You have to go back to 1968 to find the last time a team had back-to-back winners of the Calder Trophy. That’s when Boston Bruins centre Derek Sanderson took the honour, a year after defenceman Bobby Orr was the rookie of the year. Article content

The Canadiens are in a position to match that achievement. They have two strong candidates to follow Lane Hutson. Article content Article content

Ivan Demidov, the ultra-talented Russian, was the rookie of the year in the KHL last season and was touted as a Calder favourite before the first puck was dropped this season. He has lived up to the hype, taking the early lead in the rookie scoring race.

But he might find himself with competition from Jakub Dobes, who is at least temporarily the Canadiens’ No. 1 goaltender.

Samuel Montembeaul

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