As training camp nears its end, Claude Julien decided to put his special teams to work today and he showcased some interesting combination. On the first unit we saw Gallagher, Drouin, Tatar, Suzuki and Weber while the second one featured Armia, Weal, Kotkaniemi, Domi and Petry. To be honest, the first unit is an interesting mix of the first two lines without Danault since his job is on the penalty killing while the second one kind of reminds us that the Habs aren’t that deep talent wise. I don’t think there are that many teams who would have a Jordan Weal on their power play. However, I’m happy to see that Kotkaniemi is on the second unit and it seems that Julien really did mean it when he said that he was impressed with the sophomore. I also remember Gallagher saying earlier during the camp that confidence is just so important for KK right now and being on the power play sure will help with that. Speaking of Gallagher, it’s great to see him get some time on the top power play unit, he’s been passed over way too many times.
Today’s media availability included Xavier Ouellet who shed some light on his absence since the start of phase 3. Although the league has told teams not to say who has tested positive for Covid-19, the players themselves are still at liberty to discuss their own situation and that’s how Ouellet was able to reveal that he had tested negative many times before getting one positive test out of nowhere even though he didn’t have any symptoms. The tests he had after were also negative so it’s unclear whether or not he really had it. While the situation was frustrating for him, he understands that the league and the team have got to follow a strict protocol and that no risk must be taken. In his comments, Claude Julien said that even though Ouellet had missed quite a few days, he had been training in Brossard for a while beforehand and the fact that he has playoff experience will help him catch up to the others.
The coach was also very clear that to have a chance to beat the Pens, his players would have to stay on the tip of their toes and be ready for the challenge. If the Habs come into this series on their back heels, they just don’t stand a chance. He seemed pretty pleased with what he saw from his special teams today both on the power play and on the penalty kill. As to who would be on the plane to Toronto, he said that they had until tomorrow night to submit his final list and he would take his time before making the final decision.
Whatever happens, win or lose, I must say that it will be very nice to see some real hockey back on the TV. We’ll be treated to 3 days of exhibition games from Tuesday to Thursday and they should be much more interesting than usual exhibition games since the play-in series will be right around the corner. Cannot wait for August 1st though, I’ve got the first 2 weeks of August off and I fully intend to take in as much hockey as possible, it’s been way too long. Hard not to mention the big news of the day in the NHL, Seattle’s team now has a name: the Seattle Kraken. This was far from surprising since it had been rumoured to be the front runner for quite some time now, but I’ll admit that I was pleasantly surprised by the uniform and the colours. We now have about a year to wonder who will end up wearing that jersey come season 2021-2022 while the Kraken's braintrust is busy strategizing to draft our favourite player (their social media team is already doing a good job)...
Well, well, well...the Kraken has got (social media) game... pic.twitter.com/PYHcamFUBn
— Karine Hains (@Pheebs888) July 24, 2020