The Montreal Canadiens practiced before heading to Philadelphia ahead of their game tomorrow, and both Shea Weber and Phillip Danault spent time on the ice.
When a team waits for a player to get healthy, getting on the ice is always a positive sign. Phillip Danault has been skating ahead of Montreal Canadiens practice for the last week or so, but he had Shea Weber join him this morning. It’s kind of weird considering how long Weber has been walking around in that boot, but after he was allowed to take it off, it was only a matter of time before he got back on the ice.
Today’s skate was the first for Weber since the NHL 100 Classic at the end of December. The 32-year-old won’t be joining the Habs in Philadelphia but will instead stay in Montreal to get more work in. According to TSN’s John Lu, Weber was only on the ice for about 15 minutes, and the plan is to get him on more and longer as the week continues.
This could hint at a not too far away return for the defenceman, but we can’t be sure. Claude Julien will most likely be asked about this as the days go on and we’ll see what kind of information he provides but for now, this is nothing short of good news for the Habs.
Besides that, the lines and pairings remained unchanged from the games over the weekend and yesterday’s practice.
Trios ce matin :
— Patrick Friolet (@PFrioletRDS) February 7, 2018
Pacioretty-Byron-Hudon
Lehkonen-Plekanec-Gallagher
Galchenyuk-Drouin-Scherbak
Deslauriers-Froese-Shaw
Extras : Carr, De La Rose
Alzner-Petry
Morrow-Benn
Mete-Schlemko
Jerabek#CH #RDS
Julien had a lot of good things to say about Nikita Scherbak including that if he keeps playing the way he has been then, he’ll play.
When asked what has been going for him this year, Scherbak said:
"Confidence was the main reason. I played in every situation there (Laval), I had a lot of ice time. I’ve had all kinds of opportunities on the ice, power play, I had a lot of ice time. I feel more confident; I trust myself more."
Hearing that must have been music to management’s ears. A confident player, especially one with a skill-set like Scherbak’s, is the best player to have. The 22-year-old is still only seven games into his NHL career, but it finally feels like this is the true start for him.