Sean Monahan doesn’t suspect it, but he will be able to say that he has something in common with the Ferré Giant on Thursday night, against the Los Angeles Kings.
At WrestleMania I in 1985, the wrestler then called André the Giant fought against Big John Studd. The stakes of the fight: $15,000, if the giant managed to lift his rival, which he ultimately accomplished. Wrestling being wrestling, Studd’s manager, Bobby “The Brain” Heenan, then fled with the bag full of cash.
Like the Shoe Giant, Monahan will also play for $15,000 on Thursday. He won’t have to lift Pierre-Luc Dubois or Quinton Byfield to achieve this, although nothing is stopping him, when you think about it. Simply by putting on the skates, Monahan will receive this sum, since his one-year contract, signed last June, provided for such a bonus if he reached the magic number of 26 games.
“I didn’t even know about it, honestly. It’s good that you reminded me, I’m going to have to write down an amount of money on the board,” he joked to The Gazette colleague Stu Cowan on Thursday morning at the end of optional training at the Center Bell.
His contract signed on June 20 stipulated that he would receive $1.985 million for the season, in addition to the bonus, for a total of $2 million. “Honestly, it wasn’t big. We were trying to reach a certain figure and it happened like that,” he simply explained.
The scale to be reached for the bonus is not a coincidence, however, because last year, that damned 26th game never came for Monahan. His 25th game ended in the 2nd period in Vancouver, after Monahan insisted on playing even though he needed a protective boot just to walk.
This season, the body seems to be holding up. Number 91 certainly takes time off when training is optional, like Thursday’s, in fact.
“Honestly, I’m not a fan of morning workouts,” he admitted. I didn’t have the option to skip a round until my fifth season in the NHL. Once I had it, I tried to take advantage of it. I don’t see any difference whether I skate in the morning or not. So by not skating, it allows me to go to the gym or otherwise prepare for the game. »
Statistically, the 25 games of Monahan’s 2023 vintage look very similar to those of last year.
His puck possession indicators have declined, however, so that the Canadian controls 46.1% of shot attempts when he is on the ice at 5 on 5, compared to 53.1% last year. An ugly series of five games, between November 16 and 25, notably weighed down his statistics, but he has looked better since.
On the other hand, the Ontarian is called more during faceoffs in the defensive zone; only Jake Evans (196) took more than him (129) from the Canadian. At the time of his injury last year, that task fell mostly on Evans and Christian Dvorak.
However, these are only details in the grand scheme of things, since whatever the mission, Monahan is simply happy to put on the skates and practice his sport.
“Last year was rubbish, I got injured and was stuck watching the rest of the season as a spectator. It’s only 26 games, the season is still long, but I feel good and I’m happy to play. »
Martin St-Louis will make only one change to his lineup: Michael Pezzetta will regain his place in the squad after four games on the bridge. He will take the place of Joel Armia.
The latter did not participate in Wednesday’s practice because he was undergoing “treatments”, according to the team, but he was one of the fifteen skaters on the ice Thursday morning.
St-Louis did not specify whether Armia’s withdrawal from training was related to his state of health. Note, however, that the giant winger spent the last eight minutes of Monday’s match nailed to the bench, when CH defended a slim one-goal lead.
Samuel Montembeault will defend the Montreal net.