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Joey Saputo admits to having probably made a mistake by distancing himself from CF Montréal

One can never blame Tony Marinaro for not talking about the CF Montréal.

He does it in his podcast on the club twice a week, he does it three to four times a week during his shows on BPM Sports, he does it occasionally with JiC on TVA Sports…

And this, even if the segments on soccer are constantly less listened to than the segments on the Canadiens. There are fans who “like” discussions on hockey, but who stop tuning in to the 91.9 FM Montréal radio station when it’s about soccer rather than hockey. It’s a reality.

Some say Tony is too negative, but

One, it takes all kinds of coverage to make a club shine;
Two, when there’s something positive to say about the club, Tony is always there to say it.

This morning, on the eve of a very important game for the Canadiens in Philadelphia, Tony shared some clips from an interview given by Joey Saputo to a radio station in Bologna.

In short, here’s what Tony remembered from this interview in Italian:

1. Joey Saputo admitted to having distanced himself from the club because he was heavily criticized in Montréal. In short, his solution to respond to criticism about his passion was to move away from the club. However, he admits he may have made a mistake by doing so… a huge mistake (leaving the presidency). He admits to having lost the passion to work within this club.

Joey Saputo puts a lot of energy into his Italian soccer club.
(Credit: Getty Images)

2. The culture of the CF Montréal today is not the same as it was when he was here and helping the club (Impact) grow to the highest level in North America.

“It breaks my heart. I see a big difference between where the club was before and where it is now.” – Joey Saputo

3. In 2012, the Impact played games against Bologna and was almost at the same level. If the CF Montréal were to face Bologna’s first team today, it would be a massacre. The CF Montréal would have no chance. These are not Tony’s words, but Joey’s.

4. The difference between Bologna and Montréal is that Joey allows himself to be around the team. He has a dialogue with the coach.

“I don’t tell him who to play and who not to play, but I can give him some opinions […] in Montréal, I’m seen as the guy who puts his nose in the kitchen, who wants to influence the coach. How I’m seen in Bologna and how I’m seen with the CF Montréal, it’s completely different.” – Joey Saputo

5. Many people have criticized him for spending more time in Bologna than in Montréal… for spending more money in Bologna than in Montréal. Why is he acting this way?

“Because in Bologna, it’s appreciated. In Montréal, it’s not appreciated, what we do. In Bologna, they let me work, they let our club work.” – Joey Saputo

6. Joey Saputo claims to be spending as much money as before on the CF Montréal. He loses $20 million in annual operating costs.

7. The Montréal market is a small limited market (notably in terms of sponsorships) where he has to sell low-priced tickets to hope to fill the Stade Saputo.

He didn’t mention the weakness of the Canadian dollar, but he could have.

8. The club has the mindset of developing young players and not spending too much on stars because Joey doesn’t want to lose even more money annually. He asks the fans to accept the club’s strategy and support it. Otherwise – and he doesn’t want it to come to this -, but it will be bye-bye.

What do we take away from this?
Some fans or media members will see this interview as the beginning of a reflection that will inevitably lead to the sale of the concession.

The owner is detached… he’s dumping on us…

I respect their reading and opinion, but that’s not how I perceive it.

Yes, Joey Saputo seems sad… yes, he seems to have some regrets…

But he mostly shows that he still cares about Montréal. He took the time to explain why he distanced himself from the club, and sincerely, we can understand why he acted that way. He’s emotional, and when you’re constantly being criticized, you sometimes want to just move away from the heat.

By listening to this interview – and of course, Tony Marinaro’s translation -, we better understand why he’s not investing in the Stade Saputo and why he’s not taking out his checkbook to bring in big names to Montréal.

But we can also think that Joey is thinking about how to rebuild bridges with his first city.

Maybe it’s time for Joey to end his (too long) exile from Quebec and come back to give love to his first club.

I know, not everything has been perfect with Joey. Not even close…

But not everything has been catastrophic either.

Montréal is lucky to have a club in the MLS, and if Joey ever thinks about making a comeback in a more active way around the club, I think it will be good news, not bad. Especially since his two sons are making many of the soccer decisions right now.

There aren’t 10,000 potential owners for a soccer club of this magnitude in Montréal.

If one day, Joey wants to come back, explain himself, apologize, and extend his hand again to the fans, I hope they will be receptive and accept his hand. Because in the end, we would all benefit from it.

We understand that it will pass or break over the next few years. The status quo won’t last another 10, 15 years. And any important and strategic decision will come from Joey (and Lino Jr).

Joey realizes he probably made a mistake by distancing himself from Montréal; it’s time to fix that mistake. And I’m talking to Joey as much as to the club’s fans…

Be careful what you wish for. Do you prefer an owner who’s too emotional at times or an absent owner?

There’s no businessman who likes to lose money… especially not when being constantly criticized by the people you’re trying to please by spending millions of dollars. Losing money with the CF Montréal is okay – many soccer clubs lose money around the world -, but I admit that at least you have to enjoy the adventure. You have to recognize the gestures made and the risks taken by the only possible owner for a soccer club of this magnitude in Montréal…

At this point, I wonder what we would say/do if Joey Saputo were to take back the presidency instead of Gabriel Gervais. How would it be perceived?

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Message to the teams in the running: they need to win games to qualify for the playoffs

Do teams fighting for the last playoff spot in the East know they need to win more hockey games than not to qualify for the playoffs?

Note: I’m not talking about the Senators here. That team has a good lead over other teams hoping to make the playoffs as a wild card… and that team is winning hockey games.

Over the last 10 games, the Senators have seven wins, having played 70 games this season, and they have five more points than the Islanders, the first team outside the playoff picture.

(Credit: NHL.com)

Yesterday, those same New York Islanders lost to the Vancouver Canucks. With a win, Patrick Roy’s team would have woken up in a playoff spot.

But that didn’t happen.

The Canadiens have 12 points in their last 10 games (60% of possible points, a passing grade for an elementary school student) and the Islanders have 11. But behind them, there are teams that don’t understand they need to win games to stay in the race.

For example?

  • Rangers: 3-6-1 in their last 10 games
  • Blue Jackets: 2-7-1 in their last 10 games
  • Red Wings: 3-7-0 in their last 10 games
  • Bruins: 2-7-1 in their last 10 games

You’ll tell me that it’s precisely because these teams don’t win often that they’re so low in the standings – and that’s not wrong. However, we don’t always feel a great sense of urgency.

The Canadiens have only three regulation wins (an important element in case of a tie) in their last 10 games and have lost their last three games… but they’re still in the playoffs. How is that?

The Canadiens still have room to maneuver with 12 games left in their season and no team in the league having played fewer than 70 games. Their points percentage of 53.6 is better than that of other teams in the race.

But still: it’s thin.

Let’s say that not winning in Philly (one win in their last 10 games) tonight would hurt their chances of hanging on to the last playoff spot.

Note that tonight’s game between Ottawa and Detroit will also be worth watching.

Overtime

– It starts today.

– Deadline: the Oilers wanted Jean-Gabriel Pageau. [RG media]

– To watch.

– Daniel Brière wants to follow in the Canadiens’ footsteps. [98.5 FM]

– Victory in the playoffs.

– He’s doing well there.

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John Tortorella fired by the Flyers a few hours before the Montreal game

Anthony Di Marco is a contributor to TSN 690, Montreal’s English-language sports radio station. He is also affiliated with Daily Faceoff.

That’s why when a guy like him claims John Tortorella has lost his job as coach of the Philadelphia Flyers, you have to monitor the situation closely.

Because yes, you will understand that’s what he just did.

The Flyers have lost nine of their last 10 games and are really out of the playoff race. It was logical to believe that Tortorella was going to leave the Flyers organization.

And now Elliotte Friedman has confirmed that Tortorella has left, just a few hours before the game against the habs. Matvei Michkov must be happy, when you think about it.

Brad Shaw will assume the interim position.

More details to come…

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Top-4 : The Habs get help from the Cancuks and beat the Islanders in 60 minutes

Four games were on the schedule last night.

We obviously had to keep an eye on the Islanders-Canucks meeting.

Here are the results and highlights:

1. The Canucks beat the Islanders 5-2

With a win, the Islanders could have overtaken the Habs in the standings and been in a playoff position.

Unfortunately for them, they lost 5-2. Montreal still holds the last ticket to the spring tournament.

(Credit: NHL.com )

In the end of the second, big defenseman Derek Forbort scored the winning goal.

Teddy Blueger then hurt the New Yorkers.

He doubled the lead for his team early in the third period.

Since his return to the game, Thatcher Demko has been making spectacular saves.

Yesterday, he made a robbery on Bo Horvat.

Here’s an overview of the Western standings.

Vancouver is now three points away from the playoffs.

(Credit: NHL.com )

2. Hat-trick for Jason Robertson

The Stars-Oilers game may not have had any impact on the Canadiens, but it was still a great hockey game between two Western powers.

Dallas eventually won the game thanks to Jason Robertson’s natural hat-trick in the second period.

With his three goals, he gave his team a 4-0 lead.

Edmonton scored the next three goals, but it wasn’t enough.

For Robertson, that’s 17 goals in his last 24 games.

The other Stars goal was scored by Wyatt Johnston. He has nothing to envy from his teammate, with 16 goals in his last 24 games.

The team’s offense is firing on all cylinders.

In the Oilers, Stuart Skinner left the game after a collision with Mikko Rantanen.

3. The Bruins are not officially eliminated, but…

Last night, the Bruins were beaten by the Anaheim Ducks, 6-2.

As you could see in the standings, Boston is not officially eliminated, but it doesn’t bode well for the rest of the season.

The team is six points away from the playoffs, but with three more games played than the Habs and the 8th place team in the East. The two teams will face each other next Thursday, by the way.

But regarding the game against the Ducks, nothing was going well for the visitors. In the same sequence, they took two penalties and gave up a goal.

I’ve never seen that before…

Leo Carlsson had fun. He scored two goals to seal the victory for his team.

Joonas Korpisalo didn’t have the most glorious game.

He would certainly like to see that Cutter Gauthier shot again.

4. Devils win against the Hawks

In the other game of the evening, the Devils were visiting Chicago.

New Jersey finally won 5-3. A win is a win, but it wasn’t a masterpiece.

In the win, Luke Hughes had three assists. For the second time in as many years, he reached the 30-assist plateau in a season.

In the Blackhawks, youth is being served.

The second pick in the last draft, Artyom Levshunov, had a great game.

And Tyler Bertuzzi scored his 20th goal of the season earlier in the game.

It’s the fifth time he’s reached that plateau in his career.

Overtime

– It’s going well for him.

– Good news.

– The best scorers of the previous night.

(Credit: NHL.com )

– Tonight, we’re watching Canadiens-Flyers, Senators-Red Wings, and Stars-Flames.

(Credit: Google )
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Ryan Reaves has a chance to face the Rocket on Friday night

Last March 6, the Maple Leafs put Ryan Reaves on waivers. The heavyweight, who has clearly slowed down on the ice, had to be sent to the farm team in order to free up some money on the payroll.

The Leafs, being stuck at the salary cap, didn’t really have a choice but to cut somewhere… and Reaves, the team’s 13th forward, was the (very) logical target.

Reaves wasn’t claimed on waivers… but he didn’t immediately report to the Marlies. However, in the last few days, that changed: he started practicing with the team.

And that’s getting people talking in the lead-up to the Marlies’ next game, which will take place on Friday night… against the Laval Rocket at Place Bell.

And when you hear the Marlies’ coach not completely closing the door on seeing Reaves play in the AHL, you understand that he has a chance to face the Rocket on Friday.

Reaves hasn’t played a single game in the AHL since 2011. However, that could visibly change in the next few days… and against the Habs’ farm team, which is ranked first in the AHL, that would be something.

Imagine how electric Place Bell would be if Florian Xhekaj dropped the gloves against Reaves. That would be something.

We can think that we’ll have a better idea of Reaves’ chances of playing on Friday night in the next day. It’s possible that Reaves started practicing again because the Maple Leafs want him to be ready for a potential call-up in the playoffs… but maybe the coach is opening the door for Reaves to play for his team because that chance really exists.

And we can think that the idea of sending Reaves to disrupt the farm team of a rival doesn’t hurt the Maple Leafs, that’s for sure.

Overtime

– The Canucks won against the Islanders in regulation time, to the great delight of the Habs.

– The Rocket tried to develop Joshua Roy’s grit. [TVA Sports]

– Without a doubt.

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Draft: we will see Kent Hughes (in Montreal) shake hands with the player he chooses (in Los Angeles)

Usually, at the NHL draft, all teams are on the floor. In the first round, teams go to the podium to announce their pick and welcome their new prospect, and it makes for great moments.

And mostly, it makes it different from other leagues, where the drafted player shakes the commissioner’s hand under his new colors without the team’s representatives being there.

However, this year, it will be different: the managers of each team will be gathered in their own market, and they will not be in Los Angeles. This is the concept of a “decentralized” draft.

On the other hand, even if Kent Hughes and the habs will be in Montreal that evening, we will see the GM shake the hand of the prospect he will draft, who will be in Los Angeles.

He talked about it during the baladodiffusion Radar (Commission Athlétique), whose excerpt is placed here:

In short, according to LeBrun, the prospects will be brought into a separate room, and that’s when they will be able to shake the hand (virtually) of the managers of the team that just drafted them.

The league is still working on it, but it’s in the plans.

In fact, it’s a way to try to recreate the magic of the moment… but we can really wonder if it will really work. Knowing that all of this will be done virtually, it kind of breaks the magic, we agree.

And necessarily, if the league thinks of doing this, it’s possibly because we realize across the league that the idea of a decentralized draft may not be optimal. It had gotten a lot of support at first (26 teams were in favor) in order to save money… but according to LeBrun, teams are starting to realize that they won’t really save money.

The idea of “recentralizing” the draft will be evaluated after the amateur auction… and I have the impression that we will go back to the classic format in 2026. Unless the result in 2025 makes the teams really happy, obviously.

But despite everything, even if Kent Hughes and the player he will select will be separated by three time zones, we will see the GM shake the hand of the player he will select that evening.

Obviously, it won’t happen if the GM trades his two first-round picks before the draft… but as of today, we risk seeing him give (at least) a virtual handshake on June 27th.

Overtime

– Jayden Struble is giving it his all. And no, he shouldn’t be the one who takes the hit when Kaiden Guhle returns.

– Tony DeAngelo is on a roll.

– Who else?

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The 4th line is no longer contributing offensively: Evans, Heineman and Armia need to step up

Since the 4 Nations break, the first trio has been doing well.

Nick Suzuki (21 points), Cole Caufield (13 points), and Juraj Slafkovsky (13 points) are helping the Habs offensively.

There’s also Lane Hutson (13 points) and Patrik Laine (12 points) who deserve attention. But for the bottom of the lineup – especially the 4th line -, it’s more difficult…

The third unit has been excellent in the last few games and is doing its job to perfection.

Christian Dvorak is on fire, Josh Anderson continues to play despite the pain, and Brendan Gallagher is finding ways to score goals.

But as for Emil Heineman, Jake Evans, and Joel Armia… we need to see more.

The 4th line is no longer able to contribute offensively and it’s happening at the worst time of the year.

Jake Evans has one goal (empty net) and three assists in 14 games.

Armia has only one point (one goal) since the break… and Heineman hasn’t scored since January 3.

These three need to find a way to help offensively:

(Credit: NHL.com)

Armia is currently nursing a hand injury and Heineman missed some time after being hit by a car.

It really seems like Armia is not at 100% right now… and we have to wonder if it’s the same for Heineman.

But the 4th line was really excellent during the holiday season and that’s why the Habs were able to get big wins against teams like the Panthers, the Lightning, the Golden Knights, the Avalanche, and the Capitals.

When the last unit is in shape… we see that it can give really interesting results.

That being said, the guys need to be able to find that rhythm again before the end of the schedule.

The Habs need the production of all their lines right now and even if the 4th unit can play against the best opposing lines, they also need to be able to contribute offensively.

That’s what makes good teams successful, after all.

It would be a great time for the 4th line to step up… because the Habs need to collect as many points as possible right now with the playoff race being so tight in the East.

Overtime

– They didn’t just lack courage…

– He’s good, the young guy. And it’s going to cost a lot.

– Still!

– Oh yeah?

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Roman Rotenberg will probably lose his job if SKA is eliminated quickly

Roman Rotenberg became the head coach of SKA during the 2021-2022 season.

He has never been able to bring the team all the way, however.

And there, in the context where expectations are enormous in Saint-Petersburg and the results have been disappointing for a few years now… Rotenberg is probably starting to feel the heat.

According to the Sport-Express media in Russia, the SKA coach should lose his job if his club is eliminated quickly from the next playoffs.

Note that SKA will start its playoff run tomorrow… and that the Habs’ prospect, Ivan Demidov, will not be in the top 12 of the club for the first playoff game.

This promises to be interesting…

TVA Sports also wrote an article on the subject:

I don’t know if he’s tired of coaching the SKA of Saint-Petersburg, but it seems like Roman Rotenberg is deliberately making bad decisions.

He decided to leave Demidov out last week and his club couldn’t even score more than two goals.

We could have thought that he learned from his mistakes… but that’s clearly not the case.

That being said, I really wonder what Demidov’s role will be in the second playoff game if the club doesn’t win tomorrow.

In fact, it would be logical to think that Rotenberg will come to his senses and trust the one who finished the season as the SKA’s top scorer… But at the same time, we know that things are a bit messy in Russia.

But in reality, Rotenberg only has one thing to do to keep his job.

He must play his best players to have the most chances of winning… because it’s not by being on the bench that Demidov – one of the most productive guys in the KHL, playing much less than the others – will be able to help.

I’m looking forward to seeing what happens, at least.

Overtime

– To know everything that’s going on at the CF Montréal practice since Marco Donadel’s hiring:

– More news about the CF Montréal:

– Anything can happen in the playoffs…

– That’s what I call making a profit.

– Islanders vs Canucks tonight: there will probably be money on the board in the Isles’ room.

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Powerplay: Since Laine’s return, the Habs have gone from 15th to 19th in the NHL

When the Canadiens went to get Patrik Laine in Columbus, we all said the same thing.

The forward will be able to help the Habs on the powerplay.

But… in reality, that’s not necessarily the case. Anthony Martineau talked about it on Tony Marinaro’s show this morning and the numbers don’t lie.

Here’s what you need to know.

From October 9 to December 2, the Canadiens had a powerplay efficiency of 20.8%.

This ranked them 15th in the NHL.

But from December 3 (the forward’s return to play) to March 26 (today), the Canadiens have a powerplay efficiency of 21.5%.

There may be an improvement of 0.7% in the figure… but still: the Canadiens have gone from 15th to 19th in the NHL in this regard.

For a guy who was supposed to come and change the game…

(Credit: NHL.com)

Because the guys are always looking for the perfect game and because we often try to use the shot of #92, the Canadiens’ powerplay becomes more predictable.

But recently, we see some changes with Nick Suzuki installed at the top of the umbrella.

And that means Lane Hutson is often at the bottom of the offensive zone, which is not necessarily ideal for him.

He doesn’t shoot at the net, after all. And the passing corridors are less open if he’s installed there in the opponent’s zone.

It’s not really working, though, since the Habs have the 21st best powerplay in the NHL (20.6% efficiency rate) since the start of March…

I’m so looking forward to seeing what Demidov will bring to the table in this regard:

The conclusion is this: Laine doesn’t help at 5-on-5 and clearly, the Canadiens aren’t really better when they have a man advantage.

In this context, we can see that his usefulness becomes minimal on the ice… even if we’ve seen him give a bit more lately.

But it’s far from perfect, too, in terms of effort, since Patrik Laine, well… he’s Patrik Laine.

He may have the ability to score goals, but we can’t believe his importance in the Montreal formation is enormous either.

Overtime

– Good point.

– It’s true that it’s weird.

– Speaking of Marchand, his return is approaching.

– Wow!

– It would be a nice turnaround for Jays fans.

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St-Louis doesn’t want to get involved: all he’s saying is that Dobes will get one of the next 2 starts

There was a the Canadiens practice today.

And basically, it’s important to note that Kaiden Guhle practiced with his teammates.

He practiced as an extra, just like Michael Pezzetta. According to what Renaud Lavoie reports, there were no changes to the offensive lines and defensive pairs.

We shouldn’t necessarily expect changes for tomorrow’s game in Philadelphia.

Joshua Roy is better than Michael Pezzetta… and Kaiden Guhle is probably not 100% ready right now.

But in all this, we have to wonder who will be in the Habs’ net against the Flyers and their coach who doesn’t want to learn how to manage the type of season the team is having.

Samuel Montembeault really looks tired and it might be normal to want to give him a night off.

Martin St-Louis did not want to confirm the identity of his starting goalie, but he said that Dobeš will play at least one of the next two games for the Canadiens.

A chance… because the Habs play tomorrow in Philly and Friday in Carolina.

On that note, it might be logical to see Dobeš get the start tomorrow. The Flyers are not in a superb position in the standings and we know that the Hurricanes have a really interesting force.

Unless we want to send Monty into the fray tomorrow to give ourselves even more chances to get important points in the standings against a team that’s been doing poorly lately?

There’s the dilemma…

It would mean we’d see Dobeš in the net in Carolina and we know that other teams know his problem.

Dobeš against a power like the Hurricanes, it scares me…

The situation remains to be seen, then.

But seeing how Monty has been playing for a few games… we might need to think about giving him some rest before burning him out.

Overtime

– Note.

– Nice list.

– Uh-huh…