Welcome to Montreal, Mrs. Kotkaniemi!

BROSSARD - Jesperi Kotkaniemi will soon have some company in Montreal. His mother, Kati, is scheduled to arrive in the city on Tuesday.

And, she will be in attendance at the Bell Centre for Thursday night's home opener against the Los Angeles Kings, of course.
"I think that will be great. It's going to be fun to finally get my mom here. She will help me a lot every day," said the 18-year-old centerman, who is eager to welcome Kati to his brand new hockey home, nearly 6,000 km away from his family home in Pori, Finland. "This has been my dream and she's always wanted to see me do well. It's nice to finally have her here."
With Kati in town, Kotkaniemi looks forward to enjoying some home cooking. He plans on eating "a lot of pasta" during her visit.
On the ice, the third-overall pick this past summer spent some extra time working on faceoffs as Tuesday's practice at the Bell Sports Complex came to an end.
"I think faceoffs are the area that I need to most improve on, so I'm working at it every day," explained Kotkaniemi, whose faceoff percentage jumped from 14.3% against the Maple Leafs to 66.7% in the win over the Penguins. "We have older guys that can help me a lot. They're teaching me new tricks every day and I try to use those."
Kotkaniemi wasn't about to share the tricks of the trade players like Tomas Plekanec are teaching him, though.
"I can't tell you that," he said with a smile. "That's a secret."
Thumbs up for Dominique and Luke
The Canadiens newest additions behind the bench - assistant coaches Dominique Ducharme and Luke Richardson - are garnering plenty of praise early on this season.
In their short tenure with the squad, the pair has already managed to make a big impression on their players both up front and on the back end.
"Dominique is excellent for us offensively. He brings up details that we maybe didn't pay attention to in previous years, especially during games," said Phillip Danault, following Tuesday's practice on the South Shore. "When he says something, it's important for us to listen because it always makes sense. I see why he's with the Canadiens."

Jordie Benn offered up a similar assessment of Richardson, who is charged with helming the Canadiens' defense corps.
"He's great. He's got a lot of wisdom back there. He kind of just lets us do our thing and lets us play during the game," explained Benn, on the former rearguard. "If there are things that he needs to critique, or tell us what the other team is doing or their tendencies, he's definitely on top of us and letting us know. It's good."

Carey switches things up
Just as Tuesday's on-ice session began, Carey Price headed onto a neighboring rink to spend some one-on-one time with goaltending coach Stephane Waite.
As a result, he didn't participate in the bulk of the skate with the rest of the group.
"I like to do that kind of stuff. I do it in the summertime," explained Price. "Obviously, it's important to see shots from NHL players, but to do that every once in a while I think is beneficial."
The six-time All-Star was sporting some new gear when he hit the ice, going with red pads, and a matching red trapper and blocker as well.
"I decided to change up the flavor for practice," cracked Price. "I don't have any plans on playing with them yet, but who knows?"