Seven years later, Jarred Tinordi is still there

It’s a good mood Jarred Tinordi who comes out of the private part of the visitors’ locker room to come and talk to the journalists on Tuesday morning.

A visit to the Bell Center, for him, comes with many memories. This is where he took his first steps in the National League, this is where he experienced playoff madness for the first time in his career, in 2013. That was when he wore the uniform of the Canadiens as a former choice of 1^er team turn.

It is also here that he played only once as a visitor, on March 10, 2020, the last game played at the Bell Center before the pandemic ended the season. “We then went to Toronto and the league had stopped everything! “, he recalls.

Tinordi was then playing for Nashville, but here he is in the uniform of the Chicago Blackhawks, opponents of the Habs on Tuesday night. At 30, soon to be 31, he finally gets what he’s been aiming for for so many years: a permanent position in the NHL.

Tuesday’s game will be his 27^e of the season. His career high in a season is 28, which he would have already reached had he not been injured twice. Because within a team in full reconstruction, the great defender never skipped his turn when he was healthy. He averages 16:35 per game, and his 13.35 hits per 60 minutes earn him 6^e rank among National League defensemen.

“He’s a big, tough, strong guy who gives us a physical presence,” Blackhawks head coach Luke Richardson said after morning practice. He knows how to do his job. He came back in the last game, he gave a big check, which started a fight. And he’s coming back from two facial surgeries, so that shows his courage. We then scored, it gave us momentum. »

Tinordi meanwhile hopes to learn from his head coach, who enjoyed a 1,417-game career practicing the same rugged, low-attacking style.

“It’s good to have a coach who has played for a long time, he understands the game, noted Tinordi. I talked to Jeff Petry about it, he loved it here. Everyone liked it. It was a good situation and I can learn a lot from him. »

Transaction and Waiver

Casually, it is a seventh organization in the NHL for the colossus of 6 ft 6 and 229 lb, an atypical course for a player claimed at 22^e rank of which we hoped a lot in Montreal.

In January 2016, the CH resigned on his case by exchanging him to the Coyotes. A few weeks later, the NHL suspended him for 20 games for doping. This was followed by stints with the Penguins, Predators, Bruins and Rangers. The latter submitted him on waivers at the end of the last training camp, and the Blackhawks claimed him there.

“It was good, it was another chance to stay in this league,” he describes.

“My career didn’t turn out the way I had planned. I had ups and downs, maybe more than most players. Everyone has their own journey. But I am proud to be in this dressing room and to play tonight. I’m proud of how I handled some difficult situations, even though I could have acted differently at times. It’s no use having regrets about the past. »

A rookie in goal

With Seth Jones, Jack Johnson, Connor Murphy and Jake McCabe, the Blackhawks still have an experienced defensive brigade, compared to the Canadian and his three recruits expected in training on Tuesday.

However, it is in front of the net that it gets complicated, in the absence of Alex Stalock. Petr Mrazek has statistics worthy of the goalies of the 1980s (average of 3.95, efficiency of .885) so that he will be content with the role of reserve against the Habs.

Richardson will therefore send rookie Jaxson Stauber in front of the net. This will be the fourth NHL start for the 23-year-old, undrafted and trained at Providence College in the NCAA.

With a win, Stauber would be a quarter of the way to Patrick Lalime’s record of 16 straight starts undefeated early in his career. Stauber is 3-0-0 so far.

Jonathan Toews, ill according to the official version, is currently in Chicago and will not participate in the game.

There will be no Toews, but there will be three Johnsons, Tyler, Jack and Reese, as well as two Jones, brothers Seth and Caleb. If Abbott and Costello were describing this game, they’d be having a blast.