Author: Dose

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Dans les coulisses

Patrik Laine with Kirby Dach and Juraj Slafkovsky in practice

Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images

This is it.

We knew that Patrik Laine’s return would logically take place tonight. But now, at today’s practice, just a few hours before facing the Islanders at home, he’s been training with the regulars.

Specifically, with Kirby Dach and Juraj Slafkovsky.

Details to come…

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Nick Suzuki didn’t break into Canada’s lineup at the Four Nations Tournament, says Marco D’Amico

Bad news for the Canadiens.

Although it was to be expected, Nick Suzuki failed to convince the Canadiens bosses that he deserved his place at the Four Nations Tournament, to be held in February at the Bell Centre and in Boston.

Marco D’Amico reports.

Obviously, the situation could change if there are injuries and Canada decides to call up the Canadiens’ captain, but for the moment, that’s not the case.

So he’ll have a few days off in February, if nothing changes.

Of course, it says a lot about the Canadiens that the club’s captain and #1 goaltender (let me assume Samuel Montembeault won’t make the Canadian team) aren’t chosen.

But that shouldn’t surprise anyone… even if #14 did win the Molson Cup in November.

Unless the U.S. decides to go with Cole Caufield, or the Finns go with Joel Armia (I don’t believe it), the Montreal Canadiens could be more than poorly represented.

The fact is, the guys aren’t good enough for the top-6, and they don’t fit the profile of a bottom-6 guy. Canada’s could be quite surprising.

I wonder how far this will cut into Montreal fans’ interest in the tournament. I’m not talking about attendance at the Bell Centre, I’m talking about people in front of their TVs.

We’ll see in due course.

Overtime

– Interesting stuff.

– Good news.

– Well done.

– Chris Drury has lost his dressing room.

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The Canadiens scrapped Cayden Primeau’s development, says Stéphane Waite

BUFFALO, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 11: Cayden Primeau #30 of the Montreal Canadiens looks to push the puck up the ice in the second period against the Buffalo Sabres during an NHL game on November 11, 2024 at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Ben Ludeman/NHLI via Getty Images)

Clearly, over the years, the Canadiens haven’t exactly managed Cayden Primeau well.

How is it that in his four seasons in Laval, the goaltender wasn’t able to play more than 41 regular-season games? Why didn’t he get much playing time?

123 regular-season games (and 16 in the playoffs) plus 54 games in Montreal: in his sixth full-time year in the pros, Primeau has remained healthy, but still hasn’t surpassed the 200-game threshold.

(Credit: Hockey DB)

Not enough, of course.

But when you look at it, it’s clear that there are times when Primeau wasn’t able to play because he was in Montreal when he wasn’t fully trusted.

It often happened, during his years in Laval, that he was recalled simply to warm up the second goalie’s seat in Montreal because of an injury upstairs. In those days, he didn’t play much.

And his development was taking a hit.

Of course, there’s also the matter of the ménage à trois, which has meant that he hasn’t played much for the past two years. These are all aspects that are causing the goalkeeper to develop poorly.

And in the eyes of Stéphane Waite, who was his first NHL goaltending coach, Primeau’s development has been scuppered by the Canadiens. That’s what he said on the podcast Sortie de zone, and whatAlexandre Pratt (La Presse) reported in an article on the subject.

Waite points out that this was not voluntary, but that these aspects are taken into account. The same goes for COVID-19, by the way.

I don’t sense that Waite is criticizing the way he was coached (he won’t target himself), but more the circumstances. Perhaps he’s more targeting Marc Bergevin, who had to recall Primeau if he didn’t have other options on the table.

Of course, no one is saying that Primeau isn’t a good goalie just because of the circumstances, because to be one of the worst goalies of the last 25 years, it has to be the goalie’s fault too.

But Pratt raises a good point: will we end up seeing Primeau for what he is, instead of thinking he could be that Samuel Montembeault-type goalie who has what it takes to take a big step forward?

Overtime

– Patrick Kane is injured.

– Really?

– Of note.

– Cole Caufield, poorly surrounded. [TVAS]

– Cayden Primeau is an American goalkeeper.

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Top-3: Auston Matthews marks his comeback with a goal

It was a very quiet night in the NHL last night, with only six teams in action.

The Devils took on the Rangers, the Blackhawks were in Toronto and, at the end of the night, the Stars visited Utah.

Here are the results and highlights:

1. Welcome back, Auston Matthews!

After a long absence, Auston Matthews was finally back in action for the Maple Leafs.

What could be better than scoring the game’s first goal?

What a pass from William Nylander on the sequence!

Mitchell Marner also played a strong game. He picked up two assists in his 600th NHL game.

Toronto made short work of Chicago, 4-1.

2. Jack Hughes accused of trying to embarrass Igor Shesterkin

Things aren’t going too well for the Rangers.

They’ve just lost to the Devils. They have now lost six of their last seven games.

Their win during that stretch came against the Habs….

Yesterday, the Devils made short work of New York by a score of 5-1.

Jack Hughes was even accused of trying to embarrass Igor Shesterkin after the game. His reaction was very funny.

Here’s the footage of him trying to “embarrass” the opposing goalie:

The New Jersey star finished the game with two goals and an assist.

3. Already a 500th game for Mikhail Sergachev

Former Canadiens and Lightning star Mikhail Sergachev reached a milestone last night.

He played in his 500th NHL game.

Unfortunately, the Stars came out on top, winning 2-1.

Another Habs alumnus, Evgenii Dadonov, opened the scoring in the second period.

And at the end of the period, Jamie Benn doubled his team’s lead.

It was the winning goal.

At the end of the match, tempers flared.

Extension

– He’s having a great season, the former captain.

– Jesper Bratt leads the charge.

(Credit: NHL.com)

– An action-packed Tuesday.

(Credit: Google )
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Alex Newhook has no assists this season

MONTREAL, QC - NOVEMBER 23: dAlex Newhook (15) of the Montreal Canadiens tracks the play uring the first period of the NHL game between the Vegas Golden Knights and the Montreal Canadiens on Nov 23 2024, at the Bell Centre in Montreal, QC(Photo by Vincent Ethier/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

No one will be surprised to hear that Alex Newhook has had a poor start to the season.

He’s managed to score five goals, which isn’t bad, but there’s clearly something missing from his game. This is most obvious when you look at the assists column on his scorecard.

He’s collected none this season. Zero.

(Credit: HockeyDB)

He’s already played 24 games and simply can’t muster a single one.

And it’s not as if Martin St-Louis isn’t giving him a chance to shine. He plays on the first line with the third-highest scorer in the NHL in Cole Caufield!

He’s also spent most of his time on the second line, where he should be getting the playing time he needs to collect at least one assist!

Worst of all, he’s the only regular Canadiens forward not to have picked up an assist this season. The only other forwards who have played at least one game with Montreal this season without collecting one are Lucas Condotta (seven games), Joshua Roy (four games), Michael Pezzetta (three games) and Alex Barré-Boulet (two games).

Even worse: every regular defenseman picked up at least one assist, with the exception of Justin Barron, who is often overlooked and has played just 12 games this season.

The Canadiens are far from the NHL masters in total assists. They rank 20th in the NHL with 120.

Except that among those 120 assists, Newhook should have at least one!

With the eventual return of Patrik Laine to the line-up, we should expect Newhook to receive some punishment for his lack of offensive contribution.

Kirby Dach and Juraj Slafkovsky had to play a game on the fourth line. It would be nice to see Martin St-Louis cut Newhook’s playing time or even send him to the stands for a game.

Overtime

– This is awful.

– A true warrior.

– This is going to be excellent.

– They need to make changes.

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The Canadiens could help the Devils with Christian Dvorak

Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images

There are still a few months to go before the trade deadline, but some teams have already started making their wish lists. With a remarkable start to the season, the Devils probably won’t need to pick up another impact player, but there’s always room for improvement.

In conversation with Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald explained that he’s very happy with New Jersey’s latest acquisitions, but would like to add a depth player to his roster.

This is what LeBrun revealed in a text published Monday evening on The Athletic website.

Fitzgerald is said to be looking for a center to support the team’s fourth line. He would like this player to be able to win important face-offs and play well shorthanded.

The Canadiens may have the solution to the Devils’ problem. Montreal could trade Christian Dvorak to New Jersey to get something out of him before his contract expires.

Some people will say that Dvorak wouldn’t fit in because he’s been on the fourth line of a bad team like the Canadiens for so long, but his game has improved in recent weeks.

It’s also important to understand that Dvorak ticks every box in Fitzgerald’s search.

Dvorak is capable of playing shorthanded, and he does it extremely well. He is currently the center of Montreal’s second wave of shorthanded play.

The Canadiens have an 81.9% shorthanded efficiency rating this season, which ranks seventh in the entire NHL.

Dvorak is also the only Canadiens center to win more than 50% of his face-offs this season. He has won 54.4% of his duels in the circle so far.

With a $4.45 million payroll impact from Dvorak’s contract, the Canadiens should retain a good portion of the center’s salary.

If he continues on this path, Dvorak could catch the eye of several teams looking for a center who can help on defense or in depth.

Overtime

– Ovechkin isn’t human.

– Maple Leafs fans are happy.

– A little practice help for Calgary.

– He’s doing very well in the faceoff circle.

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Bad season: all the Canadiens’ games were still sold out

Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images

The Canadiens have been the NHL’s occupancy kings for the past two years. If this trend continues, it will be the case again this season.

Even though the price of tickets to a Canadiens game is very high, fans are still coming out in droves. That’s what Benoît Rioux of the Journal de Montréal realized in an article published on Monday.

In this piece, Rioux also took the time to demonstrate that all 12 of the Canadiens’ home games were sold out this season.

That’s pretty strange, considering the Habs are having a miserable season.

But it’s important to remember that, unlike many other NHL teams, the Canadiens don’t share their city with other major sports teams (considering that MLS isn’t one of the four major North American leagues). Montreal is a hockey town, and fans will always be there, even when the going gets tough.

Except that ticket prices are as high as ever, even when the show isn’t on. And that’s not counting the price of beer, which goes up year after year.

A quick look at ticket resale sites reveals that prices are quite high, with a few exceptions. On the TicketMaster site, there’s currently a pair of tickets at only $59.50 per ticket in the reds.

(Credit: ticketmaster.ca)

That’s a real bargain, but then the other tickets drop to the price we’ve become accustomed to. We’re talking about tickets in the $70s to sit in the pit.

People on a tight budget often have to settle for tickets in the higher sections. To see a match in the reds, expect to pay a minimum of $125 per ticket.

And that’s not to mention the lowest-priced tickets in the Desjardins zone. That’s just crazy.

However, Benoît Rioux explained in his text that there is a way to buy tickets a little cheaper in Montreal. People who aren’t afraid of risk can wait until the start of the game before buying tickets sold at almost a given price.

At the last game against Utah, Rioux managed to find $56 tickets in the reds at just 7:01 p.m. on Stubhub. However, this is not a situation that occurs at every game.

As long as there’s no direct competition to the Montreal Canadiens, you have to understand that tickets will always be very expensive and in demand.

Overtime

– Wow!

– Strange.

– It takes victories for Victory.

– Interesting.

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Advanced stats: it’s amazing how much better the #1 powerplay is with Hutson

Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

A few weeks ago, many of us wanted the same thing.

And many shared the same thought:

What is Martin St-Louis waiting for to put Lane Hutson on the first wave of the powerplay?

Matheson’s injury “forced” St-Louis to make changes.

In recent games, we’ve seen Hutson get his chance… And so far, the results have been interesting.

When you look at the Canadiens’ advanced powerplay stats with Hutson and with Matheson, you realize that it’s completely different.

Arpon Basu (The Athletic) wrote about this in a recent article:

(Credit: )

Basically, with Hutson instead of Matheson, the Canadiens are better in each of these following categories:

  • Shots on goal attempts
  • Shots on goal
  • Dangerous chances
  • Expected goals
  • Goals
  • Percentage of shots

All these statistics (apart from dangerous chances) are calculated per 60 minutes.

That said, the numbers are staggering… And it just goes to show how talented Lane Hutson is.

The text in question (which I recommend you read) can be found here:

Martin St-Louis had no choice but to trust Matheson to start the season.

The #8, after all, occupied the quarterback’s chair on the powerplay last season and racked up points in the process.

He has more experience, too.

But here, we’ve seen enough to say that Lane Hutson deserves – from now on – to be part of the first wave of the powerplay.

He creates things with his vision and is ultimately more responsible than Matheson in the offensive zone. The only aspect to be corrected: Hutson needs to throw more often at the net, and everyone has noticed this in recent games.

But otherwise, Lane Hutson is doing great things with the man advantage… And that’s just the beginning.

That’s what’s so interesting about all this.

Overtime

– Exactly

– Absolument.

– Great contest :

– Oh, wow.

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3 points in 15 games: things couldn’t be worse for Dach

PITTSBURGH, PA - NOVEMBER 2: Kirby Dach #77 of the Montreal Canadiens skates during the game against the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG PAINTS Arena on November 2, 2024 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Joe Sargent/NHLI via Getty Images)

Martin St-Louis tried to revive Kirby Dach.

He put him in the middle of the second line, gave him a chance on the first unit for a few games… But it didn’t work.

Now, it looks like solutions are hard to find.

Dach’s last few games haven’t been great. D

  • No goals and only 3 assists

or the last 15 games, it’s been tough:

  • 21 shots on net (1.4 shots on net per game)
  • A -11 record

At the time of writing, Dach has the worst differential in the entire National League. His playing time has dropped considerably over the past week and a half because he’s not doing the right things on the ice. He’s even been placed on the 4th line…

But at this point, there’s no point in criticizing him on his personal pages, as some did after Saturday’s game against the Rangers.

To help him gain confidence, perhaps he should be given some love :

It’s flat because lately, Dach is more involved on the ice.

Against the Rangers, he wasn’t afraid to go to the corners (something we haven’t seen since the start of the season), he handed out checks and he finished the game with a total of four shots on goal.

If you don’t score, you still have to find a way to stand out. And that’s what he did, even if his game was spoiled by his unnecessary penalty late in the game.

But as Éric Bélanger told BPM Sports, his performance can have a negative effect on the rest of the team if St-Louis doesn’t make the right decisions when he sees that Dach is struggling.

For example? Knowing how difficult it is for him in general… Maybe the idea of putting him on the first powerplay should be given a little more thought by the coaching staff.

That said, Martin St-Louis needs to put him in a favorable position, and if Laine is able to play tomorrow, I’d like to see Dach get the chance to be on the same line.

It takes a spark… And even if it’s hard to find, it would be stupid to give up on a 3rd overall pick (2019) who still has things to prove in the National League.

Because we saw in the 22-23 season (38 points in 58 games) that he has the potential to become a good NHL player.

Overtime

– I love the reaction.

– It’s true that it’s weird.

– Whew…

– Seen the same.

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Marc Bergevin turned down a 3-year offer at $3M (per year) to stay in Montreal

Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images

Marc Bergevin was fired by the Canadiens on November 28, 2021.

However, he told Pierre LeBrun that his mind was already made up.

He had already decided that he would leave Montreal in 2022, after the last year of his contract with the Habs.

Is that why he refused to sign a three-year offer at $3 million a year to stay in Montreal as GM in the summer of 2021?

Because, according to Renaud Lavoie (TVA Sports), that’s what he had on the table.

In a text, the journalist states that the amount offered by Geoff Molson was not sufficient (in Bergevin’s eyes) and that this played a role in his decision to refuse the offer:

The offer was clearly below Marc Bergevin’s expectations, and that goes a long way to explaining why he didn’t accept it. – Renaud Lavoie

Marc Bergevin’s recent contract paid just under $3 million a year.

Did he feel he’d done what was necessary to earn a decent salary increase? And did the fact that the team had just reached the Stanley Cup finals give him a leg up?

Perhaps… But there are certainly other factors that can explain this decision.

After all, we know that Marc Bergevin was tired at the end of his reign, that he didn’t have the best relationship with the media and that he seemed to have reached the end of his resources.

There’s a reasonhe cleared out his office weeks before being fired.

He knew it was coming, and I have a feeling he’d known it was coming for a while.

That said, we sensed in the interview he gave Pierre LeBrun that he needed a change of scenery and that it was good for him to leave the Montreal Canadiens organization.

Because we know it’s more intense here than almost anywhere else in the National League.

Overtime

– Great event.

– Still.

– Good question.

– Well done!

– Oh!