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Kovalev and Lindros to play in Montreal alumni game

Alex Kovalev #27 of the Montreal Canadiens skates against the Toronto Maple Leafs during their NHL game at the Air Canada Centre March 29, 2008 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (March 29, 2008 - Source: None/Getty Images North America)

A pair of dubious figures in Montreal as well as Quebec hockey will be on the ice once again in “La belle province.”

Former Canadiens captain and recent retiree Alex Kovalev and former Quebec Nordiques No. 1 draft pick Eric Lindros will both be participating in an alumni all-star game at Bell Centre tomorrow, as The Montreal Gazette reports. Is it bad form to boo players in an alumni game? That could happen.

Kovalev, who retired from the NHL this week, didn’t leave Montreal under the greatest of circumstances and wound up being a focus of bad feelings and boos when he returned as a visiting Ottawa Senators forward.

Lindros, meanwhile, was persona non grata in Quebec thanks to his famous spurning of the Nordiques after the team drafted him first overall in 1991 only to demand a trade saying he’d never play for the then sorry Quebec franchise. Once the Nordiques moved to Denver, the bad feelings moved on to Montreal where he received similar bad feelings from Habs fans.

It might be worth it to actually get a ticket to this game just to see how warmly (or not) both guys are received by the fans.