Author: Dose

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Top-2: Rangers booed by their own fans

Last night in the NHL, there were only three games, including the Canadiens.

Montreal won in a shootout against the Ducks.

Here are the results and highlights of the other two duels:

1. Rangers booed by theirown fans

Things have been going badly in New York for some time now.

Fortunately, the Rangers were facing the Blackhawks, one of the worst teams in the NHL, and could give themselves some energy.

However, they lost 2-1. First win for the Hawks’ new pilot.

Two points from Taylor Hall in the win.

First, he picked up an assist on the game’s first goal.

And in the second period, he scored the winning goal.

Since Chris Drury revealed publicly that he was ready to trade his big pieces, his team is 2-6-0.

The hosts were even booed by their fans at the end of the game…

What to do in New York

2. Sabres winless in their last seven games

Another team in trouble is the Buffalo Sabres.

Like the Rangers, they too lost yesterday: 6-5. Buffalo is winless in its last seven games.

Yet Lindy Ruff’s club took an early lead.

But Detroit needed just 41 seconds to take the lead.

Midway through the second period, Jason Zucker scored his second goal of the game to give his team a two-goal lead.

But… the hosts still let a lead slip and lost by a score of 6-5 in the shootout.

What a heartbreaking defeat!

Overtime

– A first game he won’t soon forget.

– Zucker leads the charge.

(Credit: NHL.com)

– 22 teams in action tonight.

(Credit: Google)
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Rumor: RDS and TSN could be sold

The sports media market is changing.

On the traditional media side, the costs of producing sports shows are rising, while program revenues are falling. This is obviously not a good combination.

This forces companies to think of different solutions.

In radio, for example, turning to on-air podcast formats with live sports may be a solution. It’s happening more and more, in fact.

But more drastic solutions also need to be considered for some companies.

And right now, Bell is considering divesting itself of its sports stations. We’re talking about numerous radio stations across the country (several TSN stations have closed overnight in the past), as well as RDS and TSN on TV.

Jonah Sigel, an insider who’s had some inside info in the past, says that the sale of RDS and TSN could be under active consideration right now.

Well-placed people have been talking to him about it.

Because sports aren’t paying very well these days (nothing good for increasing the company’s stock market dividends), one senses a desire on Bell’s part to detach itself from sports. One example is the company’s sale of its stake in MLSE.

We can also think about the fact that duels between Canadian teams (in English) on Monday nights are now the domain of Prime – and no longer TSN – until 2026.

And consider the next NHL TV contract, which may not include – from a Québécois point of view – the regional rights to the Habs for Bell customers.

With streaming platforms increasingly in the picture, is it illogical to think that a giant like Amazon might be tempted to buy RDS and TSN?

It’s not illogical to me, in any case.

It’s worth noting that we made a few calls on this subject to well-placed people at RDS. They denied the news (no surprise here), telling us that Bell had plans for several years with RDS in Montreal.

Obviously, with no clear buyer identified, it’s not likely that a sale will take place any time soon. But we’ll keep an eye on it.

Extension

Right now, in the world of sports, Bell seems to be betting on live sports on TSN and RDS (whether out of interest or to facilitate a certain transition, so as not to potentially sell an empty product) for the future.

As a general rule, however, Bell’s attention could turn to other projects (telecoms, for example), to the detriment of sports.

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Renaud Lavoie is convinced there will be discussions about Alexis Lafrenière and Brady Tkachuk

Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

Earlier Monday, there was talk ofthe Rangers poaching Brady Tkachuk. The Rangers want to make changes, and getting Tkachuk would be a big one.

Renaud Lavoie, who is in Florida for the NHL Governors’ meeting, spoke about the situation in his column on TVA Sports’JiC .

What’s interesting to note here is that Lavoie is convinced the Rangers will eventually drop a line to the Senators about Brady Tkachuk.

He thinks the Rangers will mention Alexis Lafrenière’s name in those discussions. He also said that adding K’Andre Miller to the discussion would be the talk of the town!

That would be very interesting indeed!

Lavoie also reported a funny story from the governors’ meeting. The representatives of each team are placed in alphabetical order, and the N for New York is right next to the O for Ottawa.

Let’s just say there was certainly a lot of awkwardness between these two representatives!

Cam Fowler could have gone the New York way

The Rangers aren’t just the talk of the Tkachuk rumor mill. Even though the Jacob Trouba deal is over and he’s now in Anaheim, they’re still the talk of the town.

In the latest episode of his 32 Thoughts podcast, Elliotte Friedman explained that the Ducks wanted to send Cam Fowler to the Rangers in this deal.

He’s also convinced that Fowler would have liked to be part of it.

The only problem was Fowler’s $6.5 million contract. The Rangers wanted to free themselves of a big salary, so Urho Vaakanainen was the player of choice with his small $1.1 million contract.

By freeing themselves of Trouba’s contract, the Rangers were able to offer a big contract to Igor Shesterkin, who will weigh in at $11.5 million per season for eight years.

Overtime

– Gretzky is a big Ovechkin fan .

– It would be incredible.

– It’s cool to play in front of family and friends.

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A third goal for Patrik Laine on the powerplay

You’ve often been told to limit expectations of Patrik Laine. Returning to the game after missing nearly a year of action is tough.

On the other hand, the Finn has become a real scoring machine since his debut with the Canadiens.

On Monday night, he once again scored on the powerplay.

It was his third goal with Montreal, in his fourth game of the season on Monday.

What’s even crazier in this story is that he doesn’t move. All three of his goals were scored from the left circle. You could say it’s really his office now.

And what about that Nick Suzuki pass? That pass really had eyes.

Lane Hutson also picked up an assist on the sequence. He breaks Chris Chelios’ record for most consecutive games with at least one point for a Canadiens rookie defenseman.

Number 48 has eight points in his last seven games.

More details to follow.

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Geoff Molson: Even with bad results, the Habs will stick to their plan

MONTREAL, QC - NOVEMBER 29: Montreal Canadiens owner and president Geoff Molson listens to a question from the media on November 29, 2021 at Bell Sports Complex in Brossard, QC (Photo by David Kirouac/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Geoff Molson is in Palm Beach, Florida for the NHL governors’ meeting.

It was a good opportunity to ask him what he thinks of his club’s start to the season… And let’s just say that Molson was rather modest in his comments.

The goal is to follow the rebuilding plan, and that’s not going to change, even if the Habs have struggled since the start of the campaign :

I love his comments.

It proves one thing: there’s no panic in the organization right now. It would be easy to advise Kent Hughes to move to improve his club to also advance the rebuilding process, but that would be illogical.

Again, the plan has to be followed.

That said, there’s another sentence that came out of Molson’s mouth that made me react.

It was when the Habs owner said he was encouraged by his team’s performance over the past few weeks.

Priyanta Emrith reported his words on Twitter:

The Canadiens have won four of their last nine games, but it’s not just the result that’s important.

For the past two and a half weeks, the Habs have been able to pick up points because they’ve been playing the right way most of the time.

There’s a level of effort that’s 100 times better than at the start of the season, the guys understand their respective roles… And ultimately, we can see that the players are starting to become more familiar with Martin St-Louis’ system of play.

It’s far from perfect, and we’ll all agree on that.

But it’s by continuing to play this way that the team will move forward, and that’s what’s important in the end. So it’s only natural that Geoff Molson is satisfied with his club’s performance, because it should only get better.

At least, if we follow the logic of things, that’s what should happen.

Overtime

– I like the style.

– Good point.

– Oh yes!

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Only three combined goals for Slaf and Dach this season

Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images

When you think of the players who have disappointed so far this season, a few names come to mind.

Of the lot?

Obviously… There’s Kirby Dach and there’s also Juraj Slafkovsky, although I could have named others.

In the case of the former, we know he’s coming back from a serious injury and that it may take some time.

But still: Dach isn’t performing up to his talent level, and it’s also his level of involvement that’s got many doubting him.

As for Slaf, it’s a shame because we saw in the last half of the 23-24 season that he’s capable of being a good National League player.

But like Dach, he doesn’t turn up every night, and that’s what’s frustrating.

To get results, you have to work… #SchoolOfLife

The two guys, who have been playing in the top-6 since the very beginning of the season, combine for a total of three goals scored so far.

Not nearly enough:

If the Canadiens are to progress, they’ll need the support of Kirby Dach and Juraj Slafkovsky.

After all, we’re talking about two players who were selected in the top-3 at the draft, and we’re talking about two guys with great potential.

But it’s going to start to get worrisome(as Éric Bélanger said in Slaf’s case on BPM Sports) if the two guys aren’t able to get back on track.

The sample is “thin” this season because the Canadiens have played 27 games, and we know that a bad run can happen to any player… But if the results don’t start coming in, it’s normal to start asking questions.

Martin St-Louis tried to send them a message, but it didn’t have any extraordinary effect.

That said, the coach needs to find a way to get them back on track before the situation becomes a catastrophe in the eyes of the fans AND the organization’s management.

Overtime

– There are three games tonight in the National League, including the Canadiens against the Ducks.

– 🤣🤣

– Oh.

– Interesting!

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Mackenzie Blackwood in Colorado, Alexandar Georgiev in San Jose

Photo by Elsa/Getty Images

The trade deadline is only a few months away, but we can already see clubs starting to make moves.

For example?

Last week, the Rangers traded their captain to Anaheim. And now, it’s the Avalanche and Sharks’ turn to dance.

Both clubs have traded goaltenders: Mackenzie Blackwood heads to Colorado, while Alexandar Georgiev heads to San Jose.

Givani Smith and a 5th-round pick (2027) accompany Blackwood… While the Sharks also get forward Nikolai Kovalenko, a 2nd-round pick (2026) and a 5th-round pick (2025) :

In all this, it’s Yaroslav Askarov who can’t be happy.

He sees the Sharks’ number one goalie being traded… But Alexandar Georgiev is coming to San Jose to take his place.

We know that Askarov wants to play in the NHL and that he’s dominated the AHL so far, but his turn will have to wait, obviously.

I imagine he’s disappointed with the Sharks’ decision…

More details to come…

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There’s a reason the Canadiens didn’t draft Matvei Michkov

Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images

The Montreal Canadiens, like many teams, chose to ignore Matvei Michkov in the 2023 draft.

It’s understandable why the Blackhawks (Connor Bedard) said no to Michkov… but the Coyotes, Blue Jackets, Ducks and Sharks, like the Habs, looked elsewhere.

And right now, on the heels of Michkov’s fine start to his NHL career (he leads NHL rookies with 25 points), these teams are being questioned about their motives.

The Canadiens, for lacking forward talent and drafting David Reinbacher instead, are being criticized on the heels of the club’s start to the season.

It’s true that if Michkov had been chosen instead of Reinbacher, Martin St-Louis’ club would have more offensive reinforcements right now.

But the important thing to remember is this: if the Canadiens didn’t draft Michkov, there was a reason. Everyone knew about his talent, but many ignored it.

What was the reason? We can only speculate.

Of course, there’s all the locker-room stuff that goes into the discussion (and to see that John Tortorella benched his young player for off-ice reasons reinforces the idea), but one wonders if that’s the only thing.

Marc-Olivier Beaudoin, on X, recalled the story that Michkov dictated his destination.

Let me make this even clearer, Marco: the Capitals and Coyotes got the memo that the Russian didn’t want to report to their organization if he was ever drafted there.

How much of that was the Habs? I can’t say. But it’s safe to assume that this isn’t the corporate culture the Habs want to create.

It’s worth noting that the Russian said he was ready to play anywhere in an interview. But of course, we all agree that he’s not ready to say the opposite publicly, you know.

It wouldn’t look good.

Let’s not forget that the Canadiens haven’t been afraid to draft in Russia, including Ivan Demidov, in recent years. If Mishkov isn’t in Montreal, there’s a reason. And it doesn’t matter whether you think it’s valid or not.

Ivan Demidov is seen as a prospect who can make a big impact for the Habs as soon as he’s in a position to land in the National League. The Habs have clearly evaluated the possibility of getting two of their own, that’s for sure.

Overtime

– Alex Ovechkin will be nervous before he breaks the scoring record.

– No talks in New York for Brady Tkachuk.

– To be continued.

– Jordan Romano in Philadelphia.[MLB Passion]

– Read more.

Sometimes, when a young player is doing well, it’s better to leave him alone and let him continue doing well. Emil Heineman being one of those young players leads the latest edition of the Canadiens weekly notebook: www.nytimes.com/athletic/598…

[image or embed]

– Arpon Basu(@arponbasu.bsky.social) December 9, 2024 at 2:08 PM

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When two teams fight… in the doggies

People in Ontario obviously have no idea how to deal with doggies. That’s the conclusion I draw after two different events, and I apply it to millions of people because… I’m acting in good faith.

First, Michael Misa, who plays in the OHL, sent a doggie back into the stands during a doggie toss on the ice. He earned himself a suspension in the process. #Bravo

And now, in a game between Ottawa and Barrie in Ontario, the guys from both teams got into a fight during a doggie toss.

Of course, it’s not uncommon to see clashes after a goal. In the heat of the action between two teams, these things can happen once in a while.

But here? Funny.

When you see the guys fighting while the lights are on and hundreds of doggies are being thrown around the rink, it adds an element that’s… er… fairytale-like?

Maybe that’s not the right word, but whatever.

I think seeing the Grinch on the ice makes it even sicker. He wasn’t ready for that… and I wonder how much he wanted to jump into the fray.

It would have made the whole thing even more implausible.

Overtime

– Igor wants to bring the Cup back to New York.

– It’s going to be a bumpy ride tonight. [BPM Sports]

– Jacques Lemaire (Ring of Honor): his career will be celebrated by the Devils.

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Jayden Struble will leave his place to Justin Barron tonight

Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images

Change for tonight’s game against the Ducks.

Jayden Struble will not be in the lineup. Instead, he’ll make way for Justin Barron, who didn’t play on Saturday night. This will be the only change to Martin St-Louis’ line-up.

It also means that Samuel Montembeault will be in net. #NoSurprise

For the past few weeks, Barron and Struble have been the odd men out. Struble hasn’t missed many games, but if Mike Matheson hadn’t missed two games recently, Struble would have been the one.

Arber Xhekaj is not part of the rotation.

Justin Barron played last Thursday, but that was only because Kaiden Guhle was ill. He resumed his place in the press gallery for Saturday’s match.

It’s now up to him to convince his coach not to return to the bench too soon.

What this means is that offensively, there are no changes. Michael Pezzetta still has to eat his heart out, which must be just dreadful for him. He’s played three games this year.

Keeping him doesn’t allow the Habs to put pressure on the 12 guys playing, by the way.

Being the Canadiens, I’d put Michael Pezzetta on the waivers out of respect for the guy, but also to bring in a different 13th forward. It would put pressure on the boys.

But it’s not up to me.

Overtime

– He’s getting more complete.

– When’s his first goal?

– To be continued.

– Please note.

– Clearly, the guy wanted out of the Bronx.