Category: Dans les coulisses

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Dans les coulisses

Jeff Petry: why hasn’t he been traded yet?

When the Habs announced that Jeff Petry was back in town Sunday morning in the wake of the Erik Karlsson deal, many expected that he would only be in town temporarily. In fact, one could almost wonder if Kent Hughes didn’t already have an agreement with another club to hand over the defenseman.

However, more than four days later, this was clearly not the case, given that Petry is still a member of the CH. And that’s despite the fact that he still hasn’t been heard from since (and neither has Kent Hughes, for that matter).

Right now, it’s safe to assume that Hughes and Jeff Gorton are feeling out the situation and trying to figure out the defenseman’s next destination. Maybe they’re also considering the idea of keeping him, but I don’t know if they’d be comfortable keeping him considering he wouldn’t necessarily be the happiest guy in town.

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On the other hand, you also have to wonder what’s getting in the way, and the possibility that his contract is a problem can’t be ruled out. A lot of teams are looking for money right now, and even at $2.3 million (if the Habs hold back 50% of his remaining salary), Petry can complicate a pay sheet.

And that’s why I’m wondering whether we shouldn’t wait until a team resorts to LTIR before picking up Petry.

The fact that we don’t know exactly which clubs are on his list of 15 teams to which he refuses to be traded complicates the process, but let’s take the Colorado Avalanche, for example: the team is currently $4.975 million over the salary cap, but when Gabriel Landeskog is placed on the LTIR, there will be $2.025 million left in Colorado.

I’m not saying he’ll be traded to Colorado (although the idea isn’t completely crazy), but it’s an example of a case that could slow down Petry’s case right now.

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Of the destinations that seem to be coming back, salary isn’t an issue for the Detroit Red Wings and Buffalo Sabres, but it is for the Dallas Stars, who will almost certainly have to pack Mason Marchment for a potential deal bringing Petry to town.

It would be a little more complicated for the Kings and Hurricanes, but we can also wonder if they aren’t potential partners for the Tricolore. And if they have a player to place on the LTIR for the season (which doesn’t seem to be the case right now, though), it would make the process easier.

What we feel right now is that a domino will have to fall somewhere in the NHL to allow a transaction involving Petry. Whether it’s Mason Marchment in Dallas, Brett Pesce or Brady Skjei in Carolina, or some other player, it’s safe to assume that something is holding up the Petry file right now.

Let’s see if it unlocks soon.

In gusto

– The CH prospect will have the opportunity to showcase his skills and, who knows, earn points toward a potential appearance at the WJC.

– Dominique Ducharme is in town.

– Obviously, all he has to do to have a big season is keep his hair short.

– Tough day for the Jays. My text on the subject.

– One of the favorites falls to Toronto.

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Dans les coulisses

Matvei Michkov puts on a show and is named MVP of a 3-on-3 tournament

Clearly, Matvei Michkov is playing like a guy who wants to prove to teams that they made a mistake by ignoring him in the last draft.

He began his KHL prep schedule with the knife between his teeth, and the Philadelphia Flyers prospect continues to shine.

His club took part in a small 3-on-3 tournament with three other KHL teams. SKA St. Petersburg won their first duel of the competition, which earned them a place in the final…

And Michkov propelled his club to victory with three goals in two games. The result? He was voted tournament MVP, and in the images that follow, it’s easy to see why.

The last goal we see him score is, without a doubt, quite spectacular:

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All field hockey fans are aware that he’s endowed with great qualities on the ice.

But all field hockey fans are also aware that he slipped in the draft for the reasons we know today.

It’s done and there’s no going back.

That said, Michkov is enjoying success right now, and I’m curious to see if they’ll carry over into the regular season too.

The Russian has been producing at a rate of a goal a game since the start of KHL activities, and he seems to be in the right chair at the moment in St Petersburg. This was not the case last year, when he also played with HK Sochi and had to adjust to a different system of play in the middle of the season.

His current coaches trust him enough to try him out in the center, a position to which he adapts particularly well.

At least, from the looks of him over the last few games… That’s what comes to mind. If he can continue to develop in the right way, and if he continues to produce the way he’s doing right now, the Flyers will be happy.

In gusto

– Really.

– Damn.

– We’ve known it for a few weeks, but now it’s official.

– Hehe.

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Dans les coulisses

Olivier Kylington (Flames) opens up about his mental health issues

We often forget that athletes are human.

Just because a man or woman plays in a professional league doesn’t mean they don’t have feelings, and they’re not robots either.

News flash… They’re just like you and me, and they too have to juggle certain aspects of life. And even if the athletes earn a good salary, that doesn’t mean everything’s going well in their respective lives.

Don’t tell me it’s okay because some athletes earn millions of dollars. That’s just ignorant thinking.

We’ve seen it in recent years in Montreal with Carey Price and Jonathan Drouin. Price had to comply with the NHL’s player assistance program because of substance abuse problems, and Drouin had to leave the team at one point because he had anxiety and insomnia problems.

Oliver Kylington is another example. The Flames defenseman confessed in an interview with Swedish media that his mental health problems were so intense that he had to write off the 2022-2023 NHL season.

Instead, he decided to take time out to take care of himself, and now he’s feeling much better. He says he’s excited at the prospect of rejoining his club and rediscovering his love of the game:

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Hats off to him, honestly.

It takes courage to come out publicly like he did and that’s a credit to him.

It’s important, by the way, not to be afraid to let our emotions out. I know I’m getting a little off track when I say that… But it’s a subject that affects so many people, athletes and everyone else.

It’s not easy and it can be frightening for some. But that’s normal. But it’s by taking this step that, in the end, things can get better, as Kylington explains:

I needed to face these issues and today I’m incredibly grateful for the journey I started and had to finish. – Oliver Kylington

In the hope that he can serve as a role model for all those who fall victim to it.

Burst

– Caleb Jones signs a one-year contract with the Hurricanes.

–

– Radu continues to stand out in the KHL.

– It’s all over for Milos Raonic in Toronto.

– Something is brewing in Tampa Bay.

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Dans les coulisses

Jeff Gorton’s son joins Lane Hutson at Boston University

Lane Hutson will be keeping a particularly close eye on the upcoming university season.

After all, the Canadian prospect has far exceeded expectations in his first NCAA campaign and is, as of today, a logical candidate for the next Hobey Baker.

But Boston University will also be keeping an eye on Luke Tuch. He impressed at the CH’s last summer development camp, and a little bird tells me he’ll have a great season, in his fourth season on the college circuit.

We also learned in the last few days that Jack Hughes, Kent’s son, would be joining the team after spending two seasons at Northeastern. Want to know more?

Earlier this morning, Boston University announced that Jeff Gorton’s son, Jack, will also be on the roster in 2023-2024. It’s a family affair, obviously…

And let’s just say that we can expect the Boston club’s activities to be popular in Montreal in the coming months.

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It will be special for Jack Hughes and Jack Gorton.

After all, their father works for the most prestigious organization in NHL history, and the two kids will be teammates on the ice.

There’s no hiding that. Jeff Gorton and Kent Hughes have just found a group activity to do for the coming year, hehe. They’ll be able to follow their son’s performance together, which is cool.

Boston University continues to build its club to compete with Boston College, which will be able to count on Will Smith, Gabriel Perreault, Ryan Leonard, Cutter Gauthier and Jacob Fowler. They’ll have the luxury of being able to rely on some excellent NHL prospects…

And Boston College is already the favorite in its division, which is obvious with all the talent that will be in the lineup.

The rivalry between the two clubs from the same region promises to be particularly exciting.

Breaking news

– The Flyers have some good pieces.

– The photo is really cool.

– Nice move.

– Harry Kane will continue his career with Bayern Munich.

– Good news from Toronto.

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Dans les coulisses

Réjean Tremblay announces (already) his return to writing topical texts

Last night, big news broke in the world of media and journalism.

We learned, viaan article in La Presse written by Guillaume Lefrançois, that Réjean Tremblay is leaving the Journal de Montréal after 12 years of service.

Réjean Tremblay will celebrate his 79th birthday towards the end of August (on the 24th), but it’s not yet time to retire.

That’s hardly surprising, given his passion for the sport and his love of what he does. In the La Presse article, we read that he has “projects that will be confirmed” shortly… And let’s just say we didn’t have to wait long to discover one of them.

The journalist was on BPM Sports this morning to talk about his future. He told Max Lalonde that he’ll be taking on a brand-new challenge in the near future, to be announced by Alexandre Panneton (CEO of BPM Sports), Yves Bombardier (Director of Programming at BPM Sports) and Robert Ranger (President of RNC Média).

What’s it all about?

Basically, Réjean Tremblay will write five articles a week (at 6 a.m.) on the BPM Sports website. A brand-new written digital section will obviously be created on the sports radio station’s website, bringing competition to the (already) fierce media field.

We’re talking about texts of around 300 words based on sports news. Réjean Tremblay turned down an offer from the Journal de Montréal to write “one or two pages” in the Saturday edition.

Instead, he wanted the opportunity to be “in the thick of things”, and that’s exactly what he’ll get in his new role at BPM Sports. In the end, he got what he wanted.

Obviously, BPM Sports wants to try new things, and I can’t wait to see what happens. Will Réjean Tremblay be the only writer on the website? Will other station employees be called upon to write articles?

We’ll be keeping an eye on the situation over the coming weeks, because it’s going to be a big challenge.

In bursts

– If he’s happy with his decision, all the better.

– Oh, no.

– Love this.

– Absolutely.

– Cody Fajardo could be in uniform Saturday night.

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Dans les coulisses

At 13, he became a professional soccer player in California.

Da’vian Kimbrough. Does the name ring a bell?

We’re talking about a soccer player who has just signed a contract to play for Sacramento Republic FC, a second division (USL) club in North America.

So far, it’s nothing to write home about.

But what’s fascinating (to keep it polite) is that the young man is only 13 years old. And yet, under the terms of his new contract, he was allowed to line up for a pro club.

In the NHL, such a contract would have been illegal, since it takes 18 years to play in the league. But obviously, the United Soccer League doesn’t have the same restrictions. And I don’t understand why.

I understand that it’s not MLS and that it’s not the best league on the continent, but still: a 13-year-old kid has the right to play in the league under Messi.

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We’re talking about a men’s league. At 13, there’s no way this guy is developed enough to hold his own, in my eyes, in a league with pro players.

Kimbrough is 13 years old and 5’11. I don’t know him, but let me assume that his puberty process isn’t exactly over either – far from it.

If he were four or five inches taller, that would be a different story. But here?

I understand that the young man is a prolific goal scorer, but he’s played against guys a little older than him. This will be a completely different challenge, clearly.

There’s a saying in the sports world that a prospect can’t spend too much time in junior (or college or the minors, whatever), but graduating too quickly can hurt.

Let’s hope for the kid ‘s sake that’s not the case. That said, I wish him every success, since what he’s accomplished is extraordinary from his point of view, of course.

In Brief

– Cole Caufield celebrates his captain’s birthday.

– What a mismanaged club.

– News from the former CH.

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Dans les coulisses

To boo or not to boo Jeff Petry: that is the question

When Jeff Petry left Montreal, things weren’t exactly rosy. After all, after many happy years, the marriage between Jeff Petry and the Canadiens went sour.

Petry filed for divorce and the official divorce was finalized last year.

But now, this year, Petry and the Habs have to cohabit together again on a short-term basis because of… um… the kids who – okay, my marriage metaphor doesn’t hold water at this point.

All this to say that right now, Jeff Petry is probably waiting for a deal to get him out of Montreal again. The first time around, it took a few months before Kent Hughes came through.

Will that be the case again this year? I don’t think so.

But if it did, the Petry family would move to Montreal and Jeff Petry would once again have to don a Montreal Canadiens uniform for the rest of the season. Could it look something like this?

Matheson – Savard
Guhle – Petry
Xhekaj – Harris

Extra : Kovacevic
Laval : Barron
Ballottage : Wideman

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It may still be a little early to keep him in the Canadiens lineup. That said, as of today, he’s still here and he belongs on the 23-man roster.

He is, much to the chagrin of fans, since his comments about the “high expectations” of the Penguins, who missed the playoffs (in part) because of a loss to Chicago, are still stuck in the craw of many fans.

If Petry does return, he’ll owe fans an explanation, of course. That said, fans will have the right to accept or reject them. The customer is king, as they say.

And one wonders how the fans would receive him. Would he be booed, as they were when he returned to Montreal in 2022 as a Penguin? Possibly, yes.

After all, there’s a difference between booing an opponent and a player wearing the Flanelle colors.

Of course, this is hypothetical, since the chances of this scenario (playing with the CH) are very slim. However, the question may still arise.

In my opinion, he would be applauded by some people and booed by others. Some people would never applaud him, and others would never boo a home-team player.

It would be a mixed bag, in my view. And I don’t think the CH wants to go that far.

In gusts

– Is he still here?

– What will the Stars do?

– Is the patience of CH fans here to stay? [BPM Sports]

– Well said.

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Dans les coulisses

Jeff Petry transaction: radio silence from the Canadiens four days later

On Sunday, Kent Hughes completed a transaction to part with Mike Hoffman and Rem Pitlick. In return, the GM acquired a second-round pick in 2025, Nathan Légaré, Casey DeSmith and Jeff Petry.

It caused quite a stir in Montreal.

The more time goes by, the more we seem to understand that the Habs’ goal is not to have Petry play in Montreal. The goal is undoubtedly to retain as little salary as possible by trading him.

At least, that’s my theory.

But hey. Right now, everyone’s in wait-and-see mode to see what happens. After all, it’s rare to see so much radio silence after a deal like this.

But clearly, if there’s radio silence, it’s because talking isn’t happening.

Four days later, we’re still waiting to hear from three people: Kent Hughes, Jeff Petry and Casey DeSmith. All three men have yet to speak to the media.

Nathan Légaré has given one-on-one interviews… and the second pick in 2025 isn’t the most gossipy of the bunch.

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What is noticeable is that not only are there no updates via public comments, but even on social networks, for example, nothing is happening.

Julie Petry, who continues to post repeatedly on Instagram, has not updated her profile. No publication mentions the transaction taking her husband and family out of Pennsylvania.

(Credit: Instagram)

Remember that if the Habs don’t manage to trade Jeff Petry by the start of the season, the player and his family will report to Montreal. Probably not anyone’s #1 plan, but hey.

And as for DeSmith, who knows which goalie will be scooped up to avoid a ménage à trois…

In gossip

– For real?

– It’s the captain’s day.

– #TBT.

– News from good old Jordan Weal.

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Dans les coulisses

BPM Sports: Réjean Tremblay confirms that Jean-Charles Lajoie has been fired

Over the past few days, BPM Sports has announced the departure of Jean-Charles Lajoie. The host of the station’s morning show has officially left on a mutual decision basis, it was announced.

But in reality, as we mentioned in a text earlier this week, the decision was not as mutual as originally announced by the sports station.

And this, even Réjean Tremblay has confirmed.

The former Journal de Montréal columnist, whose departure from JdeM was announced yesterday to focus on other projects, spoke precisely about the subject with Jeff Fillion during a column on Radio Pirate.

– Have you spoken to Jean-Charles since his dismissal? – Jeff Fillion

– Yes (…) – Réjean Tremblay

During the column, Réjean Tremblay mentioned that it probably wasn’t a dismissal done in the wrong way, since during a dinner in a Montreal restaurant between Alexandre Panneton (the station’s DG) and himself, JiC arrived by chance.

It was the day after the station’s official announcement, and the two men chatted for about ten minutes.

In Réjean’s opinion, the whole thing was done in the right way, since the press release serves to protect Jean-Charles and the station. With the workload he had (he was on the air in the morning at BPM Sports and in the evening at TVA Sports), it was easily justifiable.

The columnist said he often spoke to JiC to tell him that, in the end, it was the situation that led to all this. If he’d only had the show on the radio, he’d have been in his chair by the time he got back, not early in the morning.

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During this lengthy column, which touched on a number of subjects (including the state of the media in 2023 at the very beginning), the subject of Michel Villeneuve also came up.

After all, he was the one who first publicly announced Jean-Charles Lajoie’s dismissal.

Réjean explained that the bickering between Jean-Charles Lajoie and Michel Villeneuve goes back to the episode when the latter broke the news that Michel Therrien had called Max Pacioretty “the worst captain in Habs history”.

That’s when things got out of hand between the two men.

And why? Because Michel Villeneuve pulled out all the stops and JiC didn’t protect him. According to Réjean Tremblay, JiC’s relationship with Michel Therrien obviously got the better of him, and that’s when things got out of hand.

It should also be noted that, at the time, 91.9 Sports was negotiating for the rights to the Montreal Canadiens.

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All this to say that the bickering between Villeneuve and Lajoie is, as you know, very intense. Le Dernier Vrai has taken to Twitter in a bid to hurt the TVA Sports host.

His friend Réjean Tremblay told him about it recently.

When he was picking on Jean-Charles, Réjean told him to stop once the news was official. Why would he do that? To stop hitting a guy who’s already on the ground.

Let’s just say it’s a story that’s still getting people talking.

In bursts

– Good thing he’s here.

– Nathan Légaré lives for field hockey. [BPM Sports]

– Well done.

– A beautiful player.

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Dans les coulisses

Jacob Fowler “has the makings of an NHL starting goalie,” says scout

When I look back at the Canadiens’ latest draft, I have to admit that my favorite pick of the lot is most likely Jacob Fowler in the early third round. The goalie had an exceptional season in the USHL and I really like what I see of the youngster in front of his net.

I’m not one of those people who thinks the CH should go after a top prospect in front of the net at all costs (at least, not right now), but Fowler is an interesting gamble.

With Fowler and the other goalies in the organization’s nursery, the club hopes to have its future starting goalie in that pool. However, in terms of potential and sheer talent, the young American has a head start on the others.

And according to one scout, Fowler really does seem to have the makings of a future NHL starting goaltender. At least, that’s what Steven Ellis reports in an article about the young goalie.

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We know that prospects aren’t an exact science, and this is even truer with goalies, but the scout in question believes that Fowler has the technique, size and “head on his shoulders” to take on a #1 goalie role in the NHL.

We’ll have to wait a little longer before he can continue his development in the NCAA (and possibly with the Laval Rocket) afterwards, but what’s encouraging is that he’s likely to get a ton of starts this year. He should be the starting goaltender on a solid Boston College roster (Cutter Gauthier, Will Smith and Ryan Leonard will all be on the team), and he’s likely to get a chance to play in the WJC.

Ellis even thinks he’s capable of battling with Trey Augustine for the starting role, but realistically, he’s more likely to be a starter at WJC 2025.

It’s still too early to say whether the Habs have a future starting goaltender in Jacob Fowler. However, the fact that he is already recognized throughout the NHL as a promising prospect in front of the net is truly encouraging.

And whether as a tandem goalie or a workhorse, I like the chances of seeing him in the blue-white-red uniform one day. It’ll take time, but I have a feeling it’ll happen.

In bursts

– I admire his loyalty.

– Logical.

– Big names in Toronto.

Here’s tomorrow’s schedule.

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