Juraj Slafkovsky wants to spend the season with CH

If it were up to him, Juraj Slafkovsky would spend the entire season with the Canadiens.

“Where can you learn to play in the National Hockey League, unless you play in the National Hockey League? replied the young forward Sunday in Brossard. So yes, it would be better if I stayed and spent the season with the Canadiens. If management has no other plans for me, this would be the best option, in my opinion. »

The question about Slafkovsky’s immediate future has arisen, and it will continue to arise, no doubt. Some say he should have participated in the recent World Junior Hockey Championships, others argue that a detour to the American League in Laval would do him the greatest good.

But the main interested party is not at all of this opinion, he who affirms that none of these scenarios were discussed by the management of the club with him.

“There was no discussion for the Worlds, no discussion about Laval, nobody spoke to me about that, he added after training on Sunday. So I think the best thing is for me to stay here. »

The 18-year-old forward is the first to admit that this season, his first in the NHL, is certainly not perfect. In 35 games, he had 4 goals and 6 assists for 10 points, and here he is caught in what looks like a drought, when he hasn’t had a point since December 14. In all, it’s a series of 11 games with zeros on his record.

“I’ve been through a lot of ups and downs,” he admitted. I had a bad start to the season, then it was very good, and then there were other problems… but that’s part of the reality for a young player coming to this league. I try to play better and better, I focus on that. »

Like several others from the old countries before him – the Slovak played in Finland last season – Slafkovsky took time to be able to find his bearings on ice of different sizes.

He’s still working on it, by the way, as he continues to work on this new habit of keeping his head up to avoid enemy trains heading his way.

“I knew when I got here that the game was going to be faster… That was the biggest adjustment for me: the reaction time which is different. You have to learn what to do with the puck before you even have it on your stick. It’s the best league, the fastest league too. I expected that.

“Keeping your head up, we talked about that two weeks ago. I try to scan the ice more and more, to see all that is coming in front of me. It’s something I’m working on, but it’s not a big deal for me right now. »

There were also moments of learning. Like most recently, when his little pass from behind, wrapped in lace, ended up on the blade of a member of the New York Rangers, who then pushed himself up to Jake Allen to score…

There are undoubtedly coaches who would have yelled at him when he returned to the bench, but not Martin St-Louis.

“Because he already knew that I wasn’t very happy with myself…so there was no need to add to it.” Instead, we took a closer look at it together afterwards, and he explained to me what to do in such a situation. So I don’t think I’m going to try that pass again…well, I hope so! »

The rest, the calendar, the trips, the time difference from one city to another, it doesn’t bother him at all. He’s in the NHL, he’s living his dream, and that’s pretty much all that matters to him.

“Last year I was taking eight hour bus trips to games…so a two hour flight to a game is fine now! »

A rare Sunday on the ice

As everyone knows, Sunday is for watching football or going to mass, but that’s not what the Canadiens players did, at least not in the morning. Instead, they took to the ice at the Brossard Center for practice for Monday night’s game at the Bell Center against the Seattle Kraken. Martin St-Louis hopes that Saturday’s victory will have consequences. “It’s nice to have won on Saturday, but it’s starting again, Monday it’s starting again… you have to get that every day,” explained the coach.