"Something worthwhile is worth a second look…"
That should be the motto that Jacques Martin and his coaching staff use as they evaluate the rookies in the next three days. After day one – let’s have a look at what happened on the ice.
Lars Eller, or as he is better known as, ‘ the guy in the Halak deal’ – saw no action today as he is recovering from a torn abdominal muscle suffered during his off- season training regimen.
Alexander Atvsin showed his offensive skills as he potted two goals and added an assist in the scrimmage between the red squad and the white squad. The Whites won.
P. K Subban showed another side of his game as he was absolutely hammering anyone that came within three feet of him. Do you think that Subban wants a job in Montreal ?
Louis Leblanc, fresh off his four point night with the Montreal Juniors last night, did not look out of place. He is a smooth skater with quick hands. As with most attempting to make the jump to the NHL – Leblanc will have to work on his defensive game and it would not hurt him to put on a bit of muscle.
Pierre Gauthier met the press for the first time and help to shed a light into the reasons behind some of his off – season decisions.
On Carey Price – Gauthier said that the club’ s decision to retain Price and deal Halak had more to do with hockey skill rather than salary.Gauthier sounded convinced that Price has leaped over his youthful mistakes and is not only more mature, Price is ready to lead the team for many years to come.
On the Captaincy of the Habs – Gauthier said that the team has a great core of veterans that have also matured with the success of last season.He says that the players learned from that and know who the leaders are on the team. A captain will be iced for the first regular season game against Toronto.
On Jeff Halpern – Gauthier said that although Halpern’s point totals have decreased in the past couple of seasons , Halpern is a right handed face-off man who has above average success in that area and it is something that the Habs were missing.He is also confident that Halpern will regain his offensive skills with a team such as the Habs that are built on speed.
Some of the other players :
Left Wing Hunter Bishop
The 6′ 0 left winger and another player that hails from Scott Gomez’s state of Alaska put up fantastic numbers in both the NCAA with Ohio State and the BCHL with the Vernon Vipers. After netting 27 points in 33 games with Ohio last season – he was called up to Hamilton where he added 5 points in 9 games and was a plus 5. Bishop is not a flashy player – more of a ‘give me the puck and I’ll try to score’ kinda guy. Think Christpher Higgins. Bishop underwent surgery for a hernia a couple of weeks ago so he was not able to use this camp to display his strengths and weaknesses for Bulldog coach , Randy Cunneyworth to see.
Center David Desharnais
David was called up for six games last season and did not do near as well as he did in Hamilton. Zero points and a minus 2 is a far cry from the 139 points and the plus 37 he marked in a Bulldog uniform.The problem with Desharnais is one that is not his fault . The Habs have an abundance of small forwards and at 5′ 7′ – Desharnais presence or lack thereof…seriously hurts his chances of playing with the Habs. He could replace an injured forward and he will be given a second look at the Bell Center but his future remains elsewhere unless Gionta,Gomez and Cammalleri grow six inches in the next few months.
Stay tuned for more news as the Rookie Camp continues until Thursday…
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