A rough "morning after" : Timmins
Oct 22, 2005 7:19:13 GMT -5
Post by M. Beaux-Eaux on Oct 22, 2005 7:19:13 GMT -5
21/10/2005 a 08:53
A rough "morning after"
Pierre Durocher
Journal de Montréal
Guillaume Latendresse and Carey Price impressed the gallery during the Canadiens training camp, but these two prospects are having trouble adapting since their return to junior hockey.
It's a situation which one regularly sees in young players who have tasted the NHL. After having eaten filet mignon, it is difficult to return to chopped steak!
The Voltigeurs aren't winning
Latendresse, one of the last players to be cut by the Canadiens, does not have it easy since his return to the Drummondville Voltigeurs because his team has stopped winning (0-4-1-1) after having had an excellent start in his absence.
Of course, Latendresse is not the only person responsible for the difficulties of the Voltigeurs. All the same, they earned eight points in their first three games.
On the other hand, they collected one in the three last games, which encouraged their coach, Dominic Ricard, to declare on television that "Latendresse is not having much fun playing these days."
Price in a slump
As regards Price, who had been impressive at the Canadiens camp, he sports the worst GAA in the WHL—4.63.
The Canadiens first choice in the last draft has allowed 21 goals in five games and his save % is only .868. It should be made clear that the Tri-City Americans are weak defensively.
Completely normal
We asked André Savard and Trevor Timmins yesterday, the two men who keep an eye on the Canadiens prospects, to talk to us about Latendresse and Price's difficulties in adapting.
They were both present Sunday in Drummondville to see Latendresse at work.
"It's normal what Guillaume has experienced since his return to junior," Savard underlined. "Expectations are raised and success does not come automatically. It's an adaptation to a quite different level of play. The quality of the passes, among other things, is not the same one. Speed either.
"In my opinion, it can take a month before Latendresse functions at a high level again. We did not expect that he would burn up the league."
Savard added: "It should be understood that Guillaume fought well to earn a position with the Canadiens. He remained until the end of camp. I believe that he is having difficulty finding his total concentration with the Voltigeurs."
Like the morning after...
Timmins does not see anything alarming about him either.
"I am not at all anxious," affirmed the Canadiens player personnel manager. "It's only a question of time before Latendresse and Price are again at their best.
"We are convinced that we drafted two players who won't miss their shot at the NHL."
Timmins stressed that a good number of players returned to junior at the end of training camps experience difficulties.
He cited the example of Alex Bourret, who has scored only three goals for the Shawinigan Cataracts.
"These players went through strong emotions during the NHL exhibition games and at present they experience a kind of morning after (he used the expression 'NHL hangover').
"To return to their junior teams has a deflating effect for these players, especially for those who believed in their chance to win a position on their NHL club. All will be well in time," indicated Timmins.
He thinks that unconsciously the Voltigeurs' players believe that Latendresse will carry the team on his shoulders.
"He is used 30 minutes a game and it's an adjustment for Guillaume. He cannot control the game on every shift."
- www2.canoe.com/sports/nouvelles/archives/2005/10/20051021-085300.html (French)
A rough "morning after"
Pierre Durocher
Journal de Montréal
Guillaume Latendresse and Carey Price impressed the gallery during the Canadiens training camp, but these two prospects are having trouble adapting since their return to junior hockey.
It's a situation which one regularly sees in young players who have tasted the NHL. After having eaten filet mignon, it is difficult to return to chopped steak!
The Voltigeurs aren't winning
Latendresse, one of the last players to be cut by the Canadiens, does not have it easy since his return to the Drummondville Voltigeurs because his team has stopped winning (0-4-1-1) after having had an excellent start in his absence.
Of course, Latendresse is not the only person responsible for the difficulties of the Voltigeurs. All the same, they earned eight points in their first three games.
On the other hand, they collected one in the three last games, which encouraged their coach, Dominic Ricard, to declare on television that "Latendresse is not having much fun playing these days."
Price in a slump
As regards Price, who had been impressive at the Canadiens camp, he sports the worst GAA in the WHL—4.63.
The Canadiens first choice in the last draft has allowed 21 goals in five games and his save % is only .868. It should be made clear that the Tri-City Americans are weak defensively.
Completely normal
We asked André Savard and Trevor Timmins yesterday, the two men who keep an eye on the Canadiens prospects, to talk to us about Latendresse and Price's difficulties in adapting.
They were both present Sunday in Drummondville to see Latendresse at work.
"It's normal what Guillaume has experienced since his return to junior," Savard underlined. "Expectations are raised and success does not come automatically. It's an adaptation to a quite different level of play. The quality of the passes, among other things, is not the same one. Speed either.
"In my opinion, it can take a month before Latendresse functions at a high level again. We did not expect that he would burn up the league."
Savard added: "It should be understood that Guillaume fought well to earn a position with the Canadiens. He remained until the end of camp. I believe that he is having difficulty finding his total concentration with the Voltigeurs."
Like the morning after...
Timmins does not see anything alarming about him either.
"I am not at all anxious," affirmed the Canadiens player personnel manager. "It's only a question of time before Latendresse and Price are again at their best.
"We are convinced that we drafted two players who won't miss their shot at the NHL."
Timmins stressed that a good number of players returned to junior at the end of training camps experience difficulties.
He cited the example of Alex Bourret, who has scored only three goals for the Shawinigan Cataracts.
"These players went through strong emotions during the NHL exhibition games and at present they experience a kind of morning after (he used the expression 'NHL hangover').
"To return to their junior teams has a deflating effect for these players, especially for those who believed in their chance to win a position on their NHL club. All will be well in time," indicated Timmins.
He thinks that unconsciously the Voltigeurs' players believe that Latendresse will carry the team on his shoulders.
"He is used 30 minutes a game and it's an adjustment for Guillaume. He cannot control the game on every shift."
- www2.canoe.com/sports/nouvelles/archives/2005/10/20051021-085300.html (French)