Once again this year, Quebec City will host its International Pee Wee Tournament from February 11 to 22, and as always, there will be a team representing the Montreal Canadiens [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens]. This time around, it’s the Lions du Lac St-Louis that have earned the privilege of wearing the Sainte-Flanelle for the tournament, and on Friday, they got a visitor at practice. While plenty of NHL players have used the Olympic break as an opportunity to head to sunny destinations, Mike Matheson stayed around, spent some time in Brossard skating with his little boy, and on Friday, he surprised the Lions at practice. Canadiens: Slafkovsky’s Irresistible Assault on Slovakia’s Olympic Goal Scoring Record [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens/latest-news/canadiens-slafkovsky-s-irresistible-assault-on-slovakia-s-olympic-goal-scoring-record] Canadiens’ Suzuki Moved Back To Center in Canada’s Win [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens/latest-news/canadiens-suzuki-moved-back-to-center-in-canada-s-win] Canadiens: Laine Trade Rumours Swirling Around As Finn Forward Looks Like Casualty Of Habs’ Improvement [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens/latest-news/canadiens-laine-trade-rumours-swirling-around-as-finn-forward-looks-like-casualty-of-habs-improvement] Judging by the picture published by the Canadiens’ social media account, the kids were over the moon to see Matheson, who had his jersey retired by the Lions [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens/latest-news/canadiens-blueliner-to-be-honored] back in September, turn up. They hadn’t started their tournament yet, with their first game being scheduled on Valentine’s Day against the Long Island Stars. Photo credit: Montreal Canadiens Instagram Account [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/d9f1bf4e-52e3-484e-8b20-cba843db5360.jpeg] Photo credit: Montreal Canadiens Instagram Account Matheson, who will turn 32 toward the end of the month, signed a five-year extension with the Canadiens at the end of November and is not going anywhere anytime soon. The veteran defenseman managed to get a three-year full no-movement clause out of Kent Hughes, a rare feat. Then, in the last two years of his deal, he has a modified no-trade clause, which provides that he can submit a list of 14 teams he doesn’t want to be traded to in 2029-30 and a five-team list for the 2030-31 season. Right now, there would be no reason for the Canadiens to want to trade the blueliner in any case; he’s an absolute workhorse on their defence corps, averaging nearly 25 minutes of ice time per game. Despite not being on the power play anymore, he’s managed to rack up 28 points in 54 games, just three points below his total from last season, which he’ll no doubt surpass. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Follow Karine on X @KarineHains [https://x.com/KarineHains] Bluesky @karinehains.bsky.social [https://bsky.app/profile/karinehains.bsky.social] and Threads @karinehains [https://www.threads.net/@karinehains]. Bookmark The Hockey News Canadiens' page [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens/] for all the news and happenings around the Canadiens. Image [https://cdn.ramp-assets.playwire.com/1025444/76033/house_ads/file-1762367418209.jpg] Join the discussion by signing up to the Canadiens' roundtable [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens] on The Hockey News. Subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free [https://thehockeynews.store/products/print-subscription]. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here [http://eepurl.com/i7OC4I].
