The Flyers have lost nine of their last 10 games and are really out of the playoff race. It was logical to believe that Tortorella was going to leave the Flyers organization.
And now Elliotte Friedman has confirmed that Tortorella has left, just a few hours before the game against the habs. Matvei Michkov must be happy, when you think about it.
The Philadelphia Flyers are making a coaching change. Hearing that John Tortorella has stepped down.
Last night, the Bruins were beaten by the Anaheim Ducks, 6-2.
As you could see in the standings, Boston is not officially eliminated, but it doesn’t bode well for the rest of the season.
The team is six points away from the playoffs, but with three more games played than the Habs and the 8th place team in the East. The two teams will face each other next Thursday, by the way.
But regarding the game against the Ducks, nothing was going well for the visitors. In the same sequence, they took two penalties and gave up a goal.
The Bruins take a double-minor for high sticking AND give up a goal simultaneously
Last March 6, the Maple Leafs put Ryan Reaves on waivers. The heavyweight, who has clearly slowed down on the ice, had to be sent to the farm team in order to free up some money on the payroll.
The Leafs, being stuck at the salary cap, didn’t really have a choice but to cut somewhere… and Reaves, the team’s 13th forward, was the (very) logical target.
Reaves wasn’t claimed on waivers… but he didn’t immediately report to the Marlies. However, in the last few days, that changed: he started practicing with the team.
And that’s getting people talking in the lead-up to the Marlies’ next game, which will take place on Friday night… against the Laval Rocket at Place Bell.
Reaves hasn’t played a single game in the AHL since 2011. However, that could visibly change in the next few days… and against the Habs’ farm team, which is ranked first in the AHL, that would be something.
Imagine how electric Place Bell would be if Florian Xhekaj dropped the gloves against Reaves. That would be something.
We can think that we’ll have a better idea of Reaves’ chances of playing on Friday night in the next day. It’s possible that Reaves started practicing again because the Maple Leafs want him to be ready for a potential call-up in the playoffs… but maybe the coach is opening the door for Reaves to play for his team because that chance really exists.
And we can think that the idea of sending Reaves to disrupt the farm team of a rival doesn’t hurt the Maple Leafs, that’s for sure.
Overtime
– The Canucks won against the Islanders in regulation time, to the great delight of the Habs.
A regulation loss for the Islanders to the Canucks keeps the Canadiens in the second wild-card with a game in hand on them and two on the Rangers, with both teams one point behind.
Usually, at the NHL draft, all teams are on the floor. In the first round, teams go to the podium to announce their pick and welcome their new prospect, and it makes for great moments.
And mostly, it makes it different from other leagues, where the drafted player shakes the commissioner’s hand under his new colors without the team’s representatives being there.
However, this year, it will be different: the managers of each team will be gathered in their own market, and they will not be in Los Angeles. This is the concept of a “decentralized” draft.
On the other hand, even if Kent Hughes and the habs will be in Montreal that evening, we will see the GM shake the hand of the prospect he will draft, who will be in Los Angeles.
He talked about it during the baladodiffusion Radar (Commission Athlétique), whose excerpt is placed here:
In short, according to LeBrun, the prospects will be brought into a separate room, and that’s when they will be able to shake the hand (virtually) of the managers of the team that just drafted them.
The league is still working on it, but it’s in the plans.
In fact, it’s a way to try to recreate the magic of the moment… but we can really wonder if it will really work. Knowing that all of this will be done virtually, it kind of breaks the magic, we agree.
And necessarily, if the league thinks of doing this, it’s possibly because we realize across the league that the idea of a decentralized draft may not be optimal. It had gotten a lot of support at first (26 teams were in favor) in order to save money… but according to LeBrun, teams are starting to realize that they won’t really save money.
The idea of “recentralizing” the draft will be evaluated after the amateur auction… and I have the impression that we will go back to the classic format in 2026. Unless the result in 2025 makes the teams really happy, obviously.
But despite everything, even if Kent Hughes and the player he will select will be separated by three time zones, we will see the GM shake the hand of the player he will select that evening.
Obviously, it won’t happen if the GM trades his two first-round picks before the draft… but as of today, we risk seeing him give (at least) a virtual handshake on June 27th.
Overtime
– Jayden Struble is giving it his all. And no, he shouldn’t be the one who takes the hit when Kaiden Guhle returns.
Jayden Struble on his recent play with the habs:
“I’ve been playing my heart out every game, playing as hard as I can.”
Since the 4 Nations break, the first trio has been doing well.
Nick Suzuki (21 points), Cole Caufield (13 points), and Juraj Slafkovsky (13 points) are helping the Habs offensively.
There’s also Lane Hutson (13 points) and Patrik Laine (12 points) who deserve attention. But for the bottom of the lineup – especially the 4th line -, it’s more difficult…
The third unit has been excellent in the last few games and is doing its job to perfection.
Christian Dvorak is on fire, Josh Anderson continues to play despite the pain, and Brendan Gallagher is finding ways to score goals.
But as for Emil Heineman, Jake Evans, and Joel Armia… we need to see more.
The 4th line is no longer able to contribute offensively and it’s happening at the worst time of the year.
Jake Evans has one goal (empty net) and three assists in 14 games.
Armia has only one point (one goal) since the break… and Heineman hasn’t scored since January 3.
These three need to find a way to help offensively:
(Credit: NHL.com)
The Habs’ 4th line since the 4 Nations break:
– Jake Evans: 1G & 3A for 4P in 14GP
– Joel Armia: 1G & 0A for 1P in 13GP
– Emil Heineman: 0G & 1A for 1P in 14GP pic.twitter.com/i6lIdPZM6F
Armia is currently nursing a hand injury and Heineman missed some time after being hit by a car.
It really seems like Armia is not at 100% right now… and we have to wonder if it’s the same for Heineman.
But the 4th line was really excellent during the holiday season and that’s why the Habs were able to get big wins against teams like the Panthers, the Lightning, the Golden Knights, the Avalanche, and the Capitals.
When the last unit is in shape… we see that it can give really interesting results.
That being said, the guys need to be able to find that rhythm again before the end of the schedule.
The Habs need the production of all their lines right now and even if the 4th unit can play against the best opposing lines, they also need to be able to contribute offensively.
That’s what makes good teams successful, after all.
It would be a great time for the 4th line to step up… because the Habs need to collect as many points as possible right now with the playoff race being so tight in the East.
– He’s good, the young guy. And it’s going to cost a lot.
Lane Hutson’s agent is going to show up with a large binder full of graphics & stats posted by Habs fans during his contract negotiations with Kent Hughes https://t.co/WhAaejLpkQ
Roman Rotenberg became the head coach of SKA during the 2021-2022 season.
He has never been able to bring the team all the way, however.
And there, in the context where expectations are enormous in Saint-Petersburg and the results have been disappointing for a few years now… Rotenberg is probably starting to feel the heat.
According to the Sport-Express media in Russia, the SKA coach should lose his job if his club is eliminated quickly from the next playoffs.
I don’t know if he’s tired of coaching the SKA of Saint-Petersburg, but it seems like Roman Rotenberg is deliberately making bad decisions.
He decided to leave Demidov out last week and his club couldn’t even score more than two goals.
We could have thought that he learned from his mistakes… but that’s clearly not the case.
That being said, I really wonder what Demidov’s role will be in the second playoff game if the club doesn’t win tomorrow.
In fact, it would be logical to think that Rotenberg will come to his senses and trust the one who finished the season as the SKA’s top scorer… But at the same time, we know that things are a bit messy in Russia.
But in reality, Rotenberg only has one thing to do to keep his job.
He must play his best players to have the most chances of winning… because it’s not by being on the bench that Demidov – one of the most productive guys in the KHL, playing much less than the others – will be able to help.
I’m looking forward to seeing what happens, at least.
Overtime
– To know everything that’s going on at the CF Montréal practice since Marco Donadel’s hiring:
From October 9 to December 2, the Canadiens had a powerplay efficiency of 20.8%.
This ranked them 15th in the NHL.
But from December 3 (the forward’s return to play) to March 26 (today), the Canadiens have a powerplay efficiency of 21.5%.
There may be an improvement of 0.7% in the figure… but still: the Canadiens have gone from 15th to 19th in the NHL in this regard.
For a guy who was supposed to come and change the game…
(Credit: NHL.com)
Because the guys are always looking for the perfect game and because we often try to use the shot of #92, the Canadiens’ powerplay becomes more predictable.
But recently, we see some changes with Nick Suzuki installed at the top of the umbrella.
And that means Lane Hutson is often at the bottom of the offensive zone, which is not necessarily ideal for him.
He doesn’t shoot at the net, after all. And the passing corridors are less open if he’s installed there in the opponent’s zone.
It’s not really working, though, since the Habs have the 21st best powerplay in the NHL (20.6% efficiency rate) since the start of March…
I’m so looking forward to seeing what Demidov will bring to the table in this regard:
Imagine Ivan Demidov on the Habs powerplay next season
And basically, it’s important to note that Kaiden Guhle practiced with his teammates.
He practiced as an extra, just like Michael Pezzetta. According to what Renaud Lavoie reports, there were no changes to the offensive lines and defensive pairs.
No changes in the lines and pairs for the @CanadiensMTL as Kaiden Guhle and Micheal Pezzetta are the extras. @TVASports
Samuel Montembeault really looks tired and it might be normal to want to give him a night off.
#Habs Martin St-Louis is not tipping his hand on who will get the start tomorrow in Philly but did say Jakub Dobeš will play in one of the next two games.
Martin St-Louis did not want to confirm the identity of his starting goalie, but he said that Dobeš will play at least one of the next two games for the Canadiens.
A chance… because the Habs play tomorrow in Philly and Friday in Carolina.
On that note, it might be logical to see Dobeš get the start tomorrow. The Flyers are not in a superb position in the standings and we know that the Hurricanes have a really interesting force.
Unless we want to send Monty into the fray tomorrow to give ourselves even more chances to get important points in the standings against a team that’s been doing poorly lately?
1. Leon Draisaitl, 49
2. William Nylander, 40
3. Kyle Connor, 37
4. Alex Ovechkin, 36
5. Brayden Point, 35
5. Sam Reinhart, 35
5. Mark Scheifele, 35
5. Tage Thompson, 35
9. Jake Guentzel, 34
9. David Pastrnak, 34
John Tortorella is a character among characters. And here’s the Flyers’ coach, who are at the bottom of the standings (one point ahead of the Sabres), saying something that reflects all his frustration.
He said he’s not interested in learning how to coach the kind of season the Flyers are having. Strange for a guy who’s been in Columbus for a long time, but anyway…
Tortorella: «This falls on me. I’m not really interested in learning how to coach in this type of season, where we’re at right now. But I have to do a better job. So this falls on me, getting the team prepared to play the proper way until we get to the end.»
He says it’s still his responsibility to make the team better and prepare his players so they can have decent games by the end of the season.
The impression I get is that saying he’s “not interested” is a figurative way of expressing his frustration.
After all, we can guess that Philly is his last stop in the NHL and we can guess he expected more after a season where the Flyers were in the playoff race, which adds to the frustration.
We can never blame him for not being diplomatic.
But that’s not the only thing the coach of the Canadiens’ next opponent (it’ll be Martin St-Louis against John Tortorella tomorrow in Pennsylvania) has said recently that’s been talked about.
He recalled that last year, with his number one goalie for the whole season, the Flyers would have been better. He even thinks the team would have “easily” made the playoffs.
He says the team would have made the playoffs by six or seven points.
Of course, talking publicly about his former goalie who is in trouble with the law is a choice that many coaches wouldn’t have made.
He probably did it because more than ever, he realizes that “Philadelphia” and “good goalie” haven’t rhymed for decades.
Yesterday, the Laval Rocket announced that Logan Mailloux would not be participating in the day’s practice to receive treatment. These are things that happen over the course of a season.
But then this morning, a similar announcement was made.
Anthony Marcotte, who follows the team’s activities, mentioned on social media that the Rocket’s defenseman was bothered by an injury. We don’t know what kind of injury he has, though.
Une blessure embête Logan Mailloux puisqu’il va s’absenter pour un deuxième entraînement de suite aujourd’hui. https://t.co/cXfQEwKa72
The Rocket’s last games have been played with Mailloux in Pascal Vincent’s lineup. Will the next one, which will take place on Friday, be played with the habs’ prospect in uniform? We’ll see.
The Rocket has a double program at home this weekend: Friday against Toronto and Saturday against Lehigh Valley.
Because the habs don’t seem to need him right now (this can change quickly, though) and the Rocket is in a good position in the standings, we can think that the CH’s managers will want to play it safe.
If he plays on Friday, it will surely not be while being very injured, in other words. But that’s just my opinion.
Also note that the Rocket, which has a three-point lead over the Hershey Bears at the top of the American Hockey League standings, could get Luke Tuch’s services back over the weekend.
After all, the team’s depth forward is really getting better when you watch him practice.
Un retour imminent pour Luke Tuch dans la formation du Rocket. Tout le monde a hâte de revoir la combinaison Arseneau-Xhekaj-Tuch. Le 4e trio parfait en vue des séries éliminatoires. https://t.co/h86qI5YlWn
Les Phantoms de Lehigh Valley se préparent à recevoir du renfort pour le dernier droit de la saison. Le premier choix des Flyers au dernier repêchage, Jett Luchanko, devrait rejoindre le club incessamment. Les Phantoms seront à Laval samedi soir. https://t.co/jjm4JIdoIE
Two ex-junior hockey players are heading to jail today.
After losing an appeal related to their sentences, former Victoriaville Tigres players Nicolas Daigle and Massimo Siciliano have until 4 p.m. today to report to prison.
A Quebec judge gave Daigle a 32-month jail sentence…
Marlies coach John Gruden on Reaves:
via 
Saliba et Vilsaint ne sont pas avec le groupe. Ils sont encore à l’intérieur (les chanceux).