Expert Off-Ice Training Advice for Montreal Canadiens Prospects
[Music] [Music] welcome to your Canadians connection on Rocket Sports Radio we are proud to be the trusted source for all things Habs from more than a decade this is the Canadians connection podcast [Music] we are going to get you to all of the latest Habs hockey talk that you are here for in just a minute but while Rick and Michael are getting settled in the studio I just want to bring you a quick message from our brand new sponsor for the show manscaped so ladies and gentlemen it’s my pleasure to announce that a smooth sack summer is officially upon us when your man is play in the Summer sun make sure he’s groomed from pubes to bum thanks to our friends over at manscaped he can make this season his smoothest yet the performance package 5.0 Ultra is the ultimate bundle to keep his boys downstairs cool while looking hot have him join the 10 million men worldwide who trust manscaped with our exclusive offer right here on the show get 20% off plus free shipping when you go to manscaped.com and use code th hpn it’s summertime and the trimming is easy right hey the manscaped performance package 5.0 Ultra has everything he needs to prepare for that summer bod uh and inside the package you’ll get the star of the show which is the lawn mower 5.0 Ultra and manscaped even threw in two free gifts on this package the manscaped boxers and the shed travel bags so get 20% off plus free shipping with the code th hpn at manscaped.com that’s 20% off and free shipping with the code thpm at manscaped.com hey it’s smooth sack summer ladies and gentlemen get your mans or yourselves on board or get left behind now let’s get to the show hello everyone welcome to the Canadians connection podcast here on Rocket Sports Radio keeping you informed engaged and entertained my name is Michael spinella and I’ll be your host for the next hour this is episode 304 of the Canadians connection podcast and I’m pleased to be joined in the studio by my co-host who is the founder and the president of Rocket Sports Mr Rick Stevens how’s it going today Rick it’s going pretty good uh we’re calling that you said episode 304 we’re calling it Montreal Canadians prospects Eat Sleep Train and then repeat have you been getting your sleep have you been training have you been eating properly Michael I I’ve been eating and sleeping I can tell you that much that I think that probably uh goes for many of our uh listeners as well who are enjoying the summer um and maybe by the beach maybe at the cottage uh maybe just mowing the lawn but they’re taking the Canadians connection podcast with them wherever they go because they don’t they don’t don’t want to miss a thing and listen it’s been a little quiet this week um got a text at uh yesterday and and uh said um I know you’re moving but keep keep your phone with you next week so and and that was somebody who should know um so you know if um whatever stock you put in that um there’s there’s still all kinds of things as we talked about before the um before the podcast started in our pre-show prep uh you said we’re we’re kind of getting used to a summer trade so uh when’s that going to come is that going to come Midsummer is it going to get closer to um when training camp opens we’ll uh we’ll see it can happen whenever just not five minutes after we finish recording today ideally yeah that’ be great but uh today uh if all goes as planned uh we will get you up to date on everything Montreal Canadians in this first segment uh some roster news uh some Prospect news as well and some news from around the NHL we also have some audio coming in from Yakov Novak in segment two uh we will welcome back our Rocket Sports media medical consultant Dr stevenh Morris and we’re going to be talking about offseason training and in segment three it’s a have your say segment we’ll turn it over to our listeners to hear what they have to say but also our Canadians connection question of the week is which Habs Prospect do you believe has the greatest chance of making the opening night roster this year we want to hear from you and uh Rick what’s the best way for people to reach out to us and let us know their thoughts we’ve set up a text line uh for you uh especially it’s the Rocket Sports text line uh just so that you can text US 24 hours a day hey you can call it and and leave a voicemail message if you want to but text we hear most commonly from our listeners that text line is easy to remember 5853 rocket just remember 5853 rocket and uh text us anytime you can also follow us on social media make sure that you are following aabs connection on Twitter Facebook and Instagram plus we have a website you can check out that’s Canadians connection. FB and here’s an interesting story that appeared this past week uh Spotlight was put on Jordan Harris in the latest edition of my man the Canadians defenseman’s girlfriend Cody cross shared insights into his life off the ice and uh was there anything interesting there that stood out to you Rick it’s kind of that offseason soft news um interesting feature uh that canadians. comom is doing uh Cody cross says she met Jordan uh Harris uh in 2019 both were at Northeastern he was on the men’s hockey team she was on the women’s hockey team uh she said that she is two years older uh than Jordan and what she likes most what she admires most what she considers his best quality is that he is patient um he’s patient when he’s speaking to people she said he has that kind of philosophy of um just just caring about where his feet are at the moment and just devoting all his attention whether that’s on the ice whether that’s off the ice and talking to people um she also um talked about we remember that um Jordan was nominated was the Canadians nomination for the King Clancy Memorial uh trophy for his community work and she said that uh together they really enjoyed doing volunteer work and Community work um and afterwards they end up talking for days about how much fun that is and and so that’s something they’ll uh they’ll always do whenever whenever Jordan has time as far as things that um you might not know about Jordan Harris she says he’s a really good cook uh he makes most of their meals gets kind of creative in the kitchen and she said if there’s one song that describes um her man Jordan Harris it’s Dancing Queen uh by Abba uh that he loves to dance and uh he’s just a chill and carefree guy uh so she says well he sounds like a great person and uh I’m sure we all appreciate a lot of his charity work too so nice to hear about that from uh her perspective uh the next bit of soft news here is in regards to the Summer of Love and we talked about Brendan Gallagher’s wedding last week well photos of Brendan Gallagher and Emma 40’s wedding have emerged this week you can see lots of habs in some of these photos including Carri price and honestly it’s just absolutely stunning it stunning it’s um lu luxurious reception hall maon prinel uh the the lighting the decor the uh it just spectac it looked like a Hollywood uh type uh wedding um and yeah you can see from from the dress to the spectacular wedding ring she’s she’s wearing this this was a big event um for uh Montreal Canadians and part of uh as we’ve been saying the Summer of Love so make sure that you follow daily Habs post throughout the offseason via Rocket Sports on Twitter and check out our exclusive content at insidethe canadiens.com taking a look at some roster news RDS has projected lines and defense pairings for the upcoming season uh just kind of quickly rattle some of these off the top line as expected Coffield Suzuki slavkovsky line two is where it gets a little bit interesting on the wing new hook in the middle Kirby dock on the other Wing yel Arma I actually don’t mind that third line Joshua W Christian Dvorak Brendan Gallagher fourth line rapael Harvey penard Jake Evans and Josh Anderson I think very bold to put Josh Anderson on that uh fourth line and three extras in terms of players so Alex Barry poule EML Hinman and Michael pizetta I look at the forward groups and I think something else that stands out to me is you could easily move on from one of those veterans and you certainly have a replacement ready to go well it’s um they they certainly haven’t uh adhered to the the the roster limit they’re playing a little faster and loose with and that’s fine it’s it’s July uh so they’re uh just putting that out there um pretty easy to project the Top Line in Suzuki Coffield and slavoski but um i’ I’d like to see at some point during the year uh we remember the chemistry that was developing uh short-lived mind you but um between slavkovsky and Doc I’d like to see um you know a slavov slavov doc Anderson kind of line um as you said uh pretty bold putting Army up there I can see why uh that’s not going to sit well with uh many Canadians fans though Joshua uh I think uh lots of fans are ready to promote him uh into the top six I I think he needs to prove himself a little bit more before that happens fourth line um I understand RHP in there but he had a really rough season I know there was injury involved but when he was on the ice he was just um invisible um the names i’ I’d add to this forward group uh for consideration they have um Alex Barry Boule and I understand why they do that I expect that he’ll play most of the season in LVL uh but where’s Owen Beck where’s Shan Farrell um I think both could be under consideration to be in that forward group yeah absolutely I agree with all of that taking a look at how they project out the defense pairings this is I think they made a couple bold swings here the top pairing mat and ghouly we saw plenty of that last year and I know that neither of us was really a fan of having G on the right side I’m GNA play say that again mat and and gouie on the right [Laughter] side uh so yeah I I think we’d like to see gouie move back to the left side with maybe a stronger defense partner uh the second pairing interesting to Lane Hudson David Savard well talk about David sard in a little bit but I like that they’re projecting Hudson to come out and uh be on that second pairing right away and the third pairing being Arbor xaki and Jaden strubel uh you know it’s a lot of muscle I guess and we’ll see if anyone maybe pushes uh those two players out of the way there are three extras Jordan Harris Justin Baron Logan Mayu you’re going to have to convince me that all three of these guys are not going to crack this roster because I think at least one or two them probably should be and unfortunately I I would have them ahead of strubel and Jacky for sure yeah I think strubel is on the on the bubble I mean he had a a very good unexpected a very good season um but do you need a a jaai and a and a strubel um espe especially on the same line I understand that’d be kind of fun to watch but um and especially with uh Logan Mayu in in Waiting who brings the physicality but also far more an offensive potential than than those two uh where’s David reinbacher no no love for David reinbacher he looked very good uh in lval I understand give him more seasoning let him play some more games there but he should be under consideration if he has a a good training camp um as well um I I I don’t like I’ll say it again I don’t like uh that priority is going to uh the veteran over uh uh the young core player in Kaden ghouly put Kaden Gully where he belongs and then fit people around him um he’s he’s got a play on the left side uh this coming uh season um I know they’ve moved uh kovich but I think you have to move another veteran whether it be mat or David seard probably David sard um yeah to make uh more room and uh yes because you have Harris you have Baron who is no longer waver exempt um and U Mayu with a a brilliant season last year in lval one of the best defensemen in the American Hockey League contrary to some we’ll get to that later um and uh and like I said David Ryan backers so uh that’s that’s uh it’s interesting I I don’t agree with much there yeah exactly and like you said plenty of room to move out uh one or two players particularly a veteran and in terms of no surprise whatsoever monbo and Kaden Primo no changes there uh but I mened we would talk a little bit about David sard here uh there is a report from the fourth period saying that several teams have shown interest in David sard uh this includes some teams out west uh we’ve talked about uh David saard maybe being on the Trey block as we approached the draft uh there was a few occasions earlier this year in which he appeared on some of the trade boards uh I think that this summer is probably a now or never type situation to move on from sard and make room for some of the younger players let me just circle back quickly to um we we skip past the the goenda montmo Primo Tandem and that’s absolutely the most likely scenario it’ just be a little fun if if if yakob doas throws some question into that that rotation at some point uh and if and if he has a spectacular I I think he’s just got a um he had a good season last year um he he was really strong down the stretch for Laval and he’s got a just a unique one of those quirky go tender personalities uh it would be fun just to throw a question mark in uh if he has a a good training camp um but back to David sard yes the fourth period says that um according to their information that the Dallas Stars the Colorado Avalanche and the Winnipeg Jets have have each expressed interest as you said three Western Conference teams in the services of David sard and um I’d just say can’t get that done that’s all I that’s all I have to say there and if not aard you can also try maon it’s fine uh one final note here uh in terms of trade Rumblings uh there are some trade Rumblings involving Montreal and Winnipeg that is in regard to rer mcrai uh there is a rumored package involving phelip masar and other pieces that Montreal offered to win a peg I would be all for this and I think this is where Montreal has done a good job of stockpiling a lot of prospects and picks so that they can go after a player like this that I think has a lot of potential and still pretty young so uh certainly like what I hear in regard to that but it sounds like a lot of other teams are in the mix here to try and get this player this is fascinating and and no we’re not we’re not uh pumping a you know an internet rumor or um or a social media rumor let me let me say this this um story um originated from a hockey blog in Slovakia uh that was talking specifically about fet masar and the and the um the title of uh the article um from Andreas the journalist Sports journalist Andrea sto strova I’m sorry if I’m pronouncing that right um Andreas says will phelip masar leave Montreal question mark the Canadians offer their Slovac offer a Slovac forward um and so they um seem to have gathered information uh as you said FIP masar is part of this package to um pry RG MCG already from um Winnipeg so the information they have it would be masar uh a first round pick either the Panthers of the flames in 2025 and a young defenseman uh whether it’s Justin Baron or Jordan Harris um they don’t know um but it says that that Winnipeg has rejected uh that offer for now which is um which is pretty big offer uh they go on to talk about whether um uh felip masar has lost favor um and has been pushed down the depth chart uh in Montreal and and one of the reasons that uh this may be happening um it’s you know I I I I don’t I know that this is kind of stalled I I expect that um that there’s going to be a domino here Pat Patrick Lina is going to be um he’ll he’ll the the player assistance program uh something will happen with either Patrick lard Trevor zis or or um NES um I think one of those dominoes has to has to fall before we see a majority trade um but you know uh we’ll we’ll we’ll keep an eye on that and see uh and see what happens yeah for sure and with that I think it’s a good time to get to the Habs Prospect report it’s time for the rocket report the Rocket Sports media team is your Premier Source for information about the Laval rocket the AHL affiliate of the Montreal Canadians as well as Habs prospects playing in the CHL NCAA and leagues around the world bookmark thn.com monreal to follow our comprehensive coverage of Canadians prospects each week we like to shine the spotlight on a Montreal Canadians Prospect and this week we will shine the spot L on forward Philip Erikson uh left shot Center uh he’s 5’1 uh sixth round pick in 2023 uh that was number 165 overall uh coming off a season in which he put up uh I think between two different teams about 30 points here uh certainly someone that we’ve talked about a few times and uh Rick I think there was kind of an interesting story about him this past week yeah there was an interview done uh by the good Folks at TV sport they interviewed um Philipe Ericson’s coach uh that’s Tommy Samuelson um who’s a veteran coach and and um he said uh find the quote here he I’ve coached several players in my career who have made it to the NHL and he lists there’s a list uh Jonas brine uh Rasmus asand uh Joel Ericson e and uh he says I can tell you without hesitation that I’ve never seen Philip Erikson’s sense of The Game and his ability to manage the puck Under Pressure um he said uh I want people to understand how unusual it is to see a 19-year-old guy come into our league after a season ruined by injury and dominate like that and do when he says dominate uh Philipe Ericson had 24 points in 21 games and that’s the the um he had uh 29 games I think in the SA that’s the league we’re familiar with tier 2 is the ensin league and uh this that’s where he he um got more than a point a game um but at 19 that’s um that’s a big uh accomplishment especially uh because the prior season he had uh he missed a good part of the season with a broken hand um so um Philipe says uh honestly I was really surprised to be selected and that was um in the 2023 draft as you said uh 165th overall um considering the fact that I hadn’t been able to play a lot he was injured in his draft here I felt like I hadn’t really demonstrated my knowhow but I was very happy to be chosen by the Montreal Canadians um Tommy Samson goes on to say his Puck management and his ability to read the game are off the charts he knows what’s going to happen 10 seconds later it’s both strange and spectacular he’s constantly well positioned he’s the kind of prospect who has the ability to separate the offensive zone into sectors and analyze them while controlling the puck th this means that his choices are often very good he spots his teammates well but doesn’t hesitate to shoot when necessary and he was used in uh all situations um on special teams and and uh and so on so he is um scheduled to play in the shl uh this coming year um and uh he’s a prospect that uh we’re going to keep an eye on uh especially these are glowing comments from from his coach Tommy Samson and kudos to tvsport for um setting up that interview yep uh like pretty much everything I heard there and uh like you said we’ll make sure to keep an eye on him throughout the next season uh some news coming from the Laval rocket uh the Laval rocket released their 2024 25 schedule and the season’s going to start against the Comets on October 30th and uh Rick uh anything stand out to you from that schedule Well they um they open their schedule on the road and um so Friday October 11th uh they head to Providence and they will play in the uh Bruins home opener next night they travel to Springfield uh and they play uh for the th in the Thunderbirds home opener which is it’s always tough because there’s ceremonies and whatnot so uh 11th and 12th um in the um are on the road and then they return to level and they host Syracuse uh you know there’s a rivalry there um and that’s that will be level’s home opener on Friday October 18th uh but there’s actually back-to-back games so they play the Syracuse Crunch at PL Bell on Friday and Saturday October 18th and 19 get your tickets now um and and and that’s uh that’s when they’ll make their own um home dayb um and and then there’s um as you said three games against uh the UA comets to to finish the the month of October um the only other thing I noticed in their schedule is that um they play Belleville on a Wednesday February 12th and that’s not that’s not interesting in itself because they play Belleville 100 times during the season but that game will be at the Canadian Tire Center um oh yeah uh and it’s during the NHL break uh for the four Nation cup uh so that might be that might be intered interesting seeing lval in a um in an NHL arena and um typically uh when the Canadians go to the Canadian tyring center it’s filled with with Montreal fans I expect uh there’s going to be some of that as well uh when Laval visits on February 12th I’ve actually seen uh one of the former Senators Affiliates play at the Canadian Tire Center a while back but it was against the Marley so uh there was one point in which that was an annual event but I think they kind of strayed away from that in more recent history but nonetheless it’s always a fun event and uh if you’re in Montreal not too far drive to go if you want to go and have some fun absolutely uh the rocket Bid Farewell to four former players that includes durando do uh Parker Jones uh Voyer and uh I don’t think there’s really anyone that uh we’re going to miss too too much are we yeah we’ve got Riley McKay going to the Henderson silver Knights and we know that I mean the uh the definition of bad penalty follows Riley McKay but for whatever reason he was an absolute favorite of JF uh John Parker Jones and and he was back and forth um to TU Rivier he’s got a a position with the Ontario rain in the AHL vo in Slovakia and durando in in Russia um and I think that’s fine we’re talk we talked we’ve talked several times about finding the right veterans um that are going to support the young players there’s going to be more younger players in um in Laval and uh the the veterans must be in a support role yeah uh the V rocket did sign a I guess a younger veteran Ford Alex baj to an AHL contract for the 20242 season uh last year you spent time uh between the AHL and the ECHL kind of a fringe player in the Avalanche organization and he’s a former uh third round pick by Colorado as well so kind of interested to see what he’s going to be able to do for this Lal rocket team coming up um that Chris is right on top of all these signings for both Laval um and for the tuah Rivier Lions so be sure um on on X on Twitter that you’re following at Chris Habs 360 Chris is uh you know what good work Chris does he’s been with me for a 100 years and uh and he’s he’s as I said on top of all of this and a little bit of news coming from the TW rier Lions uh the Lions have signed forwards Anthony bamp and Ryan uh bruette as well as as defenseman Jacob pette and Corey Thomas for the 2024 25 season so Bo shamp spent last year in the ECHL with the swamp rabbits uh Ryan Brett is a center from the NCAA uh Jacob pette spent some time with the Lions last season as did Cory Thomas so you might be a little bit familiar with those two yeah yeah this is the Lions filling out their roster prior earlier in the week they uh they qualified some players from last year these are new additions to the team you can find all our content about Canadians prospects at our Rocket Sports YouTube account insidethe canadiens.com and we have a couple quotes uh from this week and this ties in very well with the ECHL TW rier Lions and the AHL ofal rocket say on July the 1st the rocket signed Yakov Novak to a one-year oneway AHL contract he spent last year primarily with the ECHL lions and uh we have some audio from him he’s talking about his support system in this first one I I loved it uh the couple games I played in lval this uh last year and uh you know I think what’s going on right now and the way the organization is trending is that’s where I want you know I mean that’s where I want to play that’s where I want to be I think it’s uh you know great great staff great support system um you know what like if you ever need anything there’s always someone you could reach out to it the the support system there is incredible along with the players uh I mean there’s a lot of good players there too and you know what I just I think that I mean we all come together and you just never know hopefully you I mean everyone’s goal is you know win the CER so so um why are we featuring uh a player like like this well it’s because it’s because of of what he’s talking about the support system um there’s a support system around the team there’s a support within the team there’s the supports within the organization and uh you need we we we talked about finding the right um veterans uh Yakov Novak is 25 years old uh he was a seventh round pick um in 2018 by the Ottawa Senators um he’s he’s been around um only two games in the AHL and he talked about that in In that clip the two games that he played for Laval 161 games in the NCAA 80 games in the ECHL um but you need players that are going to be able to handle that transition from uh say the ECHL to to to play and be effective uh in the ECHL um and then and then um move up to to the rocket uh yakob Novak actually set a franchise record uh last year with the TW Rivier Lions um he had 30 goals and uh 26 assists 30 goals is the record 26 assist for 56 points in 66 uh games uh for toar Rivier so um again you need you need key pieces and and uh and he was one of them this this this past year and and and uh hopefully um for this next year and the second bit of audio coming from Novak he’s talking about what he can control uh I think the most positive things is just you know keep working uh keep working hard I think that’s something that I’ve been kind of doing uh from through my hockey career it’s it’s never really been a straight path so I think that you know how you can always judge how hard you work you can never really uh decide you know the way other things happen but I think if you just focus on how hard you work and you know kind of make that contagious and bring that into the team and you know have that that culture through everyone I think it only makes you stronger and it also helps push your teammates so I think that’s the biggest thing is you know just always stay even Keel and you know make sure that each day you’re giving it your best find the right veterans who have the right attitude who know their role he said he’s so well spoken he said so many good things and you want everybody throughout the organization uh to be talking the way he is um he said his his path uh to Pro Hockey wasn’t a a straight line um I’ve said for a million years development is not linear um you know he he spent um in the NHL nahl uh is where he um was recruited and and drafted uh that’s not that’s not a common League then he spent 5 years uh in the NCAA at Bentley University and then at North Eastern wore a letter his final year at nor Eastern uh and then found his way to TU Rivier and a couple games with with lavl as I mentioned uh the other thing that I really liked um him saying that you know you can’t control there’s no use worrying about uh injuries there’s no use and I’m filling in um obviously here I’m paraphrase paraphrasing uh there’s no use worrying about what you can’t control whether you get sent up sent down whatever what you can control is how hard you work and uh I think that’s a great message uh for those kinds of of players those kinds of support players um and he said that that if you have enough of those kind of players uh that um that culture um towards hard work uh it goes throughout the it becomes contagious and goes throughout the team again I thought it was um absolutely brilliant and and again it’s finding the right veterans and um another veteran that uh was brought back to the organization Laurent Defan um we remember he spent one year with um Laval and then went off to the Arizona um uh organization um and uh I he was uh it was lepress I believe that that interviewed him and he said um you know at first I was disappointed not to receive a two-way contract offer we remember in the past last year particularly there’s all kinds of guys um who were playing in lval who had a two-way uh offer um with the NHL and and AHL um and and they were playing for themselves they were playing for themselves uh to get that call up to the Montreal Canadians and it didn’t fit uh and and unfortunately you had a coach who prioritized the veterans um and now with a one-way contract as Laurent the fan said uh at first he was disappointed um but he said well he he made a joke saying my girlfriend’s really happy with the oneway contract now she knows where I I’ll be all the time um but he said I’m at the point in my career when I don’t want to do that uh any more going back and forth um and the stress of of that um he asked uh he went on to say what his role was he said I will be asked to be a good veteran capable of mentoring the the youngsters helping them perform well and I’m ready to do that that’s the kind of that’s the kind of Veteran you want so uh the quotes from both laurant Defan and yakob uh Yakov Novak um I think kind of there’s a signal change there about the kinds of players uh that the Canadians are looking for to stalk uh the Laval rocket yeah and I know that on this podcast we’ve given Lal a little bit of flak for the types of players they bring in to fill out their roster and you touched on it a little bit but it’s just seems like Yakov Novak has the right attitude for a guy that could make that jump from the ECHL to a full-time a so uh certainly appreciate hearing both of those quotes and uh we’ll keep an eye on whether or not there truly is a little bit of a cultural change within that organization uh and towards the end of the segment here we’ve got some hockey news from around the league starting things off uh the names of the Florida Panthers in 2023 24 have been engraved on the Stanley Cup so another big congrats to them you can find the photo of this online and uh yeah truly a special moment for that whole organization you know that um I’m an admirer of head coach Paul Murray I think he’s a brilliant coach one of the smartest coaches uh in the league um happy for him um and Roberto loango I think um most people in Montreal were the excitement that he had uh during the playoffs and and then um once uh uh the team won the Stanley Cup happy for him I’ll also mention a couple of people and it’s interesting because their names are uh one is below the other on the Stanley Cup if you see the the picture of the engrave first of all is uh svan lefave um and unfortunately San lefave fans didn’t really get to know him uh he was put in a bad situation under Mark bersan Mark ban was pulling the strings making the decisions uh didn’t always make syvan lefave look very good uh svan lefave was a good soldier while he was the head coach uh in lelt first in in um uh um St John’s sorry and and then in lval um and I thought he was ex they had good teachers uh at that point uh San Lefay was a good teacher his assistant at that point was Donald defrain um an ex they called him the professor he an exceptionally good teacher uh those are two good hockey guys uh but svan lefave in this case being the assistant coach uh under Paul Maurice um and uh happy for him that he has his name on the Stanley Cup again and below him on the cup is Rick Dudley Rick Dudley was an advisor to Mark bersan and Rick Dudley left because he said his advice Mark wasn’t listening to his advice and went to Florida where Bill Zito welcomed his advice Rick Dudley I sat with him hand more than a handful of times um and watch games I’ve I’ve never learned as much about the game of hockey than sitting beside Rick Dudley he talks out loud while the game’s going on and his insights what he sees on the ice like nobody else I’ve I’ve ever sat with to watch a game he’s he’s just the smartest man in hockey um and certainly I’m sure he uh contributed to the Stanley Cup so um I know we’re talking about the Montreal Canadians and I’ll speak as glowingly about uh the members that um that that will help them get to their the next cup uh but I just have to admire a few good hockey people um on on the list of the names that are on the the the current Stanley Cup H you know what let’s uh let’s talk about one more former member of the Montreal organization while we’re at it why don’t we um the Anaheim Ducks have added former Canadians golender Peter budai to their coaching staff I think that’s pretty cool uh he was a goalie coach for the Colorado Avalanche affiliate the Colorado Eagles just last season so I think good for Peter budai kind of an interesting career looking back on his stats he actually had a winning record by the end of it uh mostly a backup goenda new opportunity in that young Anaheim Ducks organization yeah he um backup for Carri price of course and and he he was one of those guys that understood his role he had a very good relationship I think Carrie had says had has said in the past that um he really liked uh the tandem with with Peter budai um and at at one point um budha was was with the St John’s ice caps we got a chance to talk to him he he’s a delightful person to talk to um knows knows a lot about the game um and Anaheim is um remember we we’ve oh this this is a while back but we talked about the Canadians should be setting up a department of go tending well that’s exactly what uh Anaheim has done they they took their current uh gold hending coach elevated him to the director of goal tending position responsible for goal tending throughout the organization which made um um there was an opportunity a hold to Phil and Peter budai is now uh the goal tending coach for the Anaheim Ducks and and good luck to him good guy and uh and I hope he is a good coach for them now Rick I I think I think I’m Gonna Knock on Wood and cross my fingers here this might be the last time we speak of the Arizona organization uh the NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly has reported that Alex murello has agreed to and signed all the necessary agreements and paperwork to relinquish his rights to the coyotes and with that let’s start the parade this is um yeah this is sad this is this is mostly sad for Gary bman they found a Fall Guy uh to to let let everything die with about the franch but what a failure um in Arizona for the coyotes organization um and and and constantly propping them up um and we know the reason this happened there was the land you know that the um Alex Mello the the organization went to Utah um all the assets he sold that all off but he retained the rights to to bring back the franchise if um they could get the arena and and all the stipulations uh there was that bizarre sort of land auction thing that uh was withdrawn and that seemed to be the last draw for Alex morelo he said I’m done um no more um I’m I’m I’m relinquishing my control um and uh and that’s it that’s the Final Chapter let’s hope as far as we know um that’s the end of the story uh of hockey in Arizona yeah and don’t get me wrong I I think we both like Arizona hockey fans I feel bad for them all the things they’ had to go through uh not their fault at all I think they they supported about as much as they could it I think this is all on Gary bman and just a failed experimen this thing had been going on for years so I’m I’m kind of just happy that this is hopefully the last I have to hear about it for a while at least yeah I agree with you uh some news coming from Hockey Canada Trevor Murphy has been hired as as the vice president of hockey development um he’s previously held executive roles with the St John’s ice caps of the American Hockey League and the ECHL New Finland Growlers so someone that like you said you’re a little bit familiar with and I think this is a pretty good role for him to take on yeah a lot familiar with Trev is a great hockey guy uh got to know him quite a bit when he was the director of hockey operations for uh the St John’s ice caps um as Brian Ro the broadcaster would say he hailes from beautiful um Mount Pearl newfinland um and and Trevor when he was with the the ice caps he just wore every hat there was he that director of hockey operations meant he did everything and he was good at everything um and was good to us uh as well um a pleasure to talk hockey with him uh as you said went on um to look after be the president of uh the Newland Growlers uh and now has a spot with Hockey Canada very deserving uh wonderful uh career and uh I know he’ll do good things with Hockey Canada uh we reported last week that a whole bunch of elc’s were signed for some of the first round picks in the 2024 draft uh we have a little bit more to report on this week uh tjin mlin Cabrini Sam Dickinson ardam lunov are all added to this list among a heck of a lot more players uh there’s a million of them the most of them um let me see um if you go 1 to 18 I think that Carter yurchuk with um with the Senators is unsigned deido of course is unsigned um and and Michael Gage is is unsigned but I was talking about the the top 18 there’s not many a slay with New Jersey’s not yet signed and Z William with um um Minnesota Wild signed I think that’s it in the top 18 everybody else um has uh from the 202 2024 draft the first round picks have have signed their entry-level contracts uh you mentioned the names of a few defenseman here and last week we talked about rankings put out by J fresh so let’s uh put those two that went over well didn’t it yeah yeah great reaction there but let’s talk about some defense and then we have some goalies to talk about and I’m sure we’ll get quite the reaction from this uh so this was all based off of a fan vote for the 20242 top 64 defenseman I’ll give you a quick one through five here kale marar Quinn Hughes Roman Yosi Adam Fox Miro hekinan I think that’s about right for a top five looking up and down the list here I’m not seeing any Montreal Canadians players within the top 64 and yeah that’s a it’s not great uh I to be honest I don’t think any of them at the moment at least belong within the top 64 what do you think yeah uh J fresh uh just to to review we we talked about him last week analytics guy um put out um you know his projections for the coming um season and had the Canadians in 31 Place I believe uh regressing to 69 points um and uh no it didn’t make Canadians fans happy that was what his model said um and uh so that’s what he um published um as far as this this is a a fan vote and a a pretty um a pretty interesting but 183,000 more than 183,000 uh votes cast by 2,896 voters um if you’re doing a political uh poll that’s uh you know plus or minus three for margin of error which is good um nothing in and and Montreal’s got uh a huge fan base especially on social media uh if if the if the the defenseman were worthy they would appear on this top 64 list shouldn’t be uh an issue at all um we’ve been talking about former Canadians so there are some former Canadians on this list number 19 Mel sergachev now a member of the Utah Hockey Club um and in Nashville number 49 Ryan MCD we don’t want to talk about that trade um so you said in the top 64 we don’t see a Canadian uh we do see three Colorado Avalanche and what three Utah Hockey Club uh defensemen on this list um wow yeah uh Utah made a lot of good trades over the course of the draft so that certainly helped them out uh one more thing I want to point out because I like poking fun of Toronto their highest ranked defenseman comes in 31 and it’s the veteran Chris tanv and I don’t think that’s a great look for the Toronto Maple Leafs at all if we’re being honest oh and we should tell folks you did some digging in and um Mike Mat isn’t on this list it’s a top 64 list um but uh he does appear at number 68 just off the list yeah uh taking a look at the top 64 goenda number 32 and be like okay there’s the group of starters 33 onward should be the backup genders right yeah um so I’ll give you another top five here just to set the tone here uh so coming in at one shurkin two huk three vasileski four Jeremy Swan and five UC Soros I that’s hard to argue with that that’s pretty good um something I think our listeners might also be kind of interested in is with all these International tournaments coming up you talked about uh the four nations Cup who might be a net for Canada well the highest ranked Canadian goldendent Hill from the Vegas golden knights uh then a little bit of Separation before a run of other Canadian goenda steuart Skinner Jordan bingson and Logan Thompson so a lot of Canadian goendale of the pack but I’m a hopeful guy I’m pretty hopeful that one of them will take a step forward this coming year uh what about Montreal Canadians well uh you got to have to look pretty far down the list before you get anywhere I’ll mention that a former Montreal Canadian ends up number 33 so kind of in backup uh goalie ter territory and that’s Jake Allen if you remember Jake Allen and one spot behind him Sam monteno interesting at number 34 so definitely in the higher end of the backup territory is one Sam monmo uh and again like you said the Montreal Canadians fans have a pretty big presence online so it’s interesting that after all uh of Montreal media and various fans trying to pump up this guy he ends up outside of starting gending territory not only that but Kaden Primo does not appear on this list only one Montreal Canadians goenda golden knights the greedy organization that they are uh two goalies within the top 32 with Hill and Sam sonof Sam sonof comes in at 31 and Kira Schmid at number 63 so three goenda golden knights one for the Montreal Canadians and he slotted in uh looking like a backup gold Tinder at the moment yeah um waiting waiting for a starter waiting for were waiting for that franchise go tender um and yes um we have we have a fill in um but um yeah as as much as as the media and and some fans pump the tires of Sam monmo not going to be not going to be the goal tender that uh when the Canadians when that core comes together and when they start being competitive um he’s not going to be part of the mix um you mentioned Jake Allen ah head of the the other we’re talking about former Canadians so um he was a a Canadian briefly um that was Casey desmith at number 51 for Dallas uh former goendale lingren up at 21 um and the interesting thing is that um Charlie lingren made the biggest jump from the previous year he he climbed 41 spaces uh from the previous year’s list uh so good for Charlie uh sto ours Anthony stolar has also made a a big jump of course he was the backup for Florida Stanley Cup winner now with the Toronto map Poli Leafs he jumped 35 uh spots um so yeah I I don’t think there’s anything U you know um Canadians fans May Grumble about uh mono’s placing or the fact that Primo isn’t uh on the list um I would just challenge those two goenda Jay fresh and and all the voters uh wrong in the upcoming season seon yeah absolutely and with that uh let’s uh get to our first break here we’ll hear a message from our sponsors and then we’ll get to our big topic segment eat sleep train repeat with Rocket Sports medical consultant Dr Steven Morris this is the Canadians connection podcast here on Rocket Sports Radio bet the action on the ice with draftking Sportsbook Hey listen just because the Stanley Cup just got awarded does not mean that now is not the best time to sign up for draftking Sportsbook if you haven’t done so already because you are going to want to be set to bet all the action on the ice once the season opens again in the fall now is the best time to get set up to do that and hey there are tons of great sports that you can be placing bets on with draftking sports book All Summer Long and uh you know kind of learn your way around the app and and get comfortable and have a great time while you’re doing it so hey download the app now and use code th hpn and new customers can get 150 bucks instantly in bonus bets for betting just $5 on hockey that’s code th hpn only on draftking Sportsbook an official sports betting partner of the NHL the crown is yours bonus bets expire 168 hours after issuance gambling problem call- 1800 Gambler or visit www1 1800 gambler. net in New York call 8778 hopen or text Hope NY 467 369 in Connecticut help is available for problem gambling call 8887895118 hours after issuance see dk.com hockey for eligibility and deposit restrictions terms and responsible gaming resources NHL and the NHL Shield are registered trademarks of the National Hockey League copyright NHL 2023 All Rights [Music] [Applause] [Music] Reserved welcome back to the Canadians connection podcast right here on Rocket Sports Radio my name is Michael spinella and you can find me on Twitter at the spinella and with me in the studio is our president and founder of Rocket Sports Rick Stevens make sure to give him a follow on Twitter rocketsports you can also follow atabs connection on Twitter Facebook and Instagram and visit our website Canadians connection. FM and just a little reminder here to make sure that you tap that subscribe button to the Canadians connection podcast in your favorite player or on your favorite podcasting app that way you never miss a single episode and just to kind of set the tone before Dr Steven Morris steps into the studio with me uh fans of the Montreal Canadians are still buzzing about the success of the 2024 draft uh Jeff Gordon Kent Hughes and The Scouting staff have injected Talent into this Prospect pipeline yeah I think you’re right the fans are pretty excited uh still on Cloud9 talking about the draft and the and the the really talented um set of of mostly offensively uh talented prospects that have been injected um listen if you uh look at these these new newly drafted NHL prospects uh if you’ve read uh any kind of scouting report if you’ve talked to uh a scout they’re going to tell you and and some even kind of a sign of value uh to their skating ability their shooting ability passing Puck handling hockey sense their physical play um but uh and and and certainly after leaving uh the Montreal Canadians development Camp those Habs prospects are going to head home and they’re going to do drills they’re going to do offseason training they’re going to be in the gym um they’re going to be on the ice um and and engage themsel in some sort of personalized training regime in the hopes of improving that on Ice uh performance for their upcoming season wherever that might be um so they’ll probably look at you know we heard the exit meetings uh that the prospects had and and uh they they each have um customized uh workouts and and things and goals to to work over the off seon um and there might be specific techniques uh to increase their speed and explosiveness their strength and their Fitness um but I think what we heard uh from uh the prospects is they also have to pay attention to Lifestyle habits things like sleeps things like nutrition things like hydration um so with all that in mind we invited uh our Rocket Sports media consultant uh back to the show you know him uh Dr Steven Morris he joins he’s going to join Michael in the studio to talk about offseason training preparation and education for elite athletes um and we’ll send it over to you Michael thank you very much and I would like to welcome our Rocket Sports media medical consultant to the show Dr Steph Morris how are you doing today Dr Morris I am good Michael thank you for having me as always always excited to have you on the show here uh we’re going to talk about a couple of different things as it pertains to the off season here uh of course the Habs have a ton of younger prospects and I wanted to chat with you about a few things like offseason training off I habits and uh Fitness evaluations as it relates to uh career trajectories for many different players how does that sound to you doc yeah sounds good to me I love this stuff so I’m I’m ready to go and get uh stuck into it perfect well just before we get ready to go here uh just going to put in a little disclaimer here uh Dr Steven Morris is a senior uh register with the uh Royal Australian College of general practitioners uh with a background in human biomechanics and muscles physiology with a master’s degree in these fields uh he can speak about generalities uh based on of his expertise but he’s not been in contact with any of the players we’re about to talk to and neither has he seen the medical files of any of them uh is there anything else you wanted me to add or that that’s all correct no no it’s long it’s too long already too long well with that let’s get right into it uh it’s not been too long since we were talking about development camp for the Montreal Canadians on the Canadians connection podcast here uh of course development Camp is just as much about evaluating players as it can be about uh educational experience for many of them uh some I think most people will understand in general how Fitness and strength is important to athletes on kind of a broad scope here but I’m wondering if you can talk a little bit about the importance of healthy office habits things like sleep nutrition and whatnot and actually I’m going to play a little clip here uh coming from uh uh the one of our recent first round draft picks uh Michael ha and this is him at development Camp talking about that sort of stuff um I mean go home and continue to train whether that’s on the ice um take what I learned this week in the sense of um the way I got to carry myself um the habits these guys have are are um are unbelievable and um I think it’s something that I could I’ve learned from obviously these guys are great players and they’re here but they still continue to do the little things whether it’s um you know away from the rank training eating sleeping um know they take that stuff so seriously and I think this week I really got to see that and learn that and um so just go home continue to train and take what I learned this week and just try to use it so kind of interesting there for Michael ha it’s not too often you hear these hockey players talk about things like sleep and off ice habits so I’ll get your reaction and let you talk about that a bit yeah um I think you know it’s it’s it’s interesting to see what they pick up when they first go to these camps and meet um professionals that do it regularly um you would think that by the time they’re at such a high level already they have a lot of exposure to this stuff but I think we might be a bit naive into the fact that um they they might not and they they really might not know a great deal about how to take care of themselves off of the off of the eyes um for me I think you know it’s interesting you mentioned sleep and nutrition so I’ll just touch on that I think a lot of um at the developmental level a lot of focus is put into not only developing healthy habits like he discussed but also um like lean body mass and and um what people say a lot of terms like bulking up for example um and I think this all has a lot of role into it um in the way that uh prospects are drafted and try to try to be developed not only as players but physically as well sleep I won’t dive too much into a bit of of course is a critical sort of um recovery step for all of us um and I think that when you look at the younger athlete anyone sort of between the age of 15 and 20 um you know sleep habits can actually be quite poor and we see that in practice um and it’s a consequence of sort of the way that the life outside of hockey works and you know you do have to live life but it does sort of seep into things and so when I talk with people um not only young athletes but also sort of anyone that comes into the clinic or office you know we talk about uh establishing really good sleep hygiene um schedule regularity managing the things we do around and before sleep to sort of maximize that and one of the important reasons from you know if you’re a hockey player looking at this is um all that work you’re doing on the eyes all that work you’re doing in the gym you need to give yourself time to recover and you know that’s not going to happen without adequate amount of time with rest um looking at something like8 hours a night for example is just a benchmark but um that varies from person to person but one of the things to take away here is about probably something they’re doing um might even do more learning on is nutrition um when you’re when you’re training off ice when you’re training on ice when you’re spending thousands and thousands of calories most days of the week um the way that you replenish that the degree that you replenish that um is key not only for sustaining yourself to continue to perform at a high level um replace the things you lose give your body what it needs but also optimize the way that you sort of put on weights and and what’s called protein synthesis and that’s how we build this healthy mass and when you look at a lot of the prospects they are you know people say they need to quote unquote fill out and things like that and you know this is these are the steps that are required um as they train and as they age um so the things we’re looking at here that I would again say to really any young athlete but also um most people that walk in the rooms that are looking to U better themselves from a athletic point of view is um looking to sort of use whole food sources and I think of a lot of the athletes these days know to do that and are doing that and avoiding processed foods um when you’re exercising regularly uh and trying to build muscle having a reasonable protein Target something like one to up to two gram um per kilogram per day uh or per pound per day sorry of appropriate sources like things like um uh lean meats like turkeys and chickens over your um uh things like pork and steak of course you can to have them sometimes but trying to find sort of primary things uh that fit that bill um using carbs in in a good way to replace you know the energy that you need through um exercise um a lot of the conversations I have on a day-to-day basis are around like what are good and bad carbs you know avoiding simple sugars and added sugars avoiding insulin spikes with those things and and picking things that are um more complex in nature like a sweet potato for example um and the reason is not only is it something that’s going to be less converted into these sort of I’ll use the term useless fats um later down the track but they’ll also optimize Windows of protein synthesis after exercise that can help us build muscle um the fat sources we choose are really important you know um we we probably all know a little bit about that but um opting for things like poly and MTO unsaturated fats whether it’s avocado olive oils fish sources I’m in avoiding those trans and saturated fats make a huge difference and all of this stuff is just a drop in the bucket every day um that at the end of a month end of a year really adds up to a lot um not only in terms of which way we go sort of from a performance point of view but also how our bodies develop of course one of the other things in young people is making sure they get enough vegetables like getting four servings of vegetables is actually surprisingly difficult for most people and Al managing their micronutrients avoiding things like alcohol uh and and definitely not underdoing it calorically as well um so there’s so much for them to be aware of um you know we could talk hours about supplementation and being aware of what ban substances are um and and I think ultimately what I would take from this is anyone who is either going to these development camps or wants to be someone who who is sort of performing at a high level at least once I think a nutritional assessment is is really good it can give you a lot of perspective about the things you’re putting into your body um what they’re made up of and and what that really means um so anyone sort of in that 15 to 20 age bracket who’s at a high level of sports and hasn’t done that I would suggest they do just to get a bit of perspective around like what these healthy habits are and how they affect us um I looked up before coming on here just something for if anyone was listening to this and wanted a bit of a guide um The Sacred Heart University uh hockey team has a online pdf that sort of outlines a bit of this stuff and that would be a good place to start I think if you’re at Ground Zero um but getting some professional help of course is always something that’s good too wow that’s that’s a ton of great information there and I think I understand why a very popular pregame meal seems to be chicken and pasta with hockey players feel like I hear about that quite a bit right yeah definitely I think like you know that pasta Source um it can be made up of a lot of things like whether that’s um you know traditional pasta or if it’s made up of chickpea or something different but in either case you’re getting these uh readily available carbohydrates that we’re going to use and we’ll talk about later for things like um anerobic uh exercise and energy sources um as well as the pasta is just a light um lean me or the chicken is a light lean meat as opposed to something heavy like steak back in the day steak and eggs used to be a pregame meal and you know that’s that’s old and out of there now for a lot of good reasons I think yeah that makes a lot of sense to me and a little bit of a followup here in general if you go online or just anywhere you look there’s a lot of crazy information out there these days about Nutrition Fitness and just healthy habits in general uh if you could give advice to a young hockey player about any or all of these what would that be yeah look I think um you know as we talked about before we even recorded uh we said this could be a six-hour podcast if we wanted it to be um and that’s because there is so much out there and there’s so much variability um I think given we just talked about nutrition I’ll just touch on on Fitness for for young hockey players I think that the first thing you need to know and this applies to nutrition as well there’s really no best way to do this um the one of the traps is thinking that there if you’re not doing it a certain way you’re doing it wrong and anything other than that is is not going to get you what you need and that’s definitely not true um so we know that’s true for athletes as well as patients uh in the clinic um so the best thing you can do initially is actually just get the right help if you are overwhelmed by you know what training is if you’re overwhelmed by the idea of trying to tackle all these different um buckets of uh training needs and get some help uh and there’s lots and lots of it out there um I think as a hockey player especially one with a busy schedule you know you have your offseason your inseason your playoffs um they use an approach called periodization uh and and we know that something up to 90% of NHL teams and most sports professional sports teams do this as well and that’s where you vary the what your training loads are and your goals um depending on the section of the year that you’re in so in your offseason your goals are more focused on sort of progression um of whether it’s strength agility speed um and you can focus more on your what what traditionally is known as dry land sort of progress um whereas in season you know you’re more focused on maintenance of those things that you’ve attained in the offseason um one thing people might not know is that players do train during the season they just do it at a much um lower volume than they would in the offseason so they’re always working out and they’re always um training to keep the progress that they’ve made uh and the other thing too is you have to remember during the season they’re losing a lot more calories and their sort of Weights will be lower than they will in the off season so it’s hard to make progress in that way as well um the primary areas that you should be aware of if you’re looking to sort of program something around becoming a more Elite athlete at any level but particularly in hockey is you know aerobic fitness so that’s like our long-term sort of energy systems the one that help us get through all 60 Minutes of the game or overtimes or more the Anor robic Fitness the sort of short to medium-term burst systems that help us get through the high intensity needed in shifts of course strength training and and using what we call Progressive overload strategies to um build muscle mass over that course of the offseason and then keep it uh Speed and Agility and and a lot of common things that people do here are things like Plyometrics but also Olympic lifting in the last probably decade has made a big shift uh and a big um uh has been introduced to athletes Beyond those just doing that sport um Sports specific stuff and biomechanical sort of actions are really important as well and that’s more nuanced of course um flexibility you can’t forget about and then lastly if it wasn’t enough already to work on those on Ice skills um and skills training sort of the things that don’t require weights um but you need to be on ice and with a coach um you know given the amount of ground to cover uh you know I think one of the things that we see a lot is how does that influence young hockey players where they actually choose to play if you look at um those that go to college for example versus junior hockey there’s a lot less games and there’s more time to build in that offseason and build between games um so if you’re looking to be someone who maybe puts on a bit more mass um grows in the in the two years post draft a bit more than someone who’s playing in junior hockey that might be the route for you um in addition I think that in Europe and if you look at someone like David reinbacher for example I don’t think they play anywhere near as many games as Junior Hockey either so I think they have a lot more time as well um to to grow and to to build their deficiencies which is also important to know about I think all these players that are going into training as we said there’s no one right way and one of the reasons is because you need to be aware of your own needs and your own sort of deficiencies if you’re already really good at something it’s good to lean into it but you need to make sure that you’re tackling those areas that you’re not as good in whether that’s speed or aerobic capacity or anerobic Fitness and all of us will have our sort of genetic Baseline that we start with but we do have to work on those deficiencies and of course each position will have different requirements as well uh the obvious sort of example of that being gender versus um someone who plays you know Center for example um so I think that there’s so much to consider again just like with nutrition start with uh getting some help from someone uh so so that you’re investing your time as best you can um and not sort of chasing something that might be not achievable wow uh tons of great information in there great advice for any young hockey players out there uh want to talk about something maybe a little bit more kooky uh in terms of offseason training we’ve seen the Habs do a number of kooky things in general over the years but one that comes to mind is very specifically with URI slavkovsky last summer when he was seen wearing some very stylish or like Terminator esque sunglasses on the ice uh it turns out these were strobe glasses and he spent some time in the Czech Republic with strength and conditioning coach Michael brettina uh these glasses are supposed to help athletes improve their speed timing and uh Focus through strobe training uh is this something you’re familiar with and is there any information out there on whether or not these glasses are actually impactful um so yeah this the stroboscopic visual training I’d seen it very minimally um back in about 2014 or 2015 when I was doing my my own masters um in a different field I had I knew some people in our in the labs that were using it um wasn’t intimately involved in that sort of thing but um you know as you said it’s it’s really around trying to maximize certain capabilities that are Vision dependent and reaction dependent like hand eye coordination reaction time and even um sort of visual finding um and then sort of stressing people beyond what they would normally experience then hoping that in a game when things are picked up when you’re tired when you don’t have time to choose you can still rely on those skills essentially the way they work if if you know people listening have no idea what we’re talking about is you have these glasses and and they’re made up of um liquid crystals within the lenses and they can actually alternate between transparent so you can see through it or opaque where you can’t um and you can change not only the density of of how opaque the glass turn but also the frequency in which they do that and that’s controlled through sort of an external control um so you can make it really fast shifting really slow shifting whatever you want to do um there’s there’s tons and tons and tons of studies that suggest that this is valuable in some ways um you know uh I think the most from from my own research the most consistent finding is that it does improve um Baseline hand eye performance across sort of an number of sports among other things um I guess uh when it comes to hockey one of the interesting things I found was in 2015 actually they did a study of six Carolina Hurricane players um in the off season or in their training camp sorry um they took a couple of Fords and a couple defense pin for the Fords they made them skate in like a figure eight pattern and then shoot a puck into an empty net and for the defenseman they made them do a sort of a circle around their own net and then make a pass to an area um that was marked with an X and they found that the ones that were doing this at least 10 minutes a day for about two weeks showed about 20% Improvement in their hockey specific performance um which are those tasks now you could make a lot of arguments about that you know um whether those tasks are relevant and all that kind of thing but you do see some improvement I think on the whole you know it’s a low risk thing to do it’s a low cost thing to do it’s very easy to implement the biggest question that I have is how frequently do you have to do it to actually retain that hand eye change and to retain that uh reaction time so there’s something called an Extinction effect where if you do this sort of training and then let’s say 30 days later you know you’re just like you were beforehand so I think that this is something you have to do regularly um maybe goalies would do it before every game or players would do it before every game to keep sharp and that might be a role for something like this more so than offseason training if that makes sense to you yeah that makes a lot of sense and we’ll have to keep our eyes out if we see slav kovsky before a game wearing these glasses of course yeah y uh wanted to talk to you a little bit about training here uh this year it has come and gone but the draft combine is a pretty big annual event uh just wondering if you can talk a bit about how the results of the draft combine can be useful information for various teams around the league here yeah you know this is this is such a good thing to look into and I I you know I’ve been a hockey fan for a very long time uh I’ve been interested in sport Science for a very long time and I’ve never actually sat down and looked at if there was any data to support you know draft combine testing and what we should look at to guide choices I think I’ll preface this by saying you know of course like if you’re looking at two players and one is obviously you know Head and Shoulders above one then you pick that person regardless of what their V2 Max is you know um but the importance of this sort of thing is to help you choose between two close prospects um just like position is just like height is just like you know their handedness is or their you know so there’s there’s a lot of factors it’s not this is not the end all be all but what I found was this they actually did a study over 25 years um this is between the years 1994 and 2007 in terms of the draft combines assessed and then they assessed their performance between 1995 so the first year postd draft initial year and 2020 so it’s actually pretty recent um every year they looked at the top 120 players of that draft year for a total of over 10,000 players over this 25e span with a bit more forwards and defenseman but that’s okay um what they looked at and what they found ultimately was the two primary predictors of success of a su successful career whether it’s time on Ice points um how fast they transition to the NHL for example um all were related to Peak leg power which they measured through the vertical jump test and V2 Max um so the two most important factors are those two things Peak Lake power and V2 Max um the other probably more interesting thing to me was that the the the sort of um the factor that predicts or is inversely related to long-term performance as in the higher it is the worse you are off in in the long term is upper body strength so they found that um the more upper body strength you had at draft a uh 10 years later you were less likely to be successful in terms of cumulative points than if it was lower which is kind of counterintuitive on the whole you would just think people that are stronger are going to be better off in general regardless of where that is but it’s definitely not true according to this data um so then you have to ask yourself why is this the case well when you look at short-term performance like how fast does someone get into the NHL year one year two year three um and it’s relation to lower body strength I think we all can identify that the game relies on um not only explosiv explosiveness and the ability to sort of um have a short bursts with your shifts but also your ability to do that further and further further into the game which is defined by aerobic Capac or the V2 Max um interestingly uh while these factors predict success they were not associated with the draft order so at the time people aren’t using them to pick it doesn’t look like but later down the line it shows that actually they probably should have um you know I think they talk about the authors of the paper talk about how we’re in a speed era in the NHL and I think we could also all agree about that you know we’re not um we’re not the Broad Street Bullies anymore and and this is a much faster game and skilled game and so having the strength in your legs having the capacity to go um for long shifts uh for double overtime whatever you need and still be explosive is really really important um so the factors they used for the upper body performance in terms of how it inversely was related to Performance was the bench press and push-ups um as well as isometric uh grip strength um and I think that the most interesting thing I read here was they talked to some Scouts and the scouts said well look we often pick people with certain skill sets and expect that they will quote unquote fill out which is something we talked about earlier in the segment um and that they will they will have sort of good career Performance Based on those those things we pick them for and they’ll get there with the upper body strength and immediately the first person I thought of was Becka senica um he was the first person that came to my mind when I read that sentence um you know so ultimately you know the usefulness of this study is that you can look at people with uh Peak leg power aerobic capacity and use that to help differentiate between people you’re not so sure about and people you are sure about um and there’s actually some really good examp of this if you look at it so can now I’ll ask you Michael can you think of any players who had pretty bad if not horrible upper body strength uh performance in the draft combine that have gone on to be very good players I I don’t know for sure my brain is telling me to say Phil Kastle but I I can’t guarantee that’s correct that’s it actually pretty good guess I don’t know about Phil kle but so there’s there’s a very famous case with is Sam Bennett Sam Bennett did did zero pull-ups at the combine zero pull-ups um and he just played and won the Stanley Cup uh and you would think of him as a physical um you know gritty player who gets in your face not afraid of contact had some of the worst upper body strength at the combine and look at him now would you say he filled out I would um Casey middle Stat one bench press zero pull-ups one bench press zero pull-ups very good player was just sought after by the Colorado Avalanche second line Center you know will likely blossom into someone into the best version of himself in the next two to three years Ryan nen Hopkins six bench press at 150 pounds and was famous for saying bench presses don’t score goals at the at the combine um and and I again just played for the Stanley Cup so you know there’s it was interesting to retrospectively look back and be like wow this actually makes a ton of sense um so I would look at this seriously and take the take the finding seriously um at least when it’s helping you pick between two players you’re not so sure of yeah exactly uh one of the things you kind of mentioned here and something that’s uh supposedly one of the more difficult testings at the NHL draft combine is the uh V2 max testing uh like I said I think you mentioned it a few times in there but uh can you just lay out to me what exactly that is and how that might affect the results at the draft in at the draft comine oh yeah well in terms of how would it affect the draft combine result I mean as we just mentioned aerobic capacity measure by VO2 max is one of the best predictors for Success um not only in how fast uh I was going to say patience how fast um uh players get to the NHL but also you know how well they’ll do in the long run um so basically what it is is you know if you think about exercise especially as you go longer and longer um the name of the game is really getting oxygen from the air that we breathe to our working muscles um through pumping of the heart and then metabolism in the muscle itself you know without oxygen uh our aerobic sort of Fitness which is our long-term Fitness really just doesn’t work um so when it comes to that sort of exercise uh the effectiveness of the process of actually breathing in air pumping into the muscles and using it um as fuel is summarized as the V2 Max um so uh you know it’s considered the gold standard of of cardiovascular fitness um and of course is direct directly related to um success and and fitness at across basically All Sport if you know anyone that has any level of aerobic capacity required um it will predict that and we know that hockey players actually tend to have um V2 Maxes of anywhere between at the high level between 50 and 60 which is on definitely on the higher end um the some of the most famous sort of um High VO2 Maxes are like Norwegian skiers or cross country skiers they have ridiculously high V2 Maxes and given the nature of their sport you would expect that um so yeah it’s basically just a measure of your cardiovascular fitness and becomes more and more important important the long longer you’re doing activity yeah makes sense there and I think we’ve mostly seen this at the draft combine where the players are wearing some sort of a mask uh can you in any way kind of describe how they go about testing that I think they’re on bikes too and there was a pretty famous case not this year but the year before where one of the prospects actually ended up throwing up while testing this so it seems like it is quite difficult right oh it it I mean it is because if you want to get the if you want to know your sort of peak value the best you can get you really do have to push yourself to get to that point The Masks are used to measure sort of the ins and outs of breathing um so the amount of oxygen that’s being consumed and CO2 that’s being produced um that’s why they have the mask on the face um and you know we have uh at the University I used to work at when I was doing my masters there was lots of people doing um V2 Max assessments um but yeah you do have to push yourself um and the reason is you know you want to when you’re at the combine and you’re thinking as I would be especially after reading this paper is um you know this V2 Max result could could impact my drop stock it could impact how people see me um performing um you know 10 years down the line so you want to do as best you can you want to um see how high have a number you can get and you know sometimes that’s going to end up in you puking I guess y That’s exactly it well thank you very much uh Dr stepen moris for all the time and information there uh plenty of great things there to consider uh like I said the in the off season it’s a great time to do training and it’s good to be educated on why Fitness results would impact uh someone’s draft stock so thank you again for all of that and uh just before we head out there uh is there any uh final things that you wanted to mention no I I’ve got nothing else to add I’m sure they’re sick of hearing me already but uh it was it was really fun to look into this stuff and uh if there’s anything that any of the listeners take away it’s um when you’re jumping into whether it’s nutrition sleep uh uh Sports training and all that stuff um just make sure that if you’re confused or if you’re sort of you feel like you’re really overwhelmed just reach out and get some help um from someone and and get off on the right foot awesome thank you very much for your time there and to have yourself a great rest of the day thank you sir wow that was terrific um another great appearance uh by Dr Steven Morris thank you for handling that uh Michael great interview um you know that that we added uh Dr Steven Morris to the team uh this season and he’s he’s knocked it out of the park every time he’s come on um he’s our Rocket Sports medical consultant he can speak with some Authority about what the kinds of uh things that the that not only the prospects but um but the Canadians uh uh players on the roster are going through in the off season um as well that was I I really enjoyed that well thank you and uh thanks again to Dr Steven Morris every time he comes on I feel like I learn a wealth of knowledge that I didn’t uh previously know and things that I I didn’t even realize were going to be that interesting so that’s why we’re very very lucky to have him on board with us and uh I think a lot of our listeners enjoy listening to him quite a bit too as we have had some requests for him over the past couple months so uh with that I think we’ll head into our final break here but I’ll give everyone something to think about with our Canadians connection question of the week uh which Habs Prospect do you believe has the greatest chance of making the opening night roster this year we want to hear from you and with that make sure that you stay with us you are listening to the Canadians connection podcast here on Rocket Sports Radio the Canadians connection is proud to be a partner of Rocket Sports media digital media publishers of sports and entertainment websites their mission is to build a worldwide network of sports fans who are informed engaged entertained and connected learn more about RSM it’s team and its portfolio of brands at rocketsports [Music] media.com I bet you enjoy sporting your best Habs jerseys dressing up your kids and pets in the cutest Habs gear and showing off your Decked Out hockey cave or Fanning well don’t just show your friends show your Habs the rucket sports media team wants you to boast your finest pictures for our Global Network of Montreal Canadians fans include the # show your Habs when posting your fan photos on Twitter Facebook or Instagram then log on to showyou hab. to see your entries along with photos and posts from Habs fans all over the world a proud member of the Rocket Sports media network if you’re a business owner looking for the perfect platform to reach a targeted audience of customers Rocket Sports media is the solution our Global hockey Community provides unmatched social media reach to an attentive demographic of sports and entertainment fans we can provide visibility to your company helping you to engage and leverage this Prime group of potential clientele in addition we also offer sponsorship opportunities for fan events and featured areas of website content giving you name and logo recognition visit rocketsports media.com to contact us regarding this unique marketing opportunity for the most trusted source of news analysis and features about the Montreal Canadians log in to thn.com monreal your yearround source for anything Habs related that’s thn.com [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] monreal welcome back to episode 304 it’s the Canadian games connection podcast right here on Rocket Sports Radio you can follow atabs connection on Twitter Facebook and Instagram plus make sure that you’re checking out our website Canadians connection. FM and if you have anything to say to us feel free to text us anytime via the Rocket Sports text line 5853 rocket that’s 5853 rocket and just once again uh big thanks to Dr Steven Morris in that second segment bringing us a wealth of knowledge and even though it’s the offseason there’s still a lot to talk about with these Montreal Canadians isn’t there for sure so here’s what you need to know from Rocket Sports we cover the Montreal Canadians and you can find all of our content at insidethe canadians. all the Canadians coverage in one place and on there you can make sure that you are subscribed to our YouTube channel uh just at alabs you can search that on YouTube and you’ll be able to pull up our channel right there we have been a reliable source that you can trust for the past 15 years on there you’ll find a ton of content every single Monday the Canadians connection podcast gets dropped on there last week’s episode is entitled NHL Prospect analyzes uh Montreal Canadians newest editions that one had Chris Peters on there and I think we got a pretty good reaction to it I enjoyed listening to it as well that was a great episode yeah Chris was terrific in all the Insight uh that he provided on the dra on the Canadians brand new draft class uh it was popular on um as a as a download for um our audio podcast and pretty popular as well on YouTube uh so thanks to Chris for that and um along with all of our uh draft G guests we were pretty happy to have him on board absolutely and throughout this offseason uh we will also be uh putting out episodes of the rocket hockey report and the Habs hockey report typically hosted by our own Amy Johnson uh so look out for those make sure you tap subscribe and hit the notification Bell but this past week uh we put out an episode of the rocket hockey report entitled 10 Montreal Canadian summer 2024 headlines in 10 minutes and this is a fun one right Rick yeah the Habs hockey report but it’s all the same uh and you can find it in the same place um but yes um you like lists you like lists of 10 you like lists of 10 in 10 minutes that’s all you need to devote to this um keep up with what the can Ians are doing um 10 headlines in 10 minutes you want to go to our YouTube uh page and and um and while you’re there how about subscribing uh youtube.com alabs and uh while you’re subscribing make sure that you also subscribe to the premier Rocket Sports Radio podcast on your favorite podcasting app the Canadians connection uh you can find every single episode at Canadians connection. FM will be here every single Saturday throughout the summer I know a lot of of other podcasts go on vacation they go on break but we’ll be here every single weekend so don’t you worry we’ll give you your Montreal Canadians fix and if you enjoy the show uh we’d really appreciate if you left us a five-star review and if you want to help us out just a little bit more uh you can share our podcast on X Facebook Reddit or on any of your socials we are your inside link to the Montreal Canadians uh just a little rocket sports team announcement uh Rick I believe we’re uh looking for people to reach out and contact us yeah Reach Out contact us uh either by text 5853 rocket reach me uh directly at our email address hello rocketsports media.com um I we we hear from so many uh of our listeners um and and we appreciate each and everyone um and and you’re very thoughtful uh you ask good questions you you pose good um you know kind of scenarios and we appreciate all of that um if you want to go one step further and and uh we have a platform here uh both our podcasts our our YouTube uh shows and if you want to be part of that uh we have we have a lot of fun um and uh great experience uh for those looking to maybe uh get into the communication or journalism field um reach out and uh say hey um I’m passionate I’m I’m ready to be committed I’m ready to be dedicated uh to a team for to cover the Montreal Canadians for this season we’ve been doing this 15 years uh we know um we know what works uh and we uh we we glad to have you along uh for the upcoming season yeah and can’t confirm it it is a ton of fun to follow along and be part of that rocket sports team I think I’m coming up on three years I’ve done three draft episodes with the uh Rocket Sports media on the Canadians connection podcast and honestly it’s a blast so I recommend it if you’re curious at all definitely reach out to us we’d love to have a conversation with you and now it’s time to get to our Canadians connection question of the week as we ask all of our listeners uh which Habs Prospect do you believe has the greatest chance of making the opening night roster we want to make sure we hear from you uh 5853 is the Rocket Sports text line if people have a little bit more to say Rick I believe we have an email as well yep uh two ways to do it the text line 5853 rocket or by email hello rocketsports media we get a ton of text tweets emails and comments throughout the weeks and we had quite a bit of reaction to last week’s episode on episode 303 uh the Canadians connection question of the week was the Canadians were quiet and free agent Market this week uh is it the right approach at this stage of the rebuild or do you wish Kent Hughes had aggressively pursued a big free agent signing and we had a few people uh leave us comments on their thoughts I’ll start things off uh we l edit these as well just for clarity just so you know and this one comes from Chris Wan maker 7930 and uh what Chris has to say is free agents don’t make sense right now maybe next year definitely in two years and I think you’re about uh right and correct on that one Chris that’s uh probably the right timeline for them yeah and I think that’s um that’s basically what Ken Hughes said that uh they were looking to if they’re going to add at all it would be a a shortterm uh contract um and uh nobody was was willing to to uh agree to that um so they remain disciplined and and uh they’ll go with what they have for now um uh so I appreciate the Chris appreciate the the response to that question um Francois Bouvier 7861 he’s commenting on uh Alex Burrows um leaving the coaching staff and and taking a role um as a prospect consultant and franois says buroughs should have been gone when Mark ban left um his line about uh uh wanting to spend more time with family he says that’s a that’s that’s political line uh good call um that’s our com that’s what we had said um and he goes on to say hopefully burough doesn’t mess up where he is where he ends up and that’s with the prospects my money says he’s gone completely from the organization in 18 months um so we’ll check back in that time to see yeah absolutely love all the comments uh if you’re reach out to us by text or email I would like to say uh make sure you let us know your first name and where you’re from that way we know who we’re talking to and I’m just going to before we leave uh this we we had loads of questions comments about a an article that um that appeared uh that was just it was brutally inaccurate um it was has um talked about Logan Mayu and his disappointing season I’ll just say that we are no longer affiliated with that organization uh we brought you some uh great work uh over there uh they brought in um some people without any experience and who obviously haven’t been following the team uh for the past year um to write some things it was the article was absolutely absurd um and it was it it got crushed on on social media you know rightly so um by Canadians fans um because they hadn’t obviously paid any attention to Logan Mayu hadn’t paid attention to Laval rocket or the Canadians last season um listen we say we’re the most trusted source for the Montreal Canadians for a reason um we’ve been as I said doing this for for 15 years uh Logan Mayu be excited about this Prospect he he finished last year 47 points he set a new franchise record for most goals by Def defenseman um we talked about his record-breaking season in May if you want to hear uh comments about Logan Mayu I’d direct you to uh Canadians connection episode 295 and that uh we had a guest on that show the guest was Logan mayu’s dad that’s Jeff Mayu and he sat down with us to discuss Logan’s uh record breaking breaking season and his goals for the upcoming um Habs training camp so um instead check that out if you want to know uh the truth about uh all Habs prospects but certainly in particular this one that’s episode 295 I also throw in that Logan Mayu is a very coveted right shot on defenseman so that’s certainly more reason why we like this kid and we’re super excited to follow his career absolutely so CH weekly a couple things coming up this summer in Montreal over the next week uh JFL is going to start on July the 19th there will be some free shows this year down at plast Festival so look out for that and also this weekend you’ll catch the very end of taste of the Caribbean at oldport Montreal that ran from uh July 11th and it goes until July the 14th so ends tomorrow on Sunday so if you’re looking for something to do in Montreal plenty of free festivals and honestly just so many that I might even be missing a whole whack of them too soulfest as well this weekend I just uh I just spotted that that is going to attract a few people and and maybe even me no I got to pack I got to remain disciplined just like Ken Hughes and do some packing for my big move coming up yeah looking forward to being in the new studio there with your RI and coming pretty soon but for day that uh for today that’s going to be a wrap for us uh thank you all for listening uh make sure that you are subscribed to the Canadians connection podcast in the player or on any of your favorite podcasting apps you can also share it on your socials if you like what you heard and enjoy the week we’ll be back here next Saturday July the 20th for another great episode thank you all for listening to the Canadians connection podcast here on Rocket Sports Radio click subscribe so you never miss an episode of Canadians connection follow us on Twitter Facebook and Instagram at Rocket Sports
Our very own medical expert, Dr. Stephen Morris, talks about off-season training for Montreal Canadiens prospects, including specific techniques for increasing speed, strength and fitness, but also sleep, nutrition, hydration and other lifestyle habits to help turn future Habs into NHL professionals!
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⏰ Timecodes ⏰
00:00 – Show Open
02:24 – Introduction and Welcome
05:45 – Week in Review: The latest Habs and NHL news, plus a complete review of the prospects highlighted at the 2024 Canadiens Development Camp!
00:55:48 – Eat, Sleep, Train, Repeat with Rocket Sports Medical Consultant Dr. Stephen Morris
01:27:17 – Question of the Week: Leave your answer below in the comment section (You might hear your comment read on next week’s show!)
#Habs #GoHabsGo #Canadiens
About this video: Rick and Michael deliver all of the latest news and notes about the Montreal Canadiens and their prospects! Plus, Michael sits down with Rocket Sports Medical Consultant Dr. Stephen Morris to discuss why it’s important for young Habs prospects to adopt new off-ice training regimens to help speed their development into professional NHL players!
An original video production by Rocket Sports.
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2 comments
I believe Montreal will do everything humanly possible to bring Demidov over, they have 7 Russians drafted so you can bet they're working hard to establish a pathway to the NHL for their guys. Beck is probably gonna make it, Heineman has to prove it's his time. I hope the Habs shuffle a bunch of guys in for a look throughout the season, but with 5 contracts expiring, the opportunity is knocking and Montreal has to shape it's team from who's available as well as to evaluate their development system. Like your Monday show, it's very comprehensive for this rebuild period. THX
Love your long form and deep analysis of the Habs prospects. So interesting! I wouldn't mind the Habs having another bad year and picking a great prospect in next year's draft. We need to stock up on the most talent before they get out of the rebuild period. If we are ever to bring home the cup, it will be in 5 or 6 years. Suzuki will be at the end of his peak and some players like Mailloux, Reinbacker and others will be full on top tier players. There will be a window of opportunity to win the cup and everything should be perfectly aligned.