Laval Rocket Game Preview: An Explosive Season Debut
The Montreal Canadiens’ new AHL affiliate the Laval Rocket hope to have a solid start to their season at Place Bell Friday.
New team, new arena, same goal. After months of waiting the Laval Rocket are set to start their season Friday night against the Bellville Senators.
This group looks a lot more dangerous than previous year’s. It’ll be led by a handful of returnees such as Michael McCarron, Nikita Scherbak, Chris Terry, Brett Lernout, and Charlie Lindgren. Eyes will be on McCarron and Scherbak in particular. They had a disappointing showing at this year’s Montreal Canadiens training camp. Hopefully they turn things around and give the Habs a reason to call them up at any point of the season.
Additionally, this will be Lernout’s year to take over the AHL. You could argue that the 22-year-old could be playing with the Canadiens right now. He was strategically physical and made smart plays to generate offence. The problem could’ve been though that they value Lernout too much to have him playing bottom six minutes.
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New faces on the team include Peter Holland, Byron Froese, Martin Rèway, Jakub Jerabek, and Matt Taormina. Rèway hasn’t played in a full game since the Rookie Tournament in September. The 2013 4th round pick was very effective on the ice, but conditioning seemed to be a cause of concern.
Jerabek was signed out of the KHL last May and many believed that he could’ve made the Canadiens. He definitely played well enough in the preseason to get a look in the NHL at some point.
Kyle Baun and Nicolas Deslauriers just joined the team last Wednesday. Baun has a chance to be more of an offensive contributor based on his track record in the AHL. It would make the trade look even better if that was the case considering the Habs only gave up Andreas Martinsen.
Related Story: The New Rocket Kyle Baun
Fans should also keep in mind that Noah Juulsen and Jeremiah Addison will return at some point. Both would’ve made their professional debuts in Laval if it wasn’t for injuries sustained during the preseason and Rookie Tournament respectively.
Last year’s team had a cycle of highs and lows to the point where they clinched a playoff spot in the final game of the season. If the goal is to have more than a first round outing, they have to take their playing style to a new level. Considering how close Place Bell is to the Bell Center, they all should have incentive to do that.
Next: Laval Rocket Lines and D-Pairings for the Season
Who wins the game? Who do you think will stand out? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.