Category: Uncategorized

Categories
Uncategorized

Kent Hughes would rather use the pieces he already has to improve the team this summer

Kent Hughes is going to have a big summer.

He will have room to maneuver with the salary cap going up for next season and we can expect to see him be aggressive.

The goal, obviously, will be to improve the team. And he will have the resources to do it.

But at this level, we should not believe that Hughes will dive headfirst into the free agent market with the goal of attracting just anyone.

In fact, the Canadiens’ GM – in an interview with Eric Engels – said he would rather pay for a player with the assets he already has (via trade) than offer an eight-year contract to a player at a salary that could hurt at some point.

This makes sense because, right now, in terms of assets, the Canadiens are well-armed.

And by acquiring a player through a trade… It could also allow for more room on the payroll to make other moves.

Let’s recall that the Canadiens have four first-round picks, five second-round picks, and five third-round picks in the next three years.

And we should not forget that the Canadiens also have one of the best prospect pools in the National League.

If Hughes wants to make a big move, he can use what he already has at his disposal to succeed:

(Credit: Puckpedia)

Kent Hughes was interested in adding a player to support Newhook and Laine on the second line at the trade deadline.

We know that Dach’s injury created a relatively significant hole in the lineup, but I still have the impression that this will be his goal this summer.

We will have to find a way to surround Ivan Demidov as he should be, too. And that’s something we’re aware of from the organization’s side.

The good news? Hughes has proven in the past that he is capable of making a big trade to improve the club. And because he has a lot of tools to make moves, it’s really possible to believe he can do something big.

In a nutshell

– Same here…

– It was special at the Bell Centre on Saturday night.

– What to expect from the Twins in 2025?

Categories
Uncategorized

Images : Gabriel Landeskog really looked in shape at the Avalanche’s practice

It’s been a (very) long time since we’ve seen Gabriel Landeskog in the Avalanche uniform.

The Colorado club’s captain hasn’t played since June 26, 2022, as he’s still recovering from his injury.

But now, the more it goes… and the more we believe there’s a chance we’ll see him return to the game soon.

I say that because at the Avalanche’s practice today, Landeskog really looked like a guy in shape.

He was moving well on the ice and there was a certain intensity in his skating.

Again, it’s been a long time since we’ve seen him move like that on the ice:

Right now, it’s too early to draw a conclusion.

But we know that in the playoffs, salary cap doesn’t matter… and in that context, it seems like I wouldn’t be surprised to see him participate in the playoffs.

Also, after the team’s practice, Jared Bednar mentioned to the journalists that Landeskog will be traveling with the team this week, which will play games in Ontario (Leafs and Sens) and Montreal.

The plan is to let him train with the rest of the group:

Adding a player like Landeskog for the playoffs could definitely help. Even if he probably won’t return to his previous level, he has leadership qualities, he won the Stanley Cup, and he knows what it takes to go all the way.

Not to mention that the Avalanche already has a great core on offense!

We’ll have to keep an eye on this situation. Because, again, seeing him skate like he did today… it’s hard to believe his goal isn’t to return soon.

In a hurry

– Classic.

– Sad news, as Tomas Kloucek lost his life in a skiing accident.

– We love hockey in Montreal!

– Good idea.

Categories
Uncategorized

Patrik Laine : 2nd among CH forwards for shots blocked per 60 minutes

Does Patrik Laine look like the most motivated guy? Not necessarily. And we agree that it’s not a new thing either.

But when Laine plays like he did on Saturday, he is really able to help the Canadiens.

We talk about him when things are going bad, and we also have to do it when it’s positive.

According to Joshua Roy, Laine not only helps the team by scoring goals or being dangerous with a man advantage.

The one who plays alongside the Finn also thinks he’s an excellent leader because Laine never hesitates to give him advice on the bench when needed.

This is what Roy confided to Anthony Martineau this morning after practice:

We don’t necessarily notice this aspect because on TV, we don’t hear what’s being said between the guys on the bench.

But at this level, Laine also shows a certain level of leadership in a specific aspect of the game: blocked shots.

After all, the great sniper ranks 2nd among forwards for blocked shots per 60 minutes.

Christian Dvorak does better than him in this regard… and he’s the only one:

(Credit: Moneypuck)

Maybe we’re being too hard on Patrik Laine sometimes.

But at the same time… It’s often frustrating to see a guy decide not to give his all every night.

Intensity is part of the Canadiens’ identity, after all. Especially with a coach like Martin St-Louis, who is known for having had a great career in the NHL because of his passion and desire to push himself for his team.

That being said, Laine helps the CH in his own way… even if it’s not always perfect on the ice.

In rafale

– Nice evening ahead.

– Sick!

– He deserves it, too.

– Absolutely.

– Good news in New York.

Categories
Uncategorized

Kent Hughes about Reinbacher: “There is no structural problem in his knee”

After the Rocket’s game on Friday, Pascal Vincent provided updates on David Reinbacher.

He explained that if the defenseman hadn’t played in three games, it was due to indications from the Canadiens.

Now, Kent Hughes has also given more details about his prospect.

The Canadiens’ general manager was questioned on the subject while attending the general managers’ meeting.

And if we believe Hughes’ words, there’s nothing serious in the case of the defender… who is feeling discomfort in his knee.

Hughes said there’s “no structural problem” in the defenseman’s knee and that for now, they’re being cautious with him on the organization’s side.

The Canadiens don’t want to take the chance of seeing him get injured again – which is logical. Anyway, the Rocket is well-positioned in the standings at the moment.

Rather than risking Reinbacher’s health… it’s better to be cautious, right?

This morning, the Rocket held a practice and Reinbacher was absent.

He also didn’t play on Saturday, which means he’s now missed the last four games of his team.

It’s normal to be worried about him…

Note that the Canadiens’ affiliate team will be back in action on Wednesday.

The Toronto Marlies will visit the Place Bell on the occasion, and we’ll see if the defenseman will be able to participate in the meeting.

If he’s still absent from practice tomorrow, we can believe he’ll have to (again) take a pass…

Note also that the news is much worse for Rafaël Harvey-Pinard, who will need a thorough evaluation for his injury.

It really looked like it hurt when he got injured last Wednesday against the Bridgeport Islanders. And with the Rocket’s announcement, we can fear the worst…

In a hurry

— Go!

— It’s crazy, just the same.

— Notice to interested parties:

— Good point.

— A real unicorn!

Categories
Uncategorized

Kaiden Guhle could return to play within three weeks

When Kaiden Guhle got injured, there were fears that his season might be over.

But the good news in this case is that the defender has already started skating again.

He hasn’t trained with the group yet, but that’s okay. At least he’s able to wear his skates.

Without saying that his return is imminent, we can still believe that Guhle could be able to return soon.

After all, Renaud Lavoie, in a recent article, mentions the possibility of him returning within three weeks.

It would help the Canadiens in their race for the playoffs:

A return to the game is expected within three weeks, which would be excellent news for the final stretch of the season. – Renaud Lavoie

Kaiden Guhle got injured on January 28.

Since then, the Canadiens have a record of eight wins, seven losses in regulation, and two overtime losses.

It’s not great.

And what I’m trying to say here is that the Canadiens aren’t doing as well lately when their defender isn’t there. We know he’s an important part of the defensive brigade, and it’s certain that his loss was going to hurt at some point.

That being said, the Canadiens’ season ends on April 16, in almost exactly a month. If we assume Guhle will return to the game in three weeks, he would be able to play in the last games of the campaign… and it will be important for the Canadiens to keep their rhythm until then.

Because it’s great to be able to count on Guhle’s services… but it won’t matter if the Canadiens start losing their games and find themselves out of a favorable position to make the playoffs in a few weeks.

With the standings being so tight in the East, a team that’s in the race right now can quickly eliminate themselves by losing several games:

(Credit: NHL.com)

— No problem between Xhekaj and Pezzetta, who exchanged blows during training this morning.

— Good reading.

— It’s been lively in Carolina.

— Haha.

— Fair enough.

Categories
Uncategorized

The Canadian has changed its way of doing things to protect the jobs of a few journalists

Often, the Web does not work in a chronological or 100% normal way.

There is so much stock on the Web that often, certain things are uploaded to the web without real impact. It takes several weeks – sometimes even several months – for someone somewhere to realize that there is something relevant in a text, a podcast, or a TikTok video.

This happened over the weekend with an episode of Entre la poire et le fromage that Luc Gélinas participated in several weeks ago.

In short, Luc Gélinas tells us that the job of a beat reporter is less fun these days.

Why? Because the Canadiens broadcast everything live on their Twitter account.

It’s not me saying this, it’s Luc.

« Before, we were eight, nine traveling […] you eat with the boys, you have fun. You leave the restaurant, it’s 10:00 am, there’s music. Okay, you go back, there’s a small band. You have two, three beers. Now, we’re often just RDS and La Presse. » – Luc Gélinas

The Gazette has cut back on coverage; the Journal de Montréal and TVA Sports do not cover all the games, according to Luc Gélinas.

Renaud Lavoie and/or Anthony Martineau are often there, no? Whatever…

Gélinas admitted that the media are not doing well and that, as a result, sending journalists to follow the team on the road when the Canadiens put everything on their social networks (and they are the only team in the league to do so, according to Gélinas) is not always justifiable in the eyes of the bosses.

Until now, I am 100% in agreement with Luc Gélinas: in 2025, with technology and social networks, it is more difficult to justify the presence of journalists in California to go get audio clips that are available at the same time on Twitter/X.

Especially at a time when we are beginning to discourage the population from traveling by plane for nothing…

And I also agree with Gélinas on another point: damn it, the job of following the Canadiens’ activities on the road must be less exciting and enjoyable than it was ten or fifteen years ago.

Where I disagree with the reporter from RDS, however, is with his way of responding to the problematic situation.

Luc Gélinas and a few other reporters seem to have convinced Chantal Machabée not to broadcast the coach’s and players’ press conference live in the morning, in order to give people on the spot time to write or record their story. Chantal now waits an hour before broadcasting the recording of the morning press conference to the general public. Note that the post-game press conferences are sponsored, so they continue to be broadcast live.

In short, the guys on the beat were tired of seeing people on social networks and absent media on the road watching the press conference and relaying the information from it before them… and they came to an agreement with the VP of communications for the club.

1. I can understand a guy like Luc Gélinas wanting to protect his job and its usefulness. He is very good at what he does, and his work is appreciated and useful in the ecosystem.

2. On the other hand, the host claims that the Canadiens are doing well to delay the broadcast of press conferences by 60 minutes to protect the scoops of a guy like Eric Engels.

A) In my opinion, the CH should not make any effort to protect a scoop from a journalist.

B) Scoops do not come out in press conferences anyway. You should not confuse scoop and public information.

3. When something big/interesting/relevant is said by a player or the coach, there is always someone present on the spot who cannot resist tweeting it or publishing it on BlueSky.

So, the Canadiens delay the broadcast of morning press conferences to protect… less/non relevant information.

4. I think the fans don’t really care about the official press conferences; they know that there’s not much juice coming out of them. And if I’m wrong about this, well, I think we’re not respecting the fan by making them wait for their information… by delaying the broadcast of live content.

One day, a journalist on the beat told me that I was taking away his privileges by running a site like DansLesCoulisses.

I told him that maybe yes, maybe no… but that in the end, I was doing it for the fans, and not for his privileges (lost or not).

We never spoke again…

In conclusion, while I understand the position of Luc Gélinas and the other journalists on the beat who have already contacted colleagues to ask them to stop tweeting about the team’s press conferences, the fact remains that journalism is struggling – especially traditional sports journalism – and it’s not 60 minutes of delay on certain media dispos that will save it.

Unfortunately…

Categories
Uncategorized

Fight: Arber Xhekaj and Michael Pezzetta exchange blows at practice

There was a scuffle at the Canadiens’ practice.

While the guys (except Joel Armia, who had a treatment day) jumped onto the ice at the Bell Centre for the team photo day, Michael Pezzetta and Arber Xhekaj went after each other on the ice.

And they found each other.

As can be seen in the images published by RDS, the two exchanged stick hits. There were also shoulder hits distributed by both players. It all started during the pre-game warm-up.

They “explained” themselves and a coach had to go see what was happening because clearly, they were looking for each other on the ice. It lasted a few seconds, but the guys didn’t look happy.

Especially Xhekaj.

A little later, as the practice continued, we saw the two guys reconcile, which is a good thing – and which is quite normal in the circumstances.

What needs to be understood is that these are things that happen during the course of a season.

The pressure is high on the CH, who are in a playoff run. Michael Pezzetta must have frustration from never being able to play and it spilled out onto the ice.

These are things that happen.

The guys will have to try to keep their cool because the team is falling into a playoff mode, but what just happened shows that the guys are taking things to heart. Next file.

in a hurry

– News from CF Montreal.

– Obviously.

– Interesting.

– The meeting of general managers is in full swing.

– Like in 2010?

Categories
Uncategorized

Matt Duchene will not be a priority for the Canadiens this summer

The Canadian will need a top-notch center player this summer.

The club’s priority will be to find a center to support Nick Suzuki in the top-6 and to play with Ivan Demidov, who will likely have a place in the Canadian top-6 in 2025-2026.

Not surrounding the Russian would be a mistake.

Obviously, on this subject, many names will circulate to fill the center position. We must remove that of Dylan Cozens, who left Buffalo on the deadline, but we know that the CH was aiming for a player like him.

The feeling I have is that the Canadian plan will be to go get a young player – not too young, of course – in order to see him grow with the rest of the core in the coming years.

But is it impossible to think of a veteran? If Michael Hage pushes and develops as it should, the veteran will not be in his way.

What we need to know about this is that Nicolas Cloutier (TVA Sports) spoke to Renaud Lavoie, who believes that at center, Matt Duchene will not be the Canadian priority this summer.

Attention: the Canadian, who has started to establish its list for this summer, has other priorities, but that does not mean that the door is closed for coming to Montreal.

But it possibly means that if Duchene arrives in town, the Canadian will not have succeeded in its plan A. At least, the plan established in March…

Nicolas Cloutier also reminds us that Duchene, who visited Montreal in 2019 before choosing Nashville, has the Canadian in his heart because of his family history.

Can this induce Duchene to really consider Montreal this summer if he leaves Dallas? Maybe.

Duchene is still a productive player (67 points in 66 games) and if the Canadian were to add him by promising him playing time with Demidov, I think everyone would win.

Provided the contract is affordable.

But as we’re heading towards something else, I have the feeling that Duchene will go elsewhere. And I have the feeling that Hughes will want a more “long-term” solution this summer.

It’s been a long time since we’ve been waiting for the summer of 2025, and it’s coming. What does the GM have in store for us? How will the salary cap play in favor of the Canadian? The answers will come in the next few months.

in passing

– Josh Anderson is indeed here.

– Ouch.

– Nice.

– Ah yes?

– Good question.

Categories
Uncategorized

Jack Adams : “In my opinion, Martin St-Louis will be a serious candidate”

Can Martin St-Louis win the title of coach of the year in the NHL?

Judging by how the Canadiens’ season is going, it is clear that yes, there is a chance to see the Canadiens’ coach receive votes for the Jack Adams by the end of the season.

Especially if the team makes the playoffs…

(Credit: NHL.com)

It would be surprising to see NHL voters give votes to a coach who hasn’t managed to bring his team to the spring playoffs, but it doesn’t change the fact that St-Louis, theoretically, has a chance right now.

The coaches in Washington, Ottawa, Columbus, Winnipeg, and St. Louis, to name a few, all have a chance.

And this morning, the subject was discussed in the morning show on BPM Sports. Gilbert Delorme believes that St-Louis still has the matchup he wants, which shows good improvement.

And Renaud Lavoie, in his column, said this.

In my opinion, Martin St-Louis will be a serious candidate. – Renaud Lavoie on Martin St-Louis and the Jack Adams

The fact that Martin St-Louis is a big name in a big market that is openly in reconstruction will undoubtedly play in his favor if we need to find an element to make a difference between two men.

The fact that he is also charismatic in front of the media and that he is a good communicator cannot hurt.

There’s still a long way to go before getting there. But if it continues like this, Lane Hutson (Calder) and Nick Suzuki (Selke / Lady Byng) are not the only two members of the CH who have a chance to bring a trophy home this year.

And seeing the respect the CH players have for Martin St-Louis, who was the target of many fans at the beginning of the season, I think it would be well received in the locker room to see him win the Jack Adams (or at least receive votes).

in a burst

– Yes.

– To read.

– Oh boy.

Categories
Uncategorized

Fans of the Canadiens, cheer on the Sabres and the Devils tonight

The Canadiens are in a good run for the playoffs.

What this means is that the standings need to be followed every day. Because even on days when the Canadiens are not in action, they can receive help from other teams.

Yesterday, for example, the Oilers’ win over the Rangers helped Nick Suzuki’s club.

(Credit: NHL.com)

Tonight, again, the Canadiens will not play. However, there are still two games that need to be watched in relation to the playoff run. The Devils will face the Blue Jackets and the Sabres will face the Bruins.

And as you know, Columbus and Boston are opponents in the race for the CH. So, encourage the Devils and the Sabres if you want to see the Canadiens progress.

(Credit: Google)

Right now, both teams are behind the Canadiens in the standings. A Bruins win would bring the club to just one point behind the Canadiens, who have 71 points this morning.

On the other hand, the Columbus club could, with a win, surpass Martin St-Louis’ men. But in terms of points percentage, the Canadiens would still be slightly ahead due to the game in hand.

Of course, it’s just one evening (and a small one in the NHL) and it won’t change everything. But if the opposing teams win, it will add pressure on the Canadiens, who won’t have an easy schedule until the end of the month.

With several games on the road, the CH will have to keep their foot on the gas pedal in the coming weeks.

(Credit: Canadiens)

For the first time in four years, the Canadiens are in a playoff run at the end of the season. Martin St-Louis has managed to bring his team #DansLeMix and make it a team that plays important games in March.

Can the team succeed in the impossible? We’ll see. But note that right now, we’re talking about 21.8% chances of making the playoffs, which is better than before the game against the Panthers on Saturday… but still slim.

in a nutshell

– Not false.

– Free agents among goalies: it will be a thin crop in 2025. [NYT]

– NHL executives have a meeting in Florida. [RDS]

– Ah yeah?