The Montreal Canadiens returned home after a lengthy road trip where the team picked up eight points out of a possible ten, as they sit atop the Eastern Conference.
Defenceman Greg Pateryn will play his first NHL game at the Bell Centre Wednesday night against the Ottawa Senators. Pateryn was called up when Yannick Weber went down with a knee injury in Carolina. He has played two NHL games; both of them in Florida. Head coach Michel Therrien said he is happy with the play of Pateryn and it's important to give him some playing time in the NHL.
There have been some improvements in regards to Rene Bourque and Raphael Diaz, who are both out with concussions. Bourque began skating last week and Diaz has started working out in the gym. There is still no timeline for their return, as both players are following the team's protocol for concussions.
Brendan Gallagher and Alex Galchenyuk were officially welcomed to the NHL after taking part in the age-old tradition of the team's rookie party Sunday night in Florida. The purpose of the party is for the team to order as much as they can and have the rookies pick up the bill. These parties have been known to cost players a pretty penny. Galchenyuk and Gallagher would not reveal how much the night cost. Pateryn and Gabriel Dumont weren't forced to take out their wallets at the end of the night, as they had been recently called up and aren't permanently on the team. Gallagher remembers his rookie party in junior when he was forced to buy the whole team popcorn at the movies, which also added up to a lot of money.
