Habs News: Rookie Camp Begins this Week, Domi Proud Member of Canadiens, Jonathan Drouin Preparing for Season, Andrei Markov Hires an Agent
ROCKET SPORTS MEDIA | LAVAL, QC. — Happy Labour Day to our Canadian readers and Happy Labor Day to our readers from the USA. When this holiday comes around, it means that the players are just around the corner from hitting the ice for the start of training camp.
For the Canadiens, it begins on Thursday as 28 players will hit the ice at the Bell Sports Complex in Brossard for the start of rookie camp. On the weekend, the rookies will take part in the annual Rookie Tournament, which will take place at CAA Arena in Belleville. The tournament will also feature prospects from the Senators and Jets. Amy Johnson and Rick Stephens from the Rocket Sports team will be on site to cover the tournament. Make sure to follow their coverage on AHL Report’s twitter and website.
Next Monday, the Canadiens will hold their golf tournament at Club de golf Laval-sur-le-Lac. This annual event is the first opportunity of the season for the media to speak to the players, coaches, and management. Last season’s tournament was highlighted by former Canadiens captain, Max Pacioretty, getting traded to Vegas overnight, just hours before meeting with the media.
The main training camp will begin on September 12th, as the players report for medicals and physical evaluations.
Domi Proud Member of Canadiens
A year ago, I was critical of Max Domi and the organization because it seemed to me that all they were doing during the off season was trying to sell us their newest acquisition. At the time, I found it exaggerated considering that Domi hadn’t played one shift yet with the team.
Domi went on to have his best season of his young career by scoring 28 goals and adding 44 assists in 82 games. He lived up to the hype that he and the organization created during the off season.
Last week, Domi was on the Tim and Sid show on Sportsnet, promoting his new book “No Days Off”. During that interview, I heard from Domi’s words and saw from his body language that he’s proud to be a Hab.
“You look at that logo, the Richard brothers wore that, Guy Lafleur has worn that, Patrick Roy has worn that jersey, Jean Beliveau has worn that jersey. It’s the same damn jersey, hasn’t changed” said Domi during the interview. “Their history so rich and you’re like this is so cool and you feel it when you put it on.”
Later in the week, Domi played perfectly the role of the villain in the Habs versus Leafs rivalry. “I was pretty lucky as a kid to grow up around that same sort of vibe in Toronto with my dad. But Montreal is a whole other level” Domi told the media at the Biosteel camp in Toronto. “They’ve won 24 Stanley Cups. It’s all needs to be said” was his response on the difference between the two franchises.
The Habs face the Leafs at Scotia Bank Place on the first Saturday of the regular season.
Drouin Preparing For Season
On Thursday, Jonathan Drouin met the media as he hosted his annual golf tournament to raise funds for the CHUM hospital in Montreal.
“I put a little too much pressure on myself when things didn’t go well right away for 5-6 games and then carried on for 25 or 30 games” said Drouin, who put up seven points on the board in the last 26 games of the season.
Claude Julien took part of the tournament and he’s happy with the work that Drouin has put in over the summer. “Jonathan did a lot of good things over the course of summer, obviously, he’s training hard. The other part is that he’s taken some steps to try and improve his game, the watching video, him and Dominique [Ducharme] that looked at a lot of things during the course of the summer. A guy who takes charge of his career, and his situation is a good sign.”
I agree with Julien that it’s a good sign that Drouin is putting in the work to try to improve his performance. Mario Tremblay, Hab alumni and current analyst on RDS and 98.5FM, put it best on Twitter when he replied to a tweet of Drouin working out that was posted by Allan Walsh. Tremblay tweeted that Drouin needs to be better on the ice and not at the park.
C’est pas dans le parc que tu dois être bon c’est sûr la glace quand quand le club a besoin de toi lol 😂
— Mario Tremblay (@bionique14) September 1, 2019
This season, needs to be Drouin’s best season of his young career, by being consistent for the entire year. “He’s a young player that wants to improve so hopefully, that’s what’s going to happen and if he does, he’s going to make our team that much better. He has the ability to be an impact player, he’s got all the tools” added Julien. “It’s consistency day-in, day-out and that’s what he’s trying to do.”
Markov Hires An Agent
If you’re one of the thousands of people that are blocked by Allan Walsh on Twitter, you may have missed his tweet announcing that he has added Andrei Markov as a client. Markov played the last two seasons in the KHL and has been training hard throughout the summer in Florida. The 40-year old and his agent are confident that Markov is still in good condition to return to the NHL.
Even though he won’t say it publicly, you can bet that Montreal is Markov’s number one choice. His agent won’t let him say that cause that’s a bad negotiation tactic. Walsh has already mentioned that they’re willing to talk to all 31 teams.
Markov is 10 games shy of reaching the 1,000-game mark and he would love to do it in a Canadiens jersey. Walsh can arguably present a good case to the Canadiens on how his client would be useful to the team. The left defence and the power play were the Habs main weaknesses last season and Marc Bergevin wasn’t able to improve them over the summer. In fact, there was no moves made so far to help the power play. Markov is a left defenceman and had always been a force on the ice when his team has the extra attacker.
If Bergevin isn’t able to make any other moves from now until the start of the season, he may be tempted to tender a contract offer to Markov. If he does, it would be a move in desperation.
By Chris G., Senior Writer
All Habs Hockey Magazine
Copyright © 2019 Rocket Sports
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