When the Canadiens play at home for a few weeks, the Bell Centre is loud.
Very loud.
Since the team’s playoff run in the summer of 2021, we hadn’t seen the fans be so excited about the team’s performance. And that’s normal… because the Canadiens had awful years after that.
But now, with the playoff fever well established in the city, things are different.
The Canadiens benefit from the crowd’s support every time they play a home game and it shows in the team’s results.
I’ll get back to that.
Seeing the Bell Centre being so electric lately, it leads Jason Demers (NHL Network) to think that nobody wants to face the Canadiens in the playoffs right now.
The former NHL defenseman never played against the Habs in the playoffs in Montreal, but he knows the atmosphere is incredible because he played games at the Bell Centre during his career:
«You do not want to play against the Habs in the playoffs with that Bell Centre rocking.» – @jasondemers5
In November, Gary Bettman was at the Bell Centre in Montreal for the start of the partnership between the NHL and Amazon in Canada.
On the occasion, Alain Crête interviewed the NHL commissioner on television (RDS) and it got people talking for a particular reason.
During the interview, Gary Bettman said he had never received a concrete offer from someone to bring a team back to Quebec. He stated that no one had come forward with a plan and done what was necessary to bring the NHL back there.
Former Quebec City mayor Régis Labeaume responded to these comments today during an appearance on FM-93.
And he did not hesitate to say… this:
Bettman, he’s “full of shit”. That’s not how it works with Gary Bettman. It’s settled over the phone and he sends you the contract when there’s an agreement. – Régis Labeaume
Of course, we know that Gary Bettman never really wanted to bring a team back to Quebec because of its market.
The commissioner and his assistant have their eyes on the big markets in the United States… because they are more profitable.
And that’s unlikely to change as long as he’s in office.
Overtime
– Oliver Kapanen will be patient.
Oliver Kapanen today on re-joining the Habs:
“They’re playing really well right now. Of course it’s a little bit different, they’ve been playing (here) & I’ve been in Europe. I think after couple of days, I can get into it & get with the group again.” pic.twitter.com/eMoIqEzaQt
The media landscape is undergoing a revolution. Traditional journalists who only reported on news – either by investigating or simply relaying it – are becoming less common.
Teams, athletes, leagues, and organizations are publishing a tremendous amount of content on their own, and the journalist has often become just an intermediate communication channel between them and the fans. Yes, journalism has been struggling for a few years… but sports journalism is struggling even more than political or current events journalism. We all agree on this.
The solution is to ask the government to subsidize journalism… but can we really demand that the government use our taxes to fund someone who takes a plane to summarize a televised game or to tell us who is training with whom on the morning of a game (when the club itself publishes this information)?
This is why we see more and more opinion in the media. We don’t release much news anymore; we comment on it, analyze it, and dissect it.
Result: there are now French-language hockey podcasts for all tastes in Quebec.
We conducted a survey of podcasts that deal with hockey and ranked them according to their success, both on YouTube and on online podcast platforms, as well as on various social media platforms (notably through their excerpts, discussions they generate, and articles they influence).
1. Processus
Processus is the most popular podcast on the Quebec web. Only Spittin’ Chiclets and 32 Thoughts are more listened to than Processus in Canada on Spotify.
Mathias Brunet and Simon « Snake » Boisvert have found a niche: analyzing prospects and commenting on the Canadiens’ rebuilding. During a rebuilding period, it’s a hit. Let’s see if it will be just as popular once this rebuilding phase is over…
2. Stanley25
Stanley25 reaches around 25,000 people per week, across all platforms. It is, week after week, the third most listened to Quebec hockey podcast on Spotify.
Jean Trudel and Maxime Truman have just completed their third season of 10 episodes. Sometimes alone, sometimes with a guest, their podcast remains one of the most watched in the Quebec sports world.
Stanley25 aims to be a mix of anecdotes, info, analysis, and rumors told by two pillars of the Quebec sports web. Note that the podcast is produced by 9millions (Serge Fortin).
3. La poche bleue
LPB was long the most popular podcast in Quebec, but it’s not anymore.
During the pandemic, when there was no original sports content, Maxim Lapierre and Guillaume Latendresse quickly rose to the top. Then, they sold their brand to an Ontario company, which was then sold to a European company. The guys cashed in a few million dollars at the right time.
The market adapted, and 1001 podcasts were launched, diminishing the impact of La Poche Bleue in the market.
The guys also raised lowered their arms a bit, after they escaped on the set of Sous écoute (Mike Ward). The flavor of the podcast changed, and Guillaume Latendresse withdrew to take care of his mental health. In short, LPB is still rolling, but it’s not like before.
4. On jase
Is On jase still a podcast? According to the definition, yes.
Martin Lemay and Yanick Lévesque attract a few thousand people daily at noon. The podcast is broadcast on RDS’s YouTube channel, on various audio streaming platforms… but also on RDS’s main channel.
Martin Lemay has managed to create something different from what he does on the airwaves in the late afternoon. Hats off!
5. Entre la poire et le fromage
Louis Morissette and Jean-Philippe Wauthier decided to launch a sports podcast, but the project wasn’t taking off.
That’s when they had the brilliant idea to invite hockey world participants, which created an interesting mix of sports and cultural universes.
It will be interesting to see if Wauthier’s break (professional exhaustion) will slow down the pace and success of the podcast.
6. Radar
Radar is a young podcast broadcast on Commission athlétique, the digital little brother of BPM Sports.
Hosted by Pierre LeBrun and Anthony Desaulniers, this podcast aims to be a mix of insides and analysis from a veteran of the game and a young prodigy who is quietly making a name for himself on BPM’s FM waves.
Between 2,000 and 7,000 people watch each episode of Radar on YouTube. It will be interesting to see if the podcast will continue to rise in the coming months or if it will remain a specialized podcast for true fanatics only.
7. Tellement hockey
Produced by Radio-Canada’s large machine and hosted by Martin Leclerc, Alexandre Coupal, Alexandre Gascon, and Marc-Antoine Godin, Tellement hockey reaches 7,000 to 8,000 people per episode on YouTube, but it’s not found on audio platforms like Spotify and Apple Podcast. You have to go to Radio-Canada’s site or app to find it.
Tellement hockey aims to be a traditional podcast above all, produced with a significant budget and pushed by Radio-Canada’s large machine.
Many find it to their liking and only swear by this podcast. Others see it as a too standardized product.
8. La Poche Bleue Blanc Rouge
For a third season, former Canadiens players host a digital post-game show of the Habs as soon as the final siren sounds.
Éric Bélanger, André Roy, and Steve Bégin average 3,000 people after each Habs game. Good job!
9. Hockey30
David Garel may be the most polarizing public figure among all the podcast hosts mentioned in this article, but he still hosts one of the most popular sports podcasts in Quebec in terms of YouTube views.
Between 3,000 and 14,000 people watch each of his episodes (in which he always receives a different guest) on YouTube.
However, the fact that the podcast is not available on online listening platforms, that some guests have no connection to hockey, and that sometimes several weeks pass between episodes, all worked against the podcast in our ranking.
10. Poolcast
Poolcast is a new podcast that combines hockey pools and sports discussions with a guest from the sports world.
Hosted by Pascal Cameron and Marco Normandin (HabsolumentFan), the podcast has the wind in its sails.
It remains to be seen how far this wind will take the young podcast…
11. Sortie de zone
Sortie de zone is a podcast produced jointly by La Presse and Cogeco Média. Jérémie Rainville, Stéphane Waite, Guillaume Lefrançois, Antoine Roussel, Simon-Olivier Lorange and/or Richard Labbé discuss weekly topics in the NHL.
Very popular on Spotify, Sortie de zone is however absent from YouTube and some other popular listening platforms. It is also broadcast on La Presse and some Cogeco media outlets.
12. La relève
Anthony Desaulniers and Martin Thériault have been hosting the La Relève podcast for some time now, a podcast that focuses on young players and NHL prospects.
Nota bene to Processus listeners: La Relève is worth checking out.
13. Femme d’Hockey
Isabelle Éthier has been working for years to promote women’s sports, but not just that. Through several episodes, she receives athletes or male hosts to discuss sports with them in a conversation that is unlike any of the previously mentioned podcasts.
Isabelle is often on the field, she is a co-owner of the Montreal Roses team, and she represents a less conventional way of doing/talking about/promoting sports.
14. Drette su’l tape
David Beaucage has already produced over 200 episodes. He was one of the first to host a sports podcast in French in Quebec.
He often records in front of an audience, but his most recent episodes are less popular than his first ones.
He remains relevant, and many of his guests have good stories to tell.
15. TSLH Podcast
Mathieu Paradis and Pascal Laplante have been talking about prospects and the Canadiens for years on the ToutSurLeHockey site. Their podcast, launched a few years ago, aims to be a quality complement to what they already do in writing on the site.
If you like Processus and/or La Relève, give the TSLH Podcast guys a chance.
Special mention: Les Sport’ischhh
Frank Grenier and Martin Vachon, two professional comedians, have already produced over 70 episodes (in studio) of their humorous and human podcast.
Each week, they receive a guest in front of an audience and discuss with him/her what sports represent in their life.
The product is unique and targets people who like sports, but not necessarily the Habs. That’s why we didn’t include it in our top 15 of French-Quebec sports podcasts about hockey.
Overtime
Some other podcasts didn’t make our top 15 for various reasons.
RDS, BPM Sports, and Cogeco now broadcast several of their shows in podcast form (Spotify, Apple Podcast, etc.). Since these products are not podcasts, but rather full-fledged shows, we decided to ignore them.
Bon match, a podcast hosted by Martin McGuire and Dany Dubé, is hard to find on traditional podcasting platforms. Also, some episodes are exclusive and last an hour, while others are just a few minutes long, excerpts from a chronicle they did on the air.
And their listening numbers are not enormous. We also decided to ignore it.
Smaller podcasts like La tasse de café LNH (hosted by Nicolas Ducharme, Jean-François Chaumont, and Guillaume Lepage, three NHL employees), À la coupe, Les Glorieux, and La Puck offer content on a regular basis. They would have made the cut if we had done a top 20.
We’ll keep an eye on the new French-language version of Tony Marinaro’s Sick Podcast, broadcast every Friday afternoon… and we salute the Le Vestiaire segment, broadcast weekly on Radio Pirate. They are two very good hockey segments that simply didn’t meet our evaluation criteria.
— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) April 3, 2025
The Caps have seven games left to play this season.
That being said, will the Russian be able to break the #99’s record by the end of the regular season?
Right now, that’s the question everyone is asking.
But just because the team’s captain is scoring goals doesn’t mean the Capitals are winning lately.
In fact, it seems like the team is starting to get distracted right now, as Renaud Lavoie mentioned this morning on BPM Sports…
The Capitals have not only lost four of their last five games, but they have also conceded a total of 26 goals during that period.
It seems like all the players are focused on the record, not the win… since the team had never lost four times in five games since the start of the season before it happened last night.
Yesterday, in Carolina, Ovi and his team were thrashed with a score of 5-1… and they also conceded eight goals to the poor Sabres last Sunday.
(Credit: ESPN)
If the Capitals start getting distracted… that’s good news for the Montreal Canadiens.
After all, if the Habs get their ticket to the spring dance, the chances of facing Pierre-Luc Dubois, Alex Ovechkin, and the Capitals in the first round are huge given the current state of the standings in the East.
But before thinking about the Capitals, the Habs will have to overcome a significant challenge tonight: beating the Bruins.
The Boston team is not having a great season, and it’s been going particularly badly since the trade deadline.
The Bruins have traded important players, and that’s put them at the bottom of the standings in the East.
I know, I know. Bruins and last place in the East, it sounds weird…But in the end, we know that tonight’s game is likely to be emotional due to the rivalry between the two teams.
The Canadiens need to win because the Rangers and Blue Jackets are starting to breathe down the Habs’ necks.
At this level, note that the Blue Shirts are off tonight, but the Blue Jackets will host the Avalanche at home.
A Habs win combined with a Jackets loss would be interesting…
Habs assistant coach Stéphane Robidas on the season so far:
“It’s exciting. When you start the year, you wanna be fighting for a playoff spot & we’re here. We’re exactly where we wanted to be. I think the players have done an exceptional job all season. The fans are behind us.… pic.twitter.com/MsMTY48rtL
Throughout the season, Martin St-Louis has done everything to leave Michael Pezzetta on the sidelines. The majority of his 19 games have been played because the Habs didn’t have much of a choice.
He hasn’t obtained a single point this season, by the way.
But for a few games now, the coach has had options. He could put Joshua Roy in the lineup. He could play with 11 forwards and put Arber Xhekaj on the ice.
And tonight, it won’t change: WiFi and Roy won’t play.
Note that Oliver Kapanen won’t play either. Maybe the coach doesn’t want to change his winning formula, but maybe they also want to give the European player time to get used to the time difference.
Tonight’s lineup: Samuel Montembeault will be in goal Arber Xhekaj and Joshua Roy won’t play either pic.twitter.com/vXlgyqsdaB
All this to say that Martin St-Louis explained in a press conference why Pezzetta was playing over Roy these days.
In short, he says it’s because of the energy Pezzetta brings to the ice (during his five minutes of play…) when he’s in the lineup, which is to the detriment of Joshua Roy.
Martin St. Louis says he likes the energy Michael Pezzetta brings to #Habs, which is big reason why he’s in lineup instead of Joshua Roy.
Pezzetta brings more energy, but he doesn’t change much when he’s dressed.
Clearly, Joshua Roy must understand the message from Martin St-Louis (and the management?) on this one. He has things to correct and possibly sooner rather than later, he will correct them in Laval.
And what about Arber Xhekaj? It seems to me that he brings energy to the ice, doesn’t he? Should he also understand certain things from the Habs in this story? Possibly, yes.
Pezzetta will surely be gone next year. Xhekaj and Roy must be wondering about their situations.
When Anthony Duclair, this eternal traveler in the NHL, agreed to a four-year deal (3.5 million per year) with the Islanders, we thought it was a long time for a guy who has trouble staying with the same team.
Obviously, Patrick Roy knew him from their years with the Remparts, but still.
Earlier this week, in year #1 of the contract, Patrick Roy publicly expressed his thoughts about the Québécois. He told the media that Duclair had been bad after their game of the day and that he had been lucky to be in the lineup.
We wondered how the player would react to all this. After all, in 2025, it’s not exactly everyone who wants to take such comments – especially when they are in front of the media.
And here’s our answer.
Patrick Roy said that Duclair and he had a positive meeting afterwards to explain themselves. But even if it was described as positive, Duclair still asked for a break.
Let’s recall that the Islanders are in a playoff race.
The Islanders have therefore decided to give him the time he needs to think. We don’t know how long he will be absent from the team.
Did the player overreact? Did Patrick Roy do wrong by bringing out methods that are no longer really used in 2025? Everyone has their opinion on the matter.
But here’s a distraction that the Islanders didn’t need.
Overtime
– News from the habs.
Lineup tonight: Samuel Montembeault will be in goal Arber Xhekaj and Joshua Roy will not play either pic.twitter.com/vXlgyqsdaB
Niko Mikkola gets fined $5,000 for shooting the puck during play. Jalen Chatfield gets nothing for an MMA takedown that could have turned out very badly. I agree with the New York Rangers. George ‘The Violent Gentleman’ Parros is unfit to perform his duties and should be fired.
Last year, the Blues handcuffed the Edmonton Oilers by signing Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg. The two were restricted free agents and they chose to sign in St. Louis.
This put the Oilers in trouble.
After a week of thinking, the Oilers had no choice but to let them go and accept, in return, the draft picks provided for in the form of a compensatory offer.
It had been several years since an offer sheet had not been submitted. We had to go back to Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Sebastian Aho (we remember all that) to see an offer sheet being submitted.
It doesn’t happen every year, so.
But according to what Michael Russo and Chris Johnston (The Athletic) report, we shouldn’t really be surprised if this summer, one or more offer sheets are at play in the National League.
In fact, some people think that the “summer of offer sheets” is coming.
‘The summer of offer sheets’: NHL execs and agents on why a boom could be coming this offseason
Because the crop of unrestricted free agents is not excellent and because the increase in the cap will give more room to have fun, it could happen.
Allan Walsh, the players’ agent, has talked to many people in the industry and he believes that several teams will consider it. A GM even told him this:
My goal this summer is to make an offer sheet.
We can think that teams will have more room to match the offers with the cap rising, but on July 1st, several teams will take their money to spend more.
There will still be teams that are financially strapped. It will always be the case.
Because offer sheets, if they are made according to the rules of the art, are better viewed than before, we shouldn’t really be surprised if there is a significant increase this summer in attempts.
And it has the potential to spice up the summer, that. Will the Habs be involved?
1 – Los Angeles Dodgers (1)
2 – Philadelphia Phillies (3)
3 – New York Yankees (5)
4 – San Diego Padres (12)
5 – Texas Rangers (9)
(…) https://t.co/bvZlXerSNW
He could play 18 minutes on a first line and get two points… but still be the 13th forward in the next game. Roman Rotenberg did not make friends in Quebec in recent months, let’s say.
Even if Ivan Demidov is the best player of SKA, he never knew what to expect.
We know (we doubt, at least) that all this is related to his contract. He is at the end of his agreement in Russia and every time he played little, we must think it was a negotiating technique.
The KHL is special for that.
And we will also repeat what we have often said in recent months: even if his club is one game away from being eliminated in the playoffs, we should not expect to see him come finish the season in the NHL for that.
We have often said it and Kevin Dubé (JdeQ) wrote a paper in which he confirmed that this scenario is “unlikely” at the moment.
Because his contract ends on May 31 and KHL clubs rarely let their players go before free agency, Demidov should not finish the year in Montreal.
Why? Because his club will not let him go, but also because he can go play somewhere else than in the KHL to finish the season. SKA has options not to send him to Montreal.
In Demidov’s case, what plays against him is that he is still eligible for the MHL. This complicates his file.
What needs to be mentioned is that at the moment, without an agreement for transfers between the KHL and the NHL, it’s chaos. And that’s what an agent with hands in the deal is saying.
So if SKA does not want to negotiate and can send Demidov to the junior instead, it explains everything. And we can say that we should never bet against Kent Hughes, but…
It would have been pleasant for the habs fans to see Demidov take the last remaining place in the club’s offensive lineup, but it won’t happen. It will have to wait until next year.
Even if it would have been fun…
in Overtime
– Note.
Despite the Rangers’ victory yesterday, the #CH remains in a position to make the playoffs given their game in hand.
They face the Bruins tonight, then the Flyers and the Preds. Three VERY winnable games. Even if I have the impression that the Canadiens are often solid against…
— Marc-Olivier Beaudoin (@MOBeaudoin1) April 3, 2025
David Reinbacher returned to the game a month and a half ago, on February 19. It was earlier than expected.
Since then, we’ve seen a defenseman who seemed really good on the ice, but we’ve also seen a defenseman who needed days off here and there.
Seeing him miss a game every now and then – especially in back-to-back games – wasn’t worrisome. But seeing him miss 12 days, between March 7 and March 19, was.
And since? He played on March 19 and March 21, but nothing since. And since he’s not on the road with the others right now, his next game will go, at best, to next week.
Naturally, this raises questions. Did he come back too soon? Is this normal? Does he just need a little time? Is the habs worried?
Reinbacher is “lucky” in a way since the media attention is not really on him right now. His situation can therefore go under the radar a bit, when you think about it.
Why do I say that?
Because the habs’ playoff run is making headlines and because Jacob Fowler’s situation is also in the news. So is Ivan Demidov’s playing time or Oliver Kapanen’s case.
But let’s say it would be reassuring for many people to see Reinbacher back in action next week.
Overtime
– Speaking of the Rocket.
The Rocket sweeps the Manitoba Moose 3-1 tonight with a 3-goal push in the 3rd period. Pascal Vincent’s team played a more solid game than yesterday despite several important absentees on the blue line and the tryout of 2 forwards.
Luc Tardif, president of @IIHFHockey, tells @salutbonjour that the agreement ensuring the presence of NHL players at the 2026 Milan/Cortina Olympics should be signed “within a month and a half.”
Samuel Montembeault will be in goal
Arber Xhekaj and Joshua Roy won’t play either 
