Don't panic, nobody was injured at this morning practice. They couldn't have been since practice was cancelled...According to Claude Julien, there's a flu bug making the rounds in the locker-room and it was a precautionary measure to cancel this morning's practice. Only Charlie Lindgren, Ryan Poehling, Jonathan Drouin and Jordan Weal skated. Unsurprisingly, Jonathan Drouin didn't make the trip to New Jersey but he wasn't the only one, Carey Price also stayed behind as he's battling the flu. As a result, Cayden Primeau was called up from Laval and will join the team in the garden state while Christian Folin was recalled this morning and made the trip with the guys earlier today. Hopefully, no one else will have to pull out of tomorrow's game but with a virus like this, you never know. In the good news department, Gallagher confirmed this morning that he's feeling fine and that the whole concussion incident is behind him:
Meanwhile in Laval, Primeau getting called up has also meant that Michael McNiven has been recalled from the ECHL and will rejoin the Rocket. Let's hope he'll get a chance to play when the Rocket takes to the ice on Wednesday night since the Kinkaid experiment is not really going according to plan in Laval. So far, Kinkaid has taken part in 11 games and has a 3.35 GAA and a .880 SP to show for it with a 3-6-2 record. Needless to say that he's far from getting his confidence back as Bergevin said he hoped he would do.
On the bright side of things though, it appears that Kotkaniemi is taking his assignment to the Rocket in stride and even enjoying it. He said on Saturday that it had been his favourite game this season (it's a little bit weird to say that of a game you lead 4-1 only to lose 5-4 in OT but I think we all get what he meant, plenty of ice-time and opportunities to play). After that game, Joel Bouchard said in his postgame comments that the Rocket won more when a lot of his best players were in Montreal than they do now. In other words, the coach needs to make a team out of this bunch of individuals. With Kotkaniemi, Fleury and Brook all down in Laval and Poehling likely to come along soon, Bouchard will have plenty of time to show his development skills. To the naysayers who are already saying that Kotkaniemi is a bust and that the Canadiens should have selected Brady Tkatchuk, please take a deep breath and give the kid a chance. He is 20 years old and was only getting 3rd line minutes in Montreal! Spending some time in Laval can only be beneficial for him and besides, the season is already lost so it's a good thing to take him away from the doom and gloom of Montreal right now and have him take part in a playoffs push.
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»