Flyers 0 – Canadiens 5 | The other battle

There are uneventful training camps, and then there is the current Canadiens camp.

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Kirby Dach’s return is possibly the most anticipated since the resurrection. Patrik Laine’s every move is noted as if he were a lab mouse.

The young defenders, led by Lane Hutson, are being meticulously monitored. Juraj Slafkovsky is pumped up. Josh Anderson too, apparently. The excitement is palpable.

In the shadow of this excitement, a beautiful battle is being played out. The less sexy one for the positions of 13^e attacker. Maybe also for the 14th^eif the coaching staff decides to keep seven defenders at the end of camp.

Coincidentally, or not at all, Emil Heineman, Alex Barré-Boulet and Oliver Kapanen, three of the main adversaries in this fight, were gathered in the same unit on Monday evening.

Of the three, Kapanen had the most spectacular outing. Last week, he arrived in the city discreetly, after skipping rookie camp. The Finn tells anyone who will listen that he wants to establish himself in the NHL this season. Following his performance against the Flyers, one wonders if he will play again in Sweden, where a contract in the SHL, the country’s main league, awaits him.

His ability to skate into space with the puck is impressive, which might seem counterintuitive for a player used to a bigger rink. “It’s a little different,” he admitted late in the night. “But I’m confident. I want to get the puck to the right place, not get rid of it and not put the team in an awkward position.”

His wishes were not just pious, since he was probably the best attacker of the CH. In the opposing zone, the puck seemed to stick to his stick, and his defensive retreats were conscientious. He also won the majority of his faceoffs (8/14).

Alongside him, Barré-Boulet and Heineman were not left out, each contributing a goal and an assist. Combative, the Quebecer also provoked two penalties from the opponent, while the Swede stood out with his physical presence (four body checks) and his precise shot.

This combination of three players in direct competition is not at all strange, assured Barré-Boulet. “It will be the guy who plays the best, who deserves it the most, who will stay,” he emphasized. We have a good competition between us, but very healthy and very positive. If I play well, it helps the others, and if they play well, it helps me.”

Assessment

Head coach Martin St-Louis did not analyze in detail the work of his three forwards. He was content to “raise [son] “Hats off” to the scouts who found the young players at the camp, starting with Kapanen, whom he “didn’t know” until very recently.

Can he seriously aspire to a position in Montreal? a reporter asked him. “We evaluate every day,” the pilot replied summarily.

One element that could make the difference in his decision may well be the lucky winner’s ability to play shorthanded. With Rafael Harvey-Pinard out, injured, a position needs to be filled shorthanded. The options, internally, are not endless. Josh Anderson spent a little over two minutes in this phase of play on Monday, as did Kapanen and Heineman.

Here again, the Finn seemed quite at ease, he who is used to playing four against five in his native country. “The ice is smaller [qu’en Europe]so you have to be quicker and more aware of what’s going on,” he acknowledged. “But if you play smart with your stick and position yourself well, you should be fine.”

It’s never too late to say that this was just the first preseason game. The players, however, are “still auditioning,” Martin St-Louis reminded us. Including those who are fighting to become the extra forward. The club’s recent history has taught us, after all, that an injury can happen so quickly. A promotion too.

The exhibition games “are opportunities to see what the players are capable of absorbing,” the coach continued. “They receive a lot of information in a short period of time, and their evaluation is continuous.”

Good start for Laine

Speaking of evaluation, Patrik Laine’s has moved to a more serious phase with this first match. For the occasion, the big forward looked rather good, especially for a player who had not taken part in a match for nine months and whose summer training started late.

With Kirby Dach and Alex Newhook at five-on-five, and still on the power play, Laine had a few scoring chances. His timing, however, still seemed rusty.

“I think it went well, except that I couldn’t get a decent shot off!” he exclaimed. “But I’m not too worried. I’ll adjust.”

The fans’ reception for him was nevertheless warm. In the first period, when he first got hold of the puck in his own zone, a standing ovation grew as he advanced into the opposing territory.

The main person concerned has heard it all. “But next time, I’d like to do something good with the puck,” he joked, referring to the play that went awry at the other end of the rink.

Martin St-Louis felt that his new protégé had played a “good match”, but that he preferred to “spend more time with him” before deciding on the continuation of his integration.

Earlier, he had stressed that he wanted Laine to be at the top of his game for the official start of the season on October 9, but he did not make that date an absolute target. He still has more than two weeks to make up his mind.

The newcomer has left a good first impression, however. That’s not bad.

In detail

Yet another baptism for Hutson

It seems like Lane Hutson’s professional career just keeps getting started. First game of the season last spring. First rookie camp a few days ago. First preseason game on Monday… This umpteenth baptism got off to a bad start for him, as he was given a high-sticking penalty on his first shift, after being beaten by Anthony Richard, who was charging toward the net. This false start turned out to be without consequence – “if I had to do it again, I’d take the penalty again,” Hutson would say afterwards – and he quickly erased it with a strong game. The defenseman was notably the most used player in his camp (21 min 19 s) and was able to show off his individual skills. Consider, for example, his ability to attract a coverer before passing the puck to an open teammate, which is admirable. The performance earned him the first star of the night and a standing ovation, followed by an interview at centre ice with Marc Denis. “It was surreal, I’d never felt like that,” he said. “I was very nervous. I don’t think I gave very good answers…”

Is Josh back?

Last season, at a time when Josh Anderson seemed to be coming back to life after a long lethargy, Martin St-Louis had claimed that his big winger was “back.” History has taught us that it was just a mirage. On Monday, Anderson completed a trio with Christian Dvorak and Joshua Roy. For a good part of the evening, we saw the forward we knew: dynamic… but not very effective. His off-target shot while he was all alone in the slot, in the first twenty, summed up his game up until that point pretty well. However, the same Anderson seemed to gain confidence over the course of the game, and even scored in the final third following a nice pass from Roy. In the moments that followed, he made his mark in his zone with a solid shoulder shot. The role he will play within the 2024-2025 Habs is not yet clear, but one thing remains: when he is in full possession of his means, he is always very visible, and for the right reasons. “When he’s in a good frame of mind, it’s very good for us,” St-Louis concluded after the game.

Pretty easy for goalies

After a year of near-nonstop goaltending melodrama, there is absolutely nothing to talk about at this training camp. That was reflected somewhat Monday, when Cayden Primeau (12) and Jakub Dobes (13) shared a rather lackluster shutout. Without taking anything away from the masked men, it is hard to ignore the weakness of the Flyers’ lineup. They nevertheless hit the post three times. And Primeau got lucky in the first period: he appeared to have “laid” a puck in his net after a capricious bounce, but the officials, following a quick review, concluded that a nebulous interference act had been committed. It’s camp for everyone, shall we say. The same Primeau redeemed himself, however, by stopping a two-on-zero attack. Martin St-Louis paid tribute to the work of his goalies, who gave nothing in eight minutes of penalty kill.