Mete eager to show off what he’s learned
Defenceman recalled from stint on farm says time there will be beneficial in long run
Victor Mete was at his downtown condo in Montreal Monday night when his phone rang about 10 minutes after the Canadiens had lost 4-0 to the Boston Bruins at the Bell Centre. The defenceman was getting called back up to the Canadiens after playing seven games with the AHL’s Laval Rocket, posting 1-3-4 totals with a plus-2. “I got a call saying the flight leaves at 10 o’clock tomorrow morning," Mete said after practising with the Canadiens Tuesday afternoon at a Denver University rink. “Today I was supposed to have a Christmas party there in Laval. I was lucky enough to come here . ... A bit of a scramble. Late-night packing, early morning get-up, but it’s all good.” While Mete was packing his bags for Denver, Noah Juulsen was unpacking his after being sent down to the Rocket. Juulsen struggled in the four games played with the Canadiens since missing nine games with a fractured cheek bone. “He’s been there for three weeks,” Canadiens coach Claude Julien said about Mete’s stint in Laval. “I’m told he’s played well. Those are guys that we can easily move back and forth if need be ( because they both don’t have to clear NHL waivers). I think Juuls since coming back has struggled, so we’re going to allow him to go there and play a lot and gain his confidence and fix his game as well. From what I’m told, it worked well for Mete and we’ll probably get a chance to see him sooner than later on this trip.” Mete was paired with Jeff Petry during Tuesday’s practice, but Julien said he hasn’t decided yet on his roster for Wednesday night’s game against the Colorado Avalanche at the Pepsi Center (8:30 p.m., SN, SN360, RDS, TSN 690 Radio). In 23 games with the Canadiens before being sent down to Laval, Mete posted 0-4-4 totals and was plus-5 while averaging 15:10 of ice time. But in his final game — a 2-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Nov. 27 at the Bell Centre — Mete only played 12:21 and was minus-2. Mete said playing about 25 minutes a game in Laval and in all kinds of situations — including the power play and penalty-killing — really helped him. “I wasn’t too mad about it," Mete said about getting sent down. “I know for the long-term it would probably benefit me. I was just sitting (with the Canadiens) … playing like 12 or 13 minutes. I wasn’t really playing in any roles. I was kind of just playing. So to go down and get big minutes under me, gain some extra confidence I think it will help me. “I can easily bring what I learned there,” he added. “A lot of the practices there were a lot of battling drills and that’s kind of what they wanted me to work on was battles in tight and D zone. That’s pretty much I would say 90 per cent of the practices is one-on-one battles down there. I thought it helped me out a lot and I can just add it to my game now.” Mete said he was paired mostly with Karl Alzner in Laval and added he was impressed with Rocket coach Joël Bouchard. “He’s a great coach,” Mete said. “He keeps everyone honest. No one has priority over anybody. He just wants you to work hard. If you work hard and you give it your all then he’s happy. “It’s good to be back, obviously,” Mete added. “But I thought I learned a lot in the three weeks I was there. I really worked a lot in practice on closing on guys and kind of stick on puck.” One thing Mete certainly won’t miss about playing in Laval is the traffic getting to Place Bell for games and practices. “The drive was really long,” he said. “I live downtown, so there’s a lot of traffic. You have to really plan your day ahead. Earlier mornings than usual and to the games, too. Sometimes it took me an hour and 15 minutes.” The flight from Montreal to Denver took just over four hours on Tuesday, but Mete certainly wasn’t going to complain about that.