Home All Habs news Headlines Headlines: Q Draft, Teravainen, Reilly Sweepstakes, Poulin, Eichel

Headlines: Q Draft, Teravainen, Reilly Sweepstakes, Poulin, Eichel

Christopher Nardella
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Headlines: Q Draft, Teravainen, Reilly Sweepstakes, Poulin, Eichel
Joe Veleno ((Vincent Éthier/QMJHL Media)

All Habs Headlines: Sunday June 7, 2015
On this day in hockey history… 1999 — the Ottawa Senators announced that GM Rick Dudley was leaving the team to become the President of the Tampa Bay Lightning. 1965 — Goaltender Jacques Plante announced his retirement after playing in the NHL for 12 seasons with the Canadiens and the New York Rangers. But he would come out of retirement three years later and would play five more seasons.  1969 — Montreal Canadiens acquired Peter Mahovlich from Detroit, in exchange for Garry Monahan. 1972 — Hockey Hall of Fame named it’s newest members: Gordie Howe, Jean Beliveau, Bernie Geoffrion, Hap Holmes, Reg “Hooley” Smith and builder Weston Adams.
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Joe Veleno ((Vincent Éthier/QMJHL Media)

► Q draft

  • The QMJHL’s entry draft was held on Saturday and it was a historic day for hockey in Quebec. The Saint Johns Sea Dogs held the first overall pick in this year’s draft and they selected Kirkland, Quebec native Joseph Veleno. The really incredible thing is not that the Maritimes based team selected the 6-foot, 165-pound forward with the first overall pick but that Veleno was granted exceptional status by hockey Canada even after initially being rejected.
  • A testament to the 15-year-old’s talent is that he was originally denied of early entry into the QMJHL after failing to hand in his papers on time however Hockey Canada recently overturned their original action and he was then eligible for this years draft.
  • The scouts’ fascination with Veleno not only stems from his play with the puck but without it as well. According to his former coach John Goyens, it is extremely rare to see a player at the age of 15 who plays with skill and a full 200-foot game. Goyens also noted that he has had very skilled players in the past like Jonathan Douin, Anthony Duclair and the infamous Louis Leblanc but no player he has ever coached before has had that two-way game to go along with the skill.
  • In the 2013-14 season when playing for the Lac St-Louis Lions in Bantam AAA Valeno picked up 36 points in 27 games. The following season, playing in midget, Veleno had a great season as an underaged player, 14 at the beginning of the season with 52 points, 16 of those being goals, in 41 games.
  • The centerman is the 5th player to ever be granted exceptional status and is the first to play in the QMJHL. The other four, John Tavares, Connor McDavid, Aaron Ekblad, and Sean Day have all been drafted into the OHL.

► Teravainen could have been a Hab

  • It’s no secret that Chicago Blackhawks forward Teuvo Teravainen was a favorite of Habs chief amateur scout Trevor Timmins going into the 2012 NHL Entry Draft. We wrote about Timmins’ fondness for Teravainen and Alex Galchenyuk just prior to the 2012 NHL Entry Draft. Former Jokerit General Manager Jarmo Kekalainen said, “I do not want to put pressure on my friend Trevor, but I would not be surprised that [Teuvo] is drafted by a team early.”
  • The super-skilled Finn would have likely become a Canadien if Alex Galchenyuk was snapped up with one of the first two picks of the Draft.  Instead, the Oilers selected Nail Yakupov with the first overall selection, with Ryan Murray going next to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Teravainen was picked 18th overall by the Hawks.
  • Teravainen recalled the Draft when interviewed by the Journal de Montreal, saying, “I remember it very well. I know that the Canadiens were watching me very carefully. I spoke several times to the leaders of the Canadiens. There was a good group of teams that had shown interest in me, but Montreal seemed serious. There was great interest.”
  • In the first two games of the Stanley Cup finals, Teravainen has been named one of the three stars. He has two goals and an assist already in the Stanley Cup finals.
  • Teammate Duncan Keith said, “He has great talent and we are fortunate to have a young person like him in our organization. We begin to see the potential of Teuvo. For just a 20-year-old, he is really very calm and mature.”
  • Teravainen combined with Habs prospect Artturi Lehkonen to form a lethal top line for Finland at the 2013 National Junior Development Camp in Lake Placid.

► Bergevin eyeing Reilly

  • TVA Sports is reporting that Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin is in on the Mike Reilly sweepstakes. The 21-year-old American defenseman will become an unrestricted free agent on June 15th.
  • Reilly was the leading scorer for the University of Minnesota last season in the NCAA with 42 points in 39 games.
  • The Columbus Blue Jackets selected Reilly in the fourth round of the 2011 NHL Entry draft (98th overall.)

► New leadership for Bulldogs

  • The Montreal Canadiens former AHL affiliate, the Hamilton Bulldogs, wasted no time replacing their departed team president Stephen Ostaszewicz. The OHL ‘Dogs have appointed Hamilton native Steve Staios as president.
  • Staios was a player development advisor for the Toronto Maple Leafs and most recently was brought down to the bench to act as an interim assistant coach.
  • With over a 1,000 NHL games played as a defenceman for six teams, Staios is best remembered for his service with the Edmonton Oilers.
  • This is another in a string of moves by Bulldogs owner Michael Andauer to add native Hamiltonian talent after severing his relationship with the Canadiens.
  • Former head coach Sylvain Lefebvre and his crew not only had a lack of success on the ice but did little to connect to fans and the community.
  • “We want the team to have an identity that the community can really connect with,” Staois said.

► McDavid sponsorship

  • Much like Alex Galchenyuk before he was drafted, Connor McDavid has signed a sponsorship deal with CCM. This deal specifies that in return for wearing CCM products, McDavid will receive one million dollars a year for the next five years.
  • For playing hockey, McDavid will only earn a maximum of $925,000 per year through the first three years of his entry level contract.
  • The CCM deal is the richest contract ever signed by a rookie in the NHL and his endorsement is only second in the entire league to Sidney Crosby who receives 1.4 million dollars.
  • McDavid previously had a sponsorship with CCM in junior that paid him $250,000 per year.
  • McDavid, as is his trademark, was very humble saying, “I don’t think I’m the face of the brand by any means. I mean there’s a whole bunch of great names who are partnered with it. And I’m just a part of that. To be a part of that is a very special today.”

► Poulin is a Star

  • The woman who scored one of the greatest goals in Canadian women’s hockey history has decided to come back home. Marie-Philip Poulin has decided to play for the Montreal Stars of the CWHL following an outstanding collegiate career. “I gave myself some time to reflect […] and I wanted to come back to Quebec,” she said.
  • Poulin has declared herself eligible for the upcoming CWHL draft and is a shoe-in to be taken number one. The Montreal Stars hold the first overall pick this year.
  • Poulin has finished her career as a member of the Boston University Terriers. Poulin had a truly remarkable career with BU having a points per game better than 1.50 in all four of her seasons. She had 47 points in 28 games in her freshman year followed up by a shortened 2011-12 campaign with saw her pick up 25 points in 16 games played. She finished off her career in style with back to back 50 point seasons.
  • She was named Hockey East Tournament MVP after she set a league record with 12 points in that tournament. Poulin is the school leader in goals (81), assists (100) and points (181) and undoubtedly one of the best female collegiate players of all time.

► Eichel nails combine

  • The NHL combine was held Saturday and Jack Eichel came out with an outstanding performance. Eichel outperformed Connor McDavid in five of the six tests and at one point was first in five different categories.
  • The combine was held in Buffalo and Jack Eichel, who is expected to go second overall to the Sabres, heard phrases like “Welcome home” and ” We’re happy to have you here” from expectant fans.
  • Eichel only had positive things to say about the city that could become his home saying “It was a great week, I think it’s a great experience. It was just another piece of the season and step toward the Draft. I think Buffalo did a great job putting on this event and hats off to the Buffalo Sabres organization and everyone else involved.”

► Stream the Calder Cup

  • The AHL has taken a step towards growing their brand by offering the Calder Cup finals free on their app. The Vancouver Canucks farm the the Utica Comets (47-20-0-9) and the Los Angeles Kings farm team the Manchester Monarchs (50-17-0-6-3) are battling it out for the AHL’s greatest prize.
  • The Comets are led by deadline acquisition Sven Baertschi and the goalie that was once regarded as the best goalie outside of the NHL, Jacob Markstrom. Baertschi was acquired from the Flames for a second round pick and has 13 points in 16 games. Markstrom who was acquired, among others, for Roberto Luongo had a .937 save percentage to go along with a 1.87 GAA this postseason before game 1.
  • The Monarchs are lead by Nick Shore who joined the Monarchs when the Kings were eliminated from playoff contention. Shore had 42 points in 38 games before getting called up to the Kings for their playoff push. He has 11 points in 14 games this postseason.
  • Game 1 of the series was Saturday night with the Monarchs winning in overtime. Game 2 of the series will be underway at 5 pm Eastern on Sunday. Check out the action here.

► Bergevin takes in Grand Prix festivities

► Business over hockey decisions?

► You have questions, we have answers.

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