The Montreal Canadiens are kicking off 2025 on a high note by cleaning up game after game after game.
The expression goes ‘New Year, new me,’ but maybe it should be ‘new year, new team’ for the red-hot Habs. The club is on a seven-game winning streak.
Brian Wilde, a Montreal-based sports writer who pens Call of the Wilde on globalnews.ca after each Canadiens game, joined Global News Morning on Friday to speak about the Tricolore’s surge.
“There is so much going right, right now,” Wilde said. “And I think you have to start with Nick Suzuki.”
The Canadiens captain is “so underrated,” he added, saying Suzuki has held his own against some of the best opponents on the ice.
“People should talk about more what this guy has been able to do to the against some of the premier people in the league: shut them down. That’s a huge thing,” Wilde said.
Overall, the Habs are “playing some of the toughest teams in the NHL and they’re actually winning games,” according to Wilde.
“What’s happened is all four lines are rolling. As (head coach) Martin St. Louis said, the second line was the laggard for a long, long time,” he said. “But (Kirby) Dach’s waking up line. His arrival has made a big change there.
“And offensively they’re cutting their goals against significantly. And what’s happened there is they made a trade to stabilize that right side in getting Alexander Kelly. And, as a result, what he brings is everybody is now in their place.”
Montreal Canadiens center Nick Suzuki (14) checks Tampa Bay Lightning center Luke Glendening (11) during the third period of an NHL hockey game, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024, in Tampa, Fla.
Mary Holt/AP Photo
Wilde also points to the Canadiens’ strong fourth line, including Jake Evans. The centre is enjoying a career high with 10 goals and he’s “dominating” other fourth-line players.
“So everybody’s in this spot that they can achieve success,” Wilde said. “It’s been really exciting to watch and the fans are pumped. I can feel it on the social media sites.”
When it comes to the new year, Wilde says the team needs to keep the belief they can beat anyone on any night, as they have brought to the ice recently.
“That is massive because it just gives you that dedication that they’re showing,” he said.
As for Habs management, well, if they want a championship team, Wilde says they “still need” Dach to prove he’s a second-line centre.
“And if he can’t, they need one,” Wilde said. “If he can, then they look really good when the players arrive next year to continue to improve things.”
— with files from Global News Morning
