(Laval) Minister Christian Dubé is not the only one who wanted to give his health network a boost this summer. It was also a mandate with the Canadian, after two seasons in a row in which he presented the worst medical report among the 32 teams in the National League. The subject came up numerous times at the Habs golf tournament on Monday.
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Among the CH’s summer hires, there are two resources within the so-called “athletic” staff: Jim Ramsay (director of sports medicine and performance, head sports therapist) and Maxime Gauthier (head physiotherapist). They will replace Donald Balmforth and Graham Rynbend. Ramsay arrives in Montreal after nearly 30 years with the New York Rangers and Team Canada. “There’s not much he [Jim Ramsay] hasn’t seen so far, argued Kent Hughes. He brings energy to Brossard. » The Canadiens GM spoke of the importance of establishing a “relationship” with players, a point that Cole Caufield touched on. “He’s been excellent so far,” said the small winger. He communicated a lot with everyone. I was happy to talk to him and I think the guys like him. »
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Last year, Canadiens players missed 600 games due to injury, an astronomical number. Nick Suzuki is the only one to have played all 82 games of the season. From training camp, Joel Edmundson, Mike Matheson and Joel Armia fell in combat, a prelude to what awaited the infirmary. This time, Hughes indicated that only one player has not received the green light to start training camp: Christian Dvorak, who had knee surgery in September. “He will have to undergo a medical examination and see his surgeon again,” noted Kent Hughes.
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Juraj Slafkovsky is one of those players who contributed to increasing CH’s medical toll. His knee injury, suffered on January 15 in New York, ended his season and forced him to miss the last 38 duels. The great Slovak, however, says he is back, not 100%, but “110%”. “It’s been nine months, I miss playing. I can’t wait to start again,” said the very first pick of the 2022 draft. Slafkovsky claims to have arrived lighter at camp and estimates he weighs “102, 103 kg”, whose official weight last year was 108 kg, or 17 stones for fans of the British system.
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More Cartesian, Cole Caufield declared himself “100%”, after a shoulder injury ended his season. “I’m good, I’m 100% ready,” he said. He mentioned being back at that level “about six months after the operation,” which took place in early February. He would therefore have regained full fitness at the beginning of August. By the time he fell into action, he had 26 goals in 46 games, which would have given him 46 goals in 82 games. However, he assures that he has not set a target number of goals. “I have a lot of things to improve other than scoring goals and I’m focusing on that. » He added that his main goal is to “play a full season of 82 games to always be available for the team.”
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PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, THE PRESS
Arber Xhekaj
Arber Xhekaj’s 2022-2023 season ended on February 12, after a fight with Vincent Desharnais, his ninth fight of the season, in 51 matches. An injury to his right shoulder forced him to visit the Dr Peter J. Millett, the same one who operated on Caufield. “I’m surprisingly stronger than before.” Maybe the operation helped me,” submitted the colossus defender. Xhekaj caused a stir last year by throwing down the gloves against Zack Kassian, one of the NHL’s strong men. “With what I did last year, maybe I don’t have as much to make a name for myself with robustness,” he said.
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Finally, Brendan Gallagher. The fiery right winger played 37 games last season, the result of a foot injury that he initially tried to ignore, before giving up. Above all, it was the continuation of a trend that was certainly worrying for the organization. Over the last three seasons, Gallagher has only played 128 of CH’s 220 games, or 58.2%. The man who previously scored 30 goals per season only scored 29 during these 128 duels. Remember that there are four years left on his contract, worth $6.5 million per season. “The last two seasons have been very frustrating. I didn’t lose confidence in myself as a player, but the fact that I was out of the lineup a lot was very frustrating. I worked very hard to stay healthy. Last year it was a bit out of my control and cost me most of the season. But I’m hopeful that if I can stay healthy, I can get back to where I was before. I am very satisfied with my summer. »