Montreal Canadiens news and notes
- Following a brawl that featured several players who had been on the Laval Rocket’s bench when the fracas started, Alex Belzile, Laurent Dauphin, and Joshua Roy were suspended for three games, not eligible to return until after the AHL’s Christmas break. Sammy Blais was also suspended for just yesterday’s game. [La Presse]
- Without those four forwards and Marc Del Gaizo, who had been hit in the head by Michael Pezzetta to set everything off, the Rocket fell 2-1 to the Bridgeport Islanders on Saturday afternoon. [AHL.com]
- Cole Hutson is of course cheering for brother Lane, but has also developed a friendship with Ivan Demidov. [RG.org]
- Four-time Stanley Cup-winner Bobby Rousseau has passed away at 85. [La Presse]
Around the league and elsewhere
- Quinn Hughes informed the Vancouver Canucks he wouldn’t be signing an extension with them, speeding up the trade process. [Sportsnet]
- Hughes will make his Minnesota Wild debut today. [Sportsnet]
- With Hughes gone, the attention in Vancouver turns to the three new players acquired for him. [NHL.com]
- Adam Foote is happy with the players the Canucks got from the trade. [Sportsnet]
- The New Jersey Devils, New York Rangers, and Detroit Red Wings were the other serious bidders for Hughes. [TSN]
- Tristan Jarry sees his new job of trying to keep opponents to fewer goals than Connor McDavid’s Edmonton Oilers can create in the playoffs as a “fun challenge.” [NHL.com]
- Craig Berube is once again in the media imploring his leadership group to care. [Sportsnet]
- Connor Hellebuyck returned weeks earlier than initially anticipated to halt the Winnipeg Jets’ losing streak. [Sportsnet]
- Nino Niederreiter became the first Swiss-born player to play 1000 NHL games. [NHL.com]
- Tyler Seguin also reached the 1000-games-played milestone. [NHL.com]
- Matt Dumba was assigned to the AHL by the Pittsburgh Penguins after clearing waivers. [TSN]
- Team USA won the fourth game of the Rivalry Series to sweep the women’s hockey tournament versus Canada by a combined score of 24-7. [Sportsnet]
- Canada’s men’s Olympic team will be revealed on New Year’s Eve. [Sportsnet]
