Calling upon Huet

TSN.ca is reporting that Cristobal Huet will be getting the start when the Canadiens face the San Jose Sharks at the Bell Centre tomorrow night. It will be the third consecutive start for the backup netminder, who has stopped 40 shots in each of his previous two starts.

The move doesn't surprise me at all - Huet has been stellar in nets. It would have surprised me much more if Claude Julien had opted for José Theodore, which he thankfully didn't. I know the coach's pick of Huet over Theodore will add fuel to the trade rumours already blazing around him, but I continue to doubt that Gainey is willing to deal him. A good point was made today on The Team 990: Why trade away your biggest asset at a time when he could bring back the least in return?

TSN is also reporting that, in an interview with Blackhawks GM Dave Tallon, it was made known that Blackhawks youngsters, including the likes of Arnason, Calder, and Bell, are not being made available, while veterans Matthew Barnaby, Jassen Cullimore, and Martin Lapointe are. Scratch Chicago off the list of teams that will potentially make a deal with the Habs, as those players are not what Montreal needs. Word is that Washington is very interested in bringing in Ribeiro as a set-up man for Ovechkin, so keep an eye on them.