On September 30, after a week of training camp, the Canadiens announced their first wave of cuts. Of the 23 players cut, several have made it rain or shine with the Lions of Trois-Rivières, in the ECHL, this season. None have been seen in the NHL.
One of the 23 will eventually make it there: Joel Teasdale, recalled on Tuesday.
For Stéphane Dubé, a physical trainer who has known Teasdale for ten years, it was additional proof of his client’s determination.
“You have to put yourself in context. On Day 1 of camp, he got kicked out. The guys know that, they see the bands at the start and he wasn’t in the main band. Of course you won’t play an exhibition game, ”recalls Dubé, on the phone.
Teasdale did not actually play a single preseason game before being cut. And he was not done drooling, because it was from the bridge that he attended the first four games of the Laval Rocket.
“He showed so much character,” Dubé continued. You arrive at the camp, you don’t have a sniff, you tell yourself that the organization doesn’t trust you. You arrive in the minors, you do not play.
“We met and I said to him, ‘It can turn fast.’ And as a matter of fact, when they brought him in, he took his chance and he worked really hard. The way it started, it was an even bigger challenge than his two knee injuries. You arrive and you are not part of the plans, young people pass in front of you. »
The main interested party confirms it: the fall was not rosy. “It was really hard, it had never happened to me to be left out when I was healthy. So I had to work on myself. But that’s my character. I always come out stronger and I took advantage of my chance when I had it. »
This trait was tested twice rather than once. Teasdale suffered a first tear in the anterior cruciate ligament of the right knee in August 2019. His 2019-2020 season was therefore in the water, and the next one did not start until February 2021 due to the pandemic.
This same pandemic had also prompted him to set up a makeshift training center in his backyard, a situation that La Presse had documented.
He had therefore been two years without playing, and his return had only lasted two months. April 23, 2021, new tear. New operation.
That’s why everyone is excited to see the 24-year-old get his first shot at the NHL. Starting with Daniel Jacob, who led Teasdale as an assistant to Joël Bouchard with both the Armada and the Rocket.
“It’s mostly his story,” Jacob said. He entered [junior] at 16 and he had a weight problem. He was a month without playing until he got into shape. He didn’t have it easy with his knees. Several would have put the key in the door. Then he trained in his backyard. He kicked several doors before opening one. »
“With his injuries, we won’t hide it, he didn’t have it easy,” adds Alexandre Alain, Teasdale’s former teammate in Boisbriand and Laval. “He’s a gamer who wants to perform. I’m not surprised, but really happy, because he worked so hard. »
Teasdale is also a working in his player identity. “He’s not the biggest, not the biggest, but you come to the edge of the strip and you know he won’t let you win easily,” Alain summed up.
The problem is that his identity already seemed defined for many. Even before his injuries, Teasdale had to work on his skating, and that kind of label is sometimes hard to tear off.
“He’s not a natural, super-perfect skater,” Jacob said. But that’s not because he’s not trying to improve. We see it. And he does something else to compensate, so he still brings grist to the mill. It is a very good complement for other players, by its work in restricted space. He is not spectacular, but all the coaches like him, because he can play in all situations, he understands quickly and he executes well. »
“He’s not auntie. He heard all the people saying, “Second surgery, he’s not super fast, is he going to come back to 100%?” But mentally he is strong, he was able to block that,” adds Stéphane Dubé.
Teasdale doesn’t try to embellish his story; he did wonder about his future. “For sure my second injury in less than three years, I may have thought about it a bit. But my character is one of my strengths. I come out stronger from these trials.
“I lost two years of development. But I took those two years off and in my head it’s like I’m 21. I’m here to fight, I want to play for the Canadiens and I’m going to try to get a crowd. »
