Stu Cowan

Article content Rob Ramage, the Canadiens' director of player development, won't be surprised that Oliver Kapanen now looks like he has a real chance to make the team this season.

"I don't think there's ever any guarantees whether you do surgery or not," says Hab who is expected to be out 2-3 months with knee sprain.

Advertisement 1 Share this Story : Canadiens' Patrik Laine made the decision not to have knee surgery Canadiens' Patrik Laine made the decision not to have knee surgery "I don't think there's ever any guarantees whether you do surgery or not," says Hab who is expected to be out 2-3 months with knee sprain. Author of the article: • Montreal Gazette Advertisement 2 Article content Canadiens' Patrik Laine made the decision not to have knee surgery Back to video The knee-on-knee collision Laine had with the Maple Leafs' Cédric Paré while entering the offensive zone on a power play looked like it might have resulted in a season-ending injury. Instead, it was only a sprained left knee and Laine is expected to be sidelined for 2-3 months. Laine, who is still on crutches, made the trip to Mont-Tremblant with his teammates on Wednesday as training camp continues and spoke with reporters there on Thursday morning for the first time since his injury. Laine said it was his decision — after seeing a “couple of doctors” and getting “some good opinions” — not to have surgery on the knee. “But the team and everybody else gave me all the help with that and, at the end of the day, just decided not to do surgery and just do rehab and let it heal,” Laine told reporters in Mont-Tremblant. “It's my knee after all. It was just one of those it could go either way. Advertisement 3 Article content “I don't think there's ever any guarantees whether you do surgery or not,” Laine added. “I'm sure me and the medical staff and everybody else will do everything we can to make sure it will be great once I come back. They did a good job kind of explaining the whole process and situation we're in and reassuring that the chances are very high and all that stuff. So that made me feel a little bit better about it. Now just got to put in the work, but we got a great medical staff so I'm not worried about it.” Laine didn't place the blame on Paré for the hit that injured him. “I don't think anybody's trying to hurt anybody,” Laine said. “Hockey's a fast game and I just kind of put myself in that situation a little bit. He's trying to make a stop. Just unfortunate collision. He texted me afterwards — give him respect for that. But just an unfortunate play.” Advertisement 4 Article content Advertisement 5 Article content Laine hasn't played a regular-season game in the NHL since last Dec. 14 when he suffered a broken left clavicle that required surgery. Laine then entered the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program in January while dealing with mental-health issues. He was playing in only his second pre-season game with the Canadiens after being acquired from the Columbus Blue Jackets during the off-season when he suffered the knee injury. “It was pretty miserable the first couple of days when I got the calls and the diagnosis and the MRIs and stuff,” he told reporters in Mont-Tremblant. “That was pretty emotional. Fought back so hard to get back on the ice and being excited again and second game and second shift to get hurt again. But it's just the way it is. In this sport you get hurt sometimes and just try to stay positive. But at least now I'll have the second half of the season when I come back, so that will be good.” Advertisement 6 Article content Laine said it was also good to make the trip to Mont-Tremblant with his new teammates. “It's fun to be around,” he said. “Obviously, much rather be on the ice. But kind of dodged a bullet with the knee. Could have been much worse. I'm not still happy with the injury, but it is what it is and just try to stay positive. But we'll be back.” Advertisement 7 Article content Article content Share this article in your social network Share this Story : Canadiens' Patrik Laine made the decision not to have knee surgery Comments Join the Conversation Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information. Latest National Stories News Near Elliot Lake Featured Local Savings

Forward taken in fifth round of NHL Draft in 2021 has impressed Montreal head coach Martin St. Louis both with and without the puck.

Advertisement 1 Share this Story : Stu Cowan: Canadiens' gamble on Joshua Roy at draft is paying off Stu Cowan: Canadiens' gamble on Joshua Roy at draft is paying off Forward taken in fifth round of NHL Draft in 2021 has impressed Montreal head coach Martin St. Louis both with and without the puck. Author of the article: • Montreal Gazette Article content Joshua Roy and Connor Bedard still keep in touch. Advertisement 2 Article content Stu Cowan: Canadiens' gamble on Joshua Roy at draft is paying off Back to video “He texted me last year after I got my first game in the NHL and my first goal,” the Canadiens' Roy said during a recent training-camp interview about Bedard, who was the No. 1 overall pick by the Chicago Blackhawks at the 2023 NHL Draft. “We're not like best friends, but sometimes we text each other.” Roy and Bedard were linemates when Team Canada won the IIHF world junior championship in 2023. Bedard led the tournament in scoring with 9-14-23 totals in seven games, while Roy had 5-6-11 totals. “He was unreal,” Bedard told reporters at the tournament in Halifax about Roy's performance. “He's one of the smartest players that I've got to play with.” Roy and Bedard were both No. 1 overall picks in their respective junior leagues. The Saint John Sea Dogs took Roy with the first pick at the 2019 QMJHL Draft, while the Regina Pats took Bedard with the first pick at the 2020 WHL Draft after he was granted Exceptional Player Status by Hockey Canada, which made him eligible to play in the junior league at age 15. Advertisement 3 Article content Advertisement 4 Article content Roy had some struggles during his first season in the QMJHL, posting 16-28-44 totals in 60 games, while Bedard had 12-16-28 totals in 15 games as a 15-year-old with the Pats and followed that up with 51-49-100 totals in 62 games the next season. In Roy's second junior season, the Sea Dogs traded him to the Sherbrooke Phoenix after he had 9-8-17 totals in 15 games. Roy had 13-5-18 totals in 20 games with the Phoenix after the trade, but his stock was dropping. The Canadiens decided to take a chance on the Saint-Georges-De-Beauce native, selecting him in the fifth round (150th overall) of the 2021 NHL Draft. That's looking like a very smart decision. “We see the skill that he has,” Trevor Timmins, the Canadiens' former assistant general manager, said after drafting Roy. “He has natural scoring ability and we think with our guidance he's going to be able to progress his game on and off the ice. Advertisement 5 Article content “We feel that he's going to be a late bloomer and he's got natural ability,” Timmins added. “I think this summer just really realizing what it takes to be a pro.” Advertisement 6 Article content Dropping to the fifth round of the NHL Draft was a wake-up call for Roy, who realized he could no longer get by on natural talent alone and would have to work much harder on his off-ice training. He did that and posted 51-68-119 totals in 66 games with the Phoenix the season after the Canadiens drafted him. Roy had a successful rookie year in the AHL last season, posting 13-19-32 totals in 41 games with the Laval Rocket, and also played 23 games with the Canadiens, posting 4-5-9 totals. He is expected to start this season with the Canadiens and also have a spot on the power play. The 21-year-old Roy said playing with Bedard highlighted how it takes more than talent alone to be successful. “What impressed me the most is he doesn't take anything for granted,” Roy said about Bedard. “He's still working hard. He's always the first on the ice, the last off the ice. It's very remarkable.” Advertisement 7 Article content Roy's hockey sense is the strongest part of his game and it allowed him to get by mostly on skill alone when he had 38-50-88 totals in 42 games with the midget Triple-A Lévis Chevaliers in 2018-19 before being the No. 1 pick at the QMJHL Draft. He said the trade from Saint John to Sherbrooke helped him. “I think I learned just to focus on myself and just work hard and never give up,” he said. “I worked a lot on my body and I think that helped me a lot. I saw the difference right away and since then it's been pretty good.” Roy has impressed Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis both with and without the puck. St. Louis calls Roy a “very intelligent player.” “He's always ready for what's next,” St. Louis said. “He doesn't kill the play. He's playing the game. If it's time to chip a puck to speed he'll do that. You can see he's got poise to buy a little time and hit the guy who's going to be free. He lets the play evolve.” Advertisement 8 Article content Veteran defenceman David Savard has also been impressed by Roy. “I think he's more and more comfortable every game,” Savard said. “You see him making more plays, making better reads. He's still really young, but he's just making good plays out there. You want players like that on the ice. He's creating without giving you turnovers and stuff like this, which sometimes as a young guy is hard to do. “I think he's really fitting in and he's really into the system and he's playing well for us,” Savard added. “So it's good to see a young guy come in like this.” Advertisement 9 Article content Article content Share this article in your social network Share this Story : Stu Cowan: Canadiens' gamble on Joshua Roy at draft is paying off Comments Join the Conversation Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information. Latest National Stories News Near Elliot Lake Featured Local Savings

Young Habs defenceman seems to have the mentality and maturity to handle pressure, but staying off social media would be a good idea.

Advertisement 1 Share this Story : Stu Cowan: Canadiens' Lane Hutson should be wary of bright Montreal spotlight Stu Cowan: Canadiens' Lane Hutson should be wary of bright Montreal spotlight Young Habs defenceman seems to have the mentality and maturity to handle pressure, but staying off social media would be a good idea. Author of the article: • Montreal Gazette Article content Here's some free advice for Canadiens defenceman Lane Hutson as he heads into his first full season in the NHL: Stay off social media. Advertisement 2 Article content Stu Cowan: Canadiens' Lane Hutson should be wary of bright Montreal spotlight Back to video That's easier said than done for a 20-year-old who is part of Generation Z that basically lives on their smartphones. Veteran Canadiens defenceman Mike Matheson has the same advice for Hutson. “For some reason, people seem to be very excited about being negative on social media,” said the 30-year-old Matheson, a father of two young children who is entering his 10th NHL season. “For every one or two positive comments there's probably 50 negative ones. Regardless of what you're doing, it's not a very great place to be. To wake up every day and just see negativity and still be energetic and have a positive outlook on life … “I think regardless of what you're doing — it doesn't matter if you're a hockey player or not — it can help to maybe stay away from it.” Advertisement 3 Article content Same thing for a sports writer? “Yeah, exactly,” Matheson said with a smile. Unfortunately, it's part of my job to be on social media — but it's not part of Hutson's job. There has been a lot of hype around Hutson during training camp — and rightly so — because of his unique offensive skill set as a 5-foot-10, 162-pound defenceman. He's just so much fun to watch. Advertisement 4 Article content “Obviously, I know there's excitement,” Hutson said about the fan reaction. “But I'm not too concerned about what people are saying because it's not within our group. I really care about what the coaches are saying, what my teammates think. I'm looking to help any way I can to hopefully win some more games.” That's a great attitude. Hutson can get some tips about handling the pressure of playing in Montreal's bright hockey spotlight by talking with teammate Juraj Slafkovsky, who has handled it with a maturity way beyond his age (20) since being the No. 1 overall pick at the 2022 NHL Draft. One of the reasons the Canadiens took Slafkovsky with the first pick is that they believed he had the mentality and maturity to handle the pressure. Advertisement 5 Article content Hutson seems to have those same qualities. “I can say what you guys describe as his lowest, they're never as low as you think they are,” Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis told the media this week when asked about Slafkovsky's development. “And you guys can write as high as it is, it's never as high as you think it is. “I'm not going to come to Slaf and say, ‘This is the lowest I've seen you,'” St. Louis added. “‘Slaf, is this the lowest you've been?' Your mind listens to the thoughts that you have, OK. It does. So you have to be careful and that's why I tell our players don't read the paper. Don't go on social media. Because your mind will listen to your thoughts and your thoughts become your actions. So that's my take on that.” Advertisement 6 Article content Advertisement 7 Article content One of the big adjustments Hutson will have this season is going through an 82-game NHL schedule after playing only 77 games over the past two seasons at Boston University in a much shorter NCAA season. Hutson posted 30-67-97 totals during that span after the Canadiens selected him in the second round (62nd overall) of the 2022 NHL Draft. Canadiens centre Jake Evans had to make the same adjustment after never playing more than 41 games during his four seasons at the University of Notre Dame. Evans was able to adjust to a longer schedule by playing two seasons with the AHL's Laval Rocket before joining the Canadiens. Hutson is making the jump directly from the NCAA to the NHL. Advertisement 8 Article content “When you're in the American league, some of those cities aren't the most fun to visit,” Evans said. “It gets dark sometimes and it is tiring. For Lane, he'll probably see some of his friends soon working 9-to-5 jobs and we're playing the sport we love. So that's one way to look at it.” Evans added that keeping a positive attitude during the gruelling NHL season is a key. “With travel and all these games and practices it does get a little tiring,” Evans said. “But there's nothing better in the world than playing a sport you love for a job. So I'm sure he'll enjoy it. It's a big adjustment playing about 50 more games and a lot of travel. So enjoy it. You got all the time in the world to treat your body well and it's a fun job.” Evans also suggests Hutson stay off social media and not pay attention to what the media is saying or writing. “It's a really fun city to play in and it's very passionate fans,” Evans said. “Sometimes you can get caught up if you're in a bit of a slump and reading about yourself and thinking the fans aren't with you. They're always with you. Just enjoy it.” Advertisement 9 Article content Article content Share this article in your social network Share this Story : Stu Cowan: Canadiens' Lane Hutson should be wary of bright Montreal spotlight Comments Join the Conversation Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information. Latest National Stories News Near Elliot Lake Featured Local Savings

Defenceman had surgery to remove his appendix on Sept. 18, the same day the Habs opened training camp.

Advertisement 1 Share this Story : Canadiens' Kaiden Guhle says he will be ready to start the NHL season Canadiens' Kaiden Guhle says he will be ready to start the NHL season Defenceman had surgery to remove his appendix on Sept. 18, the same day the Habs opened training camp. Author of the article: • Montreal Gazette Article content Canadiens defenceman Kaiden Guhle says he will be ready to start the NHL season after having surgery to remove his appendix on Sept. 18, the day the team opened training camp. Advertisement 2 Article content Canadiens' Kaiden Guhle says he will be ready to start the NHL season Back to video On Friday, Guhle told reporters in Mont-Tremblant — where the Canadiens practised Thursday and Friday — he would like to be in the lineup for the final pre-season game Saturday in Ottawa (7 p.m., TSN5, RDS), but will be ready for the season opener even if he doesn't play against the Senators. The Canadiens will open the regular season next Wednesday at the Bell Centre against the Toronto Maple Leafs (7 p.m., SN, TVA Sports). “I'm ready,” Guhle told reporters in Mont-Tremblant after taking part in Friday's practice. “I feel good. Whenever they need me to play, I'll be ready to play. If that's tomorrow or if that's Game 1, whatever, I'll be ready to go. “It would be nice to play one game (in the pre-season) just maybe get a little bit of the rust off,” Guhle added. “But if I don't I'm going to have no problems jumping in on (Wednesday).” Advertisement 3 Article content The 22-year-old Guhle is entering his third NHL season after being selected by the Canadiens in the first round (16th overall) of the 2020 NHL Draft. He was limited to 44 games during his rookie season because of injuries and missed 12 games last season, posting 6-16-22 totals in 70 games. “One night was really bad,” Guhle told reporters in Mont-Tremblant on Friday when asked about his appendix surgery. “Kind of had a little bit of pain for a few days and then just got it checked out. Caught it really early, which is good. We just felt that it was best to just take it out and get it over with and that's that. “One ounce lighter,” he added with a grin. Advertisement 4 Article content Guhle likes the makeup of the Canadiens' young defence group, which includes Arber Xhekaj (23), Jayden Struble (23), Justin Barron (22), Logan Mailloux (21) and Lane Hutson (20). “I think everyone's just getting older,” Guhle said. “Everyone's getting more mature, more comfortable in the league. Not comfortable, but more familiar I guess you could say. I think just maturity back there is huge and you want guys to play games. That's huge. You ask anyone that's played in the league and they all say that you just need to play games. I feel like we're getting to that point. “I feel like you can even see in practice everyone's more mature and just kind of figuring it out and getting to that point,” Guhle added. “So I think we're just getting more mature.” Advertisement 5 Article content Guhle has been impressed by what he has seen from Hutson during the 5-foot-10, 162-pound defenceman's first training camp with the Canadiens after spending the last two seasons at Boston University. “He looks good,” Guhle said about Hutson, who had 30-67-97 totals in 77 games over the last two seasons at Boston University after being selected by the Canadiens in the second round (62nd overall) of the 2022 NHL Draft. “Obviously, you guys see he's a wizard with the puck. He does some crazy things. It's fun to watch. Every time he's got the puck up there you know he's going to make a play and something's going to happen. He's had a great camp so far. He looks good.” Advertisement 6 Article content Article content Share this article in your social network Share this Story : Canadiens' Kaiden Guhle says he will be ready to start the NHL season Comments Join the Conversation Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information. Latest National Stories News Near Elliot Lake Featured Local Savings

Justin Barron will likely stay with Habs for same reason goalie Cayden Primeau did last season, while Jayden Struble could be odd man out.