Two questions following the emptying of lockers

Charles-Alexis Brisebois
Two questions following the emptying of lockers
Credit: YouTube

Yesterday, the Canadiens held their end-of-season press conferences. And in fact, there was quite a bit of activity that day, with some significant statements made.

But it also sparked a lot of talk afterward.

Many people have questions following what happened yesterday. And in fact, I've seen two of them come up a bit more often than the others since yesterday. We'll try to answer them.

1. Why not give Brendan Gallagher one more game (out of respect) against Carolina?

In my view, there are two answers here. Why? Because there are two angles to consider.

The argument for giving Gally a game is valid. I was the first to say I would have liked to see the veteran play in Game 5, just to bring his energy to the lineup.

You can criticize Martin St-Louis (if you want) on the hockey side of things. But to say that Gally should have been played simply because he was in his final days in Montreal? That's not how it works in hockey.

In 2023, when the Habs were terrible? Okay. But in 2026, when they were in the Final Four? St-Louis had to make decisions to help the team win, not to honor his past.

The topic came up more aggressively yesterday… yet it has always been clear that the 2026 playoffs would spell the end of Gallagher's time in Montreal. And that was even before seeing him confirm it all on camera.

For me, his announcement yesterday shouldn't change anything since it was a very predictable scenario. But the fact remains that at this point, the Habs will have to part ways respectfully.

2. Why isn't the Habs in hot water for keeping Patrik Laine on the injured list when he was healthy?

We all saw Patrik Laine say he was healthy at the end of the season and that he was upset he didn't get the chance to be traded at the trade deadline.

The question many people have been asking since yesterday: why isn't the Habs in hot water?

The fact is, regardless of the reasons (didn't feel ready, didn't want to play poorly, wanted access to the contract with bonuses this summer, etc.), Laine didn't complain about his situation.

If he had, through his agent, the Habs would have been forced to activate him. Not to play him, but to activate him, at least.

My question is this: why did this issue only come up (for some people) yesterday? After all, we've known for months that he's healthy, and we've known for months that if he had complained, the situation would have been different.

Now it remains to be seen who will want him this summer.


In a nutshell

– Wow.

– This is going to be a good series.

– Okay.

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