#24

Mathieu joined his new Canadiens teammates (and one old Habs teammate, Patrice Brisebois) for practice in Montreal today before flying with the team to Washington, DC for Wednesday's game. He was also available to the media for questions, where he talked about coming to a team in turmoil (with Alex Kovalev being sent home for, well, sucking), being the go-to power play guy, and being older and more experienced (and hopefully wiser) than the last time he played for Les Habitants. He also confirmed that he will be wearing #24, the number his good buddy Chris Chelios wore for the Canadiens when Mathieu first join the team as a rookie.

"I called (Chelios) this morning and told him I was taking his number. He said 'you stole my job 15 years ago, you might as well take my number too. ' "

I wondered if he told Lyle Odelein, who wore #24 last time Mathieu was in Montreal. That was answered in the full audio available from the Montreal Gazette.