Canadiens’ Jonathan Drouin has long history with team’s new head coach
Drouin #Drouin
Jonathan Drouin has a long history with new Canadiens head coach Dominique Ducharme.
Drouin had Ducharme as his head coach for three seasons in junior with the QMJHL’s Halifax Mooseads, starting in 2011-12 when the forward was 16 years old.
The next season, the Mooseheads won the Memorial Cup after Drouin led the team in scoring during the regular season with 41-64-105 totals in 49 games. His linemate Nathan MacKinnon posted 32-43-75 totals in 44 games and was the No. 1 overall pick at the 2013 NHL Draft by the Colorado Avalanche. Drouin was taken by the Tampa Bay Lightning with the No. 3 overall pick.
The next season, with MacKinnon playing in the NHL, Drouin posted 29-79-108 totals in 46 games with the Mooseheads before making the jump to the NHL.
Drouin knows exactly what kind of system Ducharme likes his teams to play — one that creates two-on-one situations all over the ice.
“It’s definitely one thing Dom looks at,” Drouin said after practice Monday in Brossard. “Going back to junior, it’s always you don’t want to play one-on-one hockey. There’s some areas in the O-zone where it’s OK to be one-on-one and you try to beat your guy. But if you’re two on the puck if you lose it, your buddy, your teammate’s there to grab it and it just makes the game easier that way. Even in the D-zone where you’re supporting your defenceman and the defenceman gets it, you’re right beside him. So it’s something we try to adjust a little bit and make sure to bring to our game where we’re not playing one-on-one hockey all over the ice. We have support, you can make little plays, give-and-goes, and I think it’s going to help our game with the forwards we have.
“In junior we were a fast team,” Drouin added. “It’s the same kind of team we have here where we have speed to utilize. Dom’s a communicator. He wants to make sure everything’s clear when you step on (the ice) for that game you’re not thinking about I should do this or do that? It’s just go play hockey, be creative, use your instincts, but have a system within that where you’re clear about all that stuff and I think he does a good job of making sure everything’s clear and it’s easy to play hockey that way. I think it’s just going to get better and better when we start figuring out more the systems. It’s going to become habits for everyone and it’s going to be easier just to play hockey.”
Drouin has been playing some good hockey this season with 2-11-13 totals and a plus-3 through the first 20 games. He had a season-high 19:52 of ice time in Saturday night’s 2-1 overtime loss to the Jets in Winnipeg, which was Ducharme’s second game as head coach since taking over from Claude Julien.
Drouin got off to a good start last season, posting 7-8-15 totals in the first 19 games before suffering a wrist injury in mid-November that required surgery. He really struggled after returning to the lineup in February, going pointless in eight games before being shut down with an ankle injury.
When Drouin returned to action for the post-season in August he played well with 1-6-7 totals in 10 games.
“I think from just going back to the start of last year I was really looking at consistency and just playing well every game,” he said. “It’s the same thing for me this year. I just showed up and made sure I have an impact on the game. If it’s not on the scoresheet with points or goals, I’m doing something to help my team. It’s pretty easy to play hockey when you’re scoring and you just got to put your work in and do the stuff. When you’re a skilled player, your skill’s going to come out if you’re working. You’re going to be on the puck more, you’re going to get it more and just having Dom, too, is very helpful for me. I know what he wants from me. It’s been good so far. It’s a long season and you got to keep going.
“It’s the same thing in junior,” Drouin added. “You look at every great player, good player, they’re good every night. They’re maybe not great every night, but they’re good every night and they find a way to help the team win. That’s one thing for sure Dom will always try to imply on my game is make sure that I have an impact on the game and I’m moving my feet. That’s the one thing for sure Dom knows about me, when I’m moving my feet I’m playing well. When I’m not, I’m not creating anything. So it’s nice to have him talk to me if it’s on the bench or before the game. Just little reminders. He’s always been good with that for me and it’s just nice to have him here.”
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