It’s a new year, time for hope, good wishes and fearless predictions.
The Canadiens will play meaningful games in March: That was one of management’s goals going into this season and it is a genuine possibility after a successful start to the team’s post-Christmas road trip.
This trip is usually a disaster, but the Canadiens showed what they are capable of doing as they beat three teams that have combined to win four of the last five Stanley Cups. Montreal achieved a rare sweep in Florida, and then celebrated New Year’s Eve in Las Vegas by coming back from a 0-2 deficit to beat the Golden Knights 3-2. The results have the Canadiens with a .500 record to begin 2025 and as of Thursday morning, they were a mere three points shy of a wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Is a playoff berth in the works? It’s possible. The Canadiens stand 21st overall and are in a better position than were the St. Louis Blues, who welcomed 2019 in last place and rallied to win the Stanley Cup. Most fans will be happy to see an improvement in the standings, although if the Canadiens finish a few points out of a playoff berth, there will be those who will whine that the team should have tanked more games to get a higher draft pick.
A healthy Patrik Laine, the addition of Alexandre Carrier, the creative spark of Lane Hutson and a breakthrough season for Jake Evans have all contributed to Montreal’s success.
The team should return to the playoffs next season with the arrival of Ivan Demidov, who will probably start at right wing on a line with Laine and centre Kirby Dach. Demidov has been putting up good numbers with SKA St. Petersburg in the KHL despite being limited to a shade over 11 minutes game.
Demidov was recently promoted to the top line and produced a goal and an assist in each of the past two games. The change resulted from coach Roman Rotenberg reluctantly conceding that the team is better with Demidov playing a key role.
Hutson won’t win the Calder Trophy, but he should: Expect the rookie of the year vote to come down to a choice between Macklin Celebrini and Matvei Michkov, but if I had to vote today, my pick would be Lane Hutson.
It usually takes time for a defenceman to find his way in the NHL, but it has taken less than half a season for Hutson to become an impact player on Montreal’s top defence pairing. He is averaging more than 22 minutes a game and has replaced Mike Matheson on the No. 1 power-play unit.
He is battling Michkov and Celebrini in the rookie scoring race and is on a pace to eclipse the rookie points totals for the last two defencemen to win the Calder — Moritz Seider and Cale Makar. Only 11 defencemen in the NHL have more points this season.
PWHL continues to grow: The Montreal Victoire and the Ottawa Charge will play in the Videotron Centre in Quebec City on Jan. 19 as part of the PWHL’s Takeover Tour. A good turnout could pave the way for an expansion franchise for the best hockey arena without an NHL team.
The second season for the women’s hockey league is off to a strong start with the Victoire and the Toronto Sceptres attracting sellout crowds to larger venues.
The Takeover Tour, which launches Sunday when Montreal plays Boston at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, features nine neutral-site games and will serve as a barometer of fan interest for possible expansion.
But first the PWHL might have to deal with relocation because things aren’t working out in New York. The franchise had three homes last season — UBS Arena on Long Island, an AHL rink in Bridgeport, Conn., and the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. — and the result was an average turnout of fewer than 3,000 fans.
The league has settled on the Prudential Center this season, but attendance has been stagnant.
Be prepared to pay more for TV sports: If you want to watch every Canadiens game on TV this season, you had to add a Prime Video subscription to what you were already paying to watch games on Sportsnet and TSN or RDS.
This season, Sportsnet sold off a package of Monday night games involving Canadian teams — the Canadiens play the Canucks Monday night — and Amazon’s streaming service is using the experiment to determine whether it will be involved in the bidding when Sportsnet’s NHL deal expires in 2026.
Streaming services are becoming more involved in TV sports. During the current NFL season, the four terrestrial networks had to share games with Peacock, Prime and Netflix. Going forward, the NFL plans to solicit bids for a package of Sunday morning games from Europe.