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Charlie Lindgren still remembers the first hockey game he played as a goalie — and it’s not a good memory.

“It’s hard to forget,” the Canadiens rookie goalie said after an optional practice Friday in Brossard. “I let in 13 goals. It’s still a career high, thankfully. I’ve had one 12-goal game, but 13 was the first game.

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“I remember my mom, especially, saying she thought I’d never do it again,” he added. “But I stuck with it.”

Lindgren, a Minnesota native, was 10 at the time. He started playing hockey at 4, but his father wouldn’t let him play goalie at first.

“It’s important to be a good skater as a goalie,” Lindgren said. “Robb Stauber was my first goalie coach. He played goalie for the L.A. Kings and I think he told my dad: ‘Have him learn how to skate and be a good skater,’ and my dad listened to him.”

Lindgren’s father, Bob, knows a bit about goaltending himself, having played the position until he was 19, including 13 games with the University of Michigan. Bob’s goaltending idol was Ken Dryden and as a result he has always been a big Canadiens fan. Bob and his wife, Jennifer, watched their son in action with the Canadiens at the Bell Centre for the first time Thursday night — a 3-0 loss to the Minnesota Wild.