Author: Dose

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Here’s how to get Ivan Demidov’s signature

It didn’t take long: Ivan Demidov has already stolen the hearts of the Canadiens fans.

We saw several people with a #93 jersey for his first career game in the NHL last night and with his performance, I can guarantee one thing.

Demidov jerseys are going to sell a lot. Because his popularity will continue to grow over time…

The company AJ Sports also had the idea to organize a sale of items signed by the young Canadiens player.

Those who want Demidov’s signature can do so until April 16 on the company’s website and each price varies depending on the item you can choose.

For example: photos (8×10) are available at a price of $99 each, there are official game pucks from last night’s game at a price of $119 each… and there are also several other items like draft pucks, limited edition pucks of his first goal (there are 72 pucks in total) and jerseys.

Good stock, to say the least. Especially since it comes with Demidov’s signature:

Demidov, who signed the largest contract in Warrior’s history, will certainly receive a percentage of the profits made with this “project”.

And that’s normal: the Canadiens player is going to go get all the cash he can get right now.

He doesn’t earn an astronomical salary in the NHL yet since he’s in his first year (out of three) of his entry-level contract with the Canadiens.

But anyway: the idea of the company AJ Sports is really interesting.

They know that all the fans’ eyes are on Ivan Demidov right now and clearly, they want to take advantage of the moment to sell signed items from the young man to the fans.

The timing is well chosen, at least.

From a marketing standpoint, it’s excellent!

Overtime

– Sick.

– A true connoisseur!

– Beautiful comment.

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58:46 : the ice time of Bogdan Konyushkov in his game today

The Torpedo Nijni Novgorod, which is the club of Bogdan Konyushkov, was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs in the KHL.

The management was so upset that they told the players to continue practicing even if the team was eliminated. And they also threatened the younger players to send them to complete their military service if they didn’t follow orders.

But Bogdan, he doesn’t have to practice with his teammates right now.

Torpedo instead decided to send him to the VHL so that the defenseman can help the team’s farm club make it to the end of the playoffs.

The Canadiens’ prospect had an impact on his team’s success: he helped Torpedo-Gorky win their game of the day and take a 3-0 lead in their series against HK Chelmet Chelyabinsk.

Konyushkov contributed to the win… by spending a total of 58:46 on the ice during the game.

For those who are wondering: yes, you read that right.

The game ended in the fifth overtime period (!):

To play for almost an hour in a single game… you have to be in good shape.

But if the Canadiens’ prospect was used as much during the game, it’s because the coaches trust him.

It’s logical: Konyushkov is already a veteran in the KHL, even if he’s only 22 years old, and he’s an important player for Torpedo in “normal” times.

Also, in the win, Torpedo-Gorky finished the game with an impressive total of 112 shots on goal (!).

The opposing goalie, Alexei Shchetilin, will sleep well tonight… Hehe.

Overtime

– Wow.

– Note:

– The top scorers in the NHL:

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Policy: postpone the leaders’ debate because of a Canadiens game?

Tonight, there will be the only debate among leaders in French as part of the Canadian election campaign.

The debate is not just for the Québécois, but it is understood that the people of Quebec are the main target of the debate in the language of Molière of the campaign.

The goal is, as much as possible, for the people here to be listening.

You know as well as I do that to create a media eclipse, there is nothing like the Canadiens. When there is a buzz around the Habs, it surpasses everything.

And right now, there is a lot of it.

Tonight, the Canadiens will play a game that will be watched a lot. Yes, the duel could be important for the playoffs, but even if it is not, people will want to see Ivan Demidov.

All this to say that tonight, the leaders’ debate will not be the priority of many Québécois. And that’s why the NDP has asked to postpone the event (the debate… not the game) and the Bloc Québécois agrees with the idea.

This scheduling conflict gives the impression that the political system is disconnected from reality and will have a significant impact on the number of viewers who will follow the only French-language debate of the campaign. – Jagmeet Singh

We understand that it is true that the goal is for the debate to be seen. And I imagine that it will give the leaders more time to prepare.

By the force of circumstance, the parties that proposed this idea will gain some political capital since considering the Canadiens in Quebec is never a bad thing.

Note that in 2011, a debate was postponed due to a Habs playoff game. So, it would not be the first time this happened, when you think about it.

To be continued, as postponing a debate is not that easy.

overtime

– Postponing the debate would allow Ivan Demidov to be there. #LOL #CandidatBauer

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Attract players with Demidov: Yesterday, it was a nice good example

We knew Ivan Demidov was good.

We knew he had the talent to quickly make an impact in the Montreal Canadiens’ lineup.

But we didn’t necessarily know he was going to set the Centre Bell on fire by picking up two points in his first four NHL games.

What he was able to do last night was special.

And it’s also the way he was able to score his first two points in the NHL: he used his skills to create space (both on his pass and on his goal) and it produced magnificent results.

It even looked easy for him in the first period…

Darren Dreger recalled (Insider Trading) that Demidov’s arrival could help the Habs attract talented players this summer. And seeing him complete plays like last night’s can increase those chances:

Not everyone saw Ivan Demidov dominate the KHL at 18 years old.

But seeing him be as good as he was last night in his first NHL game… it’s something.

It mainly shows that he is able to stick to his style of play and use his skills to create plays on the ice. If players from other teams were paying attention to his debut last night, they realized one thing: playing with Demidov is “pretty easy”.

He’s so good at finding his teammates on the ice that he could have had more than one assist last night.

If Alex Newhook was named Sidney Crosby, Demidov could have possibly finished the night with four points.

The sample size is small since we’re only talking about one game.

However, the young player’s performance last night is a great example of how he might help Kent Hughes and the Canadiens attract high-quality players to Montreal.

I wonder if Crosby watched the game…

Overtime

– Good listening!

– It’s crazy.

– Okay.

– He’s on fire!

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The Hurricanes will not be playing all their regulars tomorrow night

The Canadiens had the opportunity to qualify for the playoffs last night against the Blackhawks. They missed their mission.

Result? We will be watching the game between the Blue Jackets and the Flyers tonight. The latter have the number of the Jackets since the last victory of Columbus against Philly in regulation time dates back to April 6, 2024.

But even if the Jackets win, the Canadiens can get their ticket to the playoffs tomorrow if they are able to get just one small point against the Hurricanes.

The Carolina formation is already assured of participating in the spring dance and they already know their opponents for the first round (the Devils).

Since tomorrow’s game has “no” importance for the Hurricanes, Rod Brind’Amour has made a decision that could favor the Canadiens: he will not be using all his regular players tomorrow night.

And we can also expect the best players on the team who will be in uniform to play less than usual.

The Hurricanes will want to be fresh for their series against New Jersey:

So much the better for the Canadiens… because it’s always difficult against Carolina for the past six years.

The Habs, after all, have only won two of their last 15 games (!) against the Hurricanes.

The Habs have their destiny in their hands and Brendan Gallagher explained it well after today’s practice.

Right now, the Canadiens can’t focus on the Blue Jackets’ successes. They have to be able to get at least one point tomorrow against the Hurricanes and they can’t rely on the Jackets to control their future.

Because it’s by winning games and getting points on the board that a team can qualify for the playoffs.

It’s not by watching other teams win:

But to win, you also have to play the right way.

The Canadiens have some flaws in their game right now (including their powerplay) and they need to correct them as soon as possible, or it will be too late.

Because now, there’s no room for error…

Overtime

The Habs have played two games against the Hurricanes this season.

They won 4-0 on February 25 and lost 4-1 on March 28.

Hoping we’ll see the Canadiens of February 25 tomorrow…

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The Oilers want to injure us: “What the f*ck?”, Perry’s response to Danault

There’s a nice rivalry between the Kings and the Oilers.

The two teams have faced each other in the first round of the playoffs for the past three seasons, and the Oilers have come out on top each time.

It’s clear that the Kings aren’t too fond of the Edmonton team right now… and we saw that last night.

Things got heated in the game between the two teams at the Oilers’ home: the Kings players were hit all night, and at one point, it got a bit out of hand.

Darnell Nurse gave Quinton Byfield a dangerous cross-check to the head, and Byfield wasn’t able to finish the game:

During the second intermission, Phillip Danault expressed his displeasure in an interview on NHL Network.

The Kings player said the Oilers sent their B-team… and that the goal was to injure the Los Angeles players:

It’s a bit ironic because the Oilers didn’t have a choice but to send their B-team.

Mattias Ekholm, Jake Walman, Zach Hyman, Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Trent Frederic, Evander Kane… all these players were absent last night because they’re injured.

And that’s why after the game, Corey Perry reacted quite directly to Phillip Danault’s comments.

It was pretty clear:

What the f*ck? What did he want us to do?

Did he follow what’s going on with our team? What did he want us to do? – Corey Perry

Corey Perry and Phillip Danault played together in Montreal.

They fought together to bring the team to the Stanley Cup Finals in the summer of 2021… and that’s not forgotten.

But there were a lot of emotions on the ice last night, and it showed in the comments from both players.

They’re not there to help each other – or love each other – since the Kings and Oilers are rivals… and that was evident last night.

Things can change quickly in the NHL, hehe.

Overtime

– I love the response.

– Oh yeah?

– To be continued.

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Ivan Demidov played more in playoff series in the KHL than yesterday

This season, Ivan Demidov’s playing time has been talked about a lot.

When he was in the KHL, there were many games where he didn’t play much, which was ridiculous. Roman Rotenberg became a popular name in Quebec in recent months.

He made himself known for the worst and for… the worst.

That’s to say that there were highs and lows in Demidov’s usage, who even started the series as the 13th forward. He eventually earned more playing time and finished the series with five points in six games, but it wasn’t easy.

Here’s his playing time in the six playoff games.

  1. 7:43
  2. 17:36
  3. 9:37
  4. 27:03
  5. 24:12
  6. 16:11

So, despite two games under 10 minutes, Demidov still finished the series with an average of 17:03 per game. And that’s more than his playing time yesterday.

Yesterday, he played for 16:56 – and he didn’t get a chance in the shootout, where he would have been the fourth shooter.

Note that Demidov, in the 2024-2025 regular season in Russia, averaged 13:45 of playing time. That’s three minutes less than in his NHL debut.

In the season, he jumped on the ice 18.3 times per game on average. Yesterday, he did it 21 times – and there was overtime.

I think St-Louis, who hasn’t (logically) done anything to create hype around Demidov, could have used him more if he wanted to, but I also think he did well to spare him in his NHL debut. He had quality chances, but didn’t necessarily play 20 minutes either.

He has to earn his place in the sun (which he did via his big performance) and progressively, the coach will/will want to give him more.

If Demidov had arrived at the start of the season, it would be one thing. But now, St-Louis has to find a balance between giving ice time to an exceptional talent and not taking too much away from the guys who have been there since September and have been fighting for the team for 81 games.

I would give him a little more tomorrow night, against Carolina, but I have no problem with his usage last night. And the more he integrates into the team, the more the guys will “accept” seeing a kid eat up minutes.

in Overtime

– Speaking of the wolf.

– At least, he skates.

– Rocket news. We don’t know if David Reinbacher will play tomorrow.

– He’s coming back to the NHL.

– Owen Power, seriously injured?

– Note.

– As long as we’re at it, ask yourself what impact this will have on LeBron…

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The Canadiens have the worst powerplay in the NHL in April

The Canadiens are not a perfect team.

It’s an exciting team. It’s an unpredictable team. It’s a team that shouldn’t be taken lightly… but it’s definitely not a perfect team since it still has flaws to correct.

Here are three. There are more, I know, but we’ll start with three.

1. The team must score more often on the powerplay

Yesterday, Juraj Slafkovsky scored a goal on the powerplay. It was his 50th point of the season, which allows him to equal his total from the previous season, by the way.

But did you know that it was the Habs’ first powerplay goal in April?

The team had 17 powerplay opportunities in April and Slaf is the only one to have taken advantage of it. We’re talking about a 5.9% success rate, equal with the Ducks and the Kraken – two powers… – at the bottom of the Bettman circuit.

I don’t see Martin St-Louis bringing Ivan Demidov to the first wave right away (he’s currently on the second unit) and that’s okay… but we can still mention his name.

The Capitals, in April, have a mid-class powerplay, with a 80% success rate. Will the Habs, if they make the playoffs, be able to score on the powerplay against them?

We’ll see in due time.

2. The team must start their games better

Yesterday, the Habs took the lead 2-0 (against a bad team) and finished the first period ahead 2-1. It was the first time in 15 games that the Habs were leading after 20 minutes.

Renaud Lavoie talked about it this morning on BPM Sports’ morning show. There were seven times when they were trailing, seven times when it was tied… and once (yesterday) when the Habs were leading after a period.

Martin St-Louis recently talked about his team’s bad starts. And even if the team is capable of coming back in games, it can’t always be done – and the coach knows it.

In the playoffs, you can’t just play catch-up hockey. Especially against (potentially) Washington…

3. The team must shoot more

The (second) best scorer of all time said it: you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. And if the Habs are going to play against the Capitals (and against the best scorer of all time) in the playoffs, they’ll need to shoot to help themselves a bit.

In their last five games, the Canadiens have shot 17, 22, 21, 15, and 21 times on goal.

Obviously, the best players must be the best and shoot more. But the whole team must bring pucks. Games where there’s less than one shot per guy on average, it doesn’t work.

Ivan Demidov is part of the solution (three shots yesterday), but it will take more from many guys.

in overtime

– Wow.

– The Flames want to believe.

– Suspension coming?

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The Canadiens may not deserve to make the playoffs, but their fans do

As Akhenaton was singing at the end of the ’90s: the evening had started well, yeah…

Unfortunately, it ended badly (again) for the Canadiens. You can’t be leading 2-0 in the middle of the first period against the 31st team in the league at the Centre Bell and then lose the game in a shootout. Whether or not the officials made a mistake in the shootout (on a goal that was good anyway… and that would be the only one scored in the shootout), you should never have ended up in that situation.

You also can’t take less than 23 shots on goal for a fifth consecutive game.

In fact, yes, you can… but you shouldn’t be surprised to leave the arena with another loss on your record. It was the freaking Blackhawks, man!

Ivan Demidov had quite a first game in North America: a goal, an assist, a plus-1 differential, nearly 17 minutes of ice time, three shots, a hit, a giveaway, and the first star of the game… and several passes that could have resulted in a goal (or goals). Alex Newhook missed the net more often than I miss the greens in an 18-hole game. It seemed like something was always happening when #93 jumped on the ice.

The problem is that apart from Demidov, the Habs players didn’t really show up last night. They’re starting to lose steam, it’s visible.

But some have also started playing like juniors again. Read Juraj Slafkovsky here…

Juraj Slafkovsky must step up.
(Credit: Getty Images)

Will Martin St-Louis dare to dress some less talented but fresh players tomorrow, even if it’s possibly the most important game of the year since the COVID spring?

Joshua Roy? Emil Heineman (if he’s healthy)? Arber Xhekaj? Michael Pezzetta?

He’ll have to think about reintegrating the Sheriff into the lineup at the start of the playoffs. Why forgive and not take Guhle out of the lineup after his penalty that changed the game, but leave Xhekaj in the stands for weeks for a similar mistake?

It’s a double standard…

Do they deserve to make the playoffs?

The Canadiens woke up this morning with 89 points. The Blue Jackets have 85. They are condemned to beat the Flyers tonight in Philadelphia, and then the Islanders on Thursday in New York. All of that in regulation time!

While the Canadiens only have to go get a small point tomorrow against the Hurricanes (who will rest players) at the Centre Bell.

But we can still ask the question: do the Habs deserve to make the playoffs?

The team is 19th in the overall standings.

They have three more losses than wins.

They have a cumulative differential of minus-22, which is the worst among the 16 teams currently on track to make the playoffs.

And they’re often outshot by the opponent lately.

As someone from the middle told me this morning: the Canadiens don’t deserve to make the playoffs, but their fans do.

It would be a disaster (to miss the playoffs)

When something has a 99.4% chance of happening, it happens 994 times out of 1,000. And when it doesn’t happen, there’s reason to freak out (positively or negatively).

If the Habs were to miss the playoffs, they would go from a 99.4% chance to 0% of extending their season…

The players would leave with bad emotions, and instead of building on a first playoff run for this group, they would ruminate on it all summer. And it would stay in their heads next year…

Given where we are, they need to make the playoffs. For the team’s present, but also for its future.

If the owner or promoter of the Palma is reading me this morning, please, refuse the table that the Hurricanes players will ask for tonight. It brings bad luck to the Canadiens when you host the opposing team.

Tomorrow, the Habs players will have to be more disciplined, even if it’s sometimes hard to be when you’re drained (physically and emotionally). I’m told that almost everyone takes a bag of ice in the locker room after games….

The Blackhawks were 2 for 3 on the power play last night. That’s where the game was decided.

Unfortunately, you risk not being able to rest anyone tomorrow if the Blue Jackets win in 60 minutes tonight.

Some people are hoping to see Jakub Dobes thrown into the fray tomorrow against the Hurricanes. Let’s be realistic: it will only happen if the Blue Jackets don’t get two points before overtime tonight. Otherwise, tomorrow’s game will be like a Game 7 for the Habs… and it’s Montembeault that Martin St-Louis would send to the net to try to win a Game 7, not Jakub Dobes.

Overtime

– The guys are still together. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn in the coming days that Ivan Demidov and his girlfriend are staying with Lane Hutson (and his mom) for the spring.

– Did nobody notice it wasn’t Ben Roger?

– Not wrong!

– That’s a lot of money for a young player from the Ukrainian D2.

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Officiating in Montreal: LASIK offers free treatment to NHL referees

Yesterday, the refereeing at the Centre Bell was… contested.

It notably started with Kaiden Guhle (did he really deserve two penalties at the same time?), but it continued with calls that were not made… and with the situation in the shootout.

To know what made the situation be handled in this way, I invite you to read my post on the subject.

But obviously, you will have understood that this situation has been talked about a lot, not only is it important because of the timing, but also, it happened in Montreal.

How the referees on the ice did not see the goal: that’s the question. Because if they had, we wouldn’t be here this morning.

And on this subject, LASIK, a company that specializes in optometry, took the opportunity to mention that NHL referees are entitled to free treatment on their arms.

So the company pushed the old “put on your glasses, ref” joke to another level, basically.

Better vision. Better calls.

Yes, we’re literally offering all NHL refs free LASIK.

This was written under Elliotte Friedman’s post related to what happened in Montreal. And even if it’s not the first time LASIK makes this joke (a quick look on Twitter shows it), it remains noteworthy.

The NHL looks bad in all this. And Gary Bettman must simply wish that if the Habs qualify for the playoffs, the topic will get out of the news and the playoffs will change the situation.

in Overtime

– To note.

– Sean Couturier opens up about John Tortorella. [RG media]

– Logan Mailloux is 22 years old.

– To follow.

– Logical.