Tag: Montreal Canadiens

Sportsbooks whiffed on the No. 1 NHL Draft pick, just like they did on the NBA and NFL

Another surprise at the top of the draft rocked the house

Juraj Slafkovsky’s shocking No. 1 overall selection by the Montreal Canadiens during Thursday’s NHL Draft, apparently wasn’t as much of a surprise to the betting public once again. While Slafkovsky closed as the favorite (-160) to hear his name off the board first, as recently as a week ago, that wasn’t the case.

Up until the very last moment, Shane Wright was most people’s consensus No. 1 pick and his -5000 opening odds at some sportsbooks represented that. Yet, the number became increasingly less favorable as the draft neared.

At the same time, Slafkovsky opened with +500 odds and no real shot to go first in the draft. One thing led to another and — BOOM — his draft-day odds rose to eventually become the odds-on favorite.

Per Pete Truszkowski of Yahoo! Sports:

“Bettors who backed Slafkovsky had a nice payday. Some got in at +500, while many got in at prices near +200.”

That makes three straight major drafts where the betting public seemingly nailed the No. 1 pick over industry insiders. Before the NFL draft, Aiden Hutchinson was long expected to go No. 1 overall by most prognosticators. Trevor Walker ruined those predictions. Then last month at the NBA draft, Jabari Smith Jr. seemed almost guaranteed to go No.1—until Paolo Banchero proved that oddsmakers can’t take ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski word for absolute fact.

Betting on the draft is already hard enough. It appears handicapping the top pick might be even tougher.

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Canadiens’ home crowd has mixed reactions to surprising selection of Juraj Slafkovky at No. 1 in the NHL Draft

Not exactly the warm welcome Montreal envisioned.

The 2022 NHL Draft kicked off on Thursday night in Montreal. As usual, with a glut of talented prospects, and no shortage of significant trades, the sheer spectacle of the first round was palpable.

The biggest shock of the night arguably came as soon as the draft began with the host Canadiens at No. 1 overall. Instead of taking the long-time consensus top pick in center Shane Wright, Montreal opted for, shall we say, a different direction.

The Habs picked Slovakia’s Juraj Slafkovky. He’s a talented left-winger for sure, but that doesn’t mean the home crowd at the Bell Centre had to love the pick. The fans’ chorus of emotions as the Canadiens revealed Slafkovky would be their next hopeful core piece was evident:

Oh, man. I mean, it’s not like that audience is outright jeering Slafkovky in his first NHL moment. But they’re not exactly head-over-heels elated with their reaction either.

To be fair, Canadiens fans might have had the same mixed-bag reaction regardless of who their favorite team picked. It’s the spirit of the draft, after all.

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2022 NHL Draft Order: The first 16 teams are set after the Canadiens won the lottery

The Canadiens will likely draft center Shane Wright with the No. 1 overall pick.

The Montreal Canadiens have won the 2022 NHL draft lottery, retaining their top odds as they will select No. 1 overall in early July.

Surprisingly, the New Jersey Devils jumped to No. 2 overall after coming in with the fifth best odds (8.5 percent), knocking down the Arizona Coyotes to the No. 3 spot. Other than that slight shift, the 2022 NHL draft lottery went pretty much as expected, with no one able to dethrone the Canadiens for that top pick.

It is very likely that with the No. 1 overall pick, the Canadiens will draft consensus top draftee Shane Wright, a center from the Kingston Frontenacs in the OHL. Wright is a crafty playmaker with a lethal NHL shot, making him a player the Canadiens can build around in the seasons to come.

Here is the full list of the 16 teams that have cemented their draft order after the 2022 NHL draft lottery.

Justin Bieber taunted Habs fans with a Maple Leafs joke, conveniently forgetting last year’s playoffs

It was 3-1, Justin!

Justin Bieber, like all Toronto Maple Leafs fans, has seemingly forgotten the 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs.

During Bieber’s Tuesday night concert at the Bell Centre in Montreal, the pop star — and Maple Leafs super fan — taunted the home Canadiens crowd with a jab at how well Toronto’s played this season. Entering the final month of the 2021-22 season, the Maple Leafs are 42-19-5 and are locked in to a playoff spot. Meanwhile, just months removed from a Stanley Cup Final, the Canadiens are the second-worst team in the NHL with a 18-38-11 record.

And Bieber let Montreal know it.

“What’s up, Montreal, I’ve had a great night with you guys tonight,” Bieber said. “But how about them Leafs though, huh?”

The jabs continued!

“Auston Matthews is really doing some work here in Montreal,” Bieber said. “So, uh, how’s that playoff spot looking for you guys this year?”

Bieber ended his taunts with a “Go Leafs Go” chant, despite the boos and the counter “Go Habs Go” chants from the crowd.

Of course, Bieber is forgetting one key thing here. The last time the Maple Leafs played in a game of any significance, they blew a 3-1 series lead and lost in Game 7 to the Canadiens last year in an embarrassing playoff exit.

I’m just saying, people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones!

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2022 NHL trade deadline winners and losers

Monday’s trade deadline was a busy one.

The 2022 NHL trade deadline has officially come and gone. On a day that saw nearly 30 deals made — at the time of this writing, anyway — it was quite the chaotic afternoon, even though there were very few blockbusters made.

This year’s trade deadline certainly was much more active than the 2021 deadline, which saw fewer than 20 deals made on deadline day, so it’s fair to say the day went by quite fast. Even with over half of the league capped out, nearly every single team made some sort of trade or deal by Monday’s 3 p.m. deadline. And hey, in a flat salary cap world, that’s not too bad!

Now that the rush has died down, let’s take a look at the big picture! Here are our winners and losers from a busy 2022 NHL trade deadline.

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Montreal Canadiens continue sinking into a historic and endless abyss of despair

A new low for the Canadiens with no end in sight.

It’s a long way down from the top.

There is no more prestigious organization in the NHL than the Canadiens. In many ways — in winning 24 Stanley Cups, with countless legendary players and classic moments along the way — Montreal helped set the standard for what success resembles in the NHL.

But it hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows for the league’s (formerly) premier franchise of late. The Habs haven’t won a Stanley Cup since 1993. OK, sure. You might be thinking, “Whatever. Winning a Cup is hard.”

But it’s worse than simply never being lucky enough in June, Dearest Reader. So much worse. Rather than picture competence and display grace amidst a long title drought, the Canadiens have been a consummate example of dysfunction. A far cry from a team everyone once wanted to emulate.

A mere eight months after appearing in their first Stanley Cup Final in almost 30 years, the Canadiens are finding new ways to hit rock bottom. Following yet another 2-1 defeat to the Blue Jackets (-1.5) on Saturday, we have our doubts there is a bottom in the first place.

The Habs are, in case you had any doubts, the NHL’s worst team. It isn’t surprising they haven’t won in almost a month. It’s more notable that it’s Montreal, NHL royalty by every standard, floundering all about, asking for pity in a manner they do only once every two decades or so. Patrick Roy, er, Martin St. Louis isn’t — wait, no — is walking through that door as the team’s new head coach, but it still doesn’t matter. It won’t change a thing.

We’re more than halfway into the 2021-2022 season, and this lifeless Canadiens bunch has a mere 23 points. Two. Three. You have to try to be that inept.

Who knows what the future will hold for St. Louis and a group that seems determined to fail at every turn. All we know for sure is that this abyss is endless, and that has to kill the very soul of a hockey city like Montreal.

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Trevor Zegras nets bonkers lacrosse goal for Ducks with absolutely filthy move

Trevor Zegras is a mad man!

Trevor Zegras is a bad, bad man.

First, it was his alley-oop pass over the net to assist on one of the NHL’s most creative plays in the modern era back in December. Now? It’s a gorgeous lacrosse goal that will go down as yet another highlight-reel play for the young Anaheim Ducks forward.

On Thursday, Zegras pulled off this lacrosse goal — or The Michigan or The Svechnikov, however you want to call it — on poor Montreal Canadiens goaltender Sam Montembeault in the early stages of the second period. With the Ducks up 3-1, Zegras took the puck behind the net, brought it up onto his stick, then deposited it into the net with a quick flick of his wrist, all in stride and at full speed.

Seriously, this is a thing of beauty.

What a goal from a talented young player that is set to be the future of the NHL. Hockey 100 percent needs more players like Zegras and this goal shows us exactly why.

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Flames’ Andrew Mangiapane scores sensational goal after taking a pass off his skate

Andrew Mangiapane remains red hot in Calgary.

Andrew Mangiapane has, for a lack of a better phrase, been lighting things up for the Calgary Flames this season.

Heading into Thursday night’s game between the Flames and Montreal Canadiens, Mangiapane was leading Calgary in goals with eight on the season in 12 games played. Add another to the list for Mangiapane with this sensational tally to help the Flames break their first period tie against the Canadiens.

With less than four minutes remaining in the first, the Canadiens left Mangiapane undefended on a rush down the ice. While Sean Monahan’s cross-ice pass to the open Mangiapane was a bit off the mark, the forward was able to shift the puck from his skate to his stick then — from his knees! — stickhandle a backhand past Jake Allen in net.

And just like that, the Canadiens were down a goal again.

Mangiapane showcased incredible speed and skill on this play, from being able to outpace the Canadiens’ defense to being able to corral the puck and put it behind Allen for the lead.

It’s still early in the 2021-22 NHL season, but keep your eyes on Mangiapane as a player set to have a real monster of a season.

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Watch: Jake Evans scores on Cal Petersen in Canadiens-Kings game

Notre Dame’s recent past collided in this moment.

There are plenty of NHL skaters who went to Notre Dame, but only one NHL goaltender who donned the blue and gold. That being the case, the opportunity for a former Irish player to score on Cal Petersen of the Los Angeles Kings doesn’t come along every night. It’s even rarer when one of Petersen’s former teammates in South Bend does him dirty. However, it happened Tuesday at the hands of Jake Evans of the Montreal Canadiens:

The goal tied the score at 2, and that’s where it would stay through the end of the third period, giving the Habs a point they were glad to take after entering the game at the bottom of the Eastern Conference. That was as good as it got for Evans’ squad as the Kings went on to win it in overtime.

Evans and Petersen played together at Notre Dame from 2014 to 2017. The Irish made the Frozen Four during their final season on the same team.

Former Notre Dame players on NHL rosters to begin 2021-22 season

Pay special attention to these players this season.

The puck has dropped on the 2021-22 NHL season, and the full 82-game schedule has returned. Besides the usual amount of hockey to look forward to once again, there also is a new team that has taken the ice. One player on that team played collegiate hockey at Notre Dame, as did nine other players who are starting the year on NHL rosters. That number could grow later this season with 15 other former Irish players starting play in the AHL, but for now, here are the 10 you can see at hockey’s top level at this moment: