Matt Drake, Jared Book, and Patrik Bexell discuss a variety of different subjects, but the episode starts off with Ivan Demidov who has had a great January so far. Demidov topped his previous outings in Tuesday’s game against Lokomotiv Yaroslavl which lead the KHL by a country mile. Loko is coach by Igor Niktitin, a hockey scholar and defence-first coach yet Demidov cut the defence to pieces with two strong plays.
First his cross ice pass on the powerplay for a primary assist:
Preposterous no-look feed from #gohabsgo Ivan Demidov on the power play.
— Matt Drake (@DrakeMT) January 21, 2025
1-0 SKA. pic.twitter.com/s5LWNiWGIJ
Then he asked the Lokomotiv defence to “get him a hot dog” (as we say in Swedish) as he deked them right into the stands.
Ivan Demidov fakes the defender and the camera man before scoring his 16th goal of the season.
— Patrik Bexell (@zebhabs.bsky.social) January 21, 2025 at 12:33 PM
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However what really stood out was the maturity in his defensive zone game, and that he was given the opportunity to play against the empty net when the opponents the pulled the goaltender, increasing his usage and experience.
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Next was the topic of Lane Hutson and the Calder Trophy, the possibility of beating Kjell Dahlin and Mats Näslund’s record of 71 points in a rookie season. Mats Näslund said in an earlier exchange with Eyes on the Prize that “records are there to be broken” and wished Hutson the best.
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Juraj Slafkovský started slow this season, but has become a force the next step is to channel his inner Peter Forsberg and master the reverse hit.
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Jakub Dobeš has emerged, and there is not a goalie controversy in Montreal, the fact that the management can relax whomever is in the net for the Canadiens is important and has added to the reason the Canadiens are in the position they are in coming into the sharp end of the season.
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At the end we take a look past the Four Nations Tournament and what is expected of the Canadiens come trade deadline.
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Timestamps:
00:30 – Ivan Demidov
12:00 – Commercial Break
12:15 – Lane Hutson, Calder Trophy, Breaking the Montreal rookie record?
18:30 – Juraj Slafkovský and Forsberg’s Reverse Hit.
22:30 – Jacob Dobes
26:15 – Commercial Break
26:30 – Splash at the Deadline?
