In Hainsight: Canadiens’ Prospects Undergo Physical Testing

Any training camp worth its name starts with physical testing, the day everyone dreads. The Canadiens Rookie camp kicked off yesterday at the CN Sports Complex in Brossard, and it wasn’t an exception to the rule. The Laval Rocket coaching staff put the 27 prospects through their paces with strength, endurance, and impulsion tests. This crop of prospects includes players likely to play a big role in Laval this upcoming season, a few players who’ll be hoping to impress and win a roster spot with the Habs against all odds and fifth overall pick at this year’s draft, David Reinbacher.

A year ago, the Canadiens released a video of Juraj Slafkovsky all but destroying a spin bike during his power strength test, but this time around, it’s a video of Owen Beck doing just the same that was sent to the media. Aside from this test, the players also took various other tests, long jump, impulsion, side jumps with resistance, push-ups, bench press, the works.

Laval Rocket head coach Jean-François Houle spoke to the media yesterday morning and was excited to get going saying that every year, there are surprises, last season this it the place where Xhekaj, Guhle, and Harris, to name a few, impressed on their way to cracking the Canadiens’ line-up. Speaking about the Prospect Challenge in Buffalo, the bench boss said that the players were nervous and that it’s not an easy tournament to handle mentally since they all want to perform so well. During the tournament, Houde said that he likes his team to play freely so he doesn’t impose much structure; he just wants to see what they can do playing against players their own age and give them a chance to impress.

Just like in Montreal, Laval will aim to develop its players this season and ensure that if there are injuries with the big club, they are ready to step up. While growth will be important, Houle adds that the Rocket also wants to win for its fans, but also so that their players can learn to win. Unlike the Canadiens’ management, Houle didn’t shy away from the “P word”. The Rocket will be aiming to bring Spring hockey to Laval.

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Houle also said that throughout the year, he’ll be in constant contact with the Montreal coaches to ensure that the right players are given the right opportunity and are in the right chair so to speak.

Before then, the Canadiens’ hopeful will be playing three games in Buffalo:

-Friday, September 15, against the Sabres at 7:00 PM
-Saturday, September 16, against the Bruins at 3:30 PM
-Monday, September 18, against the Senators at 1:30 PM

Fans who are eager to catch some action will be able to watch all three games on RDS.ca as they’ll be streamed; something tells me there will be plenty of people watching even though those are exhibition games featuring prospects only, after all, the future is bright in Montreal, and there is plenty of young talent. I’ll be keeping an eye on Reinbacher to see how well he adapts to the North American game, Mailloux, to assess if his decision-making and backward skating has improved, and on Beck, Mesar, and Roy up front. I’ll admit that I’m curious to see how Florian Xhekaj will handle himself in those games; we’ll get to see how his play compares to his brother and if he brings the same grit to the table.