"Axe" Falls Around Habs

((HT: CBC Sports/CP))

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly confirmed to Hockey Night in Canada's Jeff Marek that the league is investigating a report in Friday's edition of La Presse that links two Montreal Canadiens players to a man arrested in a recent sting operation.

"I can confirm we are investigating the facts," Daly wrote in an email with Marek.

According to the Montreal newspaper, Canadiens forwards Andrei and Sergei Kostitsyn allegedly made calls to 38-year-old Pasquale Mangiola requesting vodka, women and luxury cars while the players were at local restaurants and bars.

The newspaper also reported that Canadiens defencemen Roman Hamrlik is allegedly linked to Mangiola. None of the players has been accused of any criminal involvement with Mangiola, La Presse reported.

Mangiola, charged with drug trafficking, was among 47 people originally arrested February 12. The arrested suspects, now 55, were allegedly part of a network of groups working together to traffic drugs in the Montreal and Ottawa areas.
Gainey meets with players

Canadiens GM Bob Gainey ((pictured, thanks Ryan Remiorz/CP)) wouldn't comment on the veracity of the La Presse report when questioned by reporters at a Friday afternoon news conference, but said the team would co-operate with the NHL's investigation.

"I haven't spoken to those three players individually. We did have a meeting this morning where I spoke to the players in general about the article that was in the paper today [Friday], and lifestyle and decisions about people, about acquaintances, about places, about choices," Gainey said.

Gainey later added, "We're very concerned [about the allegations in the La Press article] because we know that this person who became involved with these players, he's not the only person who wants to find a place to enter the inner area of the hockey team."

"I've been in this business a long time. There are always rumours. Some are true, some are false. You have to be careful about what you hear," offered Canadiens coach Guy Carbonneau.

"I heard about [the story] but I can not comment at this time," Sergei Kostitsyn said when asked by reporters to respond to the La Presse article.

This has been a tough week for the Canadiens.

The Habs are coming off a 5-4 loss to Pittsburgh on Thursday night and sport a 3-11-1 record in their last 15 games. Montreal is in sixth place in the Eastern Conference, just four points out from ninth and out of the playoff picture.

Gainey also caused a stir when he told forward Alex Kovalev he would not accompany the team on its two-game road trip.

Carbonneau told reporters he anticipates the La Presse story being a distraction for the team.

"It is going to be a distraction until everybody finds out everything because I'm sure you guys are going to look for it. We are going to hear about it every day. We start winning 10 in a row, maybe it will slow down," the Montreal coach said.

Coverrage from the Montreal Gazette is in black...
FOSG Scott Burnside has his material in black as well...

Nancy Wood's piece from CBC News is also available in black...