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The Canadiens planned a sombre curtain-raiser for Thursday’s game against the Detroit Red Wings, to come moments before the drop of the puck on the Habs’ final regular-season home match of the season.

On the scoreboard before the game, the Canadiens would salute their late Hall of Famer Elmer Lach, a three-time Stanley Cup winner who died last Saturday at age 97, and rugged defenceman Dollard St. Laurent, a four-time Cup winner in Montreal who passed away on Monday at age 85.

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No one does history better than the Canadiens, in part because theirs is so rich; no one does these farewells more elegantly, in part because the Habs sadly have too much experience recognizing their lost heroes.

But on Thursday night, the Canadiens’ hands were tied by the NHL, with the league telling the team that it had a maximum of two minutes for a pregame remembrance of two deceased stars.

The Canadiens explained Friday that NHL policy dictates no ceremony of tribute can be staged by a team after March 1. The league apparently made an exception in this case, but limited the tribute to two minutes, probably in part because of the importance of the game to the playoff-hunting Red Wings. And I’m guessing, as I consider how the NHL jumps through the hoops TV puts before it, to satisfy production schedules.