Marc Dumont
Here are the Montreal Canadiens news items, highlights, and stories you may have missed on the weekend.
Montreal Canadiens News
Top prospect Ivan Demidov continues his dominant ways in the KHL.
Let me rephrase that.
Top prospect Ivan Demidov continues dominant ways in the KHL now that he’s receiving a reasonable amount of ice time for an incredibly talented 19-year-old.
To be perfectly clear, he was only given 14:49 TOI on Sunday, but that’s much better than the ridiculous stretch that saw him receive between three and five minutes per game.
Demidov scored another very nice goal, though instead of cutting through the entire opposing team like a hot knife through butter, he set up the play with a few nice moves, made a very nice pass to Sergei Plotnikov, and then waited until his linemate returned the favour.
His two-point effort extended his scoring streak to six games (7G, 4A), while pushing his season totals to 13 goals and 18 assists in 40 games. It’s a great scoring rate for a rookie, especially since he was used very sparingly for roughly half the season.
The video below is timestamped to his goal, but do me a favour and check out his assist at 1:01. It looks like a goal to me, but I guess we shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth.
Rookie goaltender Jakub Dobes followed up his impressive shutout performance to start his NHL career with a great effort against the Colorado Avalanche, including two key saves in the shootout, to secure yet another win for the Canadiens. The 23-year-old is sporting a .982 save percentage in his first two NHL games, and according to some that’s not a bad number. [Montreal Canadiens Highlights: Dobes Great, Caufield Goal, Slafkovsky Benched]
With Dobes’ recent play, there’s a debate about which goalie should start on Monday night versus the Vancouver Canucks. Even though Dobes has played quite well, Samuel Montembeault is still the team’s starter, and it’s probably too early to suggest Dobes should be given the reins.
Which Habs goalie should start tomorrow at home vs the Vancouver Canucks?
— /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) January 5, 2025
The Los Angeles Kings placed forward Arthur Kaliyev on waivers, and while there’s still some potential left to be tapped in his case, the lack of production is a concern. He projects more as a middle of the lineup player, and the Habs already have their fair share of those skaters.
From 2021-24, Kaliyev ranks second among Kings forwards by xGF%, though the actual goals are less flattering.
His scoring has been meh, he doesn’t PK or take faceoffs, and he isn’t physical, but maybe he’s young enough that someone takes a chance. https://t.co/PdE7ZJumOv
— Jonathan Willis (@JonathanWillis) January 5, 2025
Lane Hutson’s brother, Cole, joined the World Junior Championship Gold club on Sunday, as the United States defeated Finland 4-3 in overtime. With two goals and seven assists in six games, Hutson was tied for the tournament lead in points.
Shockingly, sending your best players seemed to be a sound strategy, as evidenced by the USA’s win. On the other hand, picking names out of a hat while indulging in bourbon was not a great roster-construction strategy from Hockey Canada. Go figure.
Lane Hutson & his parents as his brother Cole ties the game for Team USA vs Team Finland at the World Juniors gold medal game pic.twitter.com/ORMVplibn7
— /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) January 6, 2025
Michael Hage produced points in back-to-back games against Ohio State. He had a goal and an assist on Friday, and followed it up with an assist on the University of Michigan’s first goal of the game on Sunday. After losing 4-3 in the first matchup, the Wolverines took their revenge, defeating Ohio State 3-2 in overtime in the second leg.
The Laval Rocket enjoyed a solid weekend, beating the Canucks’ AHL team on two occasions. Saturday’s 6-2 win over Abbotsford featured goals from Filip Mesar, Sean Farrell, Rafael Harvey-Pinard, Joshua Roy, Gustav Lindstrom, and Vincent Arseneau.
As per usual, the AHL game was quite physical, including a late-game fight between Make Friedman and Jared Davidson. Arseneau really wanted to participate, but Friedman made sure to avoid the bigger opponent.
We call that a business decision.
