Auteur : Dose

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Jake Evans wants a five-year contract

Will the Canadiens be able to sign Jake Evans? Good question.

Until proven otherwise, the rumor is that if Evans is reasonable in his demands, the Canadiens are very open to the possibility of keeping him in town for several more years.

And that’s normal: he is important for the club.

But just because Evans loves Montreal doesn’t mean he can’t start salary negotiations with the Habs by asking for a lot. After all, starting high also means that the compromise with the club is more… fair.

On this subject, Renaud Lavoie addressed the topic this morning on BPM Sports, saying this:

In the case of Jake Evans, I think it’s pretty clear that he is asking for a five-year contract. – Renaud Lavoie

Because Jake Evans will turn 29 this summer, giving him a five-year contract is a risk. After all, he would play his last contract year at 33, and who knows what he will look like by then.

After all, he might be just one concussion away from seeing his life change. #SecureHisFuture

Renaud Lavoie recommends that he should go for three years, and I have a feeling that this is the direction the Canadiens will push for. Ultimately, this could end up splitting the difference on the terms of a four-year contract.

Four years at $3.4 million (which is double his current annual salary) for a contract like Joel Armia’s, would that be fair or not?

I really have the feeling that the Canadiens will want to settle this matter before the deadline… even if the standings make it so that his chances of leaving are slim, regardless of his contract.

But at least, it would be one less matter on Kent Hughes’s desk.

(Credit: NHL.com)

in a nutshell

– Interesting.

– That would be nice.

– Yes.

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“F*ck you Cutter”: Cutter Gauthier is not welcome in Philadelphia

For the first time in his young career, Cutter Gauthier is back in Philadelphia as a visitor.

And as expected, the Ducks forward was booed as he took the ice.

Flyers fans have not forgotten what he did.

Lucky for him, he is a member of the Ducks and plays in Philadelphia once a year. Imagine if he had been a member of the Penguins, for example.

But anyway. In addition to booing, several fans brought signs with silly messages. And regarding these signs, most were confiscated by the Wells Fargo Center staff.

But apparently, the confiscated signs didn’t cross the line. People weren’t insulting his family, let’s say.

So it’s quite ordinary from the Flyers organization. What is even more ordinary is shouting “F*ck you Cutter” during the game. Philadelphia fans will never change.

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Oliver Kapanen hits his head (without a helmet) on the ice

Oliver Kapanen stirred quite a bit of talk early in the season. At the Montreal Canadiens training camp, he opened many eyes due to his strong performances.

But as he was not dominating during the season with the Canadiens, Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton decided to send him back to Europe to finish the season so he could get good playing time.

And since he is performing well there (he is close to a point per game), the decision has clearly proven to be the right one.

However, in the last few hours, Oliver Kapanen injured his head. While things were getting heated in front of his net, he fell, and his helmet came off.

Result? The impact was intense. At least, in my eyes, it was.

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The good news is that he was able to leave the ice on his own. He may not have finished the game, but he did not remain sprawled on the ice for long minutes either.

According to Patrik Bexell, the Habs prospect should “probably” be able to play in his team’s next game next Thursday.

I don’t know if he is basing this on his information or if he’s just speculating by seeing the hit on the ice and how Kapanen reacted, but I would wait a bit before making a statement. A concussion (which is a possibility here) can be very serious.

The situation is thus worth monitoring.

extension

At the next Habs training camp, I expect to see Kapanen and Owen Beck battling for a spot. I don’t know who the Habs will bring in this summer as a center, but we can at least expect to see Christian Dvorak leave.

We will see in due time.

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Tomorrow morning, the Canadiens could be one point away from the playoffs

Photo by Joel Auerbach/Getty Images

Did you know that tomorrow morning, the Canadiens could be just one point away from the playoffs? It certainly is the case.

As the Habs will play in Chicago tonight, it is clear that there is a possibility to see the team climb to 39 points in 38 games. To achieve this, they would obviously need a victory.

And in such a case, the Canadiens could have a chance to be just one point away from the playoffs.

(Credit: NHL.com)

Note that tonight, in addition to the Habs, three Eastern teams will be in action: the Panthers, the Penguins, and the Senators. The Panthers are obviously not in the Habs’ way.

To be one point from the playoffs tomorrow morning, the Habs must win, the Senators must stay at 40 points, and the Penguins must not win.

(Credit: Google)

To prepare for tonight’s game, there will be no training (not because Dave Cameron is coming on board as coach of the Habs) and only the extras will skate at 12:30 PM Quebec time.

We’ll watch to see if David Savard will be able to play, as he missed the end of yesterday’s practice.

It should be noted that Samuel Montembeault will play tonight. One could think that the Habs want to secure the two points tonight, that the club wants to test Jakub Dobes tomorrow in Denver, and that the Quebecer will be more rested for Monday’s game at home against Vancouver.

And one may also consider, as mentioned, that the Habs want to get closer to the playoffs starting tonight. #InTheMix

If the Canadiens are close to the playoffs as the trade deadline approaches (which is the objective of the season, in fact), we can wonder what the management will do in the trading market.

But it is the players’ job to put the club in that position. And it needs to continue tonight.

In Brief

– Noteworthy regarding the Rocket.

– Félix Séguin loves what he does. [La Presse]

– A must-read.

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Ivan Demidov: 2 goals including the most beautiful goal of his season.

I have a crazy concept for you. Are you ready?

If you put a talented player like Ivan Demidov in a position to succeed and give him confidence, he will reward his coaches by being productive and doing great things on the ice.

We saw him in the last SKA game on the first line… and today, it’s still the case.

Against CSKA, the Canadiens’ prospect had fun right from the first period. He first opened the scoring before netting his team’s second goal. All this in about half a period.

Here is his second goal – and his 12th of the season.

I wanted to save the first goal for last as it is the cherry on top. In my eyes, it is undoubtedly the most beautiful goal scored by the Canadiens’ prospect this season.

It’s the type of goal that explains why the CH likes him so much and why he could quickly become the most talented player of the Canadiens as soon as he sets foot in Montreal.

Obviously, we know he is always one mistake away from being punished by his coach since he does not want to sign long-term with SKA. But right now, everything is going well for the Russian.

Good for the CH, who should count on him for the upcoming season.

In Brief

– Yes.

– The Lightning is still the model to follow.

– Here is another one to watch.

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The Czechs celebrated by mimicking Canada’s goal song

Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images

Whether due to player choices, indiscipline, or the coach, Team Canada junior does not seem to be doing well this morning.

As you may know by now, Czechia won its quarterfinal match against Canada. For the second consecutive year, Canadians do not make it past the quarterfinals because of the Czechs.

And it’s not going well in the country.

We sensed this defeat coming. The team was poorly managed and lacked several key ingredients in the recipe concocted by the club leaders, who think they are smarter than everyone else.

The idea of having “two offensive lines and two defensive lines” is an old mentality that doesn’t work. Many important players were left at home in favor of “specialists” on the ice.

The QMJHL has helped the Latvians more than the Canadians, who notably missed out on players like Michael Hage. Was it his fault for not playing in the big bad NCAA, right?

From coast to coast, there is dissatisfaction. Look at the OHL, which posted several tweets like this last night. Praising Zayne Parekh, one of the big overlooked players on the Canadian team, by saying all eyes will be on the game in… Saginaw, is a BIG jab at Team Canada.

However, we must also give credit to the Czechs.

It’s not their fault that the Canadians didn’t bring all possible weapons to the tournament. Moreover, we should hope the same result doesn’t happen during the Four Nations Cup, right?

Yesterday, the Czechs played as they should have and they won. They held strong during the third period, the most critical moment, to find a way to get the W.

And the celebrations in the locker room with the referees, where the guys sang Canada’s goal song, show that the victory felt good.

The way the team was built was lacking, and Dave Cameron did not do his job. But we may – or may not – discuss this in detail in another article later this morning.

The lack of discipline, the results, and all the “controversies” surrounding the team have made it hard at times to support Canada.

In Brief

– Two years in a row out of the final four without Russia? Ouch.

– Noteworthy.

– Failing to reach the final four two years in a row is unacceptable.

– Indeed.

– No cohesion.

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Canada shuts out Finland

Finally!

Canada began its 2025 World Junior Championship tonight.

For the occasion, they faced off against Finland.

At the start of the match, I found Canada quite lackluster. Inaccurate passes, missed shots…

But after the first goal of the match, scored by Gavin McKenna, the Canadians woke up. As for McKenna, I didn’t say he was a Canadian player to watch for nothing…

They dominated.

After 40 minutes of play, the host country was leading 2-0. The second goal of the match was scored by Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Easton Cowan.

In the third period, both teams played tighter hockey, but Canada found a way to score a third and fourth goal late in the match.

Luca Pinelli, who did not play in his team’s first exhibition match, outsmarted the Finnish goalkeeper, who was solid throughout the match.

Victory by 4-0. Canada added a goal into an empty net.

Our favorites unleashed 41 shots on the opposing goal. A clear domination, therefore, against a nation with a lot of talent. A shutout of 31 saves for Carter George, the Kings prospect.

Dave Cameron’s team won’t have time to celebrate this victory for long, as they will be back in action tomorrow night against Latvia.

The European country will be playing its first match at this WJC 2025.

Overtime

After one day at the WJC, here are the standings for both groups:

Group A Wins Overtime Wins Overtime Losses Losses Differential
1. United States 1 0 0 0 +6
2. Canada 1 0 0 0 +4
3. Latvia 0 0 0 0 0
4. Finland 0 0 0 1 -4
5. Germany 0 0 0 1 -6

 

Group B Wins Overtime Wins Overtime Losses Losses Differential
1. Czech Republic 1 0 0 0 +4
2. Sweden 1 0 0 0 +3
3. Kazakhstan 0 0 0 0 0
4. Slovakia 0 0 0 1 -3
5. Switzerland 0 0 0 1 -4

 

Four matches will be featured tomorrow:

1 PM – Slovakia vs Switzerland

3:30 PM – Finland vs Germany

5 PM – Kazakhstan vs Sweden

7:30 PM – Canada vs Latvia

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Shea Weber told Nick Suzuki not to hesitate to join him for a chat

On this Saturday, a big night awaited the Montreal Canadiens, their fans and their former captain Shea Weber.

As the Habs host the Columbus Blue Jackets tonight, Weber will be honored on his return to the Bell Centre, having recently been inducted into the Hall of Fame.

At approximately 4:30 p.m., the former Canadiens captain addressed the media via a live video feed from the organization.

Several interesting questions were asked, and you could sense Weber’s excitement about his return to the Québécois metropolis.

Weber mentioned that he had dinner with Nick Suzuki and Josh Anderson last night.

He also mentioned that he told Suzuki (probably at that dinner) not to hesitate to contact him for a chat.

True words from a former captain.

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By the way, the Habs cover story, Priyanta Emrith, posted several interesting quotes on her X/Twitter page throughout the media availability.

Also during the press conference, Weber was asked about a photo of himself in the Habs dressing room.

The former star defenseman said he hadn’t seen the photo in question, but that he had been teased by a few of his former teammates.

Shortly before this media availability, the Montreal Canadiens released a video of a plaque honoring Weber.

As Marc Dumont said, it’s hard to accurately represent a player on a plaque like this, but doesn’t it look like David Desharnais?

Personally, the resemblance is far too striking not to be noticed.

But you can still see Weber’s features in this plate and understand that it’s him.

The coincidence is simply hilarious.

We can expect a big ovation from the former Habs captain tonight, and even the main man himself is expecting a lot of emotion.

Overtime

– Taylor Hall will skip his turn tonight against the Vancouver Canucks.

– What a special image.

– Martin St-Louis could use the David Pastrnak situation as inspiration to relaunch a player.

– It’s retirement time for Matt Irwin.

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