The Montreal Canadiens and the Ottawa Senators will face off in Trois-Rivières and while it's an exhibition game, Habs fans won't have to watch an AHL lineup.
After Saint-Boniface won the Kraft Hockeyville contest, the NHL set up camp in Trois-Rivières on Monday, where the Montreal Canadiens will face the Ottawa Senators at 7:00 PM. While there was some talk that the lineups may not be up to par because of the new CBA rules, which provide that veterans who have played over 100 games of professional hockey cannot play more than two exhibition games, it has now been clarified that today’s festivities do not count as a regular exhibition game but rather as a special NHL event.
At 8:00 AM, the first group of Sens arrived at the Colisee Videtron parking lot, and a significant crowd was already assembled to see who had made the trip from Ottawa. Tim Stutzle, William Eklund, Samuel Blais, Drake Batherson, Nick Cousins, Dylan Cozens, Andre Burakovsky, and Jake Sanderson all made the trip. The Sens greeted the fans when they arrived, but nearly the entire crowd wore some sort of Canadiens merch, and it was clear that Ottawa was the appetizer before the main course.
The Habs were scheduled to arrive around 9:00 AM, but they didn't get there until 9:45; maybe they wanted to be fashionably late, or maybe to keep fans from going into the building to cheer the Senators on during their morning skate. Whatever the reason, though, the wait was worth it. Captain Nick Suzuki followed coach Martin St-Louis out of the bus along with Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, Ivan Demidov, Oliver Kapanen, Samuel Montembeault, Jakub Dobes, Zach Bolduc, Alexandre Texier, the Xhekaj brothers, David Reinbacher, Noah Dobson, Lane Hutson, Alex Newhook, Jayden Struble, Kirby Dach, Adam Engstrom, Brett Berard and Sasha Pastujov.
While the lines and pairings haven’t been released yet, the Canadiens will ice a star-studded lineup tonight. Beyond the established players, Trois-Rivières fans will get a look at Reinbacher, who had a statement first game Saturday night and clearly wants to make the team this season. Up front, they’ll see the “young Xhekaj.” Florian also had a solid game in Toronto, and while it would be shocking to see him get a spot in the lineup this season, there are just too many players on NHL contracts. He plays the kind of game fans love to watch: hard-hitting, just like his brother.
The 4,390-seat arena is sure to be sold out tonight, and the fans should be treated to a great time.
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