All Habs Headlines: Tuesday September 8, 2015 |
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On this day in hockey history… 1945 — Rogie Vachon was born. 1982 — Yvan Cournoyer was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. 1987 — The Toronto Maple Leafs acquired Dave Semenko. |
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► Pacioretty making progress
- Following an interview with Canadiens coach Michel Therrien, TVA is reporting that forward Max Pacioretty seems to be ahead of schedule in his recovery from a knee injury suffered almost three months ago in Florida.
- “He’s fine, we are very pleased with that,” said Therrien. “It would surprise me if he was there from the beginning (of training camp.) I do not know. I was told that his recovery is going very well. He is in Montreal for about three weeks. He is working very hard to make a return to the game.”
- Therrien did not answer if Pacioretty will be wearing a “C” on his jersey when he returns.
► Galchenyuk gives back
- Alex Galchenyuk was at the Carrefour Multisports of Laval this weekend attending a charity event for the AJBQ which is for kids who stutter.
- There was a ball hockey game, a raffle for signed jerseys and an autograph session with the former third overall. All proceeds went to the AJBQ.
- The media in attendance, including All Habs’ own Chris G, was informed that Alex would not be taking any questions about hockey, preferring to focus on the charity event.
- When it came time for the press conference, it was announced that Alex would not be speaking due to personal reasons. Instead his sister Anna Galchenyuk answered one question from the media.
- Some media members, perhaps looking to create drama, decide to spin the story that Alex was, once again, being controlled by his family.
- We published Chris G’s report on Alex, the children and the charity including a photo gallery here: Galchenyuks Support Children’s Charity Event
► Back in action
- Carey Price is back on the ice with Stephane Waite and is more determined than ever.
- Canadiens.com caught up with the Vezina/Hart/Lindsay/Jennings trophy award winner’s goalie coach who spoke about his star pupil’s motivation among other things.
- “He’ll gladly exchange all of those trophies for a Stanley Cup any time. I know that. Winning the Cup is the most important thing to Carey. I know he’s happy about those awards, and I’m very proud of him, but the only thing he wants is the Cup,” Waite told Matt Cudzinowski.
- According to Waite, Price hates losing with a passion. “That’s what makes him so good. When you hate something, you’ll do anything you can to avoid it,” said Waite. “I thought I was the guy who hated losing the most in the world, but Carey’s pretty close to that.”
- “I look at his capacity to always focus on the right things and stay calm during games. I’ve always been impressed by that. You can drive the net as many times as you want and try to bother him, but nothing will affect him,” said Waite. “He’s just so strong mentally. He’s always thinking about that next shot and then the shot after that. That’s all. That’s something pretty special.”
- On the possibility of improving Price, Waite said, “Sometimes, people ask me ‘Is there something you want to improve with Carey?’ No, there really isn’t anything, in particular. We just want to improve in every area. We’ll try to get better and better by working on his strengths.”
- “His game preparation is very good. He’s very good technically. He’s in great shape. He’s a great athlete, and he’s a serious guy. It’s easy to work with players like that,” said Waite. “He’s the best in the world, and there’s a reason why. Basically, he’s got everything.”
► Habs forward making the adjustment to centre
- While Habs fans anxiously wait to see if Alex Galchenyuk finally makes the transition to the centre position, a Canadiens prospect has been doing just that. Prospect Artturi Lehkonen has been playing center for Frölunda in the SHL.
Interesting #Habs news on Artturi Lehkonen, he is tested at center at Frölunda and he likes it. MTL knows what a Finnish center can do.
— Szymon Szemberg (@Sz1909_Szemberg) September 7, 2015
► Local product looks forward to camp
► Prust says goodbye to Montreal, hello to Vancouver
Only in Montreal can u leave for 3 months and return with every construction cone in the exact same spot
— Brandon Prust (@BrandonPrust8) September 3, 2015
► Babcock ready for his new venture
- Mike Babcock is ready to take on a new mission as head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs. He said, “New is exciting; It scares the crap out of you, to be honest with you.”
- “We’re an original six franchise that doesn’t hold our rightful place in the National Hockey League right now. We will,” said Babcock.
- On the pressure of being the head coach of the Maple Leafs, Babcock said, “The reality is, I’m the coach of this team. I’m not carrying the weight of the world on my back. I’m going to work as hard as I can.[…] But if you think I’m carrying around the weight of the world, I didn’t do it when I coached Canada at the Olympics (and) I didn’t do it when I coached Detroit.”
- “If you think you can evaluate me harder than I evaluate myself, you are missing the boat,” said Babcock. “That isn’t happening.”
- Following last year’s disastrous season by the Leafs expectations aren’t just about winning. “We want to establish a structure and a strong work ethic. We’re going to build that through the exhibition schedule. We want to be a team that gets better every day. That’s my expectation,” said Babcock. “Are there going to be ups and downs? There always are. But to me, we are going to be very process-oriented and try to get better.”
► An opportunity opens up
- The Detroit Red Wings chose Dylan Larkin with the 15th overall pick in 2014; one year later he signed his first contract on the same day Mike Babcock left, un-coincidentally.
- Larkin signed his contract, and left college, with the intention of making the team out of camp since the ‘Wings have a new coach. “That is one of the reasons I decided to sign and leave college,” said Larkin. “There is a new coach and there seems to be some older players who might be on their way out. I think it is a great opportunity for me to learn from them.”
- The lifelong Red Wings fan has recollections of watching the players he might be playing with soon. “As long as I can remember, Zetterberg and Datsyuk have been on the team so it has been pretty cool to be at Joe Louis Arena and Zetterberg has been out there a few times [at workouts],” said Larkin. “It has been awesome skating with my hockey idol.”
- “It is what I have been waiting for and I’m ready for it. Hopefully it is everything I always thought it would be. It’s going to be a fun year,” said Larkin.
► Another Nylander in North America
- Son of long time NHLer Michael Nylander and brother of current Leafs prospect William Nylander, Alexander Nylander has announced he will make the jump to North America and join the Mississauga Steel Heads.
- The Steel Heads selected Alexander in the first round of this year’s OHL draft and he’s ranked 14th by Future Considerations and 22nd by HockeyProspect.com in the 2016 NHL Entry draft.
- The team’s head coach and general manager Dan Boyd gave a scouting report on his newest player, saying “Alexander Nylander is a highly skilled forward, who plays the game at a high speed. Alex’s attributes will allow him to be a key contributor with our hockey club right away.”
- Last year, in the Swedish Junior Elite League, the dual citizen had 15 goals and 42 points in 40 games and then had six goals and 17 points in 23 games playing for Sweden in two different tournaments.
- The Calgary, Alberta native will be accompanied by his father, as Michael Nylander will be behind the Steel Heads bench this season.
► My house is your house
- As is common with most NHL rookies, Connor McDavid will be staying with his teammate Taylor Hall to start out his NHL career. The two Canadians will likely be line-mates this season with the Oilers.
- In Hall’s final season of junior he had 40 goals and 106 points in 57 games which translated to 1.86 points per game. Last season McDavid had 44 goals and 120 points in 47 games which is 2.55 points per game. In Erie’s 20 playoff games last season he had 21 goals and 49 points.
- The line potentially could be filled out with Nail Yakupov on the right wing which would make that line the “First Overall Line.”
A flash in the pan?
- Jordan Lambe highlights the potential busts for fantasy hockey this year.
► Who does Nate get paired with?
- Corey Desormeaux asks the question Is Nathan Beaulieu Ready for the Next Step?
► Dietz on D
- Michael Ham-Fan takes a look at one of the Canadiens promising prospects with Look For Habs’ Darren Dietz to Impress In Camp
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