On Tuesday, the Montreal Canadiens announced that there will be 60 players who will attend Training Camp, which starts on Wednesday with medical and physical testing.
Montreal is starting to smell like hockey again. The Canadiens presented their annual golf tournament yesterday, the rookie camp ended today… and tomorrow the team’s practice camp officially begins.
Every year at Canada’s World Junior Summer Camp, there are a few players who sneak onto the roster and raise eyebrows. While most of the headlines go to first-round picks and top-end talent, sometimes it’s the quieter names that make the biggest impression.
Owen Protz isn’t the prospect with the most raw talent. The Habs’ 4ᵉ round pick in the last draft is known for terrorizing opponents with his physicality.
NHL head coaches have to hire good assistants. They have to set an overarching philosophy, juggle lineup configurations, and do the kind of “man management” that is impossible to track statistically.
At the last draft, the Habs had a clear objective: to look for reinforcements up front. That’s why the team’s first four picks were used to select forwards.