Montreal Canadiens news and notes
- Joel Armia is close to returning to the Habs lineup. [Montreal Gazette]
- Nate Thompson hopes that his story can help others facing the same struggles. [Montreal Gazette]
- Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Ryan Poehling, and the potential beginning of a beautiful friendship. [The Athletic]
- A positive first impression for Ilya Kovalchuk. [Radio-Canada]
- For the time being, Kovalchuk is making Marc Bergevin look good. [RDS]
- Kovalchuk is enjoying the warm welcome that he’s received. [La Presse]
- The Habs must improve their home record. [RDS]
- What should the Canadiens do with Carey Price at the trade deadline? [Sportsnet]
- Gianni Fairbrother’s season looks to have come to a premature end./
Gianni Fairbrother is out indefinitely, according to Silvertips GM Garry Davidson. He’s having surgery tomorrow and is probably done for the season.
It’s something the Silvertips have been aware of for a while and before the trade deadline, FYI. #WHL https://t.co/VppRvwIejP
— Josh Horton (@JoshHortonEDH) January 14, 2020
- An update on Joni Ikonen:/
Just spoke to #KalPa’s Joni Ikonen about his rehab for @HabsEOTP. Joni’s answer as follows “Rehab is going as planned and im not yet on the ice but probably in the near future.” #Habs #GoHabsGo
— Patrik Bexell (@Zeb_Habs) January 14, 2020
Around the league and elsewhere
- The Washington Capitals have re-signed Nicklas Backstrom to a 5-year contract extension with a $9.2 million AAV. [Japers’ Rink]
- What does Backstrom’s contract mean for Braden Holtby? [The Athletic]
- Based on recent trends, defence helps, but it’s not the be-all-end-all to winning the Stanley Cup. [Sportsnet]
- Could Alec Martinez of the Los Angeles Kings set the market price for deadline defencemen? [TSN]
- Twenty names who could be changing addresses at the trade deadline. [Sportsnet]
- Despite his two-game suspension, Zack Kassian says that he would “do it all over again”. [TSN]
- Originally slated to miss 2-3 weeks, Tage Thompson will be out 5-6 months after team doctors determined that surgery was required. [ProHockeyTalk]
- Do these five stars have bad contracts? [The Athletic]
- A free agent at year’s end, Corey Crawford doesn’t see himself retiring or as a backup. [Second City Hockey]
- Can Roman Josi win the Norris Trophy this season? [On the Forecheck]
- An alternate history: what if the Dallas Stars had selected Cale Makar and the Colorado Avalanche Miro Heiskanen in 2017? [The Athletic]
- Frolunda HC and Mountfield HK will play for the championship of the Champions Hockey League./
For the first time we’re heading to 🇨🇿 for the #CHLFinal! @MountfieldHK 🆚 @frolunda_hc
For the 🏆. pic.twitter.com/kfjo1Dn6iZ
— Champions Hockey League (@championshockey) January 14, 2020
- Sabrina Scali is doing something about a common perception of gender roles in sport./
Sabrina Scali is a 7-year-old hockey player who bought a package of #NYR playing cards and couldn’t believe that the kings in the deck were shown as hockey players, but the queens were cheerleaders.
So wasn’t OK with it. So she did something about it. #SheWill pic.twitter.com/0MdZkwfscz
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) January 14, 2020
- A tale of two Gretzkys: Wayne and Slava. [KHL.ru]
- They might not put this Forsberg on a stamp for it, but Filip’s got pretty slick hands./
The Michigan. Lacrosse goal.
Whatever you wanna call it, Forsberg scored it! pic.twitter.com/PUXppZfNEU
— NHL GIFs (@NHLGIFs) January 15, 2020
