Habs bring out Céline Dion in Las Vegas to announce Ivan Demidov as the No. 5 overall pick and add more offence with Michael Hage at No. 21.
The Canadiens stole the show during the first round of the NHL Draft Friday night in Las Vegas — even before they made the No. 5 overall pick.
“Bonsoir, Las Vegas,” Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes said after taking to the stage at the stunning Sphere, before thanking Montreal fans in French for their support.
Switching to English, Hughes then said: “To make our 2024 first selection, I’m pleased to invite on stage our No. 1 fan — the one and only Céline Dion!”
“With the fifth overall selection in the 2024 NHL Draft, the Montreal Canadiens are proud to select … Ivan Demidov,” Dion announced.
It was a smart pick by the Canadiens, who must get more offence from their forwards and Demidov can bring that.
It was a brilliant move to have Dion make the announcement.
Demidov, a 6-foot, 192-pound Russian winger, was ranked No. 2 among international skaters by NHL Central Scouting behind defenceman Anton Silayev, who went to the New Jersey Devils with the No. 10 pick. TSN draft guru Bob McKenzie had Demidov ranked No. 2 overall behind forward Macklin Celebrini, who as expected went to the San Jose Sharks with the No. 1 overall pick. The Chicago Blackhawks took defenceman Artyom Levshunov with the No. 2 pick, the Anaheim Ducks took winger Beckett Sennecke at No. 3 and the Columbus Blue Jackets took centre Cayden Lindstrom at No. 4 before the Canadiens and Céline took the stage.
Demidov posted 23-37-60 totals in 30 games last season with the St. Petersburg junior team in Russia. He was held pointless in four games with the St. Petersburg KHL team and has one year remaining on his contract with that club. That means the 18-year-old won’t be able to join the Canadiens before the 2025-26 season. Demidov doesn’t have a Canadian visa — only an American one — so he won’t be able to attend the Canadiens’ development camp, which opens next Tuesday in Brossard.
Last year, the Canadiens took a pass on Russian forward Matvei Michkov with the No. 5 overall pick, opting for Austrian defenceman David Reinbacher instead. The Philadelphia Flyers ended up taking Michkov at No. 7.
“I think (Demidov’s) a better player than Michkov,” TSN director of scouting and NHL analyst Craig Button said on the league website. “He’s (Nikita) Kucherov to me. He can pass, he can shoot. He’s brilliant. Like Kucherov, they (both) step out onto the ice and they’re immediately dangerous. The puck ends up on their stick and it’s like, buckle up, pay attention, you’re going for a ride.”
The Canadiens also had the No. 21 overall pick after making a trade earlier in the day with the Los Angeles Kings to move up from No. 26. The Canadiens used the No. 21 pick to select 6-foot-1, 188-pound centre Michael Hage, who had 33-42-75 totals in 54 games last season with the USHL’s Chicago Steel and is headed to the University of Michigan next season. He was ranked 10th among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting and 24th overall by TSN’s McKenzie.
Hage’s father, Alain, died last July in a freak swimming pool accident.
“Growing up as a kid, he did everything for me and I couldn’t be happier,” Hage said while holding back tears in an interview with Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek after getting drafted. “Honestly, grew up as Habs fans. Both my parents are from Montreal. My dad would be so happy right now. It’s a dream come true for me, honestly.”
Hage played his minor youth hockey with the Toronto Junior Canadiens and posted 46-70-116 totals in 57 games with the triple-A U16 team in 2021-22. Hage was born in Oakville, Ont., but speaks very good French after going to French school from age 4-12. He still speaks French with his grandparents, who live on Nuns’ Island. Most of his extended family also lives in Montreal.
“This is a team I dreamed of playing for as a kid and I’m going to do everything I can to be as impactful as I possibly could be when I get there,” Hage said about getting drafted by the Canadiens.
Demidov was the player the Canadiens were hoping to get with the No. 5 pick. Hughes told reporters in Las Vegas they had him ranked No. 2 behind Celebrini.
The Canadiens did their homework on Demidov with Nick Bobrov, the team’s co-director of amateur scouting, visiting with the player throughout last season in Russia. Hughes said the Canadiens were already interested in Demidov last year, looking ahead to this year’s draft.
The Canadiens scouts were also high on Hage.
“The guys love his speed, his skill set, character, the fact that he’s going to get a couple of years in college to keep getting bigger and stronger and they think he’s going to be a really good player for us,” Hughes told Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman after picking Hage.
Demidov considers himself to be more of a playmaker than a scorer. He shoots left and is listed as a right-winger, but he can also play left wing and centre. Six of his 23 goals last season in the Russian junior league were game-winners and he averaged 4.8 shots on goal per game in the regular season. He added 11-17-28 totals in 17 playoff games.
Demidov said he’s “very happy to be with Habs” and added he needs to start learning French now. He isn’t concerned about the pressure of playing in the Montreal market.
“I think it’s good because (Montreal) fans really love hockey and I, too, love hockey,” he said. “That’s why it’s not a problem for me.”
The Canadiens need more forwards who can produce offence if this rebuild is going to work and Demidov and Hage definitely have the potential to do that. Céline was the icing on the cake on this night.
“It’s unbelievable,” Demidov said about Dion announcing his name. “It’s like a book, like a movie. It’s me! It’s cool.”
It sure was.
TORONTO – The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced cookie brand Oreo as the team’s helmet sponsor for the upcoming NHL season.
The new helmet will debut Sunday when Toronto opens its 2024-25 pre-season against the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Arena.
The Oreo logo replaces Canadian restaurant chain Pizza Pizza, which was the Leafs’ helmet sponsor last season.
Previously, social media platform TikTok sponsored Toronto starting in the 2021-22 regular season when the league began allowing teams to sell advertising space on helmets.
The Oreo cookie consists of two chocolate biscuits around a white icing filling and is often dipped in milk.
Fittingly, the Leafs wear the Dairy Farmers of Ontario’s “Milk” logo on their jerseys.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
MacKenzie Weegar wasn’t bitter or upset as he watched friends live out their dreams.
The Calgary Flames defenceman just hopes to experience the same feeling one day. He also knows the road leading to that moment, if it does arrive, will likely be long and winding — much like his own path.
A seventh-round pick by the Florida Panthers at the 2013 NHL draft, Weegar climbed the ranks to become an important piece of a roster that captured the Presidents’ Trophy as the league’s top regular-season club in 2021-22.
Two months later following a second-round playoff exit, he was traded to the Flames along with Jonathan Huberdeau for Matthew Tkachuk. And less than two years after that, the Panthers were hoisting the Stanley Cup.
“Happy for the city and for the team,” Weegar said of Florida’s June victory over the Edmonton Oilers. “There was no bad taste in my mouth.”
His sole focus, he insists, is squarely on eventually getting the Flames to the same spot. The landscape, however, has changed drastically since Weegar committed to Calgary on an eight-year, US$50-million contract extension in October 2022.
Weegar has watched a list that includes goaltender Jacob Markstrom, defencemen Chris Tanev, Noah Hanifin and Nikita Zadorov and forwards Elias Lindholm and Andrew Mangiapane shipped out of town since the start of last season — largely for picks, prospects and young players as part of a rebuild.
Despite that exodus, he remains committed to the Calgary project steered by general manager Craig Conroy.
“It’s easy to get out of all whack when you see guys trying to leave or wanting new contracts,” the 30-year-old from Ottawa said at last week’s NHL/NHLPA player media tour in Las Vegas. “I just focus on where I am and where I want to be, and that’s Calgary.
“I believe in this team. The city has taken me in right away. I feel like I owe it to them to stick around and grind through these years and get a Stanley Cup.”
The hard-nosed blueliner certainly knows what it is to grind.
After winning the Memorial Cup alongside Nathan MacKinnon with the Halifax Mooseheads in 2013, Weegar toiled in the ECHL and American Hockey League for three seasons before making his NHL debut late in the 2016-17 campaign with the Panthers.
He would spend the next five years in South Florida as one of the players tasked with shifting an organizational culture that had experienced little success over the previous two decades.
“There’s always going to be a piece of my heart and loyalty to that team,” Weegar said. “But now I’m in a different situation … I compete against all 32 teams, not just Florida. There’s always a chip on my shoulder every single year.”
Weegar set career highs with 20 goals — eight was the most he had ever previously registered — and 52 points in 2023-24 as part of a breakout offensive performance.
“I think my buddies cared a lot more than I did,” he said with a smile. “All I hear is, ‘fantasy, fantasy, fantasy.'”
Weegar was actually more proud of his 200 blocked shots and 194 hits as he looks to help set a new Flames’ standard alongside Huberdeau, captain Mikael Backlund, Nazem Kadri, Blake Coleman and Rasmus Andersson for a franchise expected to have its new arena in time for the 2027-28 season.
“You have to build that culture and that belief in the locker room,” said Weegar, who pointed to 22-year-old centre Connor Zary as a player set to pop. “Those young guys are going to have to come into their own and be consistent every night … they’re the next generation.”
Weegar, however, isn’t punting on 2024-25. He pointed to the NHL’s parity and the fact a couple of teams surprise every season.
It’s the same approach that took him from the ECHL a decade ago to hockey’s premier pre-season event inside a swanky hotel on Sin City’s famed strip, where he stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the game’s best.
“From the outside — media and even friends and family — the expectations are probably a bit lower,” Weegar said of Calgary’s outlook. “But there’s no reason to think that we can’t make playoffs and we can’t be a good team (with) that underdog mentality.
“You never know.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept 17, 2024.
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The Northern Super League has fleshed out its front office with four appointments.
Jose Maria Celestino da Costa was named vice-president and head of soccer operations while Marianne Brooks was appointed vice-president of partnerships, Kelly Shouldice as vice-president of brand and content and Joyce Sou as vice-president of finance and business operations.
The new six-team women’s pro league is set to kick off in April.
“Their unique expertise and leadership are crucial as we lay the foundation for not just a successful league in Canada, but one that stands among the top sports leagues in the world,” NSL president Christina Litz said in a statement. “By investing in top-tier talent and infrastructure, the Northern Super League is committed to creating a league that will elevate the game and set new standards for women’s professional soccer globally.”
Da Costa will oversee all on-field matters, including officiating. His resume includes stints with Estoril Praia, a men’s first-division team in Portugal, and the Portuguese Soccer Federation, where he helped develop the Portuguese women’s league.
Brooks spent a decade with Canucks Sports & Entertainment, working in “partnership sales and retention efforts” for the Vancouver Canucks, Vancouver Warriors, and Rogers Arena. Most recently, she served as senior director of account management at StellarAlgo, a software company that helps pro sports teams connect with their fans
Shouldice has worked for Corus Entertainment, the Canadian Football League, and most recently as vice-president of Content and Communications at True North Sports & Entertainment, where she managed original content as well as business and hockey communications.
Sou, who was involved in the league’s initial launch, will oversee financial planning, analysis and the league’s expansion strategy in her new role.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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