Habs News: Montreal Canadiens, NHL, Alex Burrows, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Joe Vrbetic, Victor Mete, Pierre-Luc Dubois

ROCKET SPORTS MEDIA | MONTREAL, QC. — This is your one-stop destination every week day for your Canadiens news capsule. Here are your Habs Headlines!

Alex Burrows

Montreal Canadiens signed assistant coach Alex Burrows to a three-year contract extension. The 40 year-old joined the Canadiens coaching staff on February 24th as an assistant to interim head coach Dominique Ducharme when Claude Julien was relieved of his duties.

Burrows’ first appointment with the Canadiens organization was as an assistant coach with the Lava Rocket arriving in 2018. It is a rapid rise to the Habs bench on a rather thin coaching resume for Burrows but he has gained the trust of Ducharme.

Top on Burrows’ off-season to-do list is improving the Canadiens power-play. Montreal was 17th in the league last season with an efficiency of 19.2 percent. The success rate dropped to 18.9 percent in the playoffs.

Prayers for Kotkaniemi family

Mikael, father of Jesperi Kotkaniemi, is recovering from surgery and has taken time away as head coach of Lukko U20 team in Rauma, Finland. The 52-year-old Kotkaniemi recently had an operation to remove a cancerous tumor.

On the team website, they released the following statement:

“Mikael Kotkaniemi and Rauman Lukko ask the media to respect the privacy of the parties. Kotkaniemi, the club or its representatives will not give statements or interviews during the treatment and recovery periods. As a company, we fully support Kotkaniemi and wish him a speedy recovery.”

Mikael Kotkaniemi sivussa U20-joukkueen toiminnasta toistaiseksi

Uutiseen⬇️#JokaPäivä #Lukko #U20fi #Liigahttps://t.co/gd6VAL59cs

— Rauman Lukko (@TeamRaumanLukko) August 3, 2021

Joe Vrbetic

In the recent NHL Entry Draft, the Canadiens selected goaltender Joe Vrbetic from the North Bay Battalion with a seventh round pick, 214th overall. It’s an anxious time for prospects to sit through seven rounds of the draft waiting for their name to be called.

But perhaps draft weekend even more stressful for their parents. To find out, we have an exclusive interview with the parents of Joe Vrbetic on the most recent episode of The Press Zone podcast. The description of their personal experience is fascinating!

Victor Mete

Former Canadiens defenceman Victor Mete signed a one-year contract with the Ottawa Senators worth $1.2 million. The 23-year-old restricted free agent had filed for salary arbitration last Sunday. The two parties were able to come to an agreement to avoid a salary arbitration hearing.

Mete was claimed off waivers by Ottawa from Montreal on April 12th. He had one goal, one assist in 14 games for the Senators last season.

“Victor was a really solid addition to our defense corps over the last month of the season last year,” said Senators general manager Pierre Dorion. “He’s mobile, poised and defensively aware. We’re looking forward to seeing his progression in our lineup in 2021-22.”

Dubois honours Kivlenieks

Winnipeg Jets forward Pierre-Luc Dubois will wear No. 80 next season to honour his friend and former Columbus teammate, the late Matiss Kivlenieks.

Kivlenieks, a Latvian goaltender, died tragically in a fireworks accident during the July 4th weekend in Michigan. Dubois will switch from No. 13, the sweater he has been wearing since arriving in Winnipeg.

Canadiens Connection podcast

Current Habs topics were discussed on this week’s episode of the Canadiens Connection. Listen, share and subscribe!

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