As we’re experiencing those last few days of August and kids are gearing up to go back to school, hockey fans are gearing up for the start of the new seasons, and for Montreal Canadiens’ fans, that means watching season 2 of the hit Crave show, The Rebuild: Inside the Montreal Canadiens.

The first two episodes of the second season dropped on the streaming platform at midnight, and they were a delight to watch. As previously reported, the first episode gives us a glimpse of how the Patrik Laine trade came to be, and the second episode helps let us know what a simple number swap entails for the Canadiens from a business standpoint. Still, those are just two of the many storylines crammed into the two episodes.

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It’s refreshing to see the team acknowledge that the opening ceremony of the 2023-24 season was a swing and a miss and see the steps they undertook to do better, the people they brought in, and whose brainchild it was to have a live orchestra play on the ice as the players were introduced. A nice touch that made the moment even more special and was much appreciated by fans.

Of course, the show covers the early injuries to David Reinbacher and Patrik Laine, if, like this reporter, you’ve had your share of knee injuries and can’t stomach seeing knees bend the wrong way, avert your eyes as the replays are, of course, included. Those nightmarish scenes are soon replaced by the ovation received by Laine on opening night and his reaction to getting that kind of treatment without even playing a game.

Much time is spent on Emil Heineman’s debut and the way he earned his roster spot through hard work and buying into the concepts the coach was selling. The youngster came in with a bang last season, chasing every puck and hitting every opponent. While acquiring Noah Dobson from the New York Islanders was an excellent move by Kent Hughes, losing the young Swede will hurt, just like it did when he was lost to a freak injury in Utah last season.

Of course, he wasn’t the only rookie to find his way into the lineup last season, and Lane Hutson’s arrival with the team is also covered. One of the funniest moments of the two shows comes as he is being interviewed in his car, and his dad calls him. Why? Because his ringtone turns out to be a duck quacking. The story doesn’t explain the reason behind the ringtone; perhaps he grew up watching the Mighty Ducks film series?

The other scene that had me chuckling was one with David Savard and Jake Evans going out for coffee on the road. As is often the case, fans were waiting, hoping to get autographs, and one of them asked Evans, “Are you Mr. Hutson?” The center’s reply? “I wish!”. The pivot doesn’t take himself too seriously, though, and he went on to tell the story to Captain Nick Suzuki, adding that the incident was caught on the Crave cameras.

From a hockey standpoint, Samuel Montembeault’s heroics in the home opener are included, which makes sense since it was the first time since the 70s that a Canadiens netminder posted a shutout in the home opener. So is the fact that it was the first time since 2021 that the Toronto Maple Leafs were blanked. While the players were celebrating the win, though, Jeff Gorton was telling the camera that allowing so many shots and scoring just one goal was hardly a sustainable recipe for success.

Sure enough, after the elation of the home opener, the first 15 games didn’t exactly go according to plan, and we got to see why Martin St-Louis eventually decided it was time to crack the whip with a bag skate and the benching of Juraj Slafkovsky in one game when the team was 32nd in the standings.

The show also allows us to see just how vital the analytics department can be in identifying the issues on the ice and helping the coaching staff right the ship. Gorton praises St-Louis for his willingness to listen and gather information from multiple sources to inform his practices and identify areas for improvement. If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a city to raise a young hockey team, and that comes across quite clearly as the youngsters navigate a six-game losing streak.

Having attended the coach’s pressers all year long, it’s interesting to see him use the “paying cash” saying when talking to his players, telling them that to win, you must pay cash, meaning do the little things that aren’t fun to do but will eventually bring back rewards.

Starting the streaming with a couple of episodes was a treat, but until the start of the season, a single episode will be available every Thursday, and I, for one, will be religiously watching them.

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