I watched the segment last night and honestly, I didn’t find it that funny.
What am I talking about?
At the end of a lively debate between Tony Marinaro and Jean-Charles Lajoie (JiC / TVA Sports), Tony wrapped up the segment sarcastically with a “what a great show tonight, this is real TV. Take notes, take notes,” perhaps thinking he had won the debate against Jean-Charles, who was rambling in an attempt to save face.
I wrote “wrapped up”, but that’s not quite what happened. There were still six seconds left before the break, and Jean-Charles added, as the theme was brought up:
“Don’t ever come close to me like that, your personal hygiene is questionable.” – Jean-Charles Lajoie.
What was the connection, you may ask? I don’t know. Especially since Félix Séguin continued the joke after the break, wiping Tony’s damp seat while the latter was no longer on set.
But hey…
Knowing Tony Marinaro, I was sure he would prepare something special for his segment today, especially since he didn’t get a chance to respond last night.
And that’s exactly what he did.
At the beginning of his segment today on TVA Sports, Tony asked JiC if he knew who had asked for him in Quebec while he was there to meet Ronaldinho.
When Martin St-Louis arrived in Montreal as a coach, it garnered quite a reaction. After all, the team was bringing in a guy who, despite a great playing career, had no significant experience as a coach.
Coaching his kids in minor hockey is one thing. Coaching an NHL team is another.
That said, Kent Hughes (who had just taken the job) believed in his man, and a few years later, it must be admitted that he was right.
However, at the time of the hiring, he was aware that fans would have a strong reaction…
And as he confided to Mathias Brunet and Simon Boisvert during an interview with Processus (which Brunet teased in La Presse), that’s when the idea of naming him on an interim basis came to him.
In fact, at the time St-Louis was appointed, Hughes knew he was his man. However, he also knew that fans were likely to become restless… and as a young executive, he didn’t want to alienate the Montreal market right from the start.
By naming him as interim coach, though, it (somewhat) calmed the fans… even though Hughes knew from the beginning that he intended to prolong the experience.
Over the past few years, there have been moments when we sensed some discontent from fans regarding the coach, but overall, he is appreciated because he does a good job… and that’s why the GM does not regret his move:
It’s probably the decision I’m most proud of. – Kent Hughes
We’ll see if all this continues for the best in the best of worlds in the coming years, but in retrospect, the decision seems to have paid off at the time.
And this, even though the GM felt compelled to keep his cards close to his chest when hiring his coach.
In brief
– Patrik Laine passing to Christian Dvorak on a 2-on-1. Really?
This evening, Marc-André Fleury is making his final appearance at the Bell Centre in his career. The goaltender, who will retire at the end of the season, asked the Wild to play tonight’s game.
It’s understandable that for him, playing one last time in Montreal was important.
Of course, we know that the goaltender is loved in Montreal, and we expected to see the fans give him a dose of love…
And that’s what happened during the national anthem.
At the end of the Canadian anthem, Fleury was shown on the big screen… and the fans started to applaud and chant Fleury’s name. A beautiful moment.
It should be noted that the Canadiens did not necessarily prepare a small tribute video to be aired during the national anthem (as they had done for Patrick Roy, for example). That said, the cameras featured him on the big screen… and the fans understood the message.
Fleury did not react at the moment, but we can imagine it touched him.
In an interview with Renaud Lavoie before the game, Fleury’s agent, Allan Walsh, confirmed that no less than 100 people in the goaltender’s entourage are present at the Bell Centre tonight. I imagine those people must have been touched as well.
We expected to see Fleury honored during his last game at the Bell Centre… and the fans settled that before the game started.
Now we just have to see how the goaltender performs tonight.
Overtime
It is quite rare to see an opposing player honored in such a way at the Bell Centre. Usually, when a player from another team elicits a reaction from the crowd, it’s often boos…
But it clearly shows how much Montreal loves Fleury.
The big question now is how the Canadiens will replace their young general. It’s a heavy loss on the blue line, after all, and the guys are going to have to step it up.
In fact, we know that Jayden Struble has been called up immediately. That said, as reported by Dave Lévesque (Journal de Montréal), the main party involved is not particularly happy to be returning under these circumstances:
It’s more bitter than sweet because I would have come back anyway next week, I would have preferred to wait in Laval. – Jayden Struble
Basically, it’s worth noting that Struble, who was in the midst of a conditioning stint in Laval, was going to return to the big club regardless. And even though his call-up was expedited, it doesn’t make him exactly happy.
He would have preferred to return in a context where Guhle is still healthy, clearly.
That said, with #21 possibly missing the rest of the season, the question is whether this changes the Canadiens’ plans leading up to the trade deadline…
In short, the informant claims that the injury doesn’t drastically change the club’s plans: Kent Hughes is not ready to pay the big price for a rental player. That said…
LeBrun notes that the CH might still try to replace Guhle, but by acquiring a player who could have an impact beyond this current season. A bit like the Alexandre Carrier trade, essentially.
INSIDER TRADING…
– 25-26 cap projection likely TBA at 4 Nations
– #CBJ a team to watch re: Pettersson
– Doughty returns; Team Canada closely monitoring
– Guhle injury doesn’t change Habs’ deadline plan
– Free agent Saad set to draw interest
The informant notes that the CH was already interested in completing a transaction of this kind before Guhle’s injury, and one can wonder if the club will be more inclined to pursue it as the trade deadline approaches.
Especially if the club is still in the mix in a few weeks…
In the immediate future, therefore, don’t expect to see the Canadiens going after a defenseman on an expiring contract to try to mitigate the impact of Guhle’s loss.
That said, if the opportunity arises to acquire another defenseman who, like Carrier, could contribute in the long term, that’s a different story.
In brief
– The last time the CH beat the Wild, Nick Suzuki scored his first career goal in the NHL.
The last time the Habs beat the Minnesota Wild was on Oct. 17, 2019.
Obviously, it is known that Zdeno Chara is a well-liked guy over there.
He was the captain of the Bruins for almost 15 years (from 2006 to 2020), won a Stanley Cup with the Boston team, and he also ranks third among the organization’s top scorers among defensemen.
Chara really had great moments with the Bruins, to put it another way.
In all of this, one has to wonder if Chara plans to take on even more at some point.
Does he want to aspire to become a member of management and have control over team decisions?
Does he want to observe management to later take on a more significant role within the organization, a bit like Mathieu Darche does in Tampa Bay?
That remains to be seen.
However, seeing a legend of the organization interested in returning to the hockey world to offer his services is intriguing.
He will have the chance to help the younger players, and the kids will listen to him because Chara has practically achieved everything during his hockey career. He is bound to be a good role model for the young players, and it’s important to have someone in the organization who fulfills that role.
Francis Bouillon is good at what he does with the Canadiens, and Chara’s role will resemble his, at least for the time being.
The addition of Chara to the Bruins is a good one, in my eyes.
In brief
– News about CF Montreal:
A hint about Herbers’ (defensive) role with the #CFMTL?
On one half of the field, the offensive players are practicing finishing: Clark, Duke, Owen-Roache, N’Diaye, Prince, Biello, Opoku, Sunusi, Vilsaint, and Saputo.
Why? Because he is one of the good fighters in the NHL and because he knows his role on the ice.
He provides proud service to the Blue Jackets organization, and he has been talked about in Montreal because this summer, Olivier will be free as a bird.
But as time goes on, we realize that the chances of seeing him in Montreal next season are slim.
He does things the right way on the ice, is always there to protect his teammates when needed, and can be used on the penalty kill because he is reliable in his zone… And on top of that, we see him scoring goals this season.
He already has 10 goals and also has eight assists to his name.
18 points in 50 games for a fighter like him… It’s fair to say it’s hard to ask for more!
Let’s remember that if Olivier doesn’t come to an agreement with the Blue Jackets by July 1st, he will be able to test the free agent market.
There will be a multitude of teams interested in his services if he ends up there… But with what we’ve been hearing lately, it’s hard to believe he will leave.
Unless Don Waddell receives an offer he simply cannot refuse by the deadline?
In Brief
– I love it.
“This is Carolina… this is New York. There’s like 0 chance we’re gonna run into each other at the grocery store bro”
A little feint to the left, another to the right… And the goalie couldn’t understand what was happening in front of him.
Demidov managed to beat him while he was on the ground: the HK Spartak Moscow’s keeper had no chance on that sequence.
Well done!
In the game, Demidov was able to make an impact as he had respectable ice time.
In the end, it looks like this:
5:30 (nine shifts) in the first period
5:22 (seven shifts) in the second period
4:31 (eight shifts) in the third period
2:23 (three shifts) in overtime
In total, Demidov spent 17 minutes and 45 seconds on the ice. Not too shabby.
That said, the Canadiens’ prospect was the second most used player by Roman Rotenberg in overtime: the SKA head coach understood he must utilize his best players to win, and it was about time that sunk in.
For the first time in a while, Ivan Demidov was blanked on the scoresheet… But he still found a way to contribute to his team’s victory. Good news!
Marc-André Fleury is a guy from Sorel-Tracy, and this morning, the mayor of Sorel-Tracy stopped by on BPM Sports to talk about the main interested party.
Patrick Péloquin revealed that tonight’s game will be shown in all the bars in the city… Because in Sorel-Tracy, everyone is proud of the goaltender.
It goes without saying.
But Patrick Péloquin also stated that in Sorel-Tracy, they are thinking of a way to honor Fleury to match the career he has had.
Max Lalonde asked him if the Colisée Cardin could be renamed in the goaltender’s honor, but Patrick Péloquin said he had other projects in mind for Fleury.
I think a tribute for Marc-André should be something for Marc-André. – Patrick Péloquin
Patrick Péloquin continued by saying that the city of Sorel-Tracy is exploring different scenarios to have a private arena in the region, and that Fleury is interested in getting involved in the project.
This is where it gets really interesting:
It could be a legacy or a heritage that we can work with Marc-André […] It will have its own flavor and color in it. – Patrick Péloquin
With his last statement, one can really think that the plan is to name the arena after Fleury, and that would be a really nice thought.
After all, Marc-André Fleury fully deserves to be honored in a beautiful way because he has not only had a great career in the NHL: he has always found a way to stay involved in his community throughout his career, and now is the right time to give back to him.
In Brief
– No surprises here.
Auston Matthews has been named captain of Team USA for next month’s 4 Nations Face-Off.
Matthew Tkachuk and Charlie McAvoy are the alternate captains.
.@eottm_boxing lost the bidding for a potential fight between Christian Mbilli and Kevin Sadjo for the IBF super middleweight mandatory contender status with the goal of staging the fight in Quebec in April. The fight is likely to take place in Paris.
In December, when Samuel Montembeault was named to the Canadian team for the Four Nations Clash, he rewarded the Canadian leaders by having a big month.
When we break down his performances month by month, we can easily see that in December, everything was going well for him.
His average of 2.53 and save percentage of .909 were good (it’s his only month of the season with an average below 2.82 and his only month with a rate over .900) and he was playing a lot, as we remember. Cayden Primeau was not an option.
(Credit: ESPN)
But in January, it’s not the same story.
In January, Montembeault didn’t have the same numbers. Instead of eight wins, he has three. And above all, his average (3.40) and save percentage (.889) are not up to par. He’s not terrible, but he’s not like he was in December.
(Credit: ESPN)
Obviously, to put things in perspective, we need to compare his stats to three other goalies.
The first is Adin Hill, one of his opponents at the Four Nations Clash. Hill doesn’t have exactly a perfect save percentage (.898) in 2025, but he has a much better average: 2.64.
(Credit: ESPN)
Jordan Binnington, what about him?
The other goalie for Team Canada has three wins in January like the other two netminders… and he has a save percentage of .898. But like Hill, his average for the month is not in the 3.00 range: it’s 2.86.
(Credit: ESPN)
If we think that Team Canada might lean towards the hottest goalie at the moment, we can’t say that Monty is helping himself 100%, but his opponents aren’t perfect either. Fortunately for them, Jakub Dobes will not play for Team Canada…
In January, Dobes has an average of 2.30 and a save percentage of .917, making him a more effective goalie than the three on Canada. And he has four wins in January.
Hard to say. But what we know is that the Quebecer will need to give a little more for the CH, which must live without Kaiden Guhle for the foreseeable future, to stay in the playoff race.
A few days ago, the Canadiens made the decision to recall Rafaël Harvey-Pinard. But since then, he had not yet had the chance to play a game at the top level.
But that is about to change tonight.
The Quebec native will be able to play in the NHL for the first time this season. This is what we understand after listening to Cole Caufield talk about how RHP will bring energy tonight. Martin St-Louis also confirmed this afterward, and Michael Pezzetta will therefore take his turn off.
Cole Caufield expects Rafael Harvey-Pinard to bring energy to Habs lineup today. So, it appears RHP is playing.
Between his major injury suffered this summer and his reassignment to Laval, the Quebecer had not had the chance to play with the Canadiens this season. He must not miss his chance upon his return to the lineup.
Of course, at this point, no one expects to see the QMJHL product tear it up like when he played with Nick Suzuki on the first line. But he must, as Cole Caufield said, bring energy.
He needs to be responsible on the ice and help his team. And concretely, he must be better than Michael Pezzetta, the easiest guy to take out of the lineup if everyone is healthy.
Let’s not forget that defensively, there will also be changes. In goal, Jakub Dobes will face the Wild – and Marc-André Fleury, of course.
And on the blue line, Kaiden Guhle will come out of the lineup for obvious reasons. Jayden Struble is currently the sixth defenseman in town for the Canadiens.
#Habs Cole Caufield says he’s spoken to Kaiden Guhle and Guhle is in good spirits all things considered.
Caufield told Guhle they’re all here to support him throughout his recovery with whatever he needs.
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#laraquegonzalez #Olivier #hockeyhttps://t.co/S5iePYcb5s pic.twitter.com/9Sx090bxq8
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for next month’s 4 Nations Face-Off.
Coach Knoblauch confirmed that John Klingberg will make his #Oilers debut tonight vs. Detroit. #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/Lotpd5YJ02
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