Tonight, the Leafs host the Devils in Toronto, and it‘s Sheldon Keefe’s return to the Queen City, where he coached for five years. But never mind: that’s not what we’re focusing on right now, even though the game hasn’t started yet. Yesterday, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. arrived at Blue Jays Stadium with an Auston Matthews jersey on his back. His club needed to win against the Mariners to punch its ticket to the World Series, and that’s what happened in the end. That said, Matthews decided to return the favor: the Leafs captain showed up at Scotiabank Arena… wearing Vladdy’s jersey.That’s hot.
A day after Vladimir Guerrero Jr. arrived to Game 7 of the ALCS wearing an Auston Matthews jersey, the Leafs captain returned the favor. pic.twitter.com/N7z3eESw6R
[content-ads] Auston Matthews is an American. He’s not from Canada… and maybe his favorite ball club isn’t the one in Toronto. But still: he chose to wear Guerrero Jr.’s jersey, and it’s a nice mark of respect. We know that professional athletes respect each other a lot… and Matthews also plays in Toronto. Seeing him support the home team as captain will win him even more points with Leafs fans, and he must know that too. Well done for the gesture, at least. All of Canada is rallying behind the Jays, and it’s great to see athletes getting on board too. Once again, it’s a nice touch for Vladdy – who’s had a truly sensational playoff run in the MLB – and it’s certain that the Jays’ star player must have smiled when he saw Matthews do the same.It would be fun, eventually, to see them take a photo together.
[spacer title=’En rafale’] – Indeed.
The important thing is to ask the right questions The important thing is to ask the right questionspic.twitter.com/zKpyW2JxIe
This morning, the Avalanche unveiled the new jersey they’ll be wearing on the heels of their Quebec Nordiques tribute nights. The result is… beautiful. All in all, it’s a nice thought. Martin St-Louis said(TVA Sports) that it would bring back memories, and we agree on one thing: he’s probably not the only one to think like that. Especially in light of the fact that the Avalanche will be wearing this jersey against the Canadiens next month,
The Avalanche put the jerseys on sale on their website with the company Altitude Authenthics and the jerseys were available in limited quantities.You can take a tour of the site, if you’re so inclined:
[content-ads] But when you go to the site in question… it’s easy to notice one thing: the majority of the jerseys are already sold out. The jerseys went like hotcakes and clearly, people were waiting for an opportunity like this to get their hands on one.
The craze is real, and it’s easy to see, too. The Avalanche organization, at least, must be proud of what they’ve done (especially in terms of marketing). It’s going to make for some great moments in the stands, and I can’t wait to see the result when many fans don the blue Nordiques jersey, while the players will also have it on their backs for certain games. It would be fun, that said, to see other clubs get on board with the project of bringing back old uniforms. The Hurricanes got the message: this Thursday, they’ll be wearing their Whalers jerseys when they visit Colorado,which will make for some great images and fond memories:
Brock Boeser will not be back with the #Canucks for tonight’s game. The team is hopeful he will return for Thursday’s game in Nashville. pic.twitter.com/NDtSxIjzjZ
Things are going well for Alexander Zharovsky, a Canadiens prospect taking his first regular-season steps in the KHL, who is continuing to develop with a view to (eventually) becoming an NHL player. He’s doing so with a coach who believes in tough love, andthe recipe currently being used by his club is clearly working. I say that because the youngster is able to make his mark on the offensive side of the game. Case in point: once again today, the Canadiens’ second-round pick found the back of the net.No more complicated than that.
[content-ads]The way he works on the ice, it’s clear that this guy could be quite a player one day for the Montreal Canadiens. And Marco D’Amico reports that one scout believes he can become “a gem” if he can perfect his game.
The Hockey IQ and knowing where to be/go in the o-zone really sticks out when it comes to Zharovsky
. Head coach Viktor Frolov loves his offensive instincts, just wants to see more discipline/defensive commitment. One scout said: “If he can round out his game, MTL has a gem.” https://t.co/g25YGUXkIf– Marco D’Amico (@mndamico) October 21, 2025
At 18 years of age and with sometimes limited playing time (I say sometimes because the young man spent more than 15 minutes on the ice today), he has still collected eight points, including three goals, in just nine games this season. The more confidence he gains, the better it will be for him – and for the Canadiens, of course.
Craig Berube: “How about those Jays! That was awesome” Sheldon Keefe: “It’s a great day to wake up in Toronto isn’t it?”@BarDown– Mark Masters (@markhmasters) October 21, 2025
#Habs Jake Evans says him and Brendan Gallagher were probably the most pumped up about the #WANTITALL advancing to the World Series: “I was jumping up and down, Gally was high-fiving everyone – it was a good moment…”
Speaking of the Canadiens’ forwards, Owen Beck was replaced by Joshua Roy at practice this morning. We also know that Kirby Dach was back at practice, but that Patrik Laine was absent. And Kirby Dach still looked good.
Asked about his center, Martin St-Louis said Dach would make the trip out West. It’s unclear when he’ll be able to play, however, but he’s expected to play at some point during the trip. The coach confirmed that Dach’s absence over the last few days wasn’t related to load management (i.e. managing the playing time of a player who isn’t at 100%), which means there was indeed an injury in his case. It remains to be seen when he’ll be able to start playing again.[content-ads]
#Habs Kirby Dach will be on the western road trip and is expected to play. Patrik Laine (lower-body) will not travel with the team
As for Patrik Laine (lower-body injury), it’s pretty clear: he hasn’t been practicing and won’t be on the four-game road trip. This means that the Habs will have seven defensemen (including Marc Del Gaizo) and 13 forwards (including Dach and Roy) on the road. We know that the Habs will play tomorrow and Thursday in Alberta (in Calgary and Edmonton, respectively), but we don’t know who will be in net tomorrow night. It should be a sharing of duties in the next two games, in any case. #DosÀDos
#Habs Martin St-Louis says he hasn’t made a decision yet which goaltender will start tomorrow in Calgary vs. the #Flames
Today, #NJDevils forward Jack Hughes and defenseman Luke Hughes announced the launch of Hughes Brothers’ Pucks & Pages, a multi-year reading program developed in partnership with JAG Physical Therapy and Hockey in New Jersey designed to promote literacy among New Jersey’s youth. pic.twitter.com/iSYa0eNTYm
Would the Canadiens have won yesterday’s game with Samuel Montembeault in net? We can speculate, but we’ll never know, but what we do know is that the Canadiens won last night’s game against the Sabres with Jakub Dobes in net. Dobes turned aside 30 of the 32 shots he received ,his third win in as many starts this season. The young Czech goaltender hasn’t allowed more than two goals in a single game again this season, andwas also perfect during the preparatory schedule. Hats off to theHabs, who play three games in four nights out west this week (in three different cities). Initially, the plan had clearly been to give two of those three games to Samuel Montembeault… except that, with the respective performances of the two goaltenders over the past two weeks, the plan may have changed.We’ll see.[content-ads]An injury that seems to have left its markLast year, Samuel Montembeault played great hockey, being excellent in front of the net. So excellent, in fact, that he represented Canada at the 4 Nations tournament and gave the Habs a shot at the playoffs. But a nasty injury put an end to Montembeault’s – and the Habs’ – playoff run in Game 4 of the series against the Capitals. Montembeault had a sore groin, and after a few minutes of trying to play through the pain, he had to forfeit the game.
During the post-season locker emptying, Montembeault had confided that he had suffered a double groin tear against the Caps.
[content-ads]I went to ask Grok what rehabilitation from a double groin tear might look like for an NHL goaltender, and this is what he said:
“Studies of professional (NHL) hockey players show that 10-13% of injuries are groin tears, with an average time off work of 4-8 weeks for grades 2-3, but up to 12 weeks or more for goalies due to the specificity of the movements. A full return to competitive level can sometimes take 3-6 months to avoid relapses.”
–
Grok
Since Montembeault was injured on April 16, it’s safe to assume that he wasn’t able to really start pushing his movements again until July or August… and that his summer practice was therefore abnormal due to his spring injury. Patrik Laine… Kirby Dach… Brendan Gallagher… Kaiden Guhle… Cole Caufield… many have admitted that healing an injury well into the off-season often affects your start to the season. My hypothesis to explain Montembeault’s current difficulties is therefore as follows: his groin injury prevented him from practicing as usual over the summer, and he’ll need a little more time before he can be at 100% of his physical abilities/reflexes/references.
Since Jakub Dobes is in great shape – both physically and mentally – Martin St-Louis and Éric Raymond have the luxury of being able to tell Sam to take it easy, take his time… and then use Dobes a little more in October and November. Everything should take care of itself after that. Either Dobes will take advantage of this opportunity to grab the #1 goalie chair, or Montembeault will prove in his eventual starts that he’s back to being the organization’s #1 goalie. But in the meantime, the goal is to win as many games as possible, so let’s not hesitate to use Dobes more. Especially since Montembeault is making all the necessary efforts right now
! Monty isn’t having a great start to the season and he knows it.
[spacer title=’Prolongation’]Montembeault… Dobson… Guhle… Bolduc… why are so many Habs players constantly dealing with a groin injury? Do we have a proper summer practice plan? Are we overloading the athletes during or before the season? I have no idea… but we’re going to have to do something to prevent any more groin injuries.
We knew the Colorado Avalanche were up to something Nordiques-related, but this morning, the full uniform the Denver club will wear on the heels of its Quebec Nordiques tribute nights was unveiled. And clearly, it’s a uniform that’s very similar to what the Nordiques wore in the old days.
Joe Sakic, who has worn this uniform in the past, was seen in front of the Avalanche cameras with a Nordiques uniform on his back.Nordiques fans, do you like it or not? Weshould note that it will be worn for the first time in two days, against Carolina. But in a month’s time, on November 29, it’ll be worn on the heels of a game against the Canadiens.That’ll be special.Note that it will be worn seven times this season, including twice against the Whalers Hurricanes. The Golden Knights, Canucks, Penguins and Maple Leafs will also have the chance to face the Nordiques. It would have been funny against Patrick Roy’s Islanders, but oh well.
In a tweet aimed at explaining the symbolism behind certain elements of the jersey, the term “l’esprit du nord” was even used – in French, please – to represent the jersey. Visually, it’s very successful. But clearly, some people won’t like the Avalanche making ground – and money – on the backs of the Nordiques. [spacer title=’en rafale’]- Official.
Marco Donadel named Montreal CF head coach >>> https://t. co/g7APDkv30N
Ivan Demidov is still a good player. That said, to exploit his great talent, he’ll have to be able to eat more minutes. And since the start of the season, this hasn’t always been the case: just yesterday, he played for just 12:27.
(Credit: ESPN)
His average of 14 minutes this season isn’t huge. And while we know there are circumstances in games (yesterday, the Habs were in defensive mode late in the game), it’s by playing that Demidov will progress – and have chances to take more shots.I imagine if he’d arrived in 2023, when the goal wasn’t to win as many games, it would have helped.Because when you look at it, Demidov is capable of making the difference at even strength. And yesterday wasn’t a festival of special units, let’s put it that way, because you have to remember that giving Demidov ice opens the door to… this. this.[content-ads]
Demidov makes a difference when he’s on the ice. He creates things. He was even chosen to finish the second period with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield. But why was he the fourth least-used player yesterday? Obviously, it’s not the same as with Roman Rotenberg at SKA. That said, we know that the more ice time he gets, the more difference he can make for his club. Will it get any better?
With 5 points this season, Ivan Demidov has climbed to the top of the Bettman circuit’s rookie scoring charts (tied with Schaefer, Buium and Finnie).#CH#Habs#Canadiens
On the growing chemistry between Noah Dobson and Nick Suzuki, and how that’s allowing for another chemistry experiment to blossom between Lane Hutson and Ivan Demidov: https://t.co/xRfNwU07hr –
Just this morning, Martin St-Louis and Lane Hutson talked at length about developing a strategy to attack the slot intelligently.
Tonight, Hutson scores by attacking the enclave intelligently, and Martin St-Louis did it again https://t.co/AyOGoqo 60m –Anthony Martineau (@Antho_Martineau) October 21, 2025
The Bruins and the Oilers have reportedly inquired about Alex Tuch’s availability, and that list is expected to grow as uncertainty looms over Tuch’s future in Buffalo.@MurphysLaw74 has the latest: https://t.co/NwKTSwycCY –
Last night, when the Buffalo Sabres were at the Bell Centre, there was also a different kind of visit. What do I mean by that? When you look at the list of scouts who were on site, it’s clear that there were plenty of people at Mass. No fewer than 16 scouts were present.
I know that on Mondays, there’s less hockey – and therefore less supply for scouts. I also know that there are regulars, like André Savard for the Devils. But 16 is still a good number. [content-ads]Of course, we have to keep in mind that, even if we don’t know why the scouts were there, the fact remains that they are looking at certain elements. Of course, we know that the Sabres will undoubtedly sell players along the way because… they’re the Sabres.
But when you consider that the Canadiens have been looking for a center for a long time (and that’s not counting Kirby Dach’s injury) and that a little reinforcement on the blue line wouldn’t hurt, you’d think that some scouts might be there for the Habs. Yes, it would also make sense to look at what’s happening in Laval… but Oliver Kapanen and Owen Beck were playing at the Bell Centre yesterday.
I’m not saying the Canadiens want to trade Oliver Kapanen. But what I am saying is that if Emil Heineman was offered to the Islanders in the Noah Dobson deal, Kapanen isn’t untouchable. And above all, what I’m saying is that seeing so many scouts in the place yesterday is noteworthy. [spacer title=’Overtime’]- To be continued.
The Canadiens will practice in Brossard this morning before leaving for Western Canada.
Kirby Dach and Patrik Laine can’t be “hidden” much longer. Either they skate this morning, or the Canadiens must give details of their respective injuries before the trip. – Maxime Truman (@MaximeTruman) October 21, 2025
Last night, the Canadiens won against the Buffalo Sabres. Martin St-Louis’ men found a way to score four times to win 4-2, making it 3-1 at home in the last four games. Clearly, Jakub Dobes had a hand in all this .He has two of the Habs’ three wins at home (plus one on the road) and yesterday, he did it again.
(Credit: ESPN)
Yesterday, he made some important saves that kept the Canadiens in the game. And let’s just say that the club’s start to the season wouldn’t be so promising if he didn’t have an efficiency rate of .939, one of the best in the NHL..939, for a goalie with at least two games behind the tie this season, puts him second in the NHL.
(Credit: NHL.com)
[content-ads]All over Montreal, Dobes is the talk of the town when it comes to hockey. Many people want to see him steal more games from Samuel Montembeault, for example, and the #1 goaltender debate will always exist in Montreal. And by shouting “Doby, Doby” in the stands, Habs fans have made it clear that they’re ready to see more of Dobes. If Dobes is hungry, let’s give him a few more games and get closer to a 50/50. And since the Habs no longer have Cayden Primeau, they can afford to be confident in their auxiliary. And I’ll say it again: in the long run, this can only help Monty
But it’s still not the most predominant topic in the Canadiens’ dressing room yesterday. The topic of choice was the Blue Jays’ victory. The guys rejoiced in particular when George Springer hit his huge three-run home run to give the Blue Jays a 4-3 lead in Game #7 of the championship series.
[content-ads]In Montreal as elsewhere in the country (Winnipeg, notably), ball fans in the locker room didn’t hesitate to follow what was happening in Toronto in an exciting Game #7. Obviously, they didn’t follow the whole game. But they saw the result: the Blue Jays will cross swords with the Dodgers in the World Series, starting Friday. And that made a lot of guys happy. Lane Hutson, an American, said that Brendan Gallagher had forced him to become a Blue Jays fan.
I know that taking on Toronto isn’t for everyone in Montreal. But if the guys can draw inspiration from the success of a Canadian team to motivate themselves, that would be a good start,wouldn’t it?content-ads]But that’s not all we should remember about yesterday’s game, which was still exciting for the people who watched it. Whatdo I remember? 1. Mike Matheson and Noah Dobson were the only defensemen to play more than 20 minutes yesterday. Even Lane Hutson (19:59) played less than 20 minutes, which is rare,but the difference between Dobson and Matheson is insane. We’re talking 20:46 for Dobson… and 26:30 for Matheson. Matheson was supposed to play less at the start of the season, but Kaiden Guhle’s injury changed all that. I’m not sure if that’s good in the long term, but it shows how important he is in town, anyway.Note that Arber Xhekaj played 13 minutes and Jayden Struble is at 19 minutes. Struble played a hefty2. We’ll come back to the playing time of some of the forwards later this morning, but you should know that Nick Suzuki played quite a bit again. He’s at 21:37, three minutes more than Jake Evans at 18:16. The Habs are counting on him to protect leads and get points, as he’s down to 10 this season. What a fine hockey player the captain is becoming
! Nick Suzuki blocks a huge shot from Dahlin! He picks up his 2nd assist of the game. What a captain! He’s ready for the Stanley Cup. #habs#gohabsgopic.twitter.com/x7xdGmLAhX
[content-ads]3. Juraj Slafkovsky was briefly replaced by Ivan Demidov on the first line late in the second. Did this whip Slaf, who scored in the third?Nice play by Noah Dobson on the sequence, by the way.
This is how Slaf will be able to make an impact in the NHL: by going and parking himself in front of the net. He just has to remember that he’s a big guy and that he can make a difference. 4. If you’re looking for a second way to make a good first impression, go and ask Oliver Kapanen for advice. The guy has four goals this year and is playing well with Ivan Demidov. And the day Alex Newhook learns to hold his stick on the ice when Demidov passes to him, the Russian will have even more points on the clock. content-ads]
Oliver Kapanen scores his fourth goal of the year after a nice play by Ivan Demidov. Full marks to Carrier for keeping the puck in the offensive zone. 1-0 #GoHabsGopic.twitter.com/DDvnOxGAsU
If you notice, it’s another goal scored when the disc carrier found himself directly in front of the net. It’s almost as if it’s a tried-and-tested formula. 5. I agree with Gilbert: Zachary Bolduc and his line-mates need to give more. They don’t play much and I think it’s a shame to see the Habs deprive themselves of Bolduc’s shot, that said. I’d like to see them with better players – with all due respect to Veleno and Beck, who are good hockey players.
HERE’S THE GILBERTS OCTOBER 21 EDITION
Perfect player: Juraj Slafkovsky He played well in tabaslack! : Alexandre Carrier I’m sorry, he has to be better : Joe Veleno, Zachary Bolduc and Owen Beck#gilbertspic.twitter.com/YpLWgI2BrC– BPM Sports (@BPMSportsRadio) October 21, 2025
[spacer title=’prolongation’]At 11am this morning, the guys will hop on the ice in Brossard for practice. After that, it’s off to Alberta for tomorrow’s showdown with the Flames, and we’ll be keeping a close eye on the recall situation. After all, the Habs have only 18 healthy skaters (at last count, anyway), and they’re going to need reinforcements on the road.
There were five games in the National League last night, including the Habs against the Sabres.The Canadiens won 4-2 and it was a good game in the end. But… let’s go see what happened elsewhere in the league:
1: A first goal for Jonathan Toews since April 13, 2023
The Jets were visiting Calgary last night. The Flames scored the game’s first goal in the second period, courtesy of Rasmus Andersson, but it was in the third period that the Jets really woke up.
Jonathan Toews scored his first goal since April 13, 2023 to bring everyone back to square one… and we saw in his celebration just how happy he was.A beautiful moment for him:
The Jets have had Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele on fire all season, and they were at it again last night, combining their efforts to score the winning goal for the Jets in the game.
The Jets won by a score of 2-1: a sixth loss in seven outings for the Flames since the start of the season.It’s going badly in Calgary… [content-ads]
2: Golden Knights on fire
There were three things to remember about the game between the Golden Knights and the Hurricanes. The first was Jack Eichel… who scored again last night. He’s now up to six goals and 10 assists (16 points) in just seven games since the start of the campaign.
The second is Pavel Dorofeyev’s goal… the Russian foiled Frederik Andersen with a simply magnificent deke and the result is perfect. What a beautiful goal:
The third is the fact that the Hurricanes lost their first game of the season by a score of 4-1. Likewise, the Golden Knights are starting their season with a record of 5-0-2, which is excellent. They seem to be really hard to beat at the moment [content-ads]
3: Flyers crush Kraken
Berkly Catton played his first NHL game last night, and picked up his very first point in only his second appearance on the ice. Bravo!
25But then things got ugly for the Kraken. The Flyers opened the machine to eventually win by a score of 5-2: it looked like everything was rolling along smoothly for the Philadelphia outfit last night.They put on a good show for their fans, at least.
In the game, Trevor Zegras picked up an assist in his fifth straight game. He’s off to a good start in Philly, himself. And maybe the change of scenery has really done him good… because we’re starting to see the Zegras of yesteryear [content-ads]
4: Another defeat for the Rangers
The Rangers got off to a good start against the Wild. Artemi Panarin scored after 57 seconds of play… but unfortunately for Blue Shirts fans, it was the team’s only moment of glory during the game. Jonas Brodin created the tie just minutes after Panarin’s goal:
We had to wait until midway through the third period to see another goal scored in the game and it was Danila Yurov who did it. The Wild rookie scored his first NHL goal and he celebrated in fine style:
Kirill Kaprizov completed the scoring in an empty net to help his club win 3-1: He already has 10 points this season (in just seven games) and is one of his club’s important players.
That’s what you’d expect from him, anyway [spacer title=’Prolongation’] – Nice save
pic.twitter.com/N7z3eESw6R
The important thing is to ask the right questions
pic.twitter.com/zKpyW2JxIe
Goals of the Week presented by @CruiseNorwegian pic.twitter.com/8XwMLrFGrv
#CFMTL pic.twitter.com/KLgk1HdvfZ– CF Montréal (@cfmontreal) October 21, 2025
https://t.
in Montreal.
Marco Donadel named Montreal CF head coach >>> https://t. 
https://t.co/W9SolXhrRG
(@JeremyFilosa) 
#GoHabsGo
