Le Canadien in Mont-Tremblant | Echoes of the mountains

News and observations gleaned from the Habs training camp

(Mont-Tremblant) If Lane Hutson seems to be the darling of the moment at the Bell Centre, Cole Caufield is still popular with young audiences outside the metropolis.

While the Canadiens players spend part of the week in Mont-Tremblant to collectively recharge their batteries in the land of fall colors and $12 lattes, the first of two public training sessions took place Thursday morning. Like last year, the arena was filled, mainly with young fans who, accompanied by their teachers, missed an hour of class to come and encourage their favorites.

“Me too, when I was at school, I would have liked to go on outings like that! “, exclaimed Patrik Laine about them.

Half an hour before official training began, around ten players took the ice for specific exercises. At one end of the rink, the goaltenders; on the other hand, the club’s young stars.

Although Hutson put puck after puck into the upper part of the net, the crowd was all for Caufield, whose name they chanted with energy.

We also heard a few “Mailloux!” Mailloux! », for Logan of the same name, but these mentions were quickly buried by the “Caufield!” Caufield! “.

“It’s cool to see them having fun like that! launched number 13. It’s a pleasure for me to be here. »

Saku at the Stadium

As is customary, the few players made available to speak to journalists told anecdotes about the time when they themselves had the chance to meet their idols. Born in Saint-Hyacinthe, David Savard said he met Martin Brodeur, former star of the local Laser. Alex Barré-Boulet, for his part, met Sheldon Souray and Saku Koivu, at a time when his room was wallpapered with posters of the Canadian. However, the meeting did not take place at the Bell Center, but at the Olympic Stadium. “At an Expos game in 2002,” he said. I was 5 years old. » And had the Expos won? “They lost 5-1 to the Boston Red Sox,” he replied straight away. We understand that the moment was significant.

Critical week

Speaking of Barré-Boulet, we would understand him not to love the start of October. Over the past three years, while playing in the Tampa Bay Lightning organization, he was one of the last players cut from training camp, each time between October 3 and 10. Especially since Patrik Laine’s injury, his chances of starting the campaign in Montreal seem good, but don’t count on him to get carried away too quickly. “I am as close as I am far [du but]he said. I still have work to do. I’m going to continue doing what I’m doing and not worry about it. » With three points, including a goal, Barré-Boulet shares the lead in CH points in preseason matches with Oliver Kapanen.

Xhekaj silent

All of the Habs’ healthy players were at practice Thursday, including Kaiden Guhle, who is slowly but surely recovering from the removal of his appendix he underwent a few days ago. It is not yet known whether he will be able to play in his club’s final preseason match on Saturday, but he participated in all the usual drills with his teammates.

Arber Xhekaj was also there, but for the fourth day in a row, he was not made available to speak to journalists. The defender was sent off from the last two games after receiving major penalties. Tuesday evening, after the game against the Ottawa Senators, the communications department indicated that the player had not yet lost his temper following his ejection due to an illegal hit against Tim Stützle; Since then, we have instead invoked an “internal decision”, of which we do not know whether it comes from communications or senior management.

Xhekaj is not having a great training camp, but it would still be surprising if he suffered the cut in the coming days.