An excerpt from a great TSN interview/article with Saku Koivu who had his physical along with the rest of his teammates:

Koivu’s time as captain has been laced with more than its share of adversity and controversy, and this off-season was no different. He was criticized in certain pockets of the Montreal media for skipping out on the team’s pre-season golf tournament earlier this month, and Friday was his first opportunity to publicly explain why he wasn’t there.

Koivu said he spoke with Gainey about it beforehand and they both agreed it would be better for him and many of the other European players on the team to continue their preparation for training camp at home.

”I talked about it with him and he agreed that it was better to stay and maintain the routine with the skating and the off-ice workouts,” he said. ”It was more just about the timing, because it was three weeks before training camp.”

With the team’s 100th season celebrations ongoing throughout the year and the all-star game coming to the Bell Centre, many on the Canadiens feel the timing of the team’s ascension into the league’s upper echelon couldn’t be much better.

But the captain warns that the players will have to do everything they can to avoid getting caught up in all the hoopla.

”Obviously the expectation will be higher, but that’s what we want. When you have expectations, that’s when the fun begins,” Koivu said. ”With the centennial and the all-star game, it’s just going to make it more special. As players, we know there’s going to be hype, so we’re trying to downplay it a bit and focus on what’s going on in the room.”

RDS: De retour au boulot