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Montreal Canadiens sign Mathieu Darche to one-year, $700K deal

Mathieu Darche; Marc-Andre Fleury

Montreal Canadiens’ Mathieu Darche (52) upends Pittsburgh Penguins’ goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury during first period NHL hockey action in Montreal, on Saturday, Feb. 6, 2010. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Graham Hughes)

AP

The Montreal Canadiens made a minor move today that might light up the hearts of the smallish cross-section of people who are hockey fans and South Park veterans. They re-signed Mathieu Darche (or “Darsh” to South Park devotees) to a one-year, $700K contract extension.

The undrafted free agent forward has taken an uneven career path to this point. He appeared in a handful of games for the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 2000-01 and 01-02 seasons before floating around the Blue Jackets, Nashville Predators and San Jose Sharks organizations while receiving sparse opportunities. His first lengthy chunk of NHL-level playing time came with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 07-08; he scored 22 points in a career-high 73 games played.

It seems like he might have found a home in Montreal, though. After a full minor league season with the AHL’s Portland Pirates in 08-09, he really stuck with the Canadiens in 09-10. He played 29 games last season (scoring 10 points) and then earned a career-high 26 points in 59 games this season.

Here’s what the Canadiens had to say about Darche.

“We are very pleased to have reached an agreement with Mathieu Darche. Mathieu is a classy veteran player who displays great leadership and determination, and we strongly believe he can help us achieve our goals in the upcoming season,” said Canadiens general manager Pierre Gauthier.