Author: Dose

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CDM: Johnny Gaudreau’s jersey is installed in the Americans’ locker room

Nobody has forgotten Johnny Gaudreau.

In fact, it’s impossible to forget the unfortunate events that took place in August 2024, just a few weeks before the opening of the final season in the National Hockey League.

Since then, a number of gestures have been made to honor the memory of Johnny Hockey and his brother, Matthew.

Of the lot?

There are many, but throughout the season, Gaudreau’s jersey hung in the Blue Jackets dressing room.

The Flames also performed a truly moving ceremony during the Jackets’ visit to Calgary in early December.

We know that Johnny Gaudreau was successful on the international scene, and that’s why Johnny’s jersey was in the Americans’ dressing room at the 4 Nations Confrontation.

USA Hockey hasn’t changed its formula: for the World Championship, which officially kicked off today, Gaudreau’s jersey is still there in the club’s locker room.

The USA lost in the 4 Nations final to Canada. And the Blue Jackets and Flames also missed out on the playoffs this season.

But no matter: here, it’s really the gesture that counts.

After all, if Johnny Gaudreau’s jersey is floating around the dressing room, it’s to honor him in the right way.

It’s to remind the guys to play for him and his brother, who tragically lost their lives several months ago.

The rest… it’s more or less important. And it’s good to see that we don’t want to forget him right now.

His death hurt so many of the guys who knew him, and we had to find a way to honor him properly.

And I’m sure Johnny is smiling right now, seeing all the love he’s been receiving since his passing.

Overtime

– Good news for the Jets.

– With 100 Georges Laraque, I believe it. But, only one… 🤣

– 100 %.

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Hearing for Nicolas Roy: It’s amazing how fickle the NHL is in its decisions

Last night, in Game 2 of the series between the Oilers and Golden Knights, Nicolas Roy made a dangerous move.

He hit Trent Frederic directly in the face with his stick.

The result? Roy was ejected from the game… and Frederic had to leave temporarily. At least the Oilers player was able to return to the bench to finish the game.

Seeing Roy’s move, the league decided to act.

The Golden Knights player will have a hearing tonight with the NHL’s disciplinary prefect, and he could be suspended.

And I really wonder what his punishment will be like. Will he be suspended for several games?

With the violence of the hit, he should…

You can’t hit a guy in the face with your stick for any reason. And the coaches are clearly not happy with Roy’s actions… because he’s an important player in the lineup and because he didn’t help his club on the ice last night.

The Oilers even found a way to score in overtime to escape with the win…

But this just goes to show how fickle the league’s decisions can be.

Because let’s face it: Roy’s hit on Frederic looks a lot like the one Brendan Gallagher received against the Capitals.

But hey, Alexander Alexeyev didn’t have to explain himself to the league. What’s worse?

He wasn’t even chased on the sequence.

The only difference here is that Roy’s gesture was made during the game.

Gally, on the other hand, was hit after the referees had stopped play.

But still: it just goes to show how hard it is for the NHL to be fair to everyone. And it’s not just with the Canadiens: it’s like that with all the other teams too.

At some point, the league is going to have to take a look at this aspect and put things right.

You can’t just make random decisions – which often seems to be the case – and even if the game is more robust in the playoffs, there has to be a certain limit too.

It has to be fair to everyone. And again, at the risk of repeating myself… this hasn’t been the case since the start of the playoffs – either for the Canadiens or for the other teams taking part.

Overtime

– I have my doubts. Do you?

– Things are going well for the Oilers and Leon Draisaitl.

– A monster!

– With good reason.

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Cayden Lindstrom could play tonight: it would be the 1st time since he was drafted

Cayden Lindstrom’s last game – that Blue Jackets prospect with back problems – was on April 5… 2024.

That’s more than 13 months since he last played.

Blue Jackets fans have a right to be concerned: the club still took Lindstrom ahead of a certain Ivan Demidov in the last draft. And not seeing the big forward able to play leaves room for concern.

Lindstrom underwent back surgery in November… and now he could play his first game of the season tonight.

His club, with its excellent Gavin McKenna, is still alive in the WHL series.

A decision will be made before tonight’s game concerning the main player:

Clearly, this is exciting news for Blue Jackets fans and organization.

Lindstrom is one of the club’s top prospects and he – like any other young player – needs to play to progress.

Right now, the Jackets seem to be on the verge of seeing what he’s got, and we’re certainly excited about it.

Especially since the Blue Jackets have seen Ivan Demidov dominate this season in Russia, and have also seen him enjoy his share of NHL success in short order.

It makes you wonder if we’re questioning our choice within the organization… because even if Lindstrom has great potential, his health problems are not new and his history is starting to look scary.

And on the other side of the coin, the Canadiens got what they wanted by drafting Ivan Demidov with the 5th overall pick.

If the Blue Jackets aren’t happy, the opposite is true for the Habs…

Overtime

– Nice bunch.

– Logical.

– The Rocket were in high spirits at practice today.

– The former Montreal CF has found himself a team.

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Mike Matheson “legendary in the gym”: reminiscent of Andrei Markov

Yesterday, Arpon Basu appeared on Mitch Melnick’s show on TSN 690. You can listen to the excerpt by clicking here.

In the segment, he talked about the young Canadiens players who won’t be going to the World Championships. We know this is a hot topic right now.

But it’s not just the youngsters we need to talk about.

After all, one of the organization’s most important defencemen will be there: Mike Matheson. The Québécois, who eats up a lot of minutes with the Canadiens, should have a nice role to play with Canada.

Why is he there, but not other key Habs players? Is it because of injuries? Does the Habs want to protect its young players? Because if that’s why Lane Hutson (who played almost twice as much this year as he did in 2023-2024) isn’t there for the Americans, I agree.

At the same time, the Habs know that even though Matheson plays a lot, he knows his body.

And when he says, when meeting the media, that he’s never felt as good as he does right now, it’s because he knows what he’s talking about and he knows how to prepare himself properly. #Inspiring

Why does Matheson know better than most how he feels?

Because, as Arpon Basu said in his radio segment, Matheson is recognized as a legend in the gym. He’s really, really fit in life.

What Andrei Markov was in the gym, Mike Matheson is right now. He’s a legend in the gym, that guy. – Arpon Basu

So he knows what he needs to prepare for a season, and you’d think that’s why the Canadiens gave him the OK to go and play at the World Championships.

And seeing him chill with Sidney Crosby isn’t a bad thing either…

overtime

– Interesting.

– Kings in Quebec City: it cost $5.6M. [LP]

– It’s worth noting.

– Read.

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Caufield and Slafkovsky: two absences that are the talk of the town

The World Junior Championship is of great interest to any hockey fan during the holiday season. However, the (senior) World Championship in May doesn’t attract as much interest from North American fans.

Year after year, very little is said about this competition in the Montreal media. Except perhaps when Canada is in the gold medal final and the starting goalie is Samuel Montembeault..

But this year is different.

1. A number of players have accepted Canada’s invitation because they see it as an opportunity to impress management and secure their place at the 2026 Olympic Games.

2. Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon and Marc-André Fleury have all said yes to the idea of defending their nation against Donald Trump on the ice in Sweden. Crosby knows that to win, he has to go international; MacKinnon is still shaken by the Avalanche’s early elimination and Fleury will conclude his career in the best possible way (he hopes, at least). Remember that Crosby and MacKinnon have just played a season, a playoff and a 4 Nations tournament..

As a result, the tournament starts today and I’m interested in it. In fact, I’ve just added theIIHF page to my favorite Google Chrome icons.

Four games are on the schedule today: Austria vs Finland, Switzerland vs Czech Republic, Sweden vs Slovakia and Denmark vs USA. No, the winner of the last match doesn’t win Greenland, before you ask..

Canada, meanwhile, kicks off its preliminary campaign tomorrow against mighty Slovenia.

Only three Canadiens players will represent their country in Sweden and Denmark: Mike Matheson (Canada), Emil Heineman (in front of his home team in Sweden) and Vinzenz Rohrer (Austria).

Canada has quite a team on paper: Crosby, MacKinnon, Fleury, Binnington, Sanheim, Matheson, Dobson, Konecky, Horvat, Fantilli, Weegar, Danault, O’Reilly, Celebrini, Johnson (Kent) and the list goes on.

But the morning guys at BPM Sports wondered if Canadiens fans would mind seeing Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky decline their respective team’s invitation.

68% of listeners said no.

In any case, Suzuki is injured and hasn’t received the green light from the Montreal medical team..

As for Caufield and Slafkovsky, I was told during the playoffs that everyone put ice or a hot water bottle in the Habs dressing room after games. There’s reason to believe that Caufield and Slafkovsky are also suffering from minor injuries.

Except that, if they were in a position to represent their nation, Caufield and Slafkovsky would still have had to say yes. Slafkovsky took a while to get going this season, and Caufield would like to represent the U.S. at the Olympics..

In soccer, you can’t really say no to your national team. The culture just isn’t the same in hockey.

Whatever.

We’ll be watching Canada’s first game tomorrow against Slovenia, and we’ll soon forget who’s missing from the tournament.

Too bad Samuel Montembeault is injured, by the way.

Extension

– Renaud Lavoie thinks that Nick Suzuki (even though he’s not at the Worlds right now) should take part in next year’s Olympic Games.

– Ivan Demidov is still in town.

– Marco Donadel is pleased with Prince Owusu’s performance.

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Here’s how the Canadiens could draft Caleb Desnoyers

If nothing changes, the Canadiens will be drafting(among others) 16th and 17th at the next auction.

But hey. You know as well as I do that, between now and then, Kent Hughes could trade one or more of these picks to move up in the draft, or even to get immediate help.

We’ll see what the club does in due course.

At the start of the season, the Canadiens were tipped to draft about where Caleb Desnoyers was expected to go. The Québécois, who is in the QMJHL finals and will play in the Memorial Cup, is a 6’2 left-handed center.

But the Habs finally made the playoffs and Caleb Desnoyers continued to climb the lists. Many now see him coming out at #4, when the Utah Mammoth takes the stage.

In fact, when the Mammoth SHOULD take the stage.

Because team management hasn’t yet decided 100% whether the pick will be used to draft. As all good teams do, the door is open for a trade – publicly, at least.

So if the Habs ever want to draft Desnoyers (a player who has been spied on by the Habs this season, it should be remembered), they have a potential pathway to do so: acquire the fourth pick.

But with Salt Lake City looking to move up to the next level, I don’t see a world in which the Habs keep Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky while going for such a high pick.

To me, that wouldn’t be moving the organization forward… either in the short or long term. And I’d be really, really surprised to see the Canadiens go after such a high pick. I don’t want to use the word impossible, but…

The second center the Canadiens will go after shouldn’t cost a current member of the first line and doesn’t have to be a project: it has to be an established player, ready to make a difference.

overtime

– Bill Belichick’s blonde can no longer be in the environment of her boyfriend’s team . Ouch.

– With good reason.

– Rocket: playoff success helps a lot. [TVAS]

– The Ducks and Joel Quenneville have done their homework.

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Even artificial intelligence believes the Maple Leafs will collapse

Currently, the Maple Leafs are 2-0 on the heels of their series against the Panthers.

Does this mean Toronto will finally advance to the second round for the first time in ages? That doesn’t mean it’s a done deal yet, no.

After all, the Panthers haven’t lost at home yet. Nothing’s decided yet.

Since the start of the playoffs, I’ve been telling people around me that in my eyes, if the Panthers don’t make it to the Stanley Cup Final, it’s a failure for the Sunrise organization.

Why is that? Because the Panthers are better than the other teams in the East – in my opinion – and they’re built for the playoffs.

And do you know what? Even Grok, X’s artificial intelligence program, doesn’t think it’s a done deal. Just for fun, I asked him if the Maple Leafs were going to collapse.

Why wouldn’t they?

I got a full answer, with an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of both clubs… and it ended with the Panthers in 7. I was also told that a potential return of Anthony Stolarz could help Toronto’s cause.

But the bottom line is clear: to no one’s surprise, you can’t bury the Panthers too quickly.

Seriously, though, even if the Maple Leafs are feeling more solid this season, the fact remains that it’s hard to get out of a vicious circle of failure like this one.

Just ask the Sabres or the Kings, who are unable to beat the Oilers in the playoffs, for example. Rob Blake was one of them.

Overcoming challenges like this is mentally tough. The Maple Leafs have won few games to advance to the next round since the current core has been in place, and as far as I know, the club has yet to win four games against Florida.

Escaped advances, there have been some in Toronto. #Remember2021

The challenge for Craig Berube, who has changed the culture in Toronto, will be to go one game at a time. For example, if he wins tonight, it will be a huge step in the right direction for his club.

But what if he loses? The ghosts of the Maple Leafs, who have fewer rings than the Montreal Forum, will begin to haunt the current Toronto players. And the guys know it.

overtime

– Ben Chiarot turns 34.

– What a fiasco.

– Jacob Fowler likes the pressure. [98.5 Sports]

– Interesting.

Allvin’s goes into the JT Miller / Petey situation at the season ticket holders get together
byu/elrizzyincanucks

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Series in brief: Calvin Pickard remains unbeaten in the series

Last night, two series continued.

The Hurricanes and Capitals, and the Oilers and Golden Knights played their game two.

Here are the results:

The Oilers have found their number one

I don’t think the Oilers are going to put Stuart Skinner back in net this playoffs.

Calvin Pickard is too good to be on the bench. These playoffs, he has six wins and no losses. Just yesterday, he helped his team win 5-4 in overtime.

Okay, he doesn’t have the best save percentage, but he doesn’t give up many goals and still helps his team win games.

Yesterday’s game went to overtime, but hats off to Vegas for forcing it.

The club lost 4-2 and rallied.

First, Victor Olofsson closed the gap.

And Alex Pietrangelo forced overtime afterwards.

The winning goal was scored by none other than Leon Draisaitl.

Not by Zach Hyman, Evander.

The two teams return to action tomorrow in Edmonton, starting at 9pm.

The Canadiens lead the series 2-0.

Capitals tie series

In Washington, the Caps certainly didn’t want to return to Carolina trailing 2-0.

With a 3-1 victory, they tied the series.

Connor McMichael opened the scoring in the second period.

A little later, Anthony Beauvilier had the chance to double his team’s lead, but missed an open net.

However, it was all in vain.

In the third, on the powerplay, Washington gave themselves a two-goal lead.

The Hurricanes closed the gap to a goal later, but it was too little too late.

This series, tied 1-1, heads to Carolina.

Game three will be played tomorrow at 6pm.

Extension

– Bruce Cassidy wasn’t happy with the officials’ work.

– A stupid gesture.

– In defeat, Olofsson and Jack Eichel shone.

(Credit: NHL.com)

– The Leafs can push the Panthers to the brink.

(Credit: NHL.com )
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Max Pacioretty: JiC would bring him back to Montreal next year

Max Pacioretty had a good time in Montreal. The forward, who was one of the league’s top scorers during his time in town, came close on several occasions to reaching the 40-goal plateau in a season (at a time when he scored fewer goals than he does now).

It didn’t end well, and he’s best remembered today as the man who brought Nick Suzuki back to the Habs, but he was still solid in the blue-white-and-red.

And despite some struggles in recent years, Pacioretty is now in Toronto, playing inspired hockey for the Maple Leafs in the playoffs. He has six points in his last six games.

So it looks like the forward, who turns 37 this November, may be on the radar for one last good NHL contract. It’s debatable whether he’ll want to leave Toronto, where he’s currently having a good time… but if a team pulls out the checkbook, this could be his last chance to go for a big payday.

And in a piece for TVA Sports tonight, JiC talked about Pacioretty… and said he’d be willing to bring Pacioretty back to Montreal next year. He’d offer him a contract for a year or two… and he’d take the opportunity to get Patrik Laine out of Montreal at the same time.

Of course, you have to wonder whether Pacioretty, who ended his stay in Montreal all wrong, would have any interest in returning. It seems unlikely, at first glance… but management isn’t the same as it was then.

Maybe that could be a factor.

Obviously, at this stage of his career, Pacioretty isn’t the same player he once was. He doesn’t score the way he once did… but surprisingly, he seems to have added a physical dimension to his game during the current playoffs.

He’s more suited to a support role now.

I wouldn’t hold my breath to see the former captain return to the fold, let’s say… but the Habs could be looking for a veteran like Pacioretty to mentor the youngsters and solidify their forward group. We’ve seen how thin the club’s depth is this year, and adding a veteran like Pacioretty to the mix could be part of the solution.

He probably won’t be the club’s top priority… but if he’s on the market for a few days, why not take a chance?

Overtime

– Good news for the Golden Knights.

– Well done.

– Too bad.

– Really?

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David Reinbacher admits his knee injury is still playing on his mind

David Reinbacher is currently with the Laval Rocket, competing in the AHL playoffs. The defenseman, whose season could have ended as early as practice camp, has managed to come back and play some hockey this season.

He missed several months, but seeing him play games this season is already good for his development.

Even so, the defenseman still has to deal with his knee injury. We know that he often doesn’t skate with his teammates in the morning when the club is playing a game on the same day, and above all, we know that he has missed time since his return due to problems with his knee.

That said, despite a strict protocol, the club considers him healthy enough to be in the Rocket uniform. But of course, coming back from such an injury isn’t always easy, especially mentally.

And Reinbacher admits that there are still times when he thinks about his injury. It’s still playing on his mind… and he admits that he still sometimes has problems with his knee.

So says Marc-Antoine Godin (Radio-Canada).

From a purely physiological point of view, Reinbacher’s knee is probably fine. If the club were really concerned, you’d think they’d keep Reinbacher on the sidelines to avoid long-term problems… because after all, in Reinbacher’s case, the priority is the long term.

But just because things are going well physiologically doesn’t necessarily mean they’re going well psychologically. As we’ve seen with Kirby Dach over the past two years (and even with Patrik Laine this year), coming back from a major knee injury isn’t something you can just shout about.

It’s not easy to learn to trust your knee again after long, trying months in rehabilitation. And it’s normal that it’s still playing on guys’ minds.

The good news, however, is that the defenseman says he’s well supervised by the team’s therapists, who are working hard to help him navigate all this. No doubt the Habs want to take good care of their youngster, whom they see as an important part of their future (an opinion shared by Pascal Vincent, by the way), but we’ll have to hope that, in time, he’ll learn to trust his knee again.

That, too, is a long process… but the good news is that he still has the Rocket’s entire playoff run to get there, plus the summer ahead to work on it. It’s safe to assume that by next summer’s training camp, he’ll be further along in that process.

Overtime

– Do you agree?

– Great MPP.

– Indeed.