Back on his skates, Pacioretty ready to go
As Max Pacioretty motored up and down the ice at the Westmount Arena on Friday, there was no hint of the knee injury that kept him off skates for nearly five months.
Pacioretty was injured in the latter stages of a road game against the New York Islanders on March 2. It marked the end of what had been his most disappointing season in the NHL. After reaching the 30-goal mark five times, Pacioretty went though two prolonged droughts and finished the season with 17 goals and 37 points in 64 games.
While there has been a cloud of uncertainty hanging over Pacioretty — the Canadiens attempted to trade him at the draft and there have been no talks about extending his contract beyond the current season — he appeared healthy and relaxed Friday after joining two dozen other players at the Octagon hockey camp.
“I started skating at the end of July after being off the ice for five months, which is the longest I’ve ever been out,” Pacioretty said. “I’m looking forward to start of season.”
Pacioretty is reluctant to talk about his future in Montreal — “It’s out of my hands” — but has made it clear on numerous occasions he and his family have found a home here and don’t want to leave.
The Octagon camp is an annual affair organized by Allan Walsh, a Montreal native who is one of the top agents with the Californiabased Octagon agency. He represents about 40 NHL players, while the entire Octagon roster has 90 players.
“We want to give our clients every opportunity to be ready for the start of camp,” Walsh said. “We have scrimmages like this one on Monday and Friday. We have skills sessions on Tuesday and Thursday and on Saturday, we’re in the park for dry-land training.
“Renting the ice and running the camp is part of the package for our clients and we also arrange for a hotel for the players from out of town,” Walsh added.
Pacioretty, Jonathan Drouin and Nikita Scherbak were the Canadiens’ players at Friday’s session. Pacioretty and Drouin are Octagon clients, while Scherbak was among the drop-ins.
“We have guys who call up and ask if they can skate with us in the scrimmages and they throw $30 in for the ice,” Walsh said.
The players at Friday ’ session included Florida forward Jonathan Huberdeau, Buffalo defenceman Marco Scandella and former Canadiens Lars Eller, Nathan Beaulieu, Zach Fucale and Alexei Emelin, who is looking for work in the coming season.