Montreal Canadiens: Dates to look forward to in September
By Omar L
The NHL 2018-19 season is right around the corner, and the Montreal Canadiens have a number of things going on in September.
It’s September! Now we can look forward to cooler temperatures, colour changes (as far as leaves go), and most importantly, hockey. But there are still some hurdles to get through. Fortunately, there is going to be a lot more things to watch and pay attention to with the Montreal Canadiens and the rest of the league.
Things start off with the NHL Rookie Showdown. The Rookie Camp begins on September 6th with practice at the Bell Sports Complex. The Montreal Canadiens have already released their full roster for the camp which will go all the way until September 12th including the prospect tournament against the Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators as well as the Golf Tournament on the 10th.
It’ll be a defining moment for prospects such as Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Cale Fleury who may push the envelope to make professional debuts this season.
Next will be the Montreal Canadiens main camp which will most likely start around the 14th after Rookie Camp ends for Media Day. You know, when all the players take their photos and shoot those dramatic slow mothing videos they play on the jumbotron. That’s going to carry on into the preseason which starts on the 17th for the Habs.
The New Jersey Devils are first, and six more games will take us closer to that October 3rd season opener against the Leafs. It’s opening up old wounds, but last year’s preseason was very telling of how the regular season play out. There’s no way the Habs fall into the same set of injuries and poor luck though, so that’s something to look forward to.
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Again it ties back into those players who are expected to or possibly could make that jump. Kotkaniemi isn’t going to play every single game. However, Claude Julien and the coaching staff will probably try to get him out there as much as possible. The same goes for some of the newcomers as far as the NHL goes.
Xavier Ouellet is in an interesting position where the could easily push for a spot on the roster. Additionally, Matthew Peca and Jacob de La Rose are going to be in a heated battle for that fourth line centre spot. Michael McCarron may be a factor, but the main conflict is surely between those two.
Going back to the blueline, fans can’t forget about Simon Despres who was signed to a professional tryout early in the summer. He’s coming off a stint in the KHL and is determined to get back to playing hockey in North America. Desprès mentioned that he wouldn’t mind playing in the minors for the Laval Rocket, but the Montreal Canadiens are a clear focus for him.
Training camp will also provide some insight on how the final lines are going to end up being. There’s been constant debate as to who should play where and who should play with who. In particular, Max Domi who many have placed on Phillip Danault even though lining up with Jonathan Drouin could be an effective duo as well.
Next. Max Domi and Jonathan Drouin Could Work Well Together. dark
It’s going to be an exciting set of weeks. Book your dates on the calendar and keep your news feeds going because this September looks to have a lot of storylines that may or may not be played through to its finality.