Shane Wright, the alpha male; Gleb Pugachyov’s hands; and the TVA Sports contract

Maxime Truman
Shane Wright, the alpha male; Gleb Pugachyov’s hands; and the TVA Sports contract
Credit: YouTube (capture d'écran)

There's a popular saying used to describe an ideal romantic relationship: find someone who looks at you like…

If we try to apply this to the NHL, we might quickly conclude that the relationship between the Montreal Canadiens and Shane Wright is anything but “romantic.” That's why, personally, I don't believe the countless rumors suggesting that Shane Wright might be on Kent Hughes's radar this summer. Even if Plans A through N from Montreal's front office have failed.

The odds of Hughes sacrificing assets to acquire a guy who looked at him the way Wright did on the ice at the Bell Centre are 0.000001%.

Especially since this guy produces at about the same rate as Jake Evans when he plays in the NHL… all while thinking he's Mario Lemieux.

But anyway… there are journalists and columnists who see the situation differently.

Ben Kuzma (The Province) not only reported yesterday that Wright would like to be traded to the Canucks (a rebuilding team where spots on the roster will be a little easier to come by), but he added something that defies belief. I'll let you read it for yourselves:

“This center is often remembered for what looked like a glare directed at the Montreal Canadiens' table during the 2022 draft, after the unanimous top prospect slipped to fourth overall and was ultimately selected by the Kraken. That image overshadowed his achievements on the ice, particularly on the international stage.

The Canadiens surprised observers by setting their sights on Slovak right winger Juraj Slafkovsky, a choice that proved wise, as Slafkovsky has scored 30 goals this season. Wright has refuted the notion of a hateful glare, while admitting that being overlooked in the draft sparked a sense of revenge within him.

“That feeling is still there. And that's an important point, because he's an alpha male—assertive and confident.” – Ben Kuzma on Shane Wright

In short, Shane Wright is an assertive, self-assured alpha male. That's why he stared at the Canadiens' bench with a killer look in his eyes…

According to Ben Kuzma, it's even one of Wright's strongest personality traits!

Come on! Wright should have done what hundreds of drafted players do every year and thanked his lucky stars for being selected by an NHL team. That's it!

And work hard on the ice—and in the gym—to prove to his team that they made the right choice. All while making the Habs regret not drafting him!

But anyway, the Canucks' front office is heading for a wall. You have to cut Ben Kuzma some slack for his coverage. He can't exactly dream of anyone much better than Shane Wright right now…

Gleb Pugachyov: A Video That's Got People Talking

There are Canadiens fans all over the world. Yesterday, I came across a video of Gleb Pugachyov training in Russia posted by a Brazilian fan. It's an undated video, though.

In it, we see Pugachyov handling the puck and then taking some shots.

You can see he's explosive on his skates… but you might also wonder if his hands are really that good. Here's the video in question:

It's clear that the Canadiens' most recent first-round pick will stand out for his intensity and physicality, not for his stickhandling or dekes.

But hey, that's exactly what we need on the bottom six
in Montreal. It won't hurt.

A schedule without a French-language broadcaster?

The NHL will unveil its schedule for the 2026-27 regular season on Thursday (1:00 p.m.). As a reminder, the season will begin in late September this year and will feature 84 regular-season games, not 82.

Tomorrow, we'll find out who each team's first opponent will be.

However, it's still not officially known who will broadcast the 39 games not held by RDS in French. That's because the NHL has not yet announced the identity of its national French-language broadcaster.

You'll agree that this is an unusual situation.

I've gone straight to the sources, and according to my information, TVA Sports is still expected to broadcast around 30 games. Will the network get 32? 35? 39? We'll see.

When will the new agreement be announced? We'll see.

Who will broadcast the games that aren't on TVA Sports or RDS? We'll see.

But I've been told again and again that as long as all the games are available on traditional cable in English, they'll also be available in French.

It's still pretty strange that, in mid-July, we don't even know who will be commentating in French on the first game in September.

Except that a major automotive company told me it had been contacted by TVA Sports to buy ad time during Canadiens games…

1 + 1 = 2?

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