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Montreal Canadiens HvL (S2E21): Wheeling and dealing in 2018

By Omar L

MONTREAL, QC - OCTOBER 26: Fans take in the atmosphere during the singing of the Canadian anthem prior to the NHL game between the Montreal Canadiens and the Los Angeles Kings at the Bell Centre on October 26, 2017 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Los Angeles Kings defeated the Montreal Canadiens 4-0. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QC - OCTOBER 26: Fans take in the atmosphere during the singing of the Canadian anthem prior to the NHL game between the Montreal Canadiens and the Los Angeles Kings at the Bell Centre on October 26, 2017 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Los Angeles Kings defeated the Montreal Canadiens 4-0. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /
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Ari and Kamal are back to talk Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs with a new episode of HvL with a guest spot from Scott Wheeler of The Athletic.

Habsfan vs. Leafsfan – Season 2 Episode 21 (Montreal Canadiens vs. Toronto Maple Leafs).

It’s a new year for the boys at HvL, and they felt it was best to provide the listeners with more exclusive audio from NHL teams. This time it was from the biggest shock of the season by a country mile in the Vegas Golden Knights who are destroying record every time they play.

It’s still mind-boggling to see how well they dominate their competition and it makes you think how they prepare to play every night. However, the podcast opens with exactly that (0:00). The Golden Knights pump themselves up while the team in the visiting room tries to get over their experiences -whatever said experiences are – from the night before.

Both the Leafs and the Habs are starting to play better, but with the halfway mark finally being hit, there’s no telling how the rest of the season goes. It’s been pretty frustrating for the boys to see what their teams have been doing lately, and in Kamal’s case, he’s accepted Montreal’s fate (2:01). Additionally, Nikita Kucherov and Andrei Vasilevskiy are quietly having incredible seasons for the Tampa Bay Lightning which could affect who represents the Habs at the All-Star Game.

Kamal has a theory about the Montreal Canadiens. Marc Bergevin and Claude Julien have an apparent strategy to win games which relies too heavily on Carey Price, and it isn’t working (14:25).

The hockey world was saddened to learn of the passing of legend Johnny Bower. Ari took the time to reflect on the man and his contributions to the city and the organization (16:43). As there are many hockey legends still with us, we should always make sure we take the time to appreciate them before they pass on as well.

Finally, HvL had Scott Wheeler (@scottcwheeler) on from The Athletic to give his thoughts on Bower’s impact on the organization and the state of the Leafs’ prospect pool.

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: Price May Miss Sunday's Game

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