Author: Dose

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Importance of Jacob Fowler: Connor Hughes will miss the start of the series

Recently, goalkeeper Connor Hughes got injured. We didn’t know exactly what it meant for the rest of the games, but we could think he would miss some playing time.

And here’s the Rocket giving an update.

According to the club, Hughes will be forced to miss two to four weeks due to a lower-body injury. He will therefore miss the start of the playoffs since the season will end in less than a week.

With Jakub Dobes up top (and since the Habs risk making the playoffs, he shouldn’t be back in Laval soon) and Hughes injured, Jacob Fowler becomes more than important.

In fact, he becomes one of the two goalkeepers of the club. A good thing he’s not in Montreal.

During the last two games, Fowler was dressed for the Rocket. And last Saturday, he even played, letting only one goal in to lead his new club to victory.

It’s starting well.

From a development point of view, Hughes’ injury doesn’t come at a bad time. After all, Fowler will be dressed for all the games and will therefore have a chance to get some playing time.

It’s exciting.

I expect to see him play one of the three remaining games (Belleville will be in Laval on April 16 and 18, while the Rocket will be in Belleville on April 19) and even if Primeau starts the playoffs, who knows what can happen.

Stay tuned.

Overtime

– For those interested: I’ll be with Tony Marinaro at 10:15 am on BPM Sports.

– Rory McIlroy, the talent of Tiger Woods? [BPM Sports]

– Yesterday, he got the paycheck.

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Quotes in December: Patrik Laine must hope the Blue Jackets don’t make the playoffs

Do you remember when Patrik Laine, just hours before facing the Blue Jackets, said he had asked to leave Columbus because he was tired of losing there?

The Blue Jackets had canceled the video tribute planned for him and the guys in the Columbus locker room were upset. It seemed to whip the Ohio players into shape for the rest of the game.

This is why this morning, when I look at the standings, I think Patrik Laine must really hope his team qualifies – and not just that they’re #DansLeMix. Because if not, he’ll hear about it a lot… and not for good reasons.

(Credit: NHL.com)

For now, it’s still possible to see the Blue Jackets (who are doing all this without Johnny Gaudreau) overtaking the Habs in the standings. And even if the Habs have a 96.4% chance of making the playoffs, according to MoneyPuck, they can’t take it lightly.

Let’s recall that if the Habs get two points from now until the end of the season, the Blue Jackets, led by Sean Monahan, will be eliminated.

If the Canadiens get one point from now until the end of the season, the Blue Jackets will have to win their last two regular-season games to overtake the Montreal club in the standings.

And if the Canadiens don’t get any points from now until the end of the season, the Blue Jackets can qualify by winning their last two games without having to do it in 60 minutes.

Let’s also recall that the Habs will face the Blackhawks tonight and the Hurricanes on Wednesday. The Blue Jackets, meanwhile, will be in Philly tomorrow and will host the Islanders on Thursday.

The Canadiens must therefore, to avoid distractions, win tonight against the Hawks. This would put an end to all the distractions and allow some guys to rest for game #82.

Losing tonight wouldn’t be good for the standings.

But most importantly, winning tonight would avoid distractions. Already, Martin St-Louis has to deal with a lot of distractions around his team with everything that’s happening in the Ivan Demidov file…

One aspect to watch is whether the Habs can break the trend of their last two games.

Because, as you know, the Habs are a team of streaks. They’ve lost their last two games… after winning six in a row… after losing five in a row.

In short, you see the picture.

The Blackhawks are a bad hockey team, but they’ll have nothing to lose. That’s why the Habs players will have to be focused on the task at hand.

We can expect to see Ivan Demidov take a place in the top-6 with Patrik Laine and Alex Newhook. And if Emil Heineman is feeling well, will he be preferred to Oliver Kapanen and Joshua Roy Michael Pezzetta as the 12th forward?

We’ll see.

If the Habs win tonight (or if the Blue Jackets lose tomorrow night), we can expect to see Jakub Dobes, Arber Xhekaj, and players who play less face the Hurricanes.

But for now, nothing is done because they need to qualify. And to qualify, the Habs will have to start by shooting at the net.

Let’s recall that if the Canadiens qualify, they’ll play the Capitals in the first round. And for a few weeks now, the Caps have forgotten how to play team hockey because of the pursuit of Alex Ovechkin’s record.

But they’re still a good hockey team. And seeing the Habs get into the habit of starting games well this week could give them a chance once they’re in the playoffs.

Overtime

– Possibility of qualifying… Ivan Demidov’s debut… game only available on Prime in English… don’t be surprised if RDS ends the night with great ratings.

– Not bad.

– Sad news.

– A good thing he’s there.

– To read.

– Logan Thompson, back in the playoffs?

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Fake election campaign involving Ivan Demidov: he is “there for the Habs”

This one is going to get people talking.

Warrior company has partnered with Ivan Demidov to represent the company, and this morning, we saw Demidov’s “campaign signs” everywhere in the city with the Warrior logo.

The slogan “Here for the Habs” is likely to get people talking, either in a good or bad way, but it’s going to get people talking a lot.

Clearly, we can see that Warrior used the elections for their campaign. The company made 93 signs (like his number) and we can see some of them between real election signs.

And in their press release, we can read this from Warrior:

Following the elections, a new candidate is emerging in Montreal — and this time, he’s going to govern on the ice.

I wonder how this advertising is going to be received in the locker room. After all, Demidov hasn’t played a single game in Montreal yet, and he’s already the darling of the fans.

Who knows where this is going?

And clearly, the fact that during an election, a Russian is being featured saying he’s “here for the Habs” is surely a technique that will annoy several people in the city. Warrior must have anticipated this.

The signs, which might not stay up in the city as long as the real election signs, are not legal in this context. Municipal regulations prohibit the display of fake election ads.

Unions sometimes do it during campaigns… and it ends up in court.

But it doesn’t matter: this has the potential to get people talking and have a bigger impact than the slap on the wrist that might follow. This was undoubtedly calculated by Warrior.

Overtime

The elections will take place in two weeks. The fact of playing with the elections in this way, on the heels of the visit by Mark Carney and Pierre Poilievre to Tout le monde en parle, is a calculated move by Warrior.

What do you think about all this?

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Top-5: The Flames are now just two points away from the playoffs

Last night, the Canadiens could have qualified even if they didn’t play.

However, the Blue Jackets won.

Here are the other results and highlights:

1. The Flames are just two points away from the playoffs

The Flames are a team to watch lately.

Because yes, the habs have their first-round pick, but they also refuse to give up. Last night, they beat the Sharks and are now just two points away from the playoffs.

(Credit: NHL.com )

In the last two games of the season, Calgary will face the Kings and the Golden Knights.

It won’t be easy.

As for the Blues and the Wild, they will have a slightly easier task. They each have one game left to play and will face Utah and Anaheim, respectively… A race to watch in the West. St. Louis can officially clinch their playoff spot with a regular-season win, and Minnesota can do so with an overtime loss.

Regarding the game between Calgary and San Jose, Dustin Wolf was once again good. Watch this save to preserve the one-goal lead.

Final score: 5-2.

2. The Jets are the regular-season champions

The Jets may have lost to the Oilers in Edmonton last night, but they still finished first in the NHL.

Thanks to the Blue Jackets, who beat the Washington Capitals.

But as for the game, Winnipeg didn’t stand a chance. The shots: 38-18, in favor of the Oilers.

In the win, Connor McDavid (two assists) and Corey Perry (one goal and one assist) each had two points.

It was Eric Comrie in the Winnipeg net.

A rare start for him.

But with the first place in the league to be officially clinched, maybe Connor Hellebuyck won’t play much in the regular season.

3. The Lightning earn two big points

In the afternoon, the Lightning faced the Buffalo Sabres.

Thanks to a 7-4 win, they earned two big points to move away from the Panthers. I’ll write that they got closer to the Leafs, but they also won last night. I’ll come back to that.

Tampa is still two points away from Toronto and the highly coveted first place in the Atlantic. The two teams have the same number of regular-season wins, so this race will be one to watch.

(Credit: NHL.com )

As for the game itself, Jake Guentzel scored his 40th goal of the season.

Nikita Kucherov, meanwhile, is running away with the Art-Ross.

With Nathan MacKinnon set to miss the rest of the regular season, that opens the door for Kuch.

The Russian now has the same number of points as MacKinnon and 10 more than Leon Draisaitl.

4. The Maple Leafs’ 50th win

24 hours after beating the Canadiens in overtime, the Leafs were back in action.

This time, they faced the Hurricanes, and it was a much more convincing game. A 4-1 win.

It was the Leafs’ 50th win of the season.

Auston Matthews may not be the scorer he was last year, but he’s still dangerous when left alone like that.

He scored his 31st goal of the season.

The Leafs’ top scorer isn’t Matthews; it’s William Nylander.

He scored his 45th goal of the season on this sequence.

In the playoffs, Craig Berube will have a tough decision: who to put between Joseph Woll and Anthony Stolarz?

Woll gave himself some points with his game and particularly this save:

5. The Avalanche comeback

The Avalanche finished their season last night against the Anaheim Ducks without Nathan MacKinnon.

Colorado was down 0-2, but scored four unanswered goals.

Wyatt Aamodt first scored his first NHL goal.

Then, with just over five minutes left in the third period, the game was tied.

No question, Jared Bednar’s team didn’t want to go to overtime.

Charlie Coyle scored the winning goal a few minutes later.

The Avalanche will face the Stars in the first round.

Overtime

– What a sensational goal for the player who has 19 points in seven playoff games so far. I hope the habs tank next year to get him.

– Dominant.

– Basketball on ice.

– The top scorers from last night.

(Credit: NHL.com)

– Six games on the schedule tonight.

(Credit: Google)
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Here’s how the Canadiens can make the playoffs

The Blue Jackets are holding on to the hope of catching up to the Canadiens and participating in the playoffs.

(Credit: NHL.com)

Although the Canadiens have their destiny in their hands, with only two games left to play, nothing is yet decided for the Montreal team.

Here are the possible scenarios:

1- If the Canadiens get two points, the team makes the playoffs regardless of the Blue Jackets’ results.

2- If the Canadiens get only one point, the Blue Jackets must win their last two games in order to get the tiebreaker (currently the Habs have 29 regular time wins against 28 for the Jackets).

3- If the Canadiens get no points, the Blue Jackets must win their two games and surpass the Habs in terms of points.

What is clear is that the Columbus team has no room for error and must remain perfect if they hope to catch up to the Tricolore.

However, if the identity of the last drafted team is not yet known, the portrait of the matchups in the Eastern Conference is almost set.

The Capitals are assured of finishing first and will host either the Canadiens or the Blue Jackets.

The Maple Leafs, who got their 50th win tonight, only need one point (or for the Lightning to win their last two games) to ensure they finish first in the Atlantic division.

We could see a first playoff matchup between the two Ontario rivals in over 20 years, as their last meeting dates back to the spring of 2004.

Although the Leafs are favorites on paper, let’s remember that the Sens won all three matchups between the two teams this season.

The other matchup in the Atlantic division will feature an interesting duel between the Florida rivals, pitting the Lightning against the Panthers.

This will be the fourth matchup between the two Florida teams in the last five years.

The Bolts won the first two series, while the Panthers won the one last year on their way to their first Stanley Cup win.

Finally, the last series in the Eastern Conference will feature the Hurricanes hosting the Devils.

The two teams met in the 2023 playoffs, with the Canes winning in five games.

Overtime

– Kudos to the Jets!

– Wow!

– A first goal in the NHL.

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The Canadiens are not assured of making the playoffs: the Blue Jackets won tonight

The Columbus Blue Jackets won their second game in as many matches against the Washington Capitals with a score of 4 to 1

This win for the Jackets, their fourth consecutive one, allows them to maintain their prospect of participating in the playoffs.

The Ohio club is only three points behind the habs, who currently occupy the last rank of the drafted teams. Both teams have two games left to play.

However, the habs only need one point to confirm their place in the spring series this year, because even if the teams have the same number of points, the tiebreaker favors the Montreal club.

Thus, even a defeat in overtime would confirm the habs’ place in the series.

The team will have the opportunity to get their point in the standings as early as Monday evening when they host the Chicago Blackhawks at the Centre Bell.

The habs could have confirmed their place with a win during the last weekend, but they only got one point in their two games against the Ontario teams.

Tomorrow’s game against the Blackhawks should also be Ivan Demidov’s first game with the habs.

The arrival of the young Russian sensation could bring a dose of energy to the team that seemed to lack energy in their last games.

By confirming their place tomorrow, the habs could also take advantage of their last game to rest some of their players who have been particularly overworked in recent weeks.

We can notably think of Samuel Montembeault, Mike Matheson, or Josh Anderson, not to mention the players who have been possibly injured for a while.

It would also be an opportunity to try a few experiments before the playoffs. Personally, I would like to see a few appearances by Olivier Kapanen at the center of Patrik Laine and Demidov.

Just in case…

But above all, we need to start by getting at least one point tomorrow evening.

In rafale

– Indeed!

– A volunteer?

– What a shot!

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Since his return to the game, Kaiden Guhle is hitting his opponents twice as much

Since his return, Kaiden Guhle has elevated his game and is possibly playing the best hockey of his career.

He is currently, along with Lane Hutson, the best duo of defensemen of the Canadiens, or Habs.

Although he has only obtained two assists since his return, Guhle brings defensive stability, as shown by his +5 record, which allows his partner to unleash his offensive skills.

Today, in a column published on La Poche Bleue, Florence Normand highlights the importance of robustness in the way Guhle has been playing recently.

In fact, since his return to the game on March 28, he has been playing a more physical hockey, distributing numerous hits and dropping the gloves twice.

What has gotten into the young defenseman?

He says he is not trying to chase hits, but if the opportunity arises, he will take it.

And well, the opportunity seems to be presenting itself more often, as since he resumed action, Guhle has 29 hits in nine games, or an average of 3.2 per game.

Before his injury, the defenseman had 67 hits in 44 games, or 1.4 hits per game. This is more than double the number of opponents hit, which is still considerable!

And before a possible participation in the Habs playoffs, this is excellent news for the team, as the game becomes more physical and hits are more generously distributed.

Especially since if the Habs qualify for the spring tournament, they will face the Capitals, a team that likes to play physical hockey with a few players known for hitting solidly.

Tom Wilson, I’m looking at you.

So knowing that the Habs won’t rely solely on their sheriff, Arber Xhekaj, to provide a physical response to the Capitals, that’s a good thing.

However, the Habs still need to secure their place in the playoffs, which has not been done yet at the time of writing.

Overtime

– 50th win for the Leafs

– The Oilers are launching less.

– Big win!

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Calvin de Haan : “The way I’ve been treated here, it’s crap”

Officially, the New York Rangers are eliminated from the playoff race.

Unofficially, hockey fans had given up on the Rangers and their poor season a long time ago.

When I saw that they traded Ryan Lindgren, one of the best defensive defensemen in the NHL, it told me a lot about the vision of the “Blue Shirts” management for the rest of the season.

In the Ryan Lindgren trade, the Rangers got, among other things, Juuso Parssinen and veteran defenseman Calvin de Haan.

The latter has only played three games since his arrival in the Big Apple, and he recently shared his thoughts on how the team treated him before taking to the ice for a practice.

Here’s what Mollie Walker of the New York Post reported.

“Let’s talk about how I’ve been treated here. It’s bullshit.” – Calvin de Haan

Definitely, de Haan is fed up with the treatment he’s been receiving since joining the Rangers.

He’s not the defenseman he used to be, but he still brings experience and defensive stability. And looking at the Rangers’ season, it’s hard to say he didn’t deserve more than that…

With the aforementioned comments, de Haan wanted to talk more about it with the media. After leaving the practice ice today, de Haan discussed it with the team’s public relations and came to a consensus that he would talk more about it at the end of the year.

Clearly, the Rangers didn’t want him to talk right away, and that’s understandable.

But when you’ve been left out for the last 18 games (!!!), it has to come out at some point.

And the defenseman finally did on his Twitter account (before deleting his comments) explaining his frustration.

Luckily, the B/R Open Ice page recorded these comments and included them in an image posted on social media.

“I said what I said, because I was frustrated and anyone who says they would be happy with this situation is lying. After my first three games, I really thought I could help the team win some games.” – Calvin de Haan

De Haan also specified that he didn’t want to be the villain in this story, to get attention, or to cast a shadow over the organization.

He would have preferred a press conference to discuss his time with the Rangers.

The defenseman’s contract is for one year at a salary of $800,000. At the end of the season, he will be an unrestricted free agent, and it would be very surprising to see him sign a contract extension with the Rangers.

He should be able to find a job this summer when the free agent market opens, but these comments may not help him.

Clubs generally don’t like it when a player complains about their usage.

Overtime

– Michael Hage will have reinforcement on defense with Henry Mews. He was the third-best scorer among defensemen in the OHL this season, behind Parekh and Dickinson.

– Sorokin is in a class of his own and doesn’t get enough recognition.

– Wow…

– To be seen.

– Some news from the MLB:

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Since the return of the 4 nations, the habs defensemen no longer produce

Since the return of the 4 Nations break, Nick Suzuki has been on an incredible roll, with 35 points, including 14 goals, in 24 games.

Besides the captain, Lane Hutson has also been on a great streak since February 22.

The rookie defenseman is almost at a point per game with 23 points in 24 games.

On the other hand, the Montreal Canadiens’ defensive brigade is slowing down, excluding Hutson, of course.

You won’t guess who is the second-best scoring defenseman since the return of the 4 Nations.

It’s Jayden Struble…

The athletic defenseman has collected eight points during this streak… and that says a lot about the productivity of the Habs’ blue line.

(Credit: NHL.com)

Although Matheson plays a more defensive role with the emergence of Lane Hutson, a role he likes, it takes more than five small points from Matheson.

Especially with 10 more minutes per game on average than Struble.

Matheson only has a differential of +1, while Struble is at +10.

And we know Struble plays much more physically than Matheson and still plays a better defensive game than the Quebecer.

Matheson’s experience weighs heavily in his defensive game, and let’s remember that Matheson has never really played more defensively. At least, not as much as now.

Matheson has two of the five goals from defensemen since February 22, while Lane Hutson has the other three. Hutson is also the only defenseman to score since March 11 (two goals). All the other defensemen have not scored since the return of the 4 Nations.

In any case, it will take more from Matheson and the rest of the defensive brigade.

As for Lane Hutson, he can continue to do what he’s doing, because it’s working wonders and he’s giving himself more and more arguments to win the famous Calder Trophy.

Macklin Celebrini is having an excellent streak lately, with nine points in his last five games, including a five-point game.

Hutson will have to play his best hockey in the Habs’ last two games to give himself a better lead than his two points more than the San Jose Sharks’ rookie.

Overtime

– The Capitals won’t give the Blue Jackets a chance tonight, at 6:00 PM. If Columbus loses, the Habs will officially make the playoffs.

– Chris Drury continues to make headlines for the wrong reasons… His days as the Rangers’ GM may be numbered. I would be very surprised if he’s still there next year with everything that’s been said about him.

– The final round of the Masters seems to be between Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau, but it’s off to a bad start for McIlroy, who is due for a win in a major championship. His last win was in 2014.

– Well done.

– Too bad for the Canadian women.

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Heineman: Patrick Friolet suspects concussion symptoms

We really don’t know what’s going on with Emil Heineman.

The big forward hasn’t played since April 5, when the Flyers were visiting the Centre Bell.

Is he injured? The habs announced on April 6 (the day after the game against the Flyers) that the Swede was being evaluated daily. But since then, it’s been radio silence…

Patrick Friolet, who was on Greg Lanctot’s show this morning (BPM Sports), has his opinion on the subject.

And in the eyes of the RDS journalist, Heineman may be dealing with concussion symptoms:

What I suspect in Emil Heineman’s case is concussion symptoms […] I think if he was healthy, he would have played yesterday’s game. – Patrick Friolet

This might explain why Heineman wasn’t on the ice in Brossard this morning.

Unless he simply decided to take the day off, but that would surprise me since he hasn’t played in a while…

Heineman jumped onto the Scotiabank Arena ice yesterday with the team’s other extras.

Ivan Demidov, Arber Xhekaj, and Joshua Roy were with him.

But the fact that he didn’t show up this morning in Brossard could also mean he’ll be back in the Canadiens’ lineup tomorrow. If Heineman is ready to play, the idea of putting him in the lineup makes sense because the Canadiens have lost their last two games.

Martin St-Louis will want to shake things up, and with Ivan Demidov likely to play tomorrow as well, the Canadiens’ head coach will have decisions to make.

If it were up to me, Pezzetta and Kapanen would be out of the lineup… but we’ll see.

Maybe the Canadiens’ coach sees things differently, and that’s why we’ll have to keep an eye on things until tomorrow night, when the Blackhawks will be in Montreal to face the habs.

Overtime

– Oh no.

– Wow… Hehe.

– Well done.