Canadiens face serious backlash over bizarre Ivan Demidov legal saga

Ivan Demidov's off-ice troubles behind the wheel of his Audi RSQ8 have become one of the more unusual storylines swirling around the Montreal Canadiens this fall. Now, the focus has shifted to how the organization handled them.

The young star forward was first pulled over in February, doing 145 km/h on Highway 40 near Trois-Rivières. That infraction cost him three demerit points on his probationary licence, leaving him with just one remaining. A second ticket followed over the summer on the Bonaventure Expressway in Montreal, where he was caught exceeding the 70 km/h speed limit.

That is where things went sideways.

Mitchell Janhevich, the Canadiens' director of player security and a former Montreal police officer, paid the $328 fine tied to the second ticket. The payment was automatically recorded as a guilty plea, which triggered the loss of three additional demerit points. With only one point left in his account, Demidov's licence was immediately revoked.

Janhevich reportedly described the move as an "error" and a simple "administrative formality," claiming he did not realize the payment would result in demerit points that could lead to a licence suspension. Notably, he had already handled the first ticket in the same fashion, which raises questions about why the potential consequences did not register the second time around.

Last week, Demidov's lawyer appeared before Quebec Superior Court to request the withdrawal of the guilty plea entered in July. The Russian forward told the court he never authorized anyone to pay the fine on his behalf. Justice Éliane B. Perreault granted the request, allowing Demidov to drive again while the matter proceeds through Montreal's municipal court.

According to an interview conducted by journalist François-David Rouleau of the Journal de Montréal, legal experts in criminal law reviewed the case and reached a unanimous conclusion: Demidov received no special treatment from the courts. The retraction of a guilty plea is a "common and routine" procedure, according to criminal lawyer Philippe Cloutier.

The internal handling by the Canadiens, however, drew sharper criticism. Criminal lawyer Patrick Davis said someone within the organization "did not do their job" properly. He noted that the first step when dealing with a traffic ticket should be checking the defendant's driving record with the SAAQ. Had that been done, it would have been obvious that a second infraction on a probationary licence put Demidov at serious risk of losing his right to drive. Davis described the work as either sloppy or mechanical, calling it a likely "internal clerical error."

As for what comes next, Demidov is reportedly unlikely to lose his licence permanently. According to Cloutier, the judicial timeline opens the door to a legal strategy that could spare him that outcome. The file remains open, though, and will need careful attention.

The Canadiens are already dealing with an injury to their star player and find themselves managing a legal and media headache they would have much preferred to avoid.