The mission of most American League teams is clear: prepare young players for a leap into the NHL. This does not prevent veterans from having great careers there. But basically, that’s not bad.
Posted yesterday at 5:11 p.m.
But what about the playoffs? It’s suddenly less clear. Especially when a team hits the playoffs for the first time in its young history.
The Laval Rocket finds itself in this exact situation. In his fifth season on Jesus Island, he will begin his very first series against the Syracuse Crunch on Friday.
However, a new player has appeared in the entourage of the team in recent days. Defender Mattias Norlinder, after concluding his season with Frölunda HC in Sweden, joined the Rocket.
He is not unknown, since this third round choice of the Canadian in 2019 played six games with the Habs and six others in Laval at the start of the campaign. He nevertheless spent the winter in Europe. Let’s talk about a comeback, who has also struggled in his country of origin by collecting only 2 assists in 21 games, a misery for a player renowned for his offensive contribution.
At practice Wednesday morning, his second with the Rocket and the last for the team before leaving for Syracuse, Norlinder was skating as part of a backup duo, suggesting he could be left out on Friday. .
In front of him, six veterans. Xavier Ouellet (28), Louie Belpedio (25), Sami Niku (25), Torry Dello (25), Tobie Bisson (25) and Corey Schueneman (26). Dello and Bisson have American League contracts; of the four others, all linked to the Canadiens, we can say that only Schueneman has a real future in Montreal.
PHOTO BERNARD BRAULT, PRESS ARCHIVES
Xavier Ouellet
Might as well say that we are not currently forging the future of the tricolor defense. From a pure development perspective, logic would suggest that we make room for Norlinder, 22 years old.
However, the decision will be more nuanced, confirms Jean-François Houle, head coach of the Rocket.
“We had 72 games to develop,” he explains. There, it became very important to win. If it happens that we can develop at the same time, so much the better. »
No decision has yet been made on the use that will be made of Norlinder, considered “an important asset for the organization”. Because the team “also has 30 other players to manage, and it is important to take care of them”.
The same policy will apply to the choice of goalkeeper. It is not yet known which of Cayden Primeau or Kevin Poulin will get the net for the first duel against the Crunch.
” [En défense]if Mattias can help us, maybe we’ll put him in training,” said Houle.
“We won as a team this year, we would like to win as a team in the playoffs. »
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, PRESS ARCHIVES
Laval Rocket head coach Jean-François Houle
Adaptation
The thing is, Norlinder is still adapting to North American hockey. He was entitled to a short period of acclimatization in September and October, first at the development camp of the Canadiens, then at the start of the season in the NHL and in the American League. But one cannot say, in the light of a limited sample, that he has had full time to tame the small ice rinks on this side of the Atlantic, an obvious obstacle for European defenders.
The young man certainly explained on Tuesday how much he had improved his work in defensive territory during the season. But unless there is a total transformation, he will have difficulty imposing himself immediately, let alone in the playoffs, in a league known for not making a gift to anyone.
It is precisely the fact that the defensive brigade is experienced and grounded that makes Tobie Bisson believe that the Rocket can go a long way in its quest for the Calder Cup.
It’s going to be physical, we’re going to be damaged, but we know how to deal with that. Even the younger guys, like Dello and me, we have more experience than a lot of guys from other teams.
Tobie Bisson
According to him, the “constancy” of the defense was his strength. This does not however represent an obstacle to the integration of Norlinder. Even that his arrival could give “a little kick in the ass” to everyone, knowing that “there is a chance [qu’un joueur] get knocked out of training, ”added the Quebecer with a laugh.
Xavier Ouellet agreed.
“We are only preparing to win games, and he is one more man to help us,” summed up the Rocket captain. According to him, Norlinder arrived in Laval “with a very good attitude”, smiling, resolutely happy with the chance offered to him to extend his season – Frölunda was eliminated in the semi-finals of the Swedish championship.
Wisely, striker Rafaël Harvey-Pinard for his part recalled that “there is never too much depth in the playoffs”, a time of year when “so many things can happen”.
Circumstances mean that Harvey-Pinard and Jesse Ylönen are the only two hopefuls of the Canadian assured of being in uniform Friday in Syracuse. We will therefore return to the virtues of development at this point. Although it is not in Montreal that they would have tasted playoff hockey this season. An experience which, as we know, is also worth its weight in gold.