Montreal Canadiens games are still pretty fresh in our minds as they made a deep postseason run to the Stanley Cup Final, but it won’t be long before we see them take the ice again.
The league finally announced the full preseason slate of games for the 2021 preseason and the Canadiens will be in action for six contests.
With the NHL Playoffs running into July, there is a bit of a delay in the opening of training camps, but it is not significant.
The Canadiens would normally hit the ice for the first time as a team on September, 15 but this year it will be September 22 before things get underway. Their first exhibition game will be against the Toronto Maple Leafs on September 25th at the Scotiabank Arena. The two teams will meet again two days later at the Bell Centre.
The Canadiens will then have three days without games before facing the Ottawa Senators in Ottawa on October 1st and at home on October 2nd. The preseason continues with a third game against each team as the Canadiens return to Toronto on October 5th and complete their six game exhibition schedule on October 7th against the Ottawa Senators.
The is game schedule involved very little travel as the Habs only face their two closest rivals from Toronto and Ottawa. While the regular season promises to feel more normal than last year’s, the exhibition portion is going to feel as redundant as last year’s regular season did.
That’s fine, as the Canadiens will likely have forty or fifty players in camp and they can get a quick look at some of their deeper prospects before shrinking the roster to a more manageable number for those three days without games.
2021 Preseason Schedule
Saturday, September 25: Montreal at Toronto, 2:00 PM EST
Monday, September 27: Toronto at Montreal, 7:00 PM EST
Friday, October 1: Montreal at Ottawa, 7:30 PM EST
Saturday, October 2: Ottawa at Montreal, 7:00 PM EST
Tuesday, October 5: Montreal at Toronto, 7:00 PM EST
Thursday, October 7: Ottawa at Montreal, 7:00 PM EST