Rob Ramage was promoted to Director of Player Development in July 2017 after working as an amateur scout with the St. Louis Blues organization. Now 61, Rob also worked as an assistant coach with the OHL's London Knights during the 2011-12 season and took over as Head Coach when Dale Hunter left the team to coach the Washington Capitals.
Ramage doesn't address the media often, but he joined Martin St. Louis today for the media availability and offered intriguing insight into some players. Here are some of his best quotes from the availability.
"“This kid (Lane Hutson) is just relentless. You see the effort every shift. He leaves it out there every shift. That’s gonna help him defending, cause even if he does get beat, there’s gonna be a second effort trying to get back in the play & kill that play.” "Rob Ramage
The players that Ramage spoke the most glowingly about could also show who has the best chance of making the Canadiens out of training camp. His comments about Lane Hutson seem like a glimpse into the front office's belief that he won't be a defensive liability in the NHL.
"“He’s (Ivan Demidov) actually been in contact with our training staff, the strength & conditioning guys Dale and Steph on a regular basis. He’s another guy who’s really keen, early in his relationship with us. He’s very hungry. Nick Bobrov obviously has a lot of communication with his coach and what’s going on in Russia. We do Zoom calls, he speaks decent English... You don’t get bitter, you get better.”"Rob Ramage
It seems like Demidov may be as upset about his KHL usage as Canadiens fans are. It's hard to take too much out of Ramage's comments, but Demidov's contact with the organization is a good sign of his impending arrival in North America. It's good to see Nick Bobrov stepping in on Demidov's behalf.
"“We see (Owen Beck) as a leader and he is. He just carries himself like an NHL player already. His fitness testing was NHL plus. This is a guy who went to the Memorial Cup and had a long season but he didn’t take his foot off the pedal with his training this summer.”"Rob Ramage
If the Canadiens already see Owen Beck carrying himself as an NHL player... Beck has an outside chance of making the Canadiens out of training camp, as there is simply not enough space for him to play. However, could Christian Dvorak or another depth veteran get traded before the end of the preseason to fit in Beck?