Montreal Canadiens news and notes
- Alex Newhook is happy to play in a place where improved performance leads to greater responsibility, and he credits Martin St-Louis for offering him both. [La Presse]
- Joshua Roy may not play again this year for the Canadiens, but the shot block that fractured his hand was one final bit of proof that he has the drive to be an everyday NHLer. [Journal de Montreal]
- It was Tanner Pearson who took Roy’s spot on the second power-play unit in yesterday’s practice. [RDS]
- Praise poured in for Kaiden Guhle from his teammates after his performance in Edmonton. [RDS]
- He and the young core continue to show that good things are on the way for the Habs in the near future. [The Athletic]
- Rafaël Harvey-Pinard isn’t the player who scored on 24.1% of his shots last year. He’s also not the player doing so at 4.3% in 2023-24. [Radio-Canada]
- Lane Hutson is a top-10 finalist of the Hobey Baker Award. [NHL.com]
- Brandon Gignac was only upset for a short time after being sent back to the Laval Rocket knowing he had the chance to re-engage in a battle to make a post-season. [Journal de Montreal]
- The Bell Centre will be the site of the new women’s hockey attendance record as the PWHL game between Montreal and Toronto on April 20 sold out in minutes. [CBC]
- “[I]t’s part of the business now,” Catherine Daoust says about one of the downsides of playing in a truly professional league: seeing friends and teammates traded away. [La Presse]
Around the league and elsewhere
- Chris Simon’s family revealed on Wednesday that his death was by suicide. [CTV News]
- The dissonance of mourning the premature death of another of the NHL’s enforcers while celebrating those who regularly drop the gloves. [La Presse]
- Making changes to LTIR rules that see players return just in time of the playoffs is an issue to be solved in the discussions of the next CBA, not while the current one is still in effect. [The Athletic]
- The general managers voted in favour of expanding coach’s challenges to include puck-over-glass calls and high-sticking minors (not just double-minors as is the current case). [NHL.com]
- Gary Bettman is happy with the current state of the league, with revenue at the expected increased level for this season. [NHL.com]
- Macklin Celebrini was named Hockey East player of the year. [TSN]
- Barry Trotz is having a good first year as the Nashville Predators’ GM. [NHL.com]
- Anze Kopitar registered point number 1,200 in Los Angeles’s win over Minnesota last night. [NHL.com]
