(Laval) Since his arrival with the Montreal Canadiens organization, Joel Armia has never been the very talkative type. Thursday morning, on the other side of the Rivière des Prairies, he wasn’t very talkative either.
Only three journalists came to attend the Laval Rocket training session at Place Bell, even though the Laval team had already announced that the nebulous Finn was going to meet the media.
However, the press scrum lasted less than four minutes and it was punctuated, essentially, by four central themes that Armia repeated more than once.
“Of course, everyone who is here wants to be in the National League. I’m going to act professionally and do everything I can here,” he said from the outset, after saying he was doing well.
Acting professionally, working hard, being patient and taking things one day at a time were at the heart of most of his responses.
This was the case when he was asked if he was surprised by the Canadian’s decision.
” I don’t know. I don’t really have any comments to make on that. Like I said, I’m here, I’m focusing on this, I’m going to stay patient, take things one day at a time and work hard,” the Finn reiterated.
This was also the case when a journalist asked him if his goal was to return to the Canadian as quickly as possible.
Or when he was asked if he saw himself returning to Montreal, or if he wanted a transaction instead.
” I’ve no idea. Honestly, it’s not in my hands,” he commented in response to this very question.
“Like I said, I’m just going to be patient, take things one day at a time and work hard. That’s all. That’s all I can do,” he added.
Armia’s refrain was different and a little more elaborate when asked about the group of young skaters who will make up the 2023-24 edition of the Rocket.
“There are so many good young players in this group. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen so many young players with such great skills overall. And they’re really good guys too. It’s nice to see,” said Armia, while admitting that he could benefit from their enthusiasm.
As promised, head coach Jean-François Houle wanted to give Armia some time to integrate into his new group before sitting down and chatting with his newcomer.
Thursday in front of journalists, Houle assured that the Finn has displayed a very good attitude since his arrival and that he has integrated very well into the team.
Above all, Houle knows that he has on hand a player who can bring a lot to a team as young as the one he will lead in the regular season.
“He’s a guy who has a lot of experience, he has good skills. He’s a big guy, one of the biggest we have up front. He can be physical, he can go to the net, we know he is capable of scoring goals, we don’t have many right-handers. For sure he can help our team, just with his experience. »
That said, Houle is well aware of the emotions that Armia may have experienced over the past few days.
“We had a conversation and I think he’s in a good frame of mind. Of course, going through that isn’t easy mentally. I think he is in good spirits. The players have received it very well and it’s going to go well,” said the Rocket head coach.
This sound also came from center player Brandon Gignac.
“He could have showed up with a negative attitude, because it’s not fun what’s happening to him, but he came here really positive. He works in training and he is extremely talented. It’s not for nothing that he played in the National League as long as he did. »
With Armia in the ranks, and including injured goaltender Zachary Émond, there are still 29 players remaining in the Rocket camp, including 17 forwards and nine defensemen.
However, Houle indicated that he has four attackers and three defenders too many. Decisions regarding training will be made Friday morning, said the Rocket head coach.
“These are definitely not easy decisions, these are heartbreaking decisions. There are some guys who won’t play tomorrow (Friday) who deserve to play, but that’s part of professional hockey. We have several good players. That’s a nice problem for an instructor to have,” remarked Houle.
Furthermore, the Rocket head coach explained that he wants to keep more players rather than fewer in the team environment.
“We plan to keep several players around this year and be part of the development. We want them to stay with us, we want to work with these players,” he explained.
“Even if we have more people in training, the Canadian is very well supported in terms of development. Paul Byron was on the ice today, there is Francis Bouillon, Scott Pellerin, Adam Nicholas. Yes, we will have a few more players around, but they will be well supported so that they can continue their progress even if they are not playing. »
Incidentally, Houle confirmed that Jakub Dobes will start Friday’s game against the Abbotsford Canucks.
The same two teams will cross swords on Saturday afternoon at Place Bell.
