Five Montreal Canadiens players have been officially confirmed as representatives for their respective nations at the IIHF World Championships.

On Wednesday, the Habs announced the signing of prospect defenceman Greg Pateryn to a two year, entry level contract.

The Habs continued to take care of getting their prospects signed on Wednesday night inking forward Patrick Holland to a three year entry level deal that begins in the 2012-13 season.

The Habs can scratch one more prospect off the to-sign list as the team announced just prior to Thursday’s game against Minnesota that defenceman Morgan Ellis has signed a three year contract commencing next season.

It didn’t take long for the Habs to fill the contract spot that was opened up with the departure of Andrei Kostitsyn to Nashville on Monday morning.

The Habs kicked off the trading festivities on Monday morning with a trade that most people were expecting to happen at some point during the day.

The Montreal Canadiens and the Nashville Predators completing a deal at the trade deadline is not all that big of a surprise.

It’s super bowl weekend. For the Montreal Canadiens this means back-to-back games at home in which the Habs will try to snap their 2 game losing streak and end the week on a positive note.

The NHL announced on Wednesday that the Habs will have a second representative at this weekend’s All-Star festivities as defenceman Raphael Diaz was named as one of the replacements on the rookie roster.

The Habs put the trade speculation emanating from Thursday’s 2-1 loss to Boston early, announcing that they have acquired Rene Bourque, prospect Patrick Holland, and a 2013 2nd from pick from Calgary in exchange for Mike Cammalleri, Karri Ramo, and a 2012