Forward Brendan Gallagher reiterated his attachment to the Montreal Canadiens, the team for which he has played for 10 years now, but he made no secret of the fact that he absolutely wants to win.
Posted at 3:13 p.m.
Gallagher, whom many consider to be the heart and soul of the Habs, signed a six-year, $39 million contract with the Montreal organization in October 2020. As is the case for many Habs veterans, his name has recently been mentioned in some deal rumours. He believes, however, that his experience has prepared him to face the music.
“I feel like I’ve earned my stripes over the years. I’ve been through a lot, I’ve seen a lot of friends and teammates come and go in that locker room. I think I’m ready for that. I’m aware of the situation we’re in, and I know things can happen, but personally my only goal is to get on the ice and play for this team.” by videoconference after the CH training session at the Bell Sports Complex in Brossard.
“Gally”, who is 29 years old, is well aware that he finds himself at a crossroads in his career as a professional hockey player. He does not have much time left to lift the Stanley Cup, and with the prospect of a long reconstruction looming on the horizon at CH, he could be tempted to go and win quickly with another team.
“It’s hard to think about the situation in two or three years. You want to be part of a competitive team. I love the city, I love everything about being a Montreal Canadiens player. And I love winning. You have to take all of that into consideration. […] We have good elements here; it’s not like we’re starting from scratch. I hope it won’t take too long for us to start winning again,” mentioned the pugnacious forward.
A first move was made by general manager Kent Hughes on Monday when forward Tyler Toffoli was traded to the Calgary Flames. Although Toffoli had many friends and was respected in the Canadiens locker room, Gallagher said he and his teammates weren’t surprised by the deal.
“We hear things, too. He (Toffoli) knew something was probably going to happen. He was very professional there: he showed up at the arena every day and did his job, as usual. He was a good teammate. I enjoyed being able to play with “Toff”. He’s a very good friend, and I wish him luck with the Flames,” Gallagher said.
Earlier in the morning, Gallagher performed power play rehearsals with Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Mike Hoffman and Chris Wideman. The second wave consisted of Ryan Poehling, Josh Anderson, Rem Pitlick and Jeff Petry. Artturi Lehkonen and Joel Armia alternated with them.
These exercises were in line with the approach of the new head coach of the Canadiens, Martin St-Louis, who wants his players to rely more on their instincts in the heat of the moment.
“We work a lot on match situations. He (St-Louis) bets a lot on the intensity and the ability of the players to read the game and react to it. As players, we are always ready to put in the effort if we understand the reasons why we do it. It’s a lot of fun,” Gallagher assured.
One thing is certain, it’s that the intensity was there on the ice on Wednesday morning.
The training session was marked by a brief skirmish between forward Cédric Paquette and defender Alexander Romanov. The Russian notably punched him in the chin before the two players were separated.
It should be noted that Mike Hoffman took part in the first portion of the training session, before retreating to the locker room. The Canadian has not issued an update in his case.
On the other hand, Christian Dvorak was conspicuous by his absence after taking part in the training session the day before. The Habs clarified that the attacker was undergoing treatment.
For his part, Mathieu Perreault once again skated with his teammates. The Quebecer, however, wore a blue jersey, which suggests that he is not yet ready for a return to play.
Defender Joel Edmundson also skated for a second straight day, this time with forward Jonathan Drouin. The Quebecer also participated in some puck handling exercises, alone. Drouin then settled for a spectator role during his teammates’ regular training session. Both players are still on the CH injured list.
The Canadiens will host the St. Louis Blues on Thursday night at the Bell Centre. He will then try to curb his losing streak to 10, his longest since 1926.