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![\"Photo](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/635716.webp.webp\" "\\"Photo")
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Photo credit: Screenshot<\/p>\n
We got a small surprise today, as despite the win and a packed schedule, Martin St-Louis called an optional practice.<\/p>\n
No day off after the Wild: the Habs hit the ice at 11:30 a.m. in Brossard.<\/p>\n
The good news is that we’ll get answers to our questions, notably whether a player like Arber Xhekaj will return to the regular lineup (and a regular pairing), or if he’ll once again practice as an extra.<\/p>\n
This isn’t a trivial detail, because on the day after a game, we often see a lighter day, or nothing on the schedule at all.<\/p>\n
A late-morning practice still allows some time to recover, but the message remains the same.<\/p>\n
In a season where every point matters, the Canadiens want to keep a tight routine, especially at this point in the schedule.<\/p>\n
Martin St-Louis decides to hold a mandatory practice the day after the win against the Minnesota Wild, and we’ll get answers regarding Arber Xhekaj and Patrik Laine<\/p>\n
Practicing in Brossard also brings everyone back into a familiar setting, at the CN Sports Complex, rather than the Bell Centre as is the case on game days.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, the Habs didn’t choose comfort, they chose pace. A small decision, but a big nod to fans who want to see the machine keep moving.<\/p>\n
Speaking of last night’s game, let’s also remember this “sneaky” play by Ivan Demidov.<\/p>\n
And of course, let’s remember that Cole Caufield gave his team the win late in the game, in front of Team USA GM Bill Guerin.<\/p>\n
Previously on Montreal Hockey Fanatics<\/p>\n
POLL<\/p>\n
5 HOURS AGO\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0280 ANSWERS<\/p>\n
Martin St-Louis wastes no time making key decision after win vs. Wild<\/p>\n
Should Martin St-Louis hold a practice after a win?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Photo credit: Screenshot We got a small surprise today, as despite the win and a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":420436,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3],"tags":[971,5,52428,412,21,4,1618],"class_list":{"0":"post-420435","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-cole-caufield","9":"tag-hockey","10":"tag-mandatory-practice","11":"tag-martin-st-louis","12":"tag-montreal-canadiens","13":"tag-nhl","14":"tag-oliver-kapanen"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/115935138092833899","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=420435"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420435\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/420436"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=420435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=420435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=420435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}