Early Injuries Mark the First Day of Habs Training Camp

The first day of on-ice training camp for the Montreal Canadiens has come to an end. Earlier today, they played a scrimmage game of White VS Red. Team White featured Ryan White, Andrei Markov and Max Pacioretty while Team Red included P.K. Subban, Alex Galchenyuk and Brendan Gallagher.

Not all players were in attendance for today’s scrimmage game; some due to injury and others were scratched. Brian Gionta (bicep injury) and George Parros (shoulder injury) remained out of the game; but they did take the ice for a pre-skate and practice that took place after the scrimmage. Other injuries include Alexei Emelin (knee injury), prospects Joonas Nattinen (groin injury), Sebastian Collberg (knee injury) and Steven Qualier (leg injury).

There were some players (mostly prospects) who were in attendance today but were scratched from the game; Darren Dietz, Morgan Ellis, Tim Bozon, Patrick Holland, Dalton Thrower, Connor Crisp, Jeremy Gregoire and Stefan Fournier were amongst those on-lookers.

The players played a semi-clean game. Most were looking strong, some a little slower than others, but it’s you know, September. One player in particular who is looking to have a good season to score a new contract came was #53 Ryan White. He was skating faster, and after his playoff injury (punctured lung) he looked healthy and like he was ready to rekindle ‘new career’.

Halfway through the first half of the scrimmage, White suffered an injury when he got Greg Pateryn’s stick to the forehead over the right eye. The hit created a gash as Ryan fell to the ice. He got up quickly as the medic trainer started running across the ice with a towel. He swore a couple of times while skating to the dressing room and then threw his helmet on the ground as he entered.

White did not return for the rest of the scrimmage. Instead, Patrick Holland, who was originally a scratched player, replaced him for the remainder of the game. Ryan got lucky with the injury and he is reportedly set to return to tomorrow morning’s practice in Brossard, but there are some people who say he could be out a few days. Whichever the outcome, he will push himself to be back as soon as possible.

Nathan Beaulieu (prospect) was the second player in training today to receive an injury. He did not get as lucky as Ryan. During the second half of the scrimmage he got tangled up with Charles Hudon and went into the boards receiving a shoulder injury.

With guys like White, Hudon, Beaulieu, and others battling to impress coaches and playing hard despite it being an intersquad practice, injuries are inevitable. Some may say that you should let up when scrimmaging with teammates, but for these players whose jobs are by no means assured, it’s time to make an impression on Michel Therrien and his staff.

With today’s game (ending a tie of 2-2) it will be interesting to see how the training will start tomorrow and the actual scrimmage for Lac Megantic will take place on Saturday. It will also be interesting to see if Ryan White’s solid game play today was just for show or if he has actually smartened up and he will soon become a fan favourite during the upcoming season. I believe he has changed and will do so during the year but at the same time during the pre pre-season it is hard to see how his season will progress.

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