Hudon: Here to stay

MONTREAL - Things could've turned out much differently for Charles Hudon before the season began.

When the Canadiens unveiled their protected list ahead of the 2017 Expansion Draft last June, the Alma, QC native, who had recently signed a two-year, one-way contract extension, noticed that his name was not among the 11 players general manager Marc Bergevin chose to protect from being selected by the Golden Knights.
But after Vegas ended up plucking defenseman Alexei Emelin away from the Habs, Hudon hunkered down and got to work on his ultimate goal: starting the season with the Canadiens.
That work ultimately paid off. The day before the Habs began the regular season in Buffalo, the team announced that Hudon, along with Victor Mete and Jacob de la Rose, would be part of the 23-man opening-night roster to start the year.
Hudon firmly established himself on a line with Tomas Plekanec and Brendan Gallagher in the early parts of 2017-18, and in his 12th game of the season - the 18th of his career - he scored his first two NHL goals in an 8-3 road win against the Ottawa Senators.

While Hudon may not have opened the floodgates with that pair of tallies, he still looks back on that night and all that led up to it with pride.
"I was chomping at the bit when I got to training camp. I wanted to be a part of the Canadiens. I did everything I could to get there," explained Hudon, who recorded two more two-goal games during the campaign. "It all went well. There were highs and lows in my first season. But there were a lot of highs - making the team, being here in Montreal, scoring my first goal - all things that happened in my first year that I loved."
Head coach Claude Julien showed a lot of confidence in the young forward and had no qualms about pairing him with top-line talent such as Gallagher, Max Pacioretty, and Alex Galchenyuk. That came as a result of Hudon demonstrating some serious offensive instincts and playmaking ability.

Although he finished fourth on the team in shots (179) and reached double digits in goals with 10 - becoming the fourth Canadiens rookie to reach the mark this decade after Gallagher, PK Subban and Artturi Lehkonen - Hudon only wants his numbers to keep on growing.
"I was very satisfied with my season, but I'm picky on myself. I want more points, more goals. I want to be better. I want to show that I belong in the NHL - but more than that, I want everyone to know it," affirmed the 5-foot-10, 188-pounder, who added 20 assists to rank seventh in team scoring with 30 points. "I'm going to work all summer, even more than last year, to do that."
Hudon, who suited up for 72 games in his first full season with the big club, also confided that while he would've preferred experiencing life as a Hab in a winning season, he has no plans to avoid interacting with fans this summer.

He also hopes to spend as much quality family time at home as possible with fiancée Krystel-Fay and daughters Lyah-Hope and new arrival Hannah-Grace.
"I'm someone who faces the music. I'm not someone who's going to run and hide or find excuses. If someone wants to talk to me about it, I'll be the first one who will want to talk to them, too, about what happened, how the fans feel about it," affirmed Hudon, the Habs' fifth-round pick,122nd overall, in 2012. "That's part of life. It's our job."
Every job comes with stress in one form or another, but for a player who wasn't sure where he'd be going to the office at the start of the season, it's no wonder Hudon has no problem being approached by fans who were surely hoping for a better outcome for their beloved Habs.
"I was satisfied I made the team. All year long, for me, it was just about living the dream of a young Quebecer playing for the Montreal Canadiens," he concluded. "And I lived it to the fullest."