The Home Crowd Makes Ivan Demidov A Better Player

During his very first NHL game against the Chicago Blackhawks last April, he was cheered on so loudly as he took his first steps onto the Bell Centre ice. As soon as the game started, he instantly made an impact with a perfect pass to set up Alex Newhook for a goal on his 2nd ever NHL shift. Then, on his next shift, he chased down a loose puck for a breakaway, where he deked the pants off the Blackhawks’ netminder for his first NHL goal. His play in the first period of that game nearly took the roof off the Bell Centre as the new potential star had arrived. 

Demidov didn’t get a point for the rest of the game, but he continued to be a threat around the net and created several scoring chances. 

The next game at the Bell Centre was the final game of the season, where Demidov didn’t register a point, but he continued to turn heads with his stickhandling and overall play as the Canadiens prevailed to clinch a playoff spot. 

The playoffs started in Washington against the Capitals, and Demidov had his first true challenge as he struggled to get used to the physicality of the playoffs. In reality, it is normal for a young player just starting his career in the playoffs, but it seemed like he figured out the game when the series returned to the Bell Centre for Game 3. 

He didn’t register a point in Game 3, but he did make his first impact of the playoffs with a scoring chance that got stopped by Logan Thompson. It wasn’t until Game 4, with the Bell Centre playoff crowd buzzing with loud cheers, that he finally showed a flash of brilliance when he set Juraj Slafkovsky up for a game-tying goal after deking around two Capitals defenders before sliding the puck over for the goal.

Later on in the game, Demidov got another assist when he connected with Lane Hutson and Cole Caufield for the team’s 2nd and final goal of the game in front of a roaring Bell Centre crowd. 

During Game 5 of the series, Demidov once again struggled to perform on the road in Washington. Despite not scoring a goal in the playoffs, Demidov took both his shots on goal in the playoffs on home ice. It was clear the playoffs were a struggle for the Russian, who was not used to that much physicality, but on home ice, he was still able to work his magic.

The next time Demidov played on the Bell Centre ice was when he dominated the Rookie Showcase game against the Jets with a beautiful breakaway goal and 2 assists to help his linemates Oliver Kapanen and Florian Xhekaj stand out as well. Again, the Bell Centre went crazy for Demidov as he put on a show for the fans.

In the preseason, he was getting used to his linemates, but he still managed to make things happen in his game against the Pittsburgh Penguins despite not being able to register a point. He nearly sets up Kapanen on a few occasions, but no goal is scored. In the end, this game was chalked up as a game for Demidov to get his feet wet playing against some NHL talent. In terms of games at the Bell Centre thus far (including regular season, Playoffs, Rookie Showcase, and preseason), this one was likely his worst performance on the scoresheet, but not every game means you’ll get a point. 

Next up was a game that the Canadiens got blown out 7-2 against the Toronto Maple Leafs on home ice during the preseason. Despite the loss, Demidov made the play of the game for the Habs. With the Canadiens on the power-play, Demidov showed his vision and patience to slide a perfect pass cross ice to Patrik Laine for a goal. This game proved that the two players work amazingly on the power-play, which is why they are still together on power-play unit #2. It’s only a matter of time before they connect like this at the Bell Centre.

His next game was in Quebec City, while not a home game at the Bell Centre, it was filled mostly by Habs fans, and it helped Demidov have his best game of the preseason in a game against the Ottawa Senators, where he picked up 2 assists, being supported by Habs fans throughout the Centre Videotron.

Demidov started the season with the Canadiens on the road, where he had a few nice flashes but didn’t really stand out until the game on Tuesday night, where he started it with a beautiful assist to Alex Newhook to open the scoring against the Seattle Kraken, which came after being cheered on during his introduction in the pre-game.

Then late in the game, he got to show his patience to let a play fall into his hands as he deked to his backhand so effortlessly to tie the game and send it to overtime.

As seen by all the examples above about Demidov, it’s clear that the cheering fan support at the Bell Centre is something that allows him to raise his game to another level ccompletely. Currently, when playing in front of the home crowd, he has scored 3 goals and 7 assists in 8 games at the Bell Centre, including 2 goals and 4 points in 3 regular season matchups. Meanwhile on the road, Demidov has only 1 assist in 6 games since joining the Habs.

Will this home ice momentum continue for Demidov?