The Canadian | The start of the tests

One hundred and forty-seven days. It has been almost five months since observers had the opportunity to criticize, applaud, denounce, praise, burn or transform into slam the sacrosanct trios of the Canadian.

Guillaume Lefrancois
The Press

On Friday, Martin St-Louis put an end to the wait.

The value of these trios is variable. In September 2018, an 18-year-old weakling named Jesperi Kotkaniemi arrived in Brossard as 3^e overall draft pick. On day 1 of the camp, Claude Julien places him in the center of Artturi Lehkonen and Nicolas Deslauriers, two established players. A month later, Kotkaniemi made his first kicks in a National League season game.

The following year, Nick Suzuki, also a first-round pick, attended camp at age 20. His success in junior suggests that he could make the jump to Montreal, without going through the American League. He started his camp with Charles Hudon and Jordan Weal, two wingers with precarious status. But Suzuki is gradually climbing the ladder to start the campaign in the second unit, with Lehkonen and Max Domi.

Juraj Slafkovsky, he goes even further. His trio partners on this Friday were Rafaël Harvey-Pinard and Owen Beck. Two interesting hopes of the Canadian on the attack, no doubt. But barring a big surprise, the first will start the season in Laval, the second, in Mississauga, in the junior ranks.

That didn’t stop the trio from putting on a good showing in their first intra-squad game of camp on Friday. “Physically, [Slafkovsky] is there, he is strong. He shakes up guys, he wins battles, ”said St-Louis.

Harvey-Pinard did not deserve either, playing with his usual enthusiasm. At the end of the match, he scored by seizing a return, on a sequence initiated by a superb pass from Slafkovsky.

After practice, St-Louis mentioned that Slafkovsky “will definitely play with NHL players in the preseason games,” which suggests that the coach will experiment.

“You’ve seen some trios. I don’t think we’ll go to the end without trying something else, warned St-Louis. It’s a process. We think things can work, we know things work, but that doesn’t mean we won’t try anything. »

New approach

The new administration of the Habs has accustomed us to novelty since its arrival. On the ice, for example, player development managers have never been so involved, as evidenced by the many sessions led by Adam Nicholas, director of hockey development.

Nicholas was still at work on Friday, but the novelty of the day was the presence of four groups. In recent years, the format has been two groups, with sometimes a third group of players usually destined for the ECHL.

The groups of the day all had 14 or 15 skaters.

“I wanted to have small groups so that the players had more repetitions, so that they touched the puck more often, for their level of form, but also to show everyone what we do, how we do it. fact, stated St-Louis.

“I remember my camps when I was young, you never know what effect it can have. Me, I saw the National League so big, you think it’s out of your reach before you even arrive. And once you’re there, you realize you’re not that far away. That’s what it can do for a player. »

Joshua Roy can validate this point. The attacker, choice of 5^e tour of the CH in 2021, is taking part in its second camp. “I come with more confidence. Last year, I didn’t really know what I was getting into. There, I know the guys better, I know what to expect,” he explained.

Veterans reunited

It was especially interesting to see that the established forwards in the NHL were together. In each of the four groups, there was indeed a trio of permanent players, with two exceptions: Filip Mesar and Emil Heineman, two attackers who have still not played a match in the Bettman circuit. In the absence of Suzuki veterans Josh Anderson, Sean Monahan and Paul Byron, that was to be expected.

It will be necessary to wait a few days before drawing up observations. In 2014, a unit made up of Max Pacioretty, David Desharnais and Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau caused a sensation in Brossard, but the success was not repeated in the season.

St-Louis, however, allowed himself to say “very, very impressed” by Brendan Gallagher, who wants to bounce back after a difficult campaign.

You never get a second chance to make a first impression, the shampoo ad claimed. Gallagher passed his.