Habs News: NHL, Montreal Canadiens, Jonathan Drouin, Jake Allen, Laval Rocket, Martin St. Louis
ROCKET SPORTS MEDIA | LAVAL, QC. — On Saturday, Jonathan Drouin participated in a celebrity ball-hockey game as part of the festivities to mark the start of the National Bank Open tennis tournament in Montreal. Drouin was teamed up with other professional hockey players including Jonathan Huberdeau and Marc-Edouard Vlasic.
A wrist injury forced Drouin to miss significant amount of time last season. The forward dressed for 34 of the team’s 82 games. After the celebrity ball-hockey game, Drouin said that he’s ready for the start of the season.
“I started skating again, I started playing hockey again. It feels good to play hockey for real, not just skating left and right for 2 to 3 months. The rehabilitation has been great. Unfortunately, it happened to my other wrist, so I kinda knew what to expect.”
Drouin only took part in two games since Martin St. Louis was named interim coach. “It’s playing with Martin that excites me the most going into the season. I hardly played with Martin. Everyone talks about the big change we had with the coach, but I think I played a game and a half under Martin St. Louis! I can’t wait for practices and games to resume to get into all of this.”
Drouin is entering the final year of his contract. Last season, he scored six goals, and 20 points in 34 games, while averaging 17:06 of ice time.
Allen Excited for Season
With Carey Price missing the vast majority of the 2021-’22 season, Jake Allen was expected to have a heavy workload. Injuries limited Allen to start 35 games, which forced Samuel Montembeault to play a career-high 38 matches.
Allen spends the offseason in his hometown Fredericton, New Brunswick, and works with University of New Brunswick (UNB) goalie coach Kyle MacDonald. “Overall, I’m feeling good on the ice. I’ve been on the ice probably 20 times so far, so I feel like I’ve skated a lot. When I had the groin injury at the end of the year, I wanted to get my feet back on the ice early, and now I’m ready to rock,” the goalie told the Canadiens website during a recent interview.
Allen will return to Montreal before the end of the month and is looking forward to see his teammates. “There’s also a lot of excitement that we’re bringing a lot of youth in, a lot of new faces, a lot of skill. There’s just a lot of optimism around the group. I’m excited to see where it goes.”
The 32-year-old veteran is on the final year of his contract and sees himself as a mentor for the younger players. “I’m really looking forward to watching these kids grow. I’m one of the older guys on the team now, so I really want to help guide these kids and get them to be the best they can be.”
The Canadiens netminder is looking forward to meet first overall draft pick Juraj Slafkovsky. “He looks like a very happy-go-lucky kid. That’s great to have within our locker room. I’m looking forward to getting on the ice with him, and I’m sure he’s going to blow a few pucks by me the first couple of times.”
Rocket Additions
There was several off-ice changes for the Laval Rocket in the last week. Firstly, Daniel Harvey was promoted as video coach of the Montreal Canadiens. Harvey held the same role with the Rocket last season. Prior to joining the organization, Harvey was an assistant coach with the Concordia Stingers for two seasons. Laval has not announced if the role will be filled for the upcoming season.
Secondly, Jean Huynh was appointed assistant equipment manager on Friday. Last season, Huynh was the equipment manager for the Trois-Rivieres Lions, and was the recipient of the ECHL’s Equipment Manager of the Year Award. Previously, Huynh spent four seasons in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) with the Sherbrooke Phoenix and Acadie-Bathurst Titan.
Thirdly, the Rocket announced the addition of Anastasio Abbandonato as locker room attendant. Anastasio is the older brother of Laval’s forward Peter Abbandonato. He joins the Rocket, after spending one season as the QMJHL’s Rouyn-Noranda Huskies equipment manager.
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By Chris G., Senior Writer
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