2024 Summer Games: Habs edition

MONTREAL – On your marks, get set, go! The opening ceremony for the 2024 Summer Games is set for Friday in Paris. To get into the competitive spirit, we asked the Canadiens which disciplines their teammates would be most likely to specialize in.

Breakdancing will make its long-awaited debut at this year’s Games, and one player in particular was the overwhelming favorite for his potential at dance-battling.

“Cole [Caufield]. I hate to give it to him, but I will,” said Alex Newhook about the Habs winger. Cayden Primeau agreed, adding, “I don’t know if he’d be good, but he has so much energy.”

Christian Dvorak, Juraj Slafkovsky and Jordan Harris also nominated Caufield, although it's always been clear that No. 22 has some smooth moves.

Two other summer sports have been added to the programme for 2024: skateboarding and rock climbing. Primeau suggested Matheson would excel at the latter, describing the defenseman as a “spider monkey.” Brendan Gallagher agreed, explaining that “he has lanky arms—looks like a rock climber.”

As for more traditional sports, some players saw themselves on the podium. First among those was Gallagher, saying, “I would win, everyone else would lose,” when asked about the 100-meter dash.

Michael Pezzetta was on the same wavelength when it came to weightlifting. “I have to pick myself here,” said a confident Italian King, while specifying that Arber Xhekaj would still likely give him a run for his money.

The surprise of the day came from Harris who, pound for pound, is convinced he’s stronger than Pezzetta. “I will die on that hill,” laughed the 5-foot-11, 189 lb rearguard. A friendly competition may need to be organized at the start of training camp to crown a champion once and for all.

When it comes to boxing, Xhekaj’s name was, unsurprisingly, the leading candidate. He has nothing to prove in that department, after all.

Overall, honorable mentions go out to Matheson and Pezzetta, who were the preferred choices of their teammates in several of the aforementioned sports. Perhaps there are some two-sport athletes in the fold...

Here’s the full list of player picks:

And to all the actual summer athletes competing in Paris: Go Canada Go!