On Sunday, the Montreal Canadiens players had a day off. Still, instead of spending their sunny Sunday afternoon at home with their significant others, two players drove all the way down to Mascouche for a public signing session at Memorable Authentic: Ivan Demidov and Lane Hutson. Many professional athletes prefer to take part in private signing sessions with memorabilia companies, collect their fee, and be done with it. Still, the youngsters agreed to do this for the fans.
While both athletes have an exclusivity deal with AJ Sports, the company wanted to make sure the fans could meet their heroes and agreed to hold a signing session with Memorable Authentic. Tickets to the signing sessions were sold out in a matter of minutes, and the fans lucky (and quick) enough to grab a ticket all got to meet the most exciting young players to wear the Sainte-Flanelle since Guy Lafleur.
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The session was a resounding success, and its popularity was a true testament to how loved the pair of youngsters is by the Canadiens’ fans. It may be just as much as the pair loves playing hockey, but it’s not easy to get them off the ice, and the team sometimes has to force them to take some time off.
Last week, we reported that Samuel Montembeault took time to appear on a radio show on his day off, and this is yet another example of how the players are willing to go the extra mile for fans, a state of affairs that will no doubt get them even more fans in the years to come.
Last week, the Canadiens announced they had agreed to an eight-year contract with Hutson, and there’s no doubt that as soon as Demidov is eligible to sign a contract extension, they will do the same with him. If they sign him before the new CBA comes into force on September 15, 2026, they’ll be able to lock him up for eight years as well.
Both youngsters have four points in six games so far this season, and the blueliner has performed much better since putting pen to paper with the team. In Saturday night’s game, Demidov once again dished out a superb pass, which led to a power-play goal by Nick Suzuki, and there seems to be little doubt that he’ll be in the thick of the rookie of the year race this season.
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