Welcome back, Victor!

BROSSARD - Fresh off their bye week break, the Canadiens welcomed Victor Mete back into the fold with open arms on Friday afternoon at the Bell Sports Complex.

One month had passed since the 19-year-old skated alongside his teammates after being loaned to Team Canada for the World Junior Hockey Championship back on December 11.
After claiming a gold medal in Buffalo, Mete headed back home to Woodbridge, ON for some well-deserved rest before meeting back up with the rest of the group on the South Shore.
Needless, to say, Mete was all smiles in his return to the big club.
"It's been a long time coming, so it's good to be back," said Mete, who played seven games for Dominique Ducharme's squad in Western New York, amassing three assists during the annual tournament. "Obviously, after getting sent down, my only goal was to win a gold medal there, and that happened. After that, I wanted to come back, so I'm happy."

And, the rest of the Habs were clearly happy for him. They even had the young blueliner lead the customary stretch to wrap up Friday's on-ice session, and gave him a rousing stick tap applause, too.
"Everyone congratulated me," said Mete, on his reception at the Canadiens' practice facility. "It feels good."
Now, it's up to Mete to try to pick up right where he left off with the Habs before his departure, and prove to general manager Marc Bergevin that the NHL is where he belongs for the long haul.
Last Sunday night, during his mid-season evaluation, Bergevin indicated that Mete would 'probably' remain with the Canadiens for the remainder of the season.
"It's good that he said that for me, I guess. I've just got to keep playing the way I am. He said 'probably,' so hopefully I can make it 'permanently,'" mentioned Mete, who has four assists and a plus-5 differential in 27 games on the year for Montreal, while averaging 14:52 of ice time per outing. "I'm ready for whatever they want me to do. If they want me to play bigger minutes like I did at the beginning of the season, or even kind of like 10-12 minutes, I'm ready. I'm happy to be here and I want to be here. Wherever they use me, I'll be grateful."

It remains to be seen what Mete's ice time will be going forward, but head coach Claude Julien plans on giving him every opportunity to showcase his skills.
"If we kept him here, we're definitely expecting to play him. We haven't looked beyond that," said Julien. "If things are going well for him, you have to give him ice time. We don't want to play him just a few minutes per game. That's not how he's going to improve. If we're hoping to keep him here, he has to play. I don't know how many minutes that's going to be. We'll see that over time. But, the goal is to give him the best chance possible to develop, balancing that with the fact that we have to win games."
Meanwhile, Friday also marked the return of right-winger Ales Hemsky to practice. The 34-year-old has been sidelined indefinitely with a concussion since late October. He sported a grey "no contact" jersey for the duration of the skate.