‘Hey, Gally!’ will cause confusion with Habs
If you want to create some confusion in the Canadiens’ dressing room, yell out: “Hey, Gally!”
When Michel Therrien unveiled his opening-day roster Friday, the list of 23 players included two players who answer to the nickname Gally.
There’s heralded rookie Alexander (Gally) Galchenyuk and Brendan (Gally) Gallagher.
The two have been rooming together at training camp and Gallagher said he and Galchenyuk had discussed the nickname dilemma.
“I told him it was his if he wanted it,” Gallagher said.
But the 18-year-old Galchenyuk said he would bow to seniority in the matter and leave the name to the 20-yearold Gallagher.
“I think he’s Gally because he’s been here for, what, three or four training camps,” Galchenyuk said. “I think (teammate) Erik Cole said he’s going to come up with a new nickname for me.”
Cole told The Gazette’s Brenda Branswell this week that he was giving the matter some thought but hadn’t come up with anything yet. He did confirm that Yucky wasn’t under consideration.
Gallagher said he expected the two Gallys will continue to room together for the time being, but coach Michel Therrien said the team plans to monitor Gally — that would be Galchenyuk — on and off the ice.
The team is looking for a billeting arrangement similar to the one the Pittsburgh Penguins employed when as a rookie Sidney Crosby moved in with teammate and team owner Mario Lemieux.
That prompted reporters to ask captain Brian Gionta if there was room for Galchenyuk in his home.
“I think that’s something I would have to run past my wife,” Gionta replied. “It would be nice to have a builtin babysitter, but I don’t know whether he would enjoy being in a house with three kids. It gets pretty hectic.”
Galchenyuk will be wearing No. 27 and, for many fans, that will conjure up memories of — and comparisons to — Alex Kovalev. Older fans and those with a sense of history will recall that the number was once worn by Hall of Famer Frank Mahovlich.
Speaking of Kovalev, the 39-year-old Russian will return to the Bell Centre Tuesday as a member of the Florida Panthers. He joined the Panthers on a tryout after spending last season in the Kontinental Hockey League and on Friday signed for a base salary of $1 million. There are bonus clauses based on the number of games Kovalev plays.