- Chris Kreider met the Montreal media Monday at the Canadiens’ annual golf tournament in Laval
- The winger called hockey in Montreal a religion and addressed the 2014 collision that took out Carey Price
- Read below for his full comments, the Martin St. Louis connection and video from the availability
Chris Kreider has heard the Bell Centre boo him for more than a decade. On Monday he walked into the Canadiens’ annual golf tournament in Laval with a CH stitched on his chest.
Asked what it means to play in Montreal, Kreider answered before he even reached the podium. “Pretty amazing, pretty iconic logo,” he said. “It’s not just a sport here. It’s a religion.”
The booing has a start date. Kreider crashed into Carey Price in Game 1 of the 2014 Eastern Conference Final, Price missed the rest of the playoffs with a lower-body injury, and the Rangers won the series in five on their way to the Stanley Cup Final.
He was asked Monday whether that history gave either side any pause during the negotiation.
“It was not intentional in any way,” Kreider said, per Sean Farrell of NHL.com. “I was just a young kid and a pretty bad skater at the time trying to score a goal and things happen. So it’s hockey. It’s fast but we move on and I’m happy to be here.”
A reporter followed up and asked if he had ever spoken to Price about the play. Kreider walked straight into the best line of the day.
“No, I’ve never bumped into him,” he said, before catching himself and laughing.
Here’s video of the full Kreider availability from Laval:
Martin St. Louis pushed this one along more than anyone. The two were linemates in New York in 2014-15, and St. Louis, who signed his own extension Monday, laid out what Kreider fills in for Montreal.
“We need probably a little more experience; he checks that box. We need a little more sandpaper, checks that box. Net-front guy, checks that box,” St. Louis told reporters.
Jeff Gorton says the phone rang from the other direction. The Canadiens president of hockey operations told reporters Monday that Kreider called Montreal first, not the other way around.
“Once he called us and said he wanted to come to Montreal, that he liked our group, we were really excited,” Gorton said.
Catch video of the rest of Monday’s podium sessions, with Gorton at 16:32 and St. Louis at 40:38:
Anaheim terminated Kreider’s $6.5 million contract last week in a cap crunch, which dropped a 22-goal scorer onto the open market days before camp. Montreal moved fast and got him on a one-year deal loaded with bonuses.
Kreider could make his preseason debut in a Canadiens sweater Sept. 19, when Montreal splits its squad against Toronto. Habs fans get their first look at him on their side of the glass.
