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In his one season with the Canadiens, Radulov impressed the people around him with his passion for the game.

“There are guys who have joy to play, but he has joy to compete — there’s a big difference,” said Hitchcock. “When we’re doing competitive drills like we did at the end of practice yesterday, he was really angry he didn’t get to go a third time. Most guys just want to get off the ice. That’s a hard drill for a forward, but he wants to go at it.”

Radulov’s departure from the Canadiens was one of the major disappointments of the off-season.

“I loved it in Montreal and I wanted to stay,” Radulov said after the morning skate prior to Tuesday’s game against the Canadiens.

“We were negotiating for a month and a half and we tried to get it done before the free agency, but it didn’t happen,” said Radulov. “Dallas made an offer and I took it. That’s basically it. When I was talking to Montreal, I really wanted to stay and I thought we could get it done (but) you can’t always get what you want. But I’m happy here and we have a good group of guys and we have a good coaching staff.”