Gary Bettman and the NHL have finally given Kent Hughes and the Canadiens something Montreal had been chasing for years: a holiday stretch at home.
This season, the Canadiens will stay at the Bell Centre for December 26, 27 and 29, the first time in decades that Montreal has been home during that part of the calendar. It’s the kind of scheduling shift that can look small from the outside, but inside the organization it clearly matters.
According to Arpon Basu’s reporting, Hughes was the driving force behind the push. The Canadiens general manager had been asking for this adjustment for more than three years and never let it go.
The roots of the request go back to Hughes’s first full season on the job. In 2022-23, Montreal’s holiday road trip was a disaster, and it left a mark. Hughes came away from that experience convinced that the setup created a real competitive disadvantage.
The change did not come quickly. For a long time, holiday concert bookings at the Bell Centre blocked any possible adjustment. Once those commitments were no longer in the way, the NHL finally had room to make it happen.
It’s a small scheduling win on paper, but it also says something about Hughes’s approach. He has shown a willingness to chase down the details that can get overlooked, and this was one of them.
There’s no assurance this becomes a yearly thing. For now, though, the Canadiens get a holiday season at home, and that’s a welcome break from the usual road-heavy routine.
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The appeal from the Canadiens side is straightforward enough: they have been looking for a right-handed defenseman who can handle meaningful minutes, and the proposal being kicked around would address that need while forcing Montreal to decide how much value it is willing to attach to Xhekaj. Depending on how the deal is structured, the price could climb beyond a simple one-for-one swap, which is exactly why this has become one of those talks worth watching rather than dismissing. [Read more 🡒]
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Fantilli, 21, turned in a strong season with 59 points in 82 games, enough to make him the kind of center any team would at least have to think about. Montreal has not been confirmed as a club preparing an offer sheet, but the possibility alone is enough to keep the idea alive, especially if Columbus finds itself in a spot where matching becomes difficult. [Read more 🡒]
NHL Expansion Buzz Just Put The Nordiques Dream In Jeopardy
The NHL expansion conversation has started to sharpen, and for Canadiens fans with one eye on the old Nordiques rivalry, the latest chatter is not exactly encouraging. Doug McLean and other hockey voices have been pointing toward Houston as the next city in line for an expansion franchise, with Austin also being mentioned in the mix before quickly fading from view.
For Montreal followers, the significance goes beyond another market on the league map. If Houston is indeed the destination, it would make the long-discussed idea of the Nordiques coming back look even more remote, even if the NHL has not made anything official yet. For now, it is still just buzz, but it is the kind of buzz that can change how people talk about hockey in Quebec. [Read more 🡒]