It was Kent Hughes who pushed for the CH to play in Montreal over the holidays

Félix Forget
It was Kent Hughes who pushed for the CH to play in Montreal over the holidays
Credit: Capture d'écran/Twitter

This week, the Canadiens' schedule for the upcoming season was unveiled. It was revealed that the team will kick off its season on September 29 in Toronto and wrap it up on April 10 in Ottawa.

It's worth noting that the Habs will play 84 (not 82) games this season.

But what was particularly striking when looking at the Habs' schedule was the fact that the team will play games in Montreal during the holidays. The Habs will play at home on December 26, 27, and 29—something we haven't seen in decades.

And Arpon Basu, at the Basu & Godin Notebook, chatted a bit about all this, explaining that there's one person who pushed hard to make it happen: Kent Hughes.

The GM had been wanting this to change for over three years… and he finally got his way.

Basu explains that in 2022–23—Hughes's first full season as GM—the holiday road trip had been dreadful. This made Hughes realize the competitive disadvantage of such a trip, and he wanted to change it.

There were contractual obligations for shows held at the Bell Centre during the holidays, which meant the change had to wait a few years. But now that it's been resolved, the team no longer has to make that trip.

Of course, it's safe to assume the Canadiens won't have the luxury of being in Montreal every holiday season. But what this suggests is that in the years to come, we might see games at the Bell Centre during the holidays on a more regular basis.

That's good news for the club… and for its GM, who has won the battle he's been fighting for years.


In a Nutshell

– Interesting.

– Worth noting.

– Wow.

– Pole position for Kimi Antonelli in Belgium.

– Too bad.

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