Laval Rocket / Trois-Rivières Lions 2022-23

[NWTHabsFan]

Look who is showing off today at Laval camp and is trying to stick in the AHL and not get sent to Kitchener in the OHL.

[franko]

Oct 5, 2022 12:16:13 GMT -5 NWTHabsFan said:

Look who is showing off today at Laval camp and is trying to stick in the AHL and not get sent to Kitchener in the OHL.

that only works if the puck goes in

[NWTHabsFan]

Oct 5, 2022 12:26:16 GMT -5 franko said:

Oct 5, 2022 12:16:13 GMT -5 NWTHabsFan said:

Look who is showing off today at Laval camp and is trying to stick in the AHL and not get sent to Kitchener in the OHL.

that only works if the puck goes in

So, Kitchener it is then!

[NWTHabsFan]

The big unit gets a two way AHL deal and is one of the cuts today from Laval headed to 3R camp.

[NWTHabsFan]

[NWTHabsFan]

Laval names Belzile their new captain.

[NWTHabsFan]

Just brutal news for a guy who missed most of last year due to injury. Another prospect that now likely never reaches his potential due to severe injuries and lost development time. Yikes.

[NWTHabsFan]

Rocket open their new season tonight. Here is the lineup. At least Barron is on the first pairing.

[Disgruntled70sHab]

[Disgruntled70sHab]

[folatre]

Nice, the Rocket came to play. I think after the ridiculous meltdown in the last five minutes against the Baby Sens on Wednesday, Houle and the team leaders must have had a few choice words.

[Willie Dog]

Oct 28, 2022 20:53:28 GMT -5 Disgruntled70sHab said:

Simoneau threw some body shot in there... the kid is a gamer... he held on for dear life though lol

[NWTHabsFan]

I know have been woefully behind in my reporting on the Rocket, but I can sum up their season so far in one simple expression, “nothing to see here.” The team has struggled, to say the least. They are second last in their division. Heck, they are second last in the entire league based on win percentage. They struggle to score, have not played good defence, take very untimely penalties, and have not had good goaltending. The one bright spot on offence has been free agent signing Anthony Richard. If not for his offence of late, this gong show could be even worse. As for young guys, Ylönen and Simoneau have both had decent moments in a bad situation. The young and oft changing defensive corps is struggling for sure, and neither goalie has really done anything worthy to date. It is most concerning that Primeau still has not shown the consistency to be considered the go-to guy, even at the AHL level.

JF Houle and his staff were chosen by the old regime and a few of his quotes late last year, in the playoffs, and even this year in regards to some young players make we wonder how well of a long term fit he is in such a key development position. He still comes across as more of an old school coach who definitely favours his veterans. While he acknowledges that this year’s team is younger, it is one thing to say it and another to help those young players develop into better pros. Right now the young players in Montreal are getting better development and growing more than kids in the farm. He came out at the beginning of the season and said Myšák would be used in a bottom line role since he did not see the offence in him to warrant a top six spot. While that may be true down the road, you need to give guys a chance. He did fine in a bigger role in junior and at the WJC with more ice time and better linemates. That is a big offside to me. I was quite happy Mešár went to Kitchener for the ability to at least see him in an offensive role rather than fourth line winger.

I will probably devote some more time to Laval now that I have returned back from a long vacation and games are on a much better time zone again! But darn, I hope they start to play better soon.

[Tankdriver]

Nov 15, 2022 13:11:14 GMT -5 NWTHabsFan said:

I know have been woefully behind in my reporting on the Rocket, but I can sum up their season so far in one simple expression, “nothing to see here.” The team has struggled, to say the least. They are second last in their division. Heck, they are second last in the entire league based on win percentage. They struggle to score, have not played good defence, take very untimely penalties, and have not had good goaltending. The one bright spot on offence has been free agent signing Anthony Richard. If not for his offence of late, this gong show could be even worse. As for young guys, Ylönen and Simoneau have both had decent moments in a bad situation. The young and oft changing defensive corps is struggling for sure, and neither goalie has really done anything worthy to date. It is most concerning that Primeau still has not shown the consistency to be considered the go-to guy, even at the AHL level.

JF Houle and his staff were chosen by the old regime and a few of his quotes late last year, in the playoffs, and even this year in regards to some young players make we wonder how well of a long term fit he is in such a key development position. He still comes across as more of an old school coach who definitely favours his veterans. While he acknowledges that this year’s team is younger, it is one thing to say it and another to help those young players develop into better pros. Right now the young players in Montreal are getting better development and growing more than kids in the farm. That is a big offside to me.

I will probably devote some more time to Laval now that I have returned back from a long vacation and games are on a much better time zone again! But darn, I hope they start to play better soon.

I know the team has gotten younger but I don't recall losing any players that would make that big of a difference? What's the difference between last years team and this years?

[NWTHabsFan]

Nov 15, 2022 13:15:12 GMT -5 Tankdriver said:

Nov 15, 2022 13:11:14 GMT -5 NWTHabsFan said:

I know have been woefully behind in my reporting on the Rocket, but I can sum up their season so far in one simple expression, “nothing to see here.” The team has struggled, to say the least. They are second last in their division. Heck, they are second last in the entire league based on win percentage. They struggle to score, have not played good defence, take very untimely penalties, and have not had good goaltending. The one bright spot on offence has been free agent signing Anthony Richard. If not for his offence of late, this gong show could be even worse. As for young guys, Ylönen and Simoneau have both had decent moments in a bad situation. The young and oft changing defensive corps is struggling for sure, and neither goalie has really done anything worthy to date. It is most concerning that Primeau still has not shown the consistency to be considered the go-to guy, even at the AHL level.

JF Houle and his staff were chosen by the old regime and a few of his quotes late last year, in the playoffs, and even this year in regards to some young players make we wonder how well of a long term fit he is in such a key development position. He still comes across as more of an old school coach who definitely favours his veterans. While he acknowledges that this year’s team is younger, it is one thing to say it and another to help those young players develop into better pros. Right now the young players in Montreal are getting better development and growing more than kids in the farm. That is a big offside to me.

I will probably devote some more time to Laval now that I have returned back from a long vacation and games are on a much better time zone again! But darn, I hope they start to play better soon.

I know the team has gotten younger but I don't recall losing any players that would make that big of a difference? What's the difference between last years team and this years?

The team was pretty average in the regular season, but the defence and goaltending were really solid and consistent in their great playoff run. They have had nothing like that this year and they just can’t seem to score. A bit of a perfect storm where every part of the game is underachieving.

[seventeen]

The main concern to me is that Bergevin hired him and we know what kind of judgment he displayed in the past. I'd be quite happy with a new guy in there to replace Houle.

[folatre]

I think the big dog AHL vets (Belzile, Stephens, Teasdale, Schnaar) up front are just not doing much. When an organization pays good money to these mid-late 20s 'ringers,' one would certainly like to see a lot more.

Is coaching an issue? Is there a system issue? I really don't know.

But I know Laval has a much larger budget than most AHL clubs and Gorton is probably not thrilled with the way the return on investment is trending.

[NWTHabsFan]

Nov 15, 2022 14:56:43 GMT -5 folatre said:

I think the big dog AHL vets (Belzile, Stephens, Teasdale, Schnaar) up front are just not doing much. When an organization pays good money to these mid-late 20s 'ringers,' one would certainly like to see a lot more.

Is coaching an issue? Is there a system issue? I really don't know.

But I know Laval has a much larger budget than most AHL clubs and Gorton is probably not thrilled with the way the return on investment is trending.

Belzile and Schnaar are injured right now, but were not exactly lighting it up beforehand. The vets need to contribute more, especially if they tend to get juicier ice time. Richard has been the one guy really stepping up.

[NWTHabsFan]

I should probably complain about the Rocket and Primeau more often, as they and he likely had their best game of the year on Wednesday night. A 4-2 win on the back of a 41 save effort from Primeau and another pair of goals from Anthony Richard. He now has 11 on the year. Other goals were from RHP and Shooey.

[NWTHabsFan]

And then they got smoked 7-3 last night by Cleveland. Primeau with 7 goals on 36 shots.

[NWTHabsFan]

Rocket have a much better game against Cleveland winning 5-4 in a SO. Poulin gets the win, and Condotta, Gignac, Martel, and Simoneau score the goals, with Gignac also getting the SO GWG.

[NWTHabsFan]

A big 7-5 win for Laval over rivals Belleville last night behind three point nights from Barron(2g 1a), RHP (1g 2a), and Ylönen (3a). Primeau with 5 goals on 37 shots for the win.

Myšák scored a rare one from his fourth line exile, Beaudin got his first as a Rocket, and Leskinen scored the 1000th goal for the Rocket.

[NWTHabsFan]

A fun story is developing in 3R. The huge 6’6” galoot John Parker-Jones that the Rocket signed to a two way free agent AHL deal after camp is having quite the run. 8 of his 9 points on the season have come in the last four games and he has a 2+1 night last night including the GWG over Utah.

[NWTHabsFan]

A good early season so far for rookie Simoneau. In a three way tie for AHL rookie scoring lead. Richard was at or near the top in AHL goals scored too.

Yet, they have yet to win two in a row this season.

[Lord Bebop]

Tough season so far. If the Rocket shown anything so far when they get goaltending they are competitive. Poulin has taken over as #1 but have been very inconsistent. Perhapsy this should of been corrected in the off-season….or perhaps not given Primeau’s spring last season. Maybe Desrosiers from the ECHL can help. He’s getting his game back after a bad start to season?

[Lord Bebop]

Dec 16, 2022 19:38:21 GMT -5 Lord Bebop said:

Tough season so far. If the Rocket shown anything so far when they get goaltending they are competitive. Poulin has taken over as #1 but have been very inconsistent. Perhapsy this should of been corrected in the off-season….or perhaps not given Primeau’s spring last season. Maybe Desrosiers from the ECHL can help. He’s getting his game back after a bad start to season?

Well to answer my own question maybe Vrbetic?
Vrbetic looked solid today. Much of the credit goes to his teammates as the kept the chances out on perimeter. But give him credit he made the saves when he had too and the 1 goal he let in was hardly his fault.
Team is playing better the last little bit and today looks encouraging. I think it would be interesting to see how Primeau would do behind this team instead of the horrible team from 2 or 3 weeks ago.
Barron and Beaudin both deserve some credit. Both solidified the d core. Both putting up points. Barron looks like the more polished guy out there but Beaudin can play too.

[NWTHabsFan]

Last night the Rocket got some revenge on Cleveland winning 4-1 behind a three point night (1+2) from Beaudin and a two goal effort from Teasdale. Ylönen had an assist, to bring his season total up to 22 points in 27 games, which is reasonable for a struggling team. Vrbetic with the win as he has been called up with Primeau injured. This was a much better result than earlier on the weekend where the Rocket saw a 4-3 lead disappear with four unanswered goals in the third from Cleveland.

[Habs_fan_in_LA]

Aug 16, 2022 14:17:30 GMT -5 folatre said:

Paquette signed with Minsk in the KHL. I know a 29 year old guy like him has not banked enough money to retire, but yikes playing in that league and in that city seems rather horrible.

For sure, the Rocket's roster is jam-packed up front. I would imagine Mesar is going back to Europe.

He better not have pot in his luggage.

[Lord Bebop]

Laval looked ok tonight but still lose. The team tries to score but just couldn’t find the back of the net til RHP scored with :45 left in game. I think it’s a game they can build off of with their defensive game.

[Lord Bebop]

Beaudin gets to represent Canada at the Sprengler Cup this year. Beaudin playing on the big ice will be a treat watch imo. Alway like this tournament that usually gets drowned out by the WJHC every year.
He’s playing with familiar names for habs fans: Daniel Carr, David Desharnais, Josh Brook