Montreal Canadiens: Joel Bouchard has a need for speed
By Omar L
It’s a mystery as to what kind of effect Joel Bouchard will have in the Montreal Canadiens organization, but a focus on speed seems to be one of them.
The Joel Bouchard era in the Montreal Canadiens organization has been two phases of a mixed bag. The opening arc came with figuring out what he would be doing exactly. Head coach of the Laval Rocket seemed to be the top option, but there was a possibility of him doing something else. Now that his role has been defined, next is to figure out what he does moving forward.
A lot needs to change in Laval and Bouchard will be the overseer of it. With the number of new faces set to join the team next year, there is going to be a lot of minds and talent to mould. One thing Bouchard has mentioned in interviews is an emphasis and speed and transition.
The former Armada coach has been known to ignore matchups and things of that nature, to instead let the bench play. Players who can keep up with the quickness of the game and react accordingly are the ones who will succeed moving forward.
This is a different sentiment than what Sylvain Lefebvre has brought to his coaching. He’s tried to rely on strictly structured games, but that hasn’t been working. It’s not to say that Bouchard won’t add any structure to his new Laval Rocket team. However, it is interesting that it seems like he will be giving his players more freedom to create.
Hearing that has given the 2018-19 AHL season something more to look forward to. Will Bitten, Alexandre Alain, and Jake Evans to name a few are players who have speed at the core of their skills. It’ll be interesting to see how Bouchard can get the best out of them as well as the rest of the players on the team.
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