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The Canadiens are hoping L’affaire Galchenyuk will not be a distraction when they meet the Chicago Blackhawks Thursday night at the Bell Centre (7:30 p.m., SNE, RDS, TSN Radio 690).

But Alex Galchenyuk and Devante Smith-Pelly were front and centre after practice Wednesday in Brossard as they talked about the Sunday morning domestic dispute that resulted in Galchenyuk’s girlfriend, Chanel Leszczynski, being arrested for allegedly assaulting the player.

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Galchenyuk apologized to his teammates for creating a distraction, but the 21-year-old and Smith-Pelly, 23, both insisted they didn’t do anything wrong. Galchenyuk suggested the notoriety about the incident was the price of playing in Montreal in an era when social media sets the agenda.

The two players met with general manager Marc Bergevin after practice Tuesday. They declined to share any details of the meetings — they each spent 10-15 minutes with the GM — but it’s a good bet that Bergevin cautioned them against finding themselves in situations that could lead to speculation about their extracurricular activities.