Friday Habs Headlines: Shades of season start

Montreal Canadiens news and notes

• Does the performance in Columbus mean that the Habs are out of gas? [RDS]
• As a long season draws to it’s conclusion, Martin St. Louis is focused on next year. [Montreal Gazette]
• Five options for potentially replacing Carey Price. [The Hockey Writers]
• When talking about the Canadiens-Nordiques rivalry, the Good Friday Massacre gets most of the attention, but it may have been a goal by Dale Hunter two years prior that started it all. [Journal de Quebec]
• Stéphane Fiset talks about the frustration of a goaltender in Price’s situation. [La Presse]

Around the league and elsewhere

• The Eugene Melnyk era in Ottawa: Hopeful, then bizarre and tyrannical. [The Athletic]
• The NHLPA’s executive board has voted to release the findings of an independent report into the association’s conduct surrounding the Kyle Beach investigation. [Sportsnet]
• Hockey Canada has granted exceptional status to 15-year-old forward Michael Misa to enter the Ontario Hockey League draft a year early. [TSN]
• Minnesota Wild fans crowdfunded Ryan Hartman’s fine for unsportsmanlike contact against Evander Kane, so the forward is routing those donations to Children’s Minnesota. [ESPN]
• The best and worst early returns from trade deadline acquisitions. [The Hockey News]
• The 2021-22 season’s most underappreciated players. [ESPN]
• The 2021-22 Detroit Red Wings’ season mixed rebuilding hope with more growing pains. [ProHockeyTalk]
• Can we (finally) trust these Toronto Maple Leafs in the playoffs? [Daily Faceoff]
• Nolan Baumgartner has been named head coach of Canada’s U-18 team for the upcoming World Championships, while assistant Kori Cheverie will become the first woman to coach a Canadian men’s national team. [CBC]