Habs players rib Alex Burrows about his Canucks Ring of Honour image
Do you ever feel like somebody’s watching you? Montreal Canadiens players sure did at Wednesday’s practice, ahead of tonight’s game against the Vancouver Canucks.
That’s because high above the ice at Rogers Arena is a giant image of their assistant coach, Alex Burrows.
Alex Burrows in the Canucks Ring of Honour. Fun fact: Burrows is a (no surprise) ridiculously talented ball hockey player and has played for Canada at multiple World Championships. pic.twitter.com/p3KXnAsCxm
— Jackie Spiegel (@jackiespiegel93) December 29, 2023
Players were seen poking fun at the 42-year-old former Canuck — all in good fun, of course.
âThey were for sure,” Burrows said with a smile after practice, when asked if Canadiens players were giving it to him. “Every time I stood in that corner, they were like âyouâre doing that on purpose.â They were giving it to me, I can take it. I think I got a good relationship with them and they were cracking jokes out there.â
Habs players were bugging Alex Burrows about being in the #Canucks Ring of Honour
đ„: @CanadiensMTL pic.twitter.com/sloB7eXU3T
— Rob Williams (@RobTheHockeyGuy) March 21, 2024
Burrows was inducted into the Canucks’ Ring of Honour back in 2019, following the completion of an unlikely 913-game NHL career for the undrafted winger. He played 822 of those games with the Canucks, plus another 70 in the playoffs. Burrows had a number of memorable playoff moments in Vancouver, which includes scoring arguably the biggest goal in franchise history, in overtime of Game 7 against the Chicago Blackhawks in 2011.
Now in his fourth season as an assistant coach in Montreal, Burrows, along with fellow assistants Trevor Letowski and Stephane Robidas, is currently working without head coach Martin St. Louis, who is on leave. Letowski, also a former Canucks player, is currently the interim head coach.
Burrows was promoted to assistant coach of the Canadiens from the Laval Rocket of the AHL midway through the 2020-21 season. He found quick success, as the Habs marched all the way to the Stanley Cup Final that season.
It’s been a rough three years since, with Montreal finishing out of the playoffs each season, with the fourth-worst cumulative points percentage in the NHL during that timeframe.