Injured in the lower body, Mike Matheson will be absent indefinitely and the Montreal Canadiens have entered the name of the Montreal defender on the injured list on Thursday.
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The team made the announcement moments after recalling Corey Schueneman from the Laval Rocket.
Matheson sat out the opening game against the Toronto Maple Leafs the day before. Also, general manager Kent Hughes was awaiting the results of a magnetic resonance imaging test before making a specific diagnosis.
Consequently, head coach Martin St-Louis will continue to rely on a relatively young group of guards. On Wednesday, rookies Arber Xhekaj, Kaiden Guhle, Jordan Harris and Johnathan Kovacevic were in uniform.
“I told him to control what he could,” the instructor said of Matheson. It’s better that it happens now and not in the middle of the season or at the end. The good side (silver lining) is that it gives more responsibility to our young defenders. When he comes back, the youngsters will have gained more experience while he absorbs a lot of ice time.
Satisfied but…
The pilot seemed happy when he presented himself to the journalists for his press briefing following the daily session. Even if his people surprised many people by winning 4 to 3 against the Leafs in a game full of twists and turns, there is no question for him and his flock to sit on their laurels.
“We got the result we wanted, but that doesn’t change what we’re doing now. If you win, that’s fine, but you wake up the next day and you have to do it all over again. Then, if you lose, it’s sad and the fact remains that you start from scratch the next day, he philosophized. We just want to continue to follow the process, while remaining enthusiastic. If we keep this mentality, I believe we will get more good results.”
The Habs will visit the Detroit Red Wings on Friday and the Washington Capitals the following day to complete a three-game streak in four nights. Having often experienced this type of scenario during his career as a player, St-Louis is far from worrying about it.
“Honestly, I never cared about that. You’re preparing for the next game and you don’t have to think about three games in four days. I think about the meeting of the day. That’s the key. You have to stay in the present moment. You cannot control what happened yesterday or what will happen tomorrow.”
-Injured to the upper body, forward Joel Armia skated ahead of his teammates on Thursday. His absence will be one to two weeks. Besides, St. Louis’ plan is to use Jake Allen on Friday.