(Mont-Tremblant) Night after night, for two years, Nick Suzuki has faced the best opposing trios. Without complaining and giving his best, regardless of the identity of his wingers.
However, is Suzuki effective defensively? This is not, in any case, what the figures say.
The quality of the players around him obviously weighs heavily in the balance. The captain can’t do everything alone. However, when number 14 is on the ice five-on-five, the opponent gets more chances to score than the Canadian. And he also scores more goals.
Head coach Martin St-Louis generally has only good words for his young center player, and he did not deviate from his habits Friday after his club’s training.
He was eloquent, however, when answering a question about what he would like to see Suzuki and Kirby Dach improve in their overall performance.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
The Kirby Dach Center
“Everyone says they are good offensively, and I agree,” he said. But I think they have more to offer on the other side of the puck. »
He himself, when he was a player, “loved” playing against the best opposing players. “Because I knew that in the game of these guys, there was always an element of risk,” said the CH head coach. I knew if I played hard defensively it would give me chances to score. You have to apply a lot of pressure and stay patient. » Learning to “manage” the match comes with age, he clarified.
Nick Suzuki rightly admitted that he was more “timid” against the stars of other clubs in his early days, but that he felt “more and more comfortable” in these difficult missions.
Sometimes, when we’re younger, we run everywhere; you have to learn to keep your place and cover more widely. These are details. Today I try to be smarter, to be quick on the puck, to win my battles.
Nick Suzuki
However, he insisted that this aspect of the game was a priority for him “every year”.
Without commenting specifically on his defensive game, Kirby Dach said that he wanted to form a good “one-two-punch” in the center with Suzuki. The healthy competition between the two, he believes, will take the team “to another level.”
“I’m sure they will improve,” added Martin St-Louis. Their skills are incredible. They will be the reason for our success this season, and they know it. »
Friday’s training in Mont-Tremblant brought crowds to the point where several dozen people were unable to enter the Gilles-Cadieux arena. The crowd was perhaps a little less excited than the day before, but the intensity on the ice was, once again, extremely high.
For many minutes, the attack and counterattack exercises followed one another at a staggering pace, with a feature rarely seen to date: an almost complete rotation of the squad in all positions. We saw Kirby Dach, skating backwards, cut off passes like a defender. Or two backs storm the opposing zone in a surplus situation.
PHOTO ROBERT SKINNER, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Montreal Canadiens head coach Martin St-Louis
I think the game ends there. Aside from when the puck is dropped on the faceoff, it’s much less of a positional game than it was 20 years ago. We must try to replace ourselves.
Martin St-Louis, head coach of the Montreal Canadiens
“We don’t want our defenders to necessarily be the first on the attack, but we want them to participate in the attack,” explained St-Louis. If we want them to be aggressive, our forward players must be able to play on the other side and take the three against two or the three against three in place of the defender. »
“It can be beneficial for everyone,” says David Savard. Once you understand it [le système], the chances are going to happen more often, because the guys know where to go. »
The Canadian will play his last exhibition game on Saturday evening against the Ottawa Senators. This visit to the federal capital will not just be a dress rehearsal before the inaugural meeting of the “real” season, warned Martin St-Louis, but a final “evaluation” of certain players. However, he did not provide additional details, nor on the identity of the goalkeeper who will be in front of the net. “We know who is going to play, but not if it will be a split or not,” he said. Since Jake Allen played the entire last game, we can deduce that Cayden Primeau or Samuel Montembeault will be the starter. Otherwise, apart from Christian Dvorak and Chris Wideman, all players are healthy and ready to play, the coach confirmed.
This duel will also be the location of the last audition, before the start of the campaign, for the winger position on the trio of Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield. So far in preseason games, Sean Monahan, Alex Newhook and Josh Anderson have had their chances. Verdict? Nothing particularly exciting, but nothing catastrophic either. “We have good options,” Martin St-Louis repeated for the umpteenth time on Friday. We emerge, for the umpteenth time, grown.