Hockey

Jake Evans case: personal absence more to blame than injury, says Renaud Lavoie
Charles-Alexis Brisebois
Jake Evans case: personal absence more to blame than injury, says Renaud Lavoie
Credit: Getty Images

Tonight, the Canadiens de Montréal play in Pittsburgh. You know what that means? Zachary Bolduc will get a goal and an assist da- ah pis laissez faire.

What it means is that the club will be playing a game it can't afford to miss on the road.

In an ideal world, the Habs should be back on the winning track. And if the club can impress Sidney Crosby in the process… that wouldn't be a bad thing. No?

In reality, with the rigors of the schedule in the coming weeks, the Canadiens don't exactly have the luxury of starting to lose too many games in a row.

The run-up to the holidays is crucial. And laying the groundwork against the Penguins, who will be the Habs' opponents three times between now and the holidays (which is as weird as eating eggs for dinner), becomes important.

(Credit: NHL.com)

The big question will be whether Jacob Fowler will be in front of his team's net. All indications are yes, but nothing has been confirmed by the club as we speak. #WeWantToRemoveHimFromThePressure

Martin St-Louis will be speaking to the media before lunchtime, and we'll be watching to see if any goalies jump on the ice, even if there's no practice on the menu.

We'll also be watching to see if Adam Engstrom plays. But nothing is less certain.

In the case of Owen Beck, it's clear he'll play. The club has only 12 healthy forwards in Pittsburgh (and that doesn't include a guy like Samuel Blais, who's still poirote in Laval) since Jake Evans will be joining the club in New York only.

Yesterday, Luc Gélinas mentioned that the Canadiens' center forward had a sore foot and was going to meet with a specialist in Philadelphia.

Shortly after the RDS reporter's post, we learned that Evans would not be traveling to Pittsburgh.

According to what I've learned, Jake Evans has been playing with a foot injury since November 20 (against the Caps).

He's scheduled to see a doctor today in Philadelphia. That doesn't mean he won't play tomorrow in Pittsburgh. But it does explain the recall of a center

– Luc Gélinas(@lucgelinas-rds.bsky.social) December 10, 2025 at 10:29 am

Except that the Habs said Jake Evans was going to be absent for personal reasons. It would have been much “simpler” and less shady to talk about a sacrosanct lower-body injury.

And according to what Renaud Lavoie said yesterday on BPM Sports, on the station's comeback show, don't underestimate the words chosen by the Habs.

I don't want to contradict my friend Luc, but after checking, we're very insistent that it's not injury-related.

Can Evans still hurt his foot and have to miss time for something else? It's very logical to think so. It could also explain Evans' more difficult performances of late.

But if the Habs have mentioned a personal absence, it's worth considering. Regardless of the nature of the absence.

It's worth noting that there's no guarantee that Evans will be able to play against the Rangers at this point, given the uncertainty surrounding the Jake Evans situation.

To be continued in due course for this family man.


overtime

– Laurent Dauphin stood out in a Rocket loss to Michael Pezzetta's Marlies. Is the Rocket already missing Jacob Fowler?

– Good question.

– Interesting.

– Should the Canadiens leave any veterans behind? [JdeM]

– Enjoy.

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