Sean Farrell: Pascal Vincent has made him worthwhile again

The Laval Rocket has had, and continues to have, an incredible season, which could very well end with a Calder Cup victory.
The team is very well built, with a good mix of veterans, experienced young players and rookies.
It’s a very fine team that Pascal Vincent has managed with a master’s hand.
He knew how to get the best out of virtually every player, giving them a role that suited them, which enabled everyone to make good progress this season and gain experience.
And so, indirectl

Ivan Demidov has been associated with several companies since his arrival in North America.
And it’s not over yet.
The Canadiens’ young player appears in a new ad for GoPlex, a company that offers an indoor amusement center located in Brossard. It’s another commercial partnership for #93…
In the ad, we see Demidov go-karting, hitting golf balls… and we even hear him say a few words in French:GoPlex, victory begins here! – Ivan DemidovObviously, his French is

On the first full posting day of 2026, we must begin with the biggest music story of the year so far and nothing’s really happened yet. But just the announcements have set off expectations for what will be a massive story over the next 12 months, guaranteed. And it wasn’t even new news! This is the power of BTS.Since all seven members reunited at the end of their military service last summer, we always knew there would be a comeback. And we also knew that it would be in the spring. I

Ooooh Ashley Tisdale dropped a little nugget for The Cut, writing about breaking up with her “toxic” mom group. In December of 2024, PEOPLE ran a story about Hilary Duff’s mom group which included Mandy Moore, Meghan Trainor and… Ashley Tisdale.
Early 2026 tea involving legacy teen-to-adult stars, this is a good omen for gossip.View this post on InstagramA post shared by The Cut (@thecut)This is the most Monday to ever Monday and in alignment with the Larry David Accord,

Matvei Michkov is a talented player. No doubt about it.
He scored 63 points (26 goals) in his very first NHL season with the Philadelphia Flyers, and that’s no accident. The kid has offensive qualities in his game and interesting skills.
The Russian has what it takes to establish himself as one of the National League’s very good players in a few years’ time.
But…
But right now, it’s harder for him. Mishkov hasn’t beaten a goalie since November 29: he has just

The signing of Kazuma Okamoto changes things in Toronto.
First of all, it’s clear that this doesn’t stop the Blue Jays in their quest for another signing. We’ve been saying it for days, and just today we reconfirmed it.
Could this complicate matters? Yes, a little.
But what you have to understand is that Bob Nightengale has confirmed that the Blue Jays hope to use Kazuma Okamoto as a luxury utility player in 2026.Five reasons for MLB’s agonizingly slow winter: When will f

 Spoilers ahoy!Nine years after the adventure began, Stranger Things concluded its fifth and final season. As is always the case when a massively popular television show ends, people Have Strong Opinions about it, mostly of the negative variety. Here is my strongest opinion about Stranger Things: it’s fine, it’s totally mediocre. The finale has all the same problems the show has sported for years, some parts of it worked, others didn’t, it was a mixed bag, which is what St

The Canadiens have the day off today. Tomorrow, Martin St-Louis’ men return to practice at the CN Complex.
It’s also press conference day (around noon) for Kent Hughes.
On my return from a (long) trip, I’ve got a lot of little notes in my head about the Habs. So we’re going to take the time to discuss a few things.
I’m not at all surprised to write this, but the Canadiens still have three goalies up top. If we ever wanted to send a guy back to Laval, it would have m

The Apple TV+ comedy series The Studio from Vancouver’s Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg continued its award season winning streak, taking home the Best Comedy Series prize at the 31st Critics Choice Awards on Jan. 4. The Hollywood-mocking comedy series beat out Abbott Elementary, Nobody Wants This, Hacks, Ghosts, The Righteous Gemstones, Only Murders in the Building and Elsbeth.Rogen also picked up the Best Actor in a Comedy Series&n

 Let The Pitt’s reign begin, after winning multiple Emmys, including Outstanding Drama Series, The Pitt picked up more trophies at the Critics Choice Awards.
Noah Wyle won Best Actor in a Drama Series, Katherine LaNasa won Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, and the show itself won Best Drama Series. Genuinely love this for them, The Pitt is staffed by some real good guys and gals, and it’s nice to see them win. Emmy winner Shawn Hatosy was also on hand—one of the g

The Toronto Blue Jays have clearly demonstrated to the baseball world that they are serious about completing the unfinished business of 2025, having been active on the free agent market this winter, signing up for a modest $337 million in future salaries.
The latest proof? The signing of Kazuma Okamoto from Japan.
But this begs the question: after giving the Nippon man $60 million for the next four years, will Toronto continue to make other major personnel moves?
According to Jim Bowden, Okamoto

Vancouver actor Hudson Williams, breakout star of the sexy hockey drama Heated Rivalry, is set to make his late-night talk show debut. Williams will appear on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Jan. 7 at 11:35 p.m. on NBC and CTV in Canada. It also marks the first late-night appearance for any lead cast member from the Ontario-shot show. A Crave Originals series, Heated Rivalry revolves around the hidden love affair of two gay professional hockey pl

Last year, we spent the year wondering if Lane Hutson would win the Calder. He finally did.
And this year, in Montreal, we wonder if Ivan Demidov will play in such a way as to allow the Canadiens to once again have a Calder winner on their hands.
We also wonder whether Alexander Zharovsky will succeed Demidov in Russia… which is likely.
In the last few weeks, since Juraj Slafkovsky came on board to energize the youth line, Ivan Demidov and Oliver Kapanen have clearly moved on to the next

Is there any single celebrity man who is more DIVORCED than Tom Brady? And has anyone ever been more fun to be embarrassed for than Tom Brady? Embarrassment, typically, isn’t an enjoyable emotion. But being embarrassed for Tom Brady kinda feels… good.Here’s a recap of Tom Brady’s streak of embarrassment. He fumbled Gisele Bündchen after deciding to come out of retirement. The comeback flopped. She, meanwhile, did not look back and is now remarried with another baby

Sorry for the lack of foreplay this morning; I just don’t have the time.
It just doesn’t make cr*ss sense! For the third year in a row, Team Canada Junior has been eliminated by the Czech Republic. The losers have been saying for a few hours now that, at least this year, Canada was eliminated in the semifinals, not the quarterfinals.
That at least this year, the Canadian team might have a chance to go home with a (bronze) medal.
Sorry, but I don’t buy that. Canada has to fight

Something I’ve always wondered about is how bad or good an awards show is as a date night. For us regular degulars, we get to really dress up maybe a few times in life—prom, weddings, maybe a work event depending on careers. But actors get to dress up all the time and go out, but does it suck? I’ve worked backstage at awards shows and like most things, they’re never as glamorous up close as they are on TV, but if you’re all dressed up, the drinks are free, you have

The Pittsburgh Pirates let Ke’Bryan Hayes go at the last trade deadline, sending him to their National League Central Division rivals, the Cincinnati Reds. The fact that the $32 million remaining on the third baseman’s contract will now be paid by the Reds gives the Pirates some flexibility this off-season.
After acquiring Brandon Lowe and Ryan O’Hearn, the Steel City outfit was the favorite to sign Kazuma Okamoto from Japan. However, the Nippon ended up with the Toronto Blue J

Welcome back from the liminal space, everything is a nightmare, let’s talk about awards shows! The 31st annual Critics Choice Awards were held last night in Los Angeles, the first heavyweight awards show on the trophy trail. The big winners were Sinners and One Battle After Another, with The Pitt, The Studio, and Adolescence dominating on the TV side. (Full disclosure: I am a voting member of CCA.)Digging into What It All Means comes with a grain of salt because of the timing of this year&

Things are going well for Lane Hutson these days, right?
The second-year jinx isn’t hitting the man the Americans didn’t want to go to the Olympics. After all, he’s been riding at an incredible pace for a while now.
The guys at BPM Sports pointed it out on the radio this morning: since December 11, Hutson has been the NHL’s top point producer among defensemen.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by BPM Sports (@bpmsportsradio)And it’s not even close.
Since Dec

Dear Gossips,Happy New Year! This is our first official gossip post of 2026 but you may have noticed… we did what celebrities do during the break: we tweaked our face. And some other backend body parts. The swelling has mostly gone down, we think, but there may be some kinks over the next few days as we approach full optimisation. If you haven’t already, please review this explainer that was posted over the weekend.Now let’s to business…Coverage of last night’s Cr

Vancouver cartoonists Ian Boothby and Pia Guerra have landed a rare distinction: Their work appears on the cover of The New Yorker’s 2026 calendar. “I was about to buy the calendar online and suddenly realized our cartoon was on the cover,” said Guerra. “It had been out since June, and we had no idea.” The cartoon shows a woman in a Roman toga and sandals sitting near a Doric column, looking at an open laptop. The caption reads: “Despite all warnings, Pandora

Last night, Canada lost to the Czechs at the World Junior Championship.
As the club lost in the semi-finals, this means that the Canadiens will have to fight for bronze this afternoon instead of gold tonight.
At 4:30 p.m., the Finns take on Canada. And at 8:30 p.m. tonight, the Czechs and Swedes will battle for gold.This will be the first time since 2016 that there will be no Canada or USA in the #MondialJunior final
Hockey goes global
Four different countries in the final in the last two years

The free agent market is sluggish at the moment. Will any of these players find a contract soon?
Interestingly, there’s one big-market club that doesn’t get talked about much: the Cubs. They don’t really seem to be at the heart of the big issues, even if they have been linked to some pitchers, Alex Bregman, and Bo Bichette.
But in reality, the Illinois outfit doesn’t seem to have a huge appetite for moving on to the next level.
Kyle Tucker, who cost a lot in terms of asse

Yesterday, there were five games in the NHL.
The Habs won one of them, 4-3 in overtime against the Stars.
Here are the other results and highlights:
(Credit: NHL.com)
1. Luke Hughes: an own goal and an assist
Player of the game in the Hurricanes’ 3-1 win over the Devils: Luke Hughes.
No, he wasn’t traded to the Hurricanes early in the game, but that’s pretty much it. He scored a goal and an own goal.
Here’s his goal:Tough one for Luke Hughespic.twitter.com/NsMdAhNdiK
&nda

Canada faced the Czech Republic in the semifinals of the World Junior Championship. Last year, the Czech Republic eliminated ÉCJ in the quarterfinals of the tournament.
No changes for the Canadiens. Canada’s coach has put his faith in goalkeeper Jack Ivankovic for a second straight game.
Here is the ÉCJ line-up:Our semifinal setup.Trios and duos for the semi-final.#WorldJuniors | #MondialJunior pic.twitter.com/u1HZH8P76f
– Hockey Canada (@HockeyCanada) January 5, 2026
H

Juraj Slafkovsky is simply unrecognizable these days. And for once, it’s in a good way.
On the ice, the Slovakian forward does absolutely everything. He imposes his physical presence, protects the puck, creates space for his teammates… and above all, he completes his line with Ivan Demidov and Oliver Kapanen to perfection.
The three of them understand each other, find each other quickly, and play with a confidence that leaps off the page.
What’s most striking about Slafkovsky&

Phillip Danault has officially reached the 400-point plateau of his NHL career. But true to form, it wasn’t exactly in the most spectacular fashion.
In the middle of a game against the Dallas Stars, Danault thought he’d scored. The puck was heading for the net after deflecting off him… Except that Brendan Gallagher was there. The goal was awarded to Gallagher. And Danault was relegated to a simple assist.
In front of the media, the main player took it in stride, throwing an ar