Author: Dose

Categories
Uncategorized

Top-2: 25 points in 12 matches for David Pastrnak

Last night in the NHL, there were only three games.

In one of those matchups, the Canadiens lost to the Kings.

Here are the results and highlights from the other two games.

1. 25 points in 12 games for David Pastrnak

The player of the moment in the NHL is definitely David Pastrnak.

Yesterday, in a 3-2 loss to the Rangers, he scored a goal. He now has 25 points in his last 12 games. Wow!

His goal and the two goals in 16 seconds by the Bruins were, however, not enough.

On a power play, shortly after the halfway mark of the third period, Chris Kreider scored the winning goal.

This was the 50th game-winning goal of the American’s career, who will participate in the Four Nations tournament.

J.T. Miller was held scoreless with the Rangers for the first time since the 2017-2018 season.

However, he left his mark on the game in other ways.

2. Leon Draisaitl, the NHL’s top scorer

In Chicago, the Oilers were visiting.

They were close to losing but ultimately triumphed over the Blackhawks in overtime. Victory 4-3.

Zach Hyman scored the winning goal.

Alec Martinez had equalized late in the game.

And the crowd at the United Center erupted.

In the victory, Leon Draisaitl recorded two points (one goal and one assist).

He is now the NHL’s top scorer with a total of 81 points.

He just surpassed Nathan MacKinnon.

Let’s just say the race for the Art Ross will be very interesting, as usual.

Overtime

– Here is the German’s goal.

– Great save.

– Here are the top scorers from the previous night:

  • Quinton Byfield (Kings) 3 points
  • Leon Draisaitl (Oilers) 2 points
  • Ryan Donato (Blackhawks) 2 points
  • Teuvo Teravainen (Blackhawks) 2 points
  • Mika Zibanejad (Rangers) 2 points
  • Kevin Fiala (Kings) 2 points
  • Jeff Skinner (Oilers) 2 points
  • Warren Foegele (Kings) 2 points
  • Vladislav Gavrikov (Kings) 2 points

– A night with a bit more action in the NHL.

(Credit: Google)
Categories
Uncategorized

The Canadiens finish their trip in California with a loss

Last night (or earlier, yesterday morning), the CH ended its losing streak by defeating the Sharks 4-3.

Martin St-Louis’s team had the chance to win a second game in 24 hours. This time, they faced the Kings.

Here are the lineups:

Los Angeles started the period strong, and poor Jakub Dobes was left on his own.

He conceded a goal in the first period, right from the start, on a shot by Vladislav Gavrikov.

The CH did not score in the first period, marking the fourth consecutive period that Dobes had no offensive support.

Not ideal…

At the start of the second period, Alex Carrier received a penalty, but after it was served, Mike Matheson scored one of the weirdest goals of his career.

But 92 seconds later, Los Angeles took the lead again.

The goal was scored by Warren Foegele on a penalty shot.

Just 15 seconds into the third period, the Kings struck hard against the visitors.

They scored a third goal.

But Montreal did not give up, scoring a goal moments later.

Josh Anderson deflected a shot from Alexandre Carrier.

In the middle of the period, Lane Hutson, behind the play, received a stick to the face.

No penalty was called, and LA took advantage to score.

Once again, Montreal narrowed the gap moments later.

Logan Mailloux scored his second goal of the season in the NHL. It was his first game since October 29.

But the home team regained a two-goal lead just seconds later. Kevin Fiala, again.

Montreal once again left their goalie on his own during the play. And Pierre Houde said Dobes should have stopped that shot. Come on.

Final score: 6-3. Los Angeles added a goal into an empty net.

Montreal, who finished their trip in the American West with a record of 1-2-0, will return to action at home on Saturday. The team will face the Devils at 1 PM. The following day, they will play against the Lightning at the same time. #SuperBowl

Overtime

– High risk, high reward, as they say.

– Well done.

– Still.

– A 600th game for Adrian Kempe.

Categories
Uncategorized

Increase of the cap: Carey Price’s contract becomes tradable

Even though Carey Price’s contract does not affect the Canadiens’ salary cap during the season, it is still a burden.

And I imagine that for the right price, Kent Hughes would have no trouble trading him. But then again, a team would need to agree to take on such a contract. It is not typical for the Montreal GM to offer a pick for a team to take on a bad contract.

However, with the rise of the salary cap (potentially up to $95.5 million in 2025-2026), things could change, and the goalie’s contract could become tradable, according to Pierre LeBrun. Simon Snake Boisvert also discussed it in the latest episode of Processus.

Things could change because the cap will increase, but the floor will too.

And poorer teams will have to comply with this floor. It’s a shame the Arizona Coyotes are no longer around…

This floor will be higher, and if a team is slow to reach the floor, the contract of number 31 is very appealing. Why? Because it has a salary cap hit of $10.5 million, but the owner will only have to shell out two million dollars. It is really the owner who will have to pay and not the insurers, confirms LeBrun.

It’s enticing for a less wealthy team, in any case.

Price’s deal expires after the next season, so if he is traded (and he must agree due to his no-move clause), it will be in the upcoming year, until March 2026.

But number 31 has every interest in lifting his no-move clause, because no matter where he would be traded, he would pay less tax than in Quebec. There won’t be a problem, then.

In Brief

– Yes.

– Things are going badly in Toronto.

– GMs in the NBA believe they are in a video game lately.

– A guy I would target if I were the Canadiens.

Categories
Uncategorized

Logan Mailloux will face the Kings tonight

Last night, the Canadiens inserted Owen Beck into their lineup. With the young player who had been called up to provide extra personnel during the trip to the West, the opportunity to give him a chance was great.

That said, it’s worth noting that Beck wasn’t the only one recalled: Logan Mailloux was as well… but he didn’t play last night.

However, tonight will be different: Mailloux will be in uniform against the Kings.

He will therefore play his sixth game of the season in the NHL.

Mailloux will take the place of Jayden Struble, who will be left out.

That means that tonight, the Canadiens will have three lefties and three righties on their blue line. It’s worth noting that Mailloux will be paired with Mike Matheson on the first pair of the team.

Lane Hutson and Alexandre Carrier will be paired on the second duo, while Arber Xhekaj and David Savard will form the third pair.

That said, what will be particularly interesting is to see if Mailloux can hold his own defensively. We know it’s a challenge he faced during his call-up earlier this season… and we’ll have to see if he has improved in that regard.

He will have the opportunity to impress Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton… and especially, he will have the chance to do so against the team for which the one who drafted him, Marc Bergevin, works. I wonder if he will be at the game.

We will see if Mailloux, who had amassed three points in his five games in the NHL this season, will be able to prove his worth tonight.

As for having him with the big club, this is a great opportunity to evaluate him.

Overtime

We should expect Mailloux to be sent back to Laval after tonight’s game. After all, he is currently with the team out of necessity more than anything else… and it’s better to give him substantial minutes in Laval on a regular basis.

I expect the same for Owen Beck… although in Beck’s case, giving him both games this weekend in the event that Emil Heineman is not ready to return to play does not seem like a bad idea.

Categories
Uncategorized

Poll: Patrick Roy among the coaches who are not favored by the players

For the past few years, The Athletic has had a very interesting concept: the media surveys players regarding various issues related to their sport. Obviously, these are anonymous surveys, but they provide insight into the players’ perceptions on different hot topics.

And the anonymous format allows guys to speak their minds. It results in interesting findings.

The exercise was conducted again with NHL players, and besides seeing that Gary Bettman is a divisive commissioner, we learned a bit about the coaches and their popularity ratings across the league.

Martin St. Louis, for example, is a well-liked coach (not as much as Jon Cooper, who is by far the most popular, but still)… but not all can say the same.

Among those who cannot, there is… Patrick Roy, who came in sixth place on the question “For which coach would you not want to play?”

Without surprise, it was John Tortorella who came in first with 38.46% of the votes (out of 93 respondents). Behind him were Bruce Cassidy (we’ll get back to that), Mike Babcock (who is no longer in the league, but remains unpopular), Greg Cronin, and Lindy Ruff.

Then, it’s the Islanders’ coach who appears, with 4.62% of the votes.

Obviously, the sample doesn’t cover the entire NHL, so we don’t know how widely shared that sentiment is throughout the league. That said, seeing Roy’s name in this category is still surprising.

Is his reputation for being demanding catching up with him? It’s not impossible.

Returning to Bruce Cassidy, seeing him in second place is surprising. After all, he has a solid track record in Boston and Vegas… but you can sense that he is not popular regardless.

I imagine the current noise about Logan Thompson being ignored by Canada for the Four Nations Showdown because Cassidy reportedly advised against it after a bad experience in Vegas won’t help him… because Thompson is really the best option in the country right now.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

Categories
Uncategorized

For Michel Bergeron, Alex Newhook is not an NHL player

When looking at the statistics for the Canadiens this season, it is noticeable that Alex Newhook is having avery difficult campaign. In fact, if we consider the 12 regular forwards on the team (including Emil Heineman), none of them have scored fewer points than the former Avalanche player.

Christian Dvorak has the same number of points as him (16), butall the others have more.

Considering that Newhook plays on the top-6 and on the power play, that is quite disastrous. The club did pay a good price for his services (the 31st and 37th picks in 2023), but he doesn’t seem like a guy worthy of playing in a top-6.

More and more, one might think that if his future is in Montreal, it will probably involve a spot on a third line.

However, for Michel Bergeron, it’s even worse than that. During his appearance on JiC tonight, the Tiger stated that for him, Newhook is outright not an NHL player.

Nothing less.

The former coach is clearly not a big fan of Newhook, whom he sees as “a fourth-line player who is fast.”

And clearly, he does not think that his vision of the game is particularly excellent either…

On the power play, I think that he himself, if you opened the doors behind him, he would leave for the Zamboni. – Michel Bergeron

It goes without saying that Newhook’s season has been quite difficult so far. In the current state of things, it is hard for the Canadiens to see Newhook as a future piece of their top-6… which is not ideal in a context where there are also doubts about Kirby Dach’s position.

At least, Ivan Demidov seems to be a fairly safe bet at that level, and Michael Hage could become one… but as the saying goes, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. And right now, Newhook is not exactly the “bird” in that saying.

There is a world in which Newhook becomes a quality piece on a third line in the long term. That said, for a role in the top-6 long term, it seems increasingly clear that the Canadiens would be better off looking elsewhere.

A strong finish to the season from Newhook could change things… and we’ll see if the break from the Four Nations Tournament will do him good.

In brief

– Kaiden Guhle: we should have news in a few weeks. We need to wait for the wound to heal.

– Make your predictions.

– Ryan Hartman is appealing his suspension.

– Not easy, the Mike Cammalleri treatment.

– A notice to baseball fans.

Categories
Uncategorized

Deadline: “Kent Hughes is making calls for trades he would make in June”

With the Canadiens struggling for a little while now, the idea of seeing the club as buyers at the deadline is becoming increasingly unrealistic. The team is still in a rebuilding phase, after all… and paying a high price for rental players doesn’t make sense in the current state of affairs.

And this is true even if Kaiden Guhle’s health is very uncertain.

That said, during today’s episode of Radar (BPM Sports), Pierre LeBrun talked a little about the team’s plans leading up to the deadline….

And there is one line that stands out:

Kent Hughes is making calls for trades he would make in June. – Pierre LeBrun.

The excerpt starts HERE if you want to listen to it.

What needs to be understood, however, is that the GM is not calling to lay the groundwork for a trade that would be completed in June. In fact, what LeBrun means is that the Habs, if they move before March 7, would do so with the perspective of helping their team beyond this season.

In short, a bit like with Alexandre Carrier.

Nonetheless, there is a world in which the Habs come to terms with reality and accept to be sellers. This means that guys like Jake Evans, Joel Armia, David Savard, and Christian Dvorak could be traded…

But not at any price.

In fact, according to LeBrun, the Canadiens have still not made a decision on this. However, they are still talking to other teams regarding their players, especially in Evans’ case.

According to Tony Marinaro and Jean-Charles Lajoie, the Devils and the Lightning are two teams that have spoken with the Habs regarding the center player. In the podcast, LeBrun notes that it will take (at least) a second-round pick to get him out of Montreal… and even then, the Habs might decide to pass if that’s all they receive.

However, LeBrun also brings up the idea of seeing the Canadiens approach the deadline with a more human perspective. He notably gave the example of Savard, a respected and appreciated veteran in the city… and he wondered if the Habs could ask him what he prefers to finish the season.

Perhaps, for example, the Canadiens would not want to trade Savard for a fourth-round pick from a contending team… but if the defenseman tells the GM that he would like to win the Cup again and the team honors his request, it would send a nice message to the rest of the league (a bit like the management of Jeff Petry’s second stint in the city).

We know that Hughes is close to his players, and it’s reasonable to think that this is a scenario that makes a lot of sense. It shouldn’t prevent the GM from thinking about the team’s best interest first… but sometimes, taking a small step back today can help you in the long run if you send the message to the rest of the league that you treat your players well.

With the break for the 4 Nations Confrontation coming, the talks about the deadline will accelerate. Let’s see what the plan is in Montreal now.

In brief

– I can’t wait to see him at the Bell Centre next year.

– Very touching.

– Lots of scouts in Chicago tonight.

– Kirby Dach, a country music guy.

Categories
Uncategorized

Shane Wright has the same number of points as Slaf (with two more games played)

In 2022, the Canadiens decided to select Juraj Slafkovsky with the first overall pick in the NHL draft.

We know what happened next: Nemec was selected by the Devils, Logan Cooley was the choice of the (former) Coyotes… And Shane Wright had his name called by the Kraken at 4th overall.

We all remember the look he shot at the Canadiens’ table!

It took time before Wright established himself as an NHL player, but he is doing what he needs to do this season in Seattle.

In fact, he is having an even better season than Slaf in terms of goals, and both guys are tied in points.

Wright currently has the upper hand over the Canadiens player:

I’m not saying that the Canadiens made the wrong choice.

Not at all, actually.

Slaf is only 20 years old… And it’s way, way too early to think that the Canadiens made a mistake selecting him with the very first pick.

But in reality, Slaf has only 29 points in 50 games, and that’s not super exceptional production for a guy who was picked first overall.

He is only in his third season in the National Hockey League, and we must not forget that aspect: but it is normal to see some questioning when Wright has the same number of points as him in almost as many games… While Wright is currently playing his first full season in the National Hockey League.

Especially since he is playing on the third line of his team! Slaf, on the other hand, has been playing on the first line since the end of last season…

The development of all players is different, and Wright had to go through the American League before reaching the NHL. We’ll have to wait and see if the Kraken’s plan worked out in a few years… But for now, it’s worth noting that both are almost on the same pace this season.

In Brief

– I like his mindset.

– It’s pretty crazy.

– Good move!

Categories
Uncategorized

Cayden Primeau is the goalie of the month for January in the American Hockey League

On December 29, the Canadiens decided they had had enough.

The team sent Cayden Primeau down to the American Hockey League because the goaltender wasn’t performing in Montreal.

From October to the end of December, it was really, really tough for the player involved.

But now, Primeau has been on fire since his return to the American Hockey League.

He has won his first nine games of the season with the Rocket, and his performances are not going unnoticed either.

Primeau has been named Goaltender of the Month in the AHL:

In nine games, Primeau has a record of 9-0-0, a goals-against average of 1.96, and a save percentage of .923.

Things are really going well for him, to put it another way.

Seeing Primeau perform so well down there raises questions about what the Canadiens think of the situation. And it also makes one wonder what the organization’s plan is regarding the goaltender.

Because in Montreal, Jakub Dobes is playing like a guy who doesn’t deserve to be sent back to Laval.

It’s hard to move him out right now… And if Primeau continues to rack up wins, his performance in the American Hockey League is really going to start getting attention.

But ultimately, it’s interesting to see that Primeau has regained his confidence and is winning games again.

It remains to be seen if he will have another chance to prove himself in Montreal… or elsewhere in the National Hockey League.

In Brief

– Makes sense.

– Speaking of Dobes:

– Oh.

Categories
Uncategorized

Crosby’s injury: A golden opportunity for Suzuki ahead of the Four Nations Tournament?

Last night, the Penguins faced the Devils at home.

The Pittsburgh team lost by a score of 3-2 in a shootout… But it was not the Penguins’ defeat that caught attention.

During the game, Sidney Crosby got hurt when his arm got stuck between Luke Hughes and Erik Haula:

Crosby had to leave the game temporarily, but he was able to return to finish the match.

That said, today, the Penguins’ captain had to miss his team’s practice because the team’s doctors wanted to examine him.

We don’t know what his health status looks like right now:

Questions need to be raised about his health… Because the Four Nations Tournament is fast approaching.

Canada will play its first game of the tournament in exactly one week. The match (against Sweden) will indeed be held at the Bell Centre.

That said, we know that Crosby is supposed to be the captain of the Canadian team for the tournament. Will he be able to play, though?

This is where things get tricky right now…

Obviously, if Crosby cannot participate, Team Canada’s management will have to find a replacement for him.

At that level, perhaps it would be a golden opportunity for Nick Suzuki because he is having a big season and has interesting qualities for Canada.

Nick Suzuki is not Sidney Crosby, and no one has said that either.

But Suzuki, who is good defensively, responsible in the faceoff circle, and is the 12th highest scorer among centers in the NHL (!), has what it takes to represent Canada on the international stage.

Robert Thomas, Mark Scheifele, Connor Bedard, Zach Hyman, Tom Wilson…

Note that these guys could also prove to be interesting candidates for Canada.

It remains to be seen, and all of this will obviously depend on Crosby’s condition in the coming days. News should come quickly on this matter, though, since there isn’t much time left before the competition begins.

In Brief

– Beautiful goal!

– Well done.

– Reminder: only three games tonight in the NHL. Canadiens fans will once again go to bed late…

– That must be so special.

– Developing story in MLB.

– Good…