Mr Viral
In December, Samuel Montembeault got 10 consecutive starts in front of the Canadiens’ net. The reason? The team had completely lost confidence in Cayden Primeau, to the point that he was not being played.
But obviously, this was not a sustainable method in the long term. Monty was already showing signs of fatigue, and sooner or later, the Canadiens would have to find a solution… and they did by recalling Jakub Dobes on the morning of December 26.
Cayden Primeau, on the other hand, was placed on waivers the next day (the transaction freeze did not allow for it to be done earlier), that is, on December 27. That said, even though it happened on the 27th, it did not exactly catch Primeau off guard that day.
While chatting with the media in Laval today, Primeau talked about the end of his time in Montreal, and as reported by Dave Lévesque (Journal de Montréal), the goaltender was informed of the team’s decision… on December 23.
It was Kent Hughes who called him to let him know.
This call changed Cayden Primeau’s season (@DaveJdeM) https://t.co/ndtrH2vqaM
— Le Journal de Montréal (@JdeMontreal) January 2, 2025
So this means that even though the goaltender was placed on waivers on the 27th and Martin St-Louis only announced it the day before, Primeau was already aware of all this for a few days (and he suspected it was a possibility even before the call from his GM). And that explains why he didn’t even bother to make the trip to Florida.
But now that he hasn’t been claimed, he needs to roll up his sleeves and try to bounce back from all this. The good news is that Pascal Vincent wants to help him in Laval, as he has openly stated his goal of trying to help Primeau regain his confidence.
It won’t necessarily be easy, but we know that Primeau has had his share of success in the AHL in the past. And in the absence of Jakub Dobes (who is in Montreal), the Rocket needs another goaltender to win games and help the team make the playoffs.
After supporting Dobes at the beginning of the season, Connor Hughes will now try to lend a hand to a guy whose confidence is much lower.
I’m really looking forward to seeing how we’ll divide the starts between the two guys in Laval in the near future…
In Brief
– Great first period for the United States.
Danny Nelson gives the Americans a 3-goal lead! #MondialJunior on RDS pic.twitter.com/HUBh91q6ai
— RDS (@RDSca) January 2, 2025
– Attention interested parties.
This Saturday will be the third edition of our food drive in partnership with Moisson Laval. The players’ partners will welcome fans by collecting their food donations. We invite all fans to bring as many non-perishable items as possible.
For everyone… pic.twitter.com/Bl1fpOrkoW
— Rocket de Laval (@RocketLaval) January 2, 2025
– Who will be better: the Capitals post-Ovechkin or the Penguins post-Crosby?
Capitals got some players coming, Cole Hutson, Ryan Leonard, Terik Parascak, heard good things about Ilya Protas as well.
I think they will transition out of the Ovi era better than the Pens will out of the Crosby era.
— NHL Watcher (@NHL_Watcher) January 2, 2025
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