Habs News: Montreal Canadiens, NHL, Ben Chiarot, Shea Weber, Sami Niku, Mattias Norlinder, Atlantic Division, Playoffs

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Niku Reunited With Defence Partner

Recently-signed defenceman Sami Niku met with the local media on Wednesday for the first time. On what happened to bring him from Winnipeg to Montreal, Niku said, “I really needed a fresh start so that’s why I made the decision to terminate the contract.”

“I am more mature than a few years ago,” said Niku. “I want to prove that I can play in the NHL.”

On being in Montreal, Niku said, “I’m really excited to be here and I’m really excited to play in front of the fans here.”

The 24-year-old described himself as “an offensive D-man” who “moves the puck well” adding that he “skates well.” On his goal at training camp, Niku said, “I’ll just work hard and I just need to show the coaches that I deserve to play.”

On Wednesday morning, Niku was paired on the ice with veteran Ben Chiarot. “I played with him in Winnipeg,” said Niku. “We were partners so it’s really nice to see some familiar faces here.”

“[Sami Niku] was my partner for a few games there when he would come up and play with the Jets,” confirmed Chiarot. “Back then he was kind of like a young, up-and-coming prospect. He obviously had a lot of offensive upside. Really calm with the puck on the offensive blue line. Likes to kind of shake the defender and make some moves. (He’s) pretty good moving the puck up the ice from his own end, too He’s got good offensive ability and good puck-moving ability.”

Chiarot on Norlinder, Weber and Rules

In his media availability, Ben Chiarot had praise for his other defence partner at training camp, Mattias Norlinder.

“He’s not far from the NHL. He’s a slick skater, has good offensive instincts,” Chiarot said. “He doesn’t lack confidence, he calls for the puck. You can tell he’s played with men for a few years. I believe he played in the Swedish league for the last couple of years. (He) seems comfortable, kind of makes professional plays and not really any kind of immaturity in his game. He looks like he’s got a great future.”

Chiarot has had an excellent teacher over the past two seasons. “No one is going to be Shea Weber, but if I can even be a small piece of him, I’d be happy with that,” said Chiarot. “By playing next to him, talking to him and seeing him every day, I learned a lot from him, on the way he behaves, on his leadership.”

Chiarot also took the opportunity to chime in on the NHL’s declaration to crack-down on cross-checking. When asked if the focus on rule 59 would change the way he played, Chiarot replied, “My game, probably not at all. I don’t do that ever,” which brought laughter from reporters.

Undoubtedly there will be a bevy of penalties as referees and players adjust to the new level of enforcement.

“I remember the first couple of games when the rules changed it was like 15 penalties a night and it was a little bit of a mess,” Chiarot said. “So hopefully there will be a feeling out the first couple of weeks and then find a sweet spot there where they can get rid of the nasty ones and let the guys play hockey still.”

Injury Update

Defenceman Mattias Norlinder was added to the injury list as he suffered a minor injury during Monday’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Coach Dominique Ducharme said that Norlinder isn’t expected to play in either of the two games this weekend against the Ottawa Senators. Also on the Canadiens current injury list:

Joel Edmundson (undisclosed) – day-to-day
Carey Price (knee surgery) – mid-October
Cole Caufield (upper-body) – day-to-day
Mike Hoffman (lower-body) – mid-October
Paul Byron (hip surgery) – end of December
Josh Brook (knee)
Joel Teasdale (knee)

Forwards / Defence / Goaltenders – Team B

On Wednesday morning, Team B – White practiced at the Bell Sports Complex in Brossard. These were the forward lines, defence pairings and goaltenders:

Tyler Toffoli – Nick Suzuki – Brendan Gallagher
Artturi Lehkonen – Ryan Poehling – Laurent Dauphin
Mathieu Perreault – Cedric Paquette – Alex Belzile
Brandon Baddock – J-C Beaudin – Lukas Vejdemo

Alexander Romanov – Jeff Petry
Brett Kulak – Gianni Fairbrother
Tobie Bisson – Arber Xhekaj
Xavier Ouellet – Louie Belpedio

Cayden Primeau – Michael McNiven

Forwards / Defence / Goaltenders – Team A

On Wednesday morning, Team A – Red practiced at the Bell Sports Complex in Brossard. These were the forward lines, defence pairings and goaltenders:

Jonathan Drouin – Christian Dvorak – Josh Anderson
Rafaël Harvey-Pinard – Jake Evans – Joel Armia
Danick Martel – Jean-Sebastien Dea – Jesse Ylonen
Michael Pezzetta – Jan Mysak – Gabriel Bourque
Alexandre Fortin

Kaiden Guhle – David Savard
Ben Chiarot – Cody Goloubef / Sami Niku
Corey Schueneman – Chris Wideman

Jake Allen – Kevin Poulin

Habs a Playoff Team?

In their season preview, The Athletic is predicting that this year’s edition of the Montreal Canadiens will be “on the outside looking in” when it comes to playoff time. The publication projects that the Canadiens will finish with a record of 40-32-10 for 90 points leaving them fifth place in Atlantic division standings.

Our Rocket Sports contributors have provided analysis of the upcoming NHL campaign. In the Atlantic Division 2021-22 Season Preview, RSM Special Content Contributor Mike Raschle has a more optimistic view of the Canadiens chances this season.

Canadiens Connection podcast

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