Gold for Montembeault, Barron | Habs Notepad

By
Chris G
-
0
57
Team Canada, World Hockey Champions 2023 (photo via Canadiens.com)

Habs News: NHL, Montreal Canadiens, Samuel Montembeault, Justin Barron, Lane Hutson, Sean Farrell, Luke Tuch, Joe Vrbetic, Frederik Dichow, Owen Beck, Jared Davidson, Trois-Rivieres Lions

Team Canada, World Hockey Champions 2023 (photo via Canadiens.com)

ROCKET SPORTS MEDIA | LAVAL, QC. — The Canadiens were represented by five players in the final weekend of the IIHF World Men’s Championships.

On Saturday, Sam Montembeault made 20 saves to help Canada head to the gold medal game with a 4-2 win versus Latvia. The goalie stopped 21 pucks on Sunday as Canada defeated Germany 5-2 to be crowned the winners of the competition. Montembeault had 6-1 record, 1.42 goals against average and .939 save percentage in seven starts for his country.

Justin Barron collected one assist and one shot on goal in Saturday’s win with 9:40 ice time. In the gold medal game, Barron obtained one shot on goal and plus-1 in 12:18 ice time. He finished the tournament with three points, plus-2 in 10 games.

Lane Hutson was held off the scoresheet in the United States’ semifinal loss to Germany on Saturday and in the bronze medal game on Sunday against Latvia. Hutson finished the tournament with six points and plus-7 in nine games.

Sean Farrell did not record any points in the semifinal. The forward took two shots on goal and finished minus-2 with 12:55 ice time. In Sunday’s bronze medal game, Farrell was limited to 1:42 ice time. There was no apparent injury that occurred during the match. He finished the competition with two points in 10 matches.

Luke Tuch was not dressed for the two contests over the weekend. He played in four games and recorded one goal for the US.

Memorial Cup 

The Canadiens organization are represented in the Canadian Hockey League’s (CHL) Memorial Cup by Owen Beck and Jared Davidson.

Beck scored one goal and took two shots on goal on Saturday in his first game of the tournament in Peterborough’s loss to Seattle. He won 54 percent of the faceoffs during the contest.

On Sunday, the 19-year old took one shot on goal in Peterborough’s 10-2 lopsided loss to Kamloops. The Pete’s return to the ice on Tuesday against the Quebec Remparts.

Davidson tallied one assist, five shots and plus-1 in Saturday’s win against Peterborough. Seattle’s next match is on Monday against the Remparts.

Upcoming Goaltending Decisions

Canadiens management has several outstanding decisions on their to-do list before the start of next season. Besides the draft that will take place on June 28th and 29th, there are important decisions for Kent Hughes to make about the team’s goaltending.

The first decision needs to be made before Thursday 5:00 pm. Eastern whether the organization wants to retain player rights to Joe Vrbetic and Frederik Dichow. If there’s no deal in place by the deadline, the goaltenders will become unrestricted free agents.

Vrbetic was selected in the seventh round of the 2021 draft. This season, the 20-year old played 28 games for the Trois-Rivieres Lions and had a 14-12 record, 3.30 goals against average and .896 save percentage. He also had a brief stint with the Laval Rocket, where he had 2-1 record, 4.05 goals against average and .871 save percentage.

Dichow was chosen in the fifth round of the 2019 draft. This season, the 22-year old played 16 games for Frolunda HC in the SHL, where he had 8-7 record, 2.76 goals against average and .899 save percentage. He represented Denmark in the IIHF World Championships and had 3-2 record, 2.30 goals against average and .911 save percentage in five starts.

Lions Schedule Announced 

On Thursdau, the ECHL announced the 2023-24 schedule for all 32 clubs. The Trois-Rivieres Lions kickoff the season on Friday, October 20th by hosting the Maine Mariners.

The Lions schedule is more diverse compared to their first two seasons. Trois-Rivieres will square off against the South Carolina Stingrays, Atlanta Gladiators, Savannah Ghost Riders and Idaho Steelheads for the first time in franchise history.

The longest road trip of the year will begin on November 22nd when the Lions head to Norfolk, South Carolina, Savannah and Jacksonville for a total of seven games. The longest homestand is in March when Adirondack, Worcester and Idaho visit Colisee Videotron for a total of five matches.

February will be a quiet month as there’s only seven games on the schedule for Trois-Rivieres. The team will need to take advantage of February to work on anything that needs improvement at that time, because practice time will be limited in March as there’s 15 games in 31 days on the schedule.

There are key decisions expected to be made by the organization before the start of the season. The Lions are rumoured to be for sale and a new president to replace Mark Weightman has not been hired. In addition, a decision has not been announced whether Marc-Andre Bergeron will keep the duel role of coach and general manager or if a new bench boss will be hired.

Listen to the Canadiens Connection podcast

Sportsnet’s draft analyst Sam Cosentino joined the show to discuss three players who Kent Hughes may be considering with the 5th overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft.

Here’s a brand new episode of the Canadiens Connection podcast!

Listen in the player below, share and subscribe!

By Chris G., Senior Writer
Habs Hockey Report
Copyright © 2023 Rocket Sports

===

Leave your comments below or on social media. I am looking forward to interacting with all of you. You can reach me on Twitter @ChrisHabs360

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR