So last night, the Canadiens eliminated the Senators from the playoffs with a 2-0 win in Ottawa in game 6...no wait, that was on TVA Sports last night but it actually happened back in 2015. Yes, that is what it has come to ladies and gents. I'll admit that I watched it for a while, seeing a very young Gallagher get the game-winning goal was fun and it was even more fun to see him make the Sens lose their head because of his mischievous grin. It was a blast from the past to see P.K. Subban wear the bleu,blanc,rouge again and be copiously booed by the home fans and boy did that game make me miss Andrei Markov...he really is the one that got away. Too late to bring him back now but it's easy to see why his departure shook our blue line so much. You'd like to have a blast from the past too? Well, tune in to TVA Sports Tuesday at 19:00 to see the Canadiens vanquish the Bruins at the 2016 Winter Classic in Foxboro AKA that time I chanted "Go Habs Go" in a Bruins' fans tailgate on their home turf and I lived to tell the tale. RDS has also announced that it will treat us to some nostalgia too, get ready to relive the 2010 playoffs as they will show game number 6 of the Habs vs Caps first round match-up on Tuesday at 19:00, game 7 on Thursday at 19:00 and games 6 and 7 of the second round match-up against the Penguins on Tuesday 24th and Thursday the 26th at 19:00. I know, it's not the same as live games BUT the Habs were good back then so it makes for a nice change.
In other news, Marc Bergevin has said in a recent interview that he believes that Cole Caufield could benefit from another year in the NCAA playing for the Wisconsin Badgers but will Caufield want to do that? In the last few days, 2 Badgers signed their first professional contract: Alex Turcotte who was drafted 5th overall by the Kings last year and was a line-mate of Caufield at times with the Wisconsin outfit and K'Andre Miller, a left handed d-man drafted 22nd overall by the Rangers at the 2018 draft. Seeing them move on might make Caufield want to take the next step even more, especially considering he had already said that he had no intention of completing his college stay from quite early on unlike Ryan Poehling. Add to that the fact that he was a dominating force in the NCAA this season and he may well think that he needs a new challenge. In 36 games this season, he gathered 19 goals and 36 points and he's nominated for the best freshman award and the best player award:
If this season has made one thing clear though it's that Montreal is a long way away from being contenders and you could add to that the fact that Claude Julien doesn't necessarily do well coaching youngsters. Jesperi Kotkaniemi's comments after being sent down to Laval made that quite clear. So what should the Habs do with their last 1st pick? To me, it's too early for Montreal, he is only 5'7" and could definitely do with more time to build up his frame. Like it or not, the NHL is a man's league and right now, Caufield could be manhandled quite easily. That being said, so is the AHL but that is at least a development league which the NHL really isn't. Besides, it's also clear from this season's performance that the Rocket sure could use some help and that might just be the right way to ease Caufield in. Since the Badgers' season is now over, we can expect Bergevin to have a talk with the young forward soon, Covid-19 permitting of course...
Finally, the Canadiens have just announced that they will follow in other team's footsteps and pay 75% of the salary of the employees that should have worked the last 4 home games of the season for the Habs and the last 8 for the Rocket. No doubt the employees will be happy to hear that since losing that kind of money can make it difficult to make ends meet. As for the players, they are killing time in various ways, Dale Weise asked his followers what he should be tweeting about:
While the Habs are trying to cheer us up with dog pictures:
And are even encouraging us to watch a live EA NHL 20 sim of the Anaheim-Montreal game that should have taken place today:
The League said it hopes to resume its activities soon but given the current state of affairs, the odds are not looking good right now. Québec's prime minister started by forbidding indoors events of more than 250 people on Thursday, then on Friday he said that everyone who can work from home should, yesterday he strongly advised people who are over 70 years old to stay home unless they absolutely need to go out and today, they asked that cinemas, bowling alleys and the likes be shut down for now. Even with all those measures though, the number of cases of Covid-19 in Canada (320) and in Québec (39) is still climbing. Right now, it's hard to be optimistic about the NHL being back on the ice anytime soon.
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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