Josh Anderson obviously came from a corner of the globe where access to sunscreen was impossible. Samuel Montembeault mocked David Savard who tried to keep fit in the hot Mexican sun. Rafaël Harvey-Pinard described the Siberian weather in Saguenay.
The atmosphere was not sad, Thursday afternoon, in the Canadian’s locker room. Returning from 10 great days off, the players had just engaged in demanding training. Easy smiles, soaked foreheads, swarthy complexions (except Harvey-Pinard): the happiness of having punched his time card at the entrance to the factory was sincere.
“Everyone arrived with a lot of energy, we’re happy to see each other again,” enthused Nick Suzuki.
With one voice, he and his teammates said that this rest period had come just in time. With the infirmary overflowing and losses piling up before the break, batteries and morale were a bit flat.
The cessation of activities was even more providential mentally than physically, confirmed head coach Martin St-Louis. We were close to hearing “thank you life”.
This feverishness is all the more precious as the next few weeks are not shaping up to be a cakewalk.
We wrote above that the infirmary was overflowing before the holiday. We can certainly adjust our verb tense and change it to the present tense.
Sean Monahan, who has been nursing a foot injury for more than two months, and Joel Edmundson, who suffered a mysterious “upper body” injury two weeks ago, skated slowly ahead of their teammates. Their healing timeline will be established over the next few days, we are told. Joel Armia, expected to recover from the All-Star Game, did not practice with the main group on Thursday. The club, however, report that unlike the other two, he trained during the break. His case is to be classified in the very popular department of “daily reassessments”.
We will not see Cole Caufield again this season. Probably not Juraj Slafkovsky and Jake Evans either, or very little. Kaiden Guhle and Brendan Gallagher should eventually resurface, but not right away.
Rare ray of sunshine: Jonathan Drouin took part in the full training of his team, on the fourth line. Since he hasn’t played since January 15, it is not yet certain that he will be in uniform on Saturday afternoon against the New York Islanders.
against the best
As if that weren’t enough, let’s add two more bad news to the list.
First, the calendar. Martin St-Louis’ men will play three-quarters of their remaining games (23 of 31) against teams currently in the playoff picture (18) or in the thick of the race to get there (5). That includes seven duels against teams in the top four overall – Boston, Carolina, New Jersey and Toronto.
Finally, there’s the infamous specter of the three-week trade deadline, Friday, March 3. This could be relatively quiet if Edmundson and Monahan, the organization’s main bargaining chips, are not able to play by then.
Regardless, the weeks leading up to that fateful day are always stressful. Those that follow, especially if the changes are numerous, can be (very) painful. Last season, for example, the CH had a record of 5-13-2 after this deadline.
The watchword is therefore clear. “One game at a time,” summed up Samuel Montembeault.
We face a lot of good teams by the end of the season. It’s important that we continue to improve, that we stay in the right direction.
Samuel Montembeault
The “distractions” from outside the arena will be numerous, warned Michael Matheson. “It’s important to focus on what’s happening on the ice and not think too much about the rest,” he added. Shortly before the break, his team delivered convincing performances against tough opponents like the Boston Bruins and the Toronto Maple Leafs. He prefers to keep these in mind than the much duller ones that followed.
“Our mentality must not change, insisted Nick Suzuki. We must continue to grow. We still have a lot of injuries and the trade deadline can be heavy for some players. The best we can do is come to work and try not to worry. »
Martin St-Louis, on the other hand, opened his game a little bit on his plans. For once, he seems to open the door to a fairer distribution of tasks in net. “We’re going to let the performances speak to us,” he said of this.
After having somehow tried to adjust the game in the defensive zone, we will try to restore love to the attack, he also noted.
Moreover, we “continue to build without looking too far”. All eyes are on the coming weekend, with back-to-back duels against the in-form Islanders and Connor McDavid’s Edmonton Oilers.
“We will control what we can control”, also declared the driver. The cliché is as big as the Bell Center. But this is already, in itself, a major challenge.