Author: Dose

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Only four centers have collected more points than Suzuki this season in the NHL

I don’t want to hear another comment suggesting that Nick Suzuki is not a quality first center in the National Hockey League (NHL).

Forgive my language, but… give me a break with that.

At 25 years old, Suzuki has been able to lead his team to the playoffs. He has been the best player on the team since day one of the season and has set an example on the ice. The captain had a great season and the Habs have decided to reward him:

In the end, Nick Suzuki finished the campaign as…

  • The Habs’ top scorer (89 points)
  • The Habs’ second-best passer (59 passes)
  • The Habs’ second-best forward (30 goals)
  • The Habs’ top player in terms of differential (plus-19)
  • The second Habs player with the most shots (172)
  • The forward most used by Martin St-Louis (20:04)

Want more?

Ask and you shall receive: in the entire NHL… only four center players have collected more points than Suzuki this season.

The list: Nathan MacKinnon, Leon Draisaitl, Connor McDavid, and Jack Eichel, who are (really) not bad players.

Seeing Suzuki in this group is really noteworthy…

(Credit: NHL.com)

Nick Suzuki has really established himself as one of the best players in his position and he didn’t steal it.

His season deserves attention for fairly obvious reasons and I especially liked that he stepped up at the right time.

Because with the help of his 37 points in 26 games after the break, the Habs captain played an incredible role in his team’s recent successes.

The Habs would not be in the playoffs today if Suzuki hadn’t been so good over the past two months, and that shows a lot of maturity on the part of #14.

He is in his prime right now.

At 25 years old, he is in the prime of his life and it really shows in his performances on the ice because his progression is noticeable.

The Habs can consider themselves lucky to have him on their team.

And it’s high time we start giving Suzuki the respect he deserves.

Overtime

– Nice read about the new Alliance player:

– Finally!

– Hehe.

– Macklin Celebrini is going to the World Championship.

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The NHL was aware of Artemi Panarin’s file and the allegations of sexual assault

The Rangers do not seem to be doing very well at the moment.

A woman had alleged last summer that Artemi Panarin had sexually assaulted her, and this morning, we learned that MSG (the company that owns the Rangers) and the player paid the woman in question to settle the matter confidentially.

This is not a good look for a prestigious organization like the Rangers. Really not…

But that’s not all, because there’s a new development in the story.

In fact… according to TSN, the NHL was already aware of the Panarin situation in New York.

The league said in a statement that it was informed of the situation last year, while the Rangers were investigating the allegations of the woman in question – who was also a former employee of the team.

Still according to TSN, the NHL “considers the matter closed”. Hum…

It’s worth wondering if there will be consequences at some point.

Will the NHL consider giving a penalty to the Rangers for their role in the story?

Or is it the player who could face more severe consequences?

Overall, this is not a good look for the Rangers… and it’s not good for the NHL either.

The image of hockey has already been affected by the ECJ story, and right now, the NHL doesn’t need to be involved in another sexual assault case.

Because in the end, it’s bad for the entire image of the NHL… and rightly so.

I really wonder if we’ll see the bottom of this story at some point…

Overtime

– It’s up to him to prove to the management that he deserves the chance to return to the show.

– Ah, those things in life that just don’t change.

– Cool!

– It’s over for David Côté.

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The Habs players went to party at a pub in Montreal last night

There was a great atmosphere in the Canadiens’ locker room following the team’s win last night against the Hurricanes.

The Montreal team was finally able to cement its place in the last rank giving access to the playoffs this season in the NHL and the players were proud after the game.

With reason, moreover:

But the party didn’t stop in the locker room: almost all the players from the Montreal Canadiens went to the Pub Wolf & Workman on Saint-Paul Street to have a party in the evening.

The party was a bit improvised and the guys decided they were going to celebrate after the game only. It’s a day off today… so the players took advantage of it to unwind a lot and that’s perfect.

Maxime Truman and Jean Trudel talked about it in their Patreon podcast Stanley25:

According to Max’s information, there was a player who was more “vocal” than the others last night… and it was Samuel Montembeault.

The guys gravitate around him because they love him a lot in the room. Monty’s teammates like his funnier side and Max summed it up perfectly with just a few words:

Everyone loves him. He is chill! – Maxime Truman

JT, for his part, told that the Canadiens’ management was not with the players: Jeff Gorton, Kent Hughes, Martin St-Louis, and the entire Habs staff decided to go crush a couple of beers (to use JT’s words) at Ye Olde Orchard in Old Montreal.

It was time to party, the guys and the staff decided to have some fun… and it’s well-deserved after a season like that.

After all, the team managed to do what nobody thought was possible in December: qualify for the playoffs.

So much the better, they took advantage of it a bit. They have the right… because things are going to start getting even more serious in the coming days.

Overtime

– Incredible.

– I love the response.

– Logical.

– It gave us such a great moment.

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Here is the schedule for the series between the Canadiens and the Capitals

We had a good idea that the first game of the series between the Capitals and the Canadiens would take place on Monday, since all the signs had been pointing in that direction for some time.

But now it’s official.

The NHL has released the schedule for the first round and what we notice is that the Canadiens will not have a single game on Saturday night in their first round series.

  • Game #1: Monday, April 21, 7:00 PM
  • Game #2: Wednesday, April 23, 7:00 PM
  • Game #3: Friday, April 25, 7:00 PM
  • Game #4: Sunday, April 27, 6:30 PM
  • Game #5: Wednesday, April 30*
  • Game #6: Friday, May 2*
  • Game #7: Sunday, May 4*

Let’s recall that games #3, #4, and #6, if needed, will take place in Montreal. The times for potential games 5 to 7 are to be determined, according to the schedule of the other series still alive at that time.

Here is the schedule for all the games of the first round.

What we notice is that it’s the Maple Leafs, who will face the Senators, who will play on Saturday night. The Canadiens will play on Friday and Sunday instead.

More details to come…

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The famous “on s’est vomi dessus” at the beginning of the season, it was against the Capitals

And then? Are you still on cloud nine?

The Montreal Canadiens will have a big challenge ahead of them in the coming days/weeks: beating the Washington Capitals four times before the opposite happens.

About that, if you want to learn more about the Washington Capitals, I recommend reading my colleague Marc-Olivier Cook’s article on the subject.

This season, the Canadiens have faced Washington three times. They won one of those games, namely the duel on January 10. It ended 3-2 on the road, but the game went into overtime.

The team also lost 4-2 at the Bell Centre on December 7 and 6-3 on October 31, on the road.

If the game on October 31 rings a bell, it’s because it’s the second game in a row where the Habs got crushed. After the 8-2 loss to the Kraken on October 29, the Habs lost in Washington… and Martin St-Louis was not happy.

After the game, he said that the Habs had gotten crushed. Yes, it was that game… and it’s relevant to talk about it again today.

We will remember that the next morning, as Renaud Lavoie pointed out on BPM Sports this morning, there was a punitive practice on the menu for the guys.

And at that time, we were saying that April 16 (the last game of the season) couldn’t come soon enough.

Of course, the Canadiens are no longer the same team as they were in October. The team will have to take advantage of the rest until Monday to make sure they’re ready, since Washington is a good challenge.

And if the guys can learn to aim for the net when shooting, it’ll be a good start.

Overtime

– $42M just before the playoffs.

– Will Artemi Panarin play tonight?

– Surprise, surprise: Matthew Tkachuk could return in time for the first playoff game. No one saw that coming. #Irony

– Notice to those interested.

– Note.

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The Canadiens versus the Capitals: Let’s talk about Washington’s lineup

The Canadiens have their ticket to the playoffs: direction the first round.

We already know that the Habs will face the Washington Capitals in the first round of the playoffs and we know it won’t be easy.

The Caps will finish the season in 2nd place in the league standings… but they also have the 4th best powerplay in the NHL and the 2nd highest total of goals scored in the NHL (284). They are capable of being effective on both sides of the ice.

Since we’re talking about the Caps, let’s take a look at their lineup together.

Let’s start with the defense: Logan Thompson hasn’t played since April 2, but he’s started skating again.

We expect him to be ready for the first playoff game in Washington, and the Canadiens – who don’t score a lot of goals – will have to find a way to disrupt Thompson quickly in the series.

Because this season, the Capitals’ goalie has been one of the best in the NHL:

  • A record of 31-6-6
  • A save percentage of .910
  • An average of 2.49 goals allowed

But the Canadiens players will also have to expect to be roughed up because the Washington defense is not small. Really not, even…

Only one of the team’s six regular defensemen – who will be in the lineup for the first playoff game – is under 6 feet… and that’s Martin Fehérváry, standing at 5’11:

(Credit: LNH.com)

But what can help is the fact that the team still gives up a lot of goals.

The Caps are 24th in the NHL this season in terms of goals allowed, and that shows one thing: even if the defensemen are big and Logan Thompson is good, the team has defensive weaknesses.

The Canadiens will have to take advantage of that…

On offense, we know the Capitals have a strong top-6 and they also rely on other big players who can hit.

Alex Ovechkin (6’3 and 238 pounds), Aliaksei Protas (6’6 and 247 pounds), Dylan Strome (6’3 and 196 pounds), Tom Wilson (6’4 and 225 pounds), Pierre-Luc Dubois (6’4 and 220 pounds), Connor McMichael (6’0 and 180 pounds), Taylor Raddysh (6’3 and 200 pounds), Brandon Duhaime (6’2 and 210 pounds), Lars Eller (6’2 and 208 pounds)…

Wow.

That being said, the Canadiens are one of the teams in the NHL that hits the most this season.

And they will have to use that aspect to get under the skin of the Capitals players. If the Habs can get them off their game…

(Credit: StatMuse)

In the playoffs, it can also be a matter of momentum.

Things haven’t been going well for the Capitals lately, who have managed only four wins in their last eleven games.

The Habs, on the other hand, are coming into the playoffs with seven wins in their last eleven games… And they’re coming in with a full head of steam.

The young Canadiens players have something to prove. Brendan Gallagher is the only player on the team to have really experienced the playoffs with the Habs and the others will be hungry to see the atmosphere at the Bell Centre.

It won’t be easy for the Tricolore, but I also tend to believe that it won’t be easy for the Capitals.

The Canadiens have nothing to lose, after all, unlike their opponents who will finish the season in first place in the East… #DavidVsGoliath

Note that both teams will have a chance to rest a bit. The Capitals play their last game of the season tonight and will have until next Monday to recharge.

So it’s an advantage for both teams.

Overtime

In all this, we should also note that the Capitals “won’t be playing for Ovi” in the context where the captain said he wants to come back next year.

There won’t be any buzz around the Capitals’ captain, to put it another way.

And with the team struggling lately after spending weeks focusing on the goal record… the Canadiens have the opportunity to cause a big upset in the first round of the playoffs.

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Ivan Demidov was used as if Roman Rotenberg was running the habs last night

When Ivan Demidov played less often in Russia, Roman Rotenberg was under fire from the Québécois.

But yesterday, Ivan Demidov was used for 10:29 and he jumped 12 times on the ice. Nobody else had less than 13 shifts yesterday in Montreal and apart from Jayden Struble, nobody was used less than him.

So the question arises: will Martin St-Louis be criticized like Roman Rotenberg was?

In my opinion, there is a difference between the two cases. Rotenberg wanted to break the young man, while St-Louis wanted to protect him more and use him in a favorable context.

After all, for nearly half of the game, the Habs were leading. They were not trying to score: they just wanted to make sure they didn’t lose in regulation.

That’s why Alex Newhook and Patrik Laine, his line mates, were also among the least used forwards – just like Emil Heineman, by the way.

If you want to defend, you send Nick Suzuki, Jake Evans and Christian Dvorak before Alex Newhook and his two wingers who are not defensive masters either. Demidov, you send him in more offensive moments… and he still stood out at some point.

Demidov was less talked about yesterday, which can be positive. He is still adapting to hockey here and he didn’t have a bad game – even if it was less impressive than on Monday.

I have the feeling that next Monday, in the first game of the series, he will be able to shine if the team is in a position to want to score and not just to defend.

And as the Habs often start their games poorly…

I’m not worried about Demidov. He was less talked about than in his first game, but he did what he had to do, he who is not the savior of the Canadiens. And I’m not worried: his talent will resurface in the series.

overtime

– Yesterday, before the game, some people wanted to see Demidov take the place of Juraj Slafkovsky. I don’t know if Slaf listened, but clearly, he wasn’t having it.

– At this point, can the series on Crave for the 2024-2025 season be called The Rebuild?

– Have you had time to listen to the debate of the GMs since yesterday?

– Jeff Gorton must be happy to be in Montreal instead of New York or Boston, right now. And Kent Hughes must also be happy to be here.

– Idea: in game #3 of the series, the Canadiens should present Jaroslav Halak to the crowd.

– The people at TVA Sports must be happy to have Canadiens series games in 2025.

– Facing Pierre-Luc Dubois will be special.

– Does the Habs have a chance in the series?

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Joshua Roy assigned to the Laval Rocket

No surprise here.

The Canadiens announced that Joshua Roy has been assigned to the Laval Rocket. He will likely finish the season with the Canadiens’ affiliate team (unless there’s a change in the playoffs) and will not join the main team in Washington.

And it was expected.

Because Roy was the last forward in the Canadiens’ hierarchy (even behind Michael Pezzetta), he had no chance of playing and will likely learn more by playing in Laval, his assignment was logical.

Roy has not played since March 27. If the Canadiens had won on Monday, he might have played yesterday, but that didn’t happen.

He will now be able to participate in the Rocket’s last two regular season games and the playoffs. Pascal Vincent will not say no to the return of such a talented player to Laval.

And the Québécois will surely be proud to play – even if we assume the trip to Washington must have been tempting. This being said, he must have known he wouldn’t be there in the playoffs with the guys in place.

Because we have to say it: seeing Oliver Kapanen and Ivan Demidov arrive in town has changed the situation and brought depth that the team really needed for the next part of the season.

The way the team is built, I would be surprised if we don’t see the same 20 players in uniform for the first playoff game, with Arber Xhekaj, Oliver Kapanen, and Michael Pezzetta in uniform.

Let’s remember that the Rocket is a power in the league. Yesterday, the team missed its chance to finish at the top of the AHL in the regular season, but there are still two games left to achieve that.

Adding Roy to all this is interesting.

prolongation

The Habs, the Rocket, the Lions, and the Victory are all in the playoffs. Hockey in Quebec is doing well right now… and even if we were expecting playoffs for three of these four teams, it’s noticeable.

In the end, it’s the amateur who wins.

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David Savard: you don’t do that if you’re not retiring

Yesterday, we learned that David Savard had a good chance of retiring at the end of the season. Renaud Lavoie addressed the topic.

In the scenario where he doesn’t seem to want to play elsewhere (he wanted to stay at the deadline) and considering the fact that he has slowed down, the defenseman can give his place to Alexandre Carrier and the young players who are pushing.

The notion that he could sign at a discount in Montreal this summer is becoming less popular: retirement seems more and more likely for weeks… but especially since yesterday.

Yesterday, in his possible last regular season game, David Savard brought his children and wife to the bench for photos before the game against Carolina.

And as we learned from the Carey Price and Shea Weber situation, we don’t want to underestimate the impact of this kind of sign. Clearly, he had the air of a guy for whom it would be the end soon.

But if all that is not conclusive enough in your eyes, here’s another sign: the hat his wife was wearing in the photo is special.

The company Fumile, which makes hats, published a video to explain that David Savard had a hat made for his wife to highlight his career.

In short, we understand that David Savard asked for a hat to be made for his wife to pay tribute to his career. The kind of thing you don’t do if you plan on coming back, you know…

We find the name of the three cities where he played, which doesn’t leave room for a move. We also find three elements that represent his three organizations.

Do you want more? There are 14 X’s embroidered on the hat to highlight his 14 seasons in the NHL. He won’t add a 15th X to the hat and an element reminding us of the San Jose Sharks, if you see what I mean…

There is no doubt in my head: David Savard will retire when the Habs are eliminated. And he can be proud of what he brought to the Canadiens over the past few years.

He had the mandate to replace Shea Weber by force of circumstances. And in four years, even if it was harder at the beginning and the end, he was a force for the young players and a top-notch mentor.

It remains to be seen if the Habs will hire him to start his post-career in the city.

Overtime

– 53 points more? Wow.

– Padres #1.

– He’s confident.

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The Canadiens, the youngest team to participate in the playoffs this year

It’s done, the 2024-25 Montreal Canadiens are in the playoffs.

The way they got there – during the last game of the regular season, against a depleted team – doesn’t matter. From now on, each of the 16 remaining teams must try to get 16 wins to win the Stanley Cup. What happened during the regular season no longer matters, except for home ice advantage (which the Canadiens will never have due to their 17th place in the overall standings).

What do I take away from achieving this goal?

What’s worth mentioning this morning in this achievement (because yes, making the playoffs with this roster is an achievement and a success)?

1. Captain Nick Suzuki really showed the way this season. 30 goals, 59 assists, 89 points… it’s hard to ask for more from a guy that many don’t even see as a first-line center yet.

Last night, with the season on the line, Suzuki got two points and finished the game with a plus-4 differential.

He spent over 20 minutes on the ice in the team’s last three games, as they tried to clinch their playoff spot.

And he got 37 points since the end of the 4 Nations Tournament, a tournament he didn’t participate in, by the way. 37 points, that’s the fourth-highest total in the NHL since February 22.

Nick Suzuki behaved like a quality first-line center and an exemplary captain this season.

Nick Suzuki just had his best season in the NHL.
(Credit: Getty Images)

2. The return to health of Patrik Laine and the arrival of Alexandre Carrier have transformed the Canadiens’ season. Before they joined the team, the Canadiens were going nowhere. That’s something we know and have been repeating for months…

But on the other hand, it’s clear that the absence of Kirby Dach didn’t have the catastrophic effects that were expected.

Dach, a second-line center that many saw as a potential first-line center less than two years ago, played his last game of the season on February 22. He then had another surgery on his knee, which was initially operated on last season.

Giving up on Suzuki to go straight to Dvorak or Evans in the depth chart had the potential to sink the Canadiens. Except that’s not what happened. Not at all, actually!

The Habs have a record of 14-5-6 since February 23, the date of the announcement of Kirby Dach’s season-ending injury.

We have to admit it: Dach’s absence didn’t hurt the Canadiens. On the contrary! The Canadiens played their best hockey of the year without him.

Owen Beck and Alex Newhook did their best, and we can’t say they were worse than Dach was before he got injured this year.

The big question now is: what do we do with Kirby Dach in the offseason?

Do we trade him? His value isn’t very high…

Do we keep him as the second-line center? Meh…

Do we convert him to a winger and go find a real second-line center? That makes sense…

To note that Dach completed his 2024-25 season with 10 goals, 12 assists, and a minus-29 differential. All that in 57 games…

3. According to my sources, the Canadiens players are injured. And I’m not just talking about Pezzetta’s finger, Gallagher’s entire body, Josh Anderson’s back, or Emil Heineman’s upper body, etc.

Not many guys in the locker room are escaping with just an ice pack or a heating pad after games.

I don’t know if they’ll be able to keep it up for several more weeks…

But hey, the collective goal was to be in the mix, a goal that was achieved, even surpassed. Everything that happens in the next few weeks will just be a bonus.

A bonus that will come at a high price for the fans who will pack the Bell Centre, but a bonus nonetheless!

4. The most impressive thing about our Canadiens, who are at the end of their rebuild, is that their current success is due to the young players on the team. It’s the young players who led the group to the playoffs (and that’s exactly what you want from a team that’s turning the corner on their rebuild).

Suzuki… Caufield… Hutson… Slafkovsky (who was finally excellent last night)…

The team’s top four scorers are all young players that Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton have bet big on. The team’s fifth-highest scorer is Brendan Gallagher (38 points).

Only the Buffalo Sabres had a younger team than the Canadiens this season… and they missed the playoffs for the 14th consecutive season!

(Credit: EliteProspects.com)

According to the Instagram account 1909culture, the 2024-25 Canadiens would be the youngest team to make the playoffs in NHL history. However, according to my research, the 1980-81 Oilers were a bit younger (0.7 years) than the current Canadiens.

All that, and we haven’t even mentioned young Kaiden Guhle, who helped the Canadiens extend their season last night…

5. The Canadiens didn’t get caught up in statistics, mathematical models, and trends.

At American Thanksgiving, the Canadiens were five points out of a playoff spot. Historically, a team that isn’t in the top eight of their conference at American Thanksgiving has very little chance of making the playoffs.

On December 1, it was even worse. The Canadiens were 31st in the overall standings, eight points behind the eighth team in the East.

At times during the season, the mathematical models on the MoneyPuck site gave the Canadiens only 1 or 2% chance of making the playoffs.

What a turnaround! What a season! Let’s see if the Habs will be able to beat the odds in the playoffs…