The Canadian must play well tonight. And this, even though it’s a… Tuesday.
If the CH gets washed out this evening, there is nothing (not even the American elections) that will stop the fans from complaining about the club. Martin St-Louis’ men are therefore better off pulling off a big one.
And the guys know that.
But even with good will, there will still be difficult times. That’s what managing a young group is: it comes with ups, but also downs during the year.
And on that, Antoine Roussel made a good point.
In conversation with Mario Langlois yesterday on 98.5 FM, the former NHL player mentioned that in Montreal, we tend to fall in love a little quickly with draft picks.
This is particularly what makes it difficult for the club to win.
Listening to Roussel speak, you can hear the former NHL player speaking to him. And you can hear the former NHL depth player talking to him, in fact.
Why do I say that? Because one sentence struck me. That’s what he was told when he played.
You have to survive the first month of the season. –Antoine Roussel
Why the first month? Because at camp, everything is beautiful and everything is new. But once the season gets underway, we realize that some young people are finally struggling.
And this is where the Antoine Roussels of this world rise. In Montreal, that could mean Alex Barré-Boulet on offense.
We see it with Logan Mailloux, for example. He didn’t do particularly well in Montreal in October and we wonder if the CH traded the Johnathan Kovacevic or Jordan Harris of this world too quickly… even if everyone knew that the cleaning had to begin.
Managing young people has its ups and downs. And it takes veterans to surround everyone.
In burst
– Optional training for the CH this morning.
– He’s coming back this evening.
– Gerrit Cole: when the MLBPA meddles with its exit option. [Passion MLB]
– Auston Matthews is injured.
