Author: Dose

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Jakub Dobes to challenge Samuel Montembeault for the #1 spot: the Habs’ plan

Samuel Montembeault is currently the Canadiens’ #1 goaltender.

Can that change? Given that the Québécois isn’t Carey Price and that the Habs have two up-and-coming youngsters, it’s possible that things could change one day.

It’s not guaranteed, of course. But it is a possibility.

In reality, an organization must always want guys to steal chairs, because that creates internal competition. Remember that Kent Hughes once wanted Kirby Dach to warm Nick Suzuki’s ass as first center.

And we have to believe that the same thing will apply to the goaltenders.

According to what colleague Maxime Truman tweeted this morning, the Canadiens’ plan would be to see Jakub Dobes seconds Monty in 2025-2026, but more importantly, to see him fight to become the starter up top.

He says he’s “convinced the Habs will do this”, and that’s saying a lot.

Does this mean the Canadiens don’t like Montembeault? No. It means they want their goalies to be challenged and develop to the best of their abilities.

Will it happen? We’ll see.

Still according to colleague Truman, the plan in Laval in 2025-2026 would be to see Jacob Fowler placed with a veteran who would be able to come and help out in Montreal if need be.

Understandably, that veteran wouldn’t be Cayden Primeau.

For the Laval Rocket’s next game, expect Cayden Primeau to be the starter. Pascal Vincent will want to go with two goalies, and it will be Primeau’s turn.

But that doesn’t mean Fowler won’t be playing in the playoffs. Quite the contrary, in fact.

Overtime

– Speaking of the Rocket.

– Love this.

– Ouch.

– News from the Montreal CF.

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Patrick Roy: two things that could help him keep his job

While no one wanted to hire Patrick Roy as a coach in the NHL, Lou Lamoriello took the chance, in January 2024, to do just that. He brought him to the Islanders.

The result? Roy made the playoffs in 2024, but not in 2025.

Was it because the guys didn’t want to play for him as much in 2025? Was it because he had the wrong club to begin with? A combination of both? Who knows.

But right now, without Lou Lamoriello in New York, we don’t know what the future holds for him. Will he get the chance to be the first coach of the next first overall pick, or not? Only time will tell.

Until the Islanders hire a hockey operations boss, the Québécois will be in limbo. Will the next GM/President do what everyone did before Lou, i.e. pass on the opportunity to work with Roy?

Has his return to the NHL changed some people’s minds? Who knows.

But even so, there are a few things that could work in Patrick Roy’s favor to keep his job. Here are two potential ones.

Three years left on his contract

Pierre LeBrun, in a piece on The Athletic, mentioned that he still had three years left on his contract. Will it be that easy for a new GM to pack him into a team like the Islanders?

Not necessarily, no.

If Rob Blake takes the job…

That one’s more hypothetical. But as Jessica Lapinski reminds us in an article published on the TVA Sports website, Rob Blake, who is potentially among the Islanders’ candidates, is a former teammate of Roy.

Could this work in his favor to keep his job?

Perhaps it could also work against Roy… but the first person to give him a chance in the NHL was Joe Sakic, a former teammate with whom he won the Stanley Cup.

To be continued.

Overtime

– What do you think?

– Of note.

– The Maple Leafs goalie is getting better.

– Indeed.

– Hey boy.

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Switzerland: Connor Hughes’ five-year contract made official in the middle of the Rocket playoffs

In the last few months, we’ve known it was in the works, but now it’s official: Connor Hughes will be playing in Switzerland next year.

But it’s even bigger than we thought, as the Lausanne club has announced that the goalkeeper has signed a five-year contract (no less) starting with the 2025-2026 campaign.

We cannot therefore expect to see him back in North America for the rest of his career.

In the end, Hughes will have played just one year of pro hockey in North America, in 2024-2025. He played 29 games in Laval without getting a chance with the Canadiens.

Let’s just say he won’t go down in history.

We suspected he wasn’t in the Canadiens’ or Rocket’s plans for next season. But it should be noted that the Swiss club announced the contract before the end of its agreement with the Canadiens.

And above all, while his club (the Rocket) is still alive. Hmm…

And, officially, he’s injured at the moment. But despite this, the Lausanne club is confident enough in his health to offer him a (very) long-term contract.

Obviously, this isn’t a “serious” situation from the Rocket’s point of view, because we know that Hughes isn’t in the playoff plans. Jacob Fowler and Cayden Primeau will share the net, if all goes well.

And if there’s a problem, Hughes isn’t the only solution.

But I’m sure you’ll agree: it’s odd to see the only goaltender who spent the entire season in Laval on his way out the door in the middle of the playoffs. The Canadiens probably wouldn’t mind signing him if it had been done… but it’s still odd.

overtime

– Of note.

– Ah bon.

– Rimouski hosts the Memorial Cup and advances to the QMJHL final. The result? Moncton also earns its Memorial Cup berth before even playing the Q final games.

– No, it’s never easy.

– Stanley Cup: it smells good in Canada.

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Yanick Bouchard resigns from his position at 98.5

It’s done.

Yanick Bouchard, in a statement via his Facebook page, announced that he had submitted his resignation to his bosses at Cogeco. He is no longer a sports columnist there.

However, he says he wants to keep his full-time job at RDS.

Details to follow…

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Pierre Karl Péladeau: “We shouldn’t be surprised if TVA Sports ceases operations”

Big news this morning in La Presse: Pierre Karl Péladeau casts doubt on the future of TVA Sports.

The piece was written by Richard Dufour, responsible for coverage of Québécois listed companies, financial institutions and financial technology companies at La Presse.

In essence, Richard Dufour echoes the words of Pierre Karl Péladeau during TVA Group’s annual shareholders’ meeting, held yesterday morning in Montreal.

“We shouldn’t be surprised if TVA Sports ceases operations […] after investing over $230 million, as we say in Latin: don’t throw good money after bad! […] we can say it now: TVA Sports will not have the means or the business models to pay the colossal amounts that the National Hockey League is asking for the national rights to broadcast hockey games, as we understand it from the agreement recently reached between Rogers/Sportsnet and NHL management” – Pierre Karl Péladeau

Oh boy! If I can’t afford a Lamborghini, I won’t have a Lamborghini. A simple, elementary-level logical deduction.

With a rule of three, we can come to the conclusion that if Pierre Karl Péladeau claims he can’t afford to pay for the NHL’s French-language national rights, he won’t have the NHL’s French-language national rights, right?

Especially since TVA Sports has lost $230 million since it opened, and PKP is concerned about the new agreement signed between the NHL and Rogers (Sportsnet).

Why is he concerned? It’s simple: a company that loses money every year isn’t going to start making money if you dramatically increase its spending.

TVA Sports lost around $20 million over the last twelve months. During the same period, the network had to pay around $70 million for the right to broadcast NHL games (including only 22 Canadiens games, which is what works best in French-speaking Quebec).

Since national English-language rights have more than doubled – from $4.5 billion (Canadian) to $11 billion (Canadian) over twelve years – it’s safe to assume that the NHL and Rogers (Sportsnet) will be asking the French-language broadcaster for two to three times as much money over the next twelve years. With a new bill of $170 million a year, TVA Sports’ losses would become stratospheric. Even with 32 or 34 games instead of 22, as I mentioned a few months ago..

That’s why PKP came out publicly in front of his shareholders earlier this week… and said what he said. Understandably, no publicly-traded company is going to make that decision.

Shareholders and decision-makers will certainly recommend closing the money-losing division… and it’s going to lose more.

But two questions remain..

1. Pierre Karl Péladeau made it clear yesterday morning: he’s not going to negotiate in public. That means he’s still negotiating..

That he’s still open to the idea of broadcasting NHL games..

But that he’s not close to an agreement. At current rates, TVA Sports isn’t in, but it could be if the parameters change.

Will the NHL and Rogers put some water in their wine, seeing that the Franco-Québécois reality is not rosy, and that if they don’t, neither RDS nor TVA Sports will be able to broadcast NHL hockey in French? One is better than two, right?

Did Pierre Karl Péladeau think this would put a little pressure on both levels of government (the media are demanding more support from governments to get through the current crisis… and not just support for public state media)?

Did he say what he said in an attempt to get the CRTC, which has been awaiting a ruling for years on the royalties Bell is not paying to offer TVA Sports to its subscribers, to budge? Wouldn’t such revenues help offset regular annual churn?

2. Could TVA Sports stay open without the NHL’s French-language broadcast rights?

Good question! On the face of it, we’d be tempted to say yes. The network pays $70 million a year, plus production and talent costs, to lose $20 million. If you take away that $70 million, you’d think they’d make a profit.

Except that if you take away the NHL games, your revenues will drop too. I can’t see TVA Sports staying open without NHL hockey. Too many people would unsubscribe, and advertising revenues would take a big hit.

Conclusion
This isn’t the first time Pierre Karl Péladeau has gone public about the possible closure of TVA Sports. He did it in 2019, he did it a few years ago on 98.5..

But this time, with the NHL contract coming to an end, it’s more serious than before. There won’t be any penalties to pay, if you want to shut down (and stop broadcasting sports on your money-losing channel).

Except that I get the impression that PKP is still in negotiation mode, and that if the price of rights drops, he’ll be on board. Because, let’s face it, Bell Media can’t afford to gamble so much money on national French-language rights..

And if no one offers the asking price, that price will inevitably drop, since the rights will have to be sold. At the current price, TVA Sports will not renew its agreement… and will most likely close. But we’ll see what happens next..

The presence of TVA Sports has made the NHL and the Canadiens millions of dollars more. But how? By twinning national and regional broadcasting contracts.

If the network disappears, the club and the league will put a lot less money in their pockets. It’s the law of supply and demand.

PKP wanted to provoke the league, Rogers, the CRTC, the provincial government and the federal government with his exit. Will it work? We’ll see.

But he tried something.

Extension

There’s always the option of a split between TVA Sports and RDS that refuses to die when I talk to people in the business. However, I don’t get the impression that this option is very high on the list, especially as Bell and Québecor are more competitors than teammates. If it happens, it will be a last-minute option to save everyone’s bacon.

We’ll see.

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Jacob Fowler: lucky he signed on to play in Laval

Good thing Jacob Fowler signed to play in Laval.

Mind you, I’m not necessarily saying that for the club (although Pascal Vincent must be happy to have him) since Cayden Primeau is capable of playing well in the AHL, but for him. After all, if Fowler had made the jump to the NHL to burn a year on his contract, he wouldn’t have played.

Now, circumstances and his good performances mean that he’s getting his chance in Laval, and he’ll be looking for experience a lot.

In three playoff games (after playing three regular-season games), he won three and gave up just three short goals. The Rocket’s playoff loss, which eliminated the Monsters last night at Place Bell, was with Cayden Primeau in front of the net.

Fowler is therefore in complete control. And probably having to fight for playing time brings out the best in him.

Of course, anyone who saw yesterday’s game knows that Fowler wasn’t exactly the most challenged of men. He was playing behind a team that was totally in control.

But still: it’s easier to be confident, as a team, when the goalie behind is doing the job. And seeing how the guys played and how Fowler was praised after the game, he’s clearly part of the club.

But hey. That doesn’t mean Fowler is going to do what Carey Price did in 2007 and play every playoff game to win the Calder Cup. All the games coming up, given that Primeau has played one.

Pascal Vincent said it (and we heard it too): Cayden Primeau will be a factor. It’s going to take two goalies to go far, and Fowler won’t be the only one playing against Rochester.

Primeau is still the guy who brought the Rocket to the playoffs. And without Samuel Montembeault’s injury, he would have started the playoffs.

However, I don’t think the Canadiens are disappointed to see Fowler stick the big playoff performances to his first pro starts. It just goes to show why he’s such a top prospect…

extension

– The atmosphere was great yesterday in Laval.

– Nice photo.

– True: Pascal Vincent beat the Blue Jackets’ club team.

– There was a stir after the game.

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AHL playoffs: Rocket wins and advances to next round

Tonight, the Laval Rocket were at Place Bell for Game 4 of their first-round series against the Cleveland Monsters. The Habs’ club-école was leading its series 2-1… and had the opportunity to eliminate the Monsters tonight.

Remember that in the AHL, it’s 3 of 5 in the first round.

And after losing Game 3, the Rocket was hungry tonight. They came out with the knife between their teeth… and scored three goals in the first period. Xavier Simoneau, Laurent Dauphin and Logan Mailloux got the ropes moving.

And let’s talk about Logan Mailloux’s first period: the defenseman was really, really dominant during the first 20 minutes of the game. We saw him play inspired hockey yesterday… and it makes you wonder if he listened to Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton’s press briefing yesterday.

Because clearly, he played like someone who’d been paying attention when the executives talked about the fact that they’d be watching the Rocket playoffs to see which guys look ready to make the jump to the big club.

We should also mention Jacob Fowler, who was in front of his team’s net after giving way to Cayden Primeau for Game #3. And once again, the young goalie was solid in front of the net.

The only goal he allowed came in the second period, when Luca Del Bel Belluz beat him… even though he was offside. So Fowler didn’t award a single “good” goal.

Otherwise, the young goalie really looked confident in front of his net. He didn’t make any spectacular saves for one simple reason: he didn’t have to.

He was helped by his defense, of course, but he read the game so well that he was always well placed when a shot was headed his way.

In the end, therefore, the Rocket won 4-1, with Dauphin completing the scoring in an empty net. And in doing so, the Habs’ club-school eliminates the Monsters and moves on to the next round.

The club’s next series will pit it against the Rochester Americans (the Buffalo Sabres’ feeder club), who swept the Syracuse Crunch (the Tampa Bay Lightning’s feeder club) in the first round.

Overtime

– Great Xhekaj.

– The loss in Game 3 may have been good for the Rocket.

– Golden Knights without Alex Pietrangelo tonight.

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Crosby: It’s going to take Slafkovsky, Mailloux and at least one first-round pick, according to Antoine Roussel

At this stage of the rebuild, I never thought we’d be talking about buying and not selling.

But with the Habs having such a great season, we’re now talking about who Kent Hughes is going to get, not who Hughes is going to trade…

And Sidney Crosby, no less, is a name still linked to the Habs. Will the Habs GM make his biggest trade yet this summer? In any case, it’s going to be expensive. And not just for picks 16 and 17 in the upcoming draft…

According to Antoine Roussel on the Sortie de zone podcast , it’s going to cost something like: Juraj Slafkovsky, Logan Mailloux and at least one of this year’s two first-round picks.

Do you?

It’s a thoughtful one, because while Crosby is one of the greatest players of all time, he’s not the youngest anymore. At 37 (38 in August), the Penguins captain shows no signs of slowing down, having finished last season with 91 points in 80 games.

And he’s still eating his sport…

To get a player of Crosby’s caliber, you have to pay.

Giving away Slaf, Mailloux and two mid-first-round picks is a reasonable offer. But personally, I don’t do it. The Canadiens’ power forward has proven that, with a little consistency, he can be an excellent player. And in the playoffs, even if the sample size is small, he’s shown that he can contribute.

I have a little less of a feeling for the other three in the package, but still, they are/will be quality prospects and for a guy approaching forty, that’s a lot.

Let’s not forget that Montreal is in year three of its reconstruction. The team isn’t necessarily ready to win the Stanley Cup just yet. Let’s be patient.

Overtime

– There’s no doubt about it.

– Great read on the Blues.

– Interesting.

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EXCLUSIVE: a new Bob Bissonnette song will be released soon

It’s been almost 10 years since Bob Bissonnette passed away. The former hockey player, best known for his musical career, won the hearts of many Québécois with his guitar.

He was an extremely unifying guy, and above all, a guy who was capable of not taking himself too seriously.

During his career as a musician, Bissonnette released three albums. Since his death, two live albums have been released (with a few new songs)… and we weren’t expecting anything else.

Now, DLC has learned exclusively today that a new, previously unreleased Bissonnette song has recently been discovered… and that we should expect it to be released soon.

Colleague Maxime Truman reported the news on his X account.

According to what we were able to learn between the branches, the discovery of this new song was a real surprise for the singer’s family. We weren’t expecting to find any new material… but this song has been discovered.

However, it’s to be expected that this will be the last time a previously unreleased Bissonette song sees the light of day.

As colleague Truman noted, it could all be available (legally) within hours. Presumably there’ll be an announcement of the title and cover art by then… and we should expect all the information to be available on the singer’s various platforms.

This is great news for Bob Bissonnette fans… and there are quite a few Bob Bissonnette fans in Quebec. Even nearly 10 years after the singer’s death, he’s still a beloved artist in the province, and it will be a great gift for them to have a new song.

I can’t wait to hear it, can you?

Overtime

– The question arises.

– Time to trade Alexis Lafrenière? [NY Post]

– DLC reps in Laval.

– The Rocket give themselves a serious option on the game.

– Really?

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Mike Matheson: the Habs pull out all the stops to win over Sidney Crosby

The Senior World Championship gets underway in a few days’ time in Sweden and Denmark.

Canada will be looking to continue its international success, having won gold at the Four Nations Confrontation.

Of the group, guys like Sidney Crosby, Marc-André Fleury and Nathan MacKinnon will be a big help to the Canadiens. But there’s also Mike Matheson in the line-up. He said he’d play locker emptying a few days ago, but now it’s official.

The Habs are pulling out the big guns to convince Sidney Crosby to come to Montreal, so, hehe.

MacKinnon is representing the Avalanche and Matheson, the Habs. I don’t think the Penguins captain is going to change his address, but if there are two teams linked to Crosby, it’s the Avalanche and the Canadiens.

One thing’s for sure: acquiring him is going to cost a lot of money. And it won’t just be the 16-17 picks in the next draft, unfortunately.

Matheson will play for his country, but it’s a little more complicated for Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield and Lane Hutson. The two Americans are undecided, and in the case of the captain, he’s really banged up. But I’m sure he’d like to play to prove he belongs in the squad for the next Olympics.

Here’s the Canadiens’ schedule for the competition:

  • may 9 against Slovenia
  • may 11 against Latvia
  • may 13 vs. France
  • may 15 vs. Austria
  • may 17 vs. Slovakia
  • may 19 against Finland
  • may 20 against Sweden

It starts weak, but ends strong.

They’ll just have to behave themselves. And let’s hope Matheson, who played with Crosby in Pittsburgh, convinces his former teammate to come to the metropolis.

Overtime

– It deserves to be clear.

– So many memories!

– It’s clear.

– Yes.

– The Gargoyles affiliated with the Hurricanes.