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Ducharme on KK, Dvorak | HABS HEADLINES

Habs News: Montreal Canadiens, NHL, Dominique Ducharme, Christian Dvorak, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Jake Allen, Sidney Crosby, Pierre Dorion

Dominique Ducharme, Jesperi Kotkaniemi (Photo by John Mahoney / Montreal Gazette)

ROCKET SPORTS MEDIA | MONTREAL, QC. — This is your one-stop destination every week day for your Canadiens news capsule. Here are your Habs Headlines!

Ducharme Speaks About Offer Sheet, Trade

The Canadiens head coach spoke to La Presse on Wednesday saying that he “always liked working with KK.” On Jesperi Kotkaniemi’s development progress, Dominique Ducharme said “He’s come a long way since he arrived,” adding “he still has room to progress.”

“The times when [Kotkaniemi] was very successful were when he made the best use of his toolbox,” says Ducharme. “It’s part of the journey for a young player.”

“Any player, whether they’re from a junior, the AHL or Europe, needs to figure out how to use their tools to be successful,” Ducharme said, “and build consistency in the best league in the world.”

Ducharme on Dvorak

Ducharme said that he likes Christian Dvorak‘s style of play which the coach describes as  “simple but effective, on both sides of the ice.”

“[Dvorak] is not the type of player who will bring you out of your seat, but he’s the kind of guy you can send in any situation,” Ducharme said.

Drouin at Wing

Just over a week ago Jonathan Drouin told Pierre Houde that he was ready to play centre this season. “He was very serious,” said Houde.

Ducharme didn’t completely dismiss the notion but said, “If we jumped on the ice tomorrow morning, [Drouin] would be on the wing.”

NHLPA Donates Gear

Canadiens goaltender Jake Allen presented ten sets of hockey gear donated by NHLPA Goals & Dreams fund to players from St. Stephen Minor Hockey Association in New Brunswick.

New Number for Dvorak

On Wednesday, the Canadiens announced that forward Christian Dvorak will wear number 28 with the team this season. The 25-year-old wore number 18 with the Arizona Coyotes but it is a number that has been retired by the Canadiens.

After a long string of recent defencemen who wore number 28 for the Canadiens – Jonathan Merrill, Marco Scandella, Jakub Jerabek, Mike Reilly, Nathan Beaulieu – Dvorak is the first forward since Joonas Nattinen to wear the jersey.

Dvorak jersey (Image by Canadiens.com)

Canadiens Bowl

The Montreal Canadiens won the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl for the first time in their history during the recent Stanley Cup Playoffs. Typically the Clarence Campbell Bowl is awarded to the Western Conference playoff champion. But this past season, given the restructured divisional and playoff structure due to the pandemic, the Clarence Campbell Bowl was awarded to the Canadiens after they defeated the Vegas Golden Knights in six games in the Stanley Cup Semifinals.

“Keeper of the Cup” Phil Pritchard posted photos to Twitter of the Canadiens engraved nameplate being added to the award.

Extension for Dorion

The Ottawa Senators announced that general manager Pierre Dorion has received a three year contract extension with a team option on a fourth year through the 2025-26 season.

“We’re very pleased to sign Pierre to a second extension as Senators general manager,” said Senators owner and governor Eugene Melnyk. “Dating to when he was named GM in 2016, Pierre has worked tirelessly towards building an organization that can compete with the National Hockey League’s best. He’s dedicated, detailed and maintains a sound hockey mind. Under Pierre’s leadership, we have the utmost confidence that this team will soon be recognized as one that is consistently meriting success.”

Crosby Expected to Miss Start of Season

Penguins forward Sidney Crosby had wrist surgery on Wednesday resulting in a six-week recovery. The 34-year-old center had surgery on the same wrist last year. Crosby will miss the start of Pittsburgh’s season being unavailable for the first four games.

“Sid’s been dealing with this for numerous years now,” Penguins general manager Ron Hextall said. “So at the end of the year, you let the body heal. Test things out. There’s just a process that takes weeks to figure out where the wrist is at, whether he can get through another year. Some point, you wrap things up along the process, along the way. The conclusion that we came to was that this procedure was the best way to proceed. I think we all, including Sid, wish we had known this a month or two months ago. It would’ve been great. But we are where we are, and I think on the positive side, we have four weeks until we play a regular-season game.”

Canadiens Connection podcast

Current Habs topics were discussed on this week’s episode of the Canadiens Connection. Listen, share and subscribe!

And this week we have a BONUS episode of the Canadiens Connection podcast for you with supplementary discussion to episode 153!


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