MONTREAL — Prior to the game, in warmups, the Bell Centre was perhaps a quarter full, if that.

PWHL Montreal and PWHL Toronto were doing their twirls around the ice, as they always do, except this time they were doing it at the Bell Centre, knowing a capacity crowd of 21,105 — a new world record for a women’s hockey game — would be filing in eventually.

Except they weren’t there yet.

There were people lined around the glass for warmups holding signs supporting their favourite players, just like they are for Montreal Canadiens games, and the environment — the stage — was definitely different for these players.

But the building was still mostly empty, and still, for Marie-Philip Poulin, a living legend, this was a lot to take in.

She skated over to the bench for an interview with the arena hostess that would go live in the building, and the first question was about how she felt in this moment, in this environment, on this stage, about to play a professional hockey game in her native Quebec in front of this many people.

In front of this many of her people.

Poulin paused and had to compose herself before answering, and that pause said so much about the work she has put in to create what was about to happen at the Bell Centre, about the women who came before her who never…

Our NHL style rankings have seen a fair share of players donning hats and blazers, even full suit combos. Calgary Flames forward Blake Coleman, who’s in the midst of a career season, has taken it one step further by donning Stetson hats with his outfits. He credits a Calgary-based World of Vici store stylist for his suits.

“I just have a guy here in Calgary that wanted to play a little dress-up this year,” Coleman said.

As for the hats, Coleman got himself hooked after wearing an Open Road Stetson while attending the Academy of Country Music Awards in Dallas last summer. Owning one turned into owning multiple hats. Even Coleman’s wife, Jordan, grabbed some during the Flames’ road stop in Dallas last November. Coleman also received a Stetson as a birthday gift.

“What’s that old expression? Look good, play good, feel good,” Coleman said. “It’s fun to mix it up a little bit. I was pretty simple earlier in my career. Now that I have the luxury to go get some new stuff, I’ve enjoyed it. My wife used to poke fun at my suit game. I think she’s probably the happiest of anybody.”

Coleman now is considered a style rankings regular for The Athletic. He’s been a part of stiff competition with some of the league’s best dressers, including Auston Matthews, Adam…

ANAHEIM, Calif. — The day after the Montreal Canadiens lost 5-2 to the Boston Bruins on the road Saturday night, coach Martin St. Louis went home to Connecticut with his wife and youngest son, making up for lost time with a family he has seen far too little of this season.

When he came back to work Monday, he did so with a purpose, a singular one he believed had fallen so far off the map in Boston that he had to immediately get it back: the team’s forecheck.

Now, by forecheck, St. Louis doesn’t only mean the traditional sense of the word. Yes, it includes putting the puck behind the opposing defence and going after it, but more broadly, it refers to how the Canadiens play once they don’t have the puck all over the ice. Though Brendan Gallagher’s blowing a tire certainly did not help matters and the goal was the result of a bad bounce, the Canadiens’ forecheck was generous in terms of the time and space they gave the Bruins to operate through the neutral zone and into their zone.

Pavel on point. pic.twitter.com/yfyMY49tb1

— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) November 19, 2023

That first practice Monday was heavily focused on work. There were forechecking drills that continued on a loop, the work rate was extremely high, and practice ended with some sprints up and down the…

Before the hockey world descended on Sunrise, Fla., for NHL All-Star Weekend, players used the weeks leading up to celebrate women in sports, local high schools and apparently their deep-seated love for plaid suits. Fashion traditions were turned on their heads, while vintage looks from a decade ago were brought back to life.

Players having great seasons ahead of the season’s halfway mark reminded everyone that you can wear what you want, shamelessly, when you’re performing on the ice. Additionally, one star re-emerged with a dazzling blue suit and made a case for being the best-dressed player in the game. He had some incredible competition from two different teams who used their platforms to highlight those in their respective community.

Which athletes made a lasting impression before the All-Stars converged on the Sunshine State?

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Wow, that scarf in the first photo is taking me all the way back to middle school and early high school in the late 2000s and early 2010s. This is a serious (and funny) flashback to what was stylish during my teenage years. Of the two looks, I’ll admit that, nostalgia aside, I prefer the all-brown suit and turtleneck ensemble by the Calgary Flames…