help the players break some of the bad habits they might have acquired, but sometimes it's hard to change in the middle of a game," said Julien, whose players get another look at the new rules tonight, when the Tampa Bay Lightning visits the Bell Centre.

The jury is still out on the new rules, but defenceman Mathieu Dandenault offered a concise view when he said: "The rules are good for the forwards and not so good for the defence."

But that doesn't include all defencemen. In the exhibition opener, Dandenault showed that the rules help an offensive-minded defenceman like him. He led several rushes into the offensive zone.

"If I see an opening, I'll take it," said Dandenault, who started his National Hockey League career as a forward before former Detroit Red Wings coach Scotty Bowman converted him into a defenceman.

"When I first made the switch, I used to go all the time, but I learned when to go and when to stay," said Dandenault, who signed with the Canadiens as a free agent last month.

"The important thing is to make sure there is an opening, because you don't want to commit and then turn the puck over and have the play go the other way."

Dandenault said the new rules might offer defencemen more opportunities to join the rush, but it requires teamwork to make sure the team doesn't get burned.

"You have to make sure your defence partner is in a position to cover up and the forwards have to be aware that they're in a position to help out," said Dandenault.

After dressing only eight NHL players in their first exhibition game, Julien will go with a dozen tonight and he'll also use Chris Higgins and Marcel Hossa, two players who have had a taste of NHL action and are well positioned to win jobs for the coming season.

Saku Koivu, Richard Zednik and Jose Theodore will be among the players who will make their first exhibition appearance tonight. Yann Danis, who gave up both Atlanta goals, will start in goal tonight, with Theodore taking over midway through the second period.

Among the hopefuls dressing tonight is 18-year-old Guillaume Latendresse. The betting is that he will wind up back in Drummondville in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, but he has been impressive from the start of rookie camp through the first week of the main camp.

Another player will get a look against the big boys tonight is defenceman Kevin Lavallee, who earned a tryout through the Making the Cut reality show.

"He looked nervous in the rookie camp, but we saw some good things from him in the main camp," Julien said of Lavallee, who has played the past four seasons in Germany.

"He's gone from someone who's here as a favour (to the producers of the show) to a player who can add some depth to our organization."

After tonight's game, the Canadiens will play two games against the Maple Leafs, Thursday in Toronto and Saturday at the Bell Centre.

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win

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Means more goals