Bouchard quickly putting his stamp on Laval Rocket
New Laval Rocket head coach Joël Bouchard is definitely a straight shooter.
“If a guy sits in the office and tells me his dream is to play for the Laval Rocket, I’ll either start laughing or tell him: ‘You’re a moron,’ ” Bouchard said during an interview Thursday on TSN 690 Radio’s The Morning Show. “Because he has to want to be a Montreal Canadiens player, right? That’s the goal.”
Bouchard is quickly putting his stamp on the Rocket after taking over from Sylvain Lefebvre, who was fired after the Canadiens’ top farm club finished last season with the worst record in the AHL (24-42-10).
A night after the Canadiens put on a disappointing show in their home opener at the Bell Centre, losing 3-0 to the Los Angeles Kings, the Rocket came out flying Friday night in their home opener at Place Bell before a crowd of 8,257, scoring four first-period goals en route to a 5-2 win over the Binghamton Devils. Captain Byron Froese, David Sklenicka, Nikita Jevpalovs, Alexandre Grenier and Kenny Agostino scored for the Rocket, while goalie Charlie Lindgren stopped 17 shots as Laval improved its record to 2-10, outshooting Binghamton 32-19.
The Rocket will play Binghamton again Saturday at Place Bell in a 3 p.m. start.
“It starts here for some players or sometimes it’s maybe the last little step they need to get to be a good NHL player,” Bouchard said Thursday on TSN 690. “So we need to do this in the environment of a winning culture here. And winning is not only on the scoreboard. It’s also the way you handle yourself as a player on the ice and off the ice. So it’s a lot of things that I think players can relate to. With me they know it. It’s black or it’s white … it’s not grey.”
McCarron looked good Friday night, playing centre on a line with Hunter Shinkaruk and Alexandre Alain. The 6-foot-6, 230-pound McCarron was also used on the power-play and penalty-killing units, picking up an assist on Sklenicka’s short-handed goal.
“I thought I played good,” McCarron said. “I thought our whole team played well. Like I said before at (training) camp, I had a good off-season. It was just a couple of things in camp that didn’t go my way. I knew coming in that it was going to be a tough job trying to make the (Canadiens). But I feel confident in my skating and the way my body is right now and I just want to keep it going and prove I’m an NHL player.”
This could be a make-or-break season for McCarron when it comes to proving he can play in the NHL — either to the Canadiens or another team — after the Habs selected him in the first round (25th overall) at the 2013 NHL Draft. McCarron’s one-year, two-way contract pays him US$874,125 in the NHL and only US$70,000 in the AHL. The 23-year-old can play at the AHL level, but his skating remains an issue in the NHL.
“You have to remember a big body like him, he’s a big, big size player,” Bouchard said about McCarron on TSN 690.
“I’ve known him since he’s 16 years old from the U.S. program. It takes a little time. And I know we all want things to be quick in life. I understand that. We’re all about fast and quick and let’s do it and get it done. Sometimes it takes a little longer and my job with him and with everybody else is to keep pushing them and keep working with them so that they can be the best player they can be.”
Bouchard held a very blunt, heart-to-heart meeting with McCarron before the start of the AHL season that lasted less than three minutes but might have accomplished a lot.
“Come on, you know I can’t tell you what he said,” McCarron said after Friday’s game with a smile. “It’s all good. He was just trying to see where my heart was and what I was thinking and what he thought of me and where he sees me fitting in on his team. I think it was something that needed to be talked about because you can’t just sit in silence. That’s what kills. He’s truthful, he’s honest and he’s going to tell you how it is.”
Ifaguysitsin the office and tells me his dream is to play for the Laval Rocket, I’ll either start laughing or tell him: ‘You’re a moron.’