Follow @Sheng_Peng

Jonathan Marchessault (in red) and Deryk Engelland returned to practice after an off day yesterday, but Marc-Andre Fleury was still on everybody's mind.

"I don't know if [Marchessault] is going to play tomorrow or not," said Gallant, about his feisty forward who's been out for a week. "I think [Erik Haula is] going to start skating tomorrow a little bit. He's doing much better. Fleury, I haven't heard nothing about."

As usual, Nate Schmidt was the life of the party. Near the end of practice, he sprinted at full speed from boards to boards and intentionally faceplanted himself.

Ice after Nate Schmidt intentionally faceplanted himself into it #VGK pic.twitter.com/X3Spe2SUba

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) October 20, 2017

Asked about it after practice, Schmidt mentioned that somebody bet him that he wouldn't do it. So naturally, he did.

It was a 5-1 group today at practice, but St. Louis tomorrow night and Chicago on Tuesday will present something of a litmus test for the upstart Golden Knights.

Anyway, I caught up with William Carrier today, and we talked about playing with Pierre-Édouard Bellemare, fishing in Lake Mead, and whether or not he sees himself as a top-six forward one day; Jonathan Marchessault tells us when he got hurt last week; and David Perron discusses the passing of Blues great Noel Picard.

William Carrier (featuring Pierre-Édouard Bellemare)

HockeyBuzz: One of my questions, since Pierre is here (HockeyBuzz note: Carrier and Bellemare are one locker room stall apart), what have you learned from playing with him?

Pierre-Édouard Bellemare: Nothing. Nothing!

William Carrier: (laughing) He's very positive. Most positive guy I've ever known in my life.

PEB: That's something good.

WC: It is something really good. Not when you're 5-1. (laughs) But if you get in a slump, you got a guy like that, that works.

HB: What did you do on your day off yesterday?

WC: I actually bought a boat. I have to fix the propeller on it.

HB: For Lake Mead?

WC: Yeah. I had a boat in Buffalo. I'm a big fisherman.

HB: How are the fish in Lake Mead?

WC: Really good. Hopefully, I get Bello out there.

PEB: Three sets of eyes, two heads...

HB: We are fairly close to some nuclear test sites...

WC: Yeah, not much on my day off, just that...get the apartment set up too...

PEB: You didn't see last game, how fast he was? Lake Mead fishes.

HB: Coach did say it was your best game of the year.

WC: Yeah, I did play well. (laughs)

HB: Interesting for you too, St. Louis coming up. You were drafted by them. So will this be kind of a "revenge game" for you too? Or was it too long ago?

(HB note: Carrier was selected in the second round by the Blues in 2013 draft; he was traded along with Chris Stewart, Jaroslav Halák, and 2014 first and third round draft picks to the Buffalo Sabres for Ryan Miller and Steve Ott in February 2014.)

WC: It's so long ago. I played in only one training camp with them. It's not like I was part of the team like I was with Buffalo. I don't think even half of the guys on [St. Louis] know my name.

HB: You're a young guy, still trying to prove himself. Do you see yourself as a top-six forward in the future?

WC: Oh, no. I mean, I can play wherever. I keep grinding. Bring pucks to the net. Good speed. I can do anything out there.

But I think I'm not a top-six skill guy like Marchy. I'm a power forward.

HB: Now Pierre's gone, can you tell me what else you've learned from him?

WC: I think responsibility defensively. It all starts right there. If you get a good breakout, a good five-guy breakout, you get some offense. That's what he's shown me. He's a pretty good centerman.

Jonathan Marchessault

HockeyBuzz: You were flying out there for a guy with a "lower body injury."

Jonathan Marchessault: Yeah, just trying to push it. Work hard, get back in shape. I felt pretty good there.

HB: Do you have an ETA for your return to the line-up?

JM: No, I'm going to talk to the trainers. See the way things are going. I think it should be soon.

HB: What was the play where you got hurt?

JM: It was in the third period. I was on the power play. Awkward kind of hit. I kind of fell awkwardly. It was weird play.

HB: Did you get the number of the guy who hit you?

JM: (laughs) I don't even know it.

HB: And what did you happen to do with your day off yesterday?

JM: Actually, I skated. I came to the rink and I skated.

HB: So no off day for you?

JM: No, but it was the first day that we didn't have family and friends in town. Me and my wife and the kids had a great day.

David Perron

Perron re-tweeted these tweets from the Blues last month. A long-time Blue, the 29-year-old enjoyed two stops and seven seasons with them before the Golden Knights selected him in the Expansion Draft from St. Louis.

The Blues are saddened to learn of the passing of original Blue Noel Picard, who played for St. Louis from 1967-73. #stlblues pic.twitter.com/jiTzB4V9oZ

— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) September 7, 2017

View post on imgur.com

HockeyBuzz: Can you tell me more about the impact that recently-passed Blues great Noel Picard had on your career?

David Perron: I got to know him a little bit there in St. Louis. He's from Montreal. Just speaking French with him, anytime I'd bump into him. Him and Bobby Plager always hanging out together.

He was a great Blue, for sure. It was tough when we heard that.

HB: Everybody in St. Louis has a good Noel story. What's yours?

DP: I got to know him when he was older. I just remember hanging out with him and Bobby Plager. I think it was a roast night. It might have been of him or Kelly Chase. I was sitting at a table with them. Just listening to stories, things they were doing back then. When he was on TV, when he wasn't as good with his English.

HB: Everybody also talks about how big his hands were. How big were they?

DP: Yeah, he was a big human. Big hands for sure. (laughs)

HB: You've formed some solid chemistry with Cody Eakin and David Perron. Eakin is good at digging for the puck, while you and Neal can switch between playmaker/shooter. Can you talk about how you guys have worked together?

DP: It's good, for sure. Eks and I, goes back to the pre-season, we started working well together. With James, we just started playing with him in the regular season, didn't really know how it was going to go. We're just going to keep feeding him the puck.

It was nice for me to get on the board yesterday. I felt like I was a playmaker a lot with James. I was always trying to find him, maybe at times too much.

***

++++I AM CURRENTLY LOOKING FOR ADVERTISERS! If you, or anyone you know would be interested in placing an ad here at HockeyBuzz, then send me a PM!++++

Tweets by Sheng_Peng

Join the Discussion: » 1 Comments » Post New Comment

» Golden Knights Top Senators 4-3; Work Announcement

» Kucherov & Stamkos Dissect Golden Knights, Lightning Win 3-2

» Golden Knights Give Away Point; Schmidt Re-signs for 6 Years, $35.7 Million

» Carrier-Bellemare-Reaves Show Off Model Golden Knights Hockey in 3-1 Win

» Scouts Say Tuch's Talent Should Make 7-Year Extension Well Worth It