An excerpt from the Globesports.com article about Guillaume Latendresse and his progression as player in his third year in the NHL:
In his sessions with Lawson, Latendresse worked on his balance and technique. He also hit the weight room and gained five pounds. But he reduced his body fat and the net result was more speed.
He says he is not much faster overall from point A to point B than he was a year ago. The difference is in his explosiveness from a standing start, which gives him a small but crucial leg up on opposing forwards and defencemen.
Gainey and Carbonneau also told Latendresse he had to improve his defensive play in order to become more of a two-way player. Now he is quick enough to elude defencemen at one end of the ice and to cover them at the other.
“Defensively, right now I have half-second to one-second improvement on getting to the play,” Latendresse said. “I was comfortable with my skating last year but I knew I had things to work on if I wanted a long career in the NHL.
“I don’t want to just play three or four years. I want to play more so I knew I had to work.”
Carbonneau is not ready to declare his young charge a finished product, although he is happy for now.
“He’s not going to be a Guy Lafleur,” the coach said. “But if he improves 5 to 10 per cent, with his skill and with his hands, he can beat the defencemen inside and be an effective scorer.”
