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Hunter Shinkaruk grew up in Calgary, but as a Canadiens fan.

The reason: His family lived on Montreal Ave.

So Shinkaruk was thrilled when the Canadiens acquired him this summer from the Calgary Flames in exchange for Kerby Rychel.

“I have a bunch of (Canadiens) jerseys at my house and my first bedsheets were were Montreal,” Shinkaruk said after practice Monday morning in Brossard. “So it’s definitely pretty cool … it’s a cool opportunity.”

Shinkaruk, who can play centre and left wing, got the opportunity to wear a Canadiens jersey with his name and No. 45 on the back for the first time Monday night at the Bell Centre in a pre-season game against the New Jersey Devils. Playing left wing on a line with Tomas Plekanec at centre and Charles Hudon on the right, Shinkaruk was held off the scoresheet. Shinkaruk was robbed by Devils goalie Eddie Lack with six minutes left in the first period after a beautiful pass from Plekanec in the slot and finished the game with 12:30 of ice time, two shots and a team-high five hits.