Is Louis Leblanc’s future still with the Canadiens organization?
Casts a shadow on player’s prospects
If Louis Leblanc remembers the night of June 26, 2009 as one of the high points in his life, the night of Sept. 16, 2013 has to be one of the low points.
June 26, 2009 was the night when the Bell Centre exploded after the Canadiens announced that Leblanc was their first-round selection (18th overall) in the National Hockey League entry draft.
In a city starved for a francophone hero, Leblanc was a popular choice. He was a homegrown talent, coming up through the Lac St. Louis Lions organization.
He was articulate in both official languages and was headed to Harvard, although he made it clear that his career goal was to play in the NHL.
Sept. 16, 2013 was the night Leblanc came off the ice after playing in a preseason game against the Boston Bruins and was told his NHL training camp was over. He was among 10 players assigned to the American Hockey League’s Hamilton Bulldogs.
This was a surprise, not because Leblanc was being returned to Hamilton — where he spent all of last season — but because he was sent packing in the first major culling of the Canadiens’ talent.
There were two theories being floated in the aftermath of Leblanc’s demotion.
The first is that the Canadiens were sending him a message: go to Hamilton, work hard, dominate at the AHL level and there will be a job in Montreal in the future.
The second theory is that the Canadiens don’t like him.
Leblanc played a decent game in his only preseason appearance Monday in a 6-3 loss to the Bruins.
In a game where it was difficult to find positives in the Canadiens’ performance, Leblanc assisted on the first Montreal goal. He was involved, blocking a shot and racking up four hits. He was one of only two Montreal players to finish on the posi- tive side in the plus/minus ratings.
But it didn’t matter what Leblanc did. In his comments following the game, coach Michel Therrien said it was impossible to make any evaluations based on the game and he conceded that the decisions that were announced shortly after his post-game news conference had been made before the game.
The party line from the Canadiens is that Leblanc is still a part of the organization, but the demotion casts a shadow on his prospects. With the cuts, there are 20 healthy forwards in camp, which means Leblanc has dropped considerably on the depth chart from two seasons ago, when he played 42 NHL games, collecting five goals and five assists with a plus-3.
Injuries provided Leblanc with an opportunity during a dysfunctional season in 201112 that saw coaching changes and a series of panic moves by former general manager Pierre Gauthier. There were questions about Leblanc’s strength, but he played well on a checking line with Lars Eller and Travis Moen.
The lockout saw Leblanc start the 2012-13 season in Hamilton, and that’s where he would stay. He had 10 goals
In a city starved for a francophone hero, Leblanc was a popular choice.
and eight assists in 62 games, and a high ankle sprain provided an excuse for his paltry production.
But Leblanc’s problems began before the injury. He wasn’t happy that the Canadiens saw him as a checking centre and asked him to play that role in Hamilton. As one member of the organization told me: “He has to understand that there are a lot of third-line players making a good living in the NHL.”
Leblanc said he was disappointed when he wasn’t among the players added to the Canadiens’ roster before the playoffs last season and went into the summer determined to go “back to the basics, back to the things that worked for me in the past.” He worked out with long-time Lac St. Louis coach Karel Svoboda and went to Toronto to train with Andy O’Brien, whose high-profile clients include Sidney Crosby, Hayley Wickenheiser and figure-skater Patrick Chan. He consulted with sports psychologists Sylvain Guimond and Wayne Halliwell.
After all that work — and nobody has ever doubted Leblanc’s work ethic — Monday’s decision must have seemed like a kick in the teeth.
At 22, Leblanc is still young, and there’s no reason to believe he can’t make it in the NHL, but his career might have reached the point where he needs a change of scenery.