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Nick Suzuki reaches the 80-point plateau in a very solid performance by the Habs

After two big wins against the Panthers, the Canadiens faced another Atlantic rival tonight, as the Boston Bruins (with nine straight losses) were visiting the Bell Centre.

For the occasion, Martin St-Louis did not make any changes to his lineup: Arber Xhekaj, Joshua Roy, and Oliver Kapanen were all left out.

Samuel Montembeault was once again in front of his team’s net.

On the Bruins’ side, injuries and pre-deadline trades have decimated the club’s lineup.

Here’s what Joe Sacco’s troops looked like:

The first period was largely uneventful. Cole Caufield had a great chance to score, but Jeremy Swayman made a beautiful save.

That was the biggest highlight of the period.

After 20 minutes, the score was 0-0.

In the second, however, the Canadiens took control of the game. It started with a goal from Christian Dvorak.

Yes, that trio is still playing great hockey.

Alexandre Carrier almost doubled the lead shortly after, but Swayman made a miraculous save to preserve the score.

What a save that was.

Then, a few minutes later, Kaiden Guhle got into a fight with Cole Koepke.

Both guys dropped the gloves… and the defenseman’s jersey was all torn up.

And towards the end of the period, the Habs finally managed to double their lead. Nick Suzuki made a beautiful play to feed Caufield, who scored.

A 35th goal this season for Caufield, and also an 80th point for Suzuki.

After 40 minutes, the score was 2-0 in favor of the Habs.

And in the third, the Canadiens continued to dominate the Bruins. Again, Christian Dvorak’s trio was pesky… and again, it paid off.

Brendan Gallagher scored his 19th goal of the season to triple the lead.

The party was in full swing at the Bell Centre: whether it was chanting “Olé Olé Olé”, taunting Swayman, or singing “Take Me Home, Country Roads”, the fans in attendance were really fired up.

The Bruins did, however, kill the party shortly after: Elias Lindholm scored the first goal for his team with a few minutes left in the third period.

David Pastrnak made contact with Montembeault… but the Habs did not protest. Risking a penalty was not worth it in the circumstances.

That being said, the Habs held on and prevented the Bruins from completing the comeback.

Nick Suzuki completed the scoring with an empty net goal (thanks to Jake Evans).

Final score: 4-1 Montreal

The Canadiens will be back in action on Saturday, when they host the Philadelphia Flyers at the Bell Centre. They will try to avenge their ugly loss from last Thursday.

Overtime

– The Canadiens were the only team on the ice tonight. They played well, but when you watch the Bruins play, you understand why they lost their 10th straight game after tonight’s matchup. They are completely shapeless.

– In the win, Nick Suzuki became the first Habs player since Alex Kovalev to reach the 80-point mark (he now has 81) this season. He only needs one more point to reach 82 points and become the first player since Kovalev to achieve a point-per-game pace in a season. He is a really talented hockey player.

– Emil Heineman is really unlucky these days. Again tonight, he hit the post, depriving him of his first goal in three months. The winds will eventually turn, but for now, he has the same bad luck that Artturi Lehkonen had at times in the Tricolore uniform.

– The Habs’ third line continues to be a great story. The three guys, who were all criticized for their contracts in recent years, are playing inspired hockey right now. And it shows on the scoreboard.

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Assassin’s Creed: Ubisoft Canada announces a partnership with Nick Suzuki

When we think of Nick Suzuki these days, we think of the one who is almost single-handedly taking the Canadiens to the playoffs. On the ice, the captain is playing huge hockey… and we realize how lucky Marc Bergevin was to land his third choice in the Max Pacioretty trade.

Because clearly, the habs would not be where they are now with Erik Brannström or Cody Glass.

That being said, beyond his on-ice performances, Suzuki is also very involved in the community. Today, his involvement with the Canadiens’ Foundation for children is a good example.

Now, Suzuki is also involved with local companies. Among them is Ubisoft, which is currently launching the next installment of its Assassin’s Creed series, developed by the company’s Quebec studios (Quebec and Montreal).

And the captain went to the company’s Montreal studios to try out the game and give his impressions.

 

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Let’s note that this installment of the game series takes place in 16th century Japan. We can therefore understand that the captain, who is proud of his Japanese origins, was a logical name for such a partnership with the company.

And we know that associating with the habs pays off. Several companies do it regularly, after all.

Let’s note that Ubisoft is organizing a very cool contest in connection with its partnership with the captain: Suzuki has signed a collector’s edition of the game, which is now available in a contest organized by the company.

Who’s the lucky one?

 

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Overtime

– Beckett Sennecke left his team’s game tonight due to an injury. Let’s hope the Ducks prospect has avoided the worst.

– I love it.

– A name to watch.

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Nick Suzuki was the third choice of Marc Bergevin: thanks to the Golden Knights

Right now, Nick Suzuki is one of the main reasons the Habs are at the top of the playoff run. The captain is playing huge hockey… and unless there’s a huge surprise, he will become the first since Alex Kovalev to score 82 points in a season with the Habs.

And that, Kovalev did in 2007-08. That’s almost 20 years ago.

Naturally, therefore, the Tricolore wouldn’t be where they are now without their captain. By the same token, they wouldn’t be there without the trade that sent Max Pacioretty to Vegas… but they also wouldn’t be there if Marc Bergevin hadn’t been a bit lucky.

Since the trade, we’ve repeated many times that Bergevin had Cody Glass in his sights, and that he had to settle for Suzuki. However, what Jean-Charles Lajoie reminds us of tonight on the TVA Sports website, is that initially, Glass wasn’t even the Habs’ first target.

The first target was Erik Brannström.

Clearly, when we look at the three players, we realize that Bergevin was a bit lucky. The one he had to settle for is having a much better career than the other two… and the Habs wouldn’t be where they are now without this stroke of luck.

Imagine if Brannström, another left-handed defenseman, had been in town. Already there’s congestion, it would have been something.

Instead, the Habs now have their captain and number one center, who is demonstrating this year that he truly belongs to the NHL elite.

And on top of that, we’re talking about a player who has serious arguments to be in the Selke Trophy race this season.

Meanwhile, Brannström is playing in the AHL, while Cody Glass is a support player for the New Jersey team after a trade that saw him leave Pittsburgh last month.

If it were to be done again, I imagine George McPhee wouldn’t have had any problem letting Brannström go… but that’s not the Habs’ problem, and they certainly won’t complain about it.

Overtime

– Speaking of the captain. Very nice gesture from him.

– Mike Matheson: few defensemen eat as many minutes as him.

– That’s good.

– That’s classic.

– Well done.

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Jacob Fowler is heading to Laval, according to two sources

We were all waiting to see what would happen with Jacob Fowler.

And according to two sources (Marco D’Amico and Jimmy Murphy), the goalkeeper would have signed his entry-level contract with the Canadiens.

Said contract would come into effect as of next season. That means Fowler would join the Rocket to finish the season:

More details to come…

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Jason Demers : “You don’t want to face the Habs in the playoffs when the Bell Centre is on fire”

When the Canadiens play at home for a few weeks, the Bell Centre is loud.

Very loud.

Since the team’s playoff run in the summer of 2021, we hadn’t seen the fans be so excited about the team’s performance. And that’s normal… because the Canadiens had awful years after that.

But now, with the playoff fever well established in the city, things are different.

The Canadiens benefit from the crowd’s support every time they play a home game and it shows in the team’s results.

I’ll get back to that.

Seeing the Bell Centre being so electric lately, it leads Jason Demers (NHL Network) to think that nobody wants to face the Canadiens in the playoffs right now.

The former NHL defenseman never played against the Habs in the playoffs in Montreal, but he knows the atmosphere is incredible because he played games at the Bell Centre during his career:

I mentioned earlier that the Habs were good at home lately and it’s no joke.

Since February 25, the Canadiens have beaten…

  • The Hurricanes with a score of 4-0
  • The Sharks with a score of 4-3 (overtime)
  • The Sabres with a score of 4-3 (overtime)
  • The Panthers with a score of 3-1
  • The Senators with a score of 6-3
  • The Panthers with a score of 3-2 (overtime)

Since February 25, the Canadiens have played seven home games at the Bell Centre.

They won six of them (the ones mentioned above)… and lost only once to the Avalanche in a shootout (5-4), one of the best teams in the league.

The Habs are good in front of their fans lately, to put it another way.

And what’s interesting is that five of the Habs’ last eight games (including tonight’s game against the Bruins) will be played in Montreal…

(Credit: ESPN)

All this to say that playing at the Bell Centre is not an easy task.

It’s intimidating due to the club’s history… but also because the fans are always there to cheer on their team.

I’m looking forward to seeing what it will be like in the playoffs, though.

Whether it’s this year, next year, or the year after…

Overtime

– The three finalists for the Hobey Baker:

– To follow…

– Good point,

– Cha-ching!

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Régis Labeaume and the return of the Nordiques: Gary Bettman, he’s a “full of shit”

In November, Gary Bettman was at the Bell Centre in Montreal for the start of the partnership between the NHL and Amazon in Canada.

On the occasion, Alain Crête interviewed the NHL commissioner on television (RDS) and it got people talking for a particular reason.

During the interview, Gary Bettman said he had never received a concrete offer from someone to bring a team back to Quebec. He stated that no one had come forward with a plan and done what was necessary to bring the NHL back there.

Former Quebec City mayor Régis Labeaume responded to these comments today during an appearance on FM-93.

And he did not hesitate to say… this:

Bettman, he’s “full of shit”. That’s not how it works with Gary Bettman. It’s settled over the phone and he sends you the contract when there’s an agreement. – Régis Labeaume

Right…

The city of Quebec – it’s worth remembering – submitted its application in 2015 for an expansion franchise, which was ultimately given to Vegas.

10 million dollars had to be spent to be part of the process.

Régis Labeaume’s reaction is therefore understandable since he was still the mayor of Quebec at the time.

Mr. Labeaume believes that the “promoters were right to hope for the return” of an NHL franchise to Quebec, but that it’s become a bit ridiculous with the new price of concessions that come with expansion.

Of course, we know that Gary Bettman never really wanted to bring a team back to Quebec because of its market.

The commissioner and his assistant have their eyes on the big markets in the United States… because they are more profitable.

And that’s unlikely to change as long as he’s in office.

Overtime

– Oliver Kapanen will be patient.

– Win tonight. 4-3!

– It’s going well for Cam Fowler since his arrival in St. Louis.

– It’s well-deserved.

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Top 15 of Francophone Quebec podcasts on hockey

The media landscape is undergoing a revolution. Traditional journalists who only reported on news – either by investigating or simply relaying it – are becoming less common.

Teams, athletes, leagues, and organizations are publishing a tremendous amount of content on their own, and the journalist has often become just an intermediate communication channel between them and the fans. Yes, journalism has been struggling for a few years… but sports journalism is struggling even more than political or current events journalism. We all agree on this.

The solution is to ask the government to subsidize journalism… but can we really demand that the government use our taxes to fund someone who takes a plane to summarize a televised game or to tell us who is training with whom on the morning of a game (when the club itself publishes this information)?

This is why we see more and more opinion in the media. We don’t release much news anymore; we comment on it, analyze it, and dissect it.

Result: there are now French-language hockey podcasts for all tastes in Quebec.

We conducted a survey of podcasts that deal with hockey and ranked them according to their success, both on YouTube and on online podcast platforms, as well as on various social media platforms (notably through their excerpts, discussions they generate, and articles they influence).

1. Processus
Processus is the most popular podcast on the Quebec web. Only Spittin’ Chiclets and 32 Thoughts are more listened to than Processus in Canada on Spotify.

Mathias Brunet and Simon « Snake » Boisvert have found a niche: analyzing prospects and commenting on the Canadiens’ rebuilding. During a rebuilding period, it’s a hit. Let’s see if it will be just as popular once this rebuilding phase is over…

2. Stanley25
Stanley25 reaches around 25,000 people per week, across all platforms. It is, week after week, the third most listened to Quebec hockey podcast on Spotify.

Jean Trudel and Maxime Truman have just completed their third season of 10 episodes. Sometimes alone, sometimes with a guest, their podcast remains one of the most watched in the Quebec sports world.

Stanley25 aims to be a mix of anecdotes, info, analysis, and rumors told by two pillars of the Quebec sports web. Note that the podcast is produced by 9millions (Serge Fortin).

3. La poche bleue
LPB was long the most popular podcast in Quebec, but it’s not anymore.

During the pandemic, when there was no original sports content, Maxim Lapierre and Guillaume Latendresse quickly rose to the top. Then, they sold their brand to an Ontario company, which was then sold to a European company. The guys cashed in a few million dollars at the right time.

The market adapted, and 1001 podcasts were launched, diminishing the impact of La Poche Bleue in the market.

The guys also raised lowered their arms a bit, after they escaped on the set of Sous écoute (Mike Ward). The flavor of the podcast changed, and Guillaume Latendresse withdrew to take care of his mental health. In short, LPB is still rolling, but it’s not like before.

4. On jase
Is On jase still a podcast? According to the definition, yes.

Martin Lemay and Yanick Lévesque attract a few thousand people daily at noon. The podcast is broadcast on RDS’s YouTube channel, on various audio streaming platforms… but also on RDS’s main channel.

Martin Lemay has managed to create something different from what he does on the airwaves in the late afternoon. Hats off!

5. Entre la poire et le fromage
Louis Morissette and Jean-Philippe Wauthier decided to launch a sports podcast, but the project wasn’t taking off.

That’s when they had the brilliant idea to invite hockey world participants, which created an interesting mix of sports and cultural universes.

It will be interesting to see if Wauthier’s break (professional exhaustion) will slow down the pace and success of the podcast.

6. Radar
Radar is a young podcast broadcast on Commission athlétique, the digital little brother of BPM Sports.

Hosted by Pierre LeBrun and Anthony Desaulniers, this podcast aims to be a mix of insides and analysis from a veteran of the game and a young prodigy who is quietly making a name for himself on BPM’s FM waves.

Between 2,000 and 7,000 people watch each episode of Radar on YouTube. It will be interesting to see if the podcast will continue to rise in the coming months or if it will remain a specialized podcast for true fanatics only.

7. Tellement hockey
Produced by Radio-Canada’s large machine and hosted by Martin Leclerc, Alexandre Coupal, Alexandre Gascon, and Marc-Antoine Godin, Tellement hockey reaches 7,000 to 8,000 people per episode on YouTube, but it’s not found on audio platforms like Spotify and Apple Podcast. You have to go to Radio-Canada’s site or app to find it.

Tellement hockey aims to be a traditional podcast above all, produced with a significant budget and pushed by Radio-Canada’s large machine.

Many find it to their liking and only swear by this podcast. Others see it as a too standardized product.

8. La Poche Bleue Blanc Rouge
For a third season, former Canadiens players host a digital post-game show of the Habs as soon as the final siren sounds.

Éric Bélanger, André Roy, and Steve Bégin average 3,000 people after each Habs game. Good job!

9. Hockey30
David Garel may be the most polarizing public figure among all the podcast hosts mentioned in this article, but he still hosts one of the most popular sports podcasts in Quebec in terms of YouTube views.

Between 3,000 and 14,000 people watch each of his episodes (in which he always receives a different guest) on YouTube.

However, the fact that the podcast is not available on online listening platforms, that some guests have no connection to hockey, and that sometimes several weeks pass between episodes, all worked against the podcast in our ranking.

10. Poolcast
Poolcast is a new podcast that combines hockey pools and sports discussions with a guest from the sports world.

Hosted by Pascal Cameron and Marco Normandin (HabsolumentFan), the podcast has the wind in its sails.

It remains to be seen how far this wind will take the young podcast…

11. Sortie de zone
Sortie de zone is a podcast produced jointly by La Presse and Cogeco Média. Jérémie Rainville, Stéphane Waite, Guillaume Lefrançois, Antoine Roussel, Simon-Olivier Lorange and/or Richard Labbé discuss weekly topics in the NHL.

Very popular on Spotify, Sortie de zone is however absent from YouTube and some other popular listening platforms. It is also broadcast on La Presse and some Cogeco media outlets.

12. La relève
Anthony Desaulniers and Martin Thériault have been hosting the La Relève podcast for some time now, a podcast that focuses on young players and NHL prospects.

Nota bene to Processus listeners: La Relève is worth checking out.

13. Femme d’Hockey
Isabelle Éthier has been working for years to promote women’s sports, but not just that. Through several episodes, she receives athletes or male hosts to discuss sports with them in a conversation that is unlike any of the previously mentioned podcasts.

Isabelle is often on the field, she is a co-owner of the Montreal Roses team, and she represents a less conventional way of doing/talking about/promoting sports.

14. Drette su’l tape
David Beaucage has already produced over 200 episodes. He was one of the first to host a sports podcast in French in Quebec.

He often records in front of an audience, but his most recent episodes are less popular than his first ones.

He remains relevant, and many of his guests have good stories to tell.

15. TSLH Podcast
Mathieu Paradis and Pascal Laplante have been talking about prospects and the Canadiens for years on the ToutSurLeHockey site. Their podcast, launched a few years ago, aims to be a quality complement to what they already do in writing on the site.

If you like Processus and/or La Relève, give the TSLH Podcast guys a chance.

Special mention: Les Sport’ischhh
Frank Grenier and Martin Vachon, two professional comedians, have already produced over 70 episodes (in studio) of their humorous and human podcast.

Each week, they receive a guest in front of an audience and discuss with him/her what sports represent in their life.

The product is unique and targets people who like sports, but not necessarily the Habs. That’s why we didn’t include it in our top 15 of French-Quebec sports podcasts about hockey.

Overtime

Some other podcasts didn’t make our top 15 for various reasons.

RDS, BPM Sports, and Cogeco now broadcast several of their shows in podcast form (Spotify, Apple Podcast, etc.). Since these products are not podcasts, but rather full-fledged shows, we decided to ignore them.

Bon match, a podcast hosted by Martin McGuire and Dany Dubé, is hard to find on traditional podcasting platforms. Also, some episodes are exclusive and last an hour, while others are just a few minutes long, excerpts from a chronicle they did on the air.

And their listening numbers are not enormous. We also decided to ignore it.

Smaller podcasts like La tasse de café LNH (hosted by Nicolas Ducharme, Jean-François Chaumont, and Guillaume Lepage, three NHL employees), À la coupe, Les Glorieux, and La Puck offer content on a regular basis. They would have made the cut if we had done a top 20.

We’ll keep an eye on the new French-language version of Tony Marinaro’s Sick Podcast, broadcast every Friday afternoon… and we salute the Le Vestiaire segment, broadcast weekly on Radio Pirate. They are two very good hockey segments that simply didn’t meet our evaluation criteria.

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The Capitals distracted by the chase for Alex Ovechkin’s record?

Everyone is watching Alex Ovechkin right now.

And we all know why: the Capitals’ captain – who scored again yesterday – is just three goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s absolute record.

He is on the verge of making history and that’s getting attention for obvious reasons.

The Caps have seven games left to play this season.

That being said, will the Russian be able to break the #99’s record by the end of the regular season?

Right now, that’s the question everyone is asking.

But just because the team’s captain is scoring goals doesn’t mean the Capitals are winning lately.

In fact, it seems like the team is starting to get distracted right now, as Renaud Lavoie mentioned this morning on BPM Sports…

The Capitals have not only lost four of their last five games, but they have also conceded a total of 26 goals during that period.

It seems like all the players are focused on the record, not the win… since the team had never lost four times in five games since the start of the season before it happened last night.

Yesterday, in Carolina, Ovi and his team were thrashed with a score of 5-1… and they also conceded eight goals to the poor Sabres last Sunday.

(Credit: ESPN)

If the Capitals start getting distracted… that’s good news for the Montreal Canadiens.

After all, if the Habs get their ticket to the spring dance, the chances of facing Pierre-Luc Dubois, Alex Ovechkin, and the Capitals in the first round are huge given the current state of the standings in the East.

But before thinking about the Capitals, the Habs will have to overcome a significant challenge tonight: beating the Bruins.

The Boston team is not having a great season, and it’s been going particularly badly since the trade deadline.

The Bruins have traded important players, and that’s put them at the bottom of the standings in the East.

I know, I know. Bruins and last place in the East, it sounds weird… But in the end, we know that tonight’s game is likely to be emotional due to the rivalry between the two teams.

The Canadiens need to win because the Rangers and Blue Jackets are starting to breathe down the Habs’ necks.

At this level, note that the Blue Shirts are off tonight, but the Blue Jackets will host the Avalanche at home.

A Habs win combined with a Jackets loss would be interesting…

(Credit: NHL.com)

Overtime

— Is that the case for you?

— Good point.

— Wow.

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Michael Pezzetta : it’s because of his “energy” that he plays in place of Joshua Roy

Throughout the season, Martin St-Louis has done everything to leave Michael Pezzetta on the sidelines. The majority of his 19 games have been played because the Habs didn’t have much of a choice.

He hasn’t obtained a single point this season, by the way.

But for a few games now, the coach has had options. He could put Joshua Roy in the lineup. He could play with 11 forwards and put Arber Xhekaj on the ice.

And tonight, it won’t change: WiFi and Roy won’t play.

Note that Oliver Kapanen won’t play either. Maybe the coach doesn’t want to change his winning formula, but maybe they also want to give the European player time to get used to the time difference.

All this to say that Martin St-Louis explained in a press conference why Pezzetta was playing over Roy these days.

In short, he says it’s because of the energy Pezzetta brings to the ice (during his five minutes of play…) when he’s in the lineup, which is to the detriment of Joshua Roy.

Pezzetta brings more energy, but he doesn’t change much when he’s dressed.

Clearly, Joshua Roy must understand the message from Martin St-Louis (and the management?) on this one. He has things to correct and possibly sooner rather than later, he will correct them in Laval.

And what about Arber Xhekaj? It seems to me that he brings energy to the ice, doesn’t he? Should he also understand certain things from the Habs in this story? Possibly, yes.

Pezzetta will surely be gone next year. Xhekaj and Roy must be wondering about their situations.

Overtime

– Trap in sight?

– Still an interesting point of view.

– His return is approaching.

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Comments from Patrick Roy: Anthony Duclair takes a break to “reflect”

When Anthony Duclair, this eternal traveler in the NHL, agreed to a four-year deal (3.5 million per year) with the Islanders, we thought it was a long time for a guy who has trouble staying with the same team.

Obviously, Patrick Roy knew him from their years with the Remparts, but still.

Earlier this week, in year #1 of the contract, Patrick Roy publicly expressed his thoughts about the Québécois. He told the media that Duclair had been bad after their game of the day and that he had been lucky to be in the lineup.

 

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These were harsh words.

We wondered how the player would react to all this. After all, in 2025, it’s not exactly everyone who wants to take such comments – especially when they are in front of the media.

And here’s our answer.

Patrick Roy said that Duclair and he had a positive meeting afterwards to explain themselves. But even if it was described as positive, Duclair still asked for a break.

 

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Let’s recall that the Islanders are in a playoff race.

The Islanders have therefore decided to give him the time he needs to think. We don’t know how long he will be absent from the team.

Did the player overreact? Did Patrick Roy do wrong by bringing out methods that are no longer really used in 2025? Everyone has their opinion on the matter.

But here’s a distraction that the Islanders didn’t need.

Overtime

– News from the habs.

– Interesting.

– No slap on the wrist for Jalen Chatfield.