Habs News: Montreal Canadiens, NHL, NHLPA, CBA, Return to Play, Phase 3, Phase 4, Max Domi, Bell Centre, Alexander Romanov, Karl Alzner, training camp

ROCKET SPORTS MEDIA | LAVAL, QC. — Friday evening was certainly the most excited hockey fans have been since March 12th. At 7:08 pm Eastern time, the National Hockey League (NHL) and the National Hockey League Players Association (NHLPA) officially ratified a four-year extension to the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) and a Return to Play Plan. According to reports, the owners unanimously voted in favour for the agreement, while 78.8 percent of the players did the same.

Phase 3 

The majority of the Canadiens players took part of the voluntary training activities, Phase 2, in Brossard. The notable additions to the group of players was Jesperi Kotkaniemi after suffering a spleen injury in March while playing with the Rocket, and Ryan Poehling after suffering an undisclosed injury in February with Laval. Both players hadn’t returned to action before the American Hockey League (AHL) season was put on hold.

The Canadiens announced on Sunday, the 33-player roster that will participate in the formal training camp, beginning on Monday. The roster is composed of 17 forwards, 12 defensemen, and four goalies.

On Sunday, The Athletic reported that at least three Canadiens players have tested positive for COVID-19 in recent days. As part of the Return to Play plan agreed upon by the NHL and NHLPA, teams are not permitted to disclose any injury or illness information during Phases 3 and 4. The league will regularly announce test results without identifying affected players or teams.   

Any player may individually choose not to participate in Phases 3 and 4 without discipline or penalty, as long as the team is notified by 5:00 pm Eastern time on Monday. The Canadiens announced on Saturday that Karl Alzner decided to opt out from the last two phases.  

On Sunday, the organization announced that the team has agreed with forward Max Domi to wait for a 7-to-10 day period before deciding if he would join his teammates at training camp. I’m expecting that in the end, Domi will not be permitted to participate in Phases 3 and 4, because he has type-1 diabetes.

The Return to Play Plan indicates that any player that is determined to be at substantial risk of developing a serious illness as a result of exposure to coronavirus will be deemed to be unfit to play and shall not be permitted to participate. 

Phase 4

The Canadiens will travel to Toronto on July 26th to begin Phase 4, and will play one exhibition game between July 28 and 30th. Each organization will be allowed to bring up to 52 people to the hub city, while respecting the conditions listed below:

1. A roster of no more than thirty-one (31) Players
2. Three (3) Coaches
3. Two (2) Club Athletic Trainers
4. One (1) Club Physician
5. One (1) Equipment Manager
6. One (1) Massage Therapist
7. One (1) ART Therapist/Chiropractor
8. One (1) Content Creator/Social Media individual
9. One (1) NHL security representative
10. One (1) representative to serve as the Club Compliance Officer

The Canadiens begin their best-of-5 series on August 1st against the Penguins. All Habs games will be broadcast on TV by Sportsnet (English) and TVA Sports (French), while TSN690 (English) and 98.5fm (French) will carry the games on the radio.

Alexander Romanov

For those fans hoping to watch Alexander Romanov play against the Penguins were disappointed to find out that he won’t be eligible. Romanov can sign an entry-level contract this season but will not be eligible to play until next season, according to the new NHL/NHLPA Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Romanov was included in the announced training camp roster, therefore he will sign his contact during the window which will be starting at noon ET on Monday and running through 5 p.m. ET on Wednesday. Even though he won’t be eligible to play during the Stanley Cup Qualifiers or Playoffs, this season will count toward his entry-level contract, and will be allowed to practice with his teammates during the two remaining phases.  

On May 8th, the Canadiens had announced that they had agreed to terms on a three-year, entry-level contract with the defenseman. The agreement had no start date due to the pause. I doubt that either party had imagined that there would be a scenario that the season would resume without Romanov being permitted to play.   

Bell Centre

On Thursday, the Athletic published a NHL arena ranking compiled by their beat writers. All arenas were ranked based on four criteria: location, quality of facility, atmosphere, and press box.

The Bell Centre finished second place, only behind the T-Mobile arena in Las Vegas, and slightly ahead of the Madison Square Garden, home of the Rangers.

The rating that I was surprised about for the Bell Centre was that it scored 7.68 on a scale of 8 for atmosphere. It was the highest result in that category from all of the league’s arenas. Most of the beat writers’ comments were related to the Bell Centre hot dogs. 

This may have been the case in the past, but I disagree that it currently has the best atmosphere.  At least for the last two seasons, the fan engagement in the arena has substantially decreased. Games are no longer sold out, the home team regularly gets booed, and the crowd doesn’t have many good reasons to cheer. In 2019-20, only the Red Wings had a worst home record, and Montreal finished with the worst power play at home.

Last season, I had the opportunity to watch a Jets game against the Ducks on a Sunday afternoon at the Bell MTS Place in Winnipeg, and the atmosphere that day was better than what we have seen in Montreal over the last couple of years. It’s a small, intimate arena that supports its team and is noisy. It felt like I was the only one in attendance that wasn’t wearing any Jets merchandise. 

Once Montreal starts having success again, I know that the atmosphere will be electric like it has historically been. I was at the Bell Centre for the game between the Canadiens and the Bruins in 2004 when Alex Kovalev collided with Sheldon Souray which led to an overtime winner for Boston. I walked in to the arena over an hour before puck drop when most of the seats were still empty and I had goose bumps. That’s how special it felt being inside the Bell Centre at that time. 

In 2014, there was a playoff game at the Bell Centre where Rene Bourque scored a hat trick in a game against the Rangers. This is a true story, he really did. I was watching the game at a pub, about one kilometre away from the arena and I felt the energy of the Bell Centre from that distance.

The Athletic got this rating wrong. If the Bell Centre currently represents the best atmosphere in the NHL, it diminishes fans in arenas such as Winnipeg, and Las Vegas.

Canadiens Connection podcast

These issues and other current Habs topics were discussed in this week’s episode of the Canadiens Connection. Listen and subscribe!

By Chris G., Senior Writer
All Habs Hockey Magazine
Copyright © 2020 Rocket Sports

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