In his role as assistant to the QMJHL player safety department, François Beauchemin will be well placed to assess the effects of the tougher rules against fighting.
A player will now be automatically suspended from their second fight of the season, from their first if they are found to have instigated the fight. The modifications, it should be remembered, had been applauded by the political class, but players questioned by The Press last week seemed rather lukewarm.
“We, our job, is to reduce the bastards, the blows of the stick, the cross-checks, the punches in the face, recalled Beauchemin. By eliminating fights, it may be up to us to tighten the screw for those blows. »
An argument often made by those who defended the status quo – an argument regularly made by Gary Bettman himself – is that fighting discourages dangerous blows and therefore helps prevent injuries.
” I can not wait to see. I expect there may be a few more vicious hits. When the guys are going to have three, four, five games of suspension for a cross-check in the back or behind the head, they will perhaps understand that it must be eliminated from hockey. »
Obviously, you have to understand that despite the new rules, fights are still possible. Theoretically, they were also “banned” when they were only worth a five-minute penalty; only, the sanction was not severe enough to dissuade the players from dropping the gloves.
Despite the new rules, the referees will act as before when a fight breaks out. “It’s at their discretion. Some will go in to separate the players, others will let them go. But the players will have to live with the consequences,” recalled Beauchemin.
A thought for Montour
On a completely different note, Beauchemin watched the last Stanley Cup final with some interest. It is that his former teammate Brandon Montour almost led the Florida Panthers to great honors.
Beauchemin and Montour played together one season, in 2017-2018, the Quebecer’s last as a player, during Beauchemin’s third stay in Anaheim. At 37, he was paired with a 23-year-old who was playing his first full season in the NHL.
“We knew he had offensive talent, but he had an extraordinary season,” recalled Beauchemin.
PHOTO SAM NAVARRO, USA TODAY SPORTS
Brandon Montour (62) during the Stanley Cup Finals series against the Golden Knights
Montour has indeed had a phenomenal season; he amassed 73 points, good for 5e rank of NHL defensemen, even though he had never reached 40 points in a season before. In the playoffs, Montour added 13 points, including 8 goals, in 21 outings.
Another former Ducks defenseman, Shea Theodore, wore the colors of the Vegas Golden Knights. In short, the palmipeds left a whole legacy to the NHL…
The team are now trying to rebuild their defence. This season, the defensemen par excellence of the three Canadian junior circuits, Tristan Luneau, Pavel Mintyukov and Olen Zellweger, are draft picks of the organization. “The future is in good hands! “, rejoices Beauchemin, who worked three years as a development coach with the Ducks at the end of his career.
In short
A big ring!
PHOTO ROBERT SKINNER, THE PRESS
Nicolas Aubé-Kubel and his Stanley Cup ring won last year
Anthony Beauvillier’s reaction to seeing the Avalanche Stanley Cup ring on Nicolas Aubé-Kubel’s finger said it all. “Tab***, the rock! In Beauvillier’s defence, the jewel was massive; think of the ring Delima stumbles upon in Fred’s bowling ball, which was actually a gift from Arthur to Bertha, but we digress. Aubé-Kubel took advantage of the Beauchemin-Fleury-Beauvillier-Aubé-Kubel Golf Classic to show off his ring, which he won last year. However, life has quickly changed for the striker since his conquest. In the summer of 2022, he joined the Toronto Maple Leafs as a free agent, but by early November he was on waivers, where the Washington Capitals claimed him. Aubé-Kubel therefore shared the locker room with Alexander Ovechkin in particular and he discovered a much more sociable teammate than he anticipated. “It’s Ovie. But it’s super simple. He brings his children to the arena, they sit with me and he translates. I was really surprised… Being Russian, I thought he would be more in his corner. But he’s loud in the locker room, he talks a lot. He’s a good leader. »
For Cégep de Sorel-Tracy
PHOTO ROBERT SKINNER, THE PRESS
François Beauchemin, Nicolas Aubé-Kubel, Marc-André Fleury and Anthony Beauvillier at the Sorel-Tracy Golf Club
The Beauchemin-Fleury-Beauvillier-Aubé-Kubel Golf Classic, named for the four hockey players from the Sorel region, took place on Friday. The purpose of the event was to raise funds “to finance various educational, technological and extracurricular projects at the Cégep de Sorel-Tracy”, reads the press release.