Special to All Habs Hockey Magazine
Habs Building for the Future
BROSSARD, QC. — The Montreal Canadiens look like they have a bright future ahead of them, considering what Martin Lapointe saw at Habs Development Camp. Having been part of the franchise for two years, the Director of Player Development is fast becoming one of the most important figures in Montreal hockey. Lapointe’s previous time spent with the Chicago Blackhawks has clearly held him in good stead, as the 40-year-old is now starting to see much promise for the future with the youth currently coming through.
This year’s annual Montreal Canadiens Development Camp recently displayed the potential talent at the Habs’ disposal, and it will be interesting to see how many of the players who took to the ice at the Brossard have caught the eye of Lapointe, and a chance of going up through the ranks into general manager Marc Bergevin’s team.
With recent developments in nutrition and looking at the psychology of the sport and handling the media aspect of the game, there can be a tendency of getting distracted from what all the young hopefuls are there for. The focus for Lapointe, however, has been to concentrate on watching the youngsters in action and assessing their potential upside and likeliness to develop into an NHL-calibre athlete.
In fact, 2014 first-round draft pick Nikita Scherbak just inked a three-year deal with the Canadiens this week – a good indication of management’s confidence in the young man’s abilities.
Having had a successful 14-year experience in the NHL, Lapointe himself knows that it’s what you do on the ice that will get you noticed, get you on a team and keep you there. What was pleasing for Lapointe was seeing that youngsters who had already come through the six-day camps in the past came back as better players and were the standout performers during the week.
Many have recognized the Czech youngster and recent KHL player Jiri Sekac as a potential top-6 player, with the 22-year-old already penning a free agent contract at the start of the month. It’s players like Sekac who have a good chance at the NHL level and Lapointe has indicated that all players involved in the camp have been given things to work on over the summer, with the next season just around the corner.
It’s then that things like nutrition, strength and conditioning become a bigger factor, and many of the players will come back quicker and stronger after a well-earned summer break.
With some potential stars on the horizon, many will be looking to back the Canadiens next season as they go in search of the big prize. What is for certain is that the work Lapointe is doing now will have a positive effect on the team’s future stars, getting them back to the basics of working on the key skills of the game. Time will tell, but there could be some potential gems that will shine for the Canadiens in the seasons to come.
It’s all in an effort to build a team who can bring the most beloved trophy in hockey back to Montreal for a 25th time. For the second time in the past four years fans saw the Canadiens take their season all the way to the Eastern Conference Final – just one step short of the Stanley Cup Final.
Fans like you are hungry for a championship win, but during the off-season you can have some fun while asking the most familiar hockey question: Is it October yet? It won’t be long before the echoes of “Go Habs Go!” will be heard ringing through the Bell Centre once again.