Canadians promote Ryder to top line

1/13/2006 5:46:38 PM

MONTREAL (CP) - Saku Koivu and Alex Kovalev have a new right-hand man - winger Michael Ryder.

Montreal Canadiens coach Claude Julien's desperate search for winning combinations landed Ryder, the only non-rookie with a right-hand shot among the team's forwards, on a line with the club's top veteran attackers.

The trio will play together for the first time when the San Jose Sharks visit the Bell Centre on Saturday night. Backup Cristobal Huet will get a third consecutive start in goal ahead of struggling No. 1 Jose Theodore.

''We're not winning and (Julien) definitely wants to get something going,'' said Ryder, who leads the team with 18 goals. ''He switches guys up and he might find a good combination somewhere. Whatever helps the team.

''I can't try to do too much - stick to what my strong points are, make sure I work hard low and try to get some hits in.''



Julien has been shuffling his lineup a lot of late, trying to shake his club out of a lethargy that has seen it win only seven of its last 25 games. The Canadiens are coming off a 2-1 loss in Colorado on Wednesday night.

This time, he has put his three best offensive players of this season together. Kovalev feels it can work.

''It makes life different when you have one right-handed shot on the line,'' he said. ''It's easier playing against a line that's all right-handed or all left-handed. The line that has at least one right-hand shot is unpredictable.

''We had a line like that in Pittsburgh with (Martin) Straka and (Robert) Lang. Lang was a centreman with a right-handed shot and you never knew if he was going to shoot or make a pass.

''It's harder to figure out which side the play will come from. And Mike, the way he shoots the puck, definitely we can use him.''

The only other right-handed shooters among the forwards are fourth-line rookies Andrei Kostitsyn and Jonathan Ferland.

The Canadiens started the season with Koivu, Kovalev and Richard Zednik as their top line, while Ryder played with centre Mike Ribeiro and winger Pierre Dagenais.

Lately, Kovalev has played with Ribeiro and Kostitsyn while Koivu skated with Ryder and Chris Higgins. Zednik continues playing with Jan Bulis and Radek Bonk.

Now, Julien wants Koivu and Kovalev together again.

''We started the season pretty good but, I don't know, something happened,'' said Kovalev. ''We couldn't find the direction to move in to get some goals. We have to figure that out and be successful again.''

Dagenais cleared waivers and was demoted to AHL Hamilton this week and Ribeiro, a healthy scratch for two games last week, has been bumped to the fourth line.

Ribeiro, the team's scoring leader in 2003-04 with 65 points, has only 26 points in 39 games this season and is a team-worst minus-10.

''It is a fourth line, but it doesn't matter,'' said Ribeiro. ''The main thing is to play.

''When you play, things can happen. My focus is to step up and make sure we don't get scored on when we're on the ice and hopefully, I can do something offensively, maybe on the power play.''

Trade rumours have swirled around the Canadiens as their slump deepens and many concern Ribeiro, who has been under heat in the local media for his sub-par play.

''If it happens, it happens,'' said Ribeiro. ''I'm still young. I'm only 25.

''If it happens, maybe I can have a better start somewhere else, but right now I'm focusing here and I'm trying to get out of the big slump I'm in. Lately, I've been working hard and hopefully I can do something well.''

After the game in Denver, Kovalev flew to New York to take in the retirement of Mark Messier's jersey No. 11 at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night. He flew back to Montreal on Friday morning.

Kovalev ran into several teammates from the Rangers' 1994 Stanley Cup team.

''It was nice,'' said Kovalev. ''Some of the guys I haven't seen for 11 years, back in 94.

''We had a lots of laughs and a lot of talks about that year. Mark did a lot of good things for me and I learned a lot from him, so it was a no-brainer to go.''

Kovalev also got a laugh when he noted that the intruder known only as Raphael who jumped on the ice and took shots at Theodore during a practice on Monday, is a right-hand shot.

''We don't have many guys that are right-handed shots,'' he said. ''We had a chance to get another guy - the guy who came on the ice the other day - but he didn't work out too well. We couldn't get him a contract, or something.''

Note - Defenceman Sheldon Souray, who missed the last two periods in Denver with a knee injury, had an MRI exam on Friday and will not play against San Jose. ''I'm not sure if he will be out long,'' said Julien.