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Pregame: Canadiens vs Blue and Health Update |
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Follow me @KarineHains for all updates about the Montreal Canadiens and women's hockey
Nothing’s easy for the Canadiens these days and getting healthy is no exception. Yesterday, the team issued health updates on some key players and the news is far from being good. They were at least encouraging for Monahan and Matheson who have started to practice with the team again and should be back in 2 weeks if things go according to plan.
Meanwhile, Gallagher is battling the same lower-body injury that made him miss 13 games and will be out for at least 2 weeks. The forward has been injured often of late and it’s starting to be a recurring pattern. It was hoped that after a full off season to recuperate, he would be good as new, but the illusion didn’t last for long. Perhaps Gallagher’s style of play has taken its toll and his body is starting to fail him. The 30-year old is under contract for 4 more years with a 6.5 million cap hit after this season and one has to wonder if he’ll be able to play them all.
If Gallagher is now used to visiting the infirmary it’s quite different for Kaiden Guhle. The rookie defenseman was enjoying a wonderful season playing first pairing minutes and giving solid performances day in, day out. He truly looked like the real deal out there, plenty of skill wrapped up in a big frame that he never hesitates to throw around. Unfortunately, physical play comes with certain risks and when the Panthers captain fell over him in the corner in the December 29th game, the way his knee bent led me to believe he could have sustained a serious injury.
The team confirmed my hypothesis yesterday when they announced that Guhle would be out for a minimum of 8 weeks. At least no ligament was ruptured, if that had been the case, his absence would have been much longer, but with strained ligaments, it’s imperative to be very careful and take all the time necessary to heal properly. Failure to do so could lead to recurring knee issues, which is the last thing a hockey player needs.
Still, the Canadiens must march on with what effective they have left. They’ve won just 1 of their last 10 games and will be hoping to get back to their winning ways against St-Louis tonight. Judging by yesterday’s line and pairings yesterday either Mike Hoffman or Anthony Richard will be sitting out up front while Justin Barron and Chris Wideman are the likely candidates on the blue line. The game is set for 7:00 PM and it will hopefully be more entertaining than Thursday’s tilt with the Rangers since there’s no gold medal game to captivate the nation tonight.
Now that the World Junior Championship is over, junior teams are gearing up for the playoffs and Habs prospects could be moved to contending teams. Riley Kidney went from the Acadie-Bathurst Titans to the Gatineau Olympics yesterday for forwards Donovan Arseneault and Robert “Bobby” Orr (wow talk about pressure with a name like this) and a first round pick in 2025. As for Owen Beck, it looks like the Mississauga Steelheads will be moving him to the Peterborough Petes for a significant return. With the Habs’ season looking increasingly like a tough grind to the finish, it could be interesting to focus more on the prospects’ progress than the accumulating losses in the NHL.
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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