For the third year in a row, the Montreal Canadiens are treating NHL hockey starved Quebec City to a preseason game this weekend. That is in itself an event worth noting but what's more, today also marks the one year anniversary of “La Marche Bleue”. You might not know about that event but a year ago today 60 000 people walked to the Battlefield Park in Quebec to show everyone who cared how much they want an NHL team in town. Sure they are still waiting but at least we now know that Mr. Bettman is not too proud to erase past mistakes, after all the Jets are back so there is still hope for the Nordiques.

While there are plenty of activities planned to commemorate the anniversary tomorrow, today belongs to the Habs. They are scheduled to take to the ice tonight at Le Colisée against the Tampa Bay Lightning in a match that may mean little but is still sold out. What's more, both teams had a morning skate at the arena this morning and allowed the public to watch. Needless to say countless fans were happy to take them up on the offer and made the trip into town bright and early this morning.

The Bolts took the ice first at 10.30 while plenty of fans were still outside waiting to see the Habs players arrive and hopefully get a few autographs. Some fans were still out there when the team bus turned up but they were left bitterly disappointed when the bus pulled straight into the building and they didn't even get a chance to catch a glimpse of their favorites. Disappointed they were but they nevertheless made their way into the building to watch the morning skate.

By the time they got to their seats, the Lightning's practice was already in full swing; Guy Boucher was working on face-off skills with his centres while his assistant coaches were supervising some set plays. About 10 minutes later though, all those in attendance were treated to an excellent show: a breakaway contest featuring all of the big guns, well the whole team to be exact but do I really need to spell out for you who the crowd wanted to see? Stamkos, Lecavalier and St-Louis got the biggest cheers especially the latter, being a hometown favorite. To my surprise however, the one player who truly stood out during this improvised contest was Teddy Purcell. One has to admit that the kid has some skills, pulling all kind of moves and scoring three goals before Roloson was finally able to stop him. Once the contest was over, the team saluted the crowd and received a big ovation as a thank you before most of the regulars retreated to the locker room. A few players stayed behind and carried on practising before signing autographs for the fans...unfortunately none of the stars indulged the fans.

At 11.30, the Habs took to the ice for their morning skate. While they will be the home team tonight, the good people of Quebec do not seem intent on letting them forget that they are not their beloved Fleurdelisés for part of the crowd booed quite loudly. Having just watched Tampa Bay put on quite a spirited display for the fans, I have to admit that the Habs practice seemed lacklustre and lifeless. I am aware that this is only the preseason, however, if I was Jacques Martin, I would be somewhat worried by the apparent lack of energy as my team is readying itself for its last exhibition game.

There was no breakaway contest for the Habs, just plain old practice with a good chunk of time and energy devoted to the power play. Judging by what we saw on the ice this morning, the first power play unit should feature Gomez, Gionta and Paciorrety up front and Subban and Plekanec on the blue line. Cammaleri, Kostitsyn and Desharnais will be part of the second power play unit. After the PP focus exercise, the D-men started taking booming shots with Gionta in front of the net trying his best to redirect everything, yes a good number of shots ended up in the net but do not rejoice too fast Habs fans, there was no goaltender between the pipes as Price had already retreated to the locker room.

After 40 minutes, there were barely any players left on the ice aside from those who are currently injured and not playing such as Eller and Moen who were working with Perry Pearn. Overall, it was interesting to see the practice but at this stage, I find the Habs' display somewhat worrying. Oh and for those who wondered how the Habs would cope without Kirk Muller who used to take up a lot of responsibilities during both practices and games, well, fear not, Jacques Martin has got other assistants ready to work while he mostly observes what his team is capable of...

With that said, I better get ready for tonight's game on which I will report tomorrow. If the morning skate was anything to go by though, I'm not optimistic regarding the Habs' odds of ending their preseason on a high note...