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(cet article est aussi disponible en version française: Remède pour partisans en manque de hockey: le camp des recrues)
MONTREAL, QC — Kids are back to school. The summer heat and humidity have all but disappeared. The countdowns until the season opener have gone from depressingly big digits, to number of sleeps.
October 7 is still a few weeks away, but with the start of the Canadiens Rookie Camp, a domino was tipped today. Habs fans everywhere, as if triggered by synchronicity, seemed to sense that they were moving together with their team down the same path toward opening night against the Leafs.
It was such an important day that the boss made the long commute for a rare chat with the media. GM Pierre Gauthier spoke for 47 minutes and revealed very little that we didn’t know already.
“There will be a captain before the season starts,” said Gauthier. “There has been a process developing an identity for the club last season and the further we advanced (in the playoffs), the more people stepped in – it wasn’t just a select group of players. We’re going to get the end of the process before the start of the first (regular season) game.”
Gauthier noted that it was a priority to keep the core of the team together while making minor changes for the upcoming season.
“We felt stability was going to be important,” emphasized Gauthier. “It takes time to build who you are and what the formula is that you’re going to use to win hockey games. We came a long way last year and we wanted to continue this year in the same way.”
The GM touched on the recovery of Andrei Markov, and expressed confidence in Carey Price, the goalie that the organization trusted “to go forward with, [for the] middle and long-term.” Gauthier said that Price’s success will depend, in part, on the contributions of his teammates.
While the Canadiens were relatively quiet in terms of player acquisitions, it was quite the opposite with respect to off-ice personnel.
“We also had a restructuring within our organization this summer and we made a few changes at different levels,” said Gauthier.
A new coaching tandem in Hamilton, a major overall of the scouting department, and the additions of an assistant general manager and a director of hockey operations kept Gauthier occupied all summer.
While acknowledging that the year starts anew for all teams, the GM seemed to believe that there would be a carry-over effect from last season’s playoff success.
“There’s a feeling of optimism and enthusiasm around the team,” said Gauthier. “It’s an interesting group, an emotional group — a lot of people who really care about the team.”
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Stability, team chemistry and a GM who is happy with his personnel are all positives for 23 players under contract and slated to play with the big club. However, it makes the work of 31 rookies assembled at Brossard this week a much tougher task.
The group was put through their paces Monday afternoon for one hour directed by Canadiens assistant coach Kirk Muller. It was a basic set of drills including breakouts, dump-ins and cycling behind the net.
The practise was a tame affair with little contact but that didn’t stop Aaron Palushaj and P.K. Subban from getting into a tussle. It was over quickly after raised voices and some moderate shoving.
Missing from the ice was Lars Eller who, according to Renaud Lavoie, has an abdominal muscle strain. Prospects not at camp for medical reasons include Joonas Nattinen (achilles), John Westin (arm fracture) and Mark MacMillan (wrist fracture).
Following one hour of drills, fans were treated to an inter-squad scrimmage for two 25-minute periods. Team Red led by Alexander Avtsin with a goal and an assist defeated Team White 2-to-1. Avtsin set up a one-timer by Ben Maxwell for the opening goal of the game. He then scored his own on a slick move faking a pass and sliding the puck through the legs of goaltender Peter Delmas.
Without the benefit of a replay, I’ll give the Team White goal to Brendan Gallagher with a few sticks competing to chip a loose puck into the net.
Robert Mayer was solid in goal making several good saves. A third goalie, Nick Champion rotated in for both Delmas and Mayer.
It was a quick-paced game but as you might expect, the play was sloppy and individualistic.
There were several major body checks delivered with the best coming from Jared Tinordi flattening Dany Masse, Andrew Conboy on Masse again and Subban upending Hunter Bishop.
Subban got into another scuffle, this time with Gabriel Dumont. A few gloved punches landed on both sides.
The rookies will be back on the Brossard ice on Tuesday. Before you head to the rink, be sure to pick up a copy of the schedule and roster.
(Photo: RDS)
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