The Canadian’s lighter schedule at the start of the season certainly comes with its advantages. Since Tuesday’s loss, for example, the team was able to afford Wednesday off and practices Thursday and Friday, the latter focusing almost exclusively on special teams.
Except that with three long days between matches, the narrative changes less quickly. So the special teams fiasco last game remained in the news all week. As a reminder:
Knowing this, the Canadian head coach, Martin St-Louis, delivered a vibrant plea for his men on Saturday morning, a few hours before the duel against the Washington Capitals. As if he felt he should recalibrate the speech.
“I want to be careful with my formulations,” warned St-Louis, at the end of a very optional training session. There has been so much focus on our special teams in recent days. It was perhaps a negative element for a match. But I had very few questions about our 5v5 game.
“You [the media] focus more on the negative, on what needs to be fixed, and that’s okay. I understand, society is like that. In the dictionary, there are four negative words for every positive word,” he added, a claim that was impossible to cross-verify at the time of publication.
St-Louis then tried to present the play of its special teams in a more positive light. “Against Chicago, we had seven penalties. Against Toronto, we scored two goals in four power plays, but one of the goals was disallowed. And against Chicago, we only got two numerical advantages. Then we come against Minnesota and we give up two goals during our power play, including one on a very bad jump, and that put us on our heels. »
“We are very organized offensively. In restarts, we are one of the best teams in the league. When we are patient in the opposing zone, we are good,” argued St-Louis.
On the other hand, the famous indiscipline that angers so many also occurs at 5 against 5, which is an indicator in itself. In 126 minutes of play in these circumstances, CH received 16 minor penalties, or one every eight minutes. This is obviously an unsustainable pace for the quartets then tasked with defending the territory.
“Twelve minutes on the disadvantage is a lot to ask,” admitted St-Louis. But after three games, I’m not throwing anything out the window. These are learning experiences for the group. »
This duel against the Capitals will offer Justin Barron the chance to play his first game of the season. The injury to Kaiden Guhle allows St-Louis to insert him into the squad.
Joel Armia was recalled from the Laval Rocket, but will have to wait before playing his first match of the season with CH. Armia was transferred to Laval at the end of training camp, after being ignored by the 31 other NHL teams on waivers. The 30-year-old winger has four goals and one assist in four games.
Speaking of the Rocket, Filip Mesar was transferred to the Kitchener Rangers, in the Ontario Junior League (OHL). He was eligible for a return to the junior ranks, by virtue of being 19 years old. The Slovak, 1st round pick (26th overall) of the Habs in 2022, was left out during the Rocket’s first two games. He played the last two, collecting an assist.
In an interview with La Presse last week, Kitchener general manager Mike McKenzie recalled that even if he is eligible to play in the American League at 19, due to his status as a European drafted in the 1st round, Mesar could still learn in junior.
“At 19, players are still young and can develop physically. Filip has a lot of talent and he showed it last year. He is fast, lively with the puck, talented. But all young people need development. It’s rare that an 18, 19-year-old goes pro and dominates,” McKenzie said.
Last season, Mesar scored 51 points (17 goals, 34 assists) in 52 games in Kitchener.
Before the morning training on Saturday, the crippled Kaiden Guhle and Christian Dvorak practiced before the rest of the group. Guhle wore a gray sweater, suggesting he cannot take contact.
With the Capitals, defenseman Hardy Haman Aktell will play his very first game in the NHL. This 25-year-old Swede, former prospect for the Nashville Predators, is playing his first season in North America, after three seasons at Vaxjo.
Careful observers will note that he does not have the most common surname for a Swede and La Presse has investigated further to find the explanation. His first name is therefore a tribute to Hardy Nilsson, a former star of the Skelleftea club. What about the name Aktell?
“My grandfather’s name was Andersson, but there were three other Andersson’s in his building, so he always ended up with mail that was addressed to his neighbors! So he changed his last name to Aktell. »
