Report: Habs unlikely to play home games until February at the earliest

The Montreal Canadiens have yet to play a game at The Bell Centre in downtown Montreal in 2022 and will likely have to wait until February at the earliest, according to multiple online reports.

The Habs have had their home games postponed by the NHL citing revenue concerns over the fact that the province of Quebec has limited arena capacity in an effort to stop the spread of COVID-19. Ditto for other Canadian teams like the Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators, Winnipeg Jets and Vancouver Canucks.

With four home games in January already postponed, yesterday the NHL officially postponed the Habs' January 15th home game agains the New Jersey Devils. The team is then scheduled to hit the road in the United States before returning home for a game against the visiting Anaheim Ducks on January 27th, but most experts believe that that game will in fact be postponed, as well. Ditto for its scheduled games on January 29th and 30th. That means that the earliest this team will play a home game will be in the month of February. That's... that's quite a road trip for a team that has struggled to find their footing this season.

Suffice it to say that the months of February and March are going to be an absolute grind for the Habs and likely for the other Canadian teams who have had games postponed, as well. There's only so many days on the calendar and with the NHL needing to fit in all their postponements before the Stanley Cup Playoffs begin in April, it's going to be tough to make all the logistics come together. Honestly though... the Habs' season is over. They're not sniffing the playoffs and they know it. The Leafs, Jets and Canucks though... they're all in a position to take a run at things. It'll be interesting to see how their seasons play out.