Habs News: Montreal Canadiens, NHL, Carey Price, Brendan Gallagher, Cole Caufield, Jakub Dobes, Henrik Lundqvist, Schedule, Pre-season

Canadiens fans at Bell Centre (Photo by Jean-Yves Ahern-USA TODAY Sports)

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

Pre-season Schedule Released

NHL training camps are right around the corner which means Habs fans are about one month away from seeing their Canadiens back on the ice for game action. Pre-season schedules were announced on Monday with the Canadiens opening against the Maple Leafs on Saturday September 25th for a matinee affair at Scotiabank Arena.

The Habs will play six games of an exhibition schedule, three at the Bell Centre and three away against just two opponents: the Ottawa Senators and the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Canadiens sixth and final pre-season game will take place at home on October 7th against the Senators leaving them a few days for practice and final roster cuts before heading to Toronto to open the regular season against the Leafs on October 13th.

Montreal Canadiens pre-season schedule (Image via Canadiens.com)

Dobes Likes Legos

The Montreal Canadiens have selected a goaltender in each of the last three NHL Entry Drafts. In the most recent draft held July 23-24, Montreal picked Joe Vrbetic in the seventh round while in 2019, Frederik Dichow was added to the fold.

But in 2020, the Canadiens selected Jakes Dobes in the fifth round, 136th overall from the Omaha Lancers. After playing 68 games over two seasons in the USHL earning a 35-22-6 record, Dobes is heading to the NCAA to play for Ohio State University this season.

For his freshman year with the Buckeyes, the Canadiens prospect goaltender used his favorite childhood toy as inspiration for the design of his new mask and setup. As Dobes told Goalie Gear Nerd, “I wanted all red pads and my first idea for some reason were Lego cubes. Lego was always one of my favorite toys growing up. I think it’s special to have Lego pads.”

Jakub Dobes goal mask, Ohio State University

Jakub Dobes goalie gear, Ohio State University

Price at the Top of the Chart

With Henrik Lundqvist retiring from the NHL last week, the accolades flowed for 39-year-old goaltender who played 887 games over 15 years for the New York Rangers.

One popular hockey analytics account on Twitter posted a chart showing that Lundqvist was second in Wins Above Replacement over the 15 year period from 2007-2021.

Who was number one on that list, you ask? Answer: Canadiens goaltender Carey Price.

Henrik Lundqvist, retiring from hockey, was one of the best goalies of his era. #NYR pic.twitter.com/P9hmXCN461

— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) August 20, 2021

A Ring for Cole

Last week, we brought you coverage of Canadiens forward Cole Caufield receiving his Hobey Baker award as the top player in college hockey. In addition to receiving the trophy, Caufield also picked up a ring for the honour.

https://twitter.com/Jostens/status/1428152297595486217

Hockey Community Mourns

On Saturday, three teenage hockey players lost their lives in a tragic car crash in Surrey, B.C. Ronin Sharma, Caleb Reimer and Parker Magnuson were all members of the Delta Hockey Academy, a program headed by Brendan Gallagher‘s dad, Ian.

Canadiens Connection podcast

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