Out of the Bleu, Blanc, Rouge: A Plea To Montreal Canadiens Fans

The week’s hottest Montreal Canadiens topics, served without the sugar-coating and with little concern for bruised feelings.

As the Montreal Canadiens prepare to hit the links for their annual golf tournament on Monday, there are still considerably more questions than answers surrounding the team.

How will Jakub Dobeš handle his first season pencilled in as an NHL starter? Who will back him up? When will Zachary Bolduc and Arber Xhekaj sign their contracts? Will there be room for Adam Engström or David Reinbacher on the blue line? And perhaps most importantly, how will Habs fans react to Chris Kreider?

I have followed the Canadiens since the glory years of the 1970s, and I honestly cannot remember an off-season this quiet when it comes to UFA signings or trades by a Canadiens general manager. Then Kent Hughes surprised the hockey world by convincing Kreider to sign a team-friendly, one-year contract worth $2.15 million.

The irony is that I had already established the framework for this column before the Kreider news broke. The original topic was how the Canadiens were doing little to find help for Ivan Demidov on the second line. Then Hughes went and spoiled my whole premise.

Fair enough.

Kreider could actually slide nicely onto the left side of that line, bringing something the Canadiens desperately need: size, experience, a willingness to play in the difficult areas of the ice, and a strong net-front presence. In other words, the kind of player who can help create space for a young, highly skilled player like Demidov.

So what could possibly go wrong? Well, there is that little matter of Carey Price.

Carey Price

Chris Kreider is hardly a stranger in Montreal. His name has been familiar to Canadiens fans for years, and not always for the right reasons. Back in 2009, the NHL Draft was held at the Bell Centre. Most Draft pundits had Kreider pencilled in as the obvious selection for the Canadiens. Fans however, were chanting Louis Leblanc’s name and management went with the local kid. The Rangers, who were picking next, selected Kreider.

But nothing compares to what happened on May 17, 2014.

During Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final, Kreider slid into Carey Price, sending the Canadiens goaltender crashing into the net and injuring his knee. Price did not return for the remainder of the playoffs. Many Canadiens fans still believe that if Price had remained healthy, Montreal would have eliminated the New York Rangers. Who knows what might have happened after that? Price was at the top of his game, and the Canadiens had a legitimate opportunity to reach the Stanley Cup Final.

That incident was more than 12 years ago. For some fans, apparently, it might as well have happened last Tuesday.

When rumours began circulating that the Canadiens were interested in Kreider, social media made its feelings known. And when the signing became official, the anger did not exactly disappear.

That is where I think we need to have a little chat.

The fans

From a hockey standpoint, Kreider fills one of the Canadiens’ biggest needs. Better yet, Hughes acquired him without surrendering assets in a trade and without committing to an inflated long-term contract. That is good management.

Nobody is suggesting that fans need to give Kreider a standing ovation when he first steps onto the ice at the Bell Centre. You do not have to like the guy. You do not have to forget what happened to Price. You certainly do not have to invite him over for Christmas dinner.

But as fans of the Montreal Canadiens, the least we can do is accept management’s decision and rally behind the team we claim to love.

This is an important moment for this young group. The Canadiens reached the Eastern Conference Final last season, and the goal now is to build on that success. They are trying to create a winning culture, and that culture does not come with a giant asterisk beside one player’s name.

If you start booing Kreider every time he touches the puck, ask yourself what you are actually accomplishing. You have had 12 years to boo him. And, judging by the reaction, you have become quite good at it.

But if you genuinely want this team to succeed, making one of its players feel unwelcome in the dressing room works against that goal. It puts unnecessary attention on something that happened more than a decade ago and potentially creates friction within a group that needs to be pulling in the same direction.

That would be like throwing a banana peel on the ice and then complaining when someone slips.

Let management deal with the awkwardness of Carey Price’s Ring of Honour ceremony on November 10, when Kreider will be wearing the Bleu-Blanc-Rouge. Let the organization talk to Price. Let Kreider deal with it. Let the people who actually know these men handle a situation that happened 12 years ago.

In an interview back in February 2025, Price said that he forgave Kreider. He was the first to acknowledge that it was an unfortunate incident, not an act of war. More importantly, he will understand that the Canadiens organization respects him and that signing Kreider has nothing to do with diminishing what Price meant to the franchise.

So ask yourself one simple question: Are the Canadiens a better hockey team today than they were a few days ago?

If you are being honest with yourself, the answer is yes.

Kreider may not be the player everyone wanted. He may never be everyone’s favourite Canadien. But if his presence helps Ivan Demidov become a better player, helps the Canadiens win more hockey games and brings this team one step closer to where it wants to go, then perhaps it is time to put an old grudge where it belongs.

In the past.

Because sometimes being a fan means cheering for the laundry, even when you don’t particularly like the guy wearing it.

RAPID FIRE

📌 The Kirill Marchenko rumours have returned. Colleagues Jimmy Murphy and Pierre McGuire had a great interview with Columbus GM Don Waddell, who seems to be listening to offers.

📌 Does the acquisition of Kreider automatically kill the interest the Canadiens might have towards Marchenko? Maybe, but not necessarily. If anything, adding Kreider creates a surplus of middle-six forwards, some that can be used in a trade. But also, the one-year deal simply serves as an insurance policy, buying time to find permanent help for that second line.

📌 It seems like the signing of Kreider triggered Zachary Bolduc to finally accept the offer from the Canadiens, as the former Blues signed a 4-year extension carrying a $4.2M AVV. It’s important to note that there is no trade protection to this deal, which will lead Bolduc straight to UFA status.

📌 Kaiden Guhle reportedly underwent an unannounced off-season surgery this summer to address injuries he played through at the end of the previous season and playoffs. The team usually reveals such surgeries but the Canadiens kept it quiet. Questions arose after Guhle was spotted in Brossard, not skating with his teammates. Why the silence?

📌 Canadiens’ head coach Martin St-Louis is entering the final year of his contract and while neither the organization nor the coach seem worried, the fact that he hasn’t signed an extension yet has raised some eyebrows outside the inner-circle.

📌 In a column this week, Stu Cowan pointed to a few former 3rd overall picks who have suited with the Canadiens and struggled to live up to expectation.

📌 The list includes Alex Galchenyuk (2012), Jonathan Drouin (2013), Jesperi Kotkaniemi (2018) and Kirby Dach (2019). Galchenyuk and Kotkaniemi were drafted by the Canadiens while Drouin and Dach were acquire via trades.

📌 The Canadiens annual golf tournament will be held tomorrow, September 14th, at Laval-sur-le-Lac. The team’s main training camp starts on Wednesday, September 16th.