Habs’ Gallagher preaches poise
Winger maintains ‘even-keeled attitude’ during team’s ups and downs
Brendan Gallagher insists he’s not panicking about the Montreal Canadiens’ lacklustre first half, and swears what Josh Gorges taught him is part of the reason.
Gallagher, the Vancouver Giants’ all-time leading scorer, has been one of the bright spots this season for the Canadiens. He went into Tuesday’s game against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena with a team-high 13 goals, putting him on pace to eclipse his career high of 24, set in 2014-15.
The Canadiens carried a 14-15-4 record into the matchup with Vancouver, and were five points back of the Boston Bruins for the third and final playoff spot directly out of the Atlantic Division, and seven points out of the two wild card post-season posts at the start of day.
That’s certainly not standard territory for Montreal. Gallagher maintains staying even-keeled is key to any sort of rally and he’s relying heavily on what he learned from Gorges, the defenceman who mentored him when Gallagher first arrived in Montreal in 2012-13.
Gallagher even lived with Gorges and his wife Maggie for his first two seasons in the NHL. Gallagher was forced to find alternate accommodations when Montreal dealt Gorges to the Buffalo Sabres in the summer before the 2014-15 campaign. Gorges is in the midst of his fourth season with Buffalo.
“Our job is to win hockey games and to understand that there’s always a solution, there’s always a way to get better,” explained Gallagher, 25, a right-winger. “You have to have that mindset that there’s always a way to work out of it.
“It took me a couple of years to get there. Living with Gorgie really helped. He played here for awhile and he helped me to understand the market and those ups and downs that you could feel. You just have to have an even-keeled attitude.”
Gallagher remains close with the 33-year-old Gorges, a former Kelowna Rockets’ stalwart. Gallagher’s also buddies with defenceman Nathan Beaulieu of Buffalo. Beaulieu, 25, played parts of five seasons with Montreal before being dealt to Buffalo over the summer in exchange for a 2017 third-round draft pick that the Canadiens used to select Victoria Royals’ defenceman Scott Walford.
Beaulieu has been known to come to the Tsawwassen area in the summer to train with Gallagher.
Gallagher still works out in the off-season under the watchful eye of his father. Ian Gallagher was the longtime strength and conditioning coach of the Giants; he’s now focusing on his job as director of the Delta Hockey Academy.
“It’s been different,” Brendan Gallagher said of Gorges and now Beaulieu being gone from the Canadiens, “but that’s the business we are in.
“They are two of my closest friends. I still keep in contact with them. I still talk to them all the time. You wish them all the best. That said, those games against Buffalo you get up for just a little bit more, because you don’t want to lose to them and have to hear about it over the summer.”
Gallagher remains one of the better bargains going in the NHL. He’s in the third season of a six-year deal with an annual cap hit of $3.75 million. That makes him the 10th highest-paid member annually on the Canadiens.
He’s arguably the steal of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft. Going into Tues- day, the fifth-round choice, 147th overall was tied for seventh in career goals in players from that draft pool, sitting at 100.
He sounds, too, like he’s taking on more of a veteran role with Montreal and trying to pass along what he’s picked up from the likes of Gorges about leadership.
“It’s not something that you just have. It’s a skill, like anything else, and you have to learn,” said the 5-9, 181-pound right-handed shot who put up 280 points, including 136 goals, in 244 regular-season games with the Giants.
“Especially playing in a market like Montreal, there are going to be ups and downs throughout the year. It’s important you understand that you’re never as bad you think you are when you’re losing and you’re never as good as you think you are when you’re winning.
“Playing in Montreal is awesome. We get to play, in our minds, in the best hockey city in the world. The fans are passionate. The biggest thing is keeping the outside noise exactly that — outside the locker-room.
“We need to control what’s inside the locker-room and understand the situation that we are in. You can really work your way out of anything. There’s always a solution.”