Montreal Sports - Montreal Canadiens

What a week it has been for Sergei Kostitsyn.

First he was chastised by coach Jacques Martin when the coach did not like his positioning on the ice during a practise, but then he also got singled out when Martin explained some x’s and o’s on the board with a “Did you get that, Sergei?”

Martin would go on to explain to the media that he was not satisfied with players, including the younger Kostitsyn, standing still, while waiting for long stretch passes.

Things would have appeared to get better for Sergei as he would later go on to score Montreal’s only goal in the 2-1 shootout loss to Boston last Thursday.

So although some eyebrows were raised when Kostitsyn was not dressed for the final preseason game of the year, it has now become clear that the Canadiens had perhaps already made up their minds as to the future of the Belarusian forward who some have described as a capable, yet perhaps overconfident young hockey player who may still need time to mature.

The Habs’ press release (unsurprisingly) does not any give any insight at all pertaining to the reasons, but here it is in its entirety:

MONTREAL (September 27, 2009) – The Montreal Canadiens announced today that forward Sergei Kostitsyn has been assigned to the AHL Hamilton Bulldogs.

The Bulldogs will be returning to Hamilton on Monday from Edinburgh, Scotland where they held the first part of their training camp.

Twenty-eight (28) players will travel to Caledon, Ontario tonight where the Canadiens will hold the last part of training camp, including three (3) goaltenders, nine (9) defensemen and sixteen (16) forwards. The list of injured players at camp includes Kyle Chipchura (shoulder) and Georges Laraque (lower body).

Tags: ahl \ assigned \ demoted \ habs \ Hamilton Bulldogs \ Jacques Martin \ Montreal Canadiens \ NHL \ Sergei Kostitsyn