Habs News: NHL, Montreal Canadiens, Nick Suzuki, NHL Draft, Gary Bettman, France Margaret Belanger, Laval Rocket, Trois-Rivieres Lions, Bell Centre
ROCKET SPORTS MEDIA | LAVAL, QC. — Nick Suzuki was the Canadiens lone representative at this weekend’s All-Star Game festivities in Las Vegas. Suzuki took part of the Discover NHL Fountain Face-Off event, which took place on the Bellagio Fountain. The eight participants were required to successfully shoot pucks into five targets in the least amount of time.
Suzuki finished sixth place with a time of 22.155 seconds. “It was pretty cool, just being on the fountain in the water, travelled by boat to the ice rink on there. It was a lot of fun.”
On Saturday, Suzuki was held off the scoresheet in the Atlantic Division’s 8-5 loss against the Central Division. The forward took one shot on goal and finished minus-1 in 6:06 of ice time.
“It was a lot of fun, just being around the guys getting experiences for the first time was pretty cool. I just tried to have fun, and not stress about it too much,” Suzuki said.
The London, Ontario native had the opportunity to meet and spend time with Bruins’ center Patrice Bergeron. Suzuki tried to model his play to Bergeron. “He’s been great all weekend, checking in on me every now and then. He’s a great guy, and it was nice to get to know,” Suzuki said on the Bruins forward.
Nick se fait de nouveaux amis cette fin de semaine.
Nick's making new friends in Vegas.#MatchDesÉtoiles | #NHLAllStar pic.twitter.com/f8VivSwEC6
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) February 5, 2022
All-In
The Canadiens resume their eight-game home stand on Tuesday when the New Jersey Devils visit the Bell Centre. With 38 games remaining in Montreal’s season, the team will want to show that they’re better than their record indicates.
“We have a lot to prove, and improve on. Hopefully, we can get guys back healthy, and once we’re a full team, I think we can beat anybody. We’re definitely in a big hole, and just have to try to win as many games as possible down the stretch,” Suzuki said in Las Vegas.
Kent Hughes is expected to busy up to the March 21st trade deadline. The general manager has already started receiving phone calls from other general managers to discuss trades. Hughes will be selling assets to other teams, as he changes the make up of the team.
“With how we’re playing this year, you never know what’s going to happen. Whatever the new management thinks is the best route to become a better team, I’m all-in for. I think we’ll see by the trade deadline what kind of deals we’re going to make,” Suzuki stated confidence in the new management.
Draft in Doubt
The 2022 NHL Entry Draft will take place on July 7th and 8th at the Bell Centre. On Friday, Gary Bettman added a caveat. “Our plan is to conduct the 2022 NHL Draft in-person and with fans in the stands at Bell Centre in Montreal on July 7th and July 8th. Although if, in fact, the current restrictions are still in place, not only can’t we have fans, I don’t think we could have all the NHL and club personnel that we need to conduct the draft.”
The current restrictions in Quebec limit indoor events to 500 fans. “And if the restrictions are still in place, we’re going to have to consider doing something else with the draft other than conducting it in Montreal, but hopefully the restrictions and the COVID impact will be eased by then,” added the commissioner. Bettman confirmed that the draft would be moved to another city, and not be converted to a virtual event if current restrictions are still in place.
The Canadiens are hoping to host the NHL Draft as scheduled. “We ardently wish to be able to receive the draft in Montreal. We sincerely hope that the question of restrictions will be resolved once and for all, so that we can receive the 31 teams and NHL personnel. We’re hopeful, and believe it will happen,” France Margaret Belanger, President, Sports and Entertainment told Journal de Montreal.
Montreal was awarded the 2020 NHL Draft, but the league was forced to run it virtually due to the pandemic. “It’s one thing to say in July, that we are 100 percent and that everything is fine. However, it is important that we can show [Gary Bettman] very soon that we are going to be good,” Belanger added.
Rocket Lose Key Pieces
The Rocket wrapped up a five-game road trip with a pair of matchups on the weekend. On Friday, Laval trailed 2-0 against Utica after 20 minutes before tying the score in the last 40 minutes and force overtime. The Comets needed 21 seconds to come out with 3-2 win.
“We’re a team that never gives up. I love our effort, I love our passion. It’s fun to be behind the bench of a group that lays it all out on the line every night,” Jean-Francois Houle said after the game.
Alex Belzile and Jean-Sebastien Dea both left the game during the first period with injuries. With Lukas Vejdemo already out due to injury following Wednesday’s game, that left Houle without his best three centers. No timeline has been provided for the absence of the three forwards.
On Saturday, the Senators outplayed the Rocket for 60 minutes in a 6-1 win. “The energy level was very low tonight, after an emotional game last night, and the travel,” Houle said. “Tonight, we had too many wrong players in the wrong chairs.” Cameron Hillis was recalled from Trois-Rivieres on Sunday.
Laval has allowed the first goal in the last three matches. “Whenever you trail from behind three games in a row, it’s almost impossible to come back all the time. I think it’s important for us to have better starts,” the coach said.
The Rocket host the Syracuse Crunch on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday at Place Bell.
Lions Get Swept
Trois-Rivieres concluded a three game series against Maine on Saturday. The game was delayed by 30 minutes due to problems with the ice. Prior to the beginning of warmups, there was a Zamboni malfunction that created a hole in the ice. Following discussions between the two teams, a decision was made to play the match in the second ice rink inside the Colisee Videotron.
Cameron Hillis scored twice to help the Lions come back from a 4-1 deficit with seven minutes remaining to force the game to overtime. It took Mariners 1:30 to score the winning goal, four seconds after Hillis stepped out of the penalty box after serving a double minor.
Maine swept the three game series against Trois-Rivieres. It was the first time that the Lions have lost three straight games since their inaugural three games of the season.
“It’s still the same story as the other games, because we dominated in the shots column, in scoring chances, but we weren’t able to put the puck in the net. We made defensive mistakes that cost us three goals. We are in a stretch where the puck isn’t bouncing in our favour, our opponent takes advantage of every mistake and we’re undisciplined. At least we found a way to get back into the game and showed some character. We’re not playing badly,” Eric Belanger said.
The Lions head to Reading to face the Royals on Friday and Saturday.
(Quotes courtesy of Le Nouvelliste)
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