It has been a busy 48 hours of roster trimming for the Montreal Canadiens. On Sunday, sparingly used forward Aaron Palushaj was sent back to the Canadiens’ AHL affiliate Hamilton Bulldogs. Only 24 hours later on Monday, it was announced that the Canadiens also re-assigned another spare part in Andreas Engqvist also to Hamilton.

PHOTO CREDIT - Canadiens.com

Whitby - December 6, 2011 - It has been a busy 48 hours of roster trimming for the Montreal Canadiens. On Sunday, sparingly used forward Aaron Palushaj was sent back to the Canadiens’ AHL affiliate Hamilton Bulldogs. Only 24 hours later on Monday, it was announced that the Canadiens also re-assigned another spare part in Andreas Engqvist also to Hamilton.

I would be dreaming to believe that Canadiens’ senior management had read my game summary recap on Saturday evening when I suggested the Canadiens should give recent call up, Louis Leblanc, a ten-game tryout with the big club instead of sending Leblanc back to Hamilton once Max Pacioretty had served his three-game suspension, but I would be a fool to believe in such luck.

I also suggested that Palushaj be sent back to Hamilton instead of Leblanc due to the fact that the Habs’ Quebec native son (Leblanc) has more offensive upside than what Palushaj has shown to date.

Head Coach Jacques Martin has given Leblanc high praise for his impressive play over the past three games on the Canadiens’ most recent Western road trip. Leblanc has shown a strong work ethic and has been effective in his defensive play.

Now, I am not dreaming in technicolor thinking that Leblanc is here to stay for the remainder of the NHL regular season, however he appears to be a marked upgrade from that of either Andreas Engqvist or Aaron Palushaj.

The Hamilton Bulldogs will definitely benefit from the return of both skaters and the big club should become slightly stronger, deeper and bigger-in-size up-front going forward.

Canadiens’ fans will be watching and wishing Louis Leblanc all the best in his first NHL home ice appearance at the Bell Centre on Tuesday night against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

General Manager Pierre Gauthier has announced that defenseman Andrei Markov has had successful arthroscopic knee surgery on Monday. Dr. James Andrews performed the operation in Florida.

Gauthier has revised Markov’s rehabilitation to last between four-to-six weeks and not three weeks as was first reported a few days ago. Perhaps he will be ready for the start of the 2011-12 NHL playoff season.

There I go dreaming once again.

Until next time, play every game as if it is your last one…