from Jack Todd at the Montreal Gazette,

With Max Domi, Jordan Weal and Tomas Tatar joining Byron, Andrew Shaw and the peerless Brendan Gallagher, the Canadiens have a distinct identity not unlike the Flying Frenchmen decades ago, when players like Bobby Rousseau, Yvan Cournoyer and Henri Richard were lighting up the league. It’s fun to watch and (when they’re on their game) also effective.

On and off the ice, Byron represents all that is good about the game. To see him pick the pocket of an opposing defenceman on the penalty kill and turn it into overdrive to score a shorthanded goal is the epitome of excitement. To watch him battle against much larger, heavier defencemen around the net is to see what courage can accomplish whatever your size.

Add that Byron off the ice is classy, soft-spoken, articulate and bilingual and you have a player who honours the uniform and the league.

A league, sadly, that refuses to protect him. When Byron was over the line with a hit on Florida’s MacKenzie Weegar several weeks ago, the Department of Player Safety treated Byron like a combination of Tom Wilson and Radko Gudas. Byron was suspended for three games, which was frankly absurd. And he apologized for the hit.

continued