While Bettman, Fehr and Crosby talk it up in Manhattan, Hab turned Bulldog Michael Blunden has been eating his humble pie and paying his dues all over again at the AHL level.

Will it give him the jump whenever NHL training camp starts for a grittier Canadiens lineup with additions like Prust and Armstrong?   Will the union blink first to make a deal?

Blunden, the pride of Montreal West, is candid as ever as he looks forward to Friday night at the Bell Centre with the Bulldogs.