posted Wednesday<\/a>. But even though we couldn\u2019t hear from the young man himself, he did a lot of talking with his play on the ice. And not just with what he did to Lavigne on that one drill.<\/p>\nTime and time again, Demidov demonstrated he should have been on the other ice sheet. And perhaps it\u2019s most appropriate to hear from a goalie and a defenceman on what it was like to face him, since those will be his most common victims.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s that you don\u2019t really know what\u2019s going to come,\u201d Fowler said. \u201cI feel with a lot of guys, you kind of know different tendencies and stuff like that. With him, it\u2019s the way he reads the game as it comes to him. He doesn\u2019t have an idea in his mind of what he\u2019s going to do 10 minutes before he does it; he can read and react and do things as they come to him.\u201d<\/p>\n
When the long practice was over \u2014 it ran more than 90 minutes with a break to resurface the ice \u2014 rugged defence prospect Owen Protz was skating with a puck near centre ice when Demidov approached him. They gave each other a look, and next thing you know, the two of them are doing one-on-one stickhandling battles, taking turns trying to deke each other out. What might have seemed like a mismatch wasn\u2019t one. Protz held his own pretty well.<\/p>\n
But it prompted the question: How did he get roped into such a seemingly no-win situation?<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I was the one that initiated it,\u201d Protz said with a laugh. \u201cWe kind of did one of these (gestures with his hands as if he\u2019s stickhandling) and kind of looked at each other like, \u2018Yeah? Want to do it? All right.\u2019 It\u2019s better than fighting in practice.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just fun. He\u2019s a once-in-a-generation type of player, his skill\u2019s unbelievable, he\u2019s just such a good player. And even if I was worse, even if I was two or three years earlier in my career, I\u2019d still want to do it. It\u2019s just fun for me. He\u2019s challenging.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was interesting to hear Protz describe what makes Demidov challenging compared with Fowler. Though both pointed to Demidov\u2019s unpredictability, the goalie seemed to appreciate the fact it was spontaneous, and the defenceman appreciated the planning that went into it.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow deceptive he is with each move,\u201d Protz said. \u201cHe sets up plays so well for himself. He sees ice, and he plans ahead what he wants to do with the puck. Really, that\u2019s what kind of separates great players from good players, it\u2019s knowing what you want to do before you have the puck and seeing the ice and seeing the availability with that. Really, defending him, or trying to defend him, is playing like I always would, that\u2019s stick on puck, try not to get undressed and just hope for the best.\u201d<\/p>\n
Protz didn\u2019t have to hope for the best; he held his own just fine and even pulled one through Demidov\u2019s legs at one point. And as far as the few times Demidov managed to get the better of him, Protz wasn\u2019t sweating it too much.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean,\u201d he figured, \u201ccan\u2019t really hit the guy in practice, right?\u201d<\/p>\n
A big season for Filip Me\u0161\u00e1r \u2026 the enforcer?<\/p>\n
A lot of water has flowed under the bridge since the Canadiens used the No. 26 pick in the 2022 draft on Filip Me\u0161\u00e1r, a couple of hours after taking his friend and Slovak countryman Juraj Slafkovsk\u00fd at No. 1.<\/p>\n
Two OHL seasons in Kitchener and one AHL season in Laval later, Me\u0161\u00e1r is already at his fourth rookie camp, and his position in the organization remains unclear. His rookie AHL season with the Laval Rocket began incredibly well, but two injuries derailed that, and Me\u0161\u00e1r knows he has yet to show the organization what he is fully capable of.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, the last couple of years were not how I wanted them to be,\u201d he said Thursday. \u201cThere were ups and downs, a bit of bad luck, but every year is an opportunity to prove something, to show something to management, and that\u2019s what I\u2019m going to do this year step by step, practice by practice, game by game.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I can stay healthy, I know what kind of player I am, and I know that I have a lot to prove to this organization.\u201d<\/p>\n
In fact, Me\u0161\u00e1r wants to add to what kind of player he is. The organization has made it known to him they would like to see more jam in his game, more competitiveness, more battling. And maybe Me\u0161\u00e1r has taken that to heart a bit too much.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, just trying to stay healthy all season, but just do the things I can do on the ice,\u201d he said. \u201cSo that\u2019s be productive, be a good player with the puck, but also add some stuff like going more to the dirty areas, go to the net, maybe fight. I would love to have a first fight this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what I\u2019ve been hearing from all the staff, they want me to be a more gritty player, so that\u2019s what it\u2019s going to be this year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Me\u0161\u00e1r was then told that perhaps the Canadiens don\u2019t want him to be quite that gritty, but he did not back down. He wants to get into a fight this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt would be good,\u201d he said. \u201cI would like to try maybe one fight, we\u2019ll see what happens. Two years ago, I went to boxing classes for a year back home, so I have something. I know how to fight, but I\u2019ve never fought on the ice before, so we\u2019ll see. I just want to add some grit on the ice.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rocket coach Pascal Vincent, however, definitely did not mention fighting when discussing Wednesday what he sees as Me\u0161\u00e1r\u2019s strengths.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis start of the year last year was quite phenomenal; him, Beck and (Jared) Davidson was probably our best line for a while early in the season. And then he got injured. Twice. So that really slowed him down. But now he\u2019s back to 100 percent. \u2026 I know what I\u2019ve seen when he was 100 percent healthy last year, and he\u2019s a pretty good player,\u201d Vincent said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think his ability to make plays at a very high speed, that\u2019s what he can do. He can skate, he can shoot the puck, all of that, but his ability, when he has the puck on his stick, (he can) make plays at a very high speed. He\u2019s very good at that.\u201d<\/p>\n
That is exactly what Me\u0161\u00e1r wants to be for a full season this year. Just with one added element.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s how I want to play this year, just play confident, play with the puck,\u201d he said, \u201cand like I said, when I don\u2019t have the puck, go more to those dirty areas.\u201d<\/p>\n
(Photo of Ivan Demidov in April: Minas Panagiotakis \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n