Sports: Canadiens will open 2021-22 season on Oct. 13 against Leafs in Toronto

By montrealgazette
july 23, 2021

No rift with Canadiens, Joël Bouchard says of jump to Ducks' AHL team

Many will call it a lateral move. Joël Bouchard was coaching an AHL team in Laval and he’ll be coaching another one in San Diego next season. When he’s running on a beach in southern California or going for a swim next winter while everyone in Quebec is shovelling snow and attempting to remain warm, there won’t be anything lateral about it. “There’s no such thing as lateral moves,” Bouchard told the Montreal Gazette in a telephone interview this week. “You’re learning in life. You’re growing. You have experiences, live different things and see different things. “It’s a decision I took to live something different,” he added. “Humans need to be challenged.

The NHL released its 2021-22 schedule on Thursday evening and the Canadiens will open with a two-game road trip to Toronto and Buffalo.

a group of people racing each other on a snow covered slope: Canadiens defenceman Brett Kulak battles with the Maple Leafs’ Ilya Mikheyev in Game 2 of first-round playoff series at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on May 22.

The Canadiens will start the season on Wednesday, Oct. 13 against the Maple Leafs and then play the Sabres the next night.

The Canadiens’ home opener at the Bell Centre will be on Saturday, Oct. 16, against the New York Rangers. That will be the start of a four-game home stand and then a four-game West Coast road trip including its first game against the expansion Seattle Kraken on Oct. 26. The Kraken will play their first ever game at the Bell Centre on March 12.

Logan Mailloux was surprised Canadiens decided to draft him

The morning after being unexpectedly selected by the Canadiens in the first round of the NHL Draft, Logan Mailloux spoke with the media on a Zoom conference Saturday. The 18-year-old defenceman with the London Knights had asked that no NHL teams draft him this year after he had shown teammates a photo of himself engaged in a sexual act with an 18-year-old woman last year while playing for SK Lejon in Sweden. Mailloux was 17 at the time and the photo was taken without the woman’s consent. Mailloux was ultimately charged with defamation and offensive photography in Sweden and was fined approximately US$1,650.

The schedule includes two five-game road trips — Jan. 17-24 and Feb. 26 to March 9 — and a six-game road trip over the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.

Montreal will face teams within the Atlantic Division four times each, except Detroit and Tampa Bay which will only have three. Other teams in the Eastern Conference will have three games against Montreal, and teams in the Western Conference will have two.

The Canadiens are scheduled to wrap up the 82-game regular season on April 29 when the Florida Panthers visit the Bell Centre.

The NHL has put an Olympic break in the schedule from Feb. 7-22. However, no final agreement or decision has been made as of yet for NHL players to take part in the 2022 Beijing Winter Games. Talks are ongoing with the concerns including appropriate COVID-19 insurance for players. The NHL and the NHLPA will retain full authority to decide not to participate in the Games should COVID-19 conditions worsen or otherwise pose a threat to the health and safety of players.

Maple Leafs were Bystanders on Draft Weekend, A Lack of Picks and Cap Space Will do that

The 2021 NHL Draft came and went for the Toronto Maple Leafs. The roster didn't change despite a flurry of activity around them. Instead, the focus shifts to free agency to fill out the remaining vacancies. Although teams couldn't get together in person for the second consecutive year, the virtual format of NHL Draft weekend wasn't short on storylines.Leading up to the first night, teams around the league pulled off franchise-changing trades and signings. The first overall selection, Owen Power, became the new hope for the Buffalo Sabres' turnaround efforts.

If the NHL decides not to send players to the Olympics, a revised regular-season schedule will be released.

Sportsnet will broadcast 32 Canadiens games nationally, and TSN will have the rest on a regional basis. In French, TVA Sports has 22 games nationally and RDS the other 60 regionally.

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Canadiens 2021-22 season schedule

Start times all to be announced.

Wed., Oct. 13, 2021 — Montreal @ Toronto (N)
Thu., Oct. 14, 2021 — Montreal @ Buffalo
Sat., Oct. 16, 2021 — N.Y. Rangers @ Montreal (N)
Tue., Oct. 19, 2021 — San Jose @ Montreal
Thu., Oct. 21, 2021 — Carolina @ Montreal
Sat., Oct. 23, 2021 — Detroit @ Montreal (N)
Tue., Oct. 26, 2021 — Montreal @ Seattle
Thu., Oct. 28, 2021 — Montreal @ San Jose
Sat., Oct. 30, 2021 — Montreal @ Los Angeles
Sun., Oct. 31, 2021 — Montreal @ Anaheim
Tue., Nov. 2, 2021 — Detroit @ Montreal
Thu., Nov. 4, 2021 — N.Y. Islanders @ Montreal
Sat., Nov. 6, 2021 — Vegas @ Montreal (N)
Tue., Nov. 9, 2021 — Los Angeles @ Montreal
Thu., Nov. 11, 2021 — Calgary @ Montreal
Sat., Nov. 13, 2021 — Montreal @ Detroit (N)
Sun., Nov. 14, 2021 — Montreal @ Boston
Tue., Nov. 16, 2021 — Montreal @ N.Y. Rangers
Thu., Nov. 18, 2021 — Pittsburgh @ Montreal
Sat., Nov. 20, 2021 — Nashville @ Montreal (N)
Wed., Nov. 24, 2021 — Montreal @ Washington (N)
Fri., Nov. 26, 2021 — Montreal @ Buffalo
Sat., Nov. 27, 2021 — Montreal @ Pittsburgh (N)
Mon., Nov. 29, 2021 — Vancouver @ Montreal (N)
Thu., Dec. 2, 2021 — Colorado @ Montreal
Sat., Dec. 4, 2021 — Montreal @ Nashville (N)
Tue., Dec. 7, 2021 — Tampa Bay @ Montreal
Thu., Dec. 9, 2021 — Chicago @ Montreal
Sat., Dec. 11, 2021 — Montreal @ St. Louis (N)
Tue., Dec. 14, 2021 — Montreal @ Pittsburgh
Thu., Dec. 16, 2021 — Philadelphia @ Montreal
Sat., Dec. 18, 2021 — Boston @ Montreal (N)
Mon., Dec. 20, 2021 — Montreal @ N.Y. Islanders (N)
Wed., Dec. 22, 2021 — Montreal @ N.Y. Rangers (N)
Thu., Dec. 23, 2021 — Montreal @ New Jersey
Tue., Dec. 28, 2021 — Montreal @ Tampa Bay
Thu., Dec. 30, 2021 — Montreal @ Carolina
Sat., Jan. 1, 2022 — Montreal @ Florida
Tue., Jan. 4, 2022 — Washington @ Montreal
Thu., Jan. 6, 2022 — Toronto @ Montreal
Sat., Jan. 8, 2022 — Buffalo @ Montreal (N)
Mon., Jan. 10, 2022 — Columbus @ Montreal (N)
Wed., Jan. 12, 2022 — Boston @ Montreal (N)
Thu., Jan. 13, 2022 — Montreal @ Chicago
Sat., Jan. 15, 2022 — New Jersey @ Montreal
Mon., Jan. 17, 2022 — Montreal @ Arizona
Tue., Jan. 18, 2022 — Montreal @ Dallas
Thu., Jan. 20, 2022 — Montreal @ Vegas
Sat., Jan. 22, 2022 — Montreal @ Colorado (N)
Mon., Jan. 24, 2022 — Montreal @ Minnesota (N)
Thu., Jan. 27, 2022 — Anaheim @ Montreal
Sat., Jan. 29, 2022 — Edmonton @ Montreal (N)
Sun., Jan. 30, 2022 — Columbus @ Montreal
Tue., Feb. 1, 2022 — St. Louis @ Montreal
Sat., Feb. 26, 2022 — Montreal @ Ottawa (N)
Tue., Mar. 1, 2022 — Montreal @ Winnipeg
Thu., Mar. 3, 2022 — Montreal @ Calgary
Sat., Mar. 5, 2022 — Montreal @ Edmonton (N)
Wed., Mar. 9, 2022 — Montreal @ Vancouver
Sat., Mar. 12, 2022 — Seattle @ Montreal (N)
Sun., Mar. 13, 2022 — Montreal @ Philadelphia
Tue., Mar. 15, 2022 — Arizona @ Montreal
Thu., Mar. 17, 2022 — Dallas @ Montreal
Sat., Mar. 19, 2022 — Ottawa @ Montreal (N)
Mon., Mar. 21, 2022 — Montreal @ Boston (N)
Thu., Mar. 24, 2022 — Florida @ Montreal
Sat., Mar. 26, 2022 — Toronto @ Montreal (N)
Sun., Mar. 27, 2022 — Montreal @ New Jersey
Tue., Mar. 29, 2022 — Montreal @ Florida
Thu., Mar. 31, 2022 — Montreal @ Carolina
Sat., Apr. 2, 2022 — Montreal @ Tampa Bay (N)
Tue., Apr. 5, 2022 — Ottawa @ Montreal
Sat., Apr. 9, 2022 — Montreal @ Toronto (N)
Mon., Apr. 11, 2022 — Winnipeg @ Montreal (N)
Wed., Apr. 13, 2022 — Montreal @ Columbus (N)
Fri., Apr. 15, 2022 — N.Y. Islanders @ Montreal
Sat., Apr. 16, 2022 — Washington @ Montreal (N)
Tue., Apr. 19, 2022 — Minnesota @ Montreal
Thu., Apr. 21, 2022 — Philadelphia @ Montreal
Sat., Apr. 23, 2022 — Montreal @ Ottawa (N)
Tue., Apr. 26, 2022 — Buffalo @ Montreal
Fri., Apr. 29, 2022 — Florida @ Montreal

(N) = Games broadcast nationally by Sportsnet

Canadiens assistant coach Alex Burrows gets three-year deal .
Canadiens assistant coach Alex Burrows has received a three-year contract, which runs through the 2023-24 season. Burrows, 40, joined the Canadiens coaching staff on Feb. 24 when Dominique Ducharme was appointed as the team’s interim head coach to replace Claude Julien. He took over Kirk Muller’s duties in directing the forwards and the power play. The press release announcing the contract said Burrows was instrumental in helping the team qualify for the Stanley Cup final for the first time since 1993, but a closer look at the statistics indicates that he produced mixed results.