Gallagher on the arrival of Demidov: “It’s good to see the crowd’s reaction”

Dose
Crédit:

The name Ivan Demidov, does it ring a bell?

Without joking, the prospect of the Canadiens has finally arrived in Canada last night and let’s say it didn’t go unnoticed.

We sent someone to DLC to film his arrival in Toronto (like some other media, including the Sick Podcast) and our cameraman’s images have made the rounds on the web:

If some people think that the fans and the media on site have “behaved badly”, others have really appreciated the welcome he received.

And rightly so: it shows the love of the fans for him and allows him to feel appreciated even if he hasn’t played a single game for the Canadiens yet.

He clearly saw that in Montreal, people have hockey in their blood.

And for a guy who wants to thrive under the pressure of a big market, he got what he wanted last night.

But the players have also seen it in a good light.

For example? Juraj Slafkovsky described Ivan Demidov’s arrival as a Christmas present.

The journalist Dave Lévesque talked about it in an article published on the Journal de Montréal’s website.

But it’s especially Brendan Gallagher’s comments that show how excited the Habs players are about Demidov right now.

Gally – who claims he’s never seen anything like it before – talked about it today and said this… with a smile on his face:

I’ve never seen that […] It’s nice to see the crowd’s reaction.

I’m sure for him, it’s nice to see the reaction and emotion of the fans. – Brendan Gallagher

The Habs veteran understands the fans’ enthusiasm for the kid.

And he says it’s normal because they have the right to be excited:

The fans are excited, the organization is excited… and the players are too.

The guys can’t wait to welcome Demidov to the locker room because they know how much talent he has to help the team in the future.

They want to play with him and clearly, they liked the fact that Demidov was able to receive a warm welcome from the fan base of the team yesterday – even if he arrived in Toronto and not Montreal.

And it’s by seeing a photo like this that I think Brendan Gallagher is probably right in saying it was nice for Demidov to see the support he received last night…

In all this, there is one thing that is certain.

Ivan Demidov understood that the Canadiens fans were waiting for him with bated breath.

He saw what it was like to be a member of the Habs for a few minutes… and knowing he likes pressure, I tend to believe he really can’t wait to make his new fans happy on the ice.

It promises, in any case.

Overtime

– Gabriel Landeskog will play tonight in the American League.

– Logical.

– The Flames are patient with Zayne Parekh.

– I like that.

– Today’s activities on the waivers.