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Back to the Grind and Rivalry Series |
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Follow me @KarineHains for all updates about the Montreal Canadiens and women's hockey
Prior to practice, the Canadiens announced that Kirby Dach would not be taking part as he was receiving treatment. There’s no official word about what might be wrong with Dach, but one can assume that the shot Gudas took at him may have something to do with it.
With the Canadiens current shortage of healthy forwards, no one took over Dach’s spot as 2nd line center, in fact, you can barely talk about lines when there are two lines and two duos. Unsurprisingly, the top line of Pitlick-Suzuki-Anderson was all present and accounted for just like the “Laval line” made up of Harvey-Pinard, Belzile and Pezzetta . Meanhile, Hoffman and Ylonen were the second line duo and Dvorak and Dadonov were the other one. As for Sean Monahan, he practiced as an extra in a no-contact jersey.
In his post practice media availability, St-Louis gave praises to his “Laval line” and added that playing with guys like Harvey-Pinard and Belzile may be better suited to Pezzetta’s style than playing with more offensive players like Hoffman and Dadonov for instance. St-Louis said: “It’s easier for him to play his game when he’s got players with him that are more north-south type of players”.
As for the Canadiens’ next opponent, St-Louis concedes that they are having quite the season and that the league record for the least losses in a season is a possibility for them, although he pointed out that it won’t be an easy task, it’s harder to do in today’s hockey.
Interestingly, Pat Hickey asked the coach how close his team was to being a playoffs team and St-Louis said: “I don’t know. It’s hard to answer that question mid-season. Besides, it’s better if I concentrate on the process rather than the results right now, building a good culture, a team that acts the same no matter who’s in the line-up, that’s going to help us become a playoffs team faster”.
Will the Canadiens be able to cause another upset on Tuesday night against Boston just like they did against Toronto on Saturday? It remains to be seen. One thing’s for sure though, if they want to manage it, they’ll need to bring the same kind of energy to the table, even though a Tuesday night tilt is less glamorous than a Saturday night hockey in Canada battle against the Leafs.
If you fancy a change of pace, especially with the Canadiens struggling this season, you might want to check out the Rivalry Series which will come to Trois-Rivières and Laval on February 20th and 22nd. Tickets are currently on sale for the two games which will feature the Canadian women’s national team and the American women’s national team. Tickets start at $29 and you can get first row tickets for 39$, well worth it for what should be a night of great entertainment. That’s your chance to catch Habs’ player development consultant Marie-Philip Poulin in action.
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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