(Sherbrooke) After the youth cure that transformed the defense of the Montreal Canadiens over the past year, the next big project that awaits the organization is undoubtedly in attack.
In this department, Joshua Roy is one of the eagerly awaited candidates. And his production of the moment does nothing to calm the enthusiasm of the supporters.
After a season of 99 points in just 55 games, he has been running at almost three points per game since the start of the QMJHL playoffs. By successively sweeping the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada and the Drummondville Voltigeurs, the Sherbrooke Phœnix have only played eight duels so far. The Beauceron has yet found a way to amass 21 points.
His dominance is total – he is 10 points ahead of his closest teammate. But it is not limited to statistics. His degree of commitment is commensurate.
Phoenix captain Kaylen Gauthier is particularly amazed by the 19-year-old forward’s “ability to stand up in big moments.”
“We saw it with Team Canada: when it counts, it is he who is there”, sums up the defender, crossed Wednesday noon after training for his club. The Phoenix are preparing for a tough semi-final series against the Halifax Mooseheads, which begins Saturday in the capital of Nova Scotia.
In his remarks, Gauthier was referring to Roy’s role in winning Team Canada gold at the World Junior Championship last January. With 11 points, including an assist on the tournament winning goal, he was a key element of the national selection.
This wandering, he kept it in Sherbrooke, especially in the playoffs. “He is physically involved, he does a little bit of everything,” underlines Gauthier. He wants to make a difference. I think that’s what’s going to help him take it to the next level. »
Commitment
The “next level”, for Joshua Roy, is at worst the American League, with the Laval Rocket; at best the NHL, with the Canadiens. Theoretically, he could still play a season in the QMJHL, but he doesn’t have much to learn there.
However, his entourage has never felt, since the start of the season, that he wanted to skip the stages.
“It shows in his body language, in his daily life, that his head is in Sherbrooke, not in Montreal or Laval,” confirms Stéphane Julien, head coach of the Phoenix.
The case of Roy, in Sherbrooke, is not unique. Seven players from the 2022-2023 edition have already been drafted by an NHL team. Six of them have a contract in their pocket.
Managing the end of the course of first class in a hurry to jump to the professionals, “it’s really a job for all coaches”, recognizes Stéphane Julien. However, he assures that he has no problems in this regard this season. Although when the example comes from “your best player”, it doesn’t hurt.
A real chance of winning a championship does not harm more, it will be noted. But it’s not just that.
What impresses me [chez Joshua Roy] since the beginning of the playoffs, that’s how much he has had fire in his eyes. Even in training, he is one of our best. He doesn’t have that many points by chance. He works them. He has the ideas in the right place, the leadership in the right place too.
Stéphane Julien, head coach of the Sherbrooke Phoenix
His teammates see the same thing. “He is very competitive. Sometimes you look at him and he may seem nonchalant, but in reality he slows down the game, observes Ethan Gauthier. I have never seen such a vision of the game, such an IQ… What he can accomplish on the ice is exceptional. »
Justin Gill, Roy’s linemate, talks about his contagious energy. In attack, of course, but also in defensive missions, especially in numerical inferiority. “He shows us that it’s not just the physical players who are able to hit, that anyone can play that role in the playoffs. It pushes us to give more. »
Without regret
Joshua Roy, unsurprisingly, does not launch into fiery speeches about his own exploits. More serious during his own interview with The Press that during those of his teammates – whom he pretended to spy on and to whom he suggested joking responses – he insists that he “didn’t want to rely on points” this season, his fourth in the QMJHL. “I wanted to bring a professional approach and improve on 200 feet,” he says.
He says he realized, at the Canadiens’ training camp last fall, how much his defensive game deserved love. From now on, his only natural talent would no longer be enough for him. “It no longer forgives. I need to work”, he recalls, lucid.
He has decidedly taken a liking to the one-man short game, where he believes he can put his vision and instincts to good use. “It also allows you to stay in the game. You never stop. It’s really fun. »
Thanks to the “shell” that it has built, it disregards the “noise” outside, that which emanates from Montreal, we understand. Is this a complex task? “Really not, we have such a nice gang here. »
He unknowingly echoes the words of his trainer by insisting on the importance for him of “finishing [sa] junior career in beauty”. “And we have the team to get there,” he adds quickly.
His eyes are therefore screwed on the current objective. “I don’t want to have any regrets,” he concludes.
The series between the Sherbrooke Phoenix and the Halifax Mooseheads will begin on Saturday, April 29.
Joshua Roy in a nutshell
- Born August 6, 2003 in Saint-Georges-de-Beauce
- 1er choice (1er in total) of the Saint-Jean Sea Dogs, in the QMJHL, in 2019
- Traded to Sherbrooke Phoenix in January 2021
- Choice of 5e round (150e in total) of the Montreal Canadiens in 2021
- Double gold medalist at the World Junior Championship (2022, 2023)