It was over 30 degrees yesterday in Montreal. With humidity factored in, it felt closer to 40 degrees on an end-of-July day during the construction holidays. One would have thought that most people would have been out of town, and yet, the fourth week of the LSHL was sold out at Hockeyetcetera. An hour before the doors opened, die-hard fans were already queuing outside in the heat, patiently waiting for their hockey fix in the dog days of Summer.
The organizers had announced at midnight on the dot that Montreal Canadiens players Nick Suzuki, Patrik Laine, Ivan Demidov, Jake Evans, and Alexandre Carrier would all be suiting up for team Accent Assurance alongside Laurent Dauphin from the Laval Rocket and goaltender Kevin Mandolese, who spent the last season with the Colorado Eagles in the AHL.
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The Habs players were set to take on the Renobrio team featuring Pierre-Luc Dubois, David Perron, Mathieu Joseph, Pierre-Olivier Joseph, Tyson Hinds, and Anthony Morrone. On paper, one would have thought the Canadiens’ players would have won the duel hands down, but it wasn’t the case. Team Renobrio won 8-7 in an eventful contest.
While the sold-out crowd was unequivocally being the local heroes, they kept chasing the game and ultimately couldn’t catch up to their opponents. Still, it was a good show, and one player shone particularly brightly.
It’s not easy for professional athletes to play on a smaller ice, even in a 3-on-3 format; space is hard to come by, but still, Laine shone brightly. The big Finn appeared to be in top-notch health, skating fluidly and with abandon. He was not afraid to take on opponents, and his stickhandling skills were on display. He prompted plenty of cheers from the crowd and was also able to score three goals, threading the needle effortlessly, twice making the goaltender’s water bottle take flight.
When he scored his third goal, a fan even threw his hat on the ice, making the player chuckle as he picked it up with his stick to send it over the boards. Laine was also tasked with handling many face-offs, which makes you wonder if he’s been asked to work on that this summer, similar to Zachary Bolduc.
As for Demidov, he struggled on the smaller ice surface and couldn’t perform as the crowd had hoped he would. He still had some good moments, though, and his breakaway goal five-hole prompted a huge celebratory roar from the crowd.
As for the captain, he often showed how easy it was for him to carry the puck inside the opposing zone and was the favorite of the younger crowd. Plenty of kids were wearing Suzuki jerseys, and one little boy even got to hand him the drawing he made of him. You can watch Tuesday's game on the Youtube channel of La Poche Bleue here.
The start of rookie camp might still be roughly six weeks away, but the fans are already ready for hockey season, as the crowd was in superb form, cheering on their favourites. It will be interesting to see if the same lineup will be on the ice next week or if this will have been a one-off with so many Habs being in town for the captain’s wedding. Mind you, Samuel Montembeault is also set to marry this Summer…
Photo credit: Karine Hains
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