Skip to content
Your daily dose of hockey
News

Ivan Demidov was used as if Roman Rotenberg was running the habs last night
Charles-Alexis Brisebois
Ivan Demidov was used as if Roman Rotenberg was running the habs last night
Credit: Getty Images
When Ivan Demidov played less often in Russia, Roman Rotenberg was under fire from the Québécois.

But yesterday, Ivan Demidov was used for 10:29 and he jumped 12 times on the ice. Nobody else had less than 13 shifts yesterday in Montreal and apart from Jayden Struble, nobody was used less than him.

So the question arises: will Martin St-Louis be criticized like Roman Rotenberg was?

In my opinion, there is a difference between the two cases. Rotenberg wanted to break the young man, while St-Louis wanted to protect him more and use him in a favorable context.

After all, for nearly half of the game, the Habs were leading. They were not trying to score: they just wanted to make sure they didn’t lose in regulation.

That’s why Alex Newhook and Patrik Laine, his line mates, were also among the least used forwards – just like Emil Heineman, by the way.

If you want to defend, you send Nick Suzuki, Jake Evans and Christian Dvorak before Alex Newhook and his two wingers who are not defensive masters either. Demidov, you send him in more offensive moments… and he still stood out at some point.

Demidov was less talked about yesterday, which can be positive. He is still adapting to hockey here and he didn’t have a bad game – even if it was less impressive than on Monday.

I have the feeling that next Monday, in the first game of the series, he will be able to shine if the team is in a position to want to score and not just to defend.

And as the Habs often start their games poorly…

I’m not worried about Demidov. He was less talked about than in his first game, but he did what he had to do, he who is not the savior of the Canadiens. And I’m not worried: his talent will resurface in the series.


overtime

– Yesterday, before the game, some people wanted to see Demidov take the place of Juraj Slafkovsky. I don’t know if Slaf listened, but clearly, he wasn’t having it.

– At this point, can the series on Crave for the 2024-2025 season be called The Rebuild?

– Have you had time to listen to the debate of the GMs since yesterday?

– Jeff Gorton must be happy to be in Montreal instead of New York or Boston, right now. And Kent Hughes must also be happy to be here.

– Idea: in game #3 of the series, the Canadiens should present Jaroslav Halak to the crowd.

– The people at TVA Sports must be happy to have Canadiens series games in 2025.

– Facing Pierre-Luc Dubois will be special.

– Does the Habs have a chance in the series?

facebook icon Share twitter icon Tweet linkedin icon Share
Copied!
More Content