Canadiens at a glance
	Camp schedule: Sept. 11: Molson Centre, McGill University (Montreal) Coach: Michel Therrien (2nd season, 24-27-6-5) General manager: Andre Savard (2nd season)

You can only shake your head at the season the Canadiens are coming off of. The team has missed the playoffs the last three years, which is blasphemy in Montreal. The club was sold to an American, which some fans felt added insult to injury. Speaking of boo-boos, the Habs were decimated at every possible position by every possible injury. Now comes the devastating news that center Saku Koivu has cancer in his abdomen. Koivu, who was tied for the team lead in scoring with 47 points and played just 54 games because of a knee injury that required surgery, is only 26 years old. That has to have a jarring effect on the entire club, from the front office on down through the dressing room.

Goaltender Jose Theodore played 59 games, earning a 2.57 goals-against average and .909 save percentage. That was good for the No. 27 ranking among netminders. But he could've used some scoring help. The Canadiens tallied just 206 goals, which was the worst in the Northeast Division and only three teams had fewer in the conference.

Help has arrived: Center Yanic Perreault is coming off a career season in which he scored 52 points in 76 games. The gritty pivotman also has the best faceoff percentage in the league (62.7). Last spring, the team improved itself by acquiring forward Richard Zednik from the Washington Capitals. Zednik is a talented, interesting player who in a full year with the Habs should make a big difference.

What effect will Juneau have?: What has happened to Joe Juneau? Here's a guy who scored 102 points in his first full season in the league back in 1992-93 when he had center Adam Oates as his setup man. Since then, he hasn't come close. After playing for Boston, he moved to Washington where he played for four full seasons and parts of two others. He was traded to Buffalo in March of 1999 and has had stops in Ottawa and Phoenix since. He needs to revitalize his career. Maybe the move to his native Quebec province will help.

Statistics better left in the fine print: Forward Ray Ferraro of the Atlanta Thrashers had 47 assists, which is the total number of points that Koivu and Oleg Petrov had. Only one team had a leader scorer with fewer points than Montreal -- the Minnesota Wild. Left wing Marian Gaborik, a rookie, tallied 36 in the team's inaugural season.

Canadiens 2001-02 preseason schedule
Date	Opponent	Time
Sat., Sept. 15	N.Y. Rangers	Canceled*
Sun., Sept. 16	vs. Toronto at Mile One Stadium, St. John's, Newfoundland	Canceled
Tue., Sept. 18	Toronto	7:30 p.m.
Thu., Sept. 20	Boston	7:30 p.m.
Sat., Sept. 22	at Detroit	7:30 p.m.
Tue., Sept. 25	Detroit	7:30 p.m.
Wed., Sept. 26	N.Y. Rangers	7 p.m.
Thu., Sept. 27	vs. Boston at Halifax Metro Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia	6 p.m.
Sat., Sept. 29	at Ottawa	7 p.m.
Sun., Sept. 30	Ottawa	5 p.m.
*Rescheduled for Sept. 26