Latest news with #Demidov
Time of India
16-05-2025
- Sport
- Time of India
Ivan Demidov shortlisted for KHL Rookie of the Year following strong season with SKA St. Petersburg
Montreal Canadiens forward Ivan Demidov (via Getty Images) Montreal Canadiens forward Ivan Demidov was a finalist for the Rookie of the Year award from the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) after a breakout season with SKA St. Petersburg . The 19-year-old fifth-overall pick of the Canadiens in 2024 opened eyes with his stability and maturity on offence well over his years in Russia's top-level pro league before coming to North America. Montreal Canadiens prospect Ivan Demidov is still on fire with KHL Rookie of the Year nomination View this post on Instagram A post shared by ColorsTV (@colorstv) Ivan Demidov's KHL Rookie of the Year nod tops an impressive 2024–25 campaign that demonstrated his scoring game and readiness for the professional leagues. With 19 tallies and 30 helpers for 49 points in 65 SKA St. Petersburg games, the Russian right wing supplemented that with three scores and five points in six playoff games. Demidov's quick ascent earned him a summons to the Montreal Canadiens for April. He notched one goal and one assist in two regular-season games and added two other assists in five playoff games during the Canadiens' first-round series against the Washington Capitals in his first experience with NHL play. Semyon Vyazovoi and Yegor Surin complete a competitive Rookie of the Year lineup by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning For Working Professionals. BITS Pilani WILP Apply Now Undo The Seattle Kraken's Semyon Vyazovoi and Nashville's Yegor Surin have both impressive resumes in the KHL. Vyazovoi, drafted in the sixth round of the 2021 NHL Draft, had a strong goal record for Salavat Yulaev Ufa, while Surin, Nashville's first-round pick, scored seven goals and 14 points in 41 games for Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, establishing himself as a two-way presence in the KHL. Both players are among an increasing number of Russian prospects entering the scene almost immediately at both domestic and overseas levels. A bright future ahead for Montreal Canadiens' next scoring sensation With Ivan Demidov already producing on the NHL level and earning international recognition, the Montreal Canadiens have cause for enthusiasm regarding his potential. His electrifying skating, top-pick puck-handling, and exceptional hockey sense make him one of the best young prospects in the Canadiens' system. Also read: Alex Ovechkin in game 1 shining, young Ivan Demidov cracking under pressure Whether or not he wins the KHL Rookie of the Year award, Demidov is already making noise among fans and pundits as a game-changer during Montreal's rebuild.
CBC
01-05-2025
- Sport
- CBC
Canadiens eliminated from NHL playoffs after 4-1 loss to Capitals in Game 5
The Montreal Canadiens are out of the NHL playoffs. Montreal fell 4-1 to the Washington Capitals in Game 5 of their first-round series Wednesday, losing the best-of-seven matchup in five games. Washington will take on the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round, while Montreal becomes the second team knocked out of the post-season. The Canadiens unexpectedly returned to the playoffs for the first time since 2021, marking a turnaround for the storied franchise that began its first rebuild after a disastrous start to the 2021-22 season. Montreal lived near the NHL's basement for three years and was not a popular pre-season pick to reach the playoffs. The Canadiens stumbled out of the gate and ranked 31st in the NHL on Dec. 1, more than a quarter of the way through the season. A hot streak during the holiday season was one of many turning points in a roller-coaster campaign. The Canadiens struggled again in late January and early February to fall behind in the playoff race, but rebounded with a 15-5-6 run after the 4 Nations Face-Off break in a stretch filled with dramatic comebacks. WATCH | The buzz surrounding Habs rookie Demidov: Is all the hype over Habs recruit Ivan Demidov overkill? 16 days ago Duration 2:25 Montreal captured the second — and final — wild card in the Eastern Conference with a 4-2 win over Carolina in its final game of the regular season. The matchup drew so much attention that the French-language federal election debate needed to be rescheduled two hours earlier than planned. Captain Nick Suzuki led the way with 89 points — the most by a Canadien since 1995-96 — while Calder Trophy favourite Lane Hutson set franchise records for a rookie defenceman. Sam Montembeault established himself as a solid No. 1 goalie, and veterans Josh Anderson and Brendan Gallagher had their best seasons in years, among several other key performances in a special season. The youngest team to reach the playoffs, the Canadiens also qualified with the fewest points (91) and worst goal-differential (-20). After two months of playing playoff-like hockey to climb the standings, the wear and tear began to take its toll against a physical Capitals team. Top-seeded Washington won Games 1 and 2 at home before Montreal's electric Game 3 victory in the first sold-out playoff game at the Bell Centre since 2017. The Capitals then picked up the first road win of the series in Game 4 on Sunday. Montembeault missed Games 4 and 5 after exiting midway through Game 3 with a lower-body injury, and rookie goalie Jakub Dobes took over in the crease. The Canadiens also played without winger Patrik Laine (upper body) from Game 3 onward, while several other players nursed injuries.
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Special Teams Key To Canadiens' Survival
On Tuesday, after the primary practice, five Montreal Canadiens players moved over to the second ice of the CN Sports Complex on their initiative. The members of the Habs' first power play unit felt some extra repetitions couldn't hurt, so Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, Ivan Demidov, and Lane Hutson spent some time polishing their craft with Adam Nicholas. Canadiens' Farm Team To Start Quest For Calder Cup Canadiens: Gallagher's Thank You Gift Canadiens Trying To Stay Alive Advertisement In Sunday night's 5-2 defeat, both Canadiens' goals came on the power play, and if the Habs want to have any hope of pushing this series to a game six, they'll need that man-advantage to remain just as efficient. So far in this series, Montreal has scored five goals in 13 power-play opportunities for a 38.5% success rate (they finished the season at 20.1%), but on the road, it's down to 25%. What was different at home? The presence of Demidov on the first unit. In the first two games in Washington, Patrik Laine played and skated on the first power-play unit. As discussed, he struggled to shoot on net, significantly diminishing his efficiency. Even if the Finnish sniper was ready to return to the lineup tonight, don't expect him to be reinserted on the first power play. Having Caufield back in his preferred spot has been a game-changer, just like inserting Demidov. The young Russian has showcased great creativity and the ability to hold the puck, when necessary, even under pressure. Advertisement It's also worth noting just how efficient the penalty kill has been. The Washington Capitals have only been able to score a single goal on the man-advantage, and they did it at home, through Alexander Ovechkin. Since then, the Canadiens have changed how they defend against the Capitals' captain on the power play, using the fact that he hardly moves against them. Putting a player right on him stops him from getting the puck and teeing up his lethal shot. It's worth sacrificing a player to take that out of the equation and defend three-on-four on the rest of the ice. It has worked well over the last two games, but Jakub Dobes has had to be at the top of his game. He stole a couple of goals on cross-crease passes that led to one-timers. However, Alexandre Carrier's absence could be a factor if he can't play following Tom Wilson's hit in game four. Canadiens stories, analysis, breaking news, and more! Tap the star to add us to your favorites on Google News, never to miss a story. Advertisement Follow Karine on X @KarineHains Bluesky @ and Threads @karinehains. Bookmark The Hockey News Canadiens' page for all the news and happenings around the Canadiens.
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
NHL Spoils Canadiens' Surprise With Early Announcement on Monday
Montreal Canadiens forward Ivan Demidov, 19, was selected with the No. 5 overall pick in the 2024 NHL draft and arrived in Canada last week after terminating his contract with SKA St. Petersburg. Now, just days after he arrived in North America, the NHL has hinted at his imminent debut with the Habs, posting a message on its official account on X. Advertisement "IT'S DEMIDOV DEBUT DAY 🤩" the NHL wrote. "The KHL's all-time single season points leader by a U20 player, Ivan Demidov, will suit up for the Habs tonight!" Montreal has waited months for this moment, and now top prospect Ivan Demidov will make his NHL debut Monday night at Bell Centre in a must-win game against the Chicago Blackhawks. He signed a three-year entry-level contract last week, and according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman, his debut was always expected to happen on Monday. The young forward broke Kirill Kaprizov's KHL U20 single-season scoring record with 49 points in 65 games and joined the Canadiens after SKA's playoff elimination. Advertisement Teammate and fellow European forward Patrik Laine removed some hype from Demidov's anticipated debut, saying on Friday, as translated from TVA Sports, that the Habs will welcome Demidov and help ease his adjustment, but he will still need to navigate the transition. 'I don't watch the KHL anymore, but he apparently has good skills,' Laine said. '(The NHL) is the best league in the world, and he's coming in just as the playoffs are about to start. It's not the easiest transition.' The Canadiens (39-31-10) can clinch a playoff spot with a win over the visiting Blackhawks. After sitting near the bottom of the standings in December, Montreal has gone 28-15-7 since and aims at making the playoffs on home ice. View of a Montreal Canadiens logo on a jersey worn by a member of the team during warm-up at Bell Kirouac-Imagn Images Coach Martin St. Louis, however, tempered expectations ahead of Demidov's debut. Advertisement 'He's not a saviour,' St. Louis said. 'We have a really good team, he's going to be a piece of our really good team—that's the way we see it.' Touching on Monday's game and its playoff implications, St. Louis described clinching 'on their own' as the ideal scenario, and with Demidov in the lineup, the Bell Centre will surely be bracing for one of its most anticipated games in years. Related: Ivan Demidov's Canadiens Contract Includes Bold Playoff Bonus Related: Canadiens' Patrik Laine Sends Blunt Message About Hype Surrounding Ivan Demidov
New York Times
24-04-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Canadiens playoff notebook: Potential lineup changes, power-play woes, right-catching goalies
The Montreal Canadiens returned home for Game 3 of their series against the Washington Capitals on Thursday with a dilemma on their hands. Patrik Laine has clearly been a drag on the team, and that became especially evident in the third period of Game 2 when Laine's regular linemates, Alex Newhook and Ivan Demidov, looked so effective with Jake Evans. That lone period away from Laine left him alone in last place for on-ice expected goals for percentage in the Stanley Cup Playoffs among players who have played at least 15 minutes at five-on-five prior to Thursday's games, according to Natural Stat Trick. Demidov's inclusion on that list and his separation from Laine show how much his third period with Evans and Newhook helped his numbers: that line controlled just north of 60 percent of the expected goals in just over four minutes of play together. Of course, if this were just a matter of two bad games on the road for Laine, that would be much easier to tolerate for Martin St. Louis. But that's not the case. This has been going on for weeks, if not months, and now the stakes are too high to tolerate it for much longer. Thus far in the series, whenever the Canadiens managed to create a shift or two of momentum, it would be cut by the Newhook line spending their shift in the defensive zone. The Capitals have no easy lines for St. Louis to send them out against at home, either. The coach's message to reporters in Washington on Thursday morning was the same one he delivered at the end of Game 2, namely that the Canadiens need to produce more good minutes over the course of the game, and not just in the third period. All that pressue in the third to only get three posts. [image or embed] — Micah McCurdy (@ April 24, 2025 at 10:27 AM It was a message he leaned on again when asked Thursday if Laine needs to up his intensity. 'I think it's everyone's level, again, more minutes. I'm repeating myself, but it's everyone, not one guy or two guys, it's everyone,' St. Louis said. 'Collectively, can we stretch it to our end a bit more? And it definitely starts with the individuals.' Advertisement St. Louis seemingly has three options here. The first would be to maintain the status quo and see if his lineup can take advantage of playing on home ice with more favourable matchups (again, the Capitals don't present any particularly favourable matchups, but some are more favourable than others). The second would be to replace Laine in the lineup with Oliver Kapanen, which would also provide St. Louis with an opportunity to tweak his power play (more on that in a minute). Inserting another rookie into a playoff environment does not seem ideal either, because with Kapanen, Demidov and Emil Heineman, that would make three rookies among 12 Canadiens forwards. The third would be to go with 11 forwards and seven defencemen, giving St. Louis an opportunity to not only insert Arber Xhekaj into the lineup on the blue line, but also give his best players some extra shifts with the two extra forwards St. Louis would dress, which could even include Laine. This would allow St. Louis to further mitigate David Savard's usage at five-on-five by giving both Xhekaj and Jayden Struble and Savard spot shifts with a member of his top four on defence. Savard has already played the fewest five-on-five minutes of any Canadiens player in the series, but his difficulty in getting around the ice efficiently is becoming more and more glaring. St. Louis is still a young coach. These are his first playoffs. And this is his first critical moment of these playoffs. It was reasonable to stick with what he had in Game 1 after the Canadiens lost in overtime, and it might still be reasonable to stand pat based on how close Game 2 actually was. But if the Canadiens go down 3-0 in the series, the series will essentially be over. It seems like a time for the coach to act, and while the 11 forwards and seven defencemen lineup is not something that St. Louis particularly likes, it appears like a situation where it might be appropriate. Advertisement After Game 2, Capitals coach Spencer Carbery identified a key moment that not only allowed his team to maintain momentum after scoring two quick goals in the second period to erase a one-goal lead, but it actually allowed Washington to build momentum. That was the Canadiens' power play that began 21 seconds after Dylan Strome gave the Capitals the lead, one where the Canadiens generated two shot attempts, none on goal, and had to defend for a good chunk of it. 'We just take the lead, it's 2-1, now they get a power play. That can swing either way, right?' Carbery said after Game 2. 'They can have a great power play and potentially score. Now it's 2-2. Now we're back to square one. Or you can have a really strong penalty kill in that situation, and now you carry the momentum. 'And I thought that's exactly what we did.' The Canadiens' power play is 1-for-4 in the series, which seems fine on the surface. But it has not been sharp, not only in the series, but since the beginning of April. They went 1-for-20 over their final nine games. In their two playoff games, the Canadiens have generated 6.97 expected goals for and 9.25 high-danger chances per 60 minutes of power-play time. That's down from 7.07 expected goals and 17.94 high-danger chances per 60 in the regular season. Laine hasn't scored a power-play goal in 11 straight games, though he was the source of the bounce that led to Cole Caufield's power-play goal in Game 1. Still, if Laine is not scoring on the power play, and if the power play in general is suffering, and his five-on-five play remains problematic, having him in the lineup is difficult to justify. Perhaps this would be a good time to put Caufield back in that left circle spot he surrendered to Laine back in December, a point at which Caufield had seven power-play goals in 24 games. He had three in his remaining 58 games. Perhaps Demidov could get a look on the top unit. Advertisement Regardless of what it is, something needs to change. St. Louis said that toward the end of the regular season, when it became obvious that the Canadiens would be facing the Capitals in the playoffs, he assigned Alex Burrows the task of scouting them. The Canadiens had five days between their final regular-season game and Game 1 of the series on Monday. But one of the unique aspects of the Capitals is that they have two goaltenders, Logan Thompson and Charlie Lindgren, who catch with their right hand. There are only four in the entire NHL, three if you don't count Yaroslav Askarov, who spent most of the season in the AHL, and the Capitals have two of them. It is highly unusual. In fact, we asked Lindgren about it prior to Game 1 and he said they had looked it up, and they found they are the first team since the 2010-11 Columbus Blue Jackets tandem of Steve Mason and Mathieu Garon to have two right-catching goalies. There was some doubt prior to the series as to whether Thompson would be ready to play Game 1, but either way, the Canadiens knew they would be facing a right-catching goalie. It is a significant change for shooters, something to adjust to. We've seen early on the Canadiens targeting Thompson high on his blocker side, and thus far, no dice. Nick Suzuki had two excellent scoring chances in the first period of Game 1, and that's where he aimed on both. We asked Christian Dvorak if they ever thought of finding a right-catching goalie to practice on prior to the series, and he said it never came up. 'It's probably hard to find one,' he said. Seems like that might have been a good idea, though it would have made those practices tricky for their own goalies. Dvorak did say they went over video of both goalies with goaltending coach Eric Raymond, and some suggestions were made as to how to attack a right-catching goalie differently, but that was it. And in the heat of the action, it can be difficult to make that adjustment in real time. 'It is definitely different,' Dvorak said.
