(Laval) It was only a preparatory match and the Toronto Marlies deployed a slightly younger lineup – it seems that it is possible – than that of the Laval Rocket on Thursday afternoon in the Queen City. That did not prevent Jean-François Houle, Friday lunchtime, from painting a positive portrait of the work of his team.
“I really liked our match. I thought we played well. We had talked about a little structure during the week and we wanted to see the players execute our structure,” analyzed Houle less than 24 hours after the Rocket’s 3-1 victory in a match played in front of deserted stands at the Coca-Cola Coliseum.
“What I liked was that the players blocked shots, finished their checks. They played with intensity, and that’s what we want here in Laval in all matches, which is to give an honest effort. And I think it was there yesterday (Thursday),” added Houle, who also appreciated the intensity and quality of execution of his players during Friday morning’s training session.
In Thursday’s match, three players led the Laval attack: Jared Davidson, with two goals, Riley Kidney, who collected three assists, and defender Miguel Tourigny, who also obtained two assists.
Houle had good words for Davidson, a 21-year-old forward who had at least 80 points in each of his last two seasons with the Seattle Thunderbirds of the Western Junior League.
“He’s like (Xavier) Simoneau last year,” compared Houle.
“Simoneau forced our hand. We almost had it on paper to send to Trois-Rivières. He stayed here, he made the team and after that he signed a National League contract. I think he’s really forcing our hand,” Houle admitted of Davidson.
The Rocket scored all of their goals on the power play Thursday, and the Marlies also took advantage of the man advantage to deceive the vigilance of goaltender Strauss Mann, who replaced Jakub Dobes midway through the game.
Mann didn’t have to wait long before being put to the test. Just 12 seconds after arriving on the ice, the Rocket took a minor penalty in which the Marlies scored their only goal, on their first shot to Mann.
In just over 30 minutes of action, Mann received 20 pucks, seven more than Dobes, and faced five of the Marlies’ seven power plays, including three in the second half of the second period. Houle also liked what he saw from his 25-year-old goalkeeper.
“It’s always difficult to get in front of the net after starting the game on the bench, whether you expect it or not. I knew I would play and for me it was a learning opportunity in situations like this,” Mann said Friday afternoon, while praising the effort of his shorthanded teammates.
“I was tested early with a lot of shots and I tried to stay calm. They scored a goal quickly and it was a bit of a mental test to overcome this adversity. I found that it stabilized after that and I’m proud of how I got there. »
The Rocket carried out its first maneuvers to reduce its personnel on the ice by cutting nine players Friday morning.
The list includes forwards Isaac Dufort, Ty Smilanic, Alex-Olivier Voyer and Nolan Yaremko.
Voyer and Yaremko will join the Trois-Rivières Lions, in the ECHL, while Dufort was returned to the Baie-Comeau Drakkar, in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
The other five are defensemen Stanislav Demin, Eric Hjorth, Noah Laaouan, Andrew Nielsen and Christopher Merisier-Ortiz.
Hjorth, Laaouan, Nielsen and Merisier-Ortiz were all transferred to the Trois-Rivières team.
“The hard work for a coach is to talk to the young person to tell him that we have lowered him (to a lower level). I went through that as a player. These are not easy days for me or the players, but it has to be done and that’s part of professional hockey,” Houle recalled.
As a result of these decisions, the Rocket has 29 players in training camp. The roster includes 17 forwards, eight defensemen and four goalies.
The Rocket will play their second and final preparatory game of training camp on Sunday afternoon against the Belleville Senators at Place Bell. Here again, for logistical reasons, the match will be presented in front of no spectators, except those close to the players.
Defender Logan Mailloux will participate in this meeting as will the players who did not face the Marlies on Thursday.
Removed from the Canadiens camp on Tuesday afternoon, Mailloux did not meet the media after Rocket training on Friday. However, Houle has spoken to him briefly since Mailloux joined the team, and he assured that the Ontario defender is in good spirits.
“I spoke to him just a little bit and he seemed very decent. He seems aware of where he is in his career. I think he recognizes that it’s important for him to play games in the American League and continue to move forward with his development,” Houle said.
“Why didn’t I talk to him? It’s because often, what I do is that when a guy is assigned (to the minors) I give him two days to relax a little bit and think about his business. And after that, that’s when I’m going to sit down with him and we’re going to chat. I don’t like doing it straight away when I arrive because they’re already on their heels. It’s just a way to make them feel more comfortable and open up the conversation. “.