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Category: Montreal Canadiens

  • NHL News and Notes: September 27th, 2018

    NHL

     

    Here are your news and notes covering the NHL for September 27th, 2018…

     

    In preseason action last night, seven contests took place:

    • Montreal Canadiens F Jesperi Kotkaniemi has one assist and two shot on goal in just under 14 minutes of ice time. The Canadiens would lose 5-3 to the Toronto Maple Leafs at Bell Centre Wednesday night. This could have been just enough for Kotkaniemi, the third overall pick in the 2018 NHL Draft, to make the roster. Kotkaniemi, 18, has three points (one goal and two assists), a plus-5 rating and four shots on goal in five preseason contests.
    • The Detroit Red Wings defeated the Boston Bruins 3-2 in overtime at TD Garden. Filip Zadina scored on a one-timer just 24 seconds in the overtime frame, his second goal in five preseason contests. Zadina is also attempting to become the first Red Wing player to play as an 18-year-old since Martin Lapointe in the 1991-92 season. Zadina, who is a native of the Czech Republic, was on loan to QMJHL’s Halifax Mooseheads last season and as such is eligible for the Grand Rapids Griffins of the American Hockey League.
    • The injury to Anaheim Ducks Corey Perry could be an opportunity for Max Comtois to make the Ducks roster. Comtois, the second round pick of the 2017 NHL Draft, scored two goals in Anaheim’s 7-4 win over the Los Angeles Kings at Honda Center. Comtois’ second goal was set up by Isac Lundestrom, the 23rd pick in the 2018 NHL Draft. Lundestrom is also looking to make the Ducks roster with Ryan Kesler unliekly to begin the season as he recovers from offseason hip surgery.
    • Ryan Suter looks to be in season form after the Minnesota Wild’s 4-3 victory of the Winnipeg Hets at Xcel Energy Center. Suter registered 21:22 of on-ice time and had two shots on goal in his first action since he broke his right ankle on March 31.

     

    In preseason action last night:

    • Detroit 3, Boston 2
    • New York Islanders 4, New York Rangers 3 (OT)
    • Pittsburgh 5, Buffalo 1
    • Toronto 5, Montreal 3
    • Minnesota 4, Winnipeg 3
    • Dallas 3, Colorado 1
    • Anaheim 7, Los Angeles 4

     

    Tonight’s preseason schedule:

    • New York Rangers at Philadelphia Flyers
    • Florida Panthers vs. Tampa Bay Lightning at Amway Arena (Orlando, Florida)
    • New Jersey Devils at Winnipeg Jets
    • Ottawa Senators at Chicago Blackhawks
    • Arizona Coyotes at Edmonton Oilers
    • Calgary Flames at San Jose Sharks

     

    St. Louis Blues Robert Bortuzzo has a hearing today for elbowing Washington Capitals D Michal Kempny in Washington’s 4-0 win Tuesday night.

    After a hearing with the DoPS, Robert Bortuzzo has been suspended for the remainder of the preseason and one regular season game for elbowing Washington Capitals D Michal Kempny

     

    There is a report of Philadelphia Flyers F Jori Lehterä being a suspect in a Finnish cocaine ring.

     

    TXHT’s and Last Word on Hockey contributor Armand Klisivitch wrote an article about Jesperi Kotkaniemi expecting to start the season with the Montreal Canadiens.

     

    The Washington Post’s Isabelle Khurshudyan wrote an article today about Jakub Vrana and his plans to keep his top-six spot but also how the Capitals have a void in high-end prospects that are after him. Washington GM Brian MacLellan also mentions that if given a chance, the team would want to trade prospects for more forward prospects.

     

    Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet released his new “31 Thoughts” podcast this afternoon.

     

    For TXHT’s coverage of the Carolina Hurricanes news on the Hartford Whalers throwbacks, please check out the following link here.

     

    You can watch TXHT Live every Wednesday at 8p EST on both Twitch and Facebook Live.

  • NHL News and Notes: September 23rd, 2018

    NHL

     

    Here are your news and notes covering the NHL for September 23rd, 2018

     

    In preseason action for Saturday:

    • Pittsburgh defeated Columbus 7-3
    • Minnesota defeated Colorado 7-0
    • Toronto defeated Buffalo 3-2
    • Detroit defeated Boston 4-3 in overtime
    • Montreal defeated Ottawa 3-2
    • New York Islanders defeated New York Rangers 5-2 at Bridgeport, Connecticut
    • Tampa Bay defeated Nashville 5-2
    • Florida defeated Dallas 4-3 in overtime at Tulsa, Oklahoma
    • Arizona defeated Anaheim 6-1
    • Calgary defeated Vancouver 5-2
    • Vegas defeated San Jose 5-4 in a shootout

     

    In today’s preseason action:

    • Detroit takes action against Pittsburgh
    • St. Louis plays Columbus
    • Edmonton plays Winnipeg

     

    In other NHL news…

    The Montreal Canadiens and F Paul Byron agreed to a four year extension through the 2022-23 season with an AAV (average annual value) of $3.4M per season.

     

    The New Jersey Devils and restricted free agent Miles Wood came to terms on a four year, $11 million contract on Sunday.  This contract has an AAV of $2.5 million per season.

     

    The San Jose Sharks unveiled their new third jerseys at the first intermission of last night’s preseason contest.

     

    Sharks new addition, Erik Karlsson, took part in unveiling the thirds.

     

     

    You can watch TXHT Live every Wednesday at 8p EST on both Twitch and Facebook Live.

  • NHL and NWHL News and Notes: September 20th, 2018

     

    These are your NHL and NWHL news and notes for September 20th, 2018.

    In NHL preseason action last night, there were eight games scheduled.

    • The Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 6-1 at PNC Arena. Hurricanes forward Martin Necas, the No. 12 pick in the 2017 NHL Draft, scored a goal in the contest.
    • The youth movement in Detroit has begun and the focus of a Detroit Red Wings rebuild is centered around Red Wings forward, Dylan Larkin.  Two recent Detroit draft picks teamed with Larkin for the overtime victory, winning 3-2, against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Little Caesars Arena.  This was Detroit’s preseason opener.
    • The St. Louis Blues defeated the Minnesota Wild in a contest that took place in Des Moines, Iowa.  Des Moines is the location for the Wild’s American Hockey League affiliate, the Iowa Wild.  St. Louis went on to win the game 3-2 after scoring two goals in 27 seconds in the final five minutes of the contest.

    In other NHL pre-season action:

    • Boston 3, Calgary 1 (split-squad)  (game at Beijing, China’s Cadillac Arena)
    • Carolina 6, Tampa Bay 1
    • Philadelphia 6, New York Rangers 4
    • Detroit 3, Pittsburgh 2 (OT)
    • Florida 5, Montreal 2
    • Toronto 4, Ottawa 1
    • St. Louis 3, Minnesota 2 (at Des Moines, Iowa)
    • Calgary (split-squad) 4, Vancouver 1

    Tonight’s pre-season action has:

    • Washington playing Montreal in Quebec City, Quebec
    • New Jersey at the New York Islanders
    • Chicago at Detroit
    • Dallas at Minnesota
    • Winnipeg at Edmonton
    • San Jose at Anaheim
    • Los Angeles (in a split-squad) at Vancouver
    • Vegas at Los Angeles (in a split-squad)

    In NHL and NWHL news…

    • Montreal’s Maxi Domi had a hearing scheduled for 12:30pm ET for a roughing and punch to an unsuspecting opponent last night against Florida’s Aaron Ekblad
    • At 3:40pm EST, the NHL’s Department of Player Safety announced that Max Domi has been suspended for the remainder of the pre-season.

    https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

    Courtesy of TXHT’s Montreal Canadiens writer, Armand Klisivitch wrote this article detailing the Max Domi Suspension for Last Word on Hockey:

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    • Former New York Rangers, Atlanta Thrashers, and Winnipeg Jets goalie Ondrej Pavelec announced his retirement today.
    • In NWHL News, the Metropolitan Riveters announced from NHL player, Randy Velischek, as the new Head Coach.
    • Elliotte Friedman of Hockey Night in Canada released his weekly “31 Thoughts” podcast with Henrik Zetterberg as a guest.

    You can watch TXHT Live every Wednesday at 8pm EST on both Twitch and on Facebook Live.

  • 2018-19 Montreal Canadiens Preview

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    Last Season: 29-40-13 71 pts (6th in Atlantic Division; Did Not Make Playoffs)

     

    Key Additions: D Xavier Oullet, F Max Domi, F Tomas Tatar, F Tomas Plekanec, F Joel Armia, and F Matthew Peca

     

    Key Departures: F Alex Galchenyuk, F Max Pacioretty, F Ales Hemsky, and F Daniel Carr

     

    The Habs biggest move they made this off-season is trading Max Pacioretty to the Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for Nick Suzuki, Tomas Tatar, and a conditional second rounder in the 2019 NHL Draft. Habs fans shouldn’t be complaining about the return in this deal. Suzuki is a 19 year old center that has proved he can score in the OHL but hasn’t gotten any NHL or OHL experience until his belt.

     

    The Habs were expected to be players this offseason but ended up not doing much to improve the team during free agency. The biggest loss for us may have been Alex Galchenyuk who we traded to the Coyotes for the Maxi Domi. This is a deal as a Habs fan you should like. Galchenyuk never became the true center we needed thus the reason for his departure. Daniel Carr was a player I think the Habs will regret not re-signing. Carr was a streaky scorer and was a guy who could be a solid third or fourth liner without a doubt. He never really got a chance in Montreal which was is unfortunate, Carr will be a 15-20 scorer next year with Vegas.

     

    Top Questions Facing The Team

     

    The Defence

    The Canadiens defence without Shea Weber last year was pitiful and when he did play he had no support. The Habs do have some young defencemen who should help fill that hole. Victor Mete and Xavier Ouellet will be key pieces on the blue-line this year.  Mete is expected to play on the first line with Petry to start the year, Petry by far was the Habs best defenseman throughout the year. Once Weber returns expect to see a nice combo of Petry-Weber and Mete-Juulsen which should make a solid top four. The Habs should also look to give guys like Cale Fleury and Josh Brook a shot as the Habs are obviously in a rebuilding mode and should take this time to asses their assets and up and coming assets.

     

    Scoring

    With the loss of Max Pacioretty, Montreal doesn’t have that big 30 goal scorer but they have a ton of guys who can put up 20 goals a year without an issue. I also wouldn’t be surprised to see Jonathan Drouin look to score more with the amount of set-up guys the Habs have. Some of the names that you look to have a decent season with montreal are: Paul Byron, Tomas Tatar, Brendan Gallagher.

     

    The Empty Vacancy At Captain

    With Pacioretty gone that leaves a vacancy at the captain position. The Guy who deserves to wear the C is Brendan Gallagher. The guy is a gritty player, always looking to protect his teammates and is a fan favorite in Montreal. There has been a debate about giving it to Weber but why give it to a guy who is going to be out till at least the all-star break and is old. Gally is young, his is going to be part of the Canadiens future for a long-time and is an essential part of the Habs current rebuild.

  • Montreal Canadiens Trade Max Pacioretty to Vegas Golden Knights


    Habs fans can finally relax as the Max Pacioretty saga came to an end at around 1am Eastern on Monday Morning as Max Pacioretty was traded.

    The Montreal Canadiens have Traded forward Max Pacioretty to the Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for winger Tomas Tatar, center Nick Suzuki and a Conditional second round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft.

    Pacioretty has spend his entire 10-year career with the Montreal Canadiens. He has scored 226 goals along with 222 assists for 448 career points in 626 career games. He also has 10 goals and nine assists for 19 points in 38 career playoff games. Pacioretty won the Masterson Trophy in 2012. He was originally drafted 22nd overall by the Habs in the 2007 NHL Draft.

    Last season he scored 17 goals and 20 assists for 37 points in 64 career games. Pacioretty has a year left on his current contract and his set to become a free agent at the end of this season. It would be a shock if Vegas doesn’t offer a contract extension to Pacioretty, which could possibly happen before the season starts.

    What This Means for the Future

    The Habs acquire a young 19 year old center in this trade in Nick Suzuki along with a scoring winger in Tomas Tatar. Tatar has scored at least 20 goals in the past four season including scoring a career high 29 goals in the 2014-15 season. Tatar should expect to fit in the the Habs top six for this season.

    Suzuki was the first ever draft pick by the Vegas Golden Knights as he was drafted 13th overall in the 2017 NHL Draft. He has scored at least 40 goals in the past two season in the OHL for the Owen Sound Attack but has yet to see time at the NHL or AHL level. Suzuki is exactly what the Habs have been searching for, a young center you can score and put up points. With the Habs current situation don’t be shocked if Suzuki finds his way into the Canadiens line-up once the regular season begins.