After a lengthy first rookie camp practice, a few of the Montreal Canadiens’ hopefuls were made available to the media: Jacob Fowler, Florian Xhekaj, Vinzenz Rohrer, Adam Engstrom, and Filip Mesar took turns fielding questions.

Goaltender Fowler expressed gratitude for the opportunities he had in Laval last season, despite joining the team late, and explained that his offseason focus was on ensuring he was in top shape to face the busy schedule ahead. An NCAA product, he’s not used to the kind of busy calendar pro hockey entails.

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As for Xhekaj, he confirmed that he had indeed put on a lot of weight this offseason, going from 205 pounds to 220. While he stuck to his training regimen, he also confirmed that his mother's cooking had something to do with the transformation. At 6-foot-4 and 220 pounds, he’s going to be harder to handle for defenders this upcoming season, and that was, of course, the point of the exercise. He’s still trailing brother Arber by 20 pounds, but the older Xhekaj has three years on him.

Defenseman Engstrom admitted that coming over last year wasn't easy, given the new culture, smaller ice surface, and distance from family and friends. However, once he made friends on this side of the pond, he became more comfortable on the ice. Speaking about the physicality he had in his game in the playoffs against the Charlotte Checkers, the Swede explained that it’s something he picked up last year as he got accustomed to the North American style of play. He said that Demidov was so skilled on the ice and that it was fun to watch him go out there.

As for right winger Rohrer, he explained that the decision to go back to Europe last year was a good one since he still got to play a lot of hockey, and he had a great relationship with his strength coach with the Zurich Lions, Mattia Stendahl, who had a positive impact on his game. He’s more powerful, with better strides, and has more stability on the ice.

Meanwhile, Filip Mesar hopes to stay away from injuries this upcoming season and explained the team has asked him to be more aggressive, to play with more bark. He’s taken the comment on board and has watched videos of former Boston Bruins captain Brad Marchand to guide him.

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