But Cooper was anything but surprised to be fielding a question about another Canadiens player whose name starts with \u201cS\u201d after his Lightning stole away the Atlantic Division lead in a shootout at Benchmark International Arena.<\/p>\n
Even with the Canadian Olympic roster less than 72 hours from being revealed and Suzuki still battling for a spot to play for Cooper in Milan, the coach had the best vantage point to form an opinion on Juraj Slafkovsky \u2014 Sunday’s most dominant player.<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw it up close,\u201d said Cooper, \u201che can really shoot it.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was after setting up a goal for Ivan Demidov<\/a> that Slafkovsky answered one from the Lightning with the laser from the middle of the slot Cooper was referring to.<\/p>\n Cooper also watched the six-foot-three, 225-pound winger score the game-tying goal with less than four seconds to go to cap a period he completely took over, and he was marked by it.<\/p>\n We\u2019re talking about a coach who\u2019s overseen the development of some of the greatest talent in hockey over a generation, so that\u2019s something.<\/p>\n \u201cHow old was (Slafkovsky) when he first played, 18? And how old is he now, 21? I feel like he\u2019s been around forever and he\u2019s just 21 years old,\u201d said Cooper. \u201cWhat he does have is the physical attributes to be a dominant power forward. But he\u2019s also got a skillset\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n Without it, the Canadiens wouldn\u2019t have gotten a point, let alone had a chance at two on Sunday.<\/p>\n Without Slafkovsky, who was drafted first overall in 2022 to become the exact player he is right now, the Canadiens wouldn\u2019t be challenging the Lightning and Detroit Red Wings for first in the Atlantic. Without him, who knows how they\u2019d have guaranteed themselves a winning record through a December that saw them play 13 games through the first 23 days.<\/p>\n It is Slafkovsky\u2019s progression that has been most noteworthy of late.<\/p>\n Beforehand, Suzuki was on an island as the only true play driver for the Canadiens up front commanding special attention from the opposition. But Slafkovsky\u2019s emergence in the role is now impossible to ignore.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the game has slowed down for him, and that happens gradually, but sometimes it jumps a big, big, big step,\u201d said Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis. \u201cI find the game has really slowed down for him; his reads are so much clearer, he\u2019s using his body, using his shot more, and it\u2019s a major evolution for him. It\u2019s fun to see him play like that.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s what the Canadiens need to see from Slafkovsky right now, with Suzuki and his linemates struggling a bit of late.<\/p>\n Sunday\u2019s game was one of only eight in which the captain didn\u2019t register a point since the start of the season. It came on the heels of some relatively ineffective performances \u2014 at least at five-on-five \u2014 from Suzuki\u2019s line, with Cole Caufield<\/a> and Zach Bolduc, which was disassembled after two rough periods in Tampa.<\/p>\n What they haven\u2019t been managing well is exactly what Slafkovsky, Oliver Kapanen<\/a> and Ivan Demidov have managed particularly well.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel there\u2019s going to be less and less room out there as the season progresses,\u201d said St. Louis. \u201cThe standings are so tight and you\u2019re playing these games that are like playoff games. I think (the Suzuki line) has got to do a better job of playing in tight space and winning battles, because once they get the stuff in space, they\u2019re elite at it. But it\u2019s to create more instances. And it\u2019s not just one guy; I think they can do a better job as a line of keeping pucks alive and probably winning some of these battles to extend the O-zone possession and now they get those pucks in space. I just feel they lack instances of that, and I feel they\u2019re getting frustrated a bit. I lived it, it\u2019s not fun, but the answers are everywhere, and we\u2019ll find them.\u201d<\/p>\n Demidov and Kapanen are buying them a bit of time, with Slafkovsky doing the heavy lifting to elevate the trio.<\/p>\n As Cooper said, \u201cThat kid line they have going there is pretty special, and you could tell he\u2019s the leader of that group there.\u201d<\/p>\n Hockey fans already know the name, but this is not the blog. From Sportsnet, 32 Thoughts: The Podcast with NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas is a weekly deep dive into the biggest news and interviews from the hockey world.<\/p>\n Latest episode<\/a><\/p>\n It\u2019s what Slafkovsky is determined to be in just his fourth season in the NHL.<\/p>\n It\u2019s what he said he wants to be in his second Olympics with Slovakia.<\/p>\n In Slafkovsky\u2019s first Games, in Beijing, he scored seven goals in seven contests as a 17-year-old.<\/p>\n \u201cI was just a little kid when I went there the first time, and honestly, three out of the goals that went in there were just lucky shots,\u201d the Kosice native said.<\/p>\n Now Slafkovsky is the Man.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m a more complete player,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like I just demand the puck more from the other guys, and I feel more comfortable with my touches and ability to create something and shoot and get goals,\u201d Slafkovsky added. \u201cI just want to drive and play with the puck more, and that game kind of suits me.\u201d<\/p>\n Everyone\u2019s taking notice.<\/p>\n Four of Slafkovsky\u2019s 13 goals and four of his 15 assists on the season have been notched over his last four games, but his play for the better part of two months has popped to anyone watching.<\/p>\n If Slafkovsky keeps this up as Suzuki and Caufield rediscover their best selves, it\u2019ll bode extremely well for the Canadiens.<\/p>\n It\u2019s already made a big difference for them.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a reason Montreal\u2019s knocking at the division lead,\u201d said Cooper. \u201cThis isn\u2019t a fluke. It\u2019s a team that\u2019s tasted the playoffs, and they\u2019ve got young legs and skilled players.\u201d<\/p>\n Slafkovsky, Demidov, Kapanen, Suzuki and Caufield are just some of them.<\/p>\n Jacob Fowler<\/a>\u2019s young legs have produced a 3-1-2 record through his first six games as a goaltender.<\/p>\n In front of him, fellow 21-year-old Lane Hutson<\/a> notched his 31st assist of the season while 25-year-old Noah Dobson<\/a> had a goal and an assist to bring his point total to 25 in his first 38 games with the Canadiens.<\/p>\n A lot of the big pieces are in place, but Slafkovsky is proving to be a huge one.<\/p>\n \u201cI think first off, he\u2019s a specimen, right? He\u2019s massive, so strong on the puck, and then when you combine that with good vision and just the skillset to make plays, he\u2019s tough to handle, I\u2019m sure, for defencemen,\u201d said Dobson. \u201cPlayed against him a little; he\u2019s no fun down low when he\u2019s holding on to pucks, and those guys really work well off one another with Demi and Kappy, so he\u2019s playing great hockey.\u201d<\/p>\n It didn\u2019t cost Cooper\u2019s team an extra point, but he knew it earned the Canadiens one on this night.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TAMPA BAY \u2014 Jon Cooper can\u2019t avoid the question. Every time the Montreal Canadiens play his Tampa Bay…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":374565,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[49,48,448,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-374564","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-nhl","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374564","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=374564"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374564\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/374565"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=374564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=374564"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=374564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"32](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/32-Thoughts-podcast-Elliotte-Friedman-Kyle-Bukauskas-640x360.jpg\")
32 Thoughts: The Podcast<\/p>\n