Young and hungry.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a line defenceman Kaiden Guhle used several times when speaking with the media after practice Friday in Brossard as the Canadiens prepared for Game 1 of their first-round playoff series Sunday against the Lightning in Tampa (5:45 p.m., CBC, SN, TVA Sports).<\/p>\n
I asked Guhle if that was the team\u2019s slogan for the playoffs and if they had made T-shirts.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, I just came up with it right now,\u201d he said with a chuckle.<\/p>\n
![\"Canadiens](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0318-spt-habs-2139_302145848.jpg\")
Canadiens defenceman Kaiden Guhle skates against the Boston Bruins in Montreal on March 17, 2026. Guhle is one of the nicest young men you could ever meet, but he takes pride in being what he calls \u201ca prick\u201d on the ice, Stu Cowan writes. \u201cIt\u2019s just fun to do that,\u201d Guhle said. \u201cI like getting in guys\u2019 faces, pissing guys off. I like when the other team\u2019s yelling at me and kind of giving me s\u2014. Allen McInnis \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n
It is a great way to describe the Canadiens, who for the second straight year are the youngest team in the playoffs with an average age of 26.<\/p>\n
The Canadiens made the playoffs for the first time in four years last season with a 40-31-11 record for 91 points. They improved by 15 points this season with a 48-24-10 record to finish third in the Atlantic Division. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think when you look at what we\u2019ve been through as a team and, obviously, there\u2019s a couple of years there where we were bottom of the league and had to work our way up, and then last year kind of get a sniff of the playoffs and clinch the playoffs on the last game of the year,\u201d Guhle said. \u201cI think just getting that playoff atmosphere and that playoff kind of feeling is so addicting and we got a little bit of a taste of it. I think that\u2019s just something we\u2019re going to want to do every year. It\u2019s an addicting feeling to feel that and you want to feel that every year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Last year, the Canadiens lost in five games to the Washington Capitals in the first round of the playoffs after clinching the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with a 4-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes in their final game of the regular season.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Head coach Martin St. Louis said the thing that impressed him most about his team this season was the competitiveness. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think we compete,\u201d he said. \u201cI feel like it was rare that we weren\u2019t in games \u2014 whether we were winning or tied. We were always close enough that we could go get it if we needed to. We learned to close games better. So I feel like we competed.\u201d<\/p>\n
I wouldn\u2019t mind being wrong about my Lightning in six prediction because there\u2019s nothing like the playoffs in Montreal. A long playoff run would be great for the city, the fans and the team.<\/p>\n
Guhle enjoys being \u201ca prick\u201d<\/p>\n
A big reason why I\u2019m picking the Lightning to win in six games is the Canadiens will be without defenceman Noah Dobson because of what is likely a broken thumb.<\/p>\n
As a result, it looks like the defence pairings for Game 1 in Tampa will have Guhle with Mike Matheson, Lane Hutson with Alexandre Carrier and Arber Xhekaj with Jayden Struble. David Reinbacher and Adam Engstrom will be the extra defencemen.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, he\u2019s a great player and it\u2019s tough to have him out for now,\u201d Guhle said about Dobson. \u201cBut we\u2019re lucky enough to have a lot of depth on D and a lot of players that can play and log a lot of minutes. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a couple of guys that maybe don\u2019t play as much and you\u2019re a competitor and you want to always be playing more, so this is their chance and they\u2019re going to be ready to step up in that regard,\u201d Guhle added. \u201cAgain, young and hungry. Younger D that maybe haven\u2019t got an opportunity this year to play and play a lot of minutes and they\u2019re going to get that now and they\u2019re going to take that opportunity and run with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Guhle is one of the nicest young men you could ever meet, but he takes pride in being what he calls \u201ca prick\u201d on the ice. <\/p>\n
How does he flip that switch?<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just fun to do that,\u201d he said. \u201cI like getting in guys\u2019 faces, pissing guys off. I like when the other team\u2019s yelling at me and kind of giving me s\u2014. I feel like if teams aren\u2019t doing that to me in a game, I feel like I\u2019m not really doing my job. It\u2019s fun being in the fire. It gets you into the game. I want other teams\u2019 players to be playing the Habs and think: \u2018We got to play this guy and this guy and this D core.\u2019 That\u2019s like a pride thing, I guess, more than anything. It\u2019s fun to be like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Guhle was asked where his \u201cprick meter\u201d will be for Game 1.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ll see on Sunday,\u201d he said with a grin.<\/p>\n
Dynamic duo?<\/p>\n
The \u201ccouple of guys\u201d Guhle was talking about getting their chance now are Xhekaj and Struble.<\/p>\n
Xhekaj and Struble are great friends, but they have been competing against each other all season for the sixth defence spot. Now, because of the injury to Dobson, they find themselves as partners to start the playoffs.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s cool,\u201d Xhekaj said. \u201cWe root for one another, we compete against each other, but we don\u2019t make the calls. We got each other\u2019s backs, so I think it\u2019s going to be good to play with him. We\u2019ve played together in the past and we\u2019ve had fun. We\u2019re going to be an important D pair, I think, in that series.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we both play physical and we can kind of wear down their forwards as the series goes on here,\u201d Xhekaj added. \u201cI think it\u2019s going to be especially important because we like to play that game and I think you got to let Laner do his thing and Carrier, too. Guhls and Mike are going to be a shutdown pair and I think it\u2019s going to be our job to kind of get things going when the team needs it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Struble was a healthy scratch 22 times this season and Xhekaj 17 times. Struble played the first two playoff games against the Capitals last season before being replaced by Xhekaj for the last three.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s something you dream about as a kid to play in the Stanley Cup playoffs and play for a Stanley Cup,\u201d Xhekaj said. \u201cIt\u2019s what every kid\u2019s goal is in life and I think when you get there it\u2019s special. It\u2019s what you play for, it\u2019s why you play the game. It\u2019s definitely a special thing to make the playoffs and go for the Stanley Cup was a dream of mine as a kid.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know what this city\u2019s like when the playoffs get going,\u201d Xhekaj added. \u201cI played a few games last year, but it was probably the most fun hockey I\u2019ve ever played. So we\u2019re all excited for that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Guhle believes Xhekaj and Struble will play a big role against the Lightning.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ll be huge, I think,\u201d Guhle said. \u201cThey\u2019re a gritty team and they like to get in your face and scrum it up. Those two guys don\u2019t shy away from that stuff. They love it, so it will be a good matchup for them, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Hockey](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0408-spt-habs_302472688.jpg\")
Canadiens\u2019 Jakub Dobe\u0161 covers up the loose puck against the Florida Panthers in Montreal on April 7, 2026. Dobes played the last three games against the Capitals last season in the playoffs after Samuel Montembeault tore two groin muscles and he posted a 1-2-0 record with a 2.91 goals-against average and an .881 save percentage. John Mahoney \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n
The goalie matchup<\/p>\n
Another big reason why I\u2019m picking the Lightning to win the series in six games is the goaltending matchup.<\/p>\n
The Lightning has Andrei Vasilevskiy, who has already won two Stanley Cups, a Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP and has a career .918 save percentage in 120 career playoff games. The Canadiens have rookies Jakub Dobes and Jacob Fowler, who have three career playoff games between them. <\/p>\n
Dobes played the last three games against the Capitals last season after Samuel Montembeault tore two groin muscles and he posted a 1-2-0 record with a 2.91 goals-against average and an .881 save percentage.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve got a great goalie,\u201d Guhle said. \u201cHe\u2019s done a lot in this league and he\u2019s a tough guy to beat. But our guys are young and hungry and excited to accept this challenge and Doby got a couple of games in last year and Fowls, it will be a new experience for him, but I think both those guys will live up to the challenge.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think this kind of stuff is what they both live for and I\u2019m sure they\u2019ll rise to the occasion and be great for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki also has confidence in the team\u2019s two goalies.<\/p>\n
\u201cVasilevskiy\u2019s been maybe the best goalie over the last, I don\u2019t know, five, six years,\u201d Suzuki said. \u201cHe\u2019s definitely a big guy. He knows how to win. He\u2019s obviously shown that. He\u2019s going to be\u00a0maybe a V\u00e9zina winner (this season), but I think we have confidence in our goalies. They\u2019ve showed down the stretch that they can win big games and make big saves and we got all the confidence in the world in whoever\u2019s in net for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Perry Factor<\/p>\n
The Canadiens will have to deal with veteran Corey Perry\u2019s antics during the playoffs as the 40-year-old tries to get under their skin.<\/p>\n
Perry will definitely be targeting Hutson, like he did the last time these teams met on April 9 at the Bell Centre with the Canadiens winning 2-1. The teams combined for 126 penalty minutes.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s part of the game,\u201d Hutson said when asked about Perry. \u201cHe\u2019s good at it. Not my typical interactions on the ice. That\u2019s something he brings and something you got to be aware of. He\u2019s good at it and it\u2019s good for him, I guess.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou just got to play,\u201d Hutson added. \u201cI think when you just play and play as hard as you can and take care of the team \u2026 you know that they\u2019re going to come hard anyways. Kind of be ready for whatever\u2019s going to come, I guess. But just got to play.\u201d<\/p>\n
Corey Perry was telling Lane Hutson to get off the ice while both teams were in a big scrum, Hutson wasn’t listening and Perry wasn’t happy ?? pic.twitter.com\/9NRv3hVXqz<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) April 10, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Xhekaj said Perry\u2019s constant chirping doesn\u2019t bother him.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t get mad too often on the ice,\u201d Xhekaj said. \u201cUnless you do something physically to hurt me or hurt my team. The chirping thing, I never get mad at that stuff and I know what he\u2019s doing. So if you think I\u2019m going across the line or going wild, I\u2019m probably not if it\u2019s a chirping incident. I know what he\u2019s doing and, obviously, I try and feel it out with the refs, see what I can and can\u2019t do. Kind of just play my game.<\/p>\n \u201cI kind of just play my game and whatever\u2019s in front of me I just do,\u201d Xhekaj added. \u201cI try not to overthink things or look at what if this happens or what if that happens. I trust my instincts and I just play the game in front of me.\u201d<\/p>\n Hutson keeps getting better<\/p>\n Hutson had an outstanding season, finishing with 12-66-78 totals and tying Hall of Famer Larry Robinson\u2019s team record for most assists in a season by a defenceman. <\/p>\n The 22-year-old also had a plus-36 differential \u2014 the seventh-best among NHL defencemen \u2014 after finishing minus-2 last season when he won the Calder Trophy as the NHL\u2019s top rookie with 6-60-66 totals.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s his anticipation and reads,\u201d St. Louis said when asked about Hutson\u2019s improved defensive play. \u201cBecause I feel he\u2019s always competed. He\u2019s such an offensive guy that he probably makes great reads defensively just by reverse engineering it and I feel like the best players do that. So I feel like probably having a reverse-engineering mind, he\u2019s taking the most likely next option because he reads it fast, because he understands it on the other side of the puck.\u201d<\/p>\n Demidov a special player<\/p>\n The Canadiens\u2019 Ivan Demidov led all NHL rookies in scoring this season with 19-43-62 totals to finish ahead of Anaheim Ducks forward Beckett Sennecke (23-37-60) and New York Islanders defenceman Matthew Schaefer (23-36-59).<\/p>\n The 18-year-old Schaefer is the favourite to win the Calder Trophy this season after being the No. 1 overall pick at last year\u2019s NHL Draft and averaging 24:41 of ice time this season while finishing plus-13.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m still learning about Demi,\u201d St. Louis said. \u201cYou don\u2019t want to over-coach players like Demi. The thing I love about Demi, he\u2019s such a talented kid and it\u2019s not necessarily about him. He wants to do things to help the team, not necessarily: \u2018I\u2019m going to do the things that help me, what I like to do.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cI totally get the things that he likes to do and he\u2019s elite at that,\u201d St. Louis added about Demidov, the No. 5 overall pick at the 2024 NHL Draft. \u201cI feel it\u2019s probably the hardest thing for a coach is to convince a very talented, high pick, young player that there\u2019s a whole other game out there to be played besides the things that you like to do that\u2019s going to benefit the team and that\u2019s what impresses me the most with Demi at his age. To really want to take care of the team and still finding his own moments for what he likes to do. So that impresses me.\u201d<\/p>\n Tampa connection<\/p>\n St. Louis played 13 seasons in Tampa during his Hall of Fame career and won the Stanley Cup with the Lightning in 2004 when he also won the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL\u2019s leading scorer with 38-56-94 totals and the Hart Trophy as league MVP. <\/p>\n St. Louis\u2019s last season with the Lightning in 2013-14 was also Jon Cooper\u2019s first full season as the team\u2019s head coach. In 2017, two years after he retired as a player, St. Louis became the first Lightning player to have his number retired by the team. His No. 26 hangs from the rafters at Tampa\u2019s Benchmark International Arena.<\/p>\n Now, St. Louis and Cooper will go head-to-head as coaches in the playoffs.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cI think I\u2019m so far removed from that,\u201d St. Louis said about his time playing for the Lightning. \u201cI think it\u2019s my fourth year now (coaching the Canadiens), gone to the building plenty of times. I think the first time I went: \u2018Yeah, it was a little weird.\u2019 But I\u2019m so far removed from that. I don\u2019t have any emotion attached to the Lightning right now. Zero.\u201d<\/p>\n St. Louis and Cooper remain friends. When asked what he learned from Cooper that has helped him as a coach, St. Louis said: \u201cProbably the way he communicates, I would say.\u201d<\/p>\n Suzuki is in his fifth season with St. Louis as his head coach and he had Cooper as his head coach at this year\u2019s Olympics with Team Canada.<\/p>\n \u201cCoop\u2019s been an amazing coach and then Marty has learned from Coop and now Marty is going back to Tampa,\u201d Suzuki said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of similarities to how we play and how they play. It\u2019s going to be a tough test for both teams. A lot of offence, a lot of great defenders. I\u2019m sure Marty and everybody\u2019s pretty excited to get going there.\u201d<\/p>\n Cup comes home?<\/p>\n EA Sports announced Friday the Canadiens won the Stanley Cup in its annual NHL video game playoff simulation.<\/p>\n The simulation had the Canadiens beating the Lightning in seven games in the first round, the Buffalo Sabres in six games in the second round and the Carolina Hurricanes in seven games in the Eastern Conference final before beating the Minnesota Wild in seven games in the final.<\/p>\n Before Canadiens fans get too excited about the video-game results, EA Sports had the Toronto Maple Leafs winning the Stanley Cup in last year\u2019s simulation. The Leafs ended up losing to the Florida Panthers in seven games in the second round.<\/p>\n EA Sports did correctly predict the Chicago Blackhawks winning the Stanley Cup in 2011. But between 2012 and 2021 the simulation did not come up with the actual Cup winner once and only once correctly predicted a Cup finalist with the Nashville Predators in 2017, who lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins.<\/p>\n End of the road for Price, Weber<\/p>\n The end of the regular season meant former Canadiens\u2019 Carey Price and Shea Weber are now officially retired with the San Jose Sharks and Chicago Blackhawks both missing the playoffs.<\/p>\n Price hasn\u2019t played since the 2021-22 season because of a knee injury and Weber hasn\u2019t played since the Canadiens lost to the Lightning in the 2021 Stanley Cup Final because of several injuries. But this was the last season for both of their contracts.<\/p>\n Canadiens GM Kent Hughes traded the final season of Price\u2019s eight-year, US$84-million contract to the Sharks last September. The 38-year-old Price had a US$10.5 million salary-cap hit this season, but only had a base salary of US$2 million. The Canadiens also had to pay Price a US$5.5 million signing bonus before trading him.<\/p>\n Hughes traded Weber\u2019s contract to the Vegas Golden Knights in the summer of 2022. Since then, the 40-year-old\u2019s contract has been traded to the Arizona Coyotes (who became the Utah Mammoth) and then the Chicago Blackhawks.<\/p>\n The final year of Weber\u2019s 14-year, US$110-million contract had a salary-cap hit of US$7.857 million, but he only earned US$1 million this season on the heavily front-loaded contract that paid him US$80 million over the first six years, including US$68 million in signing bonuses.<\/p>\n End of the road for Julien?<\/p>\n Former Canadiens head coach Claude Julien has been fired as an assistant coach with the St. Louis Blues. <\/p>\n St. Louis general manager Doug Armstrong announced Friday the contracts of Julien and fellow assistant coach Mike Weber wouldn\u2019t be renewed after the Blues missed the playoffs with a 37-33-12 record.<\/p>\n \u201cI would like to thank Claude and Mike for their contributions during their time with the organization,\u201d Armstrong said. \u201cWith their contracts set to expire this summer, we wanted to give them the opportunity to move on to the next chapter of their coaching careers while we work to building a coaching staff that is best suited to lead our team moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n Julien, 65, joined the Blues as an assistant coach in the summer of 2024. <\/p>\n scowan@postmedia.com<\/a><\/p>\n x.com\/StuCowan1<\/a><\/p>\n \t\tEditor\u2019s Picks\t<\/p>\n \t\t![\"Hockey](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0325-spt-habs_302254394.jpg\")
Canadiens\u2019 Lane Hutson passes the puck against the Carolina Hurricanes in Montreal on March 24, 2026. The defenceman finished the regular season with 12-66-78 totals and tying Hall of Famer Larry Robinson\u2019s team record for most assists in a season by a defenceman. John Mahoney \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n![\"Hockey](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0706-spt-habs-gamer-4173_97293051.jpg\")
Canadiens goaltender Carey Price retreats deep in to his net after stopping a shot by the Tampa Bay Lightning during the Stanley Cup Finals in Game 4 in Montreal on July 5, 2021. Allen McInnis \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n