The Montreal Canadiens have struggled early in the 2024/25 season, and unsurprisingly, that has led to many questions about the current regime, given that many within the media and the fanbase had high expectations for this season. Now, rumours have popped up that the team have been meeting with Gerard Gallant, former New York Rangers Head Coach, as former NHLer Georges Laraque stated that a friend saw Gallant, Martin St. Louis and Kent Hughes together in Toronto.
Unsurprisingly though, it turns out that the report was 100% false, as confirmed by General Manager Kent Hughes, who told La Presse that no meeting ever took place. In fact, he went as far as to say that he's never spoken to Gerard Gallant in his entire life.
Given that St. Louis was reportedly at this meeting according to Laraque, there was never speculation about his job being on the line, but rather that Gallant could be an addition to this team as an assistant. However, Hughes' response shows emphatically that the team aren't looking to make any changes right now, as they believe this group can go a long way towards competing hard and taking steps forward in 2024/25.
It's unclear exactly what happened for Laraque to come out and make this shocking and now confirmed as false report, but this just goes to show how tough the NHL media in Canada can be, and with Montreal struggling on the ice, it certainly isn't going to get any easier moving forward.
POLL | ||
NOVEMBRE 11 | 1 ANSWERS Montreal Canadiens GM Kent Hughes Shuts Down Rumour Started by Former NHL Enforcer Georges Laraque Will the Canadiens hire Gerard Gallant at any point this season? | ||
LIST OF POLLS |
G | A | PTS | ||
Matthew Tkachuk | 1 | 4 | 5 | |
Andrei Svechnikov | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
Connor McDavid | - | 4 | 4 | |
Brayden Point | - | 4 | 4 | |
Vince Dunn | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
Sam Reinhart | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
Robert Thomas | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
Adam Larsson | - | 3 | 3 | |
Matvei Michkov | - | 3 | 3 | |
Leon Draisaitl | 2 | - | 2 | |
Brandon Hagel | 2 | - | 2 | |
Zach Hyman | 2 | - | 2 | |
Valeri Nichushkin | 2 | - | 2 | |
Josh Norris | 2 | - | 2 | |
Owen Tippett | 2 | - | 2 | |
Cam Atkinson | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Aleksander Barkov | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Jake Evans | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Conor Geekie | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Jake Guentzel | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Complete stats |
STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Wild | 25 | 17 | 4 | 4 | 38 | |
Jets | 27 | 19 | 8 | - | 38 | |
Golden Knights | 27 | 17 | 7 | 3 | 37 | |
Capitals | 25 | 17 | 6 | 2 | 36 | |
Devils | 28 | 17 | 9 | 2 | 36 | |
Hurricanes | 26 | 17 | 8 | 1 | 35 | |
Maple Leafs | 25 | 16 | 7 | 2 | 34 | |
Panthers | 27 | 16 | 9 | 2 | 34 | |
Kings | 26 | 15 | 8 | 3 | 33 | |
Stars | 25 | 16 | 9 | - | 32 | |
Conference | Cumulative |