Caufield replaced Price

DAY

Despite Cole Caufield's absence from the Canadiens roster, he's been talked about a lot and it shows that he's replaced Carey Price in the hearts of the fans as the team's big star . 

I confess that I can't get used to seeing the Habs without Caufield. Like everyone, I love to see him score goals, but he has such a magnetism that I look for him all the time on the ice and I'm not the only one. I imagine you are like me and I know another who is looking for it, Nick Suzuki. 

Since Caufield's absence, Suzuki has produced little and I'm sure his agent, Pat Brisson, has noticed. It will be one more argument for the Caufield clan in contract negotiations with Kent Hughes. 

I really like Suzuki, but in the public imagination, the star is Caufield. It's a bit like the days of Andrei Markov and P.K. Subban. Markov was doing a great service for the Canadiens, but the crowd favorite was Subban.  

It is not for nothing that Subban was honored at the Bell Center in his first year of retirement, while we are still awaiting a ceremony celebrating Markov's 15 years in Montreal. 

In the case of Price, all the reasons were good to talk about him. Same for Caufield who made us all laugh saying the staff hid his skates and sticks. He's really endearing, and like Subban, he's more than just a hockey player.

We will certainly talk about his negotiations in the coming weeks, as well as his operation which must take place tomorrow, but I mention Caufield simply because his absence creates a huge void and I look forward to seeing him again next September. We see its importance. 

Opportunities and evaluations 

Coach Martin St-Louis must also miss Caufield, but he doesn't have much time to think about it with the injury epidemic within his squad. The timing is good because even with Caufield, a playoff spot would be out of the question. It's also the perfect time to evaluate young people. 

Injuries create opportunities and one who takes advantage of them is Rafaël Harvey-Pinard. I love his attitude, we can see that he is on a mission and that can only help him for his future.

He had a memorable night of two goals and an assist against Detroit, but don't be scared off with that. Remember Ryan Poehling's hat trick when he was first introduced to the NHL in April 2019. He has just five goals in 35 games this season in Pittsburgh. 

Harvey- Pinard will never have the role of a Caufield, but he can force the hand of the organization and make his place in the NHL. This is his goal and he does everything in his power to achieve it. Well done! 

Owen Beck 

The CH rarely call back junior players in an emergency and I would have liked to see Joshua Roy. But I understand that we preferred Owen Beck because we needed a center player. Without being spectacular, I thought Beck looked quite comfortable. 

At least he had more than Jakob Pelletier's seven minutes at his baptism of fire in Calgary . Incidentally, Pelletier has played 14 and 15 minutes in his last two games. 

Bruins visit 

It was good to see the Bruins at the Bell Center on Tuesday. Even though the state of forces has changed, the rivalry is still very much alive with the Canadiens and I would like to see them more often. 

The Bruins have suffered three losses since then, but that doesn't change anything in their extraordinary season. Patrice Bergeron never ceases to amaze me. What a leader! 

– Interview by Gilles Moffet 

Snippets 

Allen's Return 

After eight straight games, Samuel Montembeault was ripe for a day off on Thursday, and I don't blame St. Louis for picking Jake Allen to face the Detroit Red Wings. Well, it was a 4-3 loss, but Allen is healthy and he had to play sooner or later. Montembeault did very well in Allen's absence and he deserved to play more. St-Louis had said and repeated that Allen was his number one, but I believe that the situation has changed and we should now see a more equal division of labor. 

< p>Old memory 

Like Owen Beck, I am one of the rare players to have been urgently recalled from the junior ranks by the CH. It reminded me of old memories. Jocelyn Thibaultwas injured the morning of a game on February 21, 1996 in Hartford. It was impossible to recall a goaltender from Fredericton because the team was on the road. I received a phone call in the afternoon and the general manager, Réjean Houle, picked me up in Hull in a private plane. I arrived in the locker room just before warm-up and the players were all dressed up, ready to hit the rink. I played nine minutes in the third period. What a crazy day! 

Emergency Guardian 

Talking about emergency situation and crazy day , it's always nice to see an amateur goaltender play a few minutes in an NHL game, and the last one that happened to was Matt Berlin, with the Edmonton Oilers. He “preserved” Albertans' 7-3 win over the Blackhawks. It was a nice presence of mind from Connor McDavid to have suggested to the coach, Jay Woodcroft, to send him into the fray with two minutes left in the game. Woodcroft certainly had other things on his mind than worrying about the goaltender with such a score. Berlin, which nevertheless made a stop, will remember this day for the rest of its life.