The Rebuild: Behind The Montreal Canadiens Episode

Johnny Gaudreau was a hero to Caufield, and he looked up as he made his way through the minor hockey ranks as a kid. Given his connection to Gaudreau, Caufield did the best thing he could do to honour his hero by changing his number to the available #13. Unfortunately, it had passed the deadline to be able to make the switch, but given the reasoning behind it, the NHL accepted. This did, however, pose an issue for marketing and thousands of fans with Caufield #22 jerseys. As a result, the Habs sniper decided to help the marketing department by signing over 1,800 postcards to fans who would buy his old #22 jerseys. I will admit I did see a sneak peek of this earlier in the week, but didn’t put it together that it was part of the show. That whole scene just showed how down-to-earth Caufield is as a person.

Soon after, we got to see inside Lane Hutson’s life along with his mom, who was staying with him at the time. He and his mom discussed how independent he is and that, unlike many rookies he doesn’t need a roommate in his first full NHL season. We then see Hutson take a call from his father as he’s driving to the rink, where they discuss the inevitable return of Patrik Laine and how exciting it will be. 

It is then time for a game on November 16th against the Columbus Blue Jackets. We hear Hutson’s Julie talking about how she loves being able to watch her son in the NHL, although the hits sometimes scare her due to his small stature, but she knows with the way he moves, he is good at avoiding those checks. 

During the game, it shows the struggles of Slafkovsky, where he seems to let his emotions get to him. This was definitely a dark time in Slafkovsky’s season as he just couldn’t find his game whatsoever. At the game, we see Alexandre (the fan) and his father. At the intermission, Alexandre’s father goes and buys a new Caufield #13 jersey to surprise his son. That was a nice, heart-warming moment that seems to be something we will see in every episode in one way or another. That game against the Blue Jackets went amazingly as the Habs won convincingly 5-1 despite Slafkovsky’s struggles. 

The episode ended showing the game where Laine came back and got his first goal on the power-play. Then, in the dressing room, we see how that goal inspired the team as a whole. 

It’s great to see the episode end on a high from starting on such a low note. The next episode should be showing some really good hockey as the Habs really found their game in December.

The next two episodes will be released on Crave at midnight ET next Thursday. Be sure to watch it.