2008–09 Montreal Canadiens Season
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2008–09 Montreal Canadiens Season
The 2008–09 Montreal Canadiens season was their 100th season and 92nd in the National Hockey League (NHL). While it was widely believed that the 2008–09 season marked the team's centennial, this would not be until the following season with the Canadiens' 100th anniversary taking place on December 4, 2009. The 2008 NHL entry draft took place in Ottawa on June 20–21, followed by the free agency period which began on July 1. Off-season Throughout much of the off-season, Canadiens' general manager Bob Gainey pursued a possible contract with unrestricted free agent Mats Sundin, formerly the captain of Montreal's historic rival, the Toronto Maple Leafs. The signing efforts started prior to July 1, 2008, and continued into August, as Gainey was still actively pursuing Sundin. This, despite the fact that Sundin's agent mentioned his player "wasn't close" to making a decision on his future, and was strongly considering retirement. The chase ended with the acquisition of forwar ...
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Eastern Conference (NHL)
The Eastern Conference () is one of two conferences in the National Hockey League (NHL) used to divide teams. Its counterpart is the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. History Originally named the Prince of Wales Conference (or Wales Conference for short), it was created in 1974–75 NHL season, 1974 when the NHL realigned its teams into two conferences and four divisions. Because the new conferences and divisions had little to do with North American geography, geographical references were removed. The Prince of Wales Trophy dates back to 1925, when it was donated to the League by the Prince of Wales, who later became Edward VIII, King Edward VIII and then the Duke of Windsor. It was originally given to the NHL's playoff champion. (Until 1926, the Stanley Cup was presented to the winner of a post-season playoff between the NHL and Western Canada Hockey League, Western Hockey League champions.) Since 1926–27 NHL season, 1926–27, the Stanley Cup has gone to the NHL' ...
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Bleacher Report
''Bleacher Report'' (often abbreviated as B/R) is a website that focuses on sports and sports culture. Its headquarters are in San Francisco, with offices in New York City and London. ''Bleacher Report'' was acquired by Time Warner's Turner Broadcasting System in August 2012 for $175 million. In March 2018, ''Bleacher Report'' and Turner Sports launched B/R Live, a subscription video streaming service featuring live broadcasts of several major sports events, although the service was discontinued in 2021 and merged with the company's mobile app. ''Bleacher Report'' owns multi-media social network House of Highlights, and its branding was used for Max's sports coverage prior to 2025. History Founding: 2005–2011 ''Bleacher Report'' was formed in 2005 by Sam Erez, Harry Ryan, Bryan Goldberg, and Dave Nemetz—four friends and sports fans who were high school classmates at Menlo School in Atherton, California. Inspired by Ken Griffey Jr., they wanted to start writing ...
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Calgary Flames
The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. They are the third major professional ice hockey team to represent the city of Calgary, following the Calgary Tigers (1921–1927) and Calgary Cowboys (1975–1977). The Flames are one of two NHL franchises based in Alberta, the other being the Edmonton Oilers. The cities' proximity has led to a rivalry known as the "Battle of Alberta (NHL), Battle of Alberta". The team was founded in 1972–73 NHL season, 1972 in Atlanta as the Atlanta Flames before Relocation of professional sports teams, relocating to Calgary in 1980–81 NHL season, 1980. The Flames played their first three seasons in Calgary at the Stampede Corral before moving into the Scotiabank Saddledome (originally the Olympic Saddledome) in 1983–84 NHL season, 1983. In 1985–86 ...
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CBC Sports
CBC Sports is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for English-language sports broadcasting. The CBC's sports programming primarily airs on CBC Television, CBCSports.ca, and CBC Radio One. (The CBC's French-language Radio-Canada network also produces sports programming.) Once the country's dominant sports broadcaster, in recent years it has lost many of its past signature properties – such as the Canadian Football League, Toronto Blue Jays baseball, Canadian Curling Association championships, the Olympic Games for a period, the FIFA World Cup, and the National Hockey League – to the cable specialty channels TSN and Sportsnet. The CBC has maintained partial rights to the NHL as part of a sub-licensing agreement with current rightsholder Rogers Media (maintaining the Saturday-night ''Hockey Night in Canada'' and playoff coverage), although this coverage is produced by Sportsnet, as opposed to the CBC itself as was the case in the past. As a re ...
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Chicago Blackhawks
The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The Blackhawks have won six Stanley Cup championships since their founding in 1926. They are one of the "Original Six" NHL teams, along with the Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins, and New York Rangers. Since the 1994–95 NHL season, 1994-95 season, the team has played its home games at the United Center, which they share with the National Basketball Association's Chicago Bulls; both teams previously played at the now-demolished Chicago Stadium. The Blackhawks' original owner was Frederic McLaughlin, a "hands-on" owner who fired many coaches during his ownership and led the team to win two Stanley Cup titles in 1934 Stanley Cu ...
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Robert Lang (ice Hockey)
Robert Lang (born December 19, 1970) is a Czech Republic, Czech former professional ice hockey player. Selected by the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League (NHL) in the fifth round, 133rd overall, of the 1990 NHL Entry Draft, Lang made his NHL debut with the team in the 1992–93 NHL season, 1992–93 season. He has also played for the Boston Bruins, Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals, Detroit Red Wings, Chicago Blackhawks, Montreal Canadiens and Phoenix Coyotes, with whom he retired with in 2010. Internationally, Lang played for both the Czechoslovakia men's national ice hockey team, Czechoslovak and Czech Republic men's national ice hockey team, Czech national teams, competing in four Winter Olympics (winning gold in Ice hockey at the 1998 Winter Olympics – Men's tournament, 1998), three Ice Hockey World Championships and two World Cup of Hockey, World Cups. Playing career A native of Czechoslovakia, Lang began his career in the Czechoslovak Extraliga as an e ...
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The Sports Network
The Sports Network (TSN) is a Canadian English language discretionary sports specialty channel owned by the Sports Network Inc., a subsidiary of CTV Specialty Television, which is also a joint venture of Bell Media (70%), also owned by BCE Inc. and ESPN Inc. (30%), itself a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Company. TSN was established by the Labatt Brewing Company in 1984 as part of the first group of Canadian specialty cable channels. In 2013, TSN was the largest specialty channel in Canada in terms of gross revenue, with a total of in revenue. TSN broadcasts primarily from studio facilities located at Bell Media Agincourt in the Scarborough neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario. Stewart Johnston currently serves as president of TSN, a position he has held since 2010. TSN's networks focus on sports-related programming, including live and recorded event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming. History Early history Licensed by the Canadian Radio-televisi ...
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Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. The Maple Leafs compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The club is owned by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, a company that owns several professional sports teams in the city, while the team's broadcasting rights are split between BCE Inc. and Rogers Communications. The club was founded as the Toronto Arenas for the inaugural 1917–18 NHL season and rebranded to the Toronto St. Patricks after two years. Conn Smythe renamed the franchise to the Maple Leafs after buying it in 1927. The team played home games at the Mutual Street Arena for its first 14 seasons before moving to Maple Leaf Gardens in 1931. Since February 1999, the Maple Leafs play at Scotiabank Arena, which was formerly known as ''Air Canada Centre.'' Toronto has won more S ...
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National Hockey League Rivalries
Rivalries in the National Hockey League have occurred between many teams and cities. List of sports rivalries, Rivalries have arisen among National Hockey League, NHL teams for many different reasons, the primary ones including geographic proximity, familiarity with opponents, on-ice incidents, and cultural, linguistic, or national pride. The importance of these various factors has varied widely throughout the history of the league. Early history During the earliest days of the NHL, the league was limited strictly to Central Canada, and all cities in the league were in close proximity, making for bitter rivalries all around. In addition, Montreal had two teams representing its English-French divide. The "French" Montreal Canadiens, Canadiens battled the "English" Montreal Wanderers, Wanderers (and later the Montreal Maroons, Maroons). Rivalries also existed with other leagues, such as the Pacific Coast Hockey Association. It was not until 1926 that the NHL took sole ownership of t ...
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Captain (ice Hockey)
In ice hockey, the captain is the player designated by a team as the only person authorized to speak with the game officials regarding rule interpretations when the captain is on the ice. At most levels of play each team must designate one captain and a number of alternate captains (usually two or three) who speak to the officials when the captain is on the bench. Captains wear a "C" on their sweaters, while alternate captains wear an "A". Officially captains have no other responsibility or authority, although they may, depending on the league or individual team, have various informal duties, such as participation in pre-game ceremonies or other events outside the game. As with most team sports that designate captains, the captain is usually a well-respected player and a team leader. Responsibilities and importance According to International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) and National Hockey League (NHL) rules, the only player allowed to speak with referees about rule interpret ...
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Mats Sundin
Mats Johan Sundin (; born 13 February 1971) is a Swedish former professional ice hockey player who played the majority of his career in the National Hockey League (NHL), retiring in 2009. Originally drafted List of NHL first overall draft choices, first overall in 1989 NHL Entry Draft, 1989, Sundin played his first four seasons in the NHL with the Quebec Nordiques. He was then traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1994, where he played the majority of his career, serving 11 seasons as captain (ice hockey), team captain. At the end of the 2007–08 NHL season, 2007–08 season, Sundin was the longest-serving non-North American-born captain in NHL history. Sundin last played for the Vancouver Canucks in the 2008–09 NHL season, 2008–09 season before announcing his retirement on 30 September 2009. He appeared in the Stanley Cup playoffs in 10 of his 18 seasons. Excluding his rookie season, the shortened 1994–95 NHL season, lockout season and his half-season with Vancouver, Sundi ...
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Free Agent
In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present but who is allowed to solicit offers from other teams. In some circumstances, the free agent's options are limited by the league's rules. Free agency was severely restricted in many sports leagues, instead clubs had a reserve clause which allowed them to retain players indefinitely. Usage Association football In professional association football, a free agent is either a player that has been released by a professional association football club and now is no longer affiliated with any league, or a player whose contract with their current club has expired and is thus free to join any other club under the terms of the Bosman ruling. Free agents do not have to be signed during the normal transfer window that is implemented in some ...
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