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Montreal Canadiens HvL (S2E19): Christmas time with Eric Engels and Justin Bourne

By Omar L

MONTREAL, QC - DECEMBER 02: Paul Byron
MONTREAL, QC - DECEMBER 02: Paul Byron /
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Ari and Kamal are getting ready for the holidays with the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs as they have Eric Engels and Justin Bourne on the show.

Habsfan vs. Leafsfan – Season 2 Episode 19 (Montreal Canadiens vs. Toronto Maple Leafs).

It looks like Marc Bergevin doesn’t handle holidays well. He seemed bitter around Halloween, and it hasn’t changed now that the Christmas season is here. Episode 19 starts off with a play on the classic, ‘ A Christmas Carol,’ with the Habs GM as Ebenezer Scrouge (0:00). Perhaps a visit from the past (Maurice Richard), present (Mikhail Sergachev), and future (Ron MacLean) can help him survive the holidays.

As the boys mentioned during their banter, the Montreal Canadiens are tedding water (3:08). After winning five games in a row, they have now lost their last three. On the bright side, the Habs didn’t play terribly, except for Carey Price in the 6-2 loss to Edmonton. Was it just a bad game, or is there something else plaguing him besides a physical injury.

However, there are other things to be thankful for. As poor as the Habs have been at times in the season, the Ottawa Senators have looked worse. Additionally, it doesn’t help that Erik Karlsson is telling media he’s against the hometown discount.

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Next up were the rants. Kamal acknowledges that there are a lot of things entertaining about a hockey game (14:01). Goals saves, fights, you get the point. Something that is entertaining but shouldn’t be is the refs.

The concussion protocol has been something enforced for the past few seasons. However, Ari argues that it should be refined (16:41). Auston Matthews‘ upper-body injury is an example of this.

Finally, Justin Bourne (@jtbourne) from The Athletic and Eric Engels (@EricEngels) from Sportsnet were the two interviews for Episode 19. It was mostly Leafs talk with Bourne, but he also talked about how special it would be to have a Leafs-Habs playoff series. Engels, on the other hand, provided some interesting insight on the Montreal Canadiens and what the future of Alex Galchenyuk and Max Pacioretty look like.

Follow @HabsvsLeafs and co-hosts Ari Shapiro (@ari_shapiro) and Kamal Rehman (@kamalrehman10), and look for new episodes as the season continues.

Check out previous episodes down below:

Next: They're Both Good Players

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