Canadiens sign forward Latendresse and blueliner Belle to one-year deals

2009-07-15 15:10:00

MONTREAL - The Montreal Canadiens signed forward Guillaume Latendresse and defenceman Shawn Belle to one-year deals Wednesday.

Latendresse scored 26 points (14 goals, 12 assists) and served 45 penalty minutes in 56 games with Montreal last season. He missed 21 games due to injury, though still ranked third on the team with 140 hits.

It will be the Ste-Catherine, Que., native's fourth season with the Habs. He has 82 points (46 goals, 36 assists) with 133 penalty minutes in 209 regular-season games with Montreal.

Latendresse was selected in the second round by the Canadiens, 45th overall, in the 2005 draft.

Belle had 13 points last season the AHL's Hamilton Bulldogs, where he posted a plus-19 rating with 93 penalty minutes in 60 regular-season games.

The 6-1, 235-pound blue-liner was acquired by the Canadiens from the Minnesota Wild for Corey Locke in July 2008. The Edmonton native has played in nine NHL career games, all with Minnesota in 2006-07.

COMMENTS (1)

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slovakkid Posted
(2009-07-15 17:24:26)

Latendresse is just lucky He is a French Canadien,otherwise He would have been out long ago.The guy has no speed and NHL game seems to be just too much for him.He did not show any progres since his first NHL game.He was brought on too quickly and should have spent at least 2 years on the farm.He would have serious problems playing even there.In my opinion He will be out of the league very soon.