Tavares fires back at Habs' fans!

A new rivalry is born.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 5 years ago
Tavares fires back at Habs' fans!
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The Toronto Maple Leafs are making sure they have all the elements in place to come out on top of the Montreal Canadiens in their preseason tonight at the Bell Centre. On Monday night, Xavier Ouellet and Artturi Lehkonen each scored twice as the Canadiens defeated the Leafs 5-1, Toronto's first loss of the preseason. 

While head coach Mike Babcock did not use any of his top offensive weapons during Monday's loss, they'll all be in uniform in Montreal, including John Tavares, Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, Nazem Kadri and Patrick Marleau. Frederik Andersen and Calvin Pickard will be the goaltenders on the trip.

This will be quite the test for the Habs, and their young rookie and most recent first round pick Jesperi Kotkaniemi who will be in the lineup tonight to face the talented Leafs brass, his fifth outing of the preseason.

When asked by TSN if he felt worried about the reception he could receive at the Bell Centre tonight after not including the Habs on his list of summer suitors, Tavares had a brutal liner for the Montreal fan base:

"I play for the Leafs - I'm sure they're not going to like me, regardless..."


This is the perfect answer following the controversy Tavares created after Monday's game when a Montreal reporter asked Tavares why he didn’t make the Habs one of the six teams he sat down with before deciding to leave the New York Islanders for a $77-million contract with his hometown Maple Leafs.

“I can only play for one team. I’m not here to make everyone happy,” Tavares said. “I had to do what’s best for me, and I felt this situation was the perfect fit for me and the right timing in my career.”

Tavares would sure have been the perfect answer for the Canadiens' lack of a talented centre on their roster. While Habs general manager Marc Bergevin traded Alex Galchenyuk this summer, he did not acquire a centreman in return to help his team fill this important void. 

No wonder Tavares had no desire to join Montreal. However, Canadiens fans will surely react to all of his brilliant answers of the past couple of days. 

Source: TSN