DESLAURIERS IDOLIZED ORR, BUT HABS WERE IN HIS HEART
Valleyfield product says joining Canadiens for Thursday’s game was ‘unbelievable’
Nicolas Deslauriers says he needs to find a new hockey idol.
As a kid growing up in Valleyfield, Deslauriers’s favourite player was Boston Bruins defenceman Bobby Orr.
A big reason for that is Deslauriers was a defenceman as a kid — and it didn’t matter that Orr played his final game with the Bruins 15 years before Deslauriers was even born.
“I was not too much into (watching) hockey when I was younger,” Deslauriers said.
“My dad helped me a lot. I was just watching tape of Bobby Orr and I was a D-man, so it kind of helped. I think I need to find somebody new because I’m a forward (now).”
Deslauriers was speaking following the Canadiens’ morning skate Thursday in Brossard after getting called up from the AHL’s Laval Rocket the night before.
He was preparing to make his Canadiens debut Thursday against the Arizona Coyotes, skating at left wing on the fourth line at the Bell Centre with Jacob De La Rose at centre and Byron Froese on the right.
The Los Angeles Kings selected the six-foot-one, 215-pound Deslauriers as a defenceman in the third round (84th overall) at the 2009 NHL draft from the QMJHL’s Rouyn-Noranda Huskies.
“I played two full years in Manchester, New Hampshire, with the L.A. farm team (as a defenceman) and switched out of nowhere (to forward) and got traded to Buffalo and played my full NHL career there,” said Deslauriers, who will wear No. 20 with the Canadiens.
Deslauriers played 211 games with the Sabres, posting 12-18-30 totals and 186 penalty minutes before being traded to the Canadiens Oct. 4 in exchange for defenceman Zach Redmond.
The Canadiens then sent Deslauriers to Laval.
“Obviously, you don’t want to be there when you’ve already tasted the NHL,” the 26-year-old said about playing in the AHL.
“But I took my pill, I went there and worked as hard as I could. It’s a curveball in my career. I knew I had to work and just be a professional and good things will happen.”
Something good happened after the Rocket’s 5-4 win over the Utica Comets Wednesday in Laval when Deslauriers was headed to his post-game workout and Rocket GM Larry Carrière called him to his office. Canadiens coach Claude Julien and GM Marc Bergevin, who had both watched the game, were waiting there with the good news that he was getting called up.
“When you live 40 minutes from here, not that you don’t have the choice, but it’s the team that you look up to and it’s going to be something special,” Deslauriers said about playing his first game with the team he cheered for as a kid.
One of the reasons the Canadiens are off to a slow start this season with an 8-9-2 record heading into Thursday’s game is a lack of production from the fourth line, which had scored only two goals. And those goals came from Alex Galchenyuk and Charles Hudon, who aren’t really fourth-liners and have both since been promoted.
After Thursday’s morning skate, Julien said he was still looking for an identity on his fourth line and the coach is hoping Deslauriers, who plays a strong physical game, can help with that.
“Tonight you’re seeing guys that are gritty, so hopefully we get that presence where they’re going to really work hard and create some energy,” Julien said.
“Froese is a smart player, can play a heavy game. The way De La Rose skates … he’s a guy that’s got size. So we got an opportunity tonight to see an identity on that line and if it’s appealing, there’s no doubt we’ll have to look closely at that.”
When asked to describe his own style of play, Deslauriers said: “Just energy. Try to be a good, trustful forward. On the wall good and just finishing every hit.”
Deslauriers added the fact he used to be a defenceman helps him now as a forward.
“It helps me on the forecheck,” he said. “I’ve been there when somebody’s coming to run you. I know what you’re thinking … you don’t want to go get the puck. That’s the advantage for me. I know it’s hard as a D-man to go get the puck, so the first couple of shifts is always key to set the tone. I take pride in my (own) zone. It’s an advantage for me.”
Deslauriers said being a Canadien is “unbelievable.”
“Just when I got traded, you’re part of the organization even if you’re not up here,” he said.
“It’s something special. Obviously I don’t think about it right now, but tonight it might sink in a little bit more.”
When asked if he would have a lot of family members and friends at the Bell Centre to watch his debut, Deslauriers’s face lit up and he said: “Obviously.”