CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP \u2013 The Canadiens got back to work on Thursday at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex following a day off.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But it wasn\u2019t just any day off. The Habs took advantage of the three-day gap between their first two games of the 2026-27 NHL regular season to bond as a team, something they\u2019ve done annually for the past couple of years during training camp.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s\u2026 it\u2019s an opportunity. When you get a break in this kind of schedule, especially early on, [it\u2019s important to take it], considering we didn\u2019t get a chance to do it during training camp. I know we have a close group, but it\u2019s about having opportunities to get even closer,\u201d said head coach Martin St-Louis following practice.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Having a tight-knit squad off the ice usually translates into positive results on the ice, and while the Canadiens are essentially starting the campaign with the same group as last year, it\u2019s important to make sure everyone feels like they\u2019re a part of the team.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re the same team, but for a guy like [Chris] Kreider, who just got here, I think it\u2019s important to include him as quickly as possible. And for the rest of us, we weren\u2019t all together this summer. So, it\u2019s really about reuniting the whole team,\u201d said defenseman Alexandre Carrier.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At practice, Carrier, who registered a goal (the game-winner, no less) and an assist in the Canadiens\u2019 3-2 season-opening win over the Toronto Maple Leafs, skated alongside Lane Hutson, with whom he started the season.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt brings confidence,\u201d shared the veteran defenseman when asked about playing with the 2025 Calder Trophy winner. \u201cIt obviously helps in the offensive zone too. But aside from the offensive game, Lane is really efficient defensively. He uses his feet a lot, he\u2019s intelligent. He\u2019s easy to read too. I know he can be creative in the offensive zone, but in the defensive zone, I know where he\u2019s going and I know he will do his job and I can trust him with that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s a look at how the other D pairings and lines shaped up during the on-ice session.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP \u2013 The Canadiens got back to work on Thursday at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex following…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":917115,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194292],"tags":[49,48,2338],"class_list":["post-917114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-montreal","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-montreal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/917114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=917114"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/917114\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/917115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=917114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=917114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=917114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}