Hockey Inside Out

The Canadiens beat the Stars 5-2 in Dallas on Thursday night to complete a four-game road trip with a perfect record. On this Hockey Inside/Out Show bonus episode, former Canadiens teammates and 1986 Stanley Cup champions Chris Nilan and Brian Skrudland join The Gazette’s Stu Cowan to talk about their favourite NHL road cities when they were playing and share some fun stories about their annual trip to Los Angeles, when it was the only warm-weather city in the NHL.

Halloween parties are a big thing for NHL teams and have been for a long time. On this Hockey Inside/Out Show bonus episode, former Canadiens teammates and 1986 Stanley Cup champions Chris Nilan and Brian Skrudland join The Gazette's Stu Cowan to share stories from the Halloween parties they attended during their playing days and who had the best costumes.

After the Canadiens blew a 3-1 third-period lead to the San Jose Sharks on Oct. 20 at the Bell Centre — losing 4-3 in overtime — winger Cole Caufield called out teammates Arber Xhekaj and Jakub Dobes for the costly penalties they took that resulted in the tying and winning goals being scored on power plays. On this Hockey Inside/Out Show bonus episode, former Canadiens teammates and 1986 Stanley Cup champions Chris Nilan and Brian Skrudland join The Gazette's Stu Cowan to discuss Caufield's comments about his teammates after the game.

Canadiens goalie Jacob Fowler won his sixth straight game Tuesday night, stopping all 46 shots he faced in a 2-0 win over the Blues in St. Louis, improving his season record to 6-1 with a 1.54 goals-against average and a .942 save percentage. On this week's Hockey Inside/Out Show, former Canadiens teammates and 1986 Stanley Cup champions Chris Nilan and Brian Skrudland join The Gazette's Stu Cowan to talk about what has impressed them about Fowler's play and if they were surprised head coach Martin St. Louis gave the 21-year-old goalie a third straight start. Meanwhile, struggling netminder Jakub Dobes will return on Thursday and start in Dallas against the Stars.

The Canadiens will play the Jets on Sunday in an outdoor Heritage Classic game at Winnipeg’s Princess Auto Stadium. On this Hockey Inside/Out Show bonus episode, former teammates and 1986 Stanley Cup champions Chris Nilan and Brian Skrudland share their memories of playing in outdoor games with the Canadiens’ alumni team, including at the first Heritage Classic in Edmonton in 2003 in freezing conditions. Nilan tells the story about why he threw up on the bench during that alumni game.

The Canadiens’ Cole Caufield earned the nickname Mr. Saturday Night. He showed why again last Saturday, scoring two goals — including the winner — in a 4-3 overtime victory over the Buffalo Sabres at the Bell Centre. During his seven seasons in the NHL, Caufield has scored 66 goals in 106 Saturday games. Saturdays are obviously special to Caufield, but were they also special to former Canadiens teammates and 1986 Stanley Cup champions Chris Nilan and Brian Skrudland?

The Canadiens' power play has been struggling this season, ranking 26th in the NHL after Tuesday night's 4-3 overtime loss to the San Jose Sharks with a 13.8 per cent success rate. The Canadiens went 0-for-2 against the Sharks on the power play and are 4-for-29 on the season. What do the Canadiens need to change to get the power play clicking? That's the question answered on this Hockey Inside/Out Show bonus episode, as former Canadiens teammates and 1986 Stanley Cup champions Chris Nilan and Brian Skrudland are joined by The Gazette's Stu Cowan.

The Canadiens blew a two-goal lead for the fourth time in nine games this season when they lost 4-3 in overtime to the San Jose Sharks Tuesday night at the Bell Centre. Are the Canadiens just playing dumb hockey after notching only one regulation-time win this season — in the first game, beating the Maple Leafs 3-2 in Toronto — while posting a 4-3-2 record? That’s the main question answered on this week’s Hockey Inside/Out Show, as former Canadiens teammates and 1986 Stanley Cup champions Chris Nilan and Brian Skrudland join The Gazette’s Stu Cowan.

Playing for the Canadiens comes with a lot of pressure under Montreal's very bright hockey spotlight. That spotlight is even brighter for francophone players and the Canadiens have several of them this season, including Phillip Danault, Alexandre Texier, Zachary Bolduc, Alexandre Carrier and Samuel Montembeault. On this Hockey Inside/Out Show bonus episode, former Canadiens teammates and 1986 Stanley Cup champions Chris Nilan and Brian Skrudland join The Gazette's Stu Cowan to discuss what it's like playing under Montreal's intense spotlight and how it has impacted players.

The Canadiens’ Lane Hutson was averaging 26:27 of ice time through the team’s first seven games this season, which led the team and ranked sixth in the NHL. Can the 5-foot-10, 163-pound defenceman maintain that type of workload all season? That’s the question answered on this Hockey Inside/Out Show bonus episode as The Gazette’s Stu Cowan is joined by former Canadiens teammates and 1986 Stanley Cup champions Chris Nilan and Brian Skrudland to discuss how head coach Martin St. Louis manages his bench and ice time for players.

The Canadiens’ Ivan Demidov is in danger of losing his Quebec drivers’ license as a result of a couple of speeding tickets for going 111 km/h on the Bonaventure Expressway — where the speed limit is 70 km/h — and for going 145 km/h while he was on a highway in Trois-Rivières last February, where the speed limit was 100 km/h. On this Hockey Inside/Out Show bonus episode former Canadiens teammates and 1986 Stanley Cup champions Chris Nilan and Brian Skrudland join The Gazette’s Stu Cowan to share some stories about bad driving habits some of their former teammates had, including Guy Lafleur and Petr Svoboda.

That's the main question answered on this week's Hockey Inside/Out Show, as The Gazette's Stu Cowan is joined by former Canadiens teammates and 1986 Stanley Cup champions Chris Nilan and Brian Skrudland. Jakub Dobes allowed five goals on 24 shots in Wednesday night's 5-4 loss to the Capitals in Washington, dropping his record to 1-2-1 with a 4.63 goals-against average and an .842 save percentage. Meanwhile, Jacob Fowler has a 2-1 record with a 1.91 GAA and a .906 save percentage since being called up from the AHL's Laval Rocket after a lower-body injury to Samuel Montembeault.

There was some very sad news last weekend with the death of former Canadiens defenceman and 1993 Stanley Cup champion Lyle Odelein at age 58, eight years after having a multi-organ transplant surgery the result of a blood infection. On this Hockey Inside/Out Show bonus episode, The Gazette’s Stu Cowan is joined by former Canadiens teammates and 1986 Stanley Cup champs Chris Nilan and Brian Skrudland, who share some fond memories of Odelein, their former friend and teammate.

Chris Kreider was the only major addition the Canadiens made during the off-season, signing the 35-year-old veteran forward as a free agent. Kreider has scored at least 20 goals in each of the last eight seasons, including 22 last season with the Anaheim Ducks. On this Hockey Inside/Out Show bonus episode, The Gazette’s Stu Cowan is joined by former Canadiens teammates and 1986 Stanley Cup champs Chris Nilan and Brian Skrudland to share their thoughts on Kreider’s performance so far with the team.

After winning their season opener 3-2 over the Maple Leafs in Toronto, the Canadiens allowed 12 goals in their next two games — losing 6-5 in overtime to the Penguins in Pittsburgh and 6-4 to the Carolina Hurricanes at the Bell Centre. Is it already time to sound the alarm about the Canadiens’ defence? Find out what former Canadiens teammates and 1986 Stanley Cup champions Chris Nilan and Brian Skrudland think on this Hockey Inside/Out Show bonus episode as they join The Gazette’s Stu Cowan.

The Carolina Hurricanes showed why they are the defending Stanley Cup champions during a 6-4 win Tuesday night at the Bell Centre in the Canadiens’ home opener. What’s the biggest lesson the Canadiens can take away from that game? That’s one of the questions answered on this week’s Hockey Inside/Out Show as The Gazette’s Stu Cowan is joined by former Canadiens teammates and 1986 Stanley Cup champions Chris Nilan and Brian Skrudland.

The Canadiens headed into this season with high expectations after advancing to the Eastern Conference final last spring before losing to the Carolina Hurricanes, who went on to win the Stanley Cup. What will the keys be to the Canadiens taking the next step in 2026-27 and how can they beat the Hurricanes? Also, which Habs players might surprise people this season? On this Hockey Inside/Out Show bonus episode, The Gazette's Stu Cowan is joined by former Canadiens teammates and 1986 Stanley Cup champions Chris Nilan and Brian Skrudland to answer those questions.

Defenceman David Reinbacher, the fifth overall pick at the 2023 NHL Draft, was among the final cuts by the Canadiens after training camp and will start the season again with the AHL's Laval Rocket. On this Hockey Inside/Out Show bonus episode, The Gazette's Stu Cowan is joined by former Canadiens teammates and 1986 Stanley Cup champions Chris Nilan and Brian Skrudland to discuss whether that was the right decision.

After an impressive training camp, 6-foot-4, 215-pound forward Florian Xhekaj made the Canadiens to start the season, joining his brother, Arber, on the team. On this Hockey Inside/Out Show bonus episode, The Gazette’s Stu Cowan is joined by former Canadiens teammates and 1986 Stanley Cup champions Chris Nilan and Brian Skrudland to discuss what impressed them most about Florian during training camp and what kind of impact he could have, along with his brother, a 6-foot-4, 236-pound defenceman.

Welcome back to a new season of The Gazette’s weekly Hockey Inside/Out Show. This week, The Gazette’s Stu Cowan is joined by former Canadiens teammates and 1986 Stanley Cup champions Chris Nilan and Brian Skrudland to talk about the team’s 3-2 season-opening win over the Maple Leafs on Tuesday night in Toronto.