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Prior to their game against Chicago, there was plenty of news surrounding the Habs.  Here’s a rundown of today’s news involving the Canadiens.

Wideman Suspended

As expected, Chris Wideman was suspended for his headbutt in a scrum on Erik Haula in Wednesday’s game against Boston.  He received a one-game ban, meaning he won’t be available tonight against the Blackhawks and will be eligible to return on Monday afternoon in Arizona.

Clague Clears Protocols

Kale Clague has cleared COVID protocol and has been permitted to rejoin the Canadiens in Chicago.  However, he won’t suit up in this one as instead, Alexander Romanov returns in place of Wideman while Corey Schueneman will also suit up, taking Sami Niku’s spot.

Taxi Squad Activity

As expected, Cayden Primeau has been recalled from the taxi squad and will be in uniform against the Blackhawks; Dominique Ducharme has yet to announce his starter.  Michael McNiven has been recalled from Laval to the taxi squad with Jake Allen being injured last night.  Meanwhile, Louie Belpedio and Brandon Baddock have been sent from the taxi squad to Laval and will catch up with the Rocket in Springfield.

Injuries

The Habs have placed Allen on injured reserve, meaning he’ll be out for at least a week.  Cedric Paquette is also listed as injured although Ducharme indicated his injury is a minor one.

Olympic-Bound

Prospect Sean Farrell has been named to the Olympic team for the United States.  The heavily college-laden squad has 13 NHL-drafted prospects on it while Kenny Agostino is a name that may be familiar to some Montreal fans as he suited up in 36 games for the Habs in 2018-19.  Kaiden Guhle is believed to be on the ‘long list’ for Canada but they’ve yet to reveal their roster for the tournament next month.

All-Star-Bound

Nick Suzuki was named as Montreal’s representative for next month’s All-Star Game.  It is Suzuki’s first appearance and it’s also worth some money.  He has two full ‘A’ bonuses in his contract (plus another half one) and one of the potential $212,500 payouts is for being selected to the game.  With the Habs being in LTIR all season, that will come off next year’s salary cap for the Canadiens.