from Dave Stubbs of the Montreal Gazette,

“Did I have any idea I’d be traded? No, no. I had no clue. I know on July 1 there’s a lot of action and I’m going into the last year of my contract. But after the playoffs I had (a postseason career-high goal and three assists in 12 games, and some industrial-strength work), I didn’t think there was any way they’d trade me.

“A few of the boys texted me,” Prust said of his now former Canadiens teammates. “Their reaction was quite the same for everybody – they were in shock. ‘What the hell?’ that was basically the reaction.”

There was more pragmatic feedback coming from Prust’s parents, Kevin and Theresa.

“Their first reaction was, ‘Oh man, now we have to stay up late to watch all your games,’ ” he said with a laugh. “They don’t miss a second of a game. People were telling them, ‘PVR it and watch it the next day,’ and they’re saying, ‘Yeah, right, like we’re going to do that.’ ”

Some observers were suggesting that Prust was on thin ice with the Canadiens the minute he ran afoul of referee Brad Watson in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinal vs. Tampa Bay.

He was thrown out of the match, then fined $5,000 for having alleged in post-game comments that Watson had insulted and sworn at him, remarks for which he later apologized.

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