(Detroit) Kent Hughes, Nick Bobrov and Vincent Lecavalier are in Russia this week to meet Ivan Demidov, first choice of the Canadian in the last draft.
Published yesterday at 9:51 p.m.
A photo of the three Canadian hockey men, accompanied by the head coach of the Saint Petersburg SKA, Roman Rotenberg, circulated on social networks. Questions inevitably arose regarding the symbolism of an organization going to a country at war against an ally of Canada, a country otherwise known for using high-level sport to promote its image.
In the press scrum Thursday evening, Jeff Gorton, executive vice-president of hockey operations for the Canadiens, tried to calm things down.
“We have hopes all over the world. If we draft you, you are in our family and we will go see you play, we will follow you and we will tell you how we see your game, we will make you feel that we are watching you,” pleaded Gorton.
It’s a recruiting trip. It’s a short trip. Kent will return quickly. And it’s a chance for him to see more than just the player that belongs to us.
Jeff Gorton, executive vice-president of hockey operations for the Montreal Canadiens
Demidov has 21 points (7 goals, 14 assists) in 35 games so far this season, despite averaging 10:46 per game, according to KHL data. That’s basically Emil Heineman’s playing time this season in Montreal.
In short, everything is not going well for the 19-year-old young man, who is completing the last year of his contract. In all likelihood, this is his last season in Russia, before making the jump to North America.
Except that in the meantime, the Habs are stuck in a situation from which they can hardly emerge as a winner. Whether for the good of its employees on site, who will have to leave the country sooner or later, or for that of Demidov, whom the team wishes to attract to Montreal, it is obvious that any comment which risks offending local authorities is to avoid.
On this subject, Rotenberg even wrote, on Telegram, that he and his visitors from North America had agreed on the “importance” of Russia’s return “on the international scene, because hockey is unthinkable without duels between Canada and Russia. Earlier this summer, we had a productive conversation via video. It is vital to maintain international links, follow trends and share our experiences, because only in this way will we progress.” It will obviously be necessary to corroborate such comments directly with Kent Hughes when he returns to town.
That’s why Gorton stuck to tongue-in-cheek when asked if he was “concerned” about Demidov and his development.
“We have no worries,” he simply said.
Transaction freeze
Besides, the recent excitement in the NHL is now over. As of 11:59 p.m. Thursday evening, the training freeze actually comes into effect. This freeze notably implies a moratorium on transactions until December 28, at 12:01 a.m.
We specify this because the situation in front of the net is particularly intriguing. In Brossard on Thursday, Martin St-Louis announced that Samuel Montembeault would start Friday’s game in Detroit, even if the CH sees the Wings again 24 hours later at the Bell Center. This will be an eighth start in a row for the Quebecer, and barring a disappointment, a ninth start in a row seems very likely the next day, at home.
The most optimistic will say that it is a break which will allow Cayden Primeau to correct certain technical faults in his game. The most pessimistic will see it rather as a disavowal towards the auxiliary goalkeeper. In any case, Primeau will at least spend the holidays in Montreal while waiting for the rest of the goalkeepers’ soap opera to be known.
Primeau has an average of 4.70 and an efficiency of .836. These are, by far, the worst statistics in the NHL among goaltenders who have played more than one game.
