BROSSARD, Que. -- The new year got off to a bang for the struggling Montreal Canadiens as defenceman P.K. Subban and centre Tomas Plekanec exchanged punches during practice Monday. The two clashed during a one-on-one drill. Both dropped their gloves and their teammates backed away to let them go at it for a few seconds before Josh Gorges and others stepped in to stop it. No big punches landed, neither player was hurt, and both stayed on the ice as practice resumed. "Its nothing personal between me and P.K., its about the team and to realize we have to start playing as a team," said Plekanec. "Those things happen. "Its not the first time. It happened between some other guys. Thats what happens during the course of the year when things are not going well. I wouldnt say its a frustration thing, its just that we realize we need to be better." Subban has had exchanges of angry words with teammates before, but it was unusual to see Plekanec lose his temper. Gorges said it perked up the practice. "You (reporters) will make a lot more of it than it was and youll talk about why it happened and who it was, but the next drill, (Chris Campoli) had a good hit, guys got fired up, the intensity rose and we had a good practice out of it," he said. Fights between players at practice happen at some point of the season on most teams, usually when they are in a slump. The players saw no lingering ill effects from this skirmish. The Canadiens (14-18-7) went 1-5-0 on a road trip that ended with a 3-2 loss in Florida on Saturday. They have one win in their last eight games. Their next game is Wednesday at home against Winnipeg. Subban, who was scratched from a game last week after making costly errors in consecutive games, and Plekanec, whose production is down even though he still leads the club in scoring, have been among the teams underachievers of late. Subban was not available for comment. He was at the centre of a controversy Saturday in Florida when Panthers forward Krys Barch was ejected for allegedly making a racial remark to the Canadiens rearguard. The NHL has yet to announce whether Barch will be fined or suspended. Veteran Mathieu Darche saw the fight in a positive light. "It shows guys care," he said. "Trust me, Ive been on teams where you see a lot more of those. "For us its not a story. We laugh about it. In the gym, P.K. and Pleky were talking. Its part of being a competitor. Youd rather see that than guys not giving a damn. Guys arent happy. Were losing and sometimes emotions get the best of you. Theres nothing wrong with that." cheap jerseys from china . GM Bryan Murray was busy before the trade deadline, shipping out veterans Mike Fisher, Chris Kelly, Jarkko Ruutu, Kovalev and Chris Campoli for draft picks to begin the rebuilding process. nfl jerseys china . The right-hander said he threw about 30 pitches in a routine bullpen session Sunday at Yankee Stadium, his final hurdle before starting Tuesday night at Tampa Bay. http://www.wholesalejerseychinastore.com/ . -- Julio Jones may be on the verge of returning from his latest hamstring injury. cheap jerseys . Clarifying its 2012 qualifying criteria, the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee said that the double-amputee athlete had not yet qualified despite running inside the "A" time in July -- which earned Pistorius an historic place at the world championships in Daegu, South Korea. wholesale jerseys . Hosting the 2026 FIFA World Cup. "The process has to start now," CSA president Victor Montagliani said Thursday of a bid to stage "the grand-daddy of them all.NICE, France -- Nicolas Almagro of Spain beat Gilles Simon of France 6-1, 6-3 in the Open de Nice on Friday to reach his third final of the season. Almagro, who had lost his previous two matches against Simon, hit eight aces and saved all four break points he faced. He won on indoor clay in Sao Paulo in February and bids for his 12th career title against American qualifier Brian Baker, who outlasted Nikolay Davydenko 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-2 iin 2 hours, 32 minutes.dddddddddddd Baker will play in his first ATP final. Hes on a 15-match winning streak, starting with qualifying for and winning a challenger in the U.S. which earned him a wild card into his first French Open. Ranked 216, he qualified in Nice and saved a match point in the quarterfinals against Mikhail Kukushkin. On Friday, he broke Davydenko, a former world No. 3, three times in the deciding set. cheap nfl jerseys wholesale jerseys ' ' '