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Hope to despair, and back: The Montreal Canadiens pre-season was not quite useless

Sep 23, 2024; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Canadiens forward Emil Heineman (51) celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal against the Philadelphia Flyers during the third period at the Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-Imagn Images

It feels like forever ago, but after the first two games of the NHL pre-season, the Montreal Canadiens were undefeated, not allowing a single goal against. That was followed by a one-goal loss against what was a mostly-NHL lineup with a team that was mostly players for the Laval Rocket.

Five minutes into the fourth game, all the good vibes were gone. David Reinbacher and Patrik Laine left the game with serious injuries. The result no longer mattered, and many were fearing the worst. Reinbacher’s injury will be for most of the season, and while I am not downplaying the potential for it to affect the future or his development, it doesn’t really affect the expectations of the NHL team this season.

Laine’s injury took all of the hope of a new season, of being “in the mix,” and punched the entire fan base in the stomach. It was the fan equivalent of being Charlie Brown and falling down before Lucy even pulled the football away. At least Kirby Dach’s injury last year allowed the season to start somewhat positively, right?

Then something happened. The news regarding Laine was good, perhaps even great given the circumstances. No surgery needed. The timeline was two to three months. That’s December, January territory. The vibes, while still not ideal, were verging closer to positive territory.

The two games against the Ottawa Senators were essentially two games like when you are playing video games and you click “simulate to regular season.” There was a second game misconduct for Arber Xhekaj, a heart-in-mouth moment when Kirby Dach was hit but he came back and scored and avoided serious harm.

Looking at all I just wrote, many called the pre-season useless, but it was far from it. There were real decisions the Canadiens made based on the pre-season and what they saw in practices. Lane Hutson showed everyone he is an NHL player. Alex Barre-Boulet, Oliver Kapanen, and Emil Heineman worked their way on to the roster, leaving Joshua Roy to go to Laval. Jayden Struble made what could have been a tough decision on defence a rather easy one. Kaiden Guhle, who missed most of camp after appendix removal, even got to get a game in before the regular season.

Even players who didn’t make the team showed what they needed to. Adam Engström and Logan Mailloux are NHL-calibre players. I am fairly certain, based on what they showed in the pre-season, that the Canadiens would not hesitate to call either of them up in the case of injuries. They may even create a rotation with waiver-exempt players to get everyone playing time. Jakub Dobeš also performed very well after the team essentially signed Connor Hughes to ensure he wouldn’t be the only call up option in goal.

So yes, the pre-season was longer than it should be. Yes, it had two very unfortunate injuries. It also showed why people can be optimistic about this team and its future, and provided an opportunity for players battling for spots. The special teams weren’t so special, but they will not be judged by what they did in the previous six games.

Starting Wednesday, things start to matter and, well, we will finally see what the Canadiens really are.

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