Hab-It Forming: Tuesday, March 15th, 2011

On the shelf: It looks like Brent Sopel with be out again for the Canadiens, still day-to-day with a hand ailment. Michael Cammalleri, who has been battling the flu, will be in the lineup. Look for the rest of the Habs’ lineup to remain the same.

For the Capitals, Jason Arnott stayed in Washington and is out for tonight’s game with an undisclosed injury, along with defenseman Mike Green, who will continue his rehab from multiple head injuries suffered last month.  Meanwhile, injured players Nicklas Backstrom (thumb), Tom Poti (groin), and Semyon Varlamov (knee) all made the trip with the Capitals.  Backstrom is listed as a game-time decision.

In the crease: The goaltending match-up tonight will be Montreal’s Carey Price versus Washington’s rookie standout, Braden Holtby.

5 Steps to Head Shot Sobriety: The NHL has outlined five steps to help reduce the amount of concussions.

1 – A Blue Ribbon Committee made up of Brenden Shanahan, Lightning’ GM Steve Yzerman, Stars’ GM Joe Niewendyk and recently-retired defenseman Rob Blake. (Funny how they left Scotty Bowman off this list, concidering he’s been around since most of this committee was in diapers, and knows exactly how the game has evolved in his 40+ years in the NHL.)

2 – The aforementioned Shanahan with also team up with the NHLPA to take a look at equipment reform and possible changes. Already mentioned were the reduction of shoulder pads and the removal of any plastic in elbow pads.

3 – An outside engineering firm will be hired to assess the safety of all thirty NHL arenas. The six remaining arenas with seemless glass, which includes Montreal, will be asked to change it to Plexiglass by the beginning of next season.

4 – GMs will look at Mario Lemieux’s idea of fining players and/or coaches in the event of a questionable hit to the head. (It’s ironic that they would suggest the coaches be fined, when it’s the GMs who provide the roster for their teams.)

5 – The smartest of the five ideas so far, players who may have sustained a concussion will be subject to immediate examination by doctors, and not by team trainers, in a quiet area away from the player’s bench. The player will then be given a SCAT test before he is cleared to return to play.

Et cetera: Look for TSN in Canada to make some kind of reference to the seamless glass and the stanchions, as this is their first nationally televised game since the infamous Pacioretty-Chara incident.