March 24, 2026<\/a><\/p>\nDobes was the backup to Fowler for that game, but appeared to get into some chirping with Islanders players from the bench. It brought back memories of last year\u2019s playoffs when Dobes was barking at Washington players from the bench and it resulted in a fight between the Canadiens\u2019 Josh Anderson and the Capitals\u2019 Tom Wilson at the end of the second period of Game 3 at the Bell Centre. Anderson and Wilson ended up going over the boards and fighting on the Washington bench.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Martineau was doing his job \u2014 which he does very well \u2014 when he asked Dobes what happened with the Islanders. It was a good question and Dobes gave an honest answer.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like people read too much into it,\u201d the goalie said. \u201cI saw some comments about the referee, but I wasn\u2019t even doing really anything. He told me that they have a lot on their hands so if you don\u2019t get involved it will help them and people think that I was the person who started all the chirping. They just asked me not to get involved. I feel like people read too much.<\/p>\n
\u201cI heard everything that was going on between the benches,\u201d Dobes added. \u201cThere was something that one player said on the other team that probably shouldn\u2019t be said and I just told the referees: \u2018Hey, please be careful, this stuff doesn\u2019t belong to the game, blah, blah, blah.\u2019 I told him: \u2018Hey, don\u2019t act like that\u2019 \u2026 and that\u2019s pretty much it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dobes didn\u2019t say which Islanders player said something that shouldn\u2019t be said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter that I saw that I was a part of the chirping (in media),\u201d Dobes told Martineau. \u201cBut since the last year, that whole Washington thing, I try to stay out of it. I try to focus more on my game. I\u2019m not even good at chirping, really. I feel like people read too much into it and I don\u2019t think it\u2019s true that I was getting like a warning by the referee. They just asked me to not get involved because I\u2019m sitting right in between of the benches. Just so they need to protect the players on the ice and also on the bench. So they were just asking nicely to be careful.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Canadiens didn\u2019t seem to like that interview and now Dobes isn\u2019t speaking with the media. <\/p>\n
Head coach Martin St. Louis has also decided he will no longer announce who his starting goalie is \u2014 or other lineup changes \u2014 until game time.<\/p>\n
Dobes having fun<\/p>\n
Dobes was in good spirits \u2014 like usual \u2014 and smiling a lot during Monday\u2019s interview with Martineau.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel confident,\u201d he added. \u201cI just feel really strongly about my game right now. I feel good and I feel like I\u2019m ready to play good hockey and whatever they ask me to do I feel like I\u2019m ready. So I just feel good. I try to work hard in practices and games and help my teammates, be the best possible teammate and also help them to get better in practice or to help them as much in a game. That\u2019s pretty much it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s fun,\u201d he said about the Canadiens recent success, winning three straight home games before starting a five-game road trip Saturday in Nashville against the Predators (7 p.m., City, SNE, TVA Sports). \u201cMe, personally, it\u2019s kind of similar like last year. Every game matters a lot and when you win it means even more than a couple of months ago. So I feel like we\u2019re kind of now in that playoff mindset. You want to win every game. You don\u2019t want to give the other team any advantage. You just want to really focus and fight for your life. I feel like with the standings and what\u2019s coming ahead of us I feel like the last three weeks (of the season) are really important. I try to be really dialled in and be the best for my teammates towards the end of the year and also playoffs.<\/p>\n
Seinfeld characters<\/p>\n
It\u2019s hard not to like Dobes with his outgoing personality and sense of humour and it\u2019s the same with teammate Juraj Slafkovsky.<\/p>\n
I joked on The Gazette\u2019s Hockey Inside\/Out Show this week with former Canadiens teammates and 1986 Stanley Cup champions Chris Nilan and Rick Green that Dobes and Slafkovsky both could have been characters on the old Seinfeld sitcom as Kramer\u2019s buddies if they were playing for the New York Rangers.<\/p>\n
Canadiens defenceman Jayden Struble chuckled when I mentioned Dobes could have been a Seinfeld character. I actually wondered if Struble, 24, might be too young to even know about the Seinfeld show.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, I watch it,\u201d he said. It\u2019s hilarious.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s actually like a TV show character,\u201d Struble added about Dobes. \u201cI think that helps, though. He\u2019s just so different. I think he doesn\u2019t think about things in the same way that other people would and I think that inevitably helps him to just kind of brush things off and kind of be in his own world, which is good to see.\u201d<\/p>\n
Praise for Fowler<\/p>\n
Former Canadiens goalie Carey Price was a guest this week on Julie Petry and Cat Toffoli\u2019s Never Offside podcast and was asked if there\u2019s a goalie in the NHL now who reminds him of himself.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, Jacob Fowler,\u201d Price said. \u201cWhen I watch him play he just reminds me a lot of me when I was his age.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve talked to their goalies a little bit,\u201d Price added. \u201cI\u2019ve talked to Jacob a couple of times. I\u2019m not trying to get in his head or anything. I just gave him my number and if he ever has any questions about anything I\u2019m always open to help out in any way I can. But he looks like he\u2019s doing just fine to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Getting ready for playoffs<\/p>\n
Heading into Saturday\u2019s game in Nashville against the Predators the Canadiens had a 40-21-10 record for 90 points and were in third place in the Atlantic Division with a 94.7 per cent chance of making the playoffs, according to the Hockey-Reference website.<\/p>\n
Last season, the Canadiens made the playoffs for the first time in four years with 91 points to earn the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with a 40-31-11 record.<\/p>\n
Canadiens season-ticket holders have already received the team\u2019s pricing list for the playoffs for their seats at the Bell Centre. Tickets for the first round range from $130 to $676. Second-round tickets range from $163 to $845. Eastern Conference final tickets range from $212 to $1,099 and Stanley Cup final tickets range from $286 to $1,484.<\/p>\n
Hitting the road<\/p>\n
Jake Evans is happy the Canadiens are starting a five-game road trip because it will give him a chance to get more sleep.<\/p>\n
Evans\u2019s wife gave birth to twins last summer and she was at the Bell Centre with the two boys for Thursday night\u2019s pregame warmup.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was the first time,\u201d Evans said. \u201cThey had their headphones on \u2026 it was really cool. They went right back home afterwards. It\u2019s cool to see. Hopefully as the years go on they can start to remember stuff like this. At least we have pictures for them.\u201d<\/p>\n
After playing the Predators on Saturday, the Canadiens will face the Hurricanes Sunday in Carolina (5 p.m., TSN2, RDS) ahead of games against the Lightning in Tampa on Tuesday, the Rangers in New York on Thursday and the Devils in New Jersey on Saturday.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an odd trip,\u201d Evans said. \u201cI feel like we\u2019re going all over a bit. But guys are excited. I\u2019m excited to sleep a little more and that\u2019s about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Canadiens have a 22-13-2 record at home and were 18-8-8 on the road before facing the Predators.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t really change how we play,\u201d Evans said about going on the road. \u201cI think we\u2019re starting to play more mature hockey, which should help us go on the road.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lane Hutson was also looking forward to the long road trip.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we got a pretty good group that likes going on the road,\u201d the defenceman said. \u201cIt\u2019s fun to just kind of be with the group and be around each other even more. It\u2019s no problem for us. We enjoy it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Music City<\/p>\n
Canadiens defenceman Kaiden Guhle grew up in Edmonton and is a big country-music fan, so he loves going to Nashville.<\/p>\n
During the Olympic break in the NHL schedule, Guhle went to Cancun and then Nashville with a couple of buddies.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was fun to get some sun and then\u00a0Nashville\u00a0wasn\u2019t really that warm \u2014 but live music, can\u2019t beat it,\u201d Guhle said. \u201cIt was fun to go do that and see a couple of buddies from home, too.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s one of my favourite (NHL cities),\u201d Guhle added about Nashville. \u201cBeing from out West I love country music, live music. Going for business this time around, so won\u2019t really get to enjoy it really. But always fun to go there. Fun building to play in, too. It\u2019s always pretty rowdy, pretty loud. It will be fun to get out there again and be around the vibe of the city. It\u2019s always fun.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Guhle\u2019s favourite country-music star is Luke Combs, who will be playing two outdoor concerts at Montreal\u2019s Parc Jean-Drapeau on May 29-30.<\/p>\n
\u201cHopefully, we\u2019re still playing (in the playoffs) and, hopefully, I won\u2019t get the chance to see him,\u201d Guhle said. \u201cIt will be cool to hopefully not see him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rock\u2019n\u2019roll<\/p>\n
Speaking of music, Columbus Blue Jackets head coach Rick Bowness, who is 71, had one of the best quotes this season when asked before Thursday night\u2019s game at the Bell Centre about relating to his young players.<\/p>\n
\u201cI bring up Led Zeppelin and they have no idea what I\u2019m talking about,\u201d Bowness said. \u201cI always tell them: \u2018If you want to keep me out of your room, keep playing that music you play.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The Blue Jackets had a 19-19-7 record and were in last place in the Eastern Conference when GM Don Waddell decided to fire Dean Evason as head coach on Jan. 12 and hire Bowness, who had retired after coaching the Winnipeg Jets for the 2023-24 season. The Blue Jackets had a 19-4-4 record with Bowness behind the bench and were holding a playoff spot in third place in the Metropolitan Division before facing the San Jose Sharks on Saturday in Columbus.<\/p>\n
St. Louis is impressed how Bowness has never lost his passion for the game.<\/p>\n
When asked what has made Bowness a successful coach for so long, St. Louis said: \u201cOne is his experience. The quality of human. His communication. It\u2019s not one thing. But I think it always starts with a human side and Bones is an excellent human.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bowness has a Montreal connection. The Moncton, N.B., native played junior hockey for the Montreal Red White and Blue in the QMJHL, posting 24-71-95 totals and 132 penalty minutes in 71 games as a centre during the 1974-75 season. <\/p>\n
Hage sidelined with leg injury<\/p>\n
Michael Hage\u2019s University of Michigan career isn\u2019t over yet.<\/p>\n
Michigan, the top-ranked team in U.S. college hockey, beat No. 20 Bentley 5-1 Friday in Albany, N.Y., advancing to Sunday\u2019s regional final game of the NCAA Tournament against Minnesota Duluth.<\/p>\n
Hage, the Canadiens\u2019 first-round pick (21st overall) at the 2024 NHL Draft, didn\u2019t play in Friday\u2019s game because of a leg injury that isn\u2019t considered to be serious. In 37 games this season, the 6-foot-1, 199-pound sophomore centre has 13-38-51 totals. There\u2019s a good chance the 19-year-old will turn pro once Michigan\u2019s season comes to an end.<\/p>\n
ESPN did a wonderful feature video on Hage\u2019s hockey journey ahead of the NCAA tournament, including the death of his father, Alain, at age 51 in a swimming pool accident on July 7, 2023. Alain grew up in Montreal as a huge Canadiens fan and passed that along to his two sons, Michael and Alex. <\/p>\n
Hage wore No. 9 in youth hockey in the Toronto area as a tribute to Canadiens legend Maurice Richard.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
In the ESPN feature, Hage\u2019s mother, Rania, explains her late husband died after diving into their in-ground backyard pool and hitting his head on the concrete wall.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy brother and one of his close buddies were the ones to pull him out of the pool,\u201d Hage\u2019s brother says in the ESPN feature. \u201cTried giving him CPR and then just nothing worked out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hage said it was like a nightmare.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was the worst day of my life,\u201d he told ESPN. \u201cIt was horrible. I try not to think about it a lot to this day.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the 2024 NHL Draft, Hage had family photos with his father stitched inside his suit jacket along with the words his mother told him following his dad\u2019s death: \u201cDon\u2019t move on just move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
After the Canadiens drafted Hage, his mother hugged him and said: \u201cThis is a sign from God, baby. You know that this is dad with you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Canadiens sign Protz<\/p>\n
The Canadiens announced Friday they have signed Owen Protz to a three-year, NHL entry-level contract.<\/p>\n
The Canadiens selected the 6-foot-2, 207-pound defenceman who shoots left in the fourth round (102nd overall) of the 2024 NHL Draft. In 64 games this season with the OHL\u2019s Brantford Bulldogs, the 20-year-old had 5-18-23 totals and 84 penalty minutes along with a plus-45 differential.<\/p>\n
Protz is a physical, stay-at-home defenceman.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe knows what he is and that\u2019s a gift, that\u2019s a skill, because they don\u2019t always at that age,\u201d Laval Rocket head coach Pascal Vincent said when asked about Protz at the Canadiens\u2019 development camp last summer. \u201cThey think they can be somebody else.\u201d<\/p>\n
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