The Canadiens’ 4-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday night at the Bell Centre was the 800th game of defenceman David Savard’s career. It was also the 100th career game for fellow defenceman and teammate Arber Xhekaj.
Savard’s accomplishment is more impressive, but Xhekaj’s is more surprising.
While Savard, 33, was selected in the fourth round (94th overall) of the 2009 NHL Draft, the 23-year-old Xhekaj was never selected at the NHL Draft and wasn’t even selected at the junior OHL Draft.
“It’s pretty crazy,” Xhekaj said about playing 100 games after the Canadiens practised Friday at the CN Sports Complex in Brossard. “When you’re a kid, all you ever want to do is play one game … that’s your goal. The 100 came pretty fast before I even knew it. It’s just pretty crazy to see where my life went. It’s pretty cool and, obviously, the goal is to play as many as possible. Next goal is probably 500 and then 1,000. I’m excited.”
A person who played a key role in Xhekaj making it to the NHL was Michael Andlauer, who purchased the Ottawa Senators last year. Andlauer was part-owner of the Canadiens and also owned the OHL’s Hamilton Bulldogs when they won the league championship in 2022 with Xhekaj in the lineup. Andlauer was a big fan of Xhekaj’s physical style of play and the Bulldogs acquired the hulking defenceman in a trade during the 2021-22 season with the Kitchener Rangers. Andlauer also played a role in Xhekaj getting an invitation to the Canadiens’ rookie camp in 2021 as an undrafted player, which led to him earning an NHL entry-level contract.
“He was a big fan of mine and he really liked the way I played and he brought me to his team to go win an OHL cup and we did that,” Xhekaj said about Andlauer, a self-made billionaire who grew up in Montreal as a big Canadiens fan with Guy Lafleur his favourite player. “It was a pretty special team and a pretty special guy. He cares about all of his players. He treats them insanely well. My time with him with the Bulldogs it was like an NHL organization treatment. He gives everyone everything they need. He’s a great guy and and he played a big role for me, for sure.”
Still working on his game
Near the end of Thursday’s morning skate at the Bell Centre, Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis had a lengthy chat with Xhekaj.
At first, I thought it was a sign Xhekaj wouldn’t be in the lineup that night against the Kings with Jayden Struble ready to return after missing the first four games with an upper-body injury. But Xhekaj did play against the Kings, while Struble continued to sit out.
“We talk about certain scenarios,” St. Louis said when asked about his discussion with Xhekaj. “I feel Jacko for most games he plays really well for a big part of the game and then sometimes he’ll just — I wouldn’t say disengage, but just not on high alert. So he needs to stay alert for 60 minutes and it’s hard for a young defenceman.
“But I feel like throughout a game in the past his good’s really good and his bad’s really bad,” St. Louis added. “I feel he’s raising his floor and when you raise the floor usually you get more percentage of your minutes are pretty good. It doesn’t have to be elite all the time, but it’s pretty good. So for me it’s raising that floor so a higher percentage of minutes are really good and it’s a hard league for a young defenceman. Things happen fast and you have to be on high alert. So for me, what I’m asking Jacko is just to stay on high alert for a longer chunk of time.”
Xhekaj logged 14:31 of ice time against the Kings with two shots, three hits, three blocked shots and two giveaways to go along with a minus-1 differential. Xhekaj is still looking for his first point and is minus-4 after five games.
“I definitely don’t think I was good enough yesterday (against the Kings),” Xhekaj said after Friday’s practice. “I feel I’ve been kind of getting in my own head a little bit on the way I’ve been playing and worrying about too much outside noise. Not really outside noise, but just things that I can’t control. I think I just got to let that all go and just play my game and everything else will fall into place. It just feels like I’m making some mistakes now that I usually wouldn’t make. I think I’m just overthinking every situation right now.
“I think it’s obvious when I’m not there, I’m not there,” Xhekaj added about needing to stay more alert. “When I’m playing my game I’m in your face and on top of pucks, I’m breaking pucks out, I’m hitting, I’m engaged. I definitely have to bring it up. I can’t have mistakes where they lead to goals and hurt the team. I think it’s me just figuring it out and maturing as a player.”
The Canadiens sent Xhekaj down to the AHL’s Laval Rocket for 17 games last season and he obviously doesn’t want that to happen again. The 6-foot-4, 240-pounder is very effective when he’s on his game. But playing in the NHL for a young defenceman can be both a physical and mental battle.
After 100 games, Xhekaj is still learning.
The Lane Train
Canadiens defenceman Lane Hutson logged an eye-popping 30:05 of ice time against the Kings in only the seventh career NHL game for the 20-year-old.
The reason Hutson had so much ice time is because Mike Matheson played only 7:35 in the first period before suffering an upper-body injury that ended his night. Matheson didn’t practise Friday, taking a therapy day instead, but did make the flight to New York with his teammates ahead of Saturday’s game against the Islanders (7 p.m., SNE, CITY, TVA Sports). Defenceman Kaiden Guhle also suffered an upper-body injury against the Kings and didn’t make the trip to New York.
Last season, when Matheson led the Canadiens in ice time with an average of 25:33 per game — which ranked third in the NHL — his game high was 32:21 in a 4-3 shootout loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins last Dec. 13 at the Bell Centre.
“I didn’t know that until now,” Hutson said after the game when told he had played more than 30 minutes.
“I didn’t lack opportunity there,” the 5-foot-9, 162-pounder added with a grin. “It would have been nice to kick-start the offence and make a push there. It didn’t really end up happening.”
When asked if he felt tired after the game, Hutson said: “No. I feel good. I felt like I kept my shifts pretty short so I could keep going out. I feel good and ready to get back at it against the Islanders.”
Veteran Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher wasn’t surprised by Hutson’s ice time.
“The other day, I saw at the end of the game he had a shift that was about four minutes long and he seemed fine,” Gallagher said with a grin.
Demidov stuck in KHL
The Canadiens would love to have Ivan Demidov with them at some point this season, but don’t expect that to happen.
The Canadiens selected the Russian winger with the fifth overall pick at this year’s NHL Draft, but he still had one season remaining on his KHL contract with SKA St. Petersburg. In 17 games this season in the KHL, the 18-year-old Demidov has 5-5-10 totals, but has seem limited ice time in recent games.
Jeff Gorton, the Canadiens’ executive vice-president of hockey operations, was on RDS’s L’Antichambre show this week and was asked about the Demidov situation.
“Because of the situation with the KHL not having an agreement with the league we can’t just end his contract any time we want,” Gorton said. “Everybody thinks we can buy him out of his contract — it’s not realistic. He’s got the one year left this year. Listen, we’re really excited about this player. He is very talented. We’ve seen what you see. We see the ice time dipping. We are in contact with the organization and they know how we feel. This is the No. 1 reason why when we have a player like that or any organization does you want to sign him and get him over and control all of it right away.
“It’s a little bit out our control right now and, yeah, frustrated that he’s not playing more,” Gorton added. “At the same time, we know he’s a very gifted player. We also know their team has 35 players on it and that’s what traditionally they’ve been doing. We’re going to be patient and we’re excited for when he comes over here.”
Philadelphia was able to get Russian winger Matvei Michkov out of the last two years of his three-year contract with SKA St. Petersburg to join the Flyers this season after selecting him with the seventh overall pick at the 2023 NHL Draft. The 19-year-old has 2-2-4 totals in his first four games with the Flyers.
The Canadiens took a pass on Michkov at the 2023 draft, instead selecting defenceman David Reinbacher with the No. 5 pick. Reinbacher suffered a knee injury during a pre-season game against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sept. 28 that required surgery and is now sidelined for 5-6 months.
“We did our homework on that like we always do … we were picking fifth overall, of course,” Gorton said this week when he was a guest on Mitch Melnick’s TSN 690 radio show. “Listen, there was a lot of good players there. There’s going to be ups and downs in all of them from the moment they’re drafted and beyond. We understand that. Unfortunately, David got hurt and right now other players are playing and they’re able to put some points on the board. So it is what it is. I don’t think we regret taking David Reinbacher. We feel good about where he’s going and what he’s going to be. That’s unfortunate what’s happened here for the next few months, but he’s going to be fine.”
Xhekaj models new CCM skate
Since the start of the season, Xhekaj has been wearing the new-look CCM Tacks 652 Pro skate that was officially introduced by the company on Friday as part of its 125th anniversary.
The skate is a throwback to the old CCM Tacks worn by Hall of Famers like Mario Lemieux, Chris Chelios and Mark Messier with a thick white stripe going down both sides of the heel on the skate. It’s a smart marketing move by CCM since skates today often look the same and the white stripes make it clear again they are CCM Tacks.
I actually wrote a column 12 years ago about getting my first pair of CCM Tacks as a kid and what a big deal it was back then when so many kids would have those skates on their Christmas wish list since players like Jean Béliveau and Bobby Orr were wearing them.
The advertising for the new/old CCM Tacks features Sidney Crosby and John Tavares.
Xhekaj said he remembers Hall of Famer Mike Modano wearing Tacks with the white stripes when he was a kid.
“It’s pretty cool to try new things and to see other good players in the league wearing them, it’s pretty special,” Xhekaj said about the new Tacks. “They’re cool skates and I really like them.”
CCM Hockey started out as Canada Cycle and Motor Company Limited in 1899 out of Weston, Ont., but it wasn’t until 1905 when the bicycle market started to crash that the company began making hockey equipment. The Tacks began as a boot designed by shoemaker George Tackaberry in 1905 after Hall of Famer Joe Hall felt the boot of his skate wasn’t good enough and went to Tackaberry to design a better one. CCM got the Tackaberry name when the shoemaker died in 1937 and started putting out the Tacks line of skates.
Slafkovsky signs with Sherwood
While Xhekaj has an equipment deal with CCM, teammate Juraj Slafkovsky signed with Sherwood to use the company’s Rekker Legend sticks and gloves this season.
“Since Slaf entered the league, he’s been on our radar,” Brendon Arnold, the associate vice-president of brand management for Sherwood Hockey, said in a news release. “After the Sherwood rebrand in 2022, our athlete strategy has been simple — only partner with players that align to our brand and its values — individuality, creativity and self-expression. Collectively, we want to push hockey into its next chapter by embracing the change that the younger players are bringing to this sport. We see Juraj as a leader of this change.”
The Sher-Wood company (as it used to be written) was founded in 1949 in Sherbrooke and in the 1970s and ’80s it was the most popular stick in the NHL, led by its P.M.P. 5030 model. But when composite sticks hit the market in the 1990s, Sher-Wood failed to adapt, deciding to stick with its wood models. As a result, the company was in a financial mess in 2018 and Sher-Wood sticks were rarely seen in the NHL when Canadian Tire Corp. acquired Sher-Wood Athletics Group Inc.’s global hockey trademarks.
Slafkovsky joins a group of NHL players now with Sherwood that includes Connor Bedard, Matthew Tkachuk, William Nylander, Alex DeBrincat, Quinton Byfield and former Canadien Artturi Lehkonen. Lehkonen was using a Sherwood stick when he scored the Stanley Cup-winning goal for the Colorado Avalanche in 2022.
Some praise for Habs’ Evans
Centre Jake Evans has been playing some very good hockey for the Canadiens since the start of training camp and it has carried over to the regular season, especially on the penalty-kill.
Through Thursday’s games, the Canadiens ranked third in the NHL on the PK with a 93.8 per cent success rate and Evans was also winning 52.5 per cent of his faceoffs while picking up one assist.
On L’Antichambre, Gorton had some well-deserved praise for Evans, who is in the final season of his contract with a reasonable US$1.7 million salary-cap hit.
“I feel like Jake Evans has been a pretty solid guy for us throughout (training) camp,” Gordon said. “He probably doesn’t get a lot of accolades — you don’t hear much about him — but from Day 1 in camp I feel like he came in the final year of his contract trying to assert himself and show us he wants to be part of it going forward.”
Evans, now in his sixth season with the Canadiens after being selected in the seventh round (207th overall) of the 2014 NHL Draft, would definitely like to stay in Montreal.
“But I just can’t think about external factors right now,” Evans said after Thursday’s game. “I don’t think it’s helpful for me or the team to think about where I’ll be and stuff.”
Evans said he chats quite often with Gorton, but more just socializing and not a lot about hockey. He hadn’t heard about Gorton’s comments about him on L’Antichambre and said it’s “great to hear” after being told about them.
“But it’s still a work in progress,” Evans added about his game. “Honestly, I’m having some fun right now. I feel like I have some confidence. I’m trying not to think about all these external factors and just play hockey. I liked my camp and feel good on the ice, but there’s still a lot to work on.”
Dach shaking off the rust
When Kirby Dach played in the season opener for the Canadiens on Oct. 9 it was five days short of a full year since his last regular-season game.
It was Oct. 14 last year when Dach suffered a season-ending knee injury while being checked into the boards by Chicago Blackhawks defenceman Jarred Tinordi. Last Oct. 31, Dach had surgery in New York to repair torn ACL and MCL ligaments in his right knee.
After such a long rehabilitation period, it’s not a surprise Dach is off to a slow start this season with no goals and one assist in five games.
This is the second time the 23-year-old Dach has had to recover from an injury that sidelined him for an extended period. Dach was limited to 18 games with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2020-21 after they loaned him to Team Canada for the world junior championship and he broke his wrist in an exhibition game against Russia after being named team captain.
“I’ve kind of been through this with my wrist before and thought that I could just kind of jump back in with no issues,” Dach said after the Canadiens’ morning skate Thursday. “But it’s not the case. So it’s just going to take some time and you got to understand that and be patient with it and can’t get too frustrated.”
Dach said getting the timing back in game situations is the most difficult part.
“Knowing where guys are going to be, where the defenders are and stuff like that,” he said. “I don’t think it’s necessarily cardio or that kind of stuff. It’s just more timing and spacing of where guys are on the ice.”
On Melnick’s radio show Wednesday, Gorton said he’s not concerned about Dach’s slow start because it was to be expected. Dach took a therapy day instead of practising with his teammates on Wednesday before playing against the Penguins.
“We knew out of the gate that would be the hard part,” Gorton told Melnick when asked about Dach. “Not playing games for so long. So we’re seeing flashes of Kirby. But it’s hard. He’s a very physical player and he puts his body on the line every shift, so he’s just getting in game shape. You can do whatever you want in the summer-time to get ready and these guys all do and they’re all in incredible shape. But until you play NHL games in the regular season we can’t duplicate that for him. So he’s going through that. We see signs of him coming out of it, but it’s only a matter of time. Of course, we knew coming into the season he’s going to need a little bit of time before he pops.”
Sid the Kid hits 1,600 points
The Canadiens held Crosby off the scoresheet in a 6-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday night at the Bell Centre, leaving him one point shy of the 1,600 mark for his career.
But Crosby had a goal and two assists Thursday night in a 6-5 overtime win over the Buffalo Sabres in Pittsburgh. That allowed Crosby to become only the 10th player in NHL history to hit the 1,600-point mark. After Thursday’s game, Crosby had 593 goals and 1,009 assists for 1,602 points in 1,277 regular-season games. Crosby took the fifth-fewest games to reach the mark, trailing Wayne Gretzky (667 games), Lemieux (812), Marcel Dionne (1,164) and Jaromir Jagr (1,274).
At age 37, Crosby is in his 20th NHL season and shows no signs of slowing down with 1-5-6 totals in the Penguins’ first five games. Gretzky was 37 when he started his final NHL season in 1998-99, during which he posted 9-53-62 totals in 70 games.
St. Louis was asked after Monday’s morning skate what has enabled Crosby to maintain his greatness.
“Well, one, it’s how he takes care of himself,” the Canadiens head coach said. “To me, that’s No. 1. But also his computer. He’s got really, really, really good software and that keeps improving all the time. That allows him to navigate on the ice, get his touches. But those two things for me.
“Obviously, his compete level,” St. Louis added. “But he couldn’t compete if he didn’t take care of his body. He’s an elite player, he’s done it for a long time. But I think it starts with that and his software.”